Programming: Riskier (Part 2)

I think that this version of Risk, aka ‘The Risk Board Game’ is a bit dull for a rewrite, and so I have decided to introduce a more complex economic model, based on the interaction of individual regions, which will culminate in an equivalent ‘need’ to conquer all the regions on a particular continent. Essentially, each region will have an economic value (it’s core worth – termed ‘E’), but will return to the player each turn (or thereabouts) a value equal to it’s value E plus 20% of all neighbouring E, plus 5% of all those neighbours’ neighbours. In total, 3 levels of recursion are envisaged, as the following table will show:

Region Distance	Percentage of Economy (E)
0	100
1	20
2	5
3	1

Also, I decided to add another major change to the risk model, namely by making it Real Time (not turn based). That is, I want each unit to be able to move at any time, restricted only by it’s readiness level. Readiness will be reduced by 50% for each region move, and 75% will be required to move at all. Hence, although everything could move at the same time, it would be strategically dangerous to do so. Readiness will be regained by a unit based on a variety of factors which will be determined later, but which will involve tech level, morale, and whether the region being moved into is friend or foe.

Programming: Riskier (Part 1)

I love the board game of Risk, and have played various RTS (Real Time Strategy) games for several years. At high school I was always building games (via D&D or Battlemech) to keep myself and friends amused. Naturally, as a programmer, I have always thought about writing a game, since building business data-centric applications, although challenging, is by no means interesting, and to most, out right esoteric.

I chose Risk because the game is in essence extremely simple, and hence a great candidate for implementation to a computer. Furthermore, the Risk concept is easily extensible, with various additions to the core game being possible, particularly as future add ons.

So, what is Risk? Well, to the uninitiated (if there is such a person!) Risk is a game of nation building, or empire building. The game is won by conquering the neighbouring regions, and ensuring that your competitors can’t do the same. The winner is, by the classic definition, the last man standing. The value of a particular region is it’s composition in the continent. When all regions within a continent are conquered, the player then receives extra spending points. Armies are generated via these spending points, and thus the game is born.

Your Blogging Starts... Now

I'm finally blogging. Many thoughts pass through this brain of mine each moment, I wonder whether I'll ever truly be able to capture the essence of them all.. We'll soon see.

At least now I have no more excuses for not having an on-line presence. Here I am!

My intention is to blog about all things Laan. Mostly, I'll be mentioning programming, politics, and partying. My 3 favourite things. Well.. At least 3 favourite things I can blog about, anyway! :-)