Hi all,
Well I'm back after a short hiatus from posting on these forums, I am finally able to post an update in regards to my current endeavor. So last time I talked about needing to "Speed up the game" after a long 2 hour play session with a friend.
So let's get to the changes:
1-Lowered the "buy" cost of cards: cards are now cheaper to purchase from your deck (ranging from 10 qS to 50 qS).
2-Lowered the amount of shield points for each starship: seemed like a no brainer, it took too long to cause enough damage to a starship. We want battles to be quicker - yet still offer that same challenge of Attack/Defend.
3-Changed starship "movement": now there are two (2) modes: an attack mode (less shields) and a defend mode (more shield).
4-Gave a purpose to the "Crew Rating": crew rating is used in the overall calculation of damage now.
5-Lowered the victory conditions for two (2) scenarios: the *Tradewars* scenario now requires only 1,000 qS to win (that is a THIRD less - was 1,500 qS). *Days of Glory* cultural achievement has also been lowered to 1,000 qS making that game take less time also.
6-The "Soldier" role was not *correct*: It takes real good eyes to look across a table and see what the opponent has as upgrade cards. As such, I changed the role to being "For an opponent to discard two (2) cards from his hand". This is *sorta* similar to the "militia" card in Dominion. Much more reasonable now that the game has "instant" cards.
7-Removed the "Gunmen" attribute from crews: no more gunmen means only one (1) attack per ship per turn. It makes sense and is balanced since a powerful starship can cause up to 15 damage points. That is enough to destroy the smaller starships in one turn!
About *Instant* cards:
Well aside from offering great trading, the game's instant cards are a hit! My friend used 3 cards in combo to help him win a starship battle... Just what I was hoping for! Other cards were also good like the "Deflector shield" which *deflected* the damage done to a starship (back at your opponent). I will still need to be certain that balance is properly kept in the game... But some instant cards change gameplay!
Now I need to re-print and cut around 320 NEW cards with the latest corrections and adjustments. Will post back once I get another chance to play the game again...
Comments
New Combat mechanic
Okay,
So before I got to printing and cutting 320+ NEW cards, I thought about what other designers have expressed as concerns (in regards to my game). There was one outstanding issue and it was very important: card sleeves.
Basically combat required that players use a dry ink pen to mark hits on their opponent's starships. While this was kinda cool, it made it difficult to bundle both card sleeves and a dry ink pen. That is because the manufacturer makes games, not dry ink pens or card sleeves...
As one designer pointed out, if you bundle the card sleeves with the game - maybe most people would use the sleeves. However if the consumer would have to go above and beyond to purchase card sleeves, not many would do so. This left me with a dilemma: what to do about combat?
One thing the simple combat used was two (2) stats: an attack value (Power) and defense value (Toughness). Because players could mix and match these two stats with various starships, it became clear that what I was looking at was a *dynamic* configuration and obviously 125 different possibilities. What game offers you a total of 125 unique units you can use to attack or defend???
So it soon became apparent that I was onto something pretty interesting. Already trading was great, missions were good, enhancements (instants) were good, all that was missing was GOOD combat... And I think I have resolved that using a simple attack/defend mechanic much similar to what can be found in a game of Magic: the Gathering. The beauty of the mechanic is that configurations are dynamic and have a sizable amount of combinations.
Next step is to re-printed and cut the cards... I will keep you all posted as to my advancement.
Printed the newest version
Hi all,
I finally got the 320+ NEW cards printed... The next step is the longer one, which consists of cutting all the cards and placing them in plastic sleeves, replacing the older cards. I also took some time to correct some aesthetics on the cards themselves (distinguish between Power and Toughness).
Cutting should take SEVERAL days since I take breaks... I use a cutting machine which is much better than using scissors but still takes time to align the paper and cut all the cards!
I hope to be ready to playtest the newest edition (this is the 6th version of the game). And expect to be ready to demonstrate the game to local game designers in Montreal on August 4th. There is a small community of designers that meet once a month on the 1st Sunday of each month... I had planned to be there in July but after a playtest, the game was not ready to be shown (still had bugs to iron out).
