The Rockford Files - Ginger Townsend & Lou Trevino - #13 - Love is a Battlefield
Title: Capturing the Flag
Fandom: The Rockford Files (specifically, The Queen of Peru episode)
Characters: Ginger Townsend, Lou Trevino, Mike Trevino
Prompt: Table 3, Prompt #13 - Love is a Battlefield
Word Count: 1,936
Rating: K/G
Warnings/Spoilers: None.
Summary: Mike introduces Ginger to his computer game of Capture the Flag during a get-together with him and Lou.
By Lucky_Ladybug
When Ginger and Lou felt far enough removed from Florence’s last virtual reality trap to play video games again, Mike immediately invited them over. Upon arriving and stepping into the house, a strange scratching sound greeted them from the laptop computer.
“What is that?” Ginger demanded.
Mike swung the laptop around so they could see a tiny person running over a meadow. “It’s Capture the Flag,” he announced proudly.
“What flag?” Ginger retorted. “Is this some sort of battle strategy game?”
Lou looked amused. “It’s a game based on this outdoors game kids play,” he explained. “Each team has a flag that they hide and they look for each other’s flags. Some people stay behind to guard the home flag while the others go into enemy territory looking for the other guy’s flag. Whoever grabs a flag first wins.”
“I see,” said Ginger. “It sounds like Stealing Sticks.”
“Huh?” Mike blinked.
“It’s a game that’s played in Great Britain,” Ginger grunted. “Although they play it here as well, I’m told.”
“I’ve never heard of it,” Mike said. “I guess Capture the Flag got more popular than it. I mean, flags sound more exciting than sticks.”
“Perhaps,” Ginger consented, “but in Stealing Sticks you can only take one at a time and you have to keep going back until you get them all. It doesn’t end with knocking off one flag.”
“Wow,” Mike blinked. “It sounds like a game of that could go on for hours.”
“It’s a way to keep children entertained for a while,” Ginger agreed. He came closer, staring as a blue-shirted person jumped on a red-shirted person and they began to fight. “Now what?”
“If the opponent’s team is caught looking for the flag and they lose the fight with the other team, they’re either put in prison or forced to run back to their own side before they can start looking again,” Mike said. “Christina just found Larry going through the meadow here, so she pounced. And it looks like she won the fight! This is the Shareware version of the game, so Larry has to go back to his own side instead of into a prison.”
“Are you ever gonna get the full version of the game?” Lou wondered.
“I hope so,” Mike said. “It sounds amazing! So many different versions of the game, and all these different neat ways to make each game in each version even more unique, like huge teams. . . . I’ve always been curious about what all the team members’ names are. But the Shareware version is the one I always had, so I’m kind of nostalgic about it.”
Ginger sat down next to Mike at the table. “Are you intending for us to play this game tonight?”
“Sure, if you want to,” Mike chirped. “It is a strategy game, really. You have to figure out how to get the Red Team’s flag while keeping them from finding yours. But nobody dies or anything; the worst thing that can happen is that your flag gets grabbed. It’s kind of nice and relaxing if you’re sick of games where you die or you have to bump off the bad guys or that kind of thing.”
“That sounds promising,” Ginger admitted. “Normally I don’t mind either of those factors, but every now and then it’s nice to play something different.”
“You said it. Especially since so much of our real lives involve bad guys coming after us now.” Lou sat on Mike’s other side. “But there’s two teams and three of us. How are we gonna do it?”
Mike pondered. “Well, two of us could play at once. Or two could be on one team and one on the other.”
“Why don’t you two play,” Ginger suggested. “Let me see how it’s done.”
“Okay. Let me just finish this game first,” Mike said. “That should give you a pretty good idea of what to do.”
Ginger watched intently as Mike played the Blue Team and fought off the computer’s Red Team players. Lou, who was more familiar with the game, settled back to watch from a more relaxed perspective. When the game ended with a Red Team member coming in from nowhere and snatching the Blue flag, Mike leaned back and sighed.
