I've just played the demo, so you can just ignore my last post, I can see it clear now. Good job! :)

I must say this game looks and feels great, it will be an insta-buy for me when/if it is released here on GoG.

I'm still curious about the Go players in the team, though. Anyone interested in playing, reviewing games, etc can find me under the same nick in the KGS server , usually hanging around in the KTL (KGS Teaching Ladder) room.

+REP for the developer for coming on here and answering our questions.

In case some people have doubts about what RISK is; here's a link to the always correct fountain of knowledge known as wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_%28game%29

Does the Windows version require Flash?

(I don't have Flash installed due to all the security flaws it has. <i>Example</i>)

Hi everybody and thank you for the interest!
I am the game designer of Retaliation and I can hopefully answer some of the questions you asked. And some others you mayhave later :)

First of all, some history: Enemy Mine (as well as its predecessor, a free game called Path of War) is based on an original board game I designed in 2012.
I blended elements from a wide variety of sources, not just Risk & Go (but I guess that's a good summary of the variety of inspiration), from boardgames to role playing games and of course wargames.

The main reason to design that boardgame was actually because I too was bored by the simplicity of Risk and the high element of luck involved, but at the same time I appreciated its immediacy and how it made for very fun moments and social interaction.

I wanted a wargame which didn't require players to study huge bible sized rulebooks to play but that could be easily picked up by friends in an afternoon or evening. Expecially a wargame that wouldn't require several days to complete a single match...

As for Go/Weiqi/Baduk, I started learning it in the early nineties and also had the honour and golden opportunity to play in Charles Matthews's club (Cambridge UK). Sadly I never managed to reach shodan level, or even close to that, expecially because when I moved to China I had nobody to play with (strange right? as the game originates there... but who knows nowadays China will understand me very well).

Of course I have no pretence (and nobody should have!) to make a game comparable to Go (the most ancient and the most elegant strategy game ever), but as you'll play Retaliation you'll find out - I hope - the many elements of Go I tried to embed it with. Foremost the many balances (on different levels) to be carefully considered in a game of Go (territory vs power, safety vs daring... attack vs defence). And obviously as well the leitmotif of Retaliation: easy to learn, but complex and ever changing (and - we hope - hard to master). So many different playing strategies available.

To answer a related question: it is of course true that Go has no randomness. And if you prefer to play that way, Retaliation (including the provided demo) comes with a game variant which completely dispenses with luck (No Luck mode), making it completely deterministic. Or you can play it boardgame style (dice rolls, which conversely make luck very prominent). The default mode, called Videogamer, is a middle way, with smoother result and less influence of luck. For more info on the variants check the page ?p=refpow.variants on retaliationgame dot com

Thank you again for the interest and for wishlisting us. We are definitely available to distribute on GOG.
Go on voting the wishlist then and if possible please help us also by voting on steam greenlight (if you or your friend or their mothers have a steam account of course :)) and spreading the word with like minded TBS lovers. Your support is both cherished and needed!

And RTS lovers don't worry, we (me, Xteam and ForgottenEmpires) are definitely not forgetting RTS... stay tuned :D

PS: windows version is standalone c++ and does not require flash

After playing the demo I can see what you mean, and I think your goal(s) is likely to be achieved. The 3 playing styles, plus the randomness and modding-readiness should give it almost infinite replayability. Are there different kinds of missions, or is it always 'capture the enemy HQ'? Or will they be enabled via modding?

Now I'm curious about the board game. What is it called? Who published/distributed it? Is it still available? In Spain?
I've been looking to introduce my friend's kids to strategy games, and this seems like a perfect option.

I've never been to China, but I understand your situation, it's never easy to find fellow players outside of clubs or internet servers. Go in China and Japan is a bit like chess in the west: not as widespread as one would think and mostly considered a 'passtime for old people'.

+1 to you and xteamsoftware for joining and answering our questions.

Right now (but yes, we have a long list of future updates :)) you can play with three kinds of objectives: Conquer HQ (capture the enemy base), No Survivors (kill everybody) and Decapitation (kill the enemy general to win the game).
They require different thinking obviously, although the game mechanics are the same (and hence easily transferable) in all game variants and game objectives.

Decapitation for example can be played "aggressively" by keeping the general near to where the action is (and hence basically having a forward moving base, with forward-created reinforcements) or "cravenly" by hiding the general somewhere safe (the general can hide like infantry) and try not to have it discovered, while at the same time sending troops to fight (this obviously makes very slow deployment of troops and so has its own drawbacks, as any choice you make in the game).

The board game has not been published yet but we are in talks with two possible companies. And actually there is already a kids ready variant of Retaliation which should become a board game :)
We'll obviously let you know once we finalize.

I am teaching my kids strategy thinking too :) Retaliation, Checkers, Animal Chess (Jungle) and later on (they are still so young) of course WeiQi.

You can check the boardgame photos on the website I tried to link above, retaliationgame dot com. Or on the official FE enemy-mine page.

The different game modes sound great and the boardgame looks gorgeous. Now I can't wait for both the digital and physical versions :)

Thanks again for everything.

Learning from the demo; since I'm new to boardgames. I'm really looking forward to this now! +1 for the interaction and QA!
Also, please convince your publisher to release future games on GOG as well ;D

Making software run on Wine isn't exactly trivial. I just murdered my (Linux) computer by trying to install experimental software because the program I use at work (on Windows) doesn't work through Wine. And, unlike a game, it doesn't have anything to do with graphics, sound, controllers and other notoriously problematic shit, it's a glorified notetaking app.

It depends on how the program is written, and if you're the one writing it, it doesn't really take a genius to get it to work. In fact, what wonders me is why they don't make a proper Linux port when they are already making a Mac port, they are already halfway there. Unless of course they are relying on some proprietary unportable tools. And that's where I had to laugh at the supposed "genius lead programmer".

I'm the lead programmer, sure I'm not a genius but, if a develop a program for 10 users ( the actually required for Linux ) I'm a stupid!

Retaliation project ( not only Enemy Mine ) is develop a modules ( or, if you want, a nodes ), for examples:

AI Engine a module:
- chess like engine with multithread, alpha-beta pruning, hash tables, .......
- state machine ( used on EM ) with 3 levels, 5 units, 16 states and 65 actions
- sequential state with 5 levels, 8 units, 16 states and 102 actions
- heuristic engine with over 100.000 positions value

GFX Engine:
- 2D ( like EM )
- 3D Iso
- 3D

Core Engine:
- Turn based
- Time based
- Real time

Terrain
- templates generator
- terraforming
- AI road / railroad

Script
- internal ( for record match, tutorials, multiplayer )
- external ( for "programming" units like robots )

Game Mode
- video gamer ( combat simulator )
- board gamer ( dice )
- no luck ( like chess )
- arcade mode ( hit only with ability :) )
- experience mode ( units combat with experience points )
- .....
- .....
- .....

Game Objective
- No survival
- Decapitation
- Conquer HQ
- King of the Hills
- Capture the flags
- ....
- ....

we can add units, terrains, tiles, structures, rules, ......... and more, more, more, more, more, more,more

All this developed in c++ / javascript / actionscript / c# / java / html5.
Tomorrow, if we want to, we can develop Retaliation for Amiga :)

Very cool :)

This looks interesting and I will be keeping an eye out on it.

Thanks for the reply !

WTF? Don't you know Desura has been out of business for almost a year now? O_o

It's available on Steam.

Geee, thanks. :P