next »

[Snowdrama]

Im working on a card/Strategy/dice hybrid game. But im Stuck on which Features to keep and which are too complicated.

there are 4 types of cards. Divided into sub-categories and a single "Player" Card.

The Player Starts on the Grid as a Single player card and a HQ. You win by Destroying the HQ or Causing the Player Unit to Re-spawn 5 times(on Death the player re-spawns next to the HQ)

The turns:

1)Roll
2)Collect Resources in Pools
3)Manage Buildings
4)Play Units
5)Move Units
6)Combat
7)Free Step
8)End Turn

Turn Explanation:

1)Roll - Roll 4d6 for the Generic Resource Pool and 4d6 for the Action Pool.

2)Collect Resources in Pools - Any resource Buildings you have Collect those in the appropriate pools. See Buildings

3)Manage Buildings - Play any Building you have the proper resources, Buildings can only be placed 3 Spaces from the Player Unit and only on Flat Land or Forrests. Buildings take time to build, Time is listed on the Building card.

 
4)Play Units - Like buildings can only be Played if you have proper resources(listed on card) Units can be played 3 Spaces from the player or a Building, except Vehicles which can only be placed next to a workshop.

5)Move Units - Use Action points to Move your units. 1 space = 1 AP Unless on a unique land type.

6)Combat - detailed later uses AP

7)Free Step - Allows the player to Move and Build Units as well as Build Buildings. with any resources left.

8)End Turn

This is how the game would essentially play. But I feel like the Game Becomes Too Complacated as you have to start managing more and more Units and buildings. So I came up with 4 Modifications to the Design in an attempt to make the game easyier.  

The First Mod:
This Removes Buildings entirely. Keeping the Equipment element making the game more about Commanding a Small Squad With a bunch of weapons then Trying to mass as many Units as possible in order to overrun the Opponent. Instead of having many types of resources all the Units would use a generic cost. in general this makes the game move along faster but takes away a lot of the Strategy of building a fort to protect your HQ.

The Second Mod:
This Removes the Player/Commander units and allows the player to focus on Managing Units that have static Stats and Resources. as I Felt the Equipment system made each unit over complex for the number of units you could have.

The Third Mod:
Takes out the Resource Buildings only. Keeping Walls and "Repair" Buildings for strategy. And also Removes Generic Units and Vehicles. Emphasizing the Equipment system

The Fourth and Final Mod:
Basically Take the Third mod and Add a Class System. Allowing Further Customization of the Units and adding Class Specific Weapons. This is the only Feature I ADDED in a Modification as I didn't Feel it fit in other versions.

I'm still Ironing out Combat But I was looking for Peoples Opinions on some of the current Feature Ideas before I Finalize combat as it will depend on if I'm keeping buildings/equipment or not.

Should I :

1)Keep All
2)Remove Buildings
3)Remove Equipment
4)Remove Resource Management
or
5)Remove Resource Management, Generic Units, and Add Classes

If anyone has any questions, Feel free to ask!

[Alistair Aitcheson]

Reading through these rules it's a little complicated to keep it all in my head and work out how to play. That isn't to say that the game itself is over-complicated, but that maybe the best thing to do is to make a paper prototype and try it out on your friends.

The best and worst in the design will become much more obvious that way, and you'll be able to change the rules on the fly and see what happens.

[Snowdrama]

Yeah I have a tutorial In the works as well... It will teach you how to Play Buildings and Collect Resources First. Every turn you collect X amount of Minerals Based on the Buildings you have Played. Minerals are pooled into Groups like Mana is in Magic the Gathering. Each unit card has a Casting cost that can be combined of one of 5 resources. Wood Metal Minerals Electricity and A Substance special to spell cards. The important part is to get those buildings on the field as special units and buildings require Specific Materials.

The hardest part to grasp is that every turn you Get 4d6 Generic Resource points which can only be used for Buildings and Units that have no special Material requirement(Again think Magic: The Gathering Generic Mana cost is a circle with a number in it instead of a Colored symbol)

So until you get a resource building you cant create any Special units. I Hope that kinda clarifies the building and resource management system a bit.

I do plan on making a Paper version. But im Currently working on actually making cards... as my Weak point is less Designing the rules but instead making the cards and Balancing

Im Thinking Ill need help in that area. Im Considering a Procedural Card Generator one that will make a cards stats and maybe pick an effect from a list and then Calculate a Casting cost based on the Stats of the card like if it has an attack of 2 or greater it increses the casting cost by 1 for each attack point the unit gets.

Then I can Print them out and Try it on paper. I was going to try that. but again Cant actualy test it until I have cards lol.

[Alistair Aitcheson]

I get the feeling you're about two steps ahead of yourself here. If you need a tutorial to explain the game you're probably making things too difficult for yourself and your players.

Get some notecards and a pencil and just write out some different stats on them - you can always rub them out to make changes. Teach your friends to play and see if they grasp it. If you can't think of ideas for cards, just repeat some you already know, or make some dud ones that don't do very much. It may be easier if you simplify everything, and come up with ideas for what would make the game more interesting as you watch people play.

I recommend reading David Sirlin's blog - he's a Street Fighter II champion turned game designer and has a few card games under his belt. He's got a lot of interesting stuff to say about how card games work. Have a look at his articles on designing Puzzle Fighter II HD and Kongai in particular.

I'd also play his game, Kongai - a wonderful tactical card game that you can pick up from a very simple in-game tutorial. He's very good at picking out what the core areas of his designs are and building up the specifics around that.

[radioact1ve]

I second reading Sirlin's blog. Always an interesting read. That and study how simple Flash Duel is. That's not to say your game can't be deep, it just to get perspective.