Space Alert | BoardGameGeek

Reply: Space Alert:: Variants:: Re: A little easy flavor for the Campaign Variant

StormKnight — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:20:42 +0000

This gives you incentive to not kill the easiest threats. Just a note :) Still, seems like it could be a fun idea.

We've been playing that all threats you meet are left out of future campaigns; that way you meet new stuff each time.

Usually I guess we either defeat the threats, or die by them, so I guess it wouldn't apply much.

Thread: Space Alert:: Variants:: A little easy flavor for the Campaign Variant

Saan — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:15:04 +0000

by Saan

The idea is to give a bit more difference between killing and surviving threats for campaign mode. This Works best if you shuffle advanced and regular threats together.

If you kill a threat, leave it out of the campaign. If you merely survive a threat, reshuffle it back into the threat deck for the next missions.

This does not apply to the malfunction internal threats, though we added a small houserule to those as well - any 'effect persists' effects from internal threats carry over to the next missions, but can be repaired in between missions just like damage.

Thoughts?

Reply: Space Alert:: Rules:: Re: How to teach rules to new players in few easy steps? (10min max!)

Jormungandr83 — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:32:10 +0000

by Jormungandr83

I wonder: would pausing the CD at the end of each phase, and then resolving that phase before moving on help ease people into the mechanics for their first game? Of course, this means that they wouldn't be able to move the tokens around during subsequent action phases, or else returning it to post-phase 1 would be difficult without re-resolving it all over again.

Still, if you have a group who can play the game without moving all the pieces around during the action phase, it may benefit their learning curve to try this out. Then they can see mid-mission where everyone else is and how easily their plans can get mixed up or out of sync.

Reply: Space Alert:: Rules:: Re: Using CD and Card

azuredarkness — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:30:06 +0000

by azuredarkness

Richard is correct.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: 4 vs 5 Player

mvettemagred — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:53:02 +0000

by mvettemagred

I've found that more humans equals more talking equals more confusion. We're actually most successful with 3 humans and one android. That doesn't make it more fun. More humans still equals more fun, but not more success.

Reply: Space Alert:: Rules:: Re: Using CD and Card

Blind Reality — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 06:20:16 +0000

by Blind Reality

You should use the card only to check if you added every threat after the track has finished playing.

Alternatively if you do not have a cd player / pc available you could have a player read the card's events at the specific times. However this player should not play as a crew member!

This all is in the rules somewhere. Haven't got them with me right now to give you a specific quote.

Thread: Space Alert:: Rules:: Using CD and Card

SquarePegIX — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 05:42:28 +0000

by SquarePegIX

Played this for the first time tonight, and I think I may have missed something in the rules.

I played as the Communications Officer. We used the CD, but I also kept the card in front of me that detailed the events of the mission. This meant I was able to warn the team of upcoming card trading, card drawing, and radio silences.

I suspect this was not what the designer had in mind, but I can't see anything in the rules determining one way or the other. I doubt it would have made much difference - we only won 1 out of the 4 games.

Apologies if this has already been addressed.

Reply: Space Alert:: Rules:: Re: What sort of info do you give during the Action phase?

elfrododumbo — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 01:40:54 +0000

by elfrododumbo

Ooooooooah ! I will be playing this game solo :ninja: Well, no one will hear me when I start shouting out questions and answering them myself :laugh:

Reply: Space Alert:: Rules:: Re: What sort of info do you give during the Action phase?

WhiteHowler — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:44:43 +0000

by WhiteHowler

Definitely talk about anything and everything. This isn't a game like Pandemic or Arkham Horror where one person can basically run the game -- everyone needs to be on the same page, and that takes some communication skills.

I think the most important point is coordinating weapons. Because of enemy shields, you're almost always going to want to fire the upper and lower weapons at the same time (and even time it with a rocket impact!). Figure out exactly when you need to fire, and tell someone: "Can you get down to lower red and fire on turn six?". You'll be amazed how easy it is to accidentally stagger your shots and fail to destroy a threat that should be dead a couple of times over.

The other big one is power. It's not enough to update the board every time someone uses or moves power cubes. Announce when it will happen! If I power up the blue reactor on turn nine and just move the cubes over there, someone else might try firing the blue main cannon on turn eight, because it LOOKS like there's power available. If I say "blue reactor charged on turn nine", there's much less chance of this happening.

And if nothing else, make sure that mouse gets waggled! My group actually has the player waggling the mouse physically take the grey cube off the bridge and put it on his turn track, right on top of the "C" card he used. Remember: if you miss one mouse waggle, there's a decent chance you'll miss a second one in a subsequent phase, due to the delay.

Once you've played with the same group a few times, you'll get a feel for which things need to be communicated (and repeated!) and which aren't as important.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: 4 vs 5 Player

WhiteHowler — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:24:10 +0000

by WhiteHowler

I think a lot of it depends on how autonomous your players are.

I usually end up in the Captain role, so I tend to be responsible for watching everything and making sure all threats and power concerns are being handled.

With four players, I can watch everyone pretty closely. I usually have enough awareness to spot when someone's made a mistake or has miscalculated power levels or threat range. At any given point during the Action Round, I have a pretty good feel for how the mission is going. I'm not a micromanager by any stretch, but having two sets of eyes on every threat and its solution helps a lot.

With five players, I find that there's just too much to keep track of. I can help coordinate on a basic level, but a lot of times there's so much going on that I can't watch most of the action outside of the areas I'm personally dealing with. More than one five-player session has ended with all of us asking "so... did anyone ever shoot at those Nebula Crabs?".

Fortunately, my five-player group turned out to be very resourceful and didn't need much direction to figure out what to do. One guy tended to gravitate to "main engineering" and took care of the reactor and pulse cannons, while the other four generally split up and worked as teams of two. I really didn't do much "directing" as Captain (which was good, because I was so busy making my own mistakes!).

I'd say with a group of players with good communication skills who aren't afraid to take initiative, the five-player version is going to be a bit easier. On the other hand, if your cooperative games tend to be dominated by one or two players, you might be better off with four; it's almost impossible to direct everything during a full five-player mission with the extra unconfirmed reports.

Reply: Space Alert:: Rules:: Re: What sort of info do you give during the Action phase?

Jormungandr83 — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:43:29 +0000

by Jormungandr83

That is what I assumed, that you could say anything. Just wanted to check!

Thanks for the quick replies :)

Reply: Space Alert:: Rules:: Re: What sort of info do you give during the Action phase?

daw65 — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:30:56 +0000

by daw65

You can say pretty much anything. You can move bits around to indicate that in turn 4 power cubes go from bottom center to bottom right, say. You can move your dude to whereever he happens to be going. You can do all that.

You just gotta do all that within 10 minutes. :)

Reply: Space Alert:: Rules:: Re: What sort of info do you give during the Action phase?

banyan — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:29:55 +0000

by banyan

Wow, disallowing any communication beyond showing what's in your hand or on your board would make this game nigh impossible. You can say anything.

The best communication, in my opinion, is volunteering for something, "I'll take care of the asteroid," or clearly expressing something you need done which you yourself cannot do, "I need someone to fire the secondary weapon in blue on turn 5."

See my strategy article on protocol for more detailed recommendations.

Thread: Space Alert:: Rules:: What sort of info do you give during the Action phase?

Jormungandr83 — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:12:48 +0000

by Jormungandr83

Is there a limit on the kind of information you can give? For instance, is saying "replenishing the blue reactor on 3" or asking "I can fire red lasers on 4, is the reactor full?" allowed?

I guess I'm asking two things here:
1. What sorts of announcements do you find the most helpful?
2. Is there anything that you not allowed to say?

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: 4 vs 5 Player

Nebenerwerbsbauer — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:09:54 +0000

by Nebenerwerbsbauer

after our 6 failed missions today i think four player is much harder then with five players ,because you have so little people to do so many things!
and the 1-2 threats you get for the fifth player are no problem ! so i think 4player is much harder then 5player.

Reply: Space Alert:: Reviews:: Re: Giant Hamster Ball of Chaos

JMacCaull — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:30:06 +0000

by JMacCaull

mvettemagred wrote:
Very funny review. I read it aloud to my wife on our camping trip.

Checking the 'geek on a camping trip. You guys must've really been roughing it. Awesome.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Will this be a classic?

Octavian — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:34:20 +0000

by Octavian

Admin Reminder:

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Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Will this be a classic?

ShreveportLAGamer — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:21:52 +0000

by ShreveportLAGamer

BigBur wrote:
My copy is coming in tomorrow, but I was wondering if after it has a month to really soak into the American crowd, would it become a co-op classic like Pandemic?

Whoa!!! What's this? What's this??? Can this be the very same Cameron Rachal (BigBurg) confirming the anticipated delivery of his own copy of the sci-fi-themed "Space Alert" game just that a week after he'd told me that strategy games with fantasy, horror and science fiction themes were "incompatible with [his] Christian beliefs"?

Could this be the same Cameron Rachal (BigBur) who'd insisted as a pre-condition to participating in my own game group that he wouldn't participate if we played games with any fantasy, horror or sci-fi themes?

Could this be the very same Cameron Rachal (BigBur) who was so self-righteously prejudgmental as to tell me that my life "wasn't right with God" after I'd declined to accommodate his prejudices in my game selections?

Unfortunately, it is.

Oh well, Mr. Rachal should take cold comfort in the fact that in outer space, nobody can hear ya scream, "Hypocrite!"

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

Werebear — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:59:17 +0000

by Werebear

WhiteHowler wrote:
I'm pretty sure the guy's just trying to troll us, or just completely doesn't understand how the game works. It's kind of hard to tell from his obtuse, stream-of-consciousness posts.

I'm with you on this one.

As I said, I don't think it can actually be done - there's too much decision making to do this with a set script - but he hedges on the set part of the script too.

If the script contains a lot of conditionals to make it work, then it isn't actually a set script - especially if the conditionals ("if a threat comes in on Blue trajectory, run over to blue and hit the shields") depend on identifying the threat, too. Many Blue threats actually damage Red or Blue - what good is it to turn on shields in Blue if the damage isn't happening there?

All of that decision making is, in my opinion, where the fun (and jolly good chaos!) happens - and I for one really enjoy it.

Further, as I think about it more, there are really only a limited number of things that a single actor in the game can do. It's pretty basic. There are 3 actions at each station, and one station is the start station, three others are one step away, and two more are two steps away. So at most, a single player can only hope to get in:
Command: one of 3 actions in 12 turns
Top Right and Left, or Engineering: one of 3 actions in 11 turns
Bottom Right and Left: One of 3 actions in 10 turns.

The chances of picking (even randomly) the correct 12 actions out of the potential 99 possible choice sets is fairly impossible to predict.

The OP has said he's only played four games, and also explains that he spent some of his time "playing" doing dishes and being bored.

If he had done a script (on a single piece of cardboard, no less), he could have shared it with us and we'd see if we agreed.

But otherwise, this just looks like a strange troll... 'tis a bit funny, nonetheless, and being unhappy about a game is common at times here on the 'Geek, so... more power to him!

Russell

Reply: Space Alert:: Reviews:: Re: Giant Hamster Ball of Chaos

JohnRayJr — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:49:22 +0000

by JohnRayJr

Great review of one of my favorite games. I would just add that it gets easier. It depends on the group, but if you ramp up with Tutorial, Sim, Sim, Adv. Sim, Adv. Sim, Full Game, you should be fine.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

WhiteHowler — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:13:09 +0000

by WhiteHowler

KingCroc wrote:
If this "script" of his was so easy, wouldn't he have it done by now?

I'm pretty sure the guy's just trying to troll us, or just completely doesn't understand how the game works. It's kind of hard to tell from his obtuse, stream-of-consciousness posts.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

KingCroc — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:58:54 +0000

by KingCroc

If this "script" of his was so easy, wouldn't he have it done by now?

Reply: Space Alert:: Variants:: Re: Alternative (Balance Focused) Mission Generator

Nightmare — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:12:36 +0000

by Nightmare

Fu_Koios wrote:

Another possible glitch - if you are on Vista you would need to unpack
FuMissionGen to a plain user directory since Vista write protects the
program file directories (but I would have expected an error instead of just missing files in that case).

That was my next guess, just ran out of time to play with it last night. I moved the FuMissionGen to my documents directory and the files generated just fine.

Thank you for all the work on this!

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: 4 vs 5 Player

Hate — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:33:18 +0000

by Hate

Our experience was that we were easily handling all 8 mission tracks with only advanced (yellow) threats with 4 players and racking up scores in the high 40's or even 50's. With 5 players, the added chaos more than overbalanced the advantage of having extra actions and our scores dropped into the 20-40 range with a few utterly epic failures mixed in.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Good with Family?

Hate — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:27:49 +0000

by Hate

My wife and I taught this to my parents on Friday night and we ran through 20 missions in under 24 hours. We all had a great time with it and didn't mind the times we failed the missions due to a misstep or someone making silly mistakes because they were still learning. When we played some more on Sunday, there was a bit more tension, shouting, and underlying family issues as mentioned above since we had all become 'experienced' crew members. Overall it depends on the shape and dynamics of your family, and in the end, all you can do is give it a try and see how it works in your own family.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

Blustar — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:25:19 +0000

by Blustar

Whatever scripting you have in mind isn't going to work...lol

I've tried, but please enlighten us if you achieve this feat!

I think if you script in a general way you can have some success but if you get specific, not so much.

Reply: Space Alert:: Variants:: Re: Alternative (Balance Focused) Mission Generator

Fu_Koios — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:43:42 +0000

by Fu_Koios

Nightmare wrote:
I downloaded the program and installed perl. Everything seems to run just fine and the program reports that it is generating the mission file, but I don't seem to be able to find it. I even searched for the file on my computer and still can't find it...

It should have put the output files in your
"Current Directory" when you ran the FuMission.pl script.

Without knowing more about your operating system (which version are you running) and how you triggered the program I am not sure what the problem is. Assuming you are are some windows variant...

As a possible work around, run a command window (under accessories on windows). In the command window use the CD command to set your directory
to where FuMissionGen.pl resides. (For example, but you have to give
the right path to where you actually unpacked it.)

C:> CD FuMissionGenV01

The run the mission generator by typing
into the command window:

C:FuMissionGenV01> perl FuMissionGen.pl

Then it should definitely place the output file in the same directory
where the script resides...

Another possible glitch - if you are on Vista you would need to unpack
FuMissionGen to a plain user directory since Vista write protects the
program file directories (but I would have expected an error instead of just missing files in that case).

Reply: Space Alert:: Reviews:: Re: Giant Hamster Ball of Chaos

Carmilla — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:23:24 +0000

by Carmilla

Awesome, thanks! That sounds promising.

Reply: Space Alert:: Variants:: Re: Alternative (Balance Focused) Mission Generator

Nightmare — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:22:43 +0000

by Nightmare

I downloaded the program and installed perl. Everything seems to run just fine and the program reports that it is generating the mission file, but I don't seem to be able to find it. I even searched for the file on my computer and still can't find it...

Reply: Space Alert:: Reviews:: Re: Giant Hamster Ball of Chaos

WhiteHowler — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 02:35:44 +0000

by WhiteHowler

Carmilla wrote:
But there's just one CD, right? Doesn't it get kind of samey? Are you dealing with the same pre-programmed threats every game?

There's one tutorial/simulation CD -- which you only use to learn/teach the game -- and one mission CD.

It's a lot more random than it sounds.

The CD's only tell you where and when the threats appear. The threat decks are shuffled, so you never know what's going to show up during a given mission. Most threats are VERY different; they all have specific attacks, defenses, and special abilities. Your trajectory tracks are also random, which can have a drastic effect on a threat's abilities and the manner in which you deal with it.

Even if you somehow memorize the sequence of events for every mission (which would be tough), you still wouldn't know what was going to appear or how exactly it would need to be dealt with.

There's also a mission randomizer available for download from the Files section here, which will create random mission audio tracks based on a wide variety of criteria. You can set the difficulty level as well as several other inputs, and it will generate an MP3 you can use during the game.