Cutting, cutting and more cutting!
Ok,
So I have gotten through cutting 90 cards today. This is almost 1/3 of the total amount of cards that need to be cut... The total amount of cards that need cutting is 310. So it's closer to 30% completion.
I don't want this to be a play-by-play, but I want to document the time it takes to put out a NEW version of the game. This is already the 6th printed version of the game! And we are still in the playtesting stage. I am getting ready for my next playtest which will occur in the month of August. If it goes well, I will hold another playtest a couple of weeks later. However if playtesting still shows the game play is too slow, I will need to sit down and think some more on how to accelerate the game.
Presently that is the game's biggest CHALLENGE: it plays too slow.
Also I have not gotten around to writing the game's manual yet. And so I will be explaining the game to the playtesters prior and during the playtesting sessions.
Today was not a good day
Well I got through 30 additional cards today. I was hoping that maybe during the evening I would complete another 30 cards making the total cut cards equal to 150 cards - but this did not happen. I am currently at 120 cards, 30 more to go before the half-way mark (!55 cards - 310 in all).
I hope to maybe playtest the single player game this weekend: either on Saturday or Sunday.
I know what your going through,
Years back in June of 2001 or 2002 i was working on my ccg strategy warfare game. At this time I was still in the prototype phase and to only know how to keep things chea was to outline a Yugioh card to a graphpaper booklet and cut out 10 cards from one sheet. I hand cut 16,000 cards in 1 month. It sure did keep me busy. Years later scrapped that idea and used its components in my up coming game: Dymino Monsters. So don't give up. You got this.
Another slow day
Got around to cutting 40 cards today (so the running total is 160 cards cut so far). 150 cards remain to be cut... Slowly but surely! ;)
I hope tomorrow will be a better day and that I get 90 cards done. That would leave 60 for Friday. All numbers that seem reasonable and do-able. So far I am on track to completing the cards before the weekend such that I get to solo playtest *The Derelict* scenario with the new cards!
I also am planning to add two (2) extra cards to the game. Basically those two (2) cards will indicate what ROLES are available to the player. This reminder will be good even for experienced players. Two cards is also not a big deal to add - especially since the goal is to serve as a reminder of what players may choose as a role and the cost (if any) associated with the role.
Only cut 15 cards today
So today wasn't very productive since I only cut 15 cards. There are 135 cards that are left to be cut. I hope tomorrow will be a very productive day and that I get to playtest the solo game on Sunday.
Questions
Read through this blog and your earlier one and I am confused how you went from 60 to 70 cards in your previous prototype to 320 now as you never explained it.
320 cards is a bit ambitious, especially if you have other components in your game. Is there any way to cut it down? You are going to burn yourself out cutting all those cards.
Speaking from experience, I cut and re-cut cards a lot as I am working on a deck builder of my own. I have about 180 cards and I am always looking for ways to trim it down to only what is entirely essential.
Also, can you explain your combat a bit more? Not sure if you are still using the dry erase pen idea or if it is something different.
Clarifications
Okay - so here is the answers to your questions...
Each player has a deck of 75 upgrade cards (Starship classes, Crews, Weapons, Enhancements and Missions). To this we add some extra cards such as 4 scenarios, 5 cultural achievements, 3 Derelict cards and 1 homeworld card. So the total cards for ONE (1) player's deck = 88 cards.
Now if you want to play a DUAL, you need TWO (2) decks, so 176 cards.
BUT the 75 upgrade cards are DUAL SIDED: on one side you see the upgrade and on the back you see the trade value. So for the prototype this is +75 cards = 150 cards. Double that for two (2) players and you have 300 cards. Add the extra cards and the total is 326 cards to cut.
In reality, when I print the cards dual sided (not a prototype), the game will have only 88 cards per player.
