Matrix Games Forums

Or Boardgame conversions from the days of youth.

Some of my favorites.
For the PC or Pocket PC

Dictator {16k of fantastic text action .}
If someone could create a really fine playable Junta/ Dictator style Political / Coup ?/ Insurgency game I would sell my House to own it! a subtle mix of Guns or Butter , i can see a sort of Civilisation style game.
Who controls the Radio and press gets 'X' , Whoever controls the ports gets 'X'.
there was a game called Insurgency where the Government side had a few helicopters some fighter planes
some armour, mechanised troops , While the Rebels had support from the villages { spies} mines , and limited arms. a real blast to play , when you got it to run.
So a Junta / Guerilla /Dictator / President elect style political manouvering game for me. {no not tropico!!}

Chaos
The 8 way wizard fest in a wizards guild / tempest like arena. Think how many spells and terrains there could be now.

Sink the bismark
I loved it .Two raiders against the royal Navy . Just recently done as a boardgame by Avalanche Press with a host of options. I would really like an atlantic 1939 -1944 sim . The big plots , recon , enigma, weather , U-boat war etc . Play as the strategic commanders ,I think Sim Cam did one once before GNB series

QQP The Grandest Fleet . Perfect Pretzles Navy game.

Psytron : Where you ran a space station that needed a LOT of damage control and a good supply base

And for a boardgame conversion . They came from Pleasantville .. Sci-fi just waiting for a computer version.

And I should mention Matrix already doing a fine job with the battleground series and talonsoft.

i have spent the most hours on PC playing

1) Civilisation 1
2}Harpoon
3}Railroad Tycoon 1
4}Carrier strike
5}Xcom unknown / apocalypse.
6}Jagged Alliance
7}Chaos
8}Arnhem { an old ccs game}
9}Half Life
10}secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe {the original}

And if I'm honest have spent a long time thinking about starting up WITP only to end after turn 1 when i realise I have to manually assing every airman / sailor and soldier in the war to a command { or so it feels like} Please GG.. lets have some STAFF HQ' s next time !!

Has to be Advanced Squad Leader,but not done like a 3rd person shootem up.
 

Advanced Third Reich [:'(]

ORIGINAL: TOCarroll

Advanced Third Reich [:'(]

Now youre talking!That was such an awesome game.I would love to see Avalon Hill's Alesia,also the card game of squad Leader,Up Front i think it was called.I have a copy but it would be great to see more players out there with their own copies.Anyway,its all immeterial cos when the oil runs out PC's will be redundant and good ol fashioned Board Wargaming will return.[:D][:D]

"I would love to see Avalon Hill's Alesia"
 
Yes! Haven't played this for so long ... perhaps a quick look tonight is in order.
 

ORIGINAL: andym

Has to be Advanced Squad Leader,but not done like a 3rd person shootem up.

Program is called VASSAL or more specifically VASL. It allows you to play literal ASL on the computer. Stupid to waste time making what already exists for the most part. Any computer game that pretend to be ASL and can't do a better job than VASL already does, is certainly not going to sell to any of the real ASL fanbase.

ORIGINAL: TOCarroll

Advanced Third Reich [:'(]

A3R progressed through Rising Sun and then on to A World at War as the board game, and is playable through a computer with Warplanner software.

As with ASL and VASSAL, there isn't any reason to make a computer game and call it Advanced Third Reich unless it can do the job better than it is already being done.

If there was already a way to do the same with World in Flames, the current computer version project would also be pointless.

Dictator {16k of fantastic text action .} is this the Speccy game? then yes.

Chaos - Brilliant C64 - 8 bit game from the blokes who went on to do X-com?

Jagged Alliance - one of the best games/series ever........MATRIX, this looks like it's at a dead end.. pick it up!!!!!!!!

ORIGINAL: watchtower

Jagged Alliance - one of the best games/series ever........MATRIX, this looks like it's at a dead end.. pick it up!!!!!!!!

Why Matrix should do anything with it? Just walk to shop and buy it (I got JA2 Gold Pack like that just couple months ago). And if you don't find it from shop's shelf, take a look at eBay and other similar sites.

Titan and ASL

Titan would last me a good long time.

Cosmic Encounter would be fun with net play

Titan , thats the one I was trying to remember as a Chaos type board game.

Up Front as a computer game is a good shout .. Battlefront doing good things with card driven games.

I would think For the People and Paths of Glory would go in here too.

