When I was a younger man, before I became the old and decrepit 24 year old before you, there was a little-known game not much unlike this one. It was fun, nerdy, made by a small yet very active company (before Microsoft got it, I guess), and had a small, dedicated community of players. Okay, not "Holy crap there are 200 people on ICO at the same time?!" small, but you get the idea. The game was Mechcommander and one of the leagues formed around it went by the name of Steel Command.
The SCL was a heavily role-played league which used Mechcommander as a vehicle to wage an enormous interstellar war between the various Battletech factions (faction websites still exist today, in all their 1998 glory). Factions would fight for territory and resources. They would commit Mechs and other resources to battles, then play out those battles in the game. There was diplomacy and even an enormous map which was manually updated to reflect faction ownership changes (this was back before the web was "dynamic"
I think a league like this would work well in Sins for a few reasons. First of all, it is asynchronous. That is, factions can schedule games or just issue orders ("Explore this planet", etc.) and won't need to randomly have a whole lot of players on at the same time (this is the main reason clans don't work right now). Secondly, Sins is very customizable, which is required for this sort of thing to work. The Map Designer is quick and dirty, but the real power lies in Galaxy Forge (assuming it gets fixed) which allows maps to be custom-tailored to battles. With this customization combined with the fact that different battles can have different supply caps, sizes and so forth, games can be long or short depending on the battle setup and include any number of other variables.
Sins games can be incredibly long, back and forth, intense experiences even though the action isn't necessarily constant -- that's what I love about it. You have to make big decisions -- do I build up and dig in or rush? Do I save that planet being attacked or do I counter? -- which can affect where you are an hour later. But what if the game didn't end in an hour, a day, or a month? What if there were an entire Universe to conquer and not just a star or two at a time?
If there's a game out now that could be used to resurrect the enormous scope and breadth of Steel Command, it is almost certainly Sins. However, this is no minor task and will require dedication and effort from many -- not to mention players! I'm not sure if we have enough people yet, but we'd have to start somewhere. This would be a considerable undertaking and I am already extremely low on free time, so I'm putting this out now to see what sort of interest there is, if any. Please provide feedback!
P.S. If you're wondering who would actually make the site for this, the answer is me. I do it for a living so we've at least got that part covered.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!
Like what you've read so far? Then check this out!
Okay folks, it seems like we have enough people interested to make an official inquiry here on the boards. The way I see it, we need a minimum of 25 people to start really getting the ball rolling in an official way on this thing. To that end, I have created a form that interested parties should fill out. It shouldn't take more than 30 seconds and will give me a way to keep track of people with serious interest.
One of the questions asks what you want your "role" to be; I have created the following roles with my recommendation of minimum numbers to fulfill in parenthesis (assumes 3 initial factions; one for each race):
Fill out the form here: http://binjured.wufoo.com/forms/sins-league-signup/
Thank you in advance!
(Entrenchment required for membership for the time being; with more players, hopefully we can have two leagues... but that's a dream for now.)
Alright! I've found that the Game Training manual depicts all the ships and their crew compiment. The Vassari Capital Ships by far have the most people packed inside haha. But the numbers are already there, now for the other things i brought up :/.
Oh and another thing, @BINJURED we probably should allow non entrench people to join in? Entrench users can always go back to the original and as long as the vanillas are familiar with entrechment lore they can still participate in the roles they play. I wouldnt mind, should the battle permit, playing without entrenchment benefits.... and if it brings more people to the league then im happy, the other people are happy, and say they decided to pay their 10 bucks for entrenc then wll Stardock is happy. Everyone wins.
Some basic forums are about half setup, should be ready soon. Sorry for the perpetual delays.
As far as what is being brought up recently, I think any such rules would certainly overcomplicate the game. The idea is to keep the basic rules rather simple so that the scope can become large without adding extreme complexity.
Also, as noted in the original post, this will be ENTRENCHMENT ONLY! The community is small enough as it is, we can't afford to cater to the even smaller part of it (vanilla SINS) at this time. Entrenchment changes game dynamics, especially for larger battles, and brings a lot more stuff to the game. People would likely be forced to pick and choose their battles based not only on troop strength and other normal variables, but also on what version would be played. It just adds more complexity and makes it harder to organize battles.
these ideas are not neccsarly rules to govern the game, they are more for story telling perposes, this in no way would change the way players actually play the game, that would be too hard to keep control over.
all mercury wants so that if people form other factions summit stories and such for the RP element that they are all in the same numbers and such. i dont think he is wanting to set any rules on how people play the game.
After all its is a Rp'ing leauge. The more Rp elements we bring into it to make it more imersive. Granted its just for lore and story that most of this stuff Mercury mentioned is just for fun, like Xenon said.
Thank you Xenon,
Yes, I'm just trying to put any and all stories we submit on battles and whatnot to the same set of standards, sure it complicates things slightly, but I feel that if our stories don't agree in terms of time passed and lives lost that that would complicate them more and lead to unnecesary discusions on who is right / wrong. I'm not saying that these standards are to be used in game, I just feel that we would do better in storytelling if they were there for when we write.