So I wouldn't worry about the CD's getting stale. They're more of a framework than a script for your missions.

Reply: Space Alert:: Reviews:: Re: Giant Hamster Ball of Chaos

Carmilla — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:56:17 +0000

by Carmilla

This really sounds like fun. (Well, actually it sounds like my job, but without getting paid, but still sounds appealling somehow.)

But there's just one CD, right? Doesn't it get kind of samey? Are you dealing with the same pre-programmed threats every game?

File: Space Alert:: Space Alert - Alternate Mission Generator

Fu_Koios — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:03:06 +0000

by Fu_Koios

Space Alert - Alternate Mission Generator for Board Game: Space Alert ]]>

Reply: Space Alert:: Reviews:: Re: Giant Hamster Ball of Chaos

Chanfan — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:00:02 +0000

by Chanfan

mvettemagred wrote:
Very funny review. I read it aloud to my wife on our camping trip.

While I agree - what the heck are you doing reading BGG on a camping trip?!? :what: :shake:

Reply: Space Alert:: Reviews:: Re: Giant Hamster Ball of Chaos

mvettemagred — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:04:25 +0000

by mvettemagred

Very funny review. I read it aloud to my wife on our camping trip.

While the chaos seems overwhelming at first. I found it only takes new players 2-3 games to really understand how to work together. Then the full mission tracks start throwing larger trees and rock outcroppings at you and the trip downhill really gets fun. Keep playing, and don't forget to jiggle the mouse.

File: Space Alert:: Space Alert - Alternate Mission Generator

Fu_Koios — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:04:05 +0000

by Fu_Koios

Space Alert - Alternate Mission Generator for Board Game: Space Alert ]]>

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: 4 vs 5 Player

jayquirk — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:27:27 +0000

by jayquirk

My experience matches cornjob's. 1 player handling energy and possibly the bridge while everyone else mans the lasers and battlebots works great in a 5 player game. In a 4 player game, there just isn't slack to let someone handle engineering full time.

Reply: Space Alert:: Reviews:: Re: Giant Hamster Ball of Chaos

Phantomwhale — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:06:17 +0000

by Phantomwhale

Another awesome review, Mr Drake, and my wishlist grows ever longer.

Thought this was a gimmic to ignore - you've talked me out of that - think I've got the right mentality of players to take this on as well.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: 4 vs 5 Player

cornjob — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 03:41:43 +0000

by cornjob

I think its common for a group to die the first couple times or so. It IS easier with 5 players since you have that many more actions defending the ship. Its not an automatic advantage, though, until you use them wisely.

It seems like having one player (as a crude basic strategy) take each of the outside 4 compartments and one player shutting up and down to toggle the computer and load the energy or fire the bottom lasers is another decent strategy. Of course, nothing stays that way, but its a good way to make your initial dispositions...and in doing so 5 is much stronger than 4.

Reply: Space Alert:: Variants:: Re: Alternative (Balance Focused) Mission Generator

Fu_Koios — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 02:59:03 +0000

by Fu_Koios

Thanks for the correction on the directory separator.

I will release V2 in a couple weeks (I am sure a few more corrections and
enhancements will filter in...)

Reply: Space Alert:: Variants:: Re: Alternative (Balance Focused) Mission Generator

Fu_Koios — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 02:55:42 +0000

by Fu_Koios

Sorry to say, I am not sure why XML-DOM-lite failed to install
for you.

I can think of two alternative procedures:

First idea, try ppm in GUI mode

1) Launch ppm without any arguments (it will bring up GUI application)
2) Select upper left icon (View All Packages)
3) After it populates the list (this takes a while), scroll down
and select the XML-DOM-Lite package.
4) Pick 5th icon from the right (mark for install) and then the
3rd icon on the right (run marked actions)

Second idea - download the package directly from CPAN
and run the install from the command line.

1) Web page:
http://search.cpan.org/~rhundt/XML-DOM-Lite-0.09/lib/XML/DOM...
2) Download link
http://search.cpan.org/CPAN/authors/id/R/RH/RHUNDT/XML-DOM-L...
3) Unpack to a temporary directory (you may need a tool like 7-zip
if you don't have a tar.gz unpacker.)
4) Run the Makefile.pl file which comes from inside the archive.

Since I don't know what is going wrong with the easy method I am not
sure if these alternates will work or not.

Reply: Space Alert:: Reviews:: Re: Giant Hamster Ball of Chaos

Lil Red Head — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 02:47:45 +0000

by Lil Red Head

Great report! I LOVE this game - it's my only 10 listed (I'm very picky) - and I think the chaos you described is great. It is true, tho, that once you play a number of times with the same folks, the reason emerges from the chaos and it can, at times, go like a well oiled machine. then there's times when you go, wait, I meant to go red, not blue, and the ship blows up in a blaze of glory.

I have only played with a couple who owns the game (and we usually play 5), but I'm about ready to branch out and try with other folks too. Even tho we've gone from barely surviving, if we did at all, to completing missions (3 in a row), I still find this game to be so much fun! Thanks for your fun perspective!

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: 4 vs 5 Player

StormKnight — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 01:46:51 +0000

by StormKnight

I find the game more challenging for 5 players. While you may have more people and more actions, the ship doesn't have any more power or weapons, coordination becomes more difficult, and the chances of somebody screwing up increases.

I also find it much more fun and chaotic with 5 players.

Reply: Space Alert:: Variants:: Re: Alternative (Balance Focused) Mission Generator

bowling_m_h — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:54:49 +0000

by bowling_m_h

Thanks for sharing. I love that it's in perl because it means it's more portable. It works great on my mac, for example.

I did have to make one change to "WriteAudio.pm" to make it work. Use '/' instead of '\' to reference the Clips directory. This change should be portable so you could incorporate it into the "official" version (see http://www.techiwarehouse.com/cms/engine.php?page_id=9277370...).

Now I'd love to have this as an iPhone app, where you just choose the difficulty and hit play.

If anyone else wants to get it to work on a mac (with Leopard), here's the commands for getting the non-standard perl modules. Hopefully you already know about Terminal.app, since Daniel's mission generator only runs from the command line anyway.

[c]% sudo cpan -i Audio::Wav
% sudo cpan -i XML::DOM::Lite[/c]

It'll first ask for your password. When first running cpan you may also have to configure it. Basically this involves hitting enter many times to accept the default options.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Good with Family?

Peads — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:12:11 +0000

by Peads

Thanks a lot, guys. I assumed this would be the case. I think this could work in the future, but I need to wean them onto it. I'll probably get another game instead. Again, thanks a lot.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: 4 vs 5 Player

coolpapa — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:46:40 +0000

by coolpapa

I think the game itself is slightly easier with 5 - you suddenly have 12 more actions to deal with 1 more threat. Not bad. However, coordination becomes more difficult with more people, of course. They do seem to end up about the same.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: 4 vs 5 Player

Kayvon — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:02:37 +0000

by Kayvon

4 and 5 play very similarly. With five players, it's easy to keep all the rooms staffed, so we'll use the fliers (the shuttles?) more and rarely touch them in 4 players. I haven't played it enough to detect an appreciable difficulty difference between 4 and 5 players.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: 4 vs 5 Player

Saan — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:18:03 +0000

by Saan

We figured out the incorrect labels part - that was supremely confusing initially.

Once we figured out the labels part, i hadnt realised that the comm officer had already reshuffled the threat deck while i was switching to the correct CD. By the time i realised what had happened, the mission was already going, and i figured we were learning anyway.

So the first runthrough was a genuine mistake that led to our demise.

The other ones were just bad coordination and some bad luck - we did everything right, but, for one, one of the players had all actions that were C before we introduced C actions, and one had all battlebot actions before we had battlebots.

Im not complaining about the difficulty, mind you - the game is great and losing is a great learning experience. It also made ending on a win much more gratifying. I was just curious as to how it would play with 4 compared to my 5 player experiences.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: 4 vs 5 Player

Kayvon — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:45:00 +0000

by Kayvon

It's pretty balanced between the 4 and 5 players, due to the "unconfirmed reports." I suspect that you're playing something wrong--is that possible?

If you have a Rio Grande Games printing, the tutorial and mission CDs are mislabeled, compare them against the mission log cards.

On your tutorial mission, did you stack the threat deck as they had indicated (S-1 through S-6, with S-1 on top) using the trajectories suggested (1, 2, and 3)? There are no internal threats in the tutorial mission. I don't recall if the simulation had internal threats.

And, just in case you've missed something obvious, you've separated the serious threats from the normal ones, and you're using the white threat decks without any yellow mixed in?

If you're OK on all of these, feel free to put me in my place. I'm certainly not trying to patronize you.

Thread: Space Alert:: General:: 4 vs 5 Player

Saan — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:35:17 +0000

by Saan

Hi!

Played space alert yesterday for the first time.
We did a trial run (and died horribly),
then did a simulation (and died really horribly),
Then one advanced sim (and cried while dying horribly).

Well, judging by our stellar record in training, we immediately hopped into the real missions.

The first one we tried was...tough. A Sabatour and a Space Crab vented the port side into space in short order.

The second mission was chaos, and terrible, but we managed to pull through pretty soundly and finally won.

But i digress.

Now to my question. We were playing with 5 players. is this game harder with 5 players vs 4 or vice versa?

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Good with Family?

duchamp — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:14:21 +0000

by duchamp

Depends mostly on the definitions for "family".
If "Family" = children 4 - 8 years old and the other part of the relationship wants to talk about other things during the game, plus some stubborn (grand-)parents are around the table expecting a "nice evening" playing Scrabble, then SPACE ALERT IS NO GOOD.
If "Family" means two or three smart kids age 10 or up, significant other with "Diplomacy" and "Galaxy Trucker" as favourite games, (grand-)parents still open for new experiences, and all family members have no problem, if the space ship blosw up beacause of one single crew members` fault ... SPACE ALERT IS GREAT!

I love to play it with my wife and son, and they like it, too.

But they also love all kinds of other "strange things" ... :ninja:

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Good with Family?

Saan — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:10:21 +0000

by Saan

It could work with family.

I think it is a better assumption to say it isnt generally a good family game.

People playing will make mistakes. Someone will put a left down instead of a right, or look out of a window three times instead of firing three missiles, which will invariably lead to the hilarious end of your crews' lives as an interstellar octopus crushes you to bits(But boy, it all looked REALLY cool from that window - i know from experience. ;) )

The real question is how people will take criticism. Its not fun to mess up, and as long as the players arent prone to be overly critical of those that DO mess up(because someone will), it can work.

But this could be why family would generally be a bad idea. You've already got deep-set relationships and social heirarchy going on, and it seems much easier to tick people off in that case.

That said, if your family has relatively tough skin, and can see the humor in losing, give it a shot.

Reply: Space Alert:: Reviews:: Re: Giant Hamster Ball of Chaos

Thamos von Nostria — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:55:00 +0000

by Thamos von Nostria

scribidinus wrote:
Does it really play well solo?

I enjoy solo play very much. I think it is slightly easier because you have four crewmen which you may coordinate (so the teamwork is always perfect). Also, you have all action cards available. BUT you have to do everything yourself, listen to the instructions, read the cards, plan how to handle the threats etc. So it is still very intense, difficult and exciting.

Of course, there is no one to watch and laugh together with you when you resolve the game and you realise that you sent someone into the wrong direction. Where he madly fires guns into emoty space while a space monster destroys the other side of the ship.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Good with Family?

Thamos von Nostria — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:47:12 +0000

by Thamos von Nostria

I think it's true, although I can't really tell you why. It's probably due to the time pressure. The ten minutes of the planning phase are extremely intense, no possibility for chatting or drinking.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Good with Family?

cajuninms — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:45:38 +0000

by cajuninms

I would say, unless your family is of the gamer nature, then yes it would stress them out. Space Alert, while it is a ton of fun, will be stressful to some people who don't like thinking fast and on their feet.

Thread: Space Alert:: General:: Good with Family?

Peads — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:03:07 +0000

by Peads

I heard someone say here once that Space Alert would probably just stress families out, and that it was better to play with mates instead.
Is this true?

Reply: Space Alert:: Reviews:: Re: Giant Hamster Ball of Chaos

Peads — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:59:17 +0000

by Peads

Does it play with families? I once heard someone say that it would be too stressful when playing with family.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Solo ?

Peads — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:37:01 +0000

by Peads

Johnny_Bravo wrote:
maka wrote:
matthan wrote:
Could you play with a house rule of say, 15 or 20 minutes for a solo game (pause the cd), or would this not work?

or play the cd slower to make the game easier :)

Yeah, this would even add some sort of robotic SciFi Soundeffect to underline the atmosphere :what:

Threeeeaat ooooonn theeeeee staaaarrrboooooarrrrd booooww...

Reply: Space Alert:: Variants:: Mission Installation

Kayvon — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:21:27 +0000

by Kayvon

The spaces in your username make it difficult to send you a geekmail, so I'll post my problem here.

Everything else is going fine, and I already had Perl installed, but the following command isn't working for me:

ppm install XML::DOM::Lite

The other ppm install went great, but this one comes back with:

Error installing package 'XML-DOM-Lite': Could not locate a PPD file for package XML-DOM-Lite

Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

Reply: Space Alert:: Reviews:: Re: Giant Hamster Ball of Chaos

WhiteHowler — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:32:51 +0000

by WhiteHowler

scribidinus wrote:
Does it really play well solo?

It's a very different game -- much more of a timed puzzle than a cooperative game. The real key is keeping the actions of your four different characters straight in your head, and coordinating them all without getting too confused.

I would say it's much, much better with a group. I don't think I'd buy the game if the majority of my plays were going to be solo (or even with less than four people). But as a bonus feature for an already great group game, the solo mode is pretty cool.

Reply: Space Alert:: Reviews:: Re: Giant Hamster Ball of Chaos

scribidinus — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:24:53 +0000

by scribidinus

Does it really play well solo?

Reply: Space Alert:: Reviews:: Re: Giant Hamster Ball of Chaos

Inntrepid — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:01:19 +0000

by Inntrepid

I love the title of your review ... "Giant Hamster Ball of Chaos"!!

Great review, you do a good job of capturing the feel of the game. I was laughing throughout the review and could totally relate to the examples of chaos you use.

Reply: Space Alert:: Reviews:: Re: Giant Hamster Ball of Chaos

elfrododumbo — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:56:05 +0000

by elfrododumbo

:gulp: I am going to play this solo :ninja:
Memo: must get a strait jacket ready because I think I will need it :laugh:

Review: Space Alert:: Giant Hamster Ball of Chaos

VixenTorGames — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:45:05 +0000

by VixenTorGames

Imagine you and four friends are in a giant hamster ball. Now imagine that you have all been eating Snickers and drinking Red Bull for the last 48 hours. Now imagine that the hamster ball is careening down the Alps, bouncing off trees and skiers and dogs with whiskey barrels on their collars. Almost done - just one more thing - now imagine that you have to control this insane spherical avalanche of chaos, and that's Space Alert.

Since you probably need more than that to call this a game review, I'll discuss a little of how this game works. The theory is that you're all manning an explorer craft in space, and while you're out there, stuff comes flying at you like crazy. And you have to shoot cannons, fire rockets, order robots, charge reactors, power shields, and just in case you're not too busy already, you also have to hit the mouse every now and then to keep the screensaver from coming on (I am not making this up).

As if that wasn't enough crap going on, you're on a serious time limit. The timer is accomplished with a CD, and each 10-minute recording will spout off now and then to tell you that there are bad guys coming in, or that you get more cards, or that you need to lie down and put a cool rag on your forehead after you play three or four times (OK, now that part I made up).

Every game is basically split into two segments. The first part is where you plan what you're going to do. You don't actually have to resolve anything, you just put out cards. The problem is that while you're putting down cards that do stuff like move, use the elevator, or fire yourself into space, the clock is ticking. And every so often, the recording will announce a new threat, one that could quite possibly blow you directly to Hell (unless, of course, you have made other arrangements, like praying a lot and avoiding strong drink - but either way, you're dead).