As for the list of games i played longest.. I wasn't recommending matrix pick them up , just a memory lane trip .
There is a new Jagged alliance due very soon as well as ufo : extraterstrials which looks like an X:com {lets hope it's better than Aftershock}

To split the thread a bit .. My Favorite Board games Desperately Seeking a computer conversion.

1} WIf ADG { yes i know already}
2} 1861-1865 victory games { yes I know matrix are doing a similar}
3} Gunslinger Avalon Hil { very tricky but a card driven type?}
4} Alesia Avalon Hill
5} Junta {weg}
6} Fury of Dracula {being reprinted now but was GDW}
7} Aliens { Leading edge } + sniper/ bug hunter SPI
8} Defence of Rorkes drift {3w}
9} Raid on st nazaire {Avalon Hill}
10} Star fleet battles : federation and empire {task force}

I played endless hours of Starfleet Battles but couldn't tolerate much of Federation and Empire. Sold it on ebay before our move over to the UK. Sold my SFB lot too for a pretty penny (nearly every Commanders Log, Nexus Mag, Rulesets, etc...)

For those of you missing AH Titan boardgame there is an open source version at Colossus. Same rules and a tolerable AI with multiplayer available. I play with a couple friends and it just like in college, except I get tired at 10 now instead of 4.

I would like to see AH Victory in the Pacific (I think that is the name) computerized. The atlantic version of that game was one of the first war games I played, besides Risk.

Don't hold your breath waiting for ANYthing ASL or Up Front.

You'll only faint and fall over from lack of oxygen.

ASL's electronic rights were already sold off.

Up Front, more of the same sort of story.

"Program is called VASSAL or more specifically VASL. It allows you to play literal ASL on the computer. Stupid to waste time making what already exists for the most part. Any computer game that pretend to be ASL and can't do a better job than VASL already does, is certainly not going to sell to any of the real ASL fanbase."

Does VASL have an AI to play against?

I have to agree . I have No problem with vasl or any other pbem or cybergames at all.If it works for you that is terrific .

However
Why am i waiting for WIF on computer ..?
because I never going to have a house to myself again to set up AND KEEP SET UP all the pieces required to play and space for maps etc.

same for ASL. I recently sold my collection of ASL as it sat unused in the attic waiting for me to create the space to set it up.

And ASL doesn't use a lot of space or time .just 4 - 5 boards -counters - markers - files - charts - rulebook - scenario cards .... ahh now I remember why it went up there in the first place.

ORIGINAL: bradfordkay

"Program is called VASSAL or more specifically VASL. It allows you to play literal ASL on the computer. Stupid to waste time making what already exists for the most part. Any computer game that pretend to be ASL and can't do a better job than VASL already does, is certainly not going to sell to any of the real ASL fanbase."

Does VASL have an AI to play against?

No VASL isn't a game, none of them are, if you don't have the actual game, you pretty well have nothing really.
AIs are tools of computer wargames so that the player can play a game and not require anyone to play against.

All the mentioned programs are utilities designed to let two borad gamers play their actual board game against each other.
That's the beauty, you don't have to fake playing ASL, it actually IS ASL. Or whatever other design is being played, because just about every good board game ever made appears to have been represented by these utilities.

ASL - you got to admit this one had two of the greatest failures ever [:D] (Original Close Combat & Combat Mission) both started out as a computer port of ASL.

Some old Computer Games that deserve a remake.

Action Stations
Great Naval Battles (without control over gun stations, just targeting orders)
Computer Air Combat - one of the first games to ever have an expansion pack (Joe Billings, hint!)
Empires Deluxe

ORIGINAL: jvgfanatic

I played endless hours of Starfleet Battles but couldn't tolerate much of Federation and Empire. Sold it on ebay before our move over to the UK. Sold my SFB lot too for a pretty penny (nearly every Commanders Log, Nexus Mag, Rulesets, etc...)

I still have my SFB stuff. man, that brings back memories!

ORIGINAL: cwie

"I would love to see Avalon Hill's Alesia"

Yes! Haven't played this for so long ... perhaps a quick look tonight is in order.

It's actually called "Caesar, Battle for Alesia" or some such. I have the counters separated into 6 different sized pill bottles for easy set up (and to keep them from falling out of the box and getting lost). I still mourn the lost white pawn from a wooden chess set that my girlfriend's kitten managed to bat into a sixth dimension (that was 38 years ago). But getting back to the Alesia game, I think it is the best that AH ever did.