Computer ASL

[Largus_Means]

I'm having a hard time understanding why Hasbro/MMP would give the license for a new computer version of ASL to Paradox. They have no experience in this style of game and seem to be a very poor choice. Is it going to be a RTS along the lines of Hearts of Iron? This doesn't leave me with high hopes for a good Computer version. Will it even be ASL? I think Matrix games would have been a much better company to aquire such a license, with much more experience at producing turn based wargames.

Does anyone have any hopes for this Paradox project to be successful? Or is VASL (JASL) the only true way to enjoy the exploits of this fabulous game on the computer for many years to come?

Largus

 

[WaterRabbit]

Well, if Ole helps them out there might be a glimmer of hope. However, we will all have to wait and see -- especially given some of their offerings. However, most of what has been said was discussed in this thread.

 

[Legion]

"'Cause it's all about money ain't a damned thing funny, gotta have a car in this land of milk and honey..." etc...
Credits to GrandMaster Flash and the Furious Five

 

[Largus_Means]

Thanks for the other link, completely missed it. Some good points made there too.

 

[Pitman]

It will be an abortion, we might as well face it.

 

[Nat Mallet]

I have several Paradox titles, and I thought they were quite good. I didn't see any glaring problems with the faithfulness of the product to historical events and context, and I certainly didn't see software bugs to the extent that some have reported.

So I'm going to be guardedly optimistic about that one.

I'm actually very curious as to what their vision of Computer ASL will be. A few companies have tried to computerize ASL in the past, some have been complete disasters (was it the SSI version?) and some have been simply incredible, i.e. the Combat Mission series.

I say let'em try. One way or the other, it won't affect the board game version of ASL, which is really in a class of its own.

Nat

 

[Pitman]

I wrote to Paradox, basically saying, "don't fuck it up" and that they should work with the SL/ASL community on this. They wrote back and said that they intended to (but did NOT, unfortunately, commit themselves to a non-real-time game). I'll believe it when it happens, I guess.

 

[Nat Mallet]

At the risk of starting a flame war, what difference does it make if they screw it up? It's not as it will have impact on ASL itself, nor will it prevent another company from trying to build a computer version of ASL.

Nat

 

[Pitman]

I think that's an assumption that it would have no impact.

 

[Flarvin]

It can only help attract people to ASL, especially if done correctly.

Flarvin

 

[Johnny Canuck]

I guess if they fuck it up, I won't buy it. Otherwise, it's a done deal.

I don't see a loss on my part either way.

 

[Pitman]

If they produce a bad product, it can equally cause people to turn away from trying the board game. "Oh, is that the game that awful computer game was based on? Ugh."

 

[Nat Mallet]

If they produce a bad product, it can equally cause people to turn away from trying the board game. "Oh, is that the game that awful computer game was based on? Ugh."

I think that's a bit of a stretch. I think most folks know that you can't judge a book based on a movie (and vice versa), so I doubt they'd compare a board game to a computer game.

Here are a few examples:

Magic: card vs computer
Fight Club: Movie vs game (movie great, game sucked)
Mortal Kombat: game vs movie (game great, movie sucked)

etc, etc, etc.

Besides, ASL's reputation can widthstand whatever bad computer game that tries to dirty its name.

Nat

 

[Hams]

Not exactly sure what you are saying about Magic Nat, as the card game has been a success and after a few dire computer/ consol attempts they've arrived at Magic Online which is rather good and plays not unlike VASL for ASL.

 

[Nat Mallet]

Not exactly sure what you are saying about Magic Nat, as the card game has been a success and after a few dire computer/ consol attempts they've arrived at Magic Online which is rather good and plays not unlike VASL for ASL.

Actually, that's pretty much what I was getting at. The card game is great (if you're into that sort of thing: I was/am). The first few computer versions were utter crap, and really didn't reproduce the "essence" of the game.

I haven't played Magic Online, so I can't really comment, but it sounds like its a good alternative from FtF games.

And it pretty much exemplifies my point too: other good games were not affected by a crappy licenced product.

Nat

 

[Pitman]

Utter crap? I had hundreds of hours, if not more, of enjoyment out of the first Magic the Gathering computer games.

 

[Nat Mallet]

Utter crap? I had hundreds of hours, if not more, of enjoyment out of the first Magic the Gathering computer games.

At the risk of highjacking the thread (again), I thought the game did a lot of things completely wrong. I didn't like the audio, I didn't like the card placement it enforced, I didn't like the card restriction rules, I thought the game was sluggish, even for a top end machine, etc.

(But that's just my opinion. I also think that Battlefield Earth wasn't that bad of a movie. )

But that game had nothing to do with the card game itself.

I'll probably buy Paradox' SL to give it a shot, but regardless of whether or not it sucks, I'll still play ASL and CM.

Nat