The chaos that ensues while the soundtrack is playing is amazing. It's unlike anything I've ever played. It might actually make you wish you were doing something a little less stressful, like driving the wrong way in traffic while you check your voice mail and light a cigarette with your kids screaming in the back seat because frankly, you're going the wrong way and you're probably about to kill them (and may I add that if you smoke in the car while your kids are in the back seat, you are probably the same kind of dirtbag asscrack who wears his seatbelt while he lets his children bounce around like super balls in a paint mixer).

After ten minutes, the soundtrack ends, and then you see how you actually did. A very useful turn tracker walks you through every step, and you use the board to keep track of how well you managed to shoot down the space octopus, battle the slime, and deactivate the nuclear device, all while trying to remember if you turned off the iron.

What generally happens is that you probably get through the first three or four turns pretty well, and maybe even manage to get another third of the way through the game before everyone starts turning up cards and going, 'why am I looking out the window right now instead of launching rockets, and how come you fired the cannon when we haven't had anything on that side of the ship for five minutes?' It sort of unravels at the end, with people shooting at targets that aren't there, activating robots willy-nilly, and mostly just hoping that the last few threats aren't big enough to blow your doors off.

However, if everyone stays sharp, and someone plans really, really well, you can come through alive. It's not impossible to win the game, just really hard. This is a completely cooperative game, but sometimes it doesn't feel like it, especially when your cohorts play the wrong cards, or fail to pay attention, or just completely don't get how to play and wind up using up all the energy to charge the shields on the wrong side of the ship so that you don't have any power left to shoot the kamikaze fighter that ends up crashing into you like a wrecking ball full of high explosives.

In fact, to give yourself the best chance of success, you'll want to play several games with the same group. After a while, everyone will start to understand the various actions and how things work, and hopefully figure out how to work together as a team. If you've ever played a cooperative game and been totally irritated by that one mouthy know-it-all who tells everyone what they ought to do on their turns, this game should be the cure. That guy might still try to dominate, but now you can make him the captain, and if you all die, you can blame it all on him.

One final note here - I hated this game the first time I played. I mean, I was so irritated and confused that I actually said, 'I don't care if I ever play this again.' But we tried it again, and then one more time, and I started to see how this could actually be a really fun game. Then I tried it solo, and it was a completely different game, and it was still fun. Heck, at this point, I want to make it a regular mainstay with my family, because I think it would be a blast once we get it down.

Of course, knowing my kids, they'll probably drive the hamster ball into a ski lodge and blame it all on each other, but what the hell. We'll bond.

Summary

Pros:
The CD could have been a total gimmick, but turns out to be a critical game component
Cooperative game that really forces teamwork
You're really proud of yourselves when you win
Hilarious rulebook is funny and informative at the same time

Cons:
Utter chaos
Should never be played with people who don't get it
Painful learning curve may stop people from learning the game

Thread: Space Alert:: Variants:: Alternative (Balance Focused) Mission Generator

Fu_Koios — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:25:33 +0000

by Fu_Koios

This new effort solves two problems that I wanted solved for
my own usage, and so I now share them with the community.

1) A random mission generator where the resulting missions play
with the same "feel" as the original stock missions.
(Threat timing, card support and communication out all balanced
to be "similar" to the stock missions.)

Post with my original problem statement for "balanced" missions.
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/419410

2) A tool to do selective fading of a background music file
(during announcements) so it will be suitable for mixing
into a specific mission file. (I quickly got tired of doing
this by hand in Audacity).

FuMissionGen and FuFader are the results of this effort.

Sadly I was not ready to climb the learning curve of a new computer
language, so my efforts are in Perl and not directly compatible
with Zorba's C# efforts. Perhaps I can correct this separation someday,
but for now I am holding 4 computer languages active in my brain
for professional reasons; the thought of adding a fifth for a
side project makes my head hurt...

Thus instead of the .NET run-time, you need a Perl install
to run FuMissionGen. The included Readme file gives you some
help on getting through the Perl install process.

On the upside, in Perl the source code and the executable code
are all one - so if you know Perl you can tweak to your hearts
desire.

FuMissionGen limitations -
Only works with .WAV files (in and out).
English only support (although you could clip edit...).
No nice GUI, only prompts in a command window.
Only adjustable parameter is the min/max threat level.

FuFader limitations -
Command line only, not even prompt driven.
Only works with 2 channel, 16-bit .WAV files (as if from a CD rip).
Only does the fading of music file, does not do the final mix.

The files with the mission generator have been submitted to the
geek moderation staff, but it may be some time before they get approved.

V 1.0 of the FuMissionGen package is also available at the URL's below
(you need both part 1 and part 2), note that if you use these links
you are using files not checked by the geek staff,
I say they are clean, but you don't know me, so use appropriate
caution:

Part 1 of 2:
http://www.fileden.com/files/2009/7/3/2497453/FuMissionGenV0...

Part 2 of 2:
http://www.fileden.com/files/2009/7/3/2497453/FuMissionGenV0...

To get started unzip both parts to the same directory and then check out the information in the ReadMe.txt for getting Perl set-up appropriately.

My thanks to Zorba and Chrisitan V for their very useful work that
I have built upon.
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/395242

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/389829

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert: Solo: All Advice Will Be Appreciated.

azuredarkness — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:10:45 +0000

by azuredarkness

elfrododumbo wrote:

I will be playing SA (solo) on Sunday. Please steer me in the right direction

Find three to four other players. Seriously.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

magic gecko — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:33:18 +0000

by magic gecko

So I got to the game. . . and they had just packed it up!

Damn.
Oh well, maybe next week. :)

Seriously, one side of one piece of paper. . .

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert: Solo: All Advice Will Be Appreciated.

kilrah — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:45:18 +0000

by kilrah

What you have to learn for solo play IMHO is to calculate the absolute damage you need to destroy a ship, and by what turn you can reach that goal soonest for the given trajectory REALLY FAST.
The planning itself is actually more relaxed then in the multi player game as you always have the right cards and also you know where everyone is.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert: Solo: All Advice Will Be Appreciated.

elfrododumbo — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:25:39 +0000

by elfrododumbo

Great :)

Thanks.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert: Solo: All Advice Will Be Appreciated.

dougadamsau — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:17:14 +0000

by dougadamsau

Ah, yes, there are solo rules. You play crew members simultaneously and you have access to all the cards. If you haven't played before, just work through the the training scenarios before moving onto the big stuff (big threats, internal threats, etc). The rules step you through it, gradually adding a bit more.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert: Solo: All Advice Will Be Appreciated.

elfrododumbo — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:59:58 +0000

by elfrododumbo

I was not really aware that there were rules for a solo game, hence my question.
Wondering if there is a different time limit to finish a solo game and if there is, what to concentrate on first ?
Are there different scenerios that do not work in solo ?

Thanks.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert: Solo: All Advice Will Be Appreciated.

dougadamsau — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:31:19 +0000

by dougadamsau

Well... follow the rules. What sort of advice did you want? :)

I usually play with an MP3 player on, and I blow up around turn 12. Luckily nobody can hear you screaming in a vacuum.

Thread: Space Alert:: General:: Space Alert: Solo: All Advice Will Be Appreciated.

elfrododumbo — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:15:53 +0000

by elfrododumbo

I will be playing SA (solo) on Sunday. Please steer me in the right direction re: how to start and anything I should know before I begin the game.

Thanks in advance.

Thread: Space Alert:: Variants:: Space Alert Advanced Exp Log

Hate — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:22:38 +0000

by Hate

When I first saw the experience log Golux created for his crew to track their missions and accumulate experience/ranks I thought it was a great idea. Once I looked into it, I felt that the way ranks were handled could be a little cleaner, then I wanted to include survival rate, then I wanted a score calculator, drop down choices, color coding, printable version, and it went on like that.

I made a version 2 of the spreadsheet which is available in the files section, but then I noticed some more things like the fact that it was hard to look across rows and stay on line, so I added shading to alternate rows. I know there are people out there who get way more into roleplaying in their games, so I also added a player stats sheet that can track total experience and success rate for missions and in each of the main roles. This will make it clear at a glance that player X is the superior captain and player Y has the best communications skills. It will also hopefully encourage players to try out the roles they don't take as often in order to raise their skills at that job.

For anyone who doesn't want this level of detail, you can always just enter "X" for the players who participated rather than detailed roles. You can also just enter the total score for a game as Trophy Points and leave all other score fields blank if you don't have the details.

Below are some images from the experience log v2.1. I would welcome any feedback or requests on additional features if I have left out anything that others might find useful.

Experience Log Sheet
]]>

Player Stats Sheet
]]>

Paper Log Sheet for when computer isn't handy
]]>

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Mislabeled CDs in Rio Grande version?

jhebert — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:40:26 +0000

by jhebert

Although the CDs are labeled Tutorial and Mission... what I received are two mission CDs.

I've emailed Board and Bits as well as Rio Grande Games (though I figure it's a Rio Grande issue, really) and will post back the results.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

magic gecko — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:02:25 +0000

by magic gecko

I have spent far too much time thinking about this.

I have reduced the entire script down to one side of a small piece of cardboard.

I have never played with Internal Threats.
I have allocated someone with robots to deal with it.
I hope you can give away the "my robot works good" cards.

Obviously I am supremely content that the plan will survive the enemy utterly in tact.

Having some clue as to when some of the threats may turn up might seem useful.
Actually having played real missions might help.
Actually having a game board to look at might help.
Actually having a game components to look at might help.

My current "solution" only uses two elevator cards.
If they make up a big portion of the deck I am screwed, especially if they cant use their second side.

But, overall, I am pretty confident.

Chin up.
Home by christmas.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Wrong Labelling on CDs

jhebert — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:02:48 +0000

by jhebert

Same experience here - Boards & Bits copy, mislabeled CDs, note for stealth fighter card but not for the CDs.

Not a showstopper, but a minor nuisance.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

wolver — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:49:12 +0000

by wolver

You say the game is so simple, pointing your gun at the enemy, that made me wondering. Are you playing the full game with the internal threads? The game is pretty simple when threads only approach over three paths, and only need lasers and an occasional missile to be defeated. But internal threads are something completely different. They are not more difficult, but almost every internal thread needs a different script to defeat them. It can be done, but it doesn't add anything to the playability of the game. Every time an internal thread appears, you will have to look for the script you need to defeat it. And it will probably screw up the scripts you have running to defeat the external threads.

By scripts, do you mean "on these turns you wil put down these cards", or do you mean "you go to zone red and shoot that gun like crazy"? The first one is almost impossible to do when you have to take all the random possibilities into account. The second one is how most people play, but they call it jobs and responsibilities.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

Octavian — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:44:26 +0000

by Octavian

magic gecko wrote:
And, I figure that letting one monster hit the ship is prolly going to be OK.

In a single game, sure. When you are playing a campaign, not so much.

-MMM

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

magic gecko — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:45:44 +0000

by magic gecko

And, I figure that letting one monster hit the ship is prolly going to be OK.

Looking out the porthole has magnificent rules.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

magic gecko — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:07:32 +0000

by magic gecko

"I have no idea how you'd plan on writing a "script" to solve this game."

I think I do.

"By scripting this game, are you proposing that you'd be able to write down a script for 5 different actors, 12 steps for each one, that would work in every situation?"

Yes.
Well, with about 2-3 simple choices between the actors, and handing out the roles according to the starting cards. And waiting for the monsters to be in front of the guns.
And, there is a lot of giving cards away.

"Is that seriously what you are proposing?
A set of pre-planned instructions that solves every situation?"

Yes.

"That this game may be solvable hasn't been my experience at all, but then you may have played a lot more than I have, and you might have a better idea of the big picture of the game. I'd be very interested to hear how successful you are."

Ah,. . . I dont think you understand.
I have played this four times in a row.
Total.

"The complexities boggle my mind, but that's just me."

The game is so simple, in every way.
That is one of the many reason I should adore this.

It has become much more interesting to me to figure out why I dislike this game SO intensely as to write here about it.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

Werebear — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:57:39 +0000

by Werebear

magic gecko wrote:
You people make me smile.

Wait... what? Umm.... okay, well there IS that, at least... A smile is a positive outcome, I'd hope.

magic gecko wrote:
I could go watch TV instead, or, maybe sit quietly in the rain.

Wow... honestly... if you do hate this game so much, and given that I'd almost never say something like this, maybe TV or rain-sitting is the way to go. If our games aren't making us happy - if we're not having fun - I'm really not sure why we'd play them, and certainly wouldn't expect anyone else to do so.

magic gecko wrote:
I am very interested to know if the scripts I have written actually work in removing that "foul air", and in fact the entire game.

I have no idea how you'd plan on writing a "script" to solve this game. The threats are random, so you can't predict what they are. You'd have to be able to accommodate not only the random threats, but beyond that, what trajectory they come in on. There are 8 regular missions that can be tried, but all 8 are different enough to require a human player's interaction to solve them. The variety of threats alone would suggest to me that this couldn't be scripted. Am I missing something?

I think it would be an interesting experiment - and I know there are a lot of solo players out there, so in theory, someone may have "solved" this game, but I seriously doubt it.

By scripting this game, are you proposing that you'd be able to write down a script for 5 different actors, 12 steps for each one, that would work in every situation? Is that seriously what you are proposing? A set of pre-planned instructions that solves every situation? Or something else?

I've spent the time to "solve" the tutorials, as part of teaching this game - but there is still the limitation that I may not have the right cards, or be able to swap cards (which can't be scripted) enough to actually get everybody in place to guarantee success or survival. Random command cards alone seem like they'd defy scripting

That this game may be solvable hasn't been my experience at all, but then you may have played a lot more than I have, and you might have a better idea of the big picture of the game. I'd be very interested to hear how successful you are.

The complexities boggle my mind, but that's just me.

To be clear - is this what you are proposing?

Cheers!

Russell

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

wolver — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:07:18 +0000

by wolver

I don't like chess, because I feel it revolves entirely around scripted moves. This does not make it a bad game (centuries of history should confirm that it is a well thought out game), it's just not my cup of tea.

I think we can both agree that this is not a bad game. It's clear that it's just not your type of game.

A review is informing other people about what is generally good and bad in a game. You will notice that most reviewers put their opinion in the conclusion, beceause it doesn't contain information about the game but about themselves. In this post you put a lot of information about how you feel, but there is little information about the game itself.

I don't have the need to insult you. I don't know who you are, I just responded to a post of yours. All I have written was based on the article you wrote, not on you. That is why I ended my response with "do not take this personally", because it wasn't meant personally. Apparently you did take it personally, and I want to appologise if I wasn't clear on that subject.

I come here for boardgame articles, and I responded to one that kept a lot of usefull information hidden.

If you want to share with us your knowledge about this boardgame, please do. Anything else I don't care about on this website. I would like to hear the results of your improvements once you have them figured out.

Reply: Space Alert:: Variants:: Re: More Mission Analysis - Better playability for "random" missions

jayquirk — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:01:46 +0000

by jayquirk

Fantastic analysis! I haven't been using Zorba's generator because it doesn't seem to have the same balance that the stock missions do. but i didn't have a comprehensive list of all the differences.

This is a superb and in-depth analysis of the missions. The best break down of the missions yet. I'd love if these could be incorporated into the generator- at least as a switch to turn off and on. If that happened, I'd likely never go back to the normal CD.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Solo ?

duchamp — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:06:02 +0000

by duchamp

You could have a look here, some posts by the author himself included:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/article/2736613

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Solo ?

MrThou — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:29:27 +0000

by MrThou

I'll have to try some solo. I feel the game would be to easy, especially since communication issues wouldn't happen, and having the full deck of cards makes it much easier.

Though running with three andriods would make changing your plans near impossible.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

magic gecko — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 06:12:55 +0000

by magic gecko

:)

You people make me smile.

