Rogue Consultant

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  1. A fun listen as always, but slightly saddened that I don't recall the term 'power curve' being used 🤣 A couple of observations which came to mind was the distinction between China & Rome which at their height were effectively without peer competitors, and only constrained by their internal tensions and external 'friction', versus other periods where interstate diplomacy/balance of power considerations would often consolidate anti hegemonic coalitions - this later factor being much easier to represent in games. My perception is that the degree of control which games offer makes representing internal constraints challenging, which leads to the wierd situation where a roleplaying game like CK 2/3 could be said to offerr the fullest representation of these internal tensions simply because it gives subnational units a degree of agency not found in more conventional strategy games. It is also interesting to wonder how our modern perspective allows us to appreciate the risks of our rivals getting richer rather than simply bigger - if Metternich had seen the future, maybe would he have been coordinating a coalition to deindustrialise Great Britain not contain Napoleon... All good food for thought!
  2. Three Moves Ahead 572: Forever Games

    I thought I better get my thoughts in before people get distracted by the release next Forever game contender from Pdox, Really enjoyed the rabbit hole the episode took me down - lots to think about around what allows certain games to transcend their era and remain playable years (and even decades) after release. Looking back at the games which have approached Forever game status for me, i ended up thinking about two things - the difference between 'Classics' (most from the pre-Steam era) and the more recent ''Continuous development' style of game - (aka the recent Paradox style), and whether strategy or simulation offer better prospects for achieving Forever game status. Clearly many great games from the 90's (Colonisation, Master of Magic, Theme Park to name a few of my favourites) are design Classics, which had their lifespan cut short by rapid tech changes, but when revived for modern tech remain enjoyable, installed and occasionally played. More recently however games such as Vicky2, HoI 3, CK 2 & Stellaris have sucked me in to their orbit - Stellaris (1,600 hrs) Vicky 2 (pre-steam) in particular I've found to be hugely engrossing both to play but also to mod and tweak. Sadly however my feelings for both have eventually soured. My enjoyment of V2 became blighted by my awareness of economic bugs (hugely profitable factories not paying workers...) and poor AI (all of France's armies ending up in Africa rather than near Germany...). I may return to Stellaris, but have become increasingly frustrated by the combination of poor AI, missing mechanics -'hello politics & rebellions' and the increasing content bloat - which means the game now feels too complex and baroque to mod to my satisfaction. The poor AI in particular is a concern, because it leads to a very predictable game experience, where all the challenge is to survive the 1st 50 years (where difficulty bonuses outweigh AI derpiness) and leads to a very predictable game plan (land grab, turtle, tech up, dominate) - only occasionally broken by a well timed/positioned crisis. I cross my fingers that Vicky 3 will be the third time lucky, but sadly suspect it will be another Paradox Avocado, ripening from bugs and placeholder content in the beginning to underpowered AI and bloated with poorly integrated mechanics at the end of it's lifecycle - hopefully there will be a period in the middle where it is the Forever game i've been dreaming of since I first booted up Civilisation and caught the strategy bug.
  3. Episode 435: Omnia vincit Roma

    Sadly I find Hegemony 3 to be a disappointing experience - lots of interesting dimensions (cultural difference, logistics, weather/seasons) but all treated quite superficially. It doesn't help that diplomacy is hugely simplistic and the AI loves to attack piecemeal and when out of supply - simply adding slaves to your economy and opening themselves up to a counterattack. Was hoping Imperator would be the answer but not brave enough to buy a product which is unfinished by Paradox standards...