Going to bed at 2 am. Discussing gameplay to the very end. End then the uncomfortable night on the air mattress.
I'm a early bird. Getting up at 7.30 is not a problem. Since everyone was asleep I started typing on my blog post.
But as soon as more people woke up, the game mechanics discussion took off again. :)
The players need to decide where they should deploy their followers. There where 4 options:
We kepts discussing. After a while we just said, "Screw this. Lets just test this".
The first paper prototype didn't took that long and revealed lot's of gaps in the game mechanics :
Before the noontide whe were the only team that had tested our game mechanics. We had some sketches to but other teams directly went to development.
Team member Anton told me that they might not have great gameplay at the end but they will have something to show. We would probably have better gameplay but would have nothing to show in the end.
Game dev = making choices.
But as soon as more people woke up, the game mechanics discussion took off again. :)
The players need to decide where they should deploy their followers. There where 4 options:
- let people perform the ritual and help to stop the meteor
- make food to prevent your population or even grow your population
- make houses to increase the populations cap
- build an army to defend/attack opponents
We kepts discussing. After a while we just said, "Screw this. Lets just test this".
The first paper prototype didn't took that long and revealed lot's of gaps in the game mechanics :
- Do we keep up the score who invested most in the ritual?
- What happends when the ritual goal is not reached?
- Not investing in food will result in loss of population, how many civilians do they need to apply to this task in order to prevent this?
- How many population will you gain from making food?
- Isn't increasing the population cap the same as increasing the population?
- What's the big difference and are those tho choices still useful?
- What about the army? Are they civilians turning into soldiers?
- If so will they become civilians again at the end of the round?
- ...
Before the noontide whe were the only team that had tested our game mechanics. We had some sketches to but other teams directly went to development.
Team member Anton told me that they might not have great gameplay at the end but they will have something to show. We would probably have better gameplay but would have nothing to show in the end.
Game dev = making choices.
Ideas changing the concept
What if ...
What if ... your game does not do what you want it to do?
What if ... you don't know what rules can/will bring the experience you want to create?
Is this why people always tend to put more and more features into a game?
During day 2 more ideas were thrown into the group.
Maybe we need to punish them more for not contributing to the ritual?
What if the player that contributed the least to the ritual will be destroyed by the meteor?
What if players can let their civilians rest? Maybe players can steal civilians from others by letting their civilians rest.
Let's show the situation with a 3D planet. More land means more civilians.
With a meteor on the background.
During the day the concept changes from board game to video game. From 2 D to 3D. And it turns out to be more complex.
Tomas and I do some more simulations to test and balance the game. After a few hours I started to see black snow. All the numbers and all the calculations are getting to much. But it seems that it's more or less balanced.
I'm a bit worried about the experience the last changes will produce though.
What if ... your game does not do what you want it to do?
What if ... you don't know what rules can/will bring the experience you want to create?
Is this why people always tend to put more and more features into a game?
During day 2 more ideas were thrown into the group.
Maybe we need to punish them more for not contributing to the ritual?
What if the player that contributed the least to the ritual will be destroyed by the meteor?
What if players can let their civilians rest? Maybe players can steal civilians from others by letting their civilians rest.
Let's show the situation with a 3D planet. More land means more civilians.
With a meteor on the background.
During the day the concept changes from board game to video game. From 2 D to 3D. And it turns out to be more complex.
Tomas and I do some more simulations to test and balance the game. After a few hours I started to see black snow. All the numbers and all the calculations are getting to much. But it seems that it's more or less balanced.
I'm a bit worried about the experience the last changes will produce though.
I needed a break. My team mates where working on the assets and the codes. So I took the time to look at the deck of lenses. Rethinking, looking at the game from different perspectives.
I also went through the blue ocean tools. To see if this game has some potential in the market. It has some positive points. The problem is kinda the same as with 4 in a blow. Will the special features still stand at the end of the development?
We ended up with 2 separate games, a board game and a video game. So the feature of having a board game that could be supported with an app goes down the drain.
I'll not go over every detail. But I might take this game further after game jam.
I also went through the blue ocean tools. To see if this game has some potential in the market. It has some positive points. The problem is kinda the same as with 4 in a blow. Will the special features still stand at the end of the development?
We ended up with 2 separate games, a board game and a video game. So the feature of having a board game that could be supported with an app goes down the drain.
I'll not go over every detail. But I might take this game further after game jam.