SC3 in the far future...
Ready for playtest...
I have been working for well over a year creating a new, science-fiction campign mod for SC3 and it is finally
ready for serious playtest. If anyone is interested in helping in this regard, contact me here or PM or at
"mroyer1 at comcast dot net".
Note: Hotseat and PBEM only - there is no AI (sorry for that!)
Backstory:
After searching for nearly half of a millennium, SETI has finally detected electro-magnetic transmissions that
many believe are the signature of an extra-terrestrial civilization. To date, the transmissions have not been
successfully translated nor even confirmed that the source is intelligent life.
Nevertheless, in the wake of the discovery political, social and religious movements on Earth and throughout the
Solar System, are calling for the immediate and swift establishment of a 3rd Terran Empire to once again bring all
the worlds of human space under a unified political structure so that humanity presents a singular, consistent
voice of strength to any extraterrestrial civilization. In their view, it is critical to establish the 3rd empire
prior to first-contact with any alien civilization.
The out worlds are not convinced...
Campaign Guide:
Here is the campaign guide to help you decide
if you're interested in this project.
From the manual introduction:
I never intended to create a science-fiction campaign for Strategic Command WWII – War in Europe (SC3). The very
notion is counter to the historically precise scenarios and aficionados who play them. Indeed, I am among that
crowd and enjoy learning history through the lens of gaming. SC3 is a great vehicle for that.
So, in that pursuit I undertook to create a campaign that would depict the massive war between China and Japan
that took place from 1937 to ’38 drawing largely upon my original work on the topic published in 1998 as War of Resistance.
Despite making reasonable progress, it soon became clear that as a newcomer to the SC3 modding
system, I needed to more fully understand the campaign development process and its rich underpinnings if I was to
be able to deftly depict the nuances of the war in China during that period.
It was then that I embarked on the whimsical effort to create something totally wild and off-the-wall; something
that would push the very limits of SC3’s capabilities; something that would force me to understand those limits.
After that, I would return to the original China project much better equipped for the task.
For my whimsy I chose an interstellar conflict pitting star-faring nations against one another. Hyperdrive navies
would assault enemy planets across an interstellar expanse. Governments on far-flung planets would vie for
supremacy in a new galactic order. This surely would challenge every limit of SC3 and teach me what is and isn’t
possible.
Well… plans morph and surprises happen. To my delight, the SC3 engine performed far better than expected for such
an off-topic endeavor. I’m not going to pretend it was easy to do – it wasn’t – or that it is a perfect
implementation – it isn’t. Nevertheless, I have been able to twist the 20th century historical system enough that
it works surprisingly well in the science-fiction 26th century. As the project progressed, I became more
engrossed in it. The project took on a life of its own and became more than simply a pedagogical tool to learn the
system. It became its own project – Bellum Galaxia (Latin for "war of the galaxy").
Ironically, from a simulation perspective, Bellum Galaxia may provide a better simulation of what our historical
counterparts faced. When we play a WW2 simulation, we have preconceived notions based on our own perspective and
interpretation of historical results. If a simulation doesn’t match our expectation, we declare foul and “bad
simulation”. But the reality is, our historical counterparts had no idea of the outcome of their decisions and no
preconceived expectations as we gamers do. By detaching the campaign from history and setting it instead in the
far future, players find themselves lacking foreknowledge and historical bias just as the historical figures we
emulate.
-Mark R.
Human Space:
