Another guest this week as Ntronium Studios lead Bob Smith talks to Troy and Tom about the imminent release of Armada 2526. Bob is a veteran of Creative Assembly and has been making games for over a quarter century. Is there room for another 4x sci-fi game? And how do you differentiate one title from another?

Armada 2526 at Ntronium Studios

One week left to send in questions to the TMA crew at troy DOT goodfellow AT gmail.com

This week’s show begins with a business chat as we talk about the changing revenue models in all gaming as downloadable content begins to supplant or supplement the traditional retail expansion pack. Be sure to stay tuned for Bruce’s Nietzsche moment in which he declares that gameplay is dead.

The last half of the show is spent celebrating expansions that were good, denigrating those that were bad and mourning those that never happened. Lots of Big Huge love – kind of standard operating procedure.

Chris Park from Arcen Games joins us this week to talk about independent game development and how his sci-fi RTS AI War: Fleet Command saw the light of day. Park talks about the design process, the challenge of modeling risk and reward and the difficult part of difficulty levels. It’s also one of our longest podcasts ever.

Arcen Games
Tom’s column on AI War: Fleet Command
Feature Series: The Decade
Quarter to Three, where you can find Tom’s movie podcast

Send your questions for Episode 40 to troy.goodfellow AT gmail.com

We try to make up some ground this week with a little chat about Panzer General: Allied Assault (via Julian), Eufloria (via Tom) and, our main topic, Tropico 3 (via me). When is a remake enough? Am I trust too critical of a game that I actually like parts of? Can you cautiously recommend a game with major gameplay problems?

Eufloria
Tom’s Dragon Age diaries
Troy’s Tropico 3 review (link to come)

Skip a night and the inmates take over the asylum. Tom and Julian decide to talk about Brutal Legend, especially its strategy components. Why is BL Tom’s favorite game of the year? Are there different strategies for the RTS component? Is it an RTS at all?

Also, Bruce makes a cameo appearance in the intro.

Ubisoft’s Michael de Plater joins us for a fanboy grilling from Tom Chick. Why EndWar worked, its relative success and why Bruce never got to actually play EndWar for very long.

Apologies in advance for Michael’s sound. His plug-in mic was not working for some reason so he talked to his laptop. Through a tin can. From the distant future. While in a submarine. Fighting robots. He’s that good.

Michael de Plater’s rap sheet
Tom’s great EndWar column
Tom’s review of Brutal Legend – yet another game he thinks is an RTS

Sometimes Bruce misses a show he really needs to be on – like the one where we pronounced the death of the Dominions 3 game. This week, Dr. Geryk won’t give up and he makes a compelling argument along the way. Bruce admits to a new way of thinking about games, we talk about reviving our board game blogging (but we need help!) and we talk about wargames we like and don’t like.

We both say mean things that we should take back.

Our Twilight Struggle game
Republic of Rome Rulebook
1805: Sea of Glory

So what do you do when your guest doesn't show and your schedule for the rest of the week is shot to hell? You go ahead, press record and make it up as you go along.

A beloved friend of the show is on his deathbed and no doctor is in sight to save it. Tom calls Section 8 "the shooter from the Kohan guys" and fights with Julian over whether or not the game is very good or just good.

Majesty 2 becomes the starting point about the pluses and minuses of surrendering control. Troy, Tom and Bruce talk about the origins of Majesty, other games with the detached czar motif and whether or not the game is repetitive. Listen as Bruce schools Tom on the subtleties of his new favorite game and find out which game Tom thinks is about sex and death.

Also, listen to the worst contest ever.

Bruce Geryk’s original Majesty review
Erik Wolpaw’s rebuttal
Troy’s Majesty 2 review
Tom’s Majesty 2 review
Dwarf Fortress
Tom on Halo 3:ODST’s Campaign and on the firefight mode.

Ever wonder what would happen to a show where Tom Chick didn’t show up to ask annoying questions? This is the answer.

PCGamer’s role playing game authority Desslock sits in with the remaining panelists to talk about how RPGs and strategy games overlap. Where is character advancement more important than story? Does Dominions 3 count as an RPG? It’s a low key and low energy discussion with only a little bit of nagging to Julian to get his turn in.

