AI War for Liddle Peeple?

[Bognor]

So there's a certain Liddle Person in my life who's intelligent beyond his years, computer literate, and likes games.  Mummy, after hearing me repeatedly raving about the magnificence of AI War, suggested Liddle Person might play a game of AI War with me.  At first I thought that's impossible - the game is far too intricate for a five year old to understand, let alone succeed in.  But then I realised Ancient Shadows introduces a new kind of play that just might work.  He couldn't manage an empire, but controlling just one powerful ship might be within his abilities.  He'd still need a Big Person to read most text and help him understand scenarios, but I think he could help with defense, join in attacks, neuter planets, and maybe even earn scenario rewards.

I've thought of some game settings that might be suitable.  It should be a smallish galaxy (maybe 40 planets), with a planar layout (one of the orthogonal maps, probably), no superweapons (would detract from the Champion's power), few or no minor factions (same reason), maybe simple ships, and Liddle Person would have more hitpoints due to a 200% or 300% handicap. 

This thread serves three purposes.

Has anyone tried playing AI War with a Liddle Person?  Did it work?  I guess playing with a non-gamer friend or partner might be in some ways similar.

Any other ideas for customising the map appropriately?

And for the Dev's, has there been any thought of using the player-who-controls-one-unit thing as a selling point, expanding this game's appeal to include the partners/friends/liddle peeple in the lives of the regular players?

[keith.lamothe]

I have a 5-year-old daughter who likes video games, and AIW, but I don't think she's wanting to play it just yet.  Probably could, as I've seen her master both normal-mouse and touchscreen controls.  Either way, I've thought about this too.

I've thought of some game settings that might be suitable.  It should be a smallish galaxy (maybe 40 planets), with a planar layout (one of the orthogonal maps, probably), no superweapons (would detract from the Champion's power), few or no minor factions (same reason), maybe simple ships

Yea, makes sense.

and Liddle Person would have more hitpoints due to a 200% or 300% handicap.

Handicap doesn't impact champions at all, actually.  I don't think you can even pick one for them.  But I don't think you'd need one.  If you want to allow for more reaction time, you could set the combat style to epic (things take a lot longer to die, and move) and speed up time during long hauls if necessary.

Any other ideas for customising the map appropriately?

For map type I think concentric would be pretty good, both being easy to understand and relatively easy to play (# of connections per planet is low).

Gameplay wise you may want a 2-stage chokepoint, the first one that might theoretically lose, the 2nd that would not (assuming relatively low difficulty here) so the liddleone can help defend and feel non-superfluous (though I don't know if the concept of "even if I hadn't been there we would have won" would sink in at this stage).

And for the Dev's, has there been any thought of using the player-who-controls-one-unit thing as a selling point, expanding this game's appeal to include the partners/friends/liddle peeple in the lives of the regular players?

Both the helper role (which you could also use with the liddleone, and just let him command a subset of stuff) and the champion role were added with "people who think planning a galactic invasion is work instead of play" in mind   And to some degree the initial announcement of Ancient Shadows pointed that out about champions.

I'm not sure how much I want to jump up and down on it, marketing-wise, but we'll see

[LordSloth]

I might suggest turning off neinzul (for defensive simplicity) and spire (simpler guardians?). Alternatively, you might just turn off gravity effects. Your child may not appreciate getting trapped by gravity drains.

Might also pay to avoid most defensive AIs - Fortress Baron in particular. On the other hand, the Neinzul defensive AIs such as Viral have the advantage of providing a challenge that a). lasts only four minutes or so at worst b). can be taken down by your Liddle Person.

Although the balance has been changed, I recommend going normal+champion and champion. The extra champ will provide somewhat of a spike in difficulty, but you'll be able to go in and lend him/her a hand in there, tossing a shield up over him or her if they're taking on the base and so forth.

[Nodor]

The issue for me is "attention span/interest"  I have tried to play AI War with the nephews (ages 7-14) but they are used to far more episodic content.

Keeping a running strategic plan going for more that 25 minutes has been a very big challenge.

[doctorfrog]

Have you checked out Eufloria?

[wyvern83]

I liked it a lot. Fun, colorful, and simple while still entertaining. I like the dark matter mode where the background is black and the colors glow, it's quite pretty.

[Gith]

I have a Liddle Person too who will be 6 at the end of Nov.

He enjoys watching me play AIW, questioning me on who the bad guys are, what color I am (telling me I chose the wrong color), and telling me which planet to attack next (pretty much randomly but it keeps him entertained)

He also likes helping me pick the modules for the champions and other modular's and deciding on which hull type to use, but of course he chooses on appearance and not stats.

We do play a few games at the same time.  Our favorites have been Minecraft, Terraria, and a vertical scrolling schmup called Jamestown.

[keith.lamothe]

Welcome to the forums   I'm glad the little one's getting some fun out of the game, albeit vicariously