The Sultans of Severnia Speak Out

Welcome to page-2 of the Sultans of Severnia sub-site, where the Sultans speak their mind about wargames, fantasy & sci-fi, miniatures, software, who serves the best pasta in Central PA, and anything else that strikes their collective fancy.

Last Updated: May 31, 2006
What's New: Old Writings section was added to serve as an archive of past project news, opinions, etc.

Rants & Raves

Got something to say there mush mouth? This is the place for the Sultans to share their thoughts and ideas about fantasy wargaming, rant and rave about the COLD project, and publicly praise or heckle their fellow Sultans just for the pure joy of it all. Of course the heckling is to be done in the spirit of good, clean fun and to keep the mood light. None of us are actually cold blooded conquerors hell-bent on world domination, but it sure is a heck of a lot of fun pretending to be the warlord of your own sprawling empire.

To get your opinions & lunatic ravings posted here for all the world to see, simply email your written material to Steve Severino, the COLD project leader and editor of this web site. Steve will convert your writing into HTML format and publish it here for the enjoyment of your fellow Sultans and other interested folks. You can also use the Rhino Software feedback form if you wish. Remember, the COLD project is a collaborative effort that will only benefit by us bouncing ideas off each other, sharing observations, and stimulating the creative juices of the project team's members. So don't be shy, sound off and be heard!

Old Writings

November 2004

As you may recall, our ultimate goal was to officially begin the COLD wargame project during the month of November 2004. To date, phone interviews have been completed and all of the independent contractors targeted to work on this project have signed contracts save for one. That last contract is to be signed on 11/17. That's excellent news because it means our goal has been achieved and we're ready to officially kick-off work on the wargame as a full team. Here's the official list of COLD project team members and their respective role on the project: 

1. Steve Severino = Lead Developer (President of Rhino Software)
2. Kevin Sarnowski = Senior Designer (Contractor)
3. Geoff Kyper = Junior Designer (Contractor)
4. Mike Hughes = Junior Designer (Contractor)

As lead developer, Steve Severino will be involved in every aspect of the project. His main areas of focus will be in game design (core rules & game world creation), software design (functional blueprint, database design, and screen mock-ups), programming, multimedia creation, and software testing & quality assurance. Steve will also serve as the project manager, keeping us focused on the task at hand, scheduling meetings & play-testing sessions, and acting as the final reviewer/editor of all project documents. Kevin Sarnowski and Dan Gilbert are the two senior designers on this project. Their role will be to work closely alongside the lead developer to assist in the creation of game design (core rules & game world), software design (blueprint, database, mock-ups), multimedia, and help system documents/files. Geoff Kyper, Mike Hughes, and Steve Smith are the three junior designers on the COLD project. In addition to contributing ideas and written material for use in game design (core rules & game's background world), the junior designers will spearhead the play-testing portion of the project, writing opinion papers outlining which portions of the wargame work best and which areas need fine-tuning.

The official starting point of the COLD project is the Research phase. During this phase, team members will be reviewing an assortment of wargame rule systems from 3rd party game manufacturers. The purpose of these reviews is to identify popular trends in wargame rule design, and to share our opinions on the best and worst aspects of those systems. The ultimate output of this phase is the creation of written research papers summarizing the team's opinions on what makes a great wargame and what are the best ideas to incorporate into COLD.

Before we start the research phase, it's important to note that our lead designer has already identified about a dozen key design components that he wants to serve as the framework for the COLD wargame. In order to create a coherent game that's fun to play, it's critical to have a strong vision to work from. So it's not like we're going into the research phase without any idea of what type of wargame we're trying to create. However, it's also very important not to let the original design framework color your vision too much when doing your game research. Most wargames are complex beasts by nature, so even with a strong framework in place there are numerous areas that need to be fleshed out. Examining other systems can go a long way towards helping us generate good ideas to implement in our wargame, but also can show us cumbersome or poorly thought-out game mechanics that we absolutely want to avoid. So keep an open mind and soak up as much knowledge as possible.

All project team members will participate in the initial research phase and play-testing phases of the project. During the research phase, the lead developer and senior designers will shoulder the largest share of the work, while during the play-testing phases the junior designers will take center stage.

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