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I've spent many hours playing this game (: So nice that the original authors were able to maintain the rights to everything except the name (Star Control), so

I've spent many hours playing this game (: So nice that the original authors were able to maintain the rights to everything except the name (Star Control), so they could open-source the entire thing. Good on them for doing it. I also loved playing Archon, another Paul Reiche game. There was a time when having "multiple gamplay modes inside a bigger game" was more of a thing, and Star Control definitely had that, with the little resource collection lander, alien conversations, hyperspace navigation, and space fight melee mode. I feel like nowadays it's standard to just make one hyper-polished gameplay mode, and stick with it for everything, but I liked that variety. Perhaps instilled in my from the early days with Archon.

aidenn0 5y ago
There's a famous and influential game designer who claims having one really good element trumps lots of "just good" elements. I've seen that quoted a lot, but don't feel like searching on my phone. I disagree, but think it's part of why that tend has happened.
- mcphage 5y ago
  There's a category of broad video games, with a ton of different systems, none of which are very deep. Like Minecraft, or Animal Crossing. I think those support your disagreement as well.
- aidenn0 5y ago
  Aha, it's Sid Meier's "Covert Action" rule, discussed here[1] by someone who seems similarly as skeptical of it as I am. [edit] Reading that article more, it goes on to discuss ludologists vs. narratavists. It seems like SC2 that has the strategy as strongly narrative (the developers reported that they originally had procedurally generated planets, but ditched it because it wasn't as fun), while the tactics are more ludological(is that a word?) in the sense that many battles are random, so you'll have to play the matchups you get. 1: https://www.filfre.net/2017/03/whats-the-matter-with-covert-action/ https://www.filfre.net/2017/03/whats-the-matter-with-covert-...

aidenn0 5y ago

There's a famous and influential game designer who claims having one really good element trumps lots of "just good" elements. I've seen that quoted a lot, but don't feel like searching on my phone. I disagree, but think it's part of why that tend has happened.

mcphage 5y ago
There's a category of broad video games, with a ton of different systems, none of which are very deep. Like Minecraft, or Animal Crossing. I think those support your disagreement as well.
aidenn0 5y ago
Aha, it's Sid Meier's "Covert Action" rule, discussed here[1] by someone who seems similarly as skeptical of it as I am. [edit] Reading that article more, it goes on to discuss ludologists vs. narratavists. It seems like SC2 that has the strategy as strongly narrative (the developers reported that they originally had procedurally generated planets, but ditched it because it wasn't as fun), while the tactics are more ludological(is that a word?) in the sense that many battles are random, so you'll have to play the matchups you get. 1: https://www.filfre.net/2017/03/whats-the-matter-with-covert-action/ https://www.filfre.net/2017/03/whats-the-matter-with-covert-...