Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!julius.cs.uiuc.edu!psuvax1!psuvm!cunyvm!ndsuvm1!mtus5!applerep From: APPLEREP@MTUS5.BITNET Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games Subject: Re: SimEarth compared to Balance of the Planet Message-ID: <90351.234854APPLEREP@MTUS5.BITNET> Date: 18 Dec 90 04:48:54 GMT References: <1141@cvbnetPrime.COM> Organization: Computing Technology Services, Michigan Technological Univ. Lines: 30 (Talk about how Balance of the Planet is easy to win and "Politically Correct") Hmm. I have this game, and I have not come to the same conclusions. First of all, I have not found it very easy to win at all. Trying to implement a philosophy of "Taxing the Hell out of everything Bad" can lead to different results than you initially think. If I have ever been able to make any headway in BotP, it has been through careful consideration of all of the wide ranging concequences of my desicions--usually leading to a modified "centrist" policy. Of course, your milage may vary. I really think that the esteemed Mr. Crawford did not write (or intend to write ) a program that is "Politically Correct." (Assuming you mean "Politically Correct" in its usual interpetation--kind of leftward leaning.) Rather, he has created a program that tries to cut through all of the ideological crap (pardon the expression) on both sides of the environmental debate. People with "Radical Environmentalist" viewpoints find that their agendas may just backfire causing worse problems, and "Industrialists" see the ugly end result of the road _they_ travel. This is why I like the game so much, and like demoing it to other people. Peoples' eyes get opened--they have to think about something deeply, thoroughly--look at a problem from someone else's perspective--and maybe even learn something from the "Enemy Camp". Needless to say, it makes a great conversation starter. BTW, you can adjust the "perspective" that you play with (meaning that if you personally favor, say, Nuclear Power, that policies favoring Nukes will help the status of the planet). However, I just play it straight. Tom Amberg