So far in our own forums we have come to some agreements.
Ship Crews - Easy, The game manual has them there for you.
Planet population - The number represents the amount of governing officials on planet, and that the actual civilian population is quite large.
As for Entrenchment / Vanilla, For me, I started out playing vanilla anyway, I actually understand the original mechanics better. Putting that aside, I feel that including Vanilla in our league will increase the potential amount of people who would join, and becuase this league focuses more on the RP element of gameplay and not on competative terms I feel that changes in ship mechanics are not to big of a problem. Furthermore, if all goes well for the Vanilla's they just might feel like spending the 10 bucks for entrenchment. However if you strongly disagree with me I will conceed, just wnat to start playing thats all.
Totally off topic, but what is the main conflict between the Vasari and the Advent. Stardock's lore is lacking. Seems like the Vasari thought TEC was gonna be an easy roll over and now their in conflict, and the Advent is getting revenge on the TEC for exailing them looong ago and now want their Dessert planet orgins back.
LETS ROLLLLLLLLL..........*tumbles, falls and starts rolling down his streets very sharp slope*
DAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmm iiiiii...............*end of message trails of in the distance!
hahaha Mastiff, how is your faction comming along? Any new "Valued Citizens"
Unified Explores
http://sins.blacklotushq.com/index.php
3 people total for now!
Hello all, this is about as informal as it gets(late here), I Nautilae, have taken the role of the Advent faction leader.
I will not be able to set anything in stone till next week on sunday as I have family business to attend to, till then if there is anyone who would like to jump the gun on my side before I even begin I'd love to hear from you. Also from anyone else on the team I would love to get in touch with you, to atleast introduce myself.
Please send a message to my email: Nautalias95@yahoo.com
Thanks sincerely,
Nautilae
SWEET! we have all three factions!
Hey Nautilae, looks like you beat me to being the Advent leader ha. Anyway i will join your side and will do my best to contribute any helpful ideas on and off the field of battle.
Yes we got three factions!
sweet
Hi,
Been watching the thread and finally decided to read a bit.. Have not read all messages so will have to catch up eventually. Anyway, I too an a Battletech person.. in fact in more ways than one.
For anyone that knows the Amiga Computer, they will know immediately what I am talking about when I mention the name 'Mechforce'. Written by my best friend and partner who was also VP of a development company we had together with my then wife, Ralph Reed and I were very involved in the Battletech world .. more than the average person. Back then, We actively developed the first, and in my opinion the ONLY, true real Battletech computerized board game. We had kind of the OK to develop it, but never really got neither the game fully ready for nor full blown permission to commercialize it. However it became what today is considered a true Classic Amiga game not to mention that it is also considered the foremost accurate Battletech computer game. So much so, I still play it today on my Amiga systems. (actually later revisions we never released publicaly are the ones I play - please do not ask for copies. They are not and will not be released to anyone. There are full available copies however of the last build we did release on the Amiga that you can get if you do want to get it.)
Well that was not all we were involved in. We also helped in the development of the 'Battletech Centers' that were built in many locations around the world. Each center consisted of actual Battletech full sized 'Cockpits' including hundreds of controls (which were eventually toned down a bit to about 75-85 or so if I remember correctly), two joysticks, full sound and one of the first EVER true 3D video games ever created. In most centers, there were 16 cockpits networked together and each cockpit one person sat in and basically you all fought it out in a full 3D generated world of Battletech. It was state of the art technology then. Each cockpit contained an Amiga main board as well as Ralph and I's designed Sapphire 020 (68020 accelerator processor card). And of course the software to operate all this in real time 3D graphics. i.e. DOOM was NOT the first true 3D video game. Battletech was albeit, only in these Battletech Centers at that time.
Here is a bit of 'news' or promotional information that is about these centers. Much more information can be found on the Battletech WIKI.
"The BattleTech creators' goal of creating an immersive BattleMech simulation came to fruition in 1990 with the opening of the first BattleTech Center at the North Pier Mall in Chicago. The BattleTech Center featured 16 networked, full-sized cockpits or "pods" that resembled a fully functional BattleMech cockpit with over 80 separate controls. Each player selected a 'Mech to pilot into combat against up to seven other human players in the other cockpits.
