Solo Play / Co-Op mechanics

something for me to research up ^_^

though.. erm.. unrelated... have you ever had it when you created some researched thing.. and then a little while later, maybe half a year or so, but then some bigger guy kinda... appears to have cribbed you as a resource for their own article, but appears to have completely decided to NOT credit sources?

I'm kinda a ... nick picker for credits and I'm totally ready to say, "well, there is only soo many ways you can do with this" and I can... kinda, take some things a tiny bit too personally.. but not a major thing... I think it's nothing but... mm.. just saw it and a bit and though.. ehuh... still.. probably nothing.
 
I admit I did not cite you directly in my first post on Giantitp. My apologies.

In my defense, I did link to your blogpost.

Or were you referring to something else entirely?
 
Lord Torath said:
Hamishpence on Giant in the Playground forums suggested it was actually Advanced Space Crusade that added Zoats and Genestealers to the Tyranid swarm. I don't have access to Advanced Space Crusade, so I can't vouch for that.

One of the other posters was lamenting the lack of interesting characters in Genestealer Cult armies, and I linked him to your blog post.
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Oh and.. Nope.. 100% Zoats were linked before ASQ
 
Lord Torath said:
I admit I did not cite you directly in my first post on Giantitp. My apologies.

In my defense, I did link to your blogpost.

Or were you referring to something else entirely?
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wasn't you ^_^ no problem also, no clue what gianttitp is. and if you linked, that's find. That's reference, that is credit.
 
Zoats were a part of the tyranid mythos from Rogue Trader forward. The RT entry reads thus: "Tyranid armies always include a fair number of slave races, the most common of whom are the genetically engineered Zoats. Any Tyranid force must have at least half its numbers made up by Zoats." No other tyranid slave races are actually discussed in Rogue Trader. The genestealers were originally just dangerous monsters from a moon of Ymgarl. I believe all the other tyranid races came later.
 
The "best" simple solo wargame system I have played is in Massimo Torriani's "Arkeo Obscura" narrative horror rule set. It is fundamentally a series of related if/then decision nodes. It could be replicated in any type of game with little prior effort to determine weapon types and therefore combat option choices.

At the other end of the complexity scale my game group is approaching the end of playtesting a solo/co-op system I have written for man to man (1 to 1) combat in the early years of the Vietnam War. My system is pre-deterministic, based on the Vietnamese forces holding one of a series of tactical "Postures". This posture limits the possible actions they can take depending on the situation in the game. The "AI" decision tree basically:

- Starts with the troops perception/awareness
- Evaluates immediate threats
- Makes tactical decisions based on unit quality and weapon type
- Incorporates mission/scenario context
- Handles morale and suppression
- Selects appropriate actions to be taken by the Vietnamese soldiers.

At the final stage of selecting the action I have an optional die roll to add a slight random 'more cautious/more aggressive' variation to the outcome so the same troops may react differently to the same situation over time. This is the only die roll in the AI decision making process.

Our most recent test centred around AI civilian interaction, how NPCs react to being questioned by players. This is a standard solo RPG 'yes/yes but/no/no and' response matrix. We have 2 systems left to test in detail, firstly vehicle heavy games work (convoy ambush type scenarios) and second, probably the most complex, how the AI can be the offensive player.
 
orkwrangler said:
Interesting. I found the Bad Guys Reaction Engine in the adventure PDFs.
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Yes that is the core of it, copied from the back cover of the rulebook. There are exceptions and complications to that based on things like pinned and suppressed status and whether the bad guys are reacting to player moves or acting in their own game segment.

Very simple, but if you always interpret the response to be the worst thing for the player it works really well.
But like any AI system, if your group has players who will deliberately move enemies to positions where they can't shoot, or so that they remain out of cover to make them easier targets it will not work.

The game gets very little coverage compared to the better known Pulp/Gothic skirmish options but I think it is the best of them all.
 
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