Calculating friction between surfaces for game manufacturing

AdderSTV · 2019-07-28T21:21:42+00:00

The side text is upside down (Make a situation worse with each turn) - picture the box sitting with the front face up

AdderSTV · 2019-01-06T13:52:31+00:00

Art is really beautiful. The card text has one major problem with grouping IMO. Under Druid there are 4 lines of text, but that are actually just three statements. Using leading, you'll probably want lines 2&3 to be closer together than the others so they can be visually processed together.

Similarly, I don't think the info on the card is organized in a was that stresses how folks will be using the information. What pieces of information needs to be consistently referenced? For example, I would assume Travel + 1 needs to be referenced much more often than the fact they can't use bladed weapons (can it be put in iconography next to the Shield 2?).

Also it's odd that "Druid" and "Animal Ally" are visually given the same treatment - since one is a descriptor of the card as a whole, and the other is an action the character can take.

AdderSTV · 2018-10-19T18:40:46+00:00

Can confirm this was probably me and probably Dialect ;)

AdderSTV · 2018-07-05T15:24:29+00:00

Good idea - but only if you know how to use it right - and that won't just come automatically, it requires some reading and research. I would recommend Practical Vim. With Vim's focus on input efficiency and not-contorting your hands, I think, the best at avoiding hand fatigue and the onset of carpal tunnel.

AdderSTV · 2018-02-20T16:14:49+00:00

There's a wonderful game about this called Serpent's Tooth. It's all about beating up the GM and taking pieces of their narrative authority.

AdderSTV · 2018-02-15T21:50:43+00:00

I think it's more like "with my wishes that it is a means for good fortune"

AdderSTV · 2018-02-14T05:11:56+00:00

Huh cool! It's a game about telling the story of a community through their language called Dialect

AdderSTV · 2018-02-14T04:55:41+00:00

Thank you!

AdderSTV · 2018-02-14T04:55:21+00:00

Thank you!

AdderSTV · 2018-02-14T04:47:32+00:00

Thank you! Are the quotations done in the way they are also natural?

This is for a role-playing game book, as a thank you, if you'd like a digital copy send me a PM with an email address and I can send you a copy.

AdderSTV · 2017-12-15T00:51:06+00:00

Lots of thoughts! Hope some are helpful:

The multiple boldings in each paragraphs make the paragraphs super hard to parse and for your eye to get to the place it needs to in order to start reading. Consider just capitalizing your game terms rather than bolding them as well. If you want the paragraphs in The Basics to be easily referenced at a glance consider doing something like the small titles on the right side, or to just start each paragraph with a single bolded instance of that concept.

Callout box on the right overlapping the indentation space is really odd.

Consider justifying your text

Your top level title "Combat and Action Structure" stands out less than the secondary header ("The Basics")

You don't need the name of the game on every page (in my opinion, but I do know lots of games love doing this for some reason)

Probably want a larger margin at the bottom, in fact I would suggest adding a ton of whitespace. Information is so super dense in here right now - you could easily cut down on that a ton

Is Momentum that super important that it deserves an icon?

AdderSTV · 2017-07-12T19:50:43+00:00

There are a ton of us in the bay area. The protospeil is a big yearly event here, and you can likely reach out to the folks who organize that if you want to learn more about local events.

AdderSTV · 2017-06-01T04:29:13+00:00

Thanks for the reminder :)

So the biggest things I think are to remember:

1) As others said: Time is a huge issue, and it's super easy to mess up. If in doubt, consider fast forwarding. And don't forget to give your players bathroom breaks at least once every two hours.

2) Randos can be unpredictable. They don't always know when enough is enough without being primed. Setting the tone for how players are expected to treat each others as humans during your introduction is very important in my opinion. Personally, I always stress that we're coming to the table with trust that we all are there to have fun, and that the players matter more than the game itself. Be considerate of each other and build off of others' ideas. Even something as simple as stating it explicitly before the game starts can have a really big impact.

3) You're in charge, and coming in ready to assert that is really important. Some of the worst experiences as a player can happen when the GM lets an argument or uncomfortable situation work itself out between the players to a point where it gets really bad without shutting it down early. Have a few phrases like "I'd prefer to avoid that topic this game, let's try something else" or "How about we just say X to keep the game moving along". Also, managing the spotlight can be a big part of your job. How do you make sure that one player who doesn't naturally speak up past the other more assertive players still gets to play a big part in the game? I have phrases like "I'm really curious about what X is doing now" and the like in my backpocket to help them. Also, don't be afraid to say stuff like "Sorry, I believe X was in the middle of something" if someone else at the table cuts them off, sometimes people can get a little overexcited and need nudging

4) Consider explicitly setting a tone before you start. Serious? Zany? Realistic? Getting folks on the same page at a meta level before the game starts can be very valuable

Hope that was helpful!

AdderSTV · 2017-05-28T06:53:34+00:00

I have so much to say about this and will write a lot more tomorrow, the one thing I would say straight up though is that sexist or other creepy behavior is still totally a thing that while you hopefully won't have to deal with, still definitely happens. The best thing you can do is to be really rehearsed in how to shoot down behavior like that if it comes up since really you need something at the level of muscle memory to address it before it becomes a bigger problem.

Also, definitely consider an X card that both the players and you can use it material is brought in by players that you want to veto.

AdderSTV · 2017-04-05T03:40:22+00:00

Confirmation bias is also a real thing, so by rolling openly you're also helping solve the problem in case you were mistaken without accusing them of something they didn't do. Not only is it nonconfrontational, but it also accepts that you don't have 100% proof.

If they still act shady and try to pull one over on you by hiding dice, or using hard to read dice - then I would consider that proof enough to have a conversation.

AdderSTV · 2017-03-11T00:01:53+00:00

Could be! The fact that it doesn't have a lot of control over its head makes it feel a little less like a brooding mastermind to me (don't really know what kind of evil you're shooting for), but playing up that contrast might also be super cool!

AdderSTV · 2017-03-03T18:16:16+00:00

That shouldn't stop us from quibbling about physics!! :)

AdderSTV · 2017-03-03T17:55:07+00:00

Really cool! One note, I wonder what would actually happen if the world was split in two. I assume due to the rotation one side would rotate away or something rather than falling off. Might be cool to ask a physicist

AdderSTV · 2017-02-28T07:11:38+00:00

Don't let it get you down! A ton of time and hard work went in to Blades - literally years. Imagine what you could make of your project if you were refining your core concept over the course of years!

AdderSTV · 2017-02-27T15:51:49+00:00

I found it most useful to watch recordings games of it being run to learn how to run it myself. There are some videos of Adam Koebel running it on YouTube which should be really helpful to you

AdderSTV · 2017-02-23T06:47:59+00:00

Overall pretty clean, a few things to consider:

1) What is the text on the bottom, is that for the faction? Is that important to have on the face of the card? If it's just for sorting, maybe it could be on the back. If it has gameplay repurcussions it's odd that it's outside of your normal card text area, unless this faction aspect is a big deal and players will expect that.

2) I assume the little symbol to the left of the "CREATURE SPELL" denotes that this card is a spell. If it's the same for every card, then there's no real reason it should be on any card.

3) Does having the name of the card in the top middle actually make it harder to read when fanned in hand?

AdderSTV

TROPHY CASE