I found a computer game that's just made for massively-multiplayer implementation. I bring it up because I'd love I see it as an opportunity for some smart software entreprenuers to provide a new on-line gaming service. The game engine already exists; it's the server system that would have to be designed and built.
I bought the game Star Fleet Command (SFC) some months ago, and finally got on line last night and played against real people. For those who don't know what SFC is about, it's the computer version of the old Star Fleet Battles (SFB, as opposed to SFC) game system, which simulates starship combat set in the Star Trek universe.
The computer AI in SFC is decidedly weak, but just how weak became apparent when I went up against live opponents for the first time. This is no surprise to anyone that is familiar with sims such as WB and Aces High. The drawback of SFC is it only allows a maximum of six people to play on-line, using MPlayer's service (tho it's free, which makes it a bargain). Plus, the matches you can creat are limited to fairly simple, single scenario battles -- they can be either force-on-force, or free-for-all slugfests. While these are fun, they lack the depth to keep me interested for very long. It needs something else.
The answer is a persistant, massively-multiplayer arena with stategic elements, where you could pick a race to join (Federation, Klingon, Romulan, etc) and attempt to help your side win the war. The strategic framework already exist...sort of. The strategic companion game to Star Fleet Battles was called "Federation and Empire," and was created by the same gaming company that produced SFB. It had it's own combat system, or players could elect to use it to generate battles that would then be resolved using the tactical-system of SFB.
My idea is that the arena would be the computerized version of Fed & Empire, while your computer's FE would be a modified version of Star Fleet Command. You’d start out as a Lt. Cmdr. commanding a single frigate, and work your way upwards in rank (and ship/fleet size you can command) as you gain success in combat. If you die, you go back to being a LtCmdr. Any takers out there? Any other ideas for expanding the on-line gaming world?
Sabre (a.k.a. Rojo)
P.S. How’s that for “off-topic?”
