Hi there,
I really have to say kudos to the designers for a excelent game. Now that I've finally had time to sink my teeth into it, and with the new patch, I'm finding it a very good war game, one of the best to come down the pike in a long time. And since I have a Masters in American History, the realism and history detailed in the game is amazing and impressive. My own personal tastes lean more to strategy games then war/tactical games, but I'm enjoying playing BoA despite that.
I do wonder, though, how the designers got the idea for a French and Indian/American Revolution game, since they are based in France and would have a easier time (as far as resources, information, language barrier, etc) with French wars in Europe or other European wars. This period really has'nt had much done on it, and I'm looking forward to seeing what else they do. And how they gathered all the information that was needed to make it.
On that related note, I was wondering if the designers (or other players here) have played any of the other Revolution War games available. There's only three out there that I know off:
Sons of Liberty, by SSI: A tactical war game from the late 80's, one of many that SSI did in those days, where you could play either side in a battle such as Bunker Hill, Saratoga and others. Not a bad game but looks and feels dated by today's standards. IBM Game.
Revolution 76, by SSI: Designed and written by Ed Beaver, who holds a PhD in History, originaly designed for the Apple II in the late 80's and ported to the IBM in 1990. A very good strategy game of the war, where you have to decide recruitment polcies, pick people to go to Europe to act as diplomates, balance how many Contientals to raise as opposed to Milita, and move them around to fight battles. Major downisde is that you can play as US only. I'd love to see a modern remake of this. Beaver also went on to make No Greater Glory, using a improved version of Rev 76's engine, on the American Civil War (and to this day is my favorite strategy Civil War game).
Liberty or Death, by Koei: Designed in the early 90's for the IBM and then ported to the SNES and Genesis. Where SSI is to computers, Koei is to consoles, and long been one of my favorite companies. Classic good Koei play, more detailed and in depth then Revolution 76, and my favorite game on the period (with BoA coming in second and Rev 76 third). You can play either side and fight tactical battles as well as the overall strategy game.
And to the best of my knowledge, in my 20 years of gaming, I've never seen a French and Indian computer game. Board and paper games, yes.....so kudos again the designers going out into this area!
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SoulBlazer
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Yep, I've spent hours playing Revolution '76 and Liberty or Death. I have to say I prefer BoA to both of the former; the scale of Rev '76 is yearly turns which I think is a bit too constrained, and I didn't like having to manage all the personalities involved constantly (though that may be somewhat realistic). Liberty or Death is actually a great game; I loved the intro movie and the realism of asking for additional reinforcements and being denied, and the votes of confidence if you are too inactive. Ultimately though it got to be too straightforward a game in terms of strategic thinking; you just have to start on one end of the continent and move toward the other end until you have captured and garrisoned every province, without much regard for strategic importance of key cities/forts/etc., constantly re-forming regiments whenever they get below 300 men (at least that's how I played it). Pity I only ever got the chance to play against an AI though; I would love to play a game of Liberty or Death against a real player, maybe in a 24-hour arcade for wargamers 
One game you didn't mention is Campaign 1776 from HPS Simulations, which I myself have never played so I won't comment on it.
One game you didn't mention is Campaign 1776 from HPS Simulations, which I myself have never played so I won't comment on it.
On behalf of all our team, thanks for your nice words.
There is several reasons why the American War of Independence and French-Indian War was choosen:
a) As you said, it has not be covered on the PC gaming.
b) Philippe Thibaut had already done much historical research on the era with boardgame design quite a long time ago.
c) these wars presented a "unity of focus" (for lack of better term) as they can be reduced to two sides (with some tricks, like the French being integrated in the American faction but with custom graphics, this also allowed nice combined operations). A single massive landmass with mostly land operations. No tricky & mandatory diplomatic module and production that can be somehow handled either by the raise of militia or with the scripting engine.
I disgress on (c) as I'm the coder, and this is the part I know best, but (b) was of equal importance, PhilThib will give you more details, as he is the historical buff and lead designer in our team
(c) was very important too, as we design and code with an incremental approach. Each game will build upon the other, and we always keep that in mind when we work, so that the quality can remains constant over several games. We would not have been able to create a complex system as the World War II on our first game eg. BoA was in fact a perfect subject for us.
There is several reasons why the American War of Independence and French-Indian War was choosen:
a) As you said, it has not be covered on the PC gaming.
b) Philippe Thibaut had already done much historical research on the era with boardgame design quite a long time ago.
c) these wars presented a "unity of focus" (for lack of better term) as they can be reduced to two sides (with some tricks, like the French being integrated in the American faction but with custom graphics, this also allowed nice combined operations). A single massive landmass with mostly land operations. No tricky & mandatory diplomatic module and production that can be somehow handled either by the raise of militia or with the scripting engine.
I disgress on (c) as I'm the coder, and this is the part I know best, but (b) was of equal importance, PhilThib will give you more details, as he is the historical buff and lead designer in our team
(c) was very important too, as we design and code with an incremental approach. Each game will build upon the other, and we always keep that in mind when we work, so that the quality can remains constant over several games. We would not have been able to create a complex system as the World War II on our first game eg. BoA was in fact a perfect subject for us.
Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law."
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