“How did that happen?” Ginger frowned.
“I guess I didn’t spread the people out good enough to look for all the Red people,” Mike said. “There’s four searching for the flag, but I could only find three. I wondered where the other one was.”
“There’s four guarding the flag,” Ginger said. “You should be able to spread them out enough that they can spot anyone coming in.”
“It’s not that simple,” Mike said. “They have different seeing abilities in general, and then the terrain makes a difference too. But you’re right that you’re supposed to be able to spread them out enough to close up all the gaps. I like to keep Aaron right by the flag, though. He’s the best at capturing people, so if Becky or Christina or Dave can’t do it and they’re getting too close, Aaron can usually swoop in and get them.”
“How can Dave do much of anything?” Ginger grunted. “He only has ten movement points.”
“I’m not sure why, either,” Mike frowned. “There was an earlier version of the game where he had fourteen. So did Becky. Aaron and Gary and Heather all had twenty-six.”
“All of them have more in this version, except Dave,” Ginger noted. “He got shafted.”
“He has the best vision, though,” Mike said, “so he’s really good at spotting people far away. And every now and then, he’s able to capture somebody.”
“Why don’t you play this next game, Ginger?” Lou said. “I’ve played before, but you never have. You’ve probably seen enough to get a good feel for it.”
“Perhaps.” Ginger watched as Mike started to prepare the program for another round. “How are we going to keep from knowing where each other’s respective flags are before the characters themselves spot them?”
“Well, usually what Lou and I did was that we’d look away from the screen any time it was time for the people protecting the flags to move,” Mike said. “At least if the flag was visible from their position. It’s more fun when you don’t know where the other flag is.”
“And more challenging. Alright, we’ll do that.” Ginger folded his arms.
“Do you want to be Blue or Red?” Mike asked.
“Blue,” Ginger answered.
The game proceeded in a smooth manner. Ginger got the hang of it very quickly and seemed to most enjoy the strategizing of placing the protectors where they could spot their opponents in time to stop them from finding the flag.
Lou sat back, enjoying watching his brother and his best friend play. There had been so many times that he hadn’t been able to believe something like this would truly come to pass. But here they were, peacefully playing a simple strategy game and enjoying it and each other’s company. Lou was thrilled and proud.
“You know,” Ginger said after a while, “it’s easy to determine an approximate area where the flag is when you’re attacked by more than one opposing person.”
“That’s true,” Mike admitted. “But if you’re too close, they don’t have any choice but to start coming out of the woodwork after you.”
“When you played against the computer, the opposing players seemed to stay close by the flag, save for one,” said Ginger.
“I guess it can work that way,” Mike said slowly, “but it seems like that’s taking too big of a chance. I don’t like to let anyone get that close. That’s why I spread my people out more and try to catch the opponents before they’re anywhere near the flag.”
“And with that, someone can slip past them and snatch the flag, especially if only Aaron is nearby and his good luck fails him,” Ginger said flatly.
“There’s pros and cons about both ways,” Lou said. “I’ve tried both and I’m really not sure which way is better.”
“There probably isn’t one definite answer,” Ginger grunted. “As you say, either way you’re taking chances.”
“But I do figure that everybody should stick close by the flag if it gets placed in a really dumb position that can be reached in just a couple of turns,” Lou added.
“Naturally,” Ginger agreed.
Mike wasn’t terribly surprised when Ginger won the game. “Wow, Ginger, you really took to this game like a natural,” he said. “I thought you might especially like it with the strategy elements.”
“It’s an enjoyable way to pass the time, even if the graphics are not what I’m used to,” Ginger said.
“They’re pretty lush anyway,” Lou said. “All the meadows and forests and rivers . . .”
Ginger nodded. “It’s an impressive playing field.”
“With a lot of places to hide the flags,” Mike added. “And the commercial version has about 200 unique maps, I think.”
That brought a raised eyebrow. “It would take ages to explore them all.”
“Yeah! I’m really curious about it,” Mike gushed. “I’d like to get it sometime.”