This week, a full panel deals with the question of getting started in strategy gaming. Should people approach the genre from first principles (The Murdoch Method) or through a topic they are interested in (The Goodfellow Approach)? How important is the visual immersion compared to the mechanics?

Bonus: Everyone is called an idiot by someone else at least once.

The Qt3 thread that inspired this chat
Tom’s column on RTSes for newcomers

The smallest podcast ever! Scheduling confusion means that just Tom and Troy are on hand to talk about naval tactics in strategy games. High on nostalgia, low on insight and yet another plug for Crown of Glory: Emperor’s Edition’s tactical naval engine.

You do get a moment where Tom fancies himself to be Da Vinci.

Lost Admiral
Perfect General
Crown of Glory: Emperor’s Edition
The Battle of Lepanto

The panel welcomes Mark H. Walker to the round table for a bruising discussion of his upcoming squad based wargame Lock N Load: Heroes of Stalingrad. Bruce and Julian dominate an unusually combative conversation, which only shows how much we care. What is the place of narrative in war games? Do designers overestimate how intuitive their designs are?

Apologies for the sound quality here. In spite of a perfect sound test earlier in the day, Mark’s satellite internet was not up to the task later that night so he had to phone in. Then the recording somehow made Troy’s comments appear three seconds later than they actually happened, making editing a real pain in the ass and borking the Dominions 3 discussion altogether. (Short version, Bruce didn’t send his turn but notice he was attacked by Julian’s deer men.)

Lock N Load
Matrix Games

Troy, Tom and Bruce spend an hour talking about city builders as ant farm games. Why didn’t they talk about Dawn of Discovery two weeks ago? What’s up with Cities XL? Is SimCity Societies a neglected classic or a misfire of epic proportions?

And, most importantly, does Bruce know any games made after 1984?

Troy, Tom and Julian start with Hearts of Iron 3, detour through a bunch of other WW2 games and somehow end up making less sense than usual. Learn why Thin Red Line is Tom’s favorite WW2 movie, why Julian thinks everyone who bailed on Axis & Allies in college should give it another chance, why our Dominions 3 game has stalled and what Troy sounds like after a long train trip and a couple of pints.

Troy’s Hearts of Iron 3 review
Tom’s single post on HoI 3 so far
Scott Jennings’ early thoughts on the game
Time of Wrath
Making History
Commander: Europe at War
War Plan Pacific

East India Company and other trading themed games take center stage this week. Listen as a full panel talks about where Nitro’s sailing business sim stands and falls. Is it possible to make cargo interesting? Are trading games pointless with a computer opponent?

Tom’s final Fidgit diary on East India Company

Sometimes a last minute topic change actually goes somewhere. Troy, Tom and Bruce have a long and detailed conversation about the challenges wargame and strategy game designers face when they try to capture the essence of an historical moment. How do you model insurgency? What makes WW2 the default combat model if not the default topic? Why are Tom and Bruce still scarred by Combat Mission Shock Force? Also a discussion of reading material, how Twilight Struggle works, and whether Balance of Power is a terrible game.

Troy also manages to confuse two Middle East themed games. (Here’s the one Tom was talking about, here the one Troy was thinking of.)

Then a long update on Dominions 3 and why Bruce is afraid.

Norm Koger’s current project
The new version of Dragoon
Battlefront
GDW’s Assault
Tom’s Call of Duty 4 review

After a month of absences, Bruce Geryk more than makes up for it in a tour de force conversation with special guest Bill Abner as they relive the fun of 1970s baseball simulation games. We open with a discussion of Blood Bowl, which Julian finds too difficult and Troy finds too easy. Then Tom, Julian and Troy sort of fade into the background for an hour.

Listen to learn what kind of person replays historical seasons, why Blood Bowl is really a wargame, and whether sports simulations can ever measure up to the beauty of Championship Manager.

Also an update on our Dominions 3 game, a promise to eventually get Bruce's side of the story, a quiz game from Tom Chick and a hip hop conclusion.

