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help with the board design PLZ HLP!!!!

7 replies [Last post]
Sun, 01/30/2011 - 17:29
arachnid
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Joined: 04/08/2010

hi guys.

i`m working on a heroes of might and magic style of game (hero+army of creatures) , and i`d like some help with the board itself.
first of all- how do i, practicly, do is? i thought about drawing it by hand- but that would take ages!
second- the design. i have the basic design in my head- a city in the middle serves as a refreshing point (to buy stuff etc.) and the wilderness (forests, mountains etc.) around it. the wilderness is divided to regions, each one with an intruction on it (draw encounter card, quest card, battle etc.).
i need the board to be interesting, with easier regions for the low hero levels and harder region for high level heroes.

i would really appritiate any help you all can give me.

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Sun, 01/30/2011 - 22:38
#1
edgd00
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Joined: 01/05/2011
Sounds like a reverse Talisman

Your game idea sounds like a reverse Talisman game. How do you want the board to function? Is it a board with spaces like monopoly or is it a tactical battlefield? Is this a pick up and play type of game or RPG-like to allow the players to "level-up"?

As far a creating the terrain, I normally use photoshop and I search online for tutorials on creating various textures. I create alot of my game on Game Crafter and I use the templates they have there. In their art resources section they have this:

Spiral Graphics: offers free versions of their high-end texture-creation software. They provide many modifiable and customizable textures that you can use in commercial projects royalty-free (see usage rights here). Both Genetica Viewer and Wood Workshop are amazing tools for creating tileable, high-res textures, the latter for wooden textures, the former for almost everything else.

and:

L3DT (Large 3D Terrain Generator): Free version has some limitations on map size, but otherwise a very good program for generating textured 3D terrain, height maps, and other things. Great for creating realistic landscapes.

I've not used them myself so I don't know what they offer. Here is the Art Resources page from Game Crafter:
http://www.thegamecrafter.com/publish/wiki/art-resources

I hope some of this helps.
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Mon, 01/31/2011 - 03:00
#2
arachnid
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Joined: 04/08/2010
hi

hi.

first of all, thx for the fast comment.

now for your questions:
i have taken some ideas form tallisman, but the key elements of the game are mostly from heroes of M&M. (and what did you mean by "reverse"?)
i want the map to be more like a tactical map (not like talisman, where your going around and around). as i said, i want the map to be made out of regions (sort of like world of warcraft: the boardgame). the player rolls a die to move the hero, and then decide where to move.
now, each game is to take quiet some time, as you level up and develop your hero, but its not like a d&d adventure! i suppose a game is to last about 3 hours.

about the software- i`ll check it out. but, besides terrain, i need all kinds of features- like buildings, castels, obelisks, mines etc. can i use these software to do that (i dont know how to work with phoroshop)?

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Mon, 01/31/2011 - 18:05
#3
treyalsup
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Joined: 09/08/2010
My advice is to go buy one of

My advice is to go buy one of those dry erase mats at your local gaming store and just hand-draw the map with the emphasis completely on functionality and then start play-testing. Do not waste any time with graphics, textures, or illustrations until you have a map/board that works on a game level. Print any text simply on paper and tape it to the board.

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Tue, 02/01/2011 - 10:04
#4
Koen Hendrix
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Joined: 11/24/2010
couldn't agree more

treyalsup wrote:
Do not waste any time with graphics, textures, or illustrations until you have a map/board that works on a game level.
I couldn't agree more. I've spent countless hours Photoshopping cards for game only to find out afterwards that the game mechanics were fundamentally flawed and all had been for naught. Get the map's general layout and your mechanics sorted, then playtest, and only then worry about the graphics.

In terms of a maps that supports both low- and high-level adventuring/quests, have a look at World of Warcraft the Boardgame (or World of Warcraft the Adventure game). They feature differently-colored areas to indicate difficulty. E.g. green areas are accessible for everyone, yellow areas require a you to be level 3 at least. Of course, the yellow encounter cards are more difficult and offer greater reward then the green ones.

Koen

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Tue, 02/08/2011 - 05:42
#5
Gilmok
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Joined: 03/09/2010
Flag-pieces

To represent armies, I would suggest what was done in Shogun. That is, a flag-bearer piece and separate boards to place armies that pertain to that flag.

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Sun, 02/27/2011 - 17:41
#6
BOEOLDDOG
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Joined: 02/27/2011
Game board Desighn

I would suggest using Publisher. You can grap a map of a blank contenit like Africa or New Zealand post it at the size you want your gameboard. Then add lines and boxes or whatever. then have kinko print out a black and white copy for test play during play take colored markers to add changes. then go back to your desighn and add them keep this up till you have the board you want.

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Mon, 02/28/2011 - 13:35
#7
Jackhalfaprayer
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Joined: 09/29/2008
I wouldn't even worry about

I wouldn't even worry about the hex map. What you need is to make sure the mechanics work. Get a roll of butcher-block paper and some colored markers. I like lined half size note cards (avaiable at office supply stores) for making up cards (I work better with pencil and paper so I don't get caught up in trying to make it look nice).

Make sure the game plays. When you know it works well you can worry about making sure it looks nice.

When you get to that phase you can try Inkscape:
http://inkscape.org/showcase/index.php?lang=en
(scroll to the bottom for an example map). They have stamps of trees and mountains and stuff. Perfect for your first playtest with strangers.

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