“Why haven’t you ever done it?” Ginger wondered.
Mike shrugged as he set up the next game. “When I was a kid, it cost too much for me. When I got older, there were always other things I wanted more. But I’ve always kind of wanted it.”
“Maybe you should set aside some money for it,” Lou said. “It’s not that much now, is it?”
“Not really,” Mike agreed. “I was checking the guy’s website recently and the price has come down from what it used to be. I guess now, it’s more that I’m wondering if they even still sell it. The home page mentions 2011 calendars and maybe that was the last time the site was updated. The email address might even be broke now.”
“Then I would suggest using it to try and find out,” said Ginger. “If you receive a response, go ahead and order the game.”
“That’s a good idea,” Mike grinned. “Thanks, Ginger.”
Ginger nodded. “It’s logical.”
Lou was amused. “Of course you’d say that.”
Ginger just grunted.
They played for some time, trading off on who would play in any given game, and Mike stepped aside a couple of times to watch Ginger and Lou play together. By the time they’d had their fill and Mike’s dinner order of pizza had arrived, they were all feeling quite relaxed.
“You’re right, Mike,” Lou said as he pulled a slice of pepperoni pizza onto his plate. “That is a nice game to play if you just wanna unwind and not have all the extra baggage of characters kicking the bucket all over the place. Maybe I’ll make a copy of your Shareware version to have around the house.”
“Oh, you can download it from the website,” Mike replied. “That’s how I got this more recent version where some of the characters have more movement points.”
“Well, that’s convenient,” Lou blinked.
Ginger looked entertained by Lou’s interest. “The strategic elements were enjoyable,” he said. “I would be interested in seeing what the full version is like if you choose to buy it, Michael.”
Mike looked surprised and pleased. “I’ll be sure to tell you when I do, Ginger,” he said. “We can all play it together.”
“Sounds great,” Lou declared.
He leaned back, enjoying the scene around him. Ginger had really liked the game and they had all bonded more over it. Now they were relaxed and sharing a meal. It had definitely been a successful get-together.
Fandom: The Rockford Files (specifically, The Queen of Peru episode)
Characters: Ginger Townsend, Lou Trevino, Mike Trevino
Prompt: Table 3, Prompt #13 - Love is a Battlefield
Word Count: 1,936
Rating: K/G
Warnings/Spoilers: None.
Summary: Mike introduces Ginger to his computer game of Capture the Flag during a get-together with him and Lou.
By Lucky_Ladybug
When Ginger and Lou felt far enough removed from Florence’s last virtual reality trap to play video games again, Mike immediately invited them over. Upon arriving and stepping into the house, a strange scratching sound greeted them from the laptop computer.
“What is that?” Ginger demanded.
Mike swung the laptop around so they could see a tiny person running over a meadow. “It’s Capture the Flag,” he announced proudly.
“What flag?” Ginger retorted. “Is this some sort of battle strategy game?”
Lou looked amused. “It’s a game based on this outdoors game kids play,” he explained. “Each team has a flag that they hide and they look for each other’s flags. Some people stay behind to guard the home flag while the others go into enemy territory looking for the other guy’s flag. Whoever grabs a flag first wins.”
“I see,” said Ginger. “It sounds like Stealing Sticks.”
“Huh?” Mike blinked.
“It’s a game that’s played in Great Britain,” Ginger grunted. “Although they play it here as well, I’m told.”
“I’ve never heard of it,” Mike said. “I guess Capture the Flag got more popular than it. I mean, flags sound more exciting than sticks.”
“Perhaps,” Ginger consented, “but in Stealing Sticks you can only take one at a time and you have to keep going back until you get them all. It doesn’t end with knocking off one flag.”
“Wow,” Mike blinked. “It sounds like a game of that could go on for hours.”
“It’s a way to keep children entertained for a while,” Ginger agreed. He came closer, staring as a blue-shirted person jumped on a red-shirted person and they began to fight. “Now what?”
