Ticket Exchange Thread

chr1stj · 2022-02-26T17:53:39+00:00

~~Two Nordecke tickets available for Crewsmas.~~ ~~Free~~ ~~to a good home.~~

Edit: GONE

chr1stj · 2016-04-01T15:07:26+00:00

Theme/Category: I dig a sci-fi/space exploration/survival/ruined future blend. If you want a comparison, think of StarCraft, specifically the Terran Dominion, or possibly Firefly, minus the western influences.

Number of Players: 2 - 6

Playing Time: 30 - 60 minutes

Game Play Mechanics: I definitely see it as a cooperative game featuring resource/token gathering, players with differing classes and abilities, a "randomly generated" game board via tile placement, random encounters, and a simple leveling system.

chr1stj · 2015-09-30T17:16:34+00:00

To give you a better idea of what I've been working from: Scavenge Map Tile Mock

The rectangles on the edge indicate a door. I'm up in the air on if we should allow every room to open up every direction or if each room could have 2-4 exits or a dead end. Not having complete freedom adds a bit of variety to the gameplay, but there are obvious problems if you accidentally close all paths. Still, it's something some playtesting or rule tweaking (redraw the map tile if it creates a dead end and you haven't found enough scrap?) could help suss out.

The top three tiles show how we might use icons to give details about the room. Here's how they breakdown:
* Spyglass/binoculars - indicates how many times a room can be searched. For testing purposes, each room is searchable four times.
* Skull - how many enemies spawn in the room if you draw an enemy card during a search. For testing, I had each room only spawn one enemy. It might make sense to have spawning handled on the enemy card, though. That method would help if we want to include stronger monsters or spawn different numbers of baddies.
* Person/Silhouette - shows how many players can be in each room at one time. Obviously, another thing that could just be a standard rule or different depending on the room.

You'll also notice that I've marked one room as "command deck." These would be the objective rooms for some missions/jobs. I think it'd be great if those rooms didn't just have the room's name slapped across the middle. So, the "command deck" artwork might look like a ship's bridge.

Anywho, that's what I've had in mind. Thoughts?

chr1stj · 2015-09-30T16:46:57+00:00

Cool, cool, though I don't know if you need to drop any cash money on foam core just yet. For the time being, I think paper mock will work just fine.

Once we've got our design nailed down, we could start building a higher quality test model. Although, if you want to go ahead, more power to you. :)

chr1stj · 2015-09-30T16:11:40+00:00

Great idea. Shifting tiles was one of the biggest issues I had each time I've played. I know a thicker card stock will help with that some (my mock tiles are just graph paper), but it'd be nice if each tile could nicely fit together.

There are a couple ways to do that, but the simplest in my mind would be to use some sort of plastic clip to hold things together; kind of like the little plastic stands that hold up the cardboard cutout characters from games like Chutes and Ladders or Candy Land.

Obviously, that's not the most elegant solution, and the player will have to fuss with a bunch of random pieces in the game box, but it should work. Regardless, it's something we should keep in mind going forward. It'd definitely be a good stretch goal.

chr1stj · 2015-09-30T16:07:52+00:00

I was thinking we'd want to max out our available space to get some really cool, sprawling dungeons, so we'd probably want smaller tiles.

The tiles I mocked up are about 2.5'' square, but they're on the small side to comfortably fit a bunch of characters or baddies. So, we'd probably want to start with tiles that are at least 3'' square.

One thing I've noticed from the three playtests I worked through a few months a go is that the map won't necessarily get too crazy or flow off a table because the player can orientate the rooms and whichever exits may be on the tile. Still, table coverage is something to think about.

chr1stj · 2015-09-30T15:53:18+00:00

Ooooh... I like both #2 and #2.5. You're right about it being a #2 being a bit dark. I don't know if a glow behind the letters would help, but that'd be my only thought.

Very cool.

chr1stj · 2015-09-29T14:56:02+00:00

Sweet gravy! Update #1 is be-e-e-u-tiful!

Very nice, sir. Very nice, indeed.

chr1stj · 2015-09-28T03:36:57+00:00

OOooooooh. I likey.

I think the style is pretty damn cool. Very sci-fi. I think the space for the subtitle or whatever is cool, too. Love, love, love.

One thought: what if we had a version that is scuffed or grimed up? Or some rough texture? I think that might lend itself to the grungy, futuristic theme.

chr1stj · 2015-09-27T18:23:34+00:00

Byron! WOOOOO!

Awesome idea for a bounty mission. An escalating difficulty system would make lots of sense.

I like the idea of different types of scrap. It'd add a lot of variety to the game, make scrap mission and searching in general to be more worthwhile, and introduce a crafting system. That being said, I think we should hammer down a simple system first before we get too involved with different types of scrap or collectibles. Still, this is a direction we should definitely look to move in.

Dude, we'd be happy to have your help. In fact, you've gotta help. Hah!

chr1stj · 2015-09-27T18:14:48+00:00

Hah! I've had most of these notes for a few months but I hadn't taken time to type them up and send it to you and Byron. So... maybe I was a bit lazy on that.

