New Xconq Game: Bellum Aeternum

[Eric McDonald <mcdonald at phy dot cmich dot edu>]

Hello fellow Xconquerors,

  I am happy to announce that the modules for my new game, Bellum 
Aeternum, are now part of Xconq. This is the first public beta 
release of Bellum.

  "Bellum Aeternum" is Latin for "Eternal War", or a more direct 
transliteration, "War Eternal". The game is not supposed to 
simulate any particular conflict or any particular nation's armed 
forces. First and foremost, I hope it is fun and playable. 
Secondly, I am trying to make the concept of "command and control" 
the central feature of the game.
  Toward the goal of making the game fun and playable, I have 
included a rich variety of units (each with unique abilities or a 
distinct place on the price-performance curve). Hopefully 
this move will lead to a deep and enjoyable playing experience 
rather than a complicated, confusing one.
  As far as command and control goes, I still do not have that 
completely tweaked yet, but I feel that I am getting there. There 
are also other supplies that form a backdrop economy in the game. 
In general, players should be able to safely ignore them.
  
  Some of the game's features:
  * Emphasis on command and control. Consumed by nearly every 
action.
  * Multiple city types, including ruins.
  * A "germinator" unit that can start new towns and grand 
citadels.
  * Engineers, which can build air and sea bases, as well as 
fortifications, and can lay (and destroy) mines.
  * Air and sea bases can build some unit types. 
  * Capitols, which must be diligently guarded.
  * Command and control producer units: larger city units 
(especially capitols and grand citadels), field headquarters, 
bases, and capital ships (command cruisers, battleships, and 
fleet carriers).
  * Minefields on land and flotillas of mines at sea.
  * Some terrain types provide additional cover or exposure.
  * Production model centers on training cost rather than 
construction cost for land and air units. Construction and 
training cost for sea units.
  * ...  (the list goes on; plenty of other features)

  The game still has a few bugs that I know about, but at this 
point I think it is more important that I get feedback on the 
quality of play and hear any suggested improvements (and bug 
reports).

  There are still ways the game could be improved and expanded in 
the future, such as adding even more unit types (anyone up for 
some special ops, stormtroopers, nukes, or transport helicopters?)
The full potential of the game will not be reached with this 
version of Xconq.

  If you get a chance to play it, I welcome any feedback.

  I will probably take a shot at producing Windows binaries of 
Xconq (including all of Hans' improvements and my game modules) 
in the next day or so.

  Regards,
   Eric

P.S. If you are a Windows user who does not build Xconq from CVS, 
feel free to send me a private email so that I guage interest (and 
maybe get motivated to make the binaries sooner rather than 
later).