"Uh, this may sound strange, but if you hate it, just don't play it."

It is a fair comment.
My group thinks this is great!
I could go watch TV instead, or, maybe sit quietly in the rain.

"The way it sounds, the OP has fallen really, really close to that line... but on the wrong side. "

Nice. Could be.
But I think "the Game" here is just not there.
I think once I have fairly set instructions ALL games of space alert should be solved in that way.
Partly I think this is because of the way the game is constructed.
Spoze I will find out soon.

"This post is not a review, it's a personal opinion. That is probably why the player has posted it in the general forums."
Um, a bit.
Isn't the point of a review to express a personal opinion about it?

I figured this was not a review so I would put it in General.
Also, just maybe other people have similar experiences regarding this game.

"Either your friends should be commanded by you, or they should not participate, with the risk of getting in your way"
Well, sorta.
There is far more to commanding someone than shouting orders they must obey.

You->"okay, what part of coopertive gaming you don't understand? If communicating is not your thing, then try not to cooperate with other people."

I can and do play coop games with the same people.
Sauron with hobbits is quite fun.

Me ->"I managed to program my moves, (grab bots go outside and bot for the last 5 turns) and left the game for half an hour. Yay we won.

You->" so the other players managed to win the game without you. What's your point?"

My point is I was playing the game properly for the last 40 minutes of the 10 minute game, while doing the dishes in a neighbouring room.

Me->Wish I could edit this.
You->You can

No, Actually I can't
Part of having interesting opinions, and saying interesting things, is that I have been toggled to "evil"

Me-> "I know my opinions will change."
You-> "I doubt it."

My opinion changed.
I think you are a small Moon of Jupiter.

And" PS please do not take this personal. Your post inspired me to write this reply. I want to thank you for giving me this insight of a gamer I rarely get to meet/read. I like to keep it as rare as possible, but it is enlightening every once in a while."

I am a gamer you rarely get to meet/read.
I do not know why you feel the need to insult me, merely for having opinions you disagree with.

You->"The real question is: why should we care about your (magic gecko) opinion? You are free to have your opinion, but if you don't support it with anything substancial, then all the other readers just see a lot of foul air. "

Which is great, but not actually connected to why you should care about my opinion.
Say I support it with conclusive argument, you still do not have to care either way.
The way I see it, Foul Air is what this game really is.
I am very interested to know if the scripts I have written actually work in removing that "foul air", and in fact the entire game.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

wolver — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:22:14 +0000

by wolver

magic gecko wrote:

Space Alert is obviously something special.

It has everything I should want in it.

Please explain what it is that you should want

Everyone I played with had a great time.

I did not.

I hate it SO precisely.
I hate the way it is well made.
I hate the Sound Tracks.
I hate all the cooperative shouting.
I hate being stranded by others.

somehow this gives me the feeling that this game does not have what you want in it.

eg.
Enemy, check!
Gun, check!
Fire! .. . what do you mean my friend moved the energy?

wow, I can see a big problem here, I want to put that in one quote:

I hate all the cooperative shouting.
I hate being stranded by others.
...
what do you mean my friend moved the energy?

Either your friends should be commanded by you, or they should not participate, with the risk of getting in your way

I find the game incredibly frustrating.

please expl... uhm no, don't explain. It's clear to us why you find the game so frustrating. But is it clear to you?

It claim take 10 minutes. . .nope.

A fair warning to others: the action phase does take about 10 minutes, as long as the sound recording does. As this can be confusing, THIS IS NOT THE ENTIRE GAME! Be warned that there is also a resolve phase ofter this, that takes at least just as long. The game never states that it only takes 10 minutes for the entire game. an understandable mistake on your side.

I managed to program my moves, (grab bots go outside and bot for the last 5 turns) and left the game for half an hour. Yay we won.

so the other players managed to win the game without you. What's your point?

I hate the way I feel I could program the entire game in the ten minutes.

Guess what? There's a solovariant that challenges the player to do exactly just that. it's not a feeling, it can be done! It's just a whole other game, exactly how you put it in your next sentence

It is that whole communicating bit that just sucks.

okay, what part of coopertive gaming you don't understand? If communicating is not your thing, then try not to cooperate with other people.

Trying to figure out what is happening on turn 3 when you are not allowed to see the outcomes of turn 1 is my personal favourite though.

How can you not be allowed to see the outcomes of turn 1? if you are fast enough, you can make every move on the board, move every threat, and predict when exactly you have defeated them. You mean damage counters? If you know how to plan perfectly, then you don't need damage counters. I doubt with the 10 minute time limit you can make every move, move every bit, AND keep count of the damage the ship has sustained.

Trying to shoot the big bads because you can see where they are and where you need to shoot them is also just not enough. What do you mean they dont exist yet?

Yes, please explain. what do you mean, they don't exist yet?

Having all of the cards laid out and not changeable is fascinating.

I know what you mean, but please explain :devil:

Pointing to a new player and pointing out that all their cards are the same way up, so they are not leaving the bridge this game. . .sucks.

God forbid new players, they can be so stupid :shake:

I know that I am going to play this game again, and again.
Maybe If I were a truely dictatorial captain I could do it.
But, cooperative on a timeline is just SO not me.

And again you make us wonder. You really don't like this game, why are you planning on playing it again? (and again, and again) Are you afraid your friends won't like you if you say you want to play something else?

Losing because someone else refuses to listen or give straight answers just bites.

Okay, this is not a problem of the game. This is either your problem or his problem (and I know what answer I'm going to give :devil: )

And it can be SO fiddly!

Agricola, War of the Ring, StarCraft. I rest my case :D

I like the idea of this game being two player, Aliens vs Humans.
I like the concept of it being a Solo game even.

As it is . . .

Boy oh boy, this is not the game for you, is it?

Wish I could edit this.

You can

I know my opinions will change.

I doubt it.

PS please do not take this personal. Your post inspired me to write this reply. I want to thank you for giving me this insight of a gamer I rarely get to meet/read. I like to keep it as rare as possible, but it is enlightening every once in a while.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

wolver — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:08:50 +0000

by wolver

KingCroc wrote:

Although I think it's important to post negative reviews along with the positive, I also don't see the point in dwelling on the negative.

This post is not a review, it's a personal opinion. That is probably why the player has posted it in the general forums. He doesn't say that this game is bad, he just points out to all the mechanics that he doesn't like.

The real question is: why should we care about your (magic gecko) opinion? You are free to have your opinion, but if you don't support it with anything substancial, then all the other readers just see a lot of foul air.

Try to read your text from the no-opinion point of view. I'm sure you will see that there is not much that will make people sway one way or the other. And if you haven't written it to inform other people, why even bother?

Just like playing this game. Why do you even bother? To please others? If you're not having fun, then they're not having fun. Unless you play with a group of very masochistic boardgamers who just play games because everybody else thinks they're great. :zombie:

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

tomchaps — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:06:08 +0000

by tomchaps

It sounds like you simply won't like any cooperative game. They all are subject to the "But is there really a game here, or is it a solveable puzzle?" critique. The best ones have something special that makes them more than a multiplayer puzzle--which can devolve into the most experienced player telling everyone what to do--the traitor/Cylon in Shadows over Camelot or Battlestar, for example. In Space Alert, it's the difficulty in communication. The communication IS the game here.

If you really don't care about winning, or the enjoyment of the game, you can "preprogram" any cooperative game and sometimes get through. As others have said, it seems this just isn't your cup of tea. After trying out your dictitorial-captian game next time, just play other games...

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

LoneCleric — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:14:37 +0000

by LoneCleric

pmbrill77 wrote:
When I hate a game, I do NOT:

Well yeah, I thought that was the whole point of the OP. That he's torn between his admiration for the game and his frustration at playing it. I for one thought it was really well put.

I believe it's Serge Laget (Shadows Over Camelot, & plenty of other stuff) who was saying that games are all about frustration:
"Aargh, if I had 2$ more!"
"Aargh, if only I could play 2 cards this turn!"
"Aargh, if only I only could tell my partner what I know!"
"Aargh, if only I hadn't missed that dice roll!"
"Aargh, if I just had one more turn before the game ends!"

But the tricky part is that if you go beyond the "frustration threshold" of an individual, then they just get pissed and give up. So ideally your design you annoy people juuuust enough. :devil:

The way it sounds, the OP has fallen really, really close to that line... but on the wrong side.

Reply: Space Alert:: Variants:: Re: More Mission Analysis - Better playability for "random" missions

DaFink — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:19:33 +0000

by DaFink

Excellent analysis. While I haven't actually used Zorba's generator I have hard good things about it nice things about it. For stock missions your analysis appears to be spot on.

Keep up the good work

Thread: Space Alert:: Variants:: More Mission Analysis - Better playability for "random" missions

Fu_Koios — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:45:37 +0000

by Fu_Koios

I really like Space Alert and I really like the Random Mission generator which
Zorba has been put together for it. With that said, I think the random mission
generator can be improved by adding a bit more structure.

For me, a random mission generator should be unpredictable in the details,
but the results should still bear a strong resemblance to the stock missions
in the properties important to play. Please feel free to disagree with
this goal! Perhaps you prefer more chaos and true random?

There are several areas where the current generator is noticably different
from the stock missions (more detail on each of these later).

After playing 8 stock missions, 9 random missions and
5 random missions which I made "less random" by hand editing;
I find the "balanced" missions more fun to play (and certain things that seem
"unfun" to me are avoided). Thus I think implementing some additional balance
rules to any random generator will make it better.

Thanks to Vlaada for Space Alert, a truly unique game.

Thanks to Zorba for his excellent random mission generator work (which I
critic only because it promises so much, and I want to help make it better)
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/395242

Thanks to Chrisitan V for his first balance analysis and the mission
analysis spreadsheet,
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/389829

Now in my best hopes, Zorba would be able to take this analysis and add some
balancing options to the existing generator.
Failing that, perhaps I will take my own stab at a better balanced version.

I am listing my concerns in what I would consider priority order for
addition to the existing program (V1.0.2).

----- ----- -----
In stock missions:
Not all threat types appear early / late:
----- ----- -----

We ran into an "unstoppable" T+1 skirmisher while playing a random mission.
This was a definite "unfun" thing.

I expect there are similar play problems with other threats
if they show up too early or too late. I think our best strategy is to keep
the random generator "inside the envelope" of the stock playtesting.

The stock missions limit the timing of certain threat types,
in particular only common external threats show up at T+1 and T+8.
Serious Internal threats are limited to times T+3 to T+6.

Threat time ranges by type:
Common External Threat 1-8
Serious External Threat 2-7
Common Internal Threat 2-7
Serious Internal Threat 3-6

----- ----- -----
In stock missions:
Threat to track assignment is very uniform
----- ----- -----

In the stock missions, no track (including internal) gets less than 1 or more
than 3 threat.

Consecutive threats never appear on the same track.

----- ----- -----
In stock missions:
Number of threats (not value) is even between phase 1 and 2
----- ----- -----

Number of threats in first phase is never different from number in second
phase by more than 1.

----- ----- -----
In stock missions:
Data operations are carefully distributed
----- ----- -----

The mission is usually already won or lost by the time we are programming
phase 3. For balance a "fair" amount of incoming data and data transfer needs
to happen while the team has time to use it. We have noticed a lot more early
"cardlock" with the raw random missions. A little analysis shows why.
The stock missions are fairly non-random in the placement of
incoming data and data transfer.

Looking at the stock missions: (I = Incoming Data / T = Data Transfer)
[c]
P1 (I/T) P2 (I/T)
M1 1/1 1/2
M2 1/1 2/1
M3 1/1 1/2
M4 1/1 2/1
M5 1/1 0/2
M6 3/0 0/2
M7 1/1 1/2
M8 2/0 0/2
[/c]

One could infer several different rule sets from this data.
My best cut at "fairness rules" would be:
[c]
1) Must have at least 2 incoming data over all phases
(already in Zorba generator)
2) Must have at least 3 data transfer over all phases
(already in Zorba generator)
3) Must have at least 1 incoming data in phase 1
4) Must have at least 1 data transfer in phase 2
5) Must have at least 1 data transfer in phase 3
6) Must have at least 2 data operations (either incoming or transfer)
in phase 1.
7) Must have at least 2 data operations in phase 2.
[/c]

Another important bit of uniformity to the stock missions:
If a data transfer is going to happen in phase 1, it happens at least
30 seconds after the early threat series is down. This timing gives the
players a fair shot to figure out the cards they need before the transfer hits.

----- ----- -----
In stock missions:
Threats are usually revealed early (first half) of the phase, and when not down
early they are not the most nasty kind.
----- ----- -----

The current random generator distributes threat announcements evenly in
each phase; this is noticably different than the stock missions.

The first announcement of phase 1 and 2 is always within 10-15 seconds, and the
first threat announcement of the phase is either the first thing, or tucked
right behind the first announcement. (current Zorba generator does something
close to this for phase 1)

In stock missions, threat announcements are pushed to the front (mostly)
Most common time of first threat: 0:10
Latest time for first threat: 0:20 (incoming data first)
Latest time for first confirmed: 0:35 (unconfirmed first)
Latest time for second threat: 1:30
Usually 3 threats are down before the 2 minute mark.
Except Mission 5, all phase 1 threats are down by 2:15
In 6 of 8 missions, all phase 2 threats are down in
first 2 minutes of phase 2

The stock missions do have "ambush threats"...
Mission 5 of the stock missions holds announcing the T+4 threat
until the last minute of phase 1. Only in 2 missions is the T+8 threat
announced in the last minute of phase 2. In all cases the
"late announce" threat is a common external threat.

So the stock missions include an occasional "surprise announcement", but:
[c]
1) It is a "surprise", not every mission.
2) The "suprise" is never serious (or internal).
3) Most threats are announced early in the phase (first 60%).
[/c]

Possible rules to follow for timing balance:
[c]
1) Announce first threat of each phase right away (10 seconds unless some
other event comes first, in which case go right after that event).
2) Announce other threats spread through first 60% of phase.
3) If T+4 or T+8 threat is common severity, give it a 40% chance to be an
"ambush threat" which gets announced after the phase 1 minute warning.
If it is not an "Ambush" get it announced in the first 60% of phase.
[/c]

----- ----- -----
In stock missions:
Communication down time is stacked in phase 3
----- ----- -----

My cut at some fairness rules for communication down...
[c]
1) Total communication down 50 to 70 seconds (already in Zorba generator)
2) Phase 1 total communication down must be in 0 to 30 range
3) Phase 2 total communication down must be in 0 to 30 range
4) Phase 3 total communication down must be in 30 to 60 range
[/c]

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

pmbrill77 — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:19:10 +0000

by pmbrill77

When I hate a game, I do NOT:

...put time into writing instructions for it.

...expect to play it again and again.

...make plans as to what I will do when I next have the 'misfortune' to play it.

I DO:

Stop playing it.

Call me crazy.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

KingCroc — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:11:47 +0000

by KingCroc

Uh, this may sound strange, but if you hate it, just don't play it.

I hate MUNCHKIN. I don't waste a lot of time posting about it.

Although I think it's important to post negative reviews along with the positive, I also don't see the point in dwelling on the negative. Obviously, this game isn't for you. But I fail to see why it's worth obsessing over. It's not that bad that you need to devote this much energy to attacking it.

Now MUNCHKIN...:whistle:

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

magic gecko — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:54:41 +0000

by magic gecko

I hate this game so much that I went home and wrote out instructions of what to do for every 5 player game of this.

From memory I have tried to "solve" this game.
I mean, I have had 4 x "10 minutes" so far. :laugh:

At the start of the next game I have the misfortune to play of this I intend to hand out a "job" to each player.

I do not believe there is actually a game here once it has been deconstructed and preprogrammed.

I do not believe the preprogrammed moves will always win, but I think I will find out.

And there is still a tiny amount of talking to the guy in the room behind you to coordinate your shots at the monsters.

