When I was test playing my game is realised that it started very slow. So i though of some changes such as extra cards or more farms but none of these things would really work. So I was curious wich method's you use to speed up a game in the beginning.
In the beginning
Tue, 10/25/2005 - 11:15
Tue, 10/25/2005 - 11:27
#1
In the beginning
Could you describe how your game is slow when it starts off? I would assume then that it gets faster as the game progresses. Maybe you can look at the state of the game during the mid-game and try to somehow start there.
Tue, 10/25/2005 - 11:36
#2
In the beginning
Hi
I can find a slow start as reveling. Players that are not so familiar with the rules can get learn by playing.
If the game has a slow start and you have to do everything according to a plan to make it work, then you have a problem. This can be solved by adding an initial setup (or random setup) where you start somewhere in the game (remove the start).
The slow start can also depend on that the players have to many options and to many start pieces. This can be limited or use the initial setup also for this problem.
I think that we need to know more of your specific problem to help you.
// Johan
Tue, 10/25/2005 - 12:14
#4
In the beginning
We could be more helpful if you gave us more details about the game's mechanics and the specific nature of the problem.
Tue, 10/25/2005 - 15:41
#6
In the beginning
One problem seems to be that the three types of development are not parallel, but serial. That is, the farmers are the bottom of the pyramid, and thus powerful in the early game, while the cities gain power after this, and, seemingly, the armies gain power as the other two develop. to balance this, you seem to have made the payout to the farmers less, and so forth.
Development that is recursive may be closer to what you are looking for. So farmer make raw materiels, cities take raw materiels and turn it into finished goods, and the army uses finished goods to protect the farmers. Excess goods may be sold, traded, whatever you want.
This sort of system would make a player develop aspects of all three, but concentrate on one or two as they see fit. This will make the opening of the game an important and interesting time.
Wed, 10/26/2005 - 11:37
#8
In the beginning
How does adding a tax improve early-game development?
My suggestion is to start the game mid-cycle. Assume that the farms have been running, the cities producing, and the armies defending for several turns. Write down what, on average, each group would have after, say, 10 turns of play. Then make that the starting point, so that those early turns are effectively skipped.
That also seems to go a ways towards balancing out the serial-parallel problem that Hedge-o-Matic mentioned.
Thu, 10/27/2005 - 06:12
#9
In the beginning
You could try to introduce a few starting buildings which produce more than the regular amount of (whatever they produce) for a couple of turns.
That way, players gather resources faster.
The problem is that how more you built how more you get and too soon you have to much, but in the beginning its very hard to built anything.