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Post by Dave on Dec 22, 2010 10:18:43 GMT -9
I've completed the playtest pack for my new Solid State War game, and I'm contacting playtesters to try it out.
If you've been following along you'll notice that I've deleted the thread showing the early development ideas for the Solid State War game. Sorry if you missed it. I've saved all the comments from that thread, so I won't miss any of your good ideas. Keeping that thread around seemed like a bad idea, since it'll be confusing and contradictory with the finished game. (I got everything I needed from that thread, and anyway Evil Corporate Dave said to delete it. He's the boss.)
I may post some updates during the playtest process, but I'm planning to get back to designing fantasy/medieval models during this time. I might use this thread to ramble a bit about my inspirations for the setting, and hints about the course of war.
As always, I'm happy to talk about the work in progress, take suggestions and criticism, and answer questions.
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Post by Dave on Dec 22, 2010 10:26:17 GMT -9
If you want to join the playtest, and you think you can get in at least a couple of one-hour games in the next week or so, let me know! Send me a private message or leave a note in this thread.
If you've already expressed your interest and I haven't contacted you, contact me again. That's how I'll know you're seriously serious.
Cheers!
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Post by Dave on Dec 23, 2010 14:24:16 GMT -9
And just like that, Playtest A is complete! I just ran some in-house games and found a few things that needed to be clarified and expanded.
Playtest B packet is now ready, incorporating all of the developments from playtest A.
Still looking for volunteers!
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Post by Parduz on Dec 23, 2010 14:32:11 GMT -9
As i said, i'm not sure i can get the play in a week.
But i may happens.
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Post by Dave on Dec 23, 2010 15:18:49 GMT -9
Yeah, I do tend to move quickly on these sorts of things.
Let me know a couple of days ahead of time if you think there's a good chance you'll be able to run a game, and I'll send you the most recent playtest version at that time. There's no reason to send you something now, since it'll probably be obsolete tomorrow.
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Post by Dave on Dec 23, 2010 15:29:37 GMT -9
In my last playtest, I ran a quick duel between two jets. It ended pretty quickly. The Rebel ran up a lucky string of Direct Hits. He deliberately targeted the State plane's weapons one by one, until there was nothing to shoot back with. No other damage was done. The disarmed State jet simply had to forfeit. I thought that was pretty cool.
You're not likely to get that many direct hits. The first two were just lucky shots with the Heavy Cannon (which only scores a direct hit 1 out of 6 times). The last one was more calculated, since the Rebel had the option of firing his Light Cannon (which scores a Direct Hit 33% of the time) or Heavy Cannon. He could have done more damage with the Heavy Cannon and he had plenty of ammo left for it, but he gambled on the Light Cannon and it paid off big time by winning the duel.
It does make me wonder if weapons are too vulnerable. It would be easy to toughen them up. We'll see what happens in the next game or two.
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Post by Dave on Dec 23, 2010 16:23:53 GMT -9
Another quick playtest. Directs Hits are proving to be very nasty. A Rocket Pod was struck and exploded, which is great -- but it was too easy to do. 33% chance of destroying the weapon, followed by a 33% chance of blowing it up.
Yeah, weapons are looking to be too vulnerable. I'm going to give them an extra box to absorb damage, so they can't be plucked off with Direct Hits so easily. Let's see how that changes the next battle.
I think I'll also reduce the chances of an explosion to 1 in 6, instead of 2 in 6. That'll make them special.
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Post by Dave on Dec 23, 2010 23:45:33 GMT -9
More playtests went down at the Dave's Games studio (my living room).
Danny and Brian accidentally collided head-on. One of them exploded as a result, ending their duel. Pretty anticlimactic, but it was a successful test of the collision rules.
In my match against Bolin, we circled and clashed a couple of times, whittling each other down. Eventually Bolin got himself right on the edge of the game table and was in danger of going out of bounds. I went charging straight at him. He decided to intentionally ram me as he swerved away from the boundary. Neither of us exploded, but I ended up in a position where I couldn't avoid going out of bounds myself, and he slipped past me and was in the clear. It was a desperate move on Bolin's part, but it won the game for him.
Some things I'm discovering:
The game is fun, and it just gets more fun when you add options to it.
