I'm surprised Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri wasn't mentioned - specifically, while the units were generic and no paths to victory were locked off to any faction, the faction agendas (and the associated bonuses/penalties and social engineering choice limitations) made it difficult for some factions to go after certain victory types. Notably, the Civ V civics and World Congress that were added in the later DLC look like clear nods to Alpha Centauri's social engineering and Planetary Council/Planetary Governor mechanics.
Yes I was surprised at this omission as well. Another omission was the Dominions series (where's Dr. Geryk when we need him?). Any discussion of factions should include those games, I think, just for sheer breadth.
I would have liked for them to get into "balanced" vs. "unbalanced" faction design in games as well. MP games, of course, want balanced factions. Should game devs worry about balanced factions in single-player games as well? Personally, in an SP game, I don't think it is important for every faction to have the same path to victory and, when I read a dev blog where the developers are trying to "tune" the factions to be balanced in their SP game, I think "why are you wasting effort on that?". The panel came close to going down the path a couple of times, it seemed to me, but never quite got there. I would love to have heard their thoughts (or anyone else's) on the subject.
Three Moves Ahead 515: Faction Design
in Three Moves Ahead Episodes
Posted
Yes I was surprised at this omission as well. Another omission was the Dominions series (where's Dr. Geryk when we need him?). Any discussion of factions should include those games, I think, just for sheer breadth.
I would have liked for them to get into "balanced" vs. "unbalanced" faction design in games as well. MP games, of course, want balanced factions. Should game devs worry about balanced factions in single-player games as well? Personally, in an SP game, I don't think it is important for every faction to have the same path to victory and, when I read a dev blog where the developers are trying to "tune" the factions to be balanced in their SP game, I think "why are you wasting effort on that?". The panel came close to going down the path a couple of times, it seemed to me, but never quite got there. I would love to have heard their thoughts (or anyone else's) on the subject.