|
Salvo! started as a
much smaller project originally called 'Splinters.' I just wanted a simple
game where you had hundreds of ships and you could move the ships around
and shoot at each other. However, from the start it was clear that there
was a lot more potential and that Salvo! would really shine as a more fully
realized game. 'Splinters' was fun, but the game is more meaningful when
you can change the crew allocations, board, or choose a different shot
type. Even if you do not use any of those choices, having them there adds
substance to Salvo!.
Splinters had no
interface at all until you selected a ship, and then all you got was the
action markers. The action markers represented every action that a ship
could undertake, given its unique circumstances. The idea was to make the
display as clean as possible, conveying information through the cursor and
action markers after a ship was selected. This idea is still at the core
of Salvo!, and only a few highly important interface elements are on the
screen, unless you have a ship selected.
I chose to make
Salvo! turn based because I have seldom been satisfied with the
implementation of 'real time' in games. Most 'real time' games are either
too slow or too fast, making you wait or forcing you to make too many
quick decisions. I guess that's part of the fun, but it's not for me.
Salvo! is turn based but the duration of a turn is about 5 minutes, so
there is always something to do. This makes Salvo! surprisingly fast paced,
and gives the player the option of spending as much or as little time on
each turn. With several quick clicks you can coast through the 45
game-time minutes leading up to contact, and then spend 20 real minutes on
the next 2 turns (10 game-time minutes) of crucial maneuvering and combat.
You are always in control.
Many of the
campaigns start out with small engagements but don't be fooled - almost
all of them are headed toward a showdown between two large fleets. Salvo!
is geared toward and designed for large fleet actions. Details like rudder
hits, fires, boarding and being taken aback punctuate the main business of
swapping broadsides until one side or the other has had enough.
Andrew
Lonon
Designer of Salvo!
|
