Well, BTS sounds like the sort of thing I appreciate. I agree that games now are far too dumbed down. But I'm not entierly sure what it is, can you tell me if my first impressions are correct?
It seems to be a 4x game that begins in the pre-space age, but then progress onwards into the future. It also seems to be some sort of pen and paper type game (or screen and keyboard). It also seem to require more than one person to play. Are my assumptions correct or have I misunderstood this game?
I apologize for not answering your post sooner. Been busy doing up the Orbats for one of the intended scenarios to test the system.
BTS! has it's Genesis in my disappointment with most 4x games. Most seem to concentrate on one aspect or another of space, combat and the expansion of a species into the deep black. One of the names Haegan and I have given BTS! is a '4x Nation Simulator'. What we mean by this is that we cover ALL facets of a nation of sentients.
Fist off, the populace of the power is no longer free resources to be exploited at your whim. You have to actually take care of them. House, feed, and keep them employed. Now, you can keep them inline with your military, or even go so far as to make their Self-Determination low. What a low Self-Determination does is give a player the sense of how much 'trouble' his populace will give him and his rule. Low means they are content, or have resigned themselves to their fate as biological cogs in their governments machinery.
However, if you set your SD too low, that will come back and bite you in the ass if you are ever invaded.
Now that I have given the rah-rah speech, I will answer your points.
BTS! Can be configured to start at the dawn of time, up to far, far in the future. The GM and the players determine exactly what epoch they will begin in.
Unfortunately, BTS! cannot be play PnP. Too many variables that would make the GM go insane. The reason I say this is that the BTS! Engine was designed to make it as easy as possible for the players to play the game. They give their orders to the GM, and he processes them. It is possible to play it with excel sheets. They do an excellent job of cutting down the number crunching and math the GM has to worry about. In point of fact, the program Haegan is working on is for the GM, not the players.
As for the number of players, yes more than one would make it more fun. Human interaction is FAR more interesting than interacting with NPRs, and such. However, the Gm can generate entire NPRs if need be. So, technically, it can be played with one GM, and one player.
Some would say BTS! is complex. In a sense, it is. The complexity comes from the myriad decisions a player MUST make. Yet the mechanics of the game for a player are not complex at all. With BTS! you can put as much, or as little, as you wish into it. As an example, I have created an entire Steampunk Nation called Albion. Yes, it is based off of Victorian England. Moreover, in creating this Power I went into great detail into their history, military units and organization.
Now, a player is NOT required to put that much detail into their power, but BTS! is going to be a game that you experience, as well as play. The canon 'verse will be an ongoing setting that will have story elements in it, while there will be other 'verses and modules released over time. So, I think I can safely say, if you do put the effort into your power, you will enjoy the game much, much more.
Below is an example of flavor I have created for one of the main powers in the canon 'verse.
The Terran Armored Cavalry: The Horse Soldiers of the Stars
INTRODUCTION
The Terran Armored Cavalry Regiments claim to be some of the oldest units serving the United States of Terra today. Only the United Terran Marine Corps can claim to be older than the ACR's. Their troopers are steeped in the traditions of their ancestors and are proud, almost to the point of insubordination. Although an ACR is not a large unit their lists of achievements rivals any Marine or Special Forces Unit one can name.
The roots of the modern day Armored Cavalry Regiments can trace their origin back to the day Gunnery Sergeant DeShane swore in Alpha Troop, 1st United States Cavalry in the early days of the Unification Wars. As Mankind sought the stars numerous military units went into space, the Cavalry leading the way.
When out in space the ACRs assumed the duties of protecting the colonists of Terran worlds. Pirates, warlords, and criminal organizations were commonplace, mainly due to the government being so far away and only a Territorial Governor to rule. Usually, as the only garrison on many frontier worlds, the ACRs began to live up to their their reputation and history.
Deployed in Troop level posts, members of the ACRs sought out and destroyed these threats. Although rarely engaged in a set piece battle, the ACRs fought hundreds of skirmish level battles on every world along the frontier. During this time the ACRs reached back into history and began to wear the yellow scarves and gloves we now find so common. The blue Regimental number on the backs of the scarves reminded the colonists that the Cap Troopers were on the job. All vehicles have a guidon divided into a swallowtail red upper background and white Regimental number half, and white lower background and red Squadron Number / Troop letter half.
REGIMENTAL TRADITIONS
The unofficial Cap Trooper Motto: Hit Them First, Hit Them Hard, and Hit Them Last.
The first thing a person notices when dealing with a member of an ACR is their dress uniform, worn when the ACR is not in combat. The uniform jacket is navy blue and the trousers are light blue with yellow striping down the outside of the trouser legs, while yellow gloves are either worn or folded over the black leather belt. Squadron numbers and Troop letters are worn on the left sleeve while the Regimental number is worn on the right, along with the unit crest. There is a yellow scarf worn which is knotted in the front with the Regimental number on the back.
Vehicle Crewmen of an ACR wear black knee high leather boots and silver spurs, a reminder of the days when the horse was the mode of transportaion. Infantry uniforms are similar. When in combat the infantry wears light powered armor. Each vehicle crewman of an ACR carries a Colt M-3211 4mm gauss pistol. The Infantry carry the Winchester M-25 plasma rifle and a Colt M-3211 gauss pistol as a sidearm.
The jargon in an ACR seems to come from a different time altogether. All members of an ACR are called troopers, vehicle crews are called Horse Soldiers, and the infantrymen are often called Dog Soldiers. Only other members of the Regiment may call their infantry Dog Soldiers, however. It is a serious insult for an outsider to refer to any member of the Regiment by these names. The Regimental commander is always called the 'Old Man' no matter the gender or species.
The ACRs contain Human, Halaorian, and Dardanii. No other species are recruited, and no other races are accepted. Denevans are particularly disliked by the ACRs as a whole. Members of all three species have been promoted to Regimental commanders over the years. Members of an ACR have been known to disobey, or ignore, commands from another non-ACR unit's officers. Although dealt with harshly, the practice of only recognizing officers within an ACR continues to this day.
Cheers, Thor