Graphics

The ideal graphics system is that used in the Peoples' Tactics and Advanced Tactics games. If you haven't played these I strongly advise you to do so - Peoples' Tactics is free and Advanced Tactics well worth the money.

The system basically uses counters to represent units on the map and bitmap files to give more visual information on the units when they are selected. The key advantage of this system is that mods and scenarios can be made with little or no graphics work. All that is needed to, for example, make a Star Wars mod is download some Star Wars screenshots from the internet and adjust for size.

This system can take graphics some just about every source: other computer games, films, TV, real-life photographs, art, photos of tabletop games (e.g. Warhammer), collectable card games (e.g. Magic: the Gathering).

Some ideas:

Films/TV: Star Wars, Star Trek, Aliens, Terminator, Resident Evil, Starship Troopers

Other computer games: Red Alert, Command & Conquer, Total Annihilation

Tabletop games: Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000