The game goes fast. You can select and customize your jet in a minute. The whole game usually wraps up in 20 or 30 minutes. If you wanted, you could play out a pretty long campaign in one evening.
The scale of the models doesn't seem to be a problem (at least for 1 on 1 games). You start out close enough that you're in shooting range within about 3 turns. You can't run very far, so eventually you have to angle back toward the middle to face your enemy. You can't help but dogfight, and I'm totally okay with that.
You should use your best stuff first. You don't get a lot of second chances, so you have to make the most of every opportunity. This results in brief but intense engagements and some wild outcomes.
No two games have been the same. I've seen nearly flawless victories, and some brutal slugfests. I've seen accidental collisions and intentional rammings. I've seen bad flying take a guy off the map. I've seen smart moves pay off, and I've seen lucky rolls change everything. Very cool, far as I'm concerned.
3D models of the jets are better than 2D jets. They're easier to pick up and move, and they look pretty good. You can certainly play with just 2D game pieces, but it's not nearly as cool. (At some point, I had to wonder if the 3D pieces were even worth it. I'm now sure that they are.)
Anyway that's enough of the jet game for today. I'm supposed to be painting a wagon or something...
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Post by Dave on Dec 24, 2010 10:13:26 GMT -9
I'm feeling confident enough in the current version of the game that I'm going to start prepping it for a product release.
I'm working on the Solid State War logo now, and hope to unveil it later today and get some opinions.
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Post by Dave on Dec 24, 2010 19:02:10 GMT -9
You'll have to wait a little longer to see the logo. I've put something together that I'm pretty happy with, and I want jump straight into the rest of this project.
Right now, that means going through the playtest pack (which was already formatted pretty well as a rulebook) and replacing the temporary graphics with finalized ones. I'm reading the rules as I go, and making little refinements.
From here, it looks like there's a lot of work ahead -- but it won't be so bad if I take one thing at a time.
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Post by Dave on Dec 24, 2010 21:53:24 GMT -9
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Post by Dave on Dec 25, 2010 10:45:23 GMT -9
Made good progress this morning. Lots of graphics today.  The next step is to upgrade the look of the Movement Key, Smoke Clouds, Vehicle Records and Mission Records. Once those graphics are finalized, I'll be able to continue laying out the rulebook. Things should go pretty quickly from there, I think. Now I have to take a break and socialize a bit. Happy holidays, everybody.  |
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Post by Dagger on Dec 25, 2010 11:07:32 GMT -9
Looks great!!! I really, really, really envy your production pace though :)
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Post by Dave on Dec 25, 2010 14:12:57 GMT -9
Thanks, Dagger. I'm really motivated to finish this and see what comes of it. And you can get a lot done in a 16 hour day!
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Post by labrat on Dec 25, 2010 15:57:07 GMT -9
Hey Dave nice work! I haven't been following real close, but I pop in every once in a while and it looks like it could be a sweet game. Listening to your descriptions it kind of reminds me of Wings of War, a game which I really enjoy. I look forward to playing this upon completion. You are a very good designer indeed and you do keep a blistering pace.
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Post by Dave on Dec 25, 2010 16:53:24 GMT -9
I haven't played Wings of War but it wouldn't surprise me if there are some similarities. The dogfights in my game are very much like WWI dogfights.
The only games I'm consciously taking inspiration from are Car Wars and Pirates of the Spanish Main. It's been at least a few years since I looked at either of those, but I keep thinking back to what I liked and didn't like about them.
I have to warn you that I enjoy games like Blood Bowl, where the dice can really ruin your day. While there's nothing Blood Bowlish about my game, that element of roll-and-pray is there.
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Post by Dave on Dec 26, 2010 8:44:21 GMT -9
My mission this morning is to retexture the Movement Key. There's a lot of information on this one game aid, so I need to make sure everything remains clear. But I've also got to indulge in my love of rusted metal and chipped paint.
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Post by Dave on Dec 26, 2010 12:23:41 GMT -9
Finished the Movement Key, which has turned out to be a lot more colorful than I ever imagined. But I think it'll do the job nicely.
Next up are the vehicle record sheets. I need to think carefully about how to lay these out, because I'll be using this for a variety of other aircraft in future releases.
