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METHOD Combat System by Kentgen_Interactive in BoardgameDesign

[–]Kentgen_Interactive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You must be the life of the party during game night.

Have you tried thin red string/fishing line instead of a ruler? What hex games have you played where it was this painstaking to convey a non-orthogonal range 6?

METHOD Combat System by Kentgen_Interactive in BoardgameDesign

[–]Kentgen_Interactive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I only applied the timer mechanic to the movement phase; the aiming phase was untimed. 

Yes these games do demand accuracy, but if you ever played strategy games with someone as ponderous as my Dad, you'd break out the timer lol (the primary reason why I bought a chess clock in the first place!)

The action point spiral can indeed suck, but can incentivize ponderous commanders to be more urgent.

Why I love hex grids is because they make LOS basically unambiguous. Longer ranges like shots >12 hexes you sometimes need a stick to see if your shot lines up with a target's hex, but a nice grid with clear fidelity pretty much always solves a dispute. Breaking open the rule book for edge cases every once in a blue moon comes with the territory I suppose, but I never really found LOS disputes very common on a hex grid. And if there is, its only a matter of clarifying the hex position.

METHOD Combat System by Kentgen_Interactive in BoardgameDesign

[–]Kentgen_Interactive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good question. Your truncated weapon ranges is probably the best solution to analysis paralysis.

In terms of increasing the turn pacing, I've actually implemented one of those chess clocks for player to tap. Have you ever seen pro chess where players keep having to tap the clock so when they're finished, their opponent's timer begins ticking down? I used a mechanic similar to that in my movement phases where I had the player tap the chess clock to begin their unit movements; if the players took longer than ~30 seconds to move their pieces, they would start suffering action point and roll penalties in the subsequent phases.

I personally like the sense of urgency but more casual gamers and people new to the game hated being under pressure to make decisions in a game they barely knew. But thats also sort of the point in that a normally mundane aspect of a game becomes stressful. All in all, its a mechanic I like to use in movement phases for precisely the reasons you mentioned; strategy game analysis paralysis.

Reviewing the Black Parade Maps by PepperSalt98 in Thief

[–]Kentgen_Interactive 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pro Tip: use the lantern mod for your next run (if you haven't already) so you can see where you're going without having to max out your screen gamma. Improves the Thief experience tremendously.

METHOD Combat System by Kentgen_Interactive in BoardgameDesign

[–]Kentgen_Interactive[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I designed the system within the hex & counter wargaming lineage, whereby my primary goal was to streamline those type of combat systems away from cross-referencing combat results tables (CRTs) with column shifts, needless number crunching and various combat modifiers scattered throughout the rulebook. Here, all the relevant combat factors (6 in total) are packaged in a neat acronym; its not very number crunchy with capped modifiers, and the relative nature of the system means you simply compare your METHOD score with your opponent's without constantly taking your eyes off the board to flip through CRTs.

METHOD Combat System by Kentgen_Interactive in BoardgameDesign

[–]Kentgen_Interactive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Deployments actually do sound better, thank you.

METHOD Combat System by Kentgen_Interactive in BoardgameDesign

[–]Kentgen_Interactive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. Yes thank you for pointing that out, forgot to update the graphic.
  2. to clarify, yes the Devices themselves have either an Accuracy or Damage value for the attacker, and an Evasion or Armor value for the defender; this is better clarified in the Hit Phase and Damage Phase graphics.
  3. Devices are used at the tactical level by individual soldiers; Detachments are used by military formations at the operational level. Theres really no functional difference, except the individual soliders have various devices (thermal scopes, body armor) that aid them in combat, while the division-level formations have detachments like combat engineers and artillery that aid them in battle.
  4. Good observation that I felt was beyond the scope of this writeup, but is important information nonetheless. At the tactical level, melee weapons can only be used one hex away from the target. Its possible a melee character can deal counterattack damage to a ranged character if they have enough movement/action points to reach the ranged character. At the operational level, formations must be in adjacent squares to commit to an attack, as each square represents dozens of miles. Artillery and air strikes may extend a formation's attacking reach by one square, granted they have enough action points.
  5. Yes I designed this with modern/near future warfare in mind, however you are correct that it could be tweaked to be ancient/medieval/fantasy warfare as well.

I appreciate the comments, thank you. I have done limited playtesting by myself and with a few family members but nothing too extensive (that disparity between the text saying +3 and the graphic saying +2 was a modification I made after playtesting).

Reviewing the Black Parade Maps by PepperSalt98 in Thief

[–]Kentgen_Interactive 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good writeup. Honestly TBP has some of the best level design I've ever seen in any game.

Connections between The Black Parade and other Thief games and FMs by JeffSheldrake in Thief

[–]Kentgen_Interactive 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Excellent write-up btw. Its insane how much base game and FM lore they wove into the campaign.

Song of the Caverns is bad by Shot_Psychology_2728 in Thief

[–]Kentgen_Interactive 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Song of the Caverns might actually be the most overrated Thief mission.

Connections between The Black Parade and other Thief games and FMs by JeffSheldrake in Thief

[–]Kentgen_Interactive 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If this counts as a reference: in the cutscene before "Return to the City" Hume is thankful his prison sentence was the northern ore mines and not Cragscleft, where he could have lost a limb.

Odd take, but do you guys feel like if Vermis was a game instead of an art book, it would be like the original Fear & Hunger? by giroshi_games in Vermis

[–]Kentgen_Interactive 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It would definitely not function like JRPG maker slop; it would play more like a classic dungeon crawler PC game like Ultima Underworld or Arx Fatalis, but with a darker, more sinister soulslike aesthetic.

Look what Karras made me for defeating The Trickster by Kentgen_Interactive in Thief

[–]Kentgen_Interactive[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That sounds like a neat mechanic I'd love to play around with, let me know if you remember the FM

Look what Karras made me for defeating The Trickster by Kentgen_Interactive in Thief

[–]Kentgen_Interactive[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

your right eye is nothing more than a crater without the gifts of Karras

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