“If the opponent’s team is caught looking for the flag and they lose the fight with the other team, they’re either put in prison or forced to run back to their own side before they can start looking again,” Mike said. “Christina just found Larry going through the meadow here, so she pounced. And it looks like she won the fight! This is the Shareware version of the game, so Larry has to go back to his own side instead of into a prison.”
“Are you ever gonna get the full version of the game?” Lou wondered.
“I hope so,” Mike said. “It sounds amazing! So many different versions of the game, and all these different neat ways to make each game in each version even more unique, like huge teams. . . . I’ve always been curious about what all the team members’ names are. But the Shareware version is the one I always had, so I’m kind of nostalgic about it.”
Ginger sat down next to Mike at the table. “Are you intending for us to play this game tonight?”
“Sure, if you want to,” Mike chirped. “It is a strategy game, really. You have to figure out how to get the Red Team’s flag while keeping them from finding yours. But nobody dies or anything; the worst thing that can happen is that your flag gets grabbed. It’s kind of nice and relaxing if you’re sick of games where you die or you have to bump off the bad guys or that kind of thing.”
“That sounds promising,” Ginger admitted. “Normally I don’t mind either of those factors, but every now and then it’s nice to play something different.”
“You said it. Especially since so much of our real lives involve bad guys coming after us now.” Lou sat on Mike’s other side. “But there’s two teams and three of us. How are we gonna do it?”
Mike pondered. “Well, two of us could play at once. Or two could be on one team and one on the other.”
“Why don’t you two play,” Ginger suggested. “Let me see how it’s done.”
“Okay. Let me just finish this game first,” Mike said. “That should give you a pretty good idea of what to do.”
Ginger watched intently as Mike played the Blue Team and fought off the computer’s Red Team players. Lou, who was more familiar with the game, settled back to watch from a more relaxed perspective. When the game ended with a Red Team member coming in from nowhere and snatching the Blue flag, Mike leaned back and sighed.
“How did that happen?” Ginger frowned.
“I guess I didn’t spread the people out good enough to look for all the Red people,” Mike said. “There’s four searching for the flag, but I could only find three. I wondered where the other one was.”
“There’s four guarding the flag,” Ginger said. “You should be able to spread them out enough that they can spot anyone coming in.”
“It’s not that simple,” Mike said. “They have different seeing abilities in general, and then the terrain makes a difference too. But you’re right that you’re supposed to be able to spread them out enough to close up all the gaps. I like to keep Aaron right by the flag, though. He’s the best at capturing people, so if Becky or Christina or Dave can’t do it and they’re getting too close, Aaron can usually swoop in and get them.”
“How can Dave do much of anything?” Ginger grunted. “He only has ten movement points.”
“I’m not sure why, either,” Mike frowned. “There was an earlier version of the game where he had fourteen. So did Becky. Aaron and Gary and Heather all had twenty-six.”
“All of them have more in this version, except Dave,” Ginger noted. “He got shafted.”
“He has the best vision, though,” Mike said, “so he’s really good at spotting people far away. And every now and then, he’s able to capture somebody.”
“Why don’t you play this next game, Ginger?” Lou said. “I’ve played before, but you never have. You’ve probably seen enough to get a good feel for it.”
“Perhaps.” Ginger watched as Mike started to prepare the program for another round. “How are we going to keep from knowing where each other’s respective flags are before the characters themselves spot them?”
“Well, usually what Lou and I did was that we’d look away from the screen any time it was time for the people protecting the flags to move,” Mike said. “At least if the flag was visible from their position. It’s more fun when you don’t know where the other flag is.”
“And more challenging. Alright, we’ll do that.” Ginger folded his arms.
“Do you want to be Blue or Red?” Mike asked.
“Blue,” Ginger answered.
The game proceeded in a smooth manner. Ginger got the hang of it very quickly and seemed to most enjoy the strategizing of placing the protectors where they could spot their opponents in time to stop them from finding the flag.