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Post by Dave on Dec 26, 2010 18:05:35 GMT -9
Vehicle record sheets are complete. Here's a peek!  |
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Post by Dave on Dec 26, 2010 18:37:20 GMT -9
More game components -- the Movement Key, a Bombing Target and a Smoke Cloud:  |
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Post by Dave on Dec 26, 2010 22:08:45 GMT -9
I've finished all of the component graphics, which was a pretty big hurdle. Now I can freely make all the example diagrams to flesh out the rulebook.
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Post by Parduz on Dec 27, 2010 2:36:15 GMT -9
Dagobahdave:
May i ask to build the PDFs so the text is separated (another layer) from the graphic?
So, if i'll buy the game, i could translate the whole game just rewriting over the original graphic....
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Post by Dave on Dec 27, 2010 2:41:42 GMT -9
Major strides today. Time for a break. (I wasn't kidding about 16 hour days, Dagger!)
I've left myself one last section (the Scenarios) to finish up tomorrow. This should go quickly, since it just needs a quick reformatting and one very minor graphic change.
Then I'd better spend the rest of the day playtesting. If I don't run into any snags, I can start buttoning up the Air War Starter Set to be released sometime this week.
I'd like to release the first vehicle pack along with the starter set, so you can expand the game right away. I have some work left to do on the Tigress 3D models, but not a lot. I might be able to wrap those up in a day or two.
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Post by Dave on Dec 27, 2010 2:53:02 GMT -9
Dagobahdave: May i ask to build the PDFs so the text is separated (another layer) from the graphic? So, if i'll buy the game, i could translate the whole game just rewriting over the original graphic.... Hmm, sorry. I didn't set up the PDFs that way. |
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Post by kiladecus on Dec 27, 2010 9:00:45 GMT -9
You hurt my jaw... when it dropped to the ground and hit the floor!
AMAZING!
I love the whole feel for the game, the mechanics and the templates.
You do INCREDIBLE work!
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Post by Dave on Dec 27, 2010 19:41:10 GMT -9
The rulebook is finished! Or nearly. I still want to give it another proof-read and run a few more playtests.
If everything goes smoothly, you should be able to grab your copy of the Air War Starter Pack before the new year!
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Post by Dave on Dec 27, 2010 20:29:33 GMT -9
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Post by Dave on Dec 27, 2010 22:16:12 GMT -9
Just played out another game and wow was that fun. It took about 30 minutes to play, and just when it was starting to feel like a long game, it ended! That's happened in almost all of the games I've played so far. You don't always realize just how fragile your aircraft is. Once a part gets damaged, it becomes a real weakness. A second hit on that part is likely to have disastrous effects. It keeps you on your toes!
It took 28 rounds to play out. The Rebel had its weapon linkage blown out by a rocket attack early in the battle, but it still left two weapons intact -- just no longer linked. The Rebel's heavy cannon did a lot damage, as he managed to control the engagement with his higher initiative. The State jet got in a couple of good shots, but was mostly on the run with an injured crew and a jammed cannon. There was long string of failed healing attempts, but the jam was cleared on the first attempt.
The final tangle came when the jets flew past one another and came about. The Rebel jet hit the brakes and turned around quickly, ending up in a perfect position behind the State jet. The Rebel fired his light cannon at close range. The shot did just enough damage to the crew to incapacitate them. Unable to do anything but limp home, the State jet had to admit defeat.
I know things are coming together well because every few minutes while I'm playing, I run into a situation where I'm saying to myself, "That's freaking cool!" Sometimes it's just a choice you have to make. There are things to consider when you're given the option of which weapon or which device to damage. Just deciding which way to turn can be a tough choice. Things move quickly, and your choices may pay off or fail miserably in a round or two.
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Post by Dave on Dec 27, 2010 23:30:10 GMT -9
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Post by Dave on Dec 28, 2010 1:26:48 GMT -9
I've finished the quick reference sheets ahead of schedule, which leaves me a pretty short to-do list for tomorrow. I just need to proof-read the latest draft, add bookmarks, and that should do it.
I think it's a smart move to release the starter pack and the first expansion at the same time. This means I'll need to put in a little more work on the 3D models of the Tigress jet. I haven't looked at those in about a week, but I think those are very near to completion, too.
I'm pretty sure I can get those all done by Thursday. Boy, it'll be nice to be able to call myself a game designer! (Then I can get one of those game designer badges at BoardGameGeek, woohoo!)
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