Some Redesign Notes on Combat, Damage, Healing, and Wounds

[RECIVS]

It's really not that complicated, and we don't need to define what a remake is as opposed to a revision or whatever. Either we favor repetition in a game that's supposed to avoid it, or we don't, no matter how nostalgic we might be about AHQ. I think that's the underlying design-philosophy issue here and what it all comes down to regardless of the type of improvement we expect or undergo.

[RECIVS]

Let me get this straight: the Heroes gaining FPs too easily in AHQ is a clear sign that something isn't working as it should to begin with, but rather than addressing the actual source of the problem—which obviously is that the Heroes are allowed (and forced by the circumstances) to exploit doorways at will to reduce the rate at which they take damage—we limit FPs instead because we want to keep the original rules out of nostalgia? Even though they weren't well playtested and don’t do the game justice? Interesting; that’s the paradigm I’ve been challenging all these years.

For example, given Jervis Johnson's contributions to the hobby, his background, and his trajectory as a game designer, I don't think he would go along with this approach if he had the opportunity and will to redesign AHQ, for the reasons I've already posted in my other threads. In fact, it could even be disrespectful and demeaning to suggest that he (a wargamer at heart working for a wargaming company at the time) wanted to make AHQ more repetitive and less tactical in any way on purpose; it sounds more like he was still somewhat inexperienced back then and also had little time to work on the project.

I recently posted the above in another thread here; I think it clearly and succinctly shows what I mean by doing the spirit of AHQ justice as opposed to romanticizing its flaws. Two different approaches that lead to different results.