Soren Johnson drops by to talk to Troy, Tom and Julian about how the future of strategy games is online - whether you like it or not. He drops some hints about what he is working on at EA, talks a little bit about Civ and why RTSes have to die in order to be reborn. Julian sells iPhones to everyone, too.

We also conclude with our regular Dominions 3 update - there could be a war a-brewin'. Tom predicts the future course of the game.

Travian
Ikariam
Quarantine 2019
Nile Online
League of Legends
Soren's Blog

The panel returns to game design territory with a discussion of the problem of runaway winners in strategy games. Can you design around it? Should you? How do you keep a game interesting for everyone?

Also, a progress report on our Dominions 3 game.

Troy, Tom and Julian look at the year so far and look ahead to see what games they liked and what they are anticipating. Detours into diving, naval warfare and whether Starcraft 2 will appeal to the masses.

Stay tuned to the end for a look at who chose which race for their Dominions 3 multiplayer match and why. (Troy butchers his race name over and over, too. It's very stupid.)


Fourmageddon Map for Dominions 3
Tom comments on Starcraft's single player plans
Bill Abner's "Blood Bowl" Blog
Troy's Half Year Round Up

This week, the panel takes the pulse of strategy franchises. What makes you strong? What makes you weak? And is any particular franchise in trouble?

We also give you a preview of our next epic multiplayer gaming experience. Will Tom and Julian redeem themselves after such a terrible showing last time? Not with this game.

This week is all about Bruce as he goes on and on about how hard it was to write the manual for Dominions 3. The panel talks about how a manual is not the same as documentation, how even good games could be better with a paper friend and lots of other commentary that only reveals just how old we four actually are.

Rome on 640K
My thoughts on the Dominions 3 manual
GMT Games
Bill Harris on Dwarf Fortress
Bill Harris on Armageddon Empires

Bruce shows up late, but we do get a full panel to talk about The Sims 3 and the franchise in general. Tom gets all artsy, Julian makes an odd comparison and Troy is a cheater.

One of the four panelists hates The Sims, by the way. No prize for guessing who.

And be sure to check out Crispy Gamer for Tom's Sims 3 RTS Challenge. Can you turn his loser into a success?

Robin Burkinshaw's sad story of Alice and Kev

Tom and I sit down with Johan Andersson of Paradox Interactive and Kim Soares of Nitro Studios to talk about Hearts of Iron 3, East India Company and what it's like for a hardcore strategy publisher at the new E3.

Please excuse the background noise. E3 is a noisy place and Paradox had no ceiling on their meeting room.

Context important links to follow.

The panel jumps the gun a little bit and talks about maps before Troy can finish quite his series, but they have good reason. The team goes over an hour this time so Bruce can call Civilization IV's map dead, so Tom can regale you with his wilderness adventures and so Troy can listen to his colleagues say nice things about him.

Source of the Nile on Board Game Geek
Troy's Map Series from the beginning.

Four men enter, two men leave as Tom and Bruce welcome their podcast partners into the oldest continuous rivalry in strategy gaming. In the first official multiplayer recap session in TMA history, the panel talks about Dawn of War 2, how the multiplayer experience holds up under the pressures of age and infirmity.

Bonus files include a replay you can load into Dawn of War 2 to see us flail about and an audio of us setting up the game and playing.

So what happens when an emergency derails a scheduled topic for a podcast? People scramble, that's what. Listen as Troy, Tom and Julian spend half the podcast debating and discussing how diplomacy is best represented in strategy games, and the other half catching up with topics previously covered, with shoutouts to a Flash of Steel commenter, a Qt3 poster and Julian's daughter. Also, bonus references to 17th century English philosophers, JRPGs and the time Tom sulked because he was a poor loser.

Troy's Crispy Gamer article on games and foreign policy
Dokapon Kingdom at Qt3
Free Realms
Dawn of War II patch notes

This week, the panel uses Popcap's Plants vs Zombies as a jumping off point to talk about defensive games in general - tower defense, grid defense and wargames. Bruce hates playing the Reds, Julian talks about his iPhone, Tom comes with another list and Troy is probably stressing the wrong syllable in Omdurman. We also announce the winner of the Demigod CE.

