I'm currently thinking of asking FFG if they would want to sponsor a project to convert Twilight Imperium onto a PC platform, with internet community and network play.

What is your opinion.. would you buy it if it cost… say.. 10-15€?

Regards

Thomas

 Probably not. It wouldn't fare well in comparison to games designed for the platform.

Can you decsribe a little about how this effort would be fundamentally different than Vassal or other virtual game engines for playing boardgames online?

Well… I actually have never heard of Vassal, so I downloaded it and tried to run the Twilight Imperium mod. First of all… what I was thinking about is a real game, with music… maybe soundeffects for fun… VOIP maybe, but atleast… a game that is ready to play and intuitive enough for everyone to understand and  start!

First of, you either log onto a games server to find or create a game, or you can do it offline on a LAN or Hotseat (sharing one computer and take turns).

It should start with how many players should there be, and then options for what expansions should be played. From Distant Suns, Space Mines to Shards of The Throne. You pick a race at random… like the real game and you get the tiles at random as well and you choose where the tiles go.. like the real game.

With computers, you could offer statistics… a ranking system with medals or points… a hardcore mode, where carriers content is hidden as well as players tokens, technologies and such.

I think it could be really cool. Have you guys seen the latest adaptations from Ticket To Ride… it should be very good and has been praised a lot.. so it should be possible to create it.

I'd be very interested to play online TI. although it would kill the spirit of the game a bit (playing online), it would be very useful in the absence of players or money for the game and expansion's

There are already plenty of established space strategy/empire building/4X games out there, so a Twilight Imperium game won't be bringing much new to the table.

A better route to consider would be a TI mod for an existing game, such as Galactic Civ 2. Something like that I would support in a heartbeat.

Try Master's of Orion 2…the third one wasn't that great.

When telling people about this game I always say it is MOO2 but a board game.

Jiltedtoo said:

+1

Wellp, I tried MOO2 over the weekend and I was pretty impressed. Now just trying to convince my mates to play.

I would pay 50 to 60 US dollars for a PC or Apple OS rendition of TI3. I would love it. I have thought about doing it myself many times. Why oh why is there nothing like this?

As a long time PC gamer fan of the 4X space games out there, I can say that none of them are quite the same. I want TI3 with good AI foes so I can play by myself and I want robust multiplayer options. NOW!

Just another frenzied fan…

At our last group event we talked about a PC version of TI3. My thoughts were FF already has agreement with Sid Meier's to produce Civ 5 the board game. Why not reverse the relationship? Send Sid Meier's and Co. the rights to make TI3 for the PC. I can't think of a better developer than Sid Meiers to handle such a project. 

I like the idea of a PC game but I think it should be 100% like the board game. Do you guys remember the first Magic The Gathering - Battlegrounds video game? I expected it to be just like the card game but it was some strange thing were you controlled a magician and summoned only a handfull of creatures you had to choose before the round (like 5 or so and you couldn't use anything else).

However, the second Magic game was great because it was just the card game, you had your deck, you played the card game against the AI, which was great if nobody had time and you wanted to play, there even was a multiplayer mode.

So if someone made a TI video game it should be just like the rule book says and before you start the game you should be able to choose all the optional rules you like, you should be able to choose the used strategy cards as well. I think it should look like the boardgame as well, with the hexes and the cards, the decks at the side, maybe some visual effects like the ships being animated (just a bit). And also the option to choose the race you want to play (we play it like that because we have certain favorites and like to play them, why should we play for hours with a race we dislike?).

I think if you stick to the rulebook, with the option to choose everyhing as you like (I mean optional rules, etc.) and maybe some possibilities to alter the rules (like the option to pick the race you like), it is going to be a great game.

 I would love/buy a PC rendition of TI3. I'd pay too much money for that.

One of the problems that I do see happening might be Action Cards. I'd rather not have to wait 30 seconds to give players the chance to use an appropriate action card for any given situation. I definitely don't think they should be taken out, because they obviously give the game an unexpected edge, but maybe re-working them in someway that would translate to a PC format more easily.

AsthmaticTurtle said:

I think that problem could be eliminated by using the same system the Magic The Gathering game used (the second one with the actual card game). It gave you a short opportunity (like 5 seconds or a little less) to play cards which you were able to play at that point of the game, so you could do the same in the game and if someone takes too long it's his own fault. If you highlight the cards which you can play at that time it would make it easier to realize it at that point, so you don't have to go through all your cards over and over again.

For TI 5 or even 10 seconds would be much too short in my opinion to be fair.

Anyway. I'm not sure a real PC-game would make sense. The market has a lot to offer. Maybe a modern remake of MoO2 would be appealing.

For TI3 we set up a simple system with one person as a game master actually managing the board, and sending the set up map to all players, as well as ship movements etc.

Yes TI3 would be fun as a PC-game, but it would still be longlasting, and as is the problem with extremely longlasting turn-based games, you'd need a server-side system to handle savegames of groups to be fair, as well as a system to help people to find new dates to continue their sessions for convenience etc

I was mainly thinking of playing against a good AI, since I didn't think of the possibility to play online against other players, I mean it would take so long that most of the people would leave in the middle of the game or you have to play with friends, but then there is no difference to playing the actual board game.