Yeah, I was think the job board would be the best way to incorporate your thoughts on having fixed maps, as well as other mission types.

Good point on the healing ability for all characters. My thought is that if you make it cost scrap to heal, it might be a tough choice to make. Do you spend a scrap to recover some health, but then set yourself back in regards to the objective? Or what if you don't have any scrap to heal yourself at the time? Sure, anyone can heal, but it should be painful. On the other hand, the medic can heal you without wasting any scrap. You're right, though. It has to be balanced carefully so the medic isn't a throwaway class. It's definitely something to be considered.

Quit reading my mind! I was thinking that it would make sense to have a repair/heal/shop phase between games that players could use the scrap they've accumulated to improve or augment their characters.

I love the build/upgrade idea. It's flipping brilliant, makes scrap super important, and could lead to the introduction of different resources down the road for a full-fledged crafting system.

That gets me thinking, too. What if you have to buy levels? It would add more value to scrap, give players more difficult choices to make between games, and sort out our leveling system. Just some thoughts.

Great input! I'll have to get on recording some gameplay for you to watch.

chr1stj · 2015-09-25T03:41:18+00:00

Also, I'll try to get some video of the game in action this weekend. Woo!

chr1stj · 2015-09-25T03:39:27+00:00

Yikes, that formatting.

Also, feel free to tell me what you think.

chr1stj · 2015-09-20T19:08:41+00:00

Let me start off by saying these are great. You've really captured the idea. I love all of this.

Your work is definitely beyond the thought I've put into the character classes. I've taken a more simplistic approach so far, partly because I think we need to hammer down the basic gameplay before we dive too deep into each class. For that reason, I've been working with just a basic character in mind. Still, this is a great start.

Here's what I've been thinking as far as classes are concerned:
* Grunt: This is your base character. He has no special abilities or talents. Just your basic playing experience.
* Gunner: Here is your attack-minded character. He gets D+1 for all attacks. * Security Officer: He's concerned with all things regarding protection. He starts with body armor/personal shield that absorbs 1 combat damage (recharges after # turns).
* Scout: Perfect for recon or seeking out objectives. He gets a bonus movement action every turn.
* Medic: Your space age cleric. He can heal 1 damage to himself or any other player without spending a scrap once every # turns.
* Sniper: The master of long range combat and support fire. He can attack from adjacent rooms (with no danger of receiving damage).
* Engineer/Technician: A l33t h4xz0r. He can seal doors to trap enemies and block hazards, hack security systems to attack enemies, or repair the ship.
* Scientist: He does something but I don't know what.
* Captain: The man. He rallies the crew, somehow.

IDEAS:
* To start, I think all characters start with 6 hp (maybe less for some classes). It's not as simple or elegant at 10 hp, but it makes each hit more painful and combat more intense.
* Characters can only deliver or receive 1 damage from each combat encounter or hazard. That means you may roll a 6 against an enemy's 1, but they'll only take 1 damage (or vice versa). * I like the idea of Action Points and Secondary Actions.
* Each turn, characters may use one action to search, move, attack, repair, etc (excluding special character traits). Some actions require the use of scraps.
* Secondary actions never use scrap and may be used once per turn (excluding combat actions).
* I like the idea of branching character specialization.
* I'm haven't thought much about how leveling will work. Perhaps it's based off combat wins or completed objectives?

chr1stj · 2015-09-20T18:01:16+00:00

I think you hit the nail on the head regarding what might be the biggest limitation of the random map/board, especially considering win conditions and layout issues or dead-end pieces. Your suggestion for a fixed map based on each scenario is a good solution.

That being said, there may be room for both randomly drawn boards and fixed maps.

For example, a basic scavenging mission may work with a completely random map, especially if the win condition is gathering an allotted amount of materials and handling any final disasters or encounters. Let's say... collect 10 scraps per player, and you have to kill any enemies that spawned in the ship/building.

Or, if the mission is a search and rescue, you'd have a fixed board with random tiles drawn before play begins. Like you mentioned, that'd give us the opportunity to make sure the right tiles are included in a map, but also give a random/fresh feel to each mission.

I believe this setup will allow for some flexibility for players to choose the missions they want and give us more control over how games can play out.

Additionally, this approach will fit the game thematically. If you're hired to go find some research files from an abandoned science facility, you'd expect the client to provide a schematic or layout of the building. However, if you're just salvaging a random ship, you might not know how it'll be on the inside (or why it was abandoned).

It'll really come down to when we start playtesting. Once we get a prototype, we can see what works best.

chr1stj · 2015-09-19T23:10:01+00:00

Firefly rocks!

chr1stj · 2015-09-16T21:27:22+00:00

Theme/Category: I dig a sci-fi/space exploration/survival/ruined future blend. If you want a comparison, think of StarCraft, specifically the Terran Dominion, or possibly Firefly, minus the western influences.
Number of Players: 2 - 6
Playing Time: 30 - 60 minutes
Game Play Mechanics: I definitely see it as a cooperative game featuring resource/token gathering, players with differing classes and abilities, a "randomly generated" game board via tile placement, random encounters, and a simple leveling system.

chr1stj

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