Now about combat, I have abandoned the use of the dry ink pen. Why? Well it meant that players needed to buy sleeves for cards - and I could not bundle the sleeves with the game. So now I am using a more simple version of combat: Power (attack) and Toughness (Defense). Each starship class has a Power and Toughness. To this you can add a Weapon which give you a BONUS to Power. Next you need to add a Crew which gives you another BONUS to Toughness. My values are between +1 and +5 for bonuses.
Each starship class has two (2) modes: Attack or Defense. Players may choose which mode they want and can change modes each turn (using either the Captain or Fleet Admiral roles).
Combat is simplified, player's use their *Power* to attack and their *Toughness* to defend. Multiple starships may attack on the same turn which leads to multiple defenders also. A player's *configuration* (Starship class + Crew + Weapon) is compared to the opposing player (Power against Toughness).
This method of combat allows players to create 125 unique possible starships. It's like having a Magic: the Gathering deck with 125 distinct creatures!
Hope that answers your questions. If not, ask some more!
15 additional cards cut
So I had to move furniture this morning... and that kinda threw me off for the remainder of the day. I only got to cutting 15 more cards. 120 cards remain to be cut. I may not be able to playtest The Derelict scenario tomorrow... But that's fine. My target is to have things ready for NEXT Sunday. It would also be nice to have playtested The Derelict scenario before the Sunday. That playtest may happen in the middle of next week.
Note: Since tonight looks to be a quiet night, I may get another 30 card cut.
Update: Got only 15 more cards cut tonight. The total is now 105 cards remaining.
Wow that's great,
Keep up the great work.
More cutting
Over the last couple days, I got 45 cards cut making the remaining amount of cards = 60. I am hoping to get another 30 cards done tonight leaving only 30 cards that remain (for tomorrow).
Update: Yup I will get 30 cards done tonight (30 cards left to cut - tomorrow)!
15 left to go + some extras
Okay so I am down to my last 15 cards (to cut). But I realized that I had excluded some cards from the print job and had to re-add those since those cards were also in error. Basically it's 18 additional cards to cut. So I am almost done and will playtest The Derelict scenario hopefully tomorrow! Took some time, now comes the fun part: playtesting the game! :)
ALMOST DONE!
15 more cards cuts. All that remains now is the 18 additional cards (errors and omissions). I will for sure get these 18 cut tonight. And then two (2) decks will be a complete, enough for a dual this Sunday! :)
Note: I will playtest The Derelict scenario either tomorrow (Friday) or Saturday.
Update: 12 cards remain to be cut... Hopefully I can get them done this evening!
FINALLY DONE!!!
Okay so I finished the two (2) decks last night... I got through the remaining twelve (12) cards. I still have not had the chance to playtest The Derelict scenario, I will playtest this tomorrow. It takes me some time (especially when I only get 15 cards done in a day) - but I don't just sit there and cut cards... If I did so maybe it would take me 3 to 4 days to complete the cutting of all the cards.
No worries, Saturday I playtest The Derelict scenario and Sunday I will playtest with other game designers (Dual game).
Some early playtesting results...
So I have played thirty (30) minutes of solo play. I have purchased two (2) five point cards:
-1 Destroyer Class Starship (3/2 or 2/3)
-1 Oscar Elite Crew (+5 Toughness)
This is enough to defend against the Derelict starship who has an attack of five (5). So with a DCS 3/2 +5 Crew, means that the Derelict must inflict 7 damage and it can only inflict 5 damage... So the DCS is enough to keep the Derelict from attacking my Homeworld.
Basically 30 minutes and I have defended my homeworld from the alien starship.
I believe the next 30 minutes will be about *buying* enough starships to destroy the Derelict starship... We shall see!
Stay tuned...
Unlucky day... F---!
Well everything seemed to be going peachy on Saturday... that is until I sprained my ankle! F---!!! That means that today I am missing the designer's meeting to playtest my game. What can you say these things happen out of the blue and really p!ss people like myself off!
So showing the game will have to wait until September. Not happy at all about that!...
I may try to get another playtest done by another group of people in the month of August sometime... I have a couple of options for that.