Topic: Vassal Mod Update - PBEM
As I've mentioned here before, I am working on a Vassal Module for Starmada which will allow us to play it as a boardgame on a computer (allowing live play over the internet and play by email). Players have to own and know the rules, of course, as the computer does not moderate game play but merely acts as a virtual gameboard (with lots of nice computer-age features). See the Vassal Page for more about this software. The Dugan is doing Yeoman's work as the artist for all the ship counter designs. LSutehall is our able playtester extraordinaire.
The update is this:
1) Thanks to Dugan we have three complete factions (i.e., countersets for three distinct fleets) in the game. He has planned a fourth for us.
2) Thanks to LSutehall, he and I have found some issues needing correcting and I keep adding new things to the module.
3) Today, I added support for Minefields, Asteroid Fields, Planets, and Black Holes. Vassal supports these beautifully, as you can see in the attachment below, by providing an area of effect overlay which grows darker the more fields overlap a hex.
Design philosophy at this point is to support everything in Starmada: AE main rulebook and release it that way. As needed, I would like to add anything from the source books Imperial Starmada and Hammer & Claw after that. I am not too familiar with those yet so I am not sure what would need to be supported within the Vassal Mod. But that is down the road a way.
I plan to continue to update it after that as people have suggestions/corrections.
LSutehall and I are finishing up our second PBEM game and I hope we can next attempt an online test of the game (i.e., live play via the internet) and then perhaps one more PBEM to test out newly added features. I plan to take screen captures of that battle as it progresses and post them here as a Battle Report.
Kevin