Desktop Tower Defence
Julian's Plants vs Zombies article at GWJ
More from Tom at Fidgit
Downtown at Board Game Geek
Ambush at Board Game Geek
Carrier at Board Game Geek
RAF at Board Game Geek

A disorganized and rambling panel deals with multiplayer gaming in general and some war stories is specific. Bruce and Tom give the not-so-secret history of Tom vs Bruce. Julian sings the praises of the Gamers With Jobs community. Troy explains how he and Bruce used to spend lazy Sunday mornings.

And Tom outs himself as a cheater. A dirty, no good, cheater.

The Story of the Crispy Gamer Fiasco
Quarter to Three
Gamers With Jobs
Brettspielwelt

This week, the panel has a special guest. Stardock's Brad Wardell joins Troy, Tom, Bruce and Julian to explain just what was up with Demigod's botched multiplayer launch. We also get a little bit of information on Stardock's upcoming fantasy turn based strategy game, Elemental: War of Magic.

And stay tuned to the end, where we give the details for a prize drawing.

A full panel today as the experts ramble about symmetry and asymmetry in strategy game design. What do we even mean by an asymmetrical game? When is asymmetry just a cheat to hide poor game design? Listen as Julian poses hypothetical questions, Tom praise the King of Asymmetry, Troy challenges Tom's logic and Bruce tries to stay on the sidelines.

Tom's first Demigod diary
Ogre/Gev
Bruce's first article on board games vs computer games

The full panel is on hand this week and Troy is way out of his element as they talk about Collectible Card Games as strategy games, starting with Battleforge and moving through Star Chamber, Culdcept Saga and Magic. Should Bruce by a PSP? Who uses the phrase "synergy of modalities of gameplay"? And what game does Tom absolutely not want any of you to buy this week?

Listen here as these and more questions are answered.

Troy's Battleforge review
Star Chamber
Pox Nora

This week, Troy, Tom and Bruce devote the entire show to Demigod, the upcoming RTS from Gas Powered Games and Stardock. Bruce reaches into the past for a boardgame comparison, Tom is annoyed by everyone and Troy likes most of what he sees.

Titan

This week, Troy Goodfellow, Tom Chick and Julian Murdoch discuss what a strategy game is. In a world of genre blending titles, what is core nature of strategy gaming? Listen as Tom sells the panel on his new Japanese child game, Julian dismisses Settlers of Catan and Troy searches for a sponsor.

This week it's all about wargaming as John Hawkins from KE Studios comes in to talk about  War Plan Pacific. Julian Murdoch returns to explain why he doesn't understand anything, Bruce Geryk would rather talk about Victory in the Pacific, Tom Chick almost rediscovers his love of wargames and Troy Goodfellow resorts to Star Trek Voyager to make a point.

And stay for the end, where John Hawkins unveils his new project!

(Some weather problems at Mr. Hawkins' end caused a little bit of feedback in places. Be patient.)

KE Studios home page
Victory in the Pacific at Board Game Geek
Troy's review of War Plan Pacific
The perfect strategy podcast?

Have a question for the panel? Email me at troy DOT goodfellow AT gmail DOT com.

This week, host Troy Goodfellow and panelists Tom Chick and Bruce Geryk spend most of their time talking about <em>Empire: Total War</em>, with a lot of armchair game design. Tom challenges the very premise of the Creative Assembly design philosophy, Bruce rejects Tom's premise and Troy tries to get a word in edgewise. Learn for Tom's "perfect strategy game", Bruce's love of Dominions 3 and Troy's memories of Dagestan.

Troy's review of Empire: Total War
Tom's interview with Brian Fraser of Ironclad Studios
Dominions mod forum
Tom discovers Dominions on Usenet

Have a question? Email me at troy DOT goodfellow AT gmail DOT com. And pick Bruce's homework assignment in the comments.

Three Moves Ahead: Episode Two

Host: Troy Goodfellow
Panel: Tom Chick, Bruce Geryk, Julian Murdoch

The second episode of TMA talks about Halo Wars, Demigod, Sins of a Solar Empire and Empire: Total War, with slight detours into Lord of the Rings Online and whether or not it is cool to use Google while podcasting.