Also "turn 2 . . . and everyone frantically scrambles to play ONE CARD... It's boardgame whiplash. It sucks most of the fun out the game. Also, it makes most mistakes less severe, since they may be immediately correctable."

Is not what I am saying.

There are 3 phases in this game.
Why am I trying to use a toy in turn 8 that broke in turn 4?

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

chooche — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:43:19 +0000

by chooche

magic gecko wrote:
Space Alert is obviously something special.

It has everything I should want in it.
Everyone I played with had a great time.

I did not.

I hate it SO precisely.
I hate the way it is well made.
I hate the Sound Tracks.
I hate all the cooperative shouting.
I hate being stranded by others.

eg.
Enemy, check!
Gun, check!
Fire! .. . what do you mean my friend moved the energy?
.
.
.
.

Wish I could edit this.
I know my opinions will change.

You just described the reasons I loved this game :D

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

sfsdfd — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:08:44 +0000

by sfsdfd

The communication aspect is what I like most about it. In fact, that's entirely the point.

As for the pre-programmed complaint ("trying to figure out what is happening on turn 3 when you are not allowed to see the outcomes of turn 1")... consider the alternative:

Everyone is all set for turn 1. The game starts the CD starts, everyone frantically communicates for a minute... and then the game stops while everyone sorts out the turn 1 conflict.

Then turn 2 starts ("ready.......... GO!") and everyone frantically scrambles to play ONE CARD... and then: "STOP, OK let's figure out what happened."

It's boardgame whiplash. It sucks most of the fun out the game. Also, it makes most mistakes less severe, since they may be immediately correctable.

Sure, preprogramming is artificial. But the consequences of the artificiality are exactly what make the game fun: ten minutes of sustained chaos, followed by a round of storytelling. :)

- David Stein

Reply: Space Alert:: Variants:: Re: Rank / Experience

Hate — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 22:04:27 +0000

by Hate

Also, for anyone looking for some added bells and whistles, another version is up now. This one has some added features such as calculating your score for you, recording survival rate for each player as well as experience, and having a paper template that you can print out and use when your computer isn't handy during gaming sessions.

http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/44166

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Mislabeled CDs in Rio Grande version?

pepex82 — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 19:38:16 +0000

by pepex82

I had my cadets enthralled in our first try. Then when we played the mission things went wrong. internal threats, T+7 events when there aren't any in the test flight.....

I eventually discovered CD was mislabeled, ruin the atmosphere. my friends left after the failed trial.

too bad.

I still look forward to playing.

File: Space Alert:: Space Alert Exp Log v2.0

Hate — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 02:32:33 +0000

by Hate

Space Alert Exp Log v2.0 for Board Game: Space Alert ]]>

File: Space Alert:: Star Trek Award and Role Counters

VonEpp — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 02:13:01 +0000

by VonEpp

Star Trek Award and Role Counters for Board Game: Space Alert ]]>

File: Space Alert:: SPACE ALERT LOGBOOK

VonEpp — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 02:03:16 +0000

by VonEpp

SPACE ALERT LOGBOOK for Board Game: Space Alert ]]>

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Solo ?

elfrododumbo — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:41:37 +0000

by elfrododumbo

Karl, all my first games are disasters so I will be well prepared to face defeat in the face again :laugh:

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Question from a window shopper

Cinnibar — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:51:03 +0000

by Cinnibar

There is no specific solo mission, just fire up any one of them and set your brain to puzzle-mode. You've got four or five crew, all the actions, and unknown threats coming in. Good luck keeping track of all your pawns. :)

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Question from a window shopper

elfrododumbo — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:31:11 +0000

by elfrododumbo

I am assuming that it can be played solo , but maybe I am wrong. If it can, is the scenerio different each time or is there just the one which is specifically aimed for solo gaming ?

Thanks in advance.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: SKIP the Basic sims! (at least all but one)

Hate — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:13:40 +0000

by Hate

*Finally* got to play for the first time last night. So much fun. I was the only one who had read the rules and we had 4 psuedo/non-gamers to round out the 5. We did the first tutorial which we survived only by the fact that it was so easy. Nobody felt comfortable skipping, so we took on the second tutorial and annihilated it. We went to 03 and died but everyone felt they understood what was going on and why we died, so we skipped ahead to 06 and beat it handily with all the threats dying by turn 8. I am really looking forward to moving ahead to real missions the next time we get together. I can say (having mostly non-gamer friends) that I am glad there are extra tracks on the tutorial, but I'm sure that 'real' game groups could easily skip most of them.

Thread: Space Alert:: General:: Space Alert . . Why Do I Hate thee?

magic gecko — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:14:35 +0000

by magic gecko

Space Alert is obviously something special.

It has everything I should want in it.
Everyone I played with had a great time.

I did not.

I hate it SO precisely.
I hate the way it is well made.
I hate the Sound Tracks.
I hate all the cooperative shouting.
I hate being stranded by others.

eg.
Enemy, check!
Gun, check!
Fire! .. . what do you mean my friend moved the energy?

I find the game incredibly frustrating.
It claim take 10 minutes. . .nope.

I managed to program my moves, (grab bots go outside and bot for the last 5 turns) and left the game for half an hour. Yay we won.

I hate the way I feel I could program the entire game in the ten minutes.
It is that whole communicating bit that just sucks.

Trying to figure out what is happening on turn 3 when you are not allowed to see the outcomes of turn 1 is my personal favourite though.

Trying to shoot the big bads because you can see where they are and where you need to shoot them is also just not enough. What do you mean they dont exist yet?

Having all of the cards laid out and not changeable is fascinating.
Pointing to a new player and pointing out that all their cards are the same way up, so they are not leaving the bridge this game. . .sucks.

I know that I am going to play this game again, and again.
Maybe If I were a truely dictatorial captain I could do it.
But, cooperative on a timeline is just SO not me.

Losing because someone else refuses to listen or give straight answers just bites.

And it can be SO fiddly!

I like the idea of this game being two player, Aliens vs Humans.
I like the concept of it being a Solo game even.

As it is . . .

Wish I could edit this.
I know my opinions will change.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Solo ?

kilrah — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:12:19 +0000

by kilrah

First game was a disaster. But once I learned the ropes and how to calculate stuff in seconds it worked out nicely and it has hugely improved my regular play. Actually at this point I could probably cope with about half the time that the game gives me for planning.
However, I did only run training missions so far. Nothing with internal treats.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Solo ?

dougadamsau — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:02:16 +0000

by dougadamsau

It works very well as a solo game.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Solo ?

elfrododumbo — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:49:25 +0000

by elfrododumbo

Thank you Miguel.
I was not too sure, but now you told me....it sounds good.

Regards.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Solo ?

agent easy — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:24:05 +0000

by agent easy

I've played Space Alert solo a couple of times. I enjoy it but it's quite difficult because you have to program for 4 characters all by yourself. As a tradeoff, you can choose freely amongst all the cards (i.e. the entire deck is available face up instead of having hands dealt out).

In the two games I've played, I haven't yet managed to finish in the time allotted. I've allowed myself to finish planning in both cases, although I did push myself to go quickly and not abuse the extra time.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: what is up with this game's availability?

kuhrusty — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:07:07 +0000

by kuhrusty

Son of a ... Well, thanks for the information.

Anyone have a sense for how solid the August estimate from RGG is? I strongly prefer to buy locally when I can, but if it's going to be more than a couple of months... well, actually, I would probably still wait, because it's not like I don't have other games to play, ha ha.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: what is up with this game's availability?

lfisher — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:45:22 +0000

by lfisher

LoneCleric wrote:
kuhrusty wrote:
I want to get this from my FLGS. It did go to distributors earlier this month, right? My FLGS says the June printing is already gone, and they weren't able to get one. RGG's page shows it as "will be released/reprinted" with a release date of August, which seems consistent with what my FLGS is saying, but that can't be right, can it??

It did go to distributors but, like Pandemic & Agricola last year, it got "pre-ordered-out". So essentially, stores asked for so many copies, they weren't able to deliver that amount.

So your FLGS is indeed screwed. As for you personally, it's up to you to decide if you want to wait after them, or get the game elsewhere...

Yep if your FLGS wasn't on the ball and didn't get in the first printing they'll be stuck for awhile. Luckily mine got plenty of copies.

Thread: Space Alert:: General:: Solo ?

elfrododumbo — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:40:13 +0000

by elfrododumbo

Can this game be really played as solo ?
The box, I think, says 2 player plus, but I noticed here that it says 1 player plus but best with 4.
Now, if it can be played solo : what are the pros and cons ?

Thanks in advance.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: what is up with this game's availability?

joey_aka_pepe — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:33:56 +0000

by joey_aka_pepe

Time Well Spent also has it in stock, in case you want to go that route...

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: what is up with this game's availability?

LoneCleric — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:28:42 +0000

by LoneCleric

kuhrusty wrote:
I want to get this from my FLGS. It did go to distributors earlier this month, right? My FLGS says the June printing is already gone, and they weren't able to get one. RGG's page shows it as "will be released/reprinted" with a release date of August, which seems consistent with what my FLGS is saying, but that can't be right, can it??

It did go to distributors but, like Pandemic & Agricola last year, it got "pre-ordered-out". So essentially, stores asked for so many copies, they weren't able to deliver that amount.

So your FLGS is indeed screwed. As for you personally, it's up to you to decide if you want to wait after them, or get the game elsewhere...

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: what is up with this game's availability?

Ciaran — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:19:29 +0000

by Ciaran

Our FLGS got several copies in a couple weeks ago and there was at least one still on the shelf last Monday. Shouldn't be too hard to find at the moment.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: what is up with this game's availability?

jeff brown — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:25:36 +0000

by jeff brown

It is available currently in both Thoughthammer and boardsandbits.com other than that I don't know.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: SKIP the Basic sims! (at least all but one)

coolpapa — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:21:23 +0000

by coolpapa

I typically go:

one of 3-5
one of 6-8

And then ask how things are going. This is typically with seasoned gamers, though, and it can definitely be altered to taste.

Thread: Space Alert:: General:: what is up with this game's availability?

kuhrusty — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:59:06 +0000

by kuhrusty

I want to get this from my FLGS. It did go to distributors earlier this month, right? My FLGS says the June printing is already gone, and they weren't able to get one. RGG's page shows it as "will be released/reprinted" with a release date of August, which seems consistent with what my FLGS is saying, but that can't be right, can it??

Reply: Space Alert:: Variants:: Re: Another Rank / Light RPG Variant (long)

Fu_Koios — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:44:50 +0000

by Fu_Koios

Thanks for the kind words!

The threat value figures are of course averages. Having played ~15 missions with the system now, I would hasten to point out that adding
the advanced threats can add much more difficulty than the average
indicates (if your draw a lot of advanced threats).

I agree there are other ways death could be handled, but I thought the "Paranoia" style clone option was in keeping with the dark humor from
the Space Alert player handbook.

The rank bonus ideas were mine. I was trying to give a small boost but
not get too far away from the play tested goodness of the base game.

Having had some play testing time, I have one alteration so far:

Less than 5-Player adjustment: Add 4 point to the score from a 3 or 4-player game when checking for promotion. (Less threat, less explorers, score tends lower).

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Card Sizes (too big!)

pepex82 — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:29:14 +0000

by pepex82

I assume 61 x 103 mm Threat cards (standard whist cards) are the euro bridge sized cards compared to American Poker sized card which are our standard card size.

I don't understand why sleeve manufacturers don't make sleeve for bridge sized cards. so frustrating.

Yu-gi-oh cards are slim but not long enough. they work better than standard sleeves anyways.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Question from a window shopper

azuredarkness — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:25:42 +0000

by azuredarkness

Just read the rulebook - it's a really fun read, and you will understand exactly the kinds of variability built into the design.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: SKIP the Basic sims! (at least all but one)

crobledo — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:24:48 +0000

by crobledo

Kubigaruma wrote:
Yes, by all means, use the board if you are not. Move yourself around, take away the energy when used, move the ships, and place damage cubes on the enemies. This all helps to communicate what your intentions are and what cards you may need.

This. I can't believe how much easier this made it for us to communicate. The first few games half the time was spent asking each other "where are you at the end of round 4? You over there by the yellow gun or at the central core?"

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Question from a window shopper

jayquirk — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:24:05 +0000

by jayquirk

And one more comment- the variability is great, but so is the ability to increase the difficulty level. There's a set of more difficult cards to make the game much more challenging, plus the random mission generator app can make it so you are dealing with far more threats than you'll ever be able to handle.

Jay

Reply: Space Alert:: Rules:: Re: Victory condition?

azuredarkness — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:33:34 +0000

by azuredarkness

Or simply until the ship jumps to hyperspace (last space on the track).

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Question from a window shopper

AnttiK — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:12:25 +0000

by AnttiK

The random player action cards are very important in keeping the game fresh: You really can't count on doing (and "mastering") the same job, game after game. Sometimes you only get B-cards and can't shoot the guns, sometimes your movement is restricted to the red zone for the first part of the mission, etc.

In our games the first few seconds are spent negotiating what parts of the ship everybody goes to and what they can do once there.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Question from a window shopper

JohnRayJr — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 05:29:11 +0000

by JohnRayJr

tryp09 wrote:
I understand the scenarios are pre-programmed, so what makes each session different than the last (besides the players involved)?

A whole lot of carefully conceived variability. Calling it pre-programmed is a bit of a stretch.

Reply: Space Alert:: Variants:: Re: Another Rank / Light RPG Variant (long)

BlackRook — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 05:01:57 +0000

by BlackRook

I love your "Threat Value" figuring. That is very helpful.

In regards to "death", which I know is an integral part of the game, more than half of the US Air Force new pilots (this is unconfirmed, but came from an inside source) are training on drones now. Could each of these missions be a drone mission and thus the loss of the ship is not the loss of life? I also consider separating the points for service and achievement from earnings. Earnings would come from successful missions, yes, but also from how many cadets or even lower-ranking people were on board, thus you were training them (and sacrificing your own advancement or success) and loss of ship would be detracted from the earnings.

I hadn't considered the bonuses idea for higher level ranks. Did you come up with this? That is brilliant, even though I don't know if I'd use that.

Those are my first responses to your post. Very good post.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Question from a window shopper

Kubigaruma — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:32:23 +0000

by Kubigaruma

I wouldn't really call it "randomness", so much as "variety". I can only add one more thing to Bill's list of things that change from game to game: The type of damage your ship may receive from a hit. All these things together make for great variety!

To me, a game that had "randomness" would be one where you roll a d8 to see how much damage you took when your ship got hit. I generally dislike this kind of randomness in my games.

In Space Alert, no matter what trajectories got picked, they are all fair. The short ones are missing a "Y" action and the long ones have an extra "Y" action to make up for it.

When you draw a threat, you don't know what you are getting, but it will always be a single threat, not some random number of threats. With the defined difficulty of the mission cd and the way the awesome .mp3 generator works, you will have a varied number of threats, but they will always add up to your chosen difficulty level.

You don't have to worry about rolling bad on a difficulty table and getting hosed from the start.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Question from a window shopper

BillJ1967 — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:16:43 +0000

by BillJ1967

This is a game that presents a lot of randomness (trajectory/proximity of aliens, type of aliens, and player card distribution). The challenge is to overcome all of the problems and simply survive given the dynamics of ship energy use and available orders.

It will be interesting to see if the 'randomness haters' embrace or run from this game. On the mechanics hand, it has a lot of random elements. But on the other, ideological hand, the main theme of the game is that all of these random elements can be overcome if the crew coordinates their efforts.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Question from a window shopper

crparis — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:44:54 +0000

by crparis

And don't forget that awesome app that allows you to randomly create missions!

:meeple:

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Question from a window shopper

mkrajew — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:22:45 +0000

by mkrajew

First off, you deal out 3 random "trajectories". Some cause the threats to take longer to get to your ship, some cause it to come at you quickly. They also specify when the threats will do different actions. So everytime a thread comes up, it will do something different depending on what trajectory it is coming at you on.

