Review of last week:
Split Second
Checking in from last week:
Split Second
Wasn't a whole lot on paper but it did end up being a lot of work. How did last week go?
Split Second
The bar was pretty low and I managed to jump it, so naturally, I feel pretty good about myself. Split Second
Wow, great week! I'm on the cusp of finishing three projects at once. I really want to get these done so I can move on to some new stuff (especially Split Second, which I've been grinding out for the last ten weeks trying to finish). Review of last week's goals:
Split Second
Pretty good stuff. Recap of last week's goals:
Split Second
Then I started designing Afterglow, I wanted it to feature actions being set under time pressure double-blind. That was the central feature I wanted. This is easy to do using some component configurations that I can easily make myself, but I also wanted things to be easily replicated by print-and-play people who would like to play the game, without relying on elaborate components that most people won't make.
Additionally, since action markers are also essentially the core of interaction during games, they need to have some important properties:
Last week's goals:
Split Second
Let's review from last week. Development Goals: June 1 to 8Split Second
Afterglow
Plamo vs Plamo
Down in Flames: Locked On Expansion
How much time did I waste instead of trying to accomplish something? Let's recap. Progress: Split SecondThis week was challenging but I still got a reasonable amount of testing done. I had hoped to finish testing two scenarios for Split Second each week, but I lagged behind that because the two I was testing had pretty unique special rules that made them harder to test. I don't know how true that should be at this point, since every mission has some mechanical twist to make them distinct. But these ones were especially hard. Mission 9: Backbreaker is the second Nightvision scenario had me reworking the way the Darkness rules a bit more. This was important as Darkness is one of the most complex rules in the game, and gets used in four scenarios total. Right now I'm not 100% pleased with it, but it's good enough. Right now I like the idea conceptually: it's hard to shoot anything, and it gets radically harder the farther away it is until somebody shoots at something. When somebody shoots, they gain a token that represents their muzzle flash. Any ballistic attacks targeting a combatant with that token is no longer subject to the Darkness penalty, and the token gets removed when a combatant moves or activates again. So it creates an interesting situation where shooting first is dangerous, and timing your shooting and movement can make you very hard to kill. Or you can just put on the NVGs and not bother with it. The second scenario I was testing, Mission 11: Near and Far, has the forces in separate skyscrapers, shooting it out across the street. This means they can't get close to each other, and requires a lot of long-range shooting. It's an interesting and fun scenario because you expect a bunch of bad guys at long range, but sometimes the luck of the layout has a bunch of bad guys in your face on your side of the street and you better hope you didn't just bring Scout Rifles, RPGs and DMRs in case a Militia Veteran drops in front of you (lesson learned). The emphasis is definitely on the Rifles, though. Then I had to balance a bunch of variables to make both scenarios winnable. I tend to design these as being impossibly difficult and then very slowly claw them back from being an impossible hail of incoming gunfire to "winnable at great cost". It's entirely possible I am very bad at my own game, though. Overall, pretty good progress. I got a bit stalled because I need to make new Militia Veteran and Trapmaker cards, since my old ones are so out of date and covered in updates they're hard to use now. The Trapmaker's behaviour is totally different now, and way more fun. Their bomb is planted at your doorway, and then they scramble to cover, hide, and detonate the bomb if you're near it. So they're a priority target, or you can just run away from the door. They're gimps, but they run away and repeat the cycle in the next scenario if you don't catch them. But either way as soon as one shows up your strategy has to change, especially if they start in cover. I also 'finished' the Operator's Handbook and sent it to Monchop of Vagrant Star fame, who thankfully agreed to give it a read over. This will be interesting since what little I know of Monchop includes that he's not a wargamer, let alone a solitaire alternative card-driven wargamer. So he's effectively the perfect audience for this. New Project: AfterglowStarting a new project right now is profoundly stupid, since I still have to finish my project for DVG once people stop being scared of the caronavirus situation and are able to help test the Mercenary Air War module. I also have three other perfectly good projects to work on, but I have excuses on all three:
It's working title is Afterglow and it has space boats. I'm hoping to have the first version of the rules done this week. It should be a relatively short document. The gameplay is simple but I have to admit I'm very excited about it from both a mechanical and flavour perspective (something that rarely occurs to me) and look forward to sharing some details soon. June 8th GoalsSplit Second
Afterglow
Plamo vs Plamo
Down in Flames: Locked On Expansion
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