Tin Soldiers - Alexander the Great - the Trotter review

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Hi,

Not everyone's favourite reviewer, but a fine review nonetheless

http://www.wargamer.com/reviews/tinsoldiers_alexander/default.asp

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

 

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In article <1107796764.392853.272370@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>,
eddysterckx@hotmail.com says...
> Hi,
>
> Not everyone's favourite reviewer, but a fine review nonetheless
>
> http://www.wargamer.com/reviews/tinsoldiers_alexander/default.asp

Is (Will Trotter == Bill Trotter)?

--
Giftzwerg
***
"This really is the future I wanted. Although I expected
longer battery life."
- James Lileks

 

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Andy Brown wrote:
> > Not everyone's favourite reviewer, but a fine review nonetheless
>
> And note the following which ties in very nicely with the "best
gamers =best
> reviewers?" thread you started a couple of days ago.
>
> "This isn't "bad game design" so much as it is a psychological
> miscalculation on the part of an obviously gifted design team who'd
lived
> and breathed these digits for so long that they couldn't help but
have a
> different perspective on the game than many of their customers."

Well, computer programmers quickly learn that the *least* qualified
person to find bugs in your program is you. Users always do the
unexpected (damn them for screwing up a beautifull design). That's why
most developers nowadays rely on external beta-testers to do the
"unexpected" or to question game mechanics and interface.

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

 

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Giftzwerg wrote:

> Is (Will Trotter == Bill Trotter)?

Yup, a nice review - though as usual I've got a few bones to pick with
it

1) no mention is made that the gui could have easily been made a little
less click-heavy.

Game : click move icon, click unit, move it, click move icon again for
next unit etc.

My solution : click move icon, click unit, move it, click next unit
(i.e. the "move" order icon remains selected)

2) it's only mentioned in passing that every scenario must be
"unlocked" by succeeding/winning the previous one. After you've
completed the campaign, you're free to return to every scenario at
will. This is a design decision that I truly hated, but one that was
easily fixed by patching the registry.

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

 

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Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.war-historical (More info?)

> Not everyone's favourite reviewer, but a fine review nonetheless

And note the following which ties in very nicely with the "best gamers =best
reviewers?" thread you started a couple of days ago.

"This isn't "bad game design" so much as it is a psychological
miscalculation on the part of an obviously gifted design team who'd lived
and breathed these digits for so long that they couldn't help but have a
different perspective on the game than many of their customers."