Virtual World Entertainment, the company that managed the centers, later opened many other Virtual World centers around the world. It eventually merged with FASA Interactive Technologies (FIT) to form Virtual World Entertainment Group (VWEG) to better capitalize on various FASA properties. In 1999, Microsoft Corporation purchased VWEG to integrate FIT into Microsoft Game Studios and sold VWE. VWE continues to develop and support the current BattleTech VR platform called the Tesla II system, featuring BattleTech: Firestorm." Quoted from: BATTLETECH WIKI 2009
After buying SINS, I too started immediately seeing a potential for a Battletech Universe. In fact, SINS would be PERFECT for the actual Battletech Universe in terms of the space (i.e. BattleSpace) and AeroTech, jumpship and space combat fleets. The only thing missing is planetary side combat (Battletech and CityTech) using dropships, mechs, armored vehicles, defensive weapons and turrets as well as infantry units etc. If SINS had the ability to 'ZOOM' into or down to the planetary level, say like Battlecruiser 3000 AD or perhaps Imperium Galactica II, where can actually engage in the planetary battles with your units you have dropped onto the planet or even built on the planet, SINS would be the absolute perfect Battletech playground.
SINS powerful engine could easily recreate all the houses... Davion, Liao, Kurita, Steiner and Marik as well as the house controlled regions etc. It could also expand further to include the Clans, ComStar and the rim areas.
It would be so cool to have space battles then drop to planetary level and fight for planetary control as well in the Battletech universe with its super attention to details and so forth.
Count me in as I am also interested in something like this as well.
Sweet!
Welcome aboard........"sir" for lack of being able to show higher marks of respect on the internet !
How about "your higness", your servant bows before you!
"Shadow bows
Let's rock & roll!
WELCOME!!!! Glad to see you!! I look forward to reading up and chatting with you on lore and such, maybe we can fight on day in game!
Wow, glad to see someone like you who had a deep intrest in the Battletech lore and such interested.(EDIT: I remember those simulators! Those were the so awesome!!!!) Though, I just want to make sure that you understand that this wont be taking place in the Battletech universe, but in the pre existing SINS one. I hope you dont think that is a total remake of the old Steal Command, but just taking that concept and bring it into the SINS universe. Other than that, I welcome you also and hope to see you make an apperance into on our now 3 factions!!!!!!
Unified Explorers (TEC) https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/346132
The Illumina (Advent) https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/352445
The Sorrowsworn (Vasari) https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/345788
Hi! i've been reading all the posts here and am very interested but i have a few questions:
1) need a faction be composed entirely of one race, or can it be several (i.e., an all TEC faction v. a TEC/Vasari combo)?
2)what if you are interested in things like lore creation, rule-mongering, and playing? i am interested in these, but have no idea as to what i would qualify as.
3) if you are intersted in playing, what do you do if you don't necessarily have time to fight/finish a conflict that you are in?
1) Nah..to start all factions are separate..but nothing stops form from creating an alliacne with such and such a race for X conflicts,etc..
2) The more you're into it the better...complete immersion would make this awesome!
3) Thats why sins has this AWESOME SAVE option
Currently as far as I know, Binjured can confirm this for sure since he is the man in charge, factions are just one race only. But there is room for many factions per race now that we have 1 per race.
Lore wise, like shadow said. There is room for lore creation. I can speak for the Unifed Explorers than lore creation is not only encouraged but required, you must at least make your own background lore.
Once again Binjured is the main league man, Im not sure how in game playing will play out. That is something that will have to be ironed out once the main league site is up and running.
and for this yet agian..I stress that Binjured gets his behind here ASAP
But, now that we have 3 factions we'll finally be able to iron that out. Binjured needs to re-activate.
I have sort of a curiousity w/e you want to call it but, when I made my faction I bothered to give the entire race lore which fill in the gaps and whatnot that the site or the game manual didn't say(which was alot), and I must admit I did this at first due to the fact I honestly thought the faction leader had entire control of their respective race in lore matters and the factions within them...
Having taken another look at the other faction leaders I realize this is not the case, and have respectfully changed what exactly I controlled in the advent but my faction the Illumina are based on the previous lore I had created for the advent. If we were going to add more factions to each race how would it play out if someone wanted the race lore to be different or didnt fit their own factions background would I have to integrate change or what? Any feedback on this would be lovely.
So, to get this up and running, we need people, maps, and leaders... uhh soo... are you proposing we simply play this on ICO orrr... what..? Summer is just about here so i dont think people will have scheduling conflicts, Should we( yes i think i want to be in on this , TEC ALL THE WAAYY AHHH) make a website with a calender for each faction with different members posting requests for dates, different chatrooms, a galactice map, ect..?
And another important decision, should we make it only Entrenchment owners, or should we include a on Original Sins owners, i dont think it will be very, uhh... official-like, to have both, 1 or the other..
Lastly, If would like to contact me, i keep a close watch on my email USUALLY, so, if you have anything to add its,
Desamator@austin.rr.com, kthxbye
didnt catch the entrenchment only... SHEESH Bin, ur gonna drive me straight into bankruptcy.. 10 whole dollars... jeez
Anyways, I think we should -In Addition to the jobs already available-
The universe should have a news commitee, to keep members informed, like just a basic mailing list that if you choose to, you can sign up for, and Faction Leaders- Can submit information to, to keep most members informed of the happening,
Thanks for your time, please keep me informed, at above email address or on the forum,
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