The threats themselves are also different. You shuffle a deck of threat cards and something randomly appears.

So while the CD will always say "Time T+1, Threat Zone White" in the same place on that CD's track, the Threat will be different (draw the top card from the deck) and will be coming on a random trajectory. The trajectory could cause this threat to come at you fast or slow, and perform different actions on you.

If you play different tracks on the CD and combine that with different trajectories and threats it will be a different scenario each time.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Question from a window shopper

coolpapa — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:22:22 +0000

by coolpapa

The scenario (mission) you choose only determines what kinds of threats will appear (internal vs. external threats, serious or slightly less serious) and when. The real randomization comes from flipping a card off the appropriate deck to see exactly what you'll have to deal with. Do two of us have to run downstairs and fix the main reactor before it blows up, or do we have to activate squads of Battlebots to fend off those Commandos who just boarded the ship?

It's not obvious until you've played the game a few times, but believe me, solvability is not an issue here.

Thread: Space Alert:: General:: Question from a window shopper

tryp09 — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:49:55 +0000

by tryp09

Hello all Space Alert Fans,

I haven't played or bought the game, but I am extremely curious about it. It looks liek so much geeky fun!
Here's my questioN:

Where are the random elements? Since this is a co-op vs game type of game... once you figure out how to beat a certain scenario, do you always know how to beat it or are there certain random elements that you can not predict? I understand the scenarios are pre-programmed, so what makes each session different than the last (besides the players involved)?

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: SKIP the Basic sims! (at least all but one)

jayquirk — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:46:52 +0000

by jayquirk

jsciv wrote:
No, dying isn't much fun really. Once you see on turn 4 that nobody's manning the gun in front of the ship that's going to kill you, you laugh a bit maybe, but after that for us it was a pointless grind to watch us die.

I guess in our group, there wasn't a notion of being dead until the resolution phase. We always think we had everything solved during the action phase. One time we realized we completely missed a threat during the action phase, but it didn't totally kill us, so we went on to try and win and got killed later on. For us, the humor of realizing how catastrophic our silly mistakes were just make us grin and do it again. But we also were never overwhelmed by the game like I read on often here. It's different to die when you know you did something silly as opposed to dying when you don't even realize what's going on.

Reply: Space Alert:: Variants:: Re: Computer program to generate mp3 mission files

zorba — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:25:17 +0000

by zorba

Initially probably on a laptop, but I know there are many flash->mp4 solutions out there, so video files would not be impossible.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: SKIP the Basic sims! (at least all but one)

byronczimmer — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:45:01 +0000

by byronczimmer

Played this after a lot of hype with two experienced people and two newbies (myself and my wife).

We're not strangers to co-ops and sequencing games, but the absolute and total lack of communication and direction from the two 'experienced' players meant it was a complete and utter failure of a game from the new player's perspective.

I've vowed to try again with different players if it's offered, but if the game experience is similar, then I'll happily pass on any future plays of this experience.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: SKIP the Basic sims! (at least all but one)

jsciv — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:22:06 +0000

by jsciv

jayquirk wrote:
I wouldn't even necessarily wait until you live through the tutorials, just until you feel that you understand the game rules and concepts to move on to the next level. Dying is so much fun in this game, there's no sense waiting until you get good at your level. Push the limits. You might die more, but you'll learn way faster and the victory tastes much sweeter. Or bloodier depending on how many crews you had to go through to get the win.

No, dying isn't much fun really. Once you see on turn 4 that nobody's manning the gun in front of the ship that's going to kill you, you laugh a bit maybe, but after that for us it was a pointless grind to watch us die.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: SKIP the Basic sims! (at least all but one)

jsciv — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:19:38 +0000

by jsciv

DavidT wrote:
Okay, then I think we must just stink at it. It was nowhere near as easy as you guys are making it sound. Maybe we're doing something wrong, but we never seem to coordinate well for more than the very beginning of the trip... after that, it's a big mess and no one has any idea what's going on.

I don't really mind very much, as I'm sure we'll improve with time. The main problem is that no one in the group really seems to want to play it ever again. :soblue:

Yeah, we kind of stunk at it too. The rules say 5 players are good to learn with, but I think for a cold-learn I'd have done much better with 3 or 4 so that we all got some sort of a feel for learning when people tend to forget what's happening and how to fix it. I'm hoping that it'll be a little more organized and fun next time I play (hopefully this weekend).

Reply: Space Alert:: Reviews:: Re: Learning to be Alert in Space. Or dying. Whichever.

Kayvon — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:40:17 +0000

by Kayvon

jsciv wrote:
we played each of the tracks on the tutorial once, so five missions total over the course of the evening (which is what I meant by "three more destroyed ships"

Sure enough. I missed that in my initial reading. It helps add perspective to the review.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: SKIP the Basic sims! (at least all but one)

Kubigaruma — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:25:45 +0000

by Kubigaruma

Yes, by all means, use the board if you are not. Move yourself around, take away the energy when used, move the ships, and place damage cubes on the enemies. This all helps to communicate what your intentions are and what cards you may need.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: SKIP the Basic sims! (at least all but one)

SevenSpirits — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:39:19 +0000

by SevenSpirits

You are using the board as a player aid, right?

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: SKIP the Basic sims! (at least all but one)

DavidT — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:27:16 +0000

by DavidT

Okay, then I think we must just stink at it. It was nowhere near as easy as you guys are making it sound. Maybe we're doing something wrong, but we never seem to coordinate well for more than the very beginning of the trip... after that, it's a big mess and no one has any idea what's going on.

I don't really mind very much, as I'm sure we'll improve with time. The main problem is that no one in the group really seems to want to play it ever again. :soblue:

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: SKIP the Basic sims! (at least all but one)

SevenSpirits — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:46:18 +0000

by SevenSpirits

I've been using this method successfully the last couple times (with 2-4 experienced players and 1-2 new players):

1. Start with the advanced sim (any of the three), but don't explain internal threats or battlebots. Additionally, skipping delays is OK since it's kind of confusing before playing the game once.

This, as any simulation, is pretty hard to lose if anyone knows what they're doing.

Explain internal threats (and delays, as necessary) during resolution.*

2. Go to full mission with mixed-in yellows, and explain everything you haven't explained.

The main problem I've had teaching is that people think the game is too easy (and thus find it less interesting). This plan helps just about as much as is reasonable.

* Note that 100% of the time, both new players will end up picking up battlebots because they have the best hands for it and volunteer. But this seems to work out fine.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: SKIP the Basic sims! (at least all but one)

mvettemagred — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:16:41 +0000

by mvettemagred

DavidT wrote:
Really? Are you guys surviving missions after skipping simulations? We tried to play through all the simulations and advanced sims in a row one night, just so we could see what the first full mission would look like. We got creamed on almost everything.

Our consensus was that you really had to play the simulations until you could consistently win--otherwise, the real missions were just a chaotic mess of Fail. Grasping the mechanics is not difficult for competent gamers, but I'm surprised that anyone can progress that quickly and succeed at the *real* challenge--communication and coordination.

Maybe we just suck, though? :robot:

Were you mixing in the yellow-strength cards with the white-strength cards? If so, that could explain your struggles. I highly recommend only using the white-strength cards until you've progressed to a full mission. Then, based on your comfort level with all the ship systems, you can start to mix in some yellow cards.

Last Sunday I played SA with two other players. One had 3 previous missions, the other was a newbie. We played 2 tutorials, 1 simulation, 1 advanced sim, and 1 full mission. We only died on the full mission. The only reason we played a second tutorial is because we took 6 damage on one zone in the first tutorial. We took no damage on the second tutorial and killed all the threats. We would have survived the full mission too, except our newbie security officer thought the Saboteur was moving red when instead he moved blue (and yours truly fired a rocket before the intended target would be in range).

EDIT - Spelling.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Glass bits

Deefer — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:45:21 +0000

by Deefer

I think they may have underestimated the market for cool glass bits :)

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Essen Glass bits

Deefer — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:43:53 +0000

by Deefer

Did this ever go anywhere?
I'd be interested a set... but $20 is roughly my pain threshold as well.
And I'm in Canada to boot.

D.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Glass bits

Speedracer513 — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:49:25 +0000

by Speedracer513

The glass bits were indeed only included in the Essen copies of the game.
See: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/384970

Also, The following thread has some discussion on aftermarket bits:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/395007

(Edited to add links)

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: SKIP the Basic sims! (at least all but one)

jayquirk — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:51:09 +0000

by jayquirk

First time I played, we did sims 1-3 and 5, then moved on to a real mission. Died the first time, lived the second time.

Second time I played with myself, one player from last session and 2 newbies. Did sim 1, 4 and moved on to normal missions. Survived the next 2, then went on to do advanced and normal cards mixed together. Died 3 times and lived on the last mission.

I find that if everyone is new, going through all the tutorials is good because everyone is shaky. As soon as you have 1 or 2 people who understand the rules, you can cruise through the tutorials as the experienced players can guide everyone and answer questions- even in real time. (since the tutorial missions are so easy) So only mission 1 and another mission are really necessary. However, that was our group. Everyone grasps these concepts differently. Some people can't handle the time pressure, others can't visualize the movements of all the threats.

I wouldn't even necessarily wait until you live through the tutorials, just until you feel that you understand the game rules and concepts to move on to the next level. Dying is so much fun in this game, there's no sense waiting until you get good at your level. Push the limits. You might die more, but you'll learn way faster and the victory tastes much sweeter. Or bloodier depending on how many crews you had to go through to get the win.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: SKIP the Basic sims! (at least all but one)

DavidT — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:32:41 +0000

by DavidT

Really? Are you guys surviving missions after skipping simulations? We tried to play through all the simulations and advanced sims in a row one night, just so we could see what the first full mission would look like. We got creamed on almost everything.

Our consensus was that you really had to play the simulations until you could consistently win--otherwise, the real missions were just a chaotic mess of Fail. Grasping the mechanics is not difficult for competent gamers, but I'm surprised that anyone can progress that quickly and succeed at the *real* challenge--communication and coordination.

Maybe we just suck, though? :robot:

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: SKIP the Basic sims! (at least all but one)

JohnRayJr — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:54:26 +0000

by JohnRayJr

It's going to depend on the group. If you're going too fast you'll lose them. If you're going too slow you'll lose them.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Glass bits

Tegre — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:12:59 +0000

by Tegre

I think the real question now is, where can someone get Glass (or even hard colored plastic) replacements. The Glass Bits look nicer IMO but I'm still happy with the functionality of the wooden blocks.

Or better, are there glass shops in the US or Overseas that can ship?

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Glass bits

doonzer — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:41:40 +0000

by doonzer

I just received my version from Thoughthammer, and it also had the wooden bits. I somehow believed that the newer US versions would include the glass bits, would have liked.

Reply: Space Alert:: Variants:: Re: Computer program to generate mp3 mission files

Hate — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:39:32 +0000

by Hate

Adding video sounds like an awesome idea. The audio generator creating an mp3 is really nice since you can download the files to an ipod or other mp3 player. Would the video/audio be created in an mp4 file so it could be downloaded to a portable player or would it have to run on a laptop?

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: SKIP the Basic sims! (at least all but one)

Kayvon — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:33:02 +0000

by Kayvon

I'll second that.

Taught this game to two new, different groups over the weekend. I used only the tutorial and an advanced simulation. Everything worked fine.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: SKIP the Basic sims! (at least all but one)

jayquirk — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:29:44 +0000

by jayquirk

You do realize that sim2 is only for people who had a lot of trouble with the first sim, right? If sim1 goes well, you're supposed to move on to the rockets and C button sims right away.

The method for sims is:
Sim 1
Sim 2 only if Sim 1 was a disaster and the players don't get it yet
any of sim 3-5: (normal simulations) Do 1. If a disaster, repeat this step. Otherwise, move on. (rockets and wiggle the mouse)
any of sim 6-8: (advanced simulations) Do 1. If a disaster, repeat this step. Otherwise, move on. (internal threats and battlebots)
real missions (heroic actions)

Though for me, our group has caught on quick, so we usually do the following when teaching a new player:
Sim 1
any of sim 3-5
real mission

The only difference between sims6-8 and a real mission is the difficulty and heroic actions, so it's easy to just skip the advanced sims and move right on to real missions.

Thread: Space Alert:: General:: SKIP the Basic sims! (at least all but one)

crobledo — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:17:12 +0000

by crobledo

So here is the deal. I played space alert back in January with a copy someone had brought from Essen to a local game convention. We learned it ourselves from the rulebook, and played the first 2 simulations. It was a a good game, and it piqued my interest. Preordered the Rio version which came in a few weeks ago.

So I am out at a friend's game night and we decide to try it out. Mind you, these are all veteran coop, Galaxy Trucker AND Robo Rally players, so we should have no trouble. I decide to go with sim 1 to start off and tell them to just play it out and not worry that much about the rules. It goes ok, and we go to simulation two. By now, they have the basic mechanics of the game. Sim 2 happens, and by the end everyone is bored of the game and we put it away. It has been filed as "ok" by most people.

I have my own game night this past weekend. We decide to give it another shot, this time only one player hadn't played before, so we do Sim 1 quickly and the new player grasps it, no problem. We go straight into Advanced sim 1 which includes uses for the C buttons. We can't believe how much more this adds to the game! Just adding that computer and rockets was awesome. But we wanted more.

We play a third time, this time Advanced sim with internal threats, rockets, computer maintenance, battle bots and interceptors. EVEN BETTER than the previous play. This time it gets filed as "awesome" instead, and we can't wait to try some real missions.

Short version: If you have gamers who can grasp the basic concept of the game from one simulation, FORGET THE REST. Go into the advanced simulations straight off, I will agree with my friends that the game with just A and B actions is very boring and uneventful. Get those C buttons in there and go to town!

Reply: Space Alert:: Reviews:: Re: Learning to be Alert in Space. Or dying. Whichever.

jsciv — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:07:53 +0000

by jsciv

We played through the entire tutorial CD (edit: someone in another thread mentioned 3 more tracks of advanced sims, which we didn't play). I was kind of unclear in the report (rereading that section), but we played each of the tracks on the tutorial once, so five missions total over the course of the evening (which is what I meant by "three more destroyed ships").

Reply: Space Alert:: Reviews:: Re: Learning to be Alert in Space. Or dying. Whichever.

Kayvon — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:54:13 +0000

by Kayvon

jsciv wrote:
If you read the forums you know that the CD's are mislabeled.

I believe that's only true of the Rio Grande printing. My CDs are properly labeled. It's worth playing the first track of a CD and comparing it to the mission cards.

Out of curiosity, was this review based on a single play? Or did you play it several times that evening to get a good feel for the game?

Reply: Space Alert:: Reviews:: Re: Learning to be Alert in Space. Or dying. Whichever.

pete belli — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:50:29 +0000

by pete belli

but in this, one weak player will lose for everyone.

"In space, no one can hear you scapegoat."

:D

Nice review/report.

Reply: Space Alert:: Reviews:: Re: Learning to be Alert in Space. Or dying. Whichever.

JohnRayJr — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:48:04 +0000

by JohnRayJr

jsciv wrote:
. In most games a weak player will just lose alone (or in other coop games they can ask advice if they don't know what's going on), but in this, one weak player will lose for everyone. I almost feel like I want to interview people to be on my team before we play. Still, with the right group I definitely want to proceed to the full missions and see how it goes.

I've spent a lot of time teaching or helping someone else teach Space Alert. Most people need a basic tutorial, 2 simulations, and 2-3 advanced simulations before they can play the "full game." If you rush them they'll be that player who is totally bewildered and "loses the game" for the team.

I kind of like training new cadets, though, so it's not a drawback for me.

