Kirk Thomas
United States
Kansas City
Missouri
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If you have any interest in this game - and given that it's a Martin Wallace game, there should be lots of interest - then come on over to SlothNinga's extremely good online adaptation and try a game!
I own a copy, but rarely have exactly three, so my first chance to actually play the game was online. I'm not sure how I feel about the game after one online play, except that I know I want to play some more.
Unfortunately, there aren't many players on the site. This is a shame, as the implementation is first rate. It deserves to be played more on it's own merits, but come give it a try just to show SlothNinja we all appreciate his efforts and would love to see more.
The game mechanics are not hard to learn, though what to do and why is somewhat harder. It's all a lot easier to learn with an online version that enforces the rules and the plays you can legally make.
That's my appeal - this is an excellent addition to the games available online, but so far has been the hardest game to get going, so if you have any interest, come give it a go!
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Lou Moratti
United States
Parchment
Michigan
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I concur that it's a great rendition of the game. I will add that you need a Google account to log in but that is easy and free to obtain. The rules to the game are there too.
The interface is easy to use but not real intuitive. If you're a veteran of the game you will be comfortable but first timers wil need to play with it a bit.
After the Flood is a great game and if you are a Wallace fan, you really need to check it out. And by the way, Wallace's Gettysburg will be up and running soon at the same site. God's Playground and Rise of Empires next.....?
http://www.slothninja.com
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Steve Bauer
United States
Gilbert
Arizona
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Signed up for a game, thanks for the info.
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Kirk Thomas
United States
Kansas City
Missouri
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PaleHorse wrote:
The interface is easy to use but not real intuitive. If you're a veteran of the game you will be comfortable but first timers wil need to play with it a bit.
I agree that the mechanics of the game, and how they fit together strategically, is not real intuitive, which then leads to the interface being less than intuitive. I found, in my first game, that once I understood what I wanted to do, it was very easy to figure out how to do it. Figuring out what I wanted to do, and what I could do, is not very intuitive.
I'm really looking forward to getting to the point where the mechanics of playing are very well understood. The 3-player dynamics really get one thinking, and I think they will shine even more when it's not so difficult to understand, quickly, not only your options, but the options of your opponents.
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Lou Moratti
United States
Parchment
Michigan
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Hey Kirk--I'm involved in 3 games there right now but as those finish, I'll look for you.
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Snooze Festival
United States
Hillsborough
North Carolina
We love our pups!! Misu, RIP 28 Nov 2010. Tikka, RIP 11 Aug 2011.
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stlkt wrote: PaleHorse wrote:
The interface is easy to use but not real intuitive. If you're a veteran of the game you will be comfortable but first timers wil need to play with it a bit.
I agree that the mechanics of the game, and how they fit together strategically, is not real intuitive, which then leads to the interface being less than intuitive. I found, in my first game, that once I understood what I wanted to do, it was very easy to figure out how to do it. Figuring out what I wanted to do, and what I could do, is not very intuitive. I'm really looking forward to getting to the point where the mechanics of playing are very well understood. The 3-player dynamics really get one thinking, and I think they will shine even more when it's not so difficult to understand, quickly, not only your options, but the options of your opponents.
I set up another game ... Come join!
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Jeff Huter (SlothNinja)
United States
McCordsville
Indiana
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Thanks everyone for the kind words about the online implementation. I agree that the need for more players online is one of the bigger issues. Open games can take a looong time to fill.
I think the best way to address this is to add a popular game to the site. Unfortunately, I sort of doubt Gettysburg will a game that drives traffic. After the Flood and Gettysburg are both really good games, but both are niche games in a niche market. I highly suspect there just isn't that big of a demand. Though I hope I'm proven wrong.
Gettysburg is under development and progressing nicely. The development has been more involved than anticipated. With that said, I have about 80% of the game logic completed and tested. I was originally aiming for a Christmas release, but I suspect it will be at least another month and possibly two before a beta release to the public.
As for the next game, I'm finding it very difficult to receive permission from publishers. Martin Wallace has been about the only designer/publisher willing to grant me permission. I'm a big fan of his work, but his most popular titles (i.e., the ones that would drive traffic to the site) are generally tied up with other publishers making it difficult/hard/impossible for Martin to grant me permission for such titles. Thus, I suspect I'll continue to add less popular Wallace titles until Wallace says no more, or I can find another publisher willing to grant me permission for a HOT game.
As for the interface being non-intuitive, if you have suggestions how the interface can be improved, please let me know. I'll start a thread on the site forum http://groups.google.com/group/slothninja for suggestions.
Thanks again,
Jeff (aka SlothNinja)
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Kirk Thomas
United States
Kansas City
Missouri
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First, our collective thanks! to Martin for giving you permission. Martin is the one designer where I start by assuming I want to buy a new release and see if I can convince myself otherwise, instead of the other way around. I definitely own a lot of his titles, and I'm not surprised he is accomodating.
Second, while I understand that AtF is definitely a niche game, a well done online implementation should draw a lot more players than it has to date, at least for an exploratory game or two. Maybe I just think this because I was interested enough in the game to purchase it, but there are a lot of strategy games I'd try in a heartbeat if there was a good online implementation. There is a lot of traffic on the new TTA site - I know it is a much wider-appeal game, and has undoubtedly sold a lot more copies, but it's like 100X the traffic. Are the sales of TTA 100X more than the 1500 ATF sold? I suppose it may be.
In any case, I look forward to trying Gettysburg when it is available. I don't usually play 2-player war games, but will certainly try it with the next nice online implementation. And I will continue to hold out hope that someday there will be good online implementation of London and/or Rise of Empires :-)
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AlexL
United Kingdom
Southam
Warwickshire
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Just looked at the site, and it really is a nice-looking implementation. I did get a few server error pages, but that could just have been my bad luck. I never quite seem to get the game to the table, so I'm looking forward to getting a few virtual plays.
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