Roman blew the dust off his 1952 Lugg & Lewis vulpograph yesterday. The result is a trad geofoxer with a ********* flavour. Below the break you’ll also find a Vera-style brainteaser set by a reader. Veteran defoxer Aergistal challenges you to geo-locate a stretch of blacktop that starred in an iconic 90s game cinematic.
P is for Periscopic peak. Purchasers of Modern Naval Warfare, a military-grade modern sub sim due to enter Early Access later today, will encounter a learning curve shaped like “a mountain not a hill”. Publishers Matrix Games have taken the unusual step of filling an entire Steam page post with home truths about their potential Dangerous Waters displacer. A 200-page manual, time-consuming engagements, an interface “crowded with acronyms” and “designed for functionality and realism, not necessarily ease of use”… you can’t say you weren’t warned.
J is for Judicious jugular slicing. If the Red Recon: 1944 trailer (see below) tempts, try the demo while you can. Available until Thursday, the single-mission taster for Varangs’ upcoming Commandos-like launches in Russian. Tap this menu button to access language selection.
E is for Exceptionally elastic engine. No-one could accuse Lado B da História of lacking ambition. The Brazilian YouTubers behind a library of short WW2 history documentaries are working on a wargame-cum-visualisation tool able to sim warfare of all eras. War Room: Tactical Sandbox’s tantalising trailer raises as many questions as it answers. How will this João-of-all-conflicts handle fog-of-war, weather, and line-of-sight? Will the AI be sufficiently lithe and sophisticated to offer realism and challenge in a multitude of time-frames?
Ask an AI about the risks of developing games with AI assistance, and it will probably mention ethical, PR, and legal issues, quality control implications, and the possibility of producing a plaything that’s short on character or fun. What it may not mention are the following hazards.
If there’s an appetite for it, Roman will set a weekly Romanesque brainteaser every Sunday from now on. The free web version of our hexy/lexy word game isn’t as smart or substantial as the full Monty, but is more convenient. Click here, and assuming you’re using a PC or tablet (thus far I’ve been unable to get it to work with phones) you should be playing within seconds.
A is for American Revolutionary War released. The bibliography for the game I’m working on, currently consists of four tomes. I’ll need to pull my socks up if I wish to out-swank ARW’s ‘recommended reading’ list. Mike Cox, the lead designer of Wargame Design Studio’s latest offering, name-checks over 150 books in his extensive design notes!
Today’s bijou brainteaser is both accidental and personal. Beyond the break is a century-old Box Brownie snap of one of my great aunts. Can you help me identify both the photo’s location and date?