Review: Space Alert:: Reviews:: Learning to be Alert in Space. Or dying. Whichever.

jsciv — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:41:44 +0000

by jsciv

After hearing much about this game five of us got together Saturday night to cold-play it. This is kind of a hybrid session report/review of our time learning and playing the game

A quick summary of the rules is probably in order: the game is played out in two phases. The first phase is a real time section (accompanied either by the CD provided with the game or by someone with a stopwatch and a script) where the crew programs out its 12 turn actions in sequence. The actions available are: left, right, up/down, action A (fire lasers), action B (manage energy, basically), action C (a couple of specialized actions based on the room you're in) or battlebots (specialized combat).

Based on what the script says, threats appear during turn X and the crew has to talk amongst themselves and program out what they're doing to deal with the threats (i.e. someone goes and fuels up the laser while someone else fires it and/or powers the shields, etc.). The soundtrack also has three phases, so after the end of phase one you can't play actions into turns 1,2, or 3 and so on.

Once the script has ended, you slowly progress through the turns and play out the programmed actions to see if the ship lived. There are a ton of rules about the interaction of enemies, lasers, energy, and so on, but the basic gist of it is that you play out what was programmed and see if you survive (and if so how many points you get).

That's the game in a nutshell.

So Saturday night, after spending a couple of hours poring over the rules, we convened for a try. I went over the rules as presented in the rulebook, we all looked at each other warily, put our boards in front of us for the training run, and dove in. I took the role of captain and one of the other guys was communications officer. We put the CD in and pushed play... and a Serious Threat was called. Which BTW isn't part of the training mission. If you read the forums you know that the CD's are mislabeled. After a bit of comparing script vs. soundtrack we figured that out and started again.

Chaos ensued for the 7 minute training mission, and none of us really understood what we needed to be doing or much about coordinating. We handled one of the threats, and barely managed the second, but we'd horribly messed up the energy thing and ended up just sort of watching the third damage us a lot (though we didn't die).

On to the second training mission, where we were a lot less chaotic. However, less chaos also included less communication and during the resolution we all watched sadly as we died from something that someone else thought they'd taken care of.

The third mission introduces rockets and such, and increases the script length to its full 10 minutes. Rather than go into all three in detail, the end result was three more destroyed ships (although one was a close call when early in the round we'd missed a ship that we later killed only because someone had just pounded on the rockets because it might have been a good idea. Unfortunately we still died later), with some place where we "missed a spot" in the fuel-energy-laser-person chain. It was a different spot each time, by the end we all had a better idea of how everything worked, even if we still had cooperation issues.

So how did we like it?

We all had fun, and that's really the point of games, isn't it? On the last mission someone who had played before sat in for one of the guys who was ready to move on, so he brought with him some more knowledge, including moving the figures around on the board as the real time script played out (something the rulebook does mention you can do I think, but that we didn't notice and didn't occur to us), but it still wasn't enough: when we'd detailed two guys to handle the thing coming in on the left side of the ship (and they said they had it), they ended up both in the same place pressing the same useless button over and over.

While we were playing we were definitely enjoying the chaos, but now after a couple of days I'm not so sure. In most games a weak player will just lose alone (or in other coop games they can ask advice if they don't know what's going on), but in this, one weak player will lose for everyone. I almost feel like I want to interview people to be on my team before we play. Still, with the right group I definitely want to proceed to the full missions and see how it goes. The chaos of the game is interesting and the ways in which you have to communicate to deal with threats is really cool. This gaming experience is unlike any I've ever had before and I GREATLY enjoyed it at the time. However, there's some aspect of my actual work in this game (in that you have to coordinate disparate actions and then trust others to get it done or bad things happen), and on reflection that part of the game makes me slightly less interested in playing. This was just a first play though, so I am looking forward to trying it again!

My final letter grade is B+, but I have hope that repeated plays will make it go up.

Session: Space Alert:: Sessions:: Space Alert with five cadets in training

DasViktor — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:27:06 +0000

by DasViktor

This session report covers four games of Space Alert. These games were four of the six training missions. They were played on the same evening with a full crew of five.

The first game, training mission 1. 12 June 2009 Five Players. Game time: 15 minutes. Score: not counted

Jonas, our Communications Officer, explained the game and demonstrated the various steps as found on the compact disk. This mission was used to gain the understanding of the mechanics of the game.

The second game, training mission 2. Game time: 30 minutes. Score: 12 Points
We got through this mission with little incident. We met all the threats with little or no problem. I was beginning to question the worthiness of the game.

The third game, training mission 4. Game time: 40 minutes. Score: 0, Ship Destroyed
Here the game demonstrated the value of communication and timing. Our Engineering Officer did not ensure that we had sufficient energy to fire our lasers or to energize our shields. We took multiple hits that quickly went over the 6-damage-point level, and the ship was destroyed.

The forth game, training mission 5. Game time: 45 minutes. Score: 30 Points
Ben, our Captain, did well to ensure the crew communicated effectively with each other. We won this mission with the last threat being a Stealth Fighter. There were no internal threats in this mission. Jonas took the Combat Robots in the interceptors and assisted in destroying the incoming threats.

In Summary:
First what can you say about a game that not only has a rule book but also has a player's handbook? Wow! A little daunting, but not too bad.

We found that each of us intended to move to a certain deck and perform an action, but if we didn't have the necessary movement- or action card, our intentions were worthless. This is where the communications became important as there were times when the players could trade cards. Timing also became an issue. If a threat was dealt with too late, it could severely damage the ship, as happened in our third game. There were other items that made communicating difficult; there was a "communications lost" period on the disk that provided static, during which time talking was not allowed.

We found that the "data exchange" that lets players swap action cards did not come up as often as we wished or last as long as we needed sometimes.

These training mission dealt only with external threats. I am excited to include the internal threats on the next game as I am the Security Officer.

I thought it was funny that this game included the action that someone had to move the ship's computer-mouse so the computer didn't go into sleep mode and delay the crew's actions. Ah, a Window's OS in space.

Space Alert has become my favorite co-operative game, beating out Arkham Horror. This game is published by Czech Games Edition, which is also the same publisher as Galaxy Trucker. I really enjoy both of these games and will be watching for new games from CGE.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Style vs substance

DeadlyEd — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:17:33 +0000

by DeadlyEd

Sure, an human being could use a deck of cards, and a sand timer to do the same thing as the CD, but that would be all they could do. It would be impossible to be the timer, and a player. And that would be a boring job.

My only complaint with Galaxy Trucker is that players have to pay attention to the sand timer while they're trying to play, and we always forget. Last time we used a kitchen timer, and it worked way better.

Reply: Space Alert:: Variants:: Re: Another Rank / Light RPG Variant (long)

mavo — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:56:21 +0000

by mavo

Without having read it all ... WOW!!!

I will take a closer look as soon as possible - looks very interesting!

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Style vs substance

TimMierz — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:13:50 +0000

by TimMierz

The game's CD is not the source of fun. Our games from last weekend would have been no less frantic, explosive, or fun had we had a player with a timer and the reference sheet reading it off. It's the player interaction, the nasty events, the time pressure, and the tense mood of the cards and board that make it.

Thread: Space Alert:: Variants:: Another Rank / Light RPG Variant (long)

Fu_Koios — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:36:06 +0000

by Fu_Koios

This is our house RPG light system for use with Space Alert.
Every "house" has its own sweet spot when it comes to such systems, so
please feel free to borrow, alter and post something different / better!

We have only had the game for 2 weeks and only play-tested up to rank 4 characters on level 5 missions. No promise on balance but we are enjoying it so far.

Goals:
We want continuing characters with stories.
We want a concept of gaining rank.
Once we had levelling up, players want power ups (go figure).
We want some "reasonable" system of picking difficulty levels based on
the players currently at the table.
We want to be "rewarded" for good scores and campaign play.

Idea:
We want continuing characters, but they will die a fair amount if we play at
challenging difficulty levels. Two solutions to frequent death problem:
1) "Try again" time warps (to reduce raw death rate)
2) Keep going... (borrowed from the old RPG "Paranoia");
dead players come back as clones.

To use this material as presented, you need the random mission generator.
Without the mission generator you can still do missions at levels 3, 5 and 7.
(Which is more than enough to get into a lot of trouble!)

Missions to be played (either individually or as part of 3-jump campaign)
are taken from the table below.
[c]
Mission Level Table:
Level Intensity Advanced Threats Avg TV
1 7 None 7.00
2 7 Common 7.77
3 8 None 8.00
4 7 Common & Serious 8.54
5 8 Common 8.88
6 9 None 9.00
7 8 Common & Serious 9.76
8 9 Common 9.99
9 10 None 10.00
10 9 Common & Serious 10.98
11 10 Common 11.10
12 10 Common & Serious 12.20
13 11 Common 12.21
14 12 Common 13.32
15 11 Common & Serious 13.42
16 12 Common & Serious 14.64
[/c]
Level - the level number assign to the mission parameters.

Intensity - Amount of "Threat" in the soundtrack.
(The mission sound tracks that come with the game have a value of 8)
This can be controlled in the advanced tab of the random mission generator.

Advanced Threats
None - Use only normal threats in both the common and serious threat decks.
Common - Add the advanced threats to the common threat decks.
Common & Serious - Add the advanced threats to both the common and
serious threat decks.
(Note that I choose to increase the sound track intensity rather than throw
out the normal threats and go to advanced only decks. I prefer the greater
variety in the threat decks.)

Avg TV -
Estimate of average "Threat Value" for the mission level based on
1.0 point for a normal common threat
1.5 points for advanced common threat.
2.0 points for a normal serious threat.
3.0 points for an advanced serious threat.

Player/Character Ranks:
All players come out of academy training at rank 1,
rank corresponds roughly to the mission level a player is qualified for.

Choosing a mission level to play:
The mission level chosen must be
* no more than 3 above the rank of the lowest ranking player.
* no more then 1 above the rank of the highest ranking player
If the players cannot reach agreement, the lowest rank proposal wins.
(Thus if the new rank 1 cadet insists on playing
at level 1, the group must comply).

If the highest ranking player is rank 4+, they may instead agree to a
3-jump campaign. Any player can veto the campaign and insist on a
single mission.

The level for the campaign missions must be chosen before each mission
starts and can be no more than 1 level above the rank of the
lowest ranking player.

Any game with 2 or less players is considered
very advanced simulator practice and does not count for rank gain or loss.

Death / Rank Loss:
Mission Death, and "Second Try" -
Players have the option of a "second try" on a failed
mission. A freak time warp gives the players another chance.
(My favorite Star Trek TNG episode starts with the Enterprise blowing
up with all hands killed in the teaser.)

When the "second try" is played, the sound track,
threat tracks and first threat drawn are kept the same (the situation is
oddly familiar), but the remain threats and action decks are reshuffled
and drawn as usual.
(The change in player actions from foresight alters the time stream)
If there is not enough play time for an immediate "second try" then the
players are just dead.

Campaign Death - Players can use the Mission Death "second try" option only
once during a 3-jump campaign. Remember to put the ship back as it was
(including previous mission damage) at the start of the mission.

If the players die, they lose 1 rank level. The memory implanted
replacement clones are not as well respected as the originals.
"If Senior Explorer Bob was really that good, he should not have died"!

If a player goes below Rank 1, they are reset to Rank 1.

Rank Gain:
Rank gain from successful missions is based on score.
Rank 20 is the maximum possible rank.

If the mission (or any mission of a campaign) was below the
minimum level listed in the table for the character's current
rank they are ineligible for promotion regardless of score.

At the end of a single mission, players gain 1 rank
if the mission score is equal or greater than the value from the
promotion table.

At the end of each individual mission of a 3-jump campaign,
compute a score for the mission "as if" it were a single mission
(count all damage on ship before doing repair).

For any character on the first or second mission of a campaign;
If the "as if" score from the mission
is equal or greater than a character's value from the promotion table
AND the players are continuing to the next mission then, the character
earns an immediate 1 rank promotion.

For any character on the third mission of a campaign:
If the "as if" score from the mission
is equal or greater than a character's value from the promotion table,
the character earns an immediate 1 rank promotion.

Note that when the lowest ranking player levels up during a campaign
mission, a higher difficulty becomes an option for the next mission.
As in the normal rules, players can abort a campaign early or adjust
the mission level before each successive mission.

At the end of a 3-jump campaign, if they did not stop early and did all
3 missions, characters gain 1 rank if the campaign score is equal or greater
than the value from the promotion table.

Thus it is possible to gain 4 promotions from a successful campaign, one
from each mission considered individually, and one from the total campaign.

Promotion from a successful full campaign is essentially assured.
Death or failure are also much more likely than in a single mission!
[c]
Promotion Table:
Rank Score to Promote Min Level
1 20 1
2 22 1
3 24 1
4 25 1
5 26 1
6 27 1
7 28 1
8 29 3
9 30 3
10 32 4
11 34 4
12 36 5
13 38 5
14 40 5
15 42 6
16 44 6
17 47 6
18 50 7
19 53 7
20 --
[/c]
Multiple Characters per Player (clone branches)
Once a players original character reaches rank 8+, they may start
additional cloned "characters". New characters (branched clones) start at
rank 4 or less.

For any given mission / campaign the player must make it clear
which character is in the game.

If the elite team needed to level you "Main" character is not around,
level up a clone instead. In with a bunch of new players and don't
want to risk your main character's rank; Make a clone.

Our character naming goes like this:
Player Handle + "-" + Clone Line Letter + Clone number in line +
"R" + Rank Number

Examples:
Tom-A1R9, BobM-B2R4, Liz-A97R12

Tom-A1 is the original Tom, he has never cloned to another
identity and he has never died. When Tom-A1 dies his memory
(and most of his rank)) will transfer to Tom-A2.
Tom-A1 currently holds rank 9. Tom-A1 is one lucky explorer!

BobM-B2R3 is not part of the root line of Bobs.
He was branch cloned from a BobM-A at some time in the past.
(So that BobM could play with some new players without undue risk to
his rank of 10). BobM-A's wisdom in sending a branch clone out with the
new trainee's is evidenced by the fact that BobM-B2R3 is the
second BobM-B and only has a rank of 3 instead of the Rank 4 Bob-B1 had!

Liz-A97R12 is a direct clone descendant of a long serving line of explorers.
She still has all the memories from the successful missions of her
96 predecessors. Of course there are 96 ill fated missions she does
not remember! Liz is reluctant to try the campaigns needed for
promotion above rank 12 (Liz-A91 to Liz-A96 were all ambitious and died
on their attempted campaigns).

Note: This method keeps things pretty light - the character's name is
the entire "character sheet"...

Rank - in game effects
Please consider this an optional addition to the variant.
[Its a variant, you were probably going to make your owns tweaks anyway ]
You can play using the ranks only as a way to evaluate progress without
altering game mechanics.
My players insisted on getting some kind of power up as they leveled!
[c]
Perks:
Rank 2 - Character gets to choose their heroic card in advance (and
the information is public). Choose in around the table order if
agreement on distribution cannot be reached.
Rank 4 - Character gets an extra card in Phase 1 deck
Rank 6 - Superior foresight, draw 1 card from the threat deck of your
choice and remove it from the current mission if desired.
Any drawn cards not removed are shuffled back into their respective decks.
You are allowed to tell other players what you drew and to
consult on the decision.
Rank 8 - Character gets an extra card in Phase 2 deck. The extra card can
be drawn (not chosen) from the heroic cards if heroic cards remain.
Rank 10 - Better version of Rank 6 perk, draw 1 card from 2 different
threat decks and remove 1 of them from the current mission if desired.
Rank 12 - Better version of Rank 4 perk,
Character gets 2 extra cards in Phase 1 deck.
Rank 14 - Better version of Rank 10 perk, draw 1 card from 3 different
threat decks and remove 1 of them from the current mission if desired.
Rank 16 - Better version of Rank 14 perk, draw 1 card from all 4 threat
decks and remove 1 of them from the current mission if desired.
Rank 18 - Better version of Rank 16 perk, draw 1 card from all 4 threat
decks and remove up to 2 of them from the current mission if desired.
[/c]

Implementation notes:
[c]
The "better version" perks don't stack, others do, so a Rank 19 character
would have the
Rank 18 (throw out 2 threats),
Rank 12 (2 extra cards Phase 1),
Rank 8 (Extra phase 2 card, possibly heroic) and
Rank 2 (pick Heroic) perks.
[/c]
Mission Start Notes:
1) Deal hands as usual (with one less card in phase 1 to allow for Heroics to
be added)
2) Rank 2+ players get to choose heroics, other players (and any androids)
get heroics at random from those remaining.
3) Players with action card perks draw the extra cards and place them on
appropriate phases.
Rank 8+ players must agree who will get the remaining heroics if there are
not enough to go around. If no agreement priority goes by rank and then
around table starting at captain.
4) Players with threat filtering perks draw from shuffled threat decks and
remove threats from the mission as allowed. Reshuffle the threat decks
after all players have had their chance to remove cards.

