I am currently playing the Master of Magic video game and I am trying to see if it would be possible to convert this video game as a board game. Master of magic is a video game that works like civilisation. The only difference is that you replace technology with magic. Since Civilisation has already been ported as a board game, maybe it would be possible for MOM(Master of magic) too. Not that I have not played the civilisation board game.
The biggest problem with MOM is that there is too much data to keep track of. There are over 100 different military units according to the race of the population and there is as much fantastic creature units. There is more than 200 spells that can affect: battle, cities, units or the world.
One of the problem would be, for example, how to keep track which unit has been enchanted with which spell so far. Since there are many spells, I cannot make tokens for each spell available in case somebody decide to enchant his unit with it.
Here is the solution and design I have tought about so far.
I intend to make a game which works like axis and allies. To solve the unit enchantment problem, I tought of using the battle chart like the one used in Axis or in bells of war. Each player would move his unit on the chart where each column indicate the strength of the units. Now if the player wishes to cast a spell to boost his units, he simply moves them on the chart to improve the stats. When the spell are all cast, the combat can start.
For non-fantastic unit, I intend to make common categories of units for all races: Infantry, Cavalry, Archery/artillery and maybe and improved version of these: Improved infantry, improved cavalry. If each race has different units, they will still use the same categories. So I would not need to make unique tokens for each race. For example: Improved cavalry for humans will be paladins, while there will be elven lord for elves.
For Non-Fantastic creatures, I have not come with a solution yet. You must also consider that some spells can summon these fantastic creature. The best solution so far would be a limited range of fantastic creatures.
In MOM, many units has many special abilities like First Strike, Large Shield, Lucky, Healer, Immunity to fire, stoning, fire breath, etc. I think that I will have to remove these completely if I want to keep the game playable. Since there won't be many of these abilities, I might not need that much fantastic creature. Sure it will remove the "I have an invincible unit, find it's weak spot" aspect of the game.
For cities or territories, they are generally develloped by making buildings and maybe casting city spells. Now I am not sure If I really want city development. Probably, all the cities are some what all develloped. For city spell, the best solution so far would be to place a token on the territory indicating that the spell is active in this area. I tought of doing this for buildings too, but maybe only special key buildings would be available(ex: Wizard's Guild, War College) just to make sure I don't end up with 10 Building token on each territory/City.
For the spell book of wizard, I had their crazy idea of placing spells on business cards, and when the character learn the spell, he place the card in this buisiness card holder book. When he need to cast a spell, he flip his cards, pay the mana and cast his spell.
For the gold and mana, I tought of using a small card board with numbers indicating the gold and mana reseves you have. You place tokens on the number to keep track of how much you have.
If you have any solutions or suggestion, I'll be glad to hear them. Sure, it is always a good idea to play the video game first to make sure you know what I am talking about.
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I divided my replies in 2 categories, those related to the video game and those to the board game.
>>> MOM Video Game >>>
First, it is not Sid Meier that did MOM and MOO, it is Steve Barcia. My latest sources told me that he worked recently for retro studio who develloped the Game Cube's Metroid series.
Yes, it is the old game I am talking about. Even if the game is currently partially develloped, Even if there is currently 3 petitions with more than 1000 signatures, they have not released MOM 2.Since MOO3 did not sell pretty much much, they think that there is no market for turn based strategy games. So the investment is risky.
I tought it would be cool to have access to the source code of MOM. I tought of sending a letter to Steve Barcia, but I am not sure if he has the rights to release it. If the source code ever get available, I am ready to make my variation. I could also try to make my own game, but the result would probably be different, the mechanics will look more like Koei games (ex: Romance of the 3 kingdom, Gemfire, etc ). But I don't have time for this ... except maybe for a game park version(^_^).
But a lot of people have started to make their own clone of master of magic. There has been more than 20 attempts to recreate this master piece. Most projects are dead, but a few of them are still alive. I have a few a few interesting url:
Open Magic : Not sure if they are still alive or not
http://openmagic.sourceforge.net/
Master of Magic Clone : Looks Promising
http://george101.demon.co.uk/mom/showpage.php?pagename=main
Xarvh : A game with the same look and feel than MOM
http://xarvh.sourceforge.net/
Age of Magic: Not sure if still alive, they have been there for a long time
http://www.ageofmagic.org/
MOM Encyclopidia : Contains all the data about the game
http://zeugma440.free.fr/MoM/home.html
Free Orion: A remake of master of orion(Fast computer required)
http://www.freeorion.org/index.php/Main_Page
>>> Board game >>>
I just had this idea of making a MOM clone as board game because it could be easier to do than an actual video game. I do not necessarily wishes to make an exact copy of the game. If I decide to make it a commercial game, I need to make a game tha looks close but that is not the same. So I do not intend to have 2 planes, but I could make it an optional game.
I am targetting for a game that last for 2 to 5 hours for a world conquest game. A scenario on a continent could take around 1 or 2 hours. I do not intend to make it a a city building game. City level like in the civ board game is OK. Maybe special key buildings like the wonders in civ could be acceptable.
I want to make a game like Bells of War (Axis and Allies with a bigger and more detailed map). The versatility of units, races and spell is the element that will add a twist to the game(compared to the original war game). For example, if you play the draconians, well guess what, all your infantry can fly. This can change dramatically the strategy.
About that TOO game, if you have some information ready about this game, I'll be glad to see it. I like MOO too you know(^_^).