[Fwd: Xconq 7.4 Released!]

[Stan Shebs <shebs at shebs dot cnchost dot com>]

Just for the record, here's what I sent to Usenet to announce the
Mac version.  I added a Mac-specific bit comparing to HyperCard;
now we just need someone to write Xconq's equivalent of Myst... :-)

Stan

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Xconq 7.4 Released!
Date: 27 Dec 2000 17:39:27 GMT
From: Stan Shebs <shebs@shebs.cnchost.com>
Reply-To: shebs@shebs.cnchost.com
Organization: Concentric Internet Services
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games.strategic

I'm pleased to announce the 7.4 release of Xconq.

Xconq is a general strategy game system.  It is a complete system that
includes all the components: a portable engine, graphical interfaces
for Unix/Linux/X11, Macintosh, and Windows, multiple AIs, networking
for multi-player games, and an extensive game library.

In addition to Xconq's "standard" game, which is similar to the
classic Empire/Empire Deluxe games of years ago, the game library
includes games for ancient civilizations, the Peloponnesian War, the
Roman Civil War, Frederician strategy, Napoleonic strategy, Gettysburg
at a brigade scale, the Russian revolution, the Normandy invasion,
WWII at scales from tactical to grand strategic, Beirut street
fighting, voyages of discovery, African exploration, and many others,
including space and fantasy games.

As befits its emphasis on strategy, Xconq's forte is turn-based play
using overhead views of a tiled world.  The world is basically
two-dimensional, although varying elevations are available for games
that need elevation effects or line-of-sight.  Xconq is especially
interesting for games about unusual or lesser-known strategic
situations; it is unique in providing a single system for modelling
the conflicts and strategies of any period in history.

To set up new types of games, Xconq includes an interpreter for a game
design language (GDL).  While the syntax resembles Lisp, GDL is a
declarative language, where you create a game just by defining the
properties of types and objects, and then filling in tables describing
their interactions.  There are literally hundreds of properties
available, and hundreds of tables relating units, materials, terrain,
and advances.

In addition, the game designer gets a collection of nearly a thousand
graphic images available for use in games, including unit icons,
terrain tiles, and national emblems.  The designer may also import
additional graphic content.

For Mac people, there is a good analogy between Xconq and HyperCard(tm).
Xconq's game modules are like HyperCard stacks in that you can easily
build up new and unique games - and just as with stacks, the quality
of the game depends as much on the game designer as on the basic program.
Xconq games will not have the polish and details of a professional
published effort.

The Xconq home page is at

	http://sources.redhat.com/xconq

This page includes information about new versions of Xconq, downloads
(including full sources!), screenshots, online versions of the manuals,
and so forth.

There is a general mailing list, xconq7@sources.redhat.com.  This
list is for both users and developers.  If you just want to receive
announcements, xconq-announce@sources.redhat.com is available also;
see the home page for information on how to subscribe.

Xconq is free software, and is distributed under the GNU Public License.

Stan Shebs
shebs@shebs.cnchost.com