When players use the "Try again" rule, the action cards are
redone (steps 1-3), but keep the same threat decks in play (do reshuffle
them), do not redo step 4. Remember on "try again" the first threat
revealed stays the same.

Clones are primarily so that experienced players can start even with
new players when bringing new people into the game.
I would suggest starting a clone at rank 1 or forgoing any perks in your
first few "real" games with new players. Introduce the perks when they
hit rank 2 (so they get a perk also...).

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Glass bits

JohnRayJr — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:43:09 +0000

by JohnRayJr

I think I've seen comments about them being available in European stores. The glass bits were only included with the Essen edition. One friend of mine preordered that edition and received it last November. Another friend managed to get one of the few available copies from Czech games back in December - no glass bits.

Thread: Space Alert:: General:: Glass bits

Deefer — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:52:45 +0000

by Deefer

my version doesn't have the glass bits in it (wood bits only)

Can you order "official" glass bits separately? Or does anyone know of suitable replacement bits? (I'm in Ottawa, Ontario if it matters)

File: Space Alert:: Aides de jeu en Francais (par Kratos38)

Kratos38 — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:32:03 +0000

by Kratos38

Aides de jeu en Francais (par Kratos38) for Board Game: Space Alert ]]>

Reply: Space Alert:: Rules:: Re: Battlebots

sfsdfd — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:13:21 +0000

by sfsdfd

If both Battlebot squads are required to neutralize the threat, then the sequence is like this:

Battlebot Squad #1 attacks and hits - internal threat counterattacks and disables Battlebot Squad #1.

Battlebot Squad #2 attacks and hits - internal threat, whilst dying, counterattacks and disables Battlebot Squad #2.

Of course, if the threat only had one HP, then Battlebot Squad #2 would never have attacked it, since the threat was neutralized by the time the second squad was given an opportunity to attack it.

Seems pretty clear to me.

- David Stein

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Wrong Labelling on CDs

mrmcmeowmeow — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:24:13 +0000

by mrmcmeowmeow

Ditto on mislabeled CDs - only note was regarding the stealth fighter cards.

Game obtained from Funagain

It made for an interesting first run for my group - we caught on after about 3 minutes...

Reply: Space Alert:: Rules:: Re: Threat's shield

Kayvon — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:36:05 +0000

by Kayvon

We played it for the first time this weekend and the cadets complained that enemy shields automatically recharged.

I explained that enemy ships actually have trained crew who know what they're doing.

Reply: Space Alert:: Rules:: Re: Victory condition?

pekl — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 15:15:49 +0000

by pekl

hi,

the last game we played teached us the exact winning condition: we died on "turn 13"!
you have to survive 13 (not 12) enemy moves.

sry for his bad english:
pekl

Reply: Space Alert:: Rules:: Re: Asteroid and a missle rules questions.

mvettemagred — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:06:01 +0000

by mvettemagred

1. Good question. I had to dig around for the answer, but I finally found it. The Appendix on the back of the Rulebook states the Asteroid threats deal damage based on the number of x/y/z spaces they have passed or landed on. So in your example, the Minor Asteroid would deal 3 damage.

2. In the case of a tie, the missile will hit the target with the lowest threat number. This is noted on page 12 of the Handbook, in the Rockets section.

Thread: Space Alert:: Rules:: Asteroid and a missle rules questions.

vhirvela — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:42:45 +0000

by vhirvela

1.So first asteroid. If asteroid is on a threath projectory where is x,y,y and z and the asteroid is laying on the top of secound y! So asteroid threath is at the same space as y when destroyed? How much damage does sitting duck get? secound y attack has allreaydy happened but technically its has not passed the secound y I think?!

2.If i shoot missle and when it hits it's target there are 3 threats at the same distance from the sitting duck all within the range of missle. Also they can be targeted with a missle which threat does the missle hit?

Reply: Space Alert:: Rules:: Re: Victory condition?

mvettemagred — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 10:59:53 +0000

by mvettemagred

Yes, this is a game of survival. If the ship survives, the crew wins. However, you can use the scoring system to track how each win stacks up against the others. As your group gets better at preventing damage and killing threats vs. surviving them, your scores will increase.

Reply: Space Alert:: Rules:: Re: Victory condition?

aaxiom — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 06:57:52 +0000

by aaxiom

chooche wrote:
How do I know we have "won" the game?

Is the goal of the game = survive 12 rounds with less then 7 damage to any 1 color zone of the ship?

Thanks.

Yep!

That, and having a great time in the process whether less than 7 damage or not. :)

Thread: Space Alert:: Rules:: Victory condition?

chooche — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 06:55:10 +0000

by chooche

How do I know we have "won" the game?

Is the goal of the game = survive 12 rounds with less then 7 damage to any 1 color zone of the ship?

Thanks.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Increase in Ranking?

aaxiom — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 04:24:50 +0000

by aaxiom

Thanks for explaining your view. I do not understand that view, but I certainly respect it. I appreciate your sharing that, and will ponder it in the future.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Style vs substance

brianstock — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 04:00:44 +0000

by brianstock

I'm glad to hear that this was not other people's experience. Perhaps I'll try playing the CD from my laptop.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Style vs substance

mvettemagred — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:57:00 +0000

by mvettemagred

brianstock wrote:
When I first started playing this game, I actually found the CD a little hard to use because of the voice. The voice was really low and echoed, so I really had to concentrate to understand it. I think this may have been my sound system partly (others can let me know).

But getting back to the question, I think it's more of a necessity than a luxury or gimmick. Sure, you could do a few of the tutorial missions with a stop watch, but if everyone wants to play, it's not really an option to forgo the CD in a real mission. There's too many things happening every few seconds.

It must be your sound system. The CD's are balanced such the the computer voice is much louder than the background alert sound. If you turn up the volume such that the alert sound is softly playing in the background, the computer voice and other sound effects should be quite loud and nearly impossible to miss.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Non-actions taken?

mvettemagred — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:43:57 +0000

by mvettemagred

In my first few games I felt like I needed to do something every turn. As I've played more games, I'm leaving more blank spaces. It's definitely a good strategy for all the reasons already presented.

Reply: Space Alert:: Rules:: Re: Why so many grey cubes on the bridge?

mvettemagred — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:28:54 +0000

by mvettemagred

Herr Niemand wrote:
Cameron, three grey blocks go on the upper white deck (computer jiggery-pokery) and three on the lower white deck (visual confirmation). At least that's how I'm reading it.

OTOH, I have come to some mistaken conclusions concerning other rules, so if I'm in error, please let me know.

Thanks!

You are correct. Computer maintenance is required once per phase (3 times per mission), and visual confirmation is tracked using one cube per phase (3 times per mission). Thus the 6 grey cubes.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Style vs substance

brianstock — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 22:29:32 +0000

by brianstock

When I first started playing this game, I actually found the CD a little hard to use because of the voice. The voice was really low and echoed, so I really had to concentrate to understand it. I think this may have been my sound system partly (others can let me know).

But getting back to the question, I think it's more of a necessity than a luxury or gimmick. Sure, you could do a few of the tutorial missions with a stop watch, but if everyone wants to play, it's not really an option to forgo the CD in a real mission. There's too many things happening every few seconds.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Any expansions? Themed versions? (like Star Trek or whatever)

WhiteHowler — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:34:39 +0000

by WhiteHowler

My wife came up with the perfect licensed/rethemed version of Space Alert: Futurama!

Voice work by the actual cast, a board depicting the Planet Express ship with player figures for each of the crew, and a host of threats ranging from Nibblonians to hypnotoads to (robot) Santa Claus himself! The mood and setting of the TV show would fit in perfectly with the chaos of the game.

Yeah, I know it'll never happen, but what a great fit...

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Style vs substance

fanaka66 — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:23:06 +0000

by fanaka66

Unicorniclops wrote:
Let me echo this. I have spoken to many gamers who have jumped to conclusions based off the inclusion of the CD with out even giving the game a single consideration beyond this.

This game is by no means gimmicy. Different than your average game? yes quite. gimmicy? not in the slightest. I agree with the board analogy stated earlier. The CD is the as much the playing field for the game as the board is.

Tim

Just to clarify, I don't necessarily consider a gimmick to be a bad thing. I was mildly interested in Agricola until Zman offered animeeples. I then immediately preordered. I think the animeeples are a gimmick. The game is still great if you use cubes but I find it more fun with the animals.

Similarly, you could have the communications officer use a timer and a stack of cards, but the CD adds more fun. I just wanted to make sure people found the game play to be good, too, and it sounds like they do.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. As I expected, this is confirming my desire for the game.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Increase in Ranking?

WhiteHowler — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:21:26 +0000

by WhiteHowler

I don't think it's a contradiction at all.

The enjoyment I experience from playing a game will be the same regardless of its rating here. The thought "how does the BGG community view Space Alert?" could not have been further from my mind last night when my group was blasting through a horde of alien ships.

To me, rooting for a game to rate highly is a completely separate thing. Aside from wanting to see the designer recognized for creating something cool, there are tangible benefits if a game is well-liked: highly rated games tend to attract more players (larger potential player pool) and sell more copies (helping fund the designer's next game).

When my favorite movie receives lukewarm reviews, I'm disappointed, but it doesn't change my own personal opinion on the movie. When the song I like wins an indie press award, I'm excited for the band, but I don't enjoy their work any more or less. The same goes for boardgames.

One of the great joys in life is feeling a connection to the things I'm passionate about, and having an interest in their success or failure. If that's irrational, I'll just have to live with it. :)

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Mislabeled CDs in Rio Grande version?

W0tever — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:54:26 +0000

by W0tever

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/409302

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Mislabeled CDs in Rio Grande version?

Unicorniclops — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:52:44 +0000

by Unicorniclops

Yes they are mislabeled. I had the same problem. It was a little wierd to start the first test run with an internal threat. Lol

Thread: Space Alert:: General:: Mislabeled CDs in Rio Grande version?

Valmorian — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:36:15 +0000

by Valmorian

I tried playing Space Alert last night and discovered through some difficulty that the "Tutorial" CD didn't have the introductory Mission on Track 1. Instead, the "Mission" CD had it..

I think these two CDs are mislabeled?

Reply: Space Alert:: Variants:: Re: Star Trek Custom Cards for Space Alert

Updog — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:27:55 +0000

by Updog

@ BlackSpy - I haven't had as much time to playtest with these as I would like. My main gaming group is out of comission for the next 3 weeks and playtesting Space Alert solo just doesn't work very well.

Right now, I'd suggest tuning it to your own preference. Try a few of my ideas below, then add or subtract until you are at a difficulty level that you prefer.

- Draw all threats from the Serious Threat deck
- Remove Heroic Action Cards
- Begin with fewer Action Cards
- Begin with less energy cubes and/or capsules
- Begin with one or more damage tiles already on the ship
- Threats begin X spaces closer to the ship on the threat trajectory

Who knows? If there's someone out there who has the time, maybe they can put together Threat cards depicting some of the greater foes of the USS Enterprise?
How cool would a Tribbles Internal Threat card be?

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Style vs substance

Unicorniclops — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 17:59:33 +0000

by Unicorniclops

Let me echo this. I have spoken to many gamers who have jumped to conclusions based off the inclusion of the CD with out even giving the game a single consideration beyond this.

This game is by no means gimmicy. Different than your average game? yes quite. gimmicy? not in the slightest. I agree with the board analogy stated earlier. The CD is the as much the playing field for the game as the board is.

Tim

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Style vs substance

JohnRayJr — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 17:52:17 +0000

by JohnRayJr

The game mechanics are fantastic, but without the CD it would be hard to have them moving in real-time which is kind of the whole point. So yes, I guess the strength of the game does depend on the CD to an extent, but it also depends on the board and gameplay.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Style vs substance

fanaka66 — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 17:50:36 +0000

by fanaka66

banyan wrote:
EDIT: Reading your post again, you may be wondering what it would be like if you took away the cool soundtrack and replaced it with something functionally equivalent but without the atmosphere, like a person with a timer telling you when things happen. If you did that, the game would still be awesome, though it would lose some of its flavor, obviously.

I am just going off of a readthrough of the rules and handbook. It sounds like there are cards that you can use instead of the soundtrack. I don't expect anyone actually uses these, except possibly while training just to get the gameplay down.

I'm glad that you say the game would still be awesome. Awesome gameplay + fun flavor = definite want.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Style vs substance

aaxiom — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 17:37:03 +0000

by aaxiom

fanaka66 wrote:
Space Alert is high on my wishlist right now. It looks very cool, but I wonder how much the CD idea is swaying me. It seems like a gimmick, although a really cool gimmick.

I was wondering about the "bones" of the game. If you stripped away the really cool soundtrack timer, what would be left? If you had to use the cards, would it be worth playing?

I don't expect anyone actually plays that way, why would you, but I'm curious if the actual game mechanics are interesting to play.

If you remove the soundtrack, you have to get a person to just sit there and read things at the appropriate time.

That's what the soundtrack does -- it allows ALL of the players present to participate. That's it. Get rid of the soundtrack means getting rid of one of the players to read a script at exactly the right times.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Increase in Ranking?

aaxiom — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 17:30:08 +0000

by aaxiom

WhiteHowler wrote:
I know it doesn't matter in terms of my enjoyment of the game, but I like to see good games get the recognition they deserve.

Forgive me for piping in, but do you see how this is a contradiction?

Let me explain (please bear in mind that I'm not attacking you, just giving you something to think about): First, your enjoyment of the game is your personal experience... something you have total control over, incidentally. The rating of a game is something you have NO control over -- other people control that.

Why allow something that you have NO control over have an impact on how you feel about a game? Your comment "I LIKE to see good games get the recognition they DESERVE." (emphasis mine) illustrates this point.

Now YOU are imposing YOUR view on this onto others. The claim that if a game isn't rated as high as you feel it deserves then something is distasteful about it (you don't like it) demonstrates this.

Thus, you're seeking validation from other people. I'm suggesting that you might simply place more emphasis on what YOU enjoy and tell the remainder of the world to go to hell. You like what you like. That should be sufficient -- I'd say that's all that matters.

I enjoy this game incidentally -- ratings be damned.

Just my opinion, one among many.

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Any expansions? Themed versions? (like Star Trek or whatever)

etherton — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 17:23:07 +0000

by etherton

I think they mentioned elsewhere in another thread that they had to switch printers after Galaxy Truckers but Space Alert shouldn't have the same problem.

-Dave

Reply: Space Alert:: General:: Re: Style vs substance

banyan — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 17:20:14 +0000

by banyan

It's not a gimmick or an accessory, it's an integral part of the game. Taking it away would be like taking away the board in any other game.

It's hard to answer the question, because you seem to be under the impression that it's a game with the CD tacked on to make it more tense, but that's really not it at all. Taking away the CD would be like taking away the infection deck in Pandemic. You could sorta still play it to show people what was going on, but it would no longer be Pandemic.

EDIT: Reading your post again, you may be wondering what it would be like if you took away the cool soundtrack and replaced it with something functionally equivalent but without the atmosphere, like a person with a timer telling you when things happen. If you did that, the game would still be awesome, though it would lose some of its flavor, obviously.