SpaceSimCentral

My question is about the Keith Laumer "Bolo" series.I know there was a game with Bolos in it but I wondered if anyone tried to make a sim game cockpit view Bolo game where you are in the control cabin of the Bolo and you can either advise targets or just ride as the Bolo goes into full battle mode for fun.It might be similiar to the MechWarrrior games but instead you can choose different types of Bolos based on the series such as Bolo Mark X thru Bolo Mark XXXIIII's and pit them against each other or the many different enemies that they fought against in the Bolo book series.I was thinking this would be a very good game and altho it's not really a space sim it could also take place in space since there are a few books where the Bolos are fighting in space and also targeting orbiting objects in space.Does anyone feel this idea has merit?I know there would be copyright issues but let's not discuss that unless someone is seriously trying to make this game and then whoever has the Bolo copyrights could be contacted.If you don't know anything about Bolos I suggest picking up some of the books Keith Laumer wrote and after reading them picture in your head riding one of these Bolos in a computer sim game and tell me it wouldn't rock.

Can’t say that I have read anything by Keith Laumer or heard anything about his "Bolo" series , if it some sort of Mek then there are loads of games which have been made over the years maybe one them copied the idea.

PINBACK wrote:
Can’t say that I have read anything by Keith Laumer or heard anything about his "Bolo" series , if it some sort of Mek then there are loads of games which have been made over the years maybe one them copied the idea.
A Bolo is not a Mech.It's more of a futuristic heavy tank and if you enjoy good science fiction reading I highly recommend the Bolo books.I think Keith Laumer has passed away but modern day authors have taken up the Bolo idea and added to it .I compared the Bolo to the Mech series only that it could be made to work in the same way.You are in a cockpit of the Bolo and go from there. I do know about the Mech games out there and wondered why nobody has tried to do this yet.here's a link to some info about him:[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Laumer[/url]

It seems to be an interesting series, that I wasn't aware of (there are plenty of them though, and military sci-fi is not my expertise ).How would this translate into a game... mmh I have my doubts that you could go much further than a simplistic Mech approach. Going into the Bolo as a passenger or advisor would be rather boring. You could have a strategic command perspective, but it in principle wouldn't be much different from any other RTS. Anyway, it all comes down to game design ;)Regards,

Well if its more of a futurist tank then Battlezone would be the likely one, and there are a couple of updated version of the game from the late 90s.Dont know if they are any closer to the book idea. http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/battlezonehttp://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/battlezone-ii-combat-commanderStellar 7 would be another one.http://www.mobygames.com/game/stellar-7

Battlezone was a good game and Stellar 7 I liked even more (on my Amiga 500). There is always some games that need a makeover and Stellar 7 is one of them. Maybe when I get free time (which is almost never) I will look into Keith Laumer and see what his books are about.

ok guys..thanks for the feedbacks.To try to put a Bolo into proper perspective try to think of a Heavy Battleship on treads in the shape of a huge tank with fusion power 3 Hellbore turrets[200cm] 20 smallers turrets[hellbores20cm.] Extremely heavy armor,Extremely heavy battlescreens,mortars,missiles,Point defense lasers,anti-personel flechets,2 fighters and 2 smaller tanks for help,observation drones,anti grav for flight,so on and so forth cause I'm doing this from memory.There is a command center in the Bolo but the Bolo is a self aware highly intelligent computer and runs it in Battle mode because one person in the command chair would be hard pressed to fight a 360 degree battle and not get creamed.A person could direct targets or man one of the stations but not be able to do it all I dont think.I tell you what..when some of you ever read a few of the books get back to me cause I already know about Mech games and Battlezone and what's out there now but what I'm thinking of hasn't been done yet so if any of you ever had a vision to the future and know the right people go read some of the books and we can talk.