It seems that given that there's no official campaign system for FT, opinions
are probably divided about what such a thing should contain, however...
If there's enough interest for something like this, I'm willing to take a hack
at creating something (I would assume in XLS format just because that seems to
be the one most people use out there).
The question remains, though, about what this proposed aid should really DO.
Comments? (If general comments for the group, then please address them here;
if specific ones for me, then address them to me at
> It seems that given that there's no official campaign system for FT,
(snip)
> The question remains, though, about what this proposed aid should
Campaign info is, IMH(and not yet fully thought out)O, five levels: I. Ship
records including location, damage and orders II. Production and supply III.
Planetary ownership and forcing change thereof IV. Political, diplomatic and
intelligence concerns V. Information flow, including details of courier boats
and travel times, so that your admiral 40 parsecs away won't know about the
results of the battle until someone makes it back to tell him.
> At 06:47 04/08/98 -0400, you wrote:
If you have a copy of them the Starfire Campaign rules might be useful for
coming up with a play aid. We did use a spreadsheet for our Starfire campaign
a couple of years ago, mainly it focussed on orders, ship design, ship
maintainance costs, message delays, fleet locations, construction queues,
technology and research costs.
I can't remember exactly but there may be some software out there for Starfire
which was useful for running a camapign. It may give you some idea as to what
is required.
Perhaps Oerjan or anyone else from the Starfire list would have a better idea?
> I can't remember exactly but there may be some software out there for
Just did a little checking.
V.2 of the Starfire Assistant can be found at
http://www.cfar.umd.edu/~keverill/Games/Starfire/Computer.html
There is a version 3.10 but there seems to be a problem getting the files from
Matt Seidl's FTP site. Anyway the main site for this program seems to be.
http://www.drizzt.demon.co.uk/Starfire.html
Hope this is of some use to you all. It may at least generate some ideas as to
what a campaign aid may require.
laserlight spake thusly upon matters weighty:
> Campaign info is, IMH(and not yet fully thought out)O, five levels:
VI. Research into new technologies, development and deployment thereof.
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Fax: (613) 831-8255
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> On Tue, 04 Aug 1998 14:46:48 +0100, Niall Gilsenan writes:
What problems are you having access the files on my site?
> Niall Gilsenan <ngilsena@indigo.ie> wrote:
[snip]
> If you have a copy of them the Starfire Campaign rules might be useful
I play Imperial Starfire, and I DO have a FileMaker Pro campaign template for
it. However, I was thinking of starting out with something a little
less grand-strategic for FT. My initial vision, which could then be
added to in time, is something that simply allows for a series of connected
battles, or perhaps one front of a war.
> I can't remember exactly but there may be some software out there for
There is a software package out there (you can get details on obtaining it at
the SDS Starfire homepage
http://cd.murr.missouri.edu/sds/SF-main.html),
but it isn't quite what I was thinking of; it's very complex, and I was
thinking of something a little more simple and elegant - in keeping with
the FT rules themselves.
> You wrote:
> VI. Research into new technologies, development and deployment
I dunno about that. In FT? Most of the major powers seem to be at the same TL,
and what's available to one is available to all of 'em. DSII, now that's got
TLs.
> At 09:32 04/08/98 -0700, you wrote:
I'd have to say that the concept of a single front or a sector level campaign
is rather more appealing than a full scale strategic game. I'm currently
playing in a campaign game like this in the Renegade Legion universe. Every
player is assigned a segment of the map to deal with and can call on
reinforcements from other sectors if necessary. Building fleets and legions is
not our concern, we simply have to make best use of them.
One thing that I've always found lacking in most campaign games is politics.
While it might make no military sense to hold onto that forlorn colony world
out in the boondocks, politically it may be vital (being the site of the
Emperors wonderous victory over the squashy frogs of Zelon 9 many years ago!).
I had thought of a campaign game in the outer sectors of the FT universe where
your reinforcements were based on the political value of the various systems
in a sector. The colnies in these sectors would have been so young (relatively
speaking) that the only value they represented at this point would be in terms
of propaganda.
These points could be traded at the end of the turn for a roll on the
reinforcement table. The more points you used (as positive modifiers) for your
roll the better your chance of receiving significant reinforcements.
Certainly the random nature of the reinforcements is more appealing than what
happened in our last FT campaign game. One player built a few superships and
trounced another player with them. The trouncee then promptly declared the
game over. Fortunes of war?
> what happened in our last FT campaign game. One player built a few
Well, don't kill of the Game Master so early next time!!!
Bye for now,
> One thing that I've always found lacking in most campaign games is
I'm in a campaign right now in which each player has Victory Points assigned
for achieving certain objectives. The objectives may vary by player. You also
get VP for winning battles, and probably for other things I haven't yet
determined. So if you want to assign a planet a political value, give it a VP
bonus.
> There is a software package out there (you can get details on
A 12.6 Mb ZIP file for v3.00 plus a couple more Mb for the upgrade? I'd say
that * definitely * qualifies as too complex. (shudder)