Lou sat back, enjoying watching his brother and his best friend play. There had been so many times that he hadn’t been able to believe something like this would truly come to pass. But here they were, peacefully playing a simple strategy game and enjoying it and each other’s company. Lou was thrilled and proud.
“You know,” Ginger said after a while, “it’s easy to determine an approximate area where the flag is when you’re attacked by more than one opposing person.”
“That’s true,” Mike admitted. “But if you’re too close, they don’t have any choice but to start coming out of the woodwork after you.”
“When you played against the computer, the opposing players seemed to stay close by the flag, save for one,” said Ginger.
“I guess it can work that way,” Mike said slowly, “but it seems like that’s taking too big of a chance. I don’t like to let anyone get that close. That’s why I spread my people out more and try to catch the opponents before they’re anywhere near the flag.”
“And with that, someone can slip past them and snatch the flag, especially if only Aaron is nearby and his good luck fails him,” Ginger said flatly.
“There’s pros and cons about both ways,” Lou said. “I’ve tried both and I’m really not sure which way is better.”
“There probably isn’t one definite answer,” Ginger grunted. “As you say, either way you’re taking chances.”
“But I do figure that everybody should stick close by the flag if it gets placed in a really dumb position that can be reached in just a couple of turns,” Lou added.
“Naturally,” Ginger agreed.
Mike wasn’t terribly surprised when Ginger won the game. “Wow, Ginger, you really took to this game like a natural,” he said. “I thought you might especially like it with the strategy elements.”
“It’s an enjoyable way to pass the time, even if the graphics are not what I’m used to,” Ginger said.
“They’re pretty lush anyway,” Lou said. “All the meadows and forests and rivers . . .”
Ginger nodded. “It’s an impressive playing field.”
“With a lot of places to hide the flags,” Mike added. “And the commercial version has about 200 unique maps, I think.”
That brought a raised eyebrow. “It would take ages to explore them all.”
“Yeah! I’m really curious about it,” Mike gushed. “I’d like to get it sometime.”
“Why haven’t you ever done it?” Ginger wondered.
Mike shrugged as he set up the next game. “When I was a kid, it cost too much for me. When I got older, there were always other things I wanted more. But I’ve always kind of wanted it.”
“Maybe you should set aside some money for it,” Lou said. “It’s not that much now, is it?”
“Not really,” Mike agreed. “I was checking the guy’s website recently and the price has come down from what it used to be. I guess now, it’s more that I’m wondering if they even still sell it. The home page mentions 2011 calendars and maybe that was the last time the site was updated. The email address might even be broke now.”
“Then I would suggest using it to try and find out,” said Ginger. “If you receive a response, go ahead and order the game.”
“That’s a good idea,” Mike grinned. “Thanks, Ginger.”
Ginger nodded. “It’s logical.”
Lou was amused. “Of course you’d say that.”
Ginger just grunted.
They played for some time, trading off on who would play in any given game, and Mike stepped aside a couple of times to watch Ginger and Lou play together. By the time they’d had their fill and Mike’s dinner order of pizza had arrived, they were all feeling quite relaxed.
“You’re right, Mike,” Lou said as he pulled a slice of pepperoni pizza onto his plate. “That is a nice game to play if you just wanna unwind and not have all the extra baggage of characters kicking the bucket all over the place. Maybe I’ll make a copy of your Shareware version to have around the house.”
“Oh, you can download it from the website,” Mike replied. “That’s how I got this more recent version where some of the characters have more movement points.”
“Well, that’s convenient,” Lou blinked.
Ginger looked entertained by Lou’s interest. “The strategic elements were enjoyable,” he said. “I would be interested in seeing what the full version is like if you choose to buy it, Michael.”
Mike looked surprised and pleased. “I’ll be sure to tell you when I do, Ginger,” he said. “We can all play it together.”
“Sounds great,” Lou declared.
He leaned back, enjoying the scene around him. Ginger had really liked the game and they had all bonded more over it. Now they were relaxed and sharing a meal. It had definitely been a successful get-together.