I have been thinking about HOW to have Levels from 1 to 50 (so 10 hp to 500 hp) and well I wanted "evolution" (or something like it) which meant that you could play more powerful Monster during the game.
One (1) very important thing to remember is that the RPS-9 "beats" allows you to beat any opponent DIRECTLY without any dueling. So even the MOST powerful Monster who is Level 50 can be defeated by a Level 1 Monster! So yeah the game is BALANCED.
But this had me thinking about the game and its art.
Say we had a Skeleton Level 5 (50 hp) maybe we could create a more powerful version like Skeleton Level 25 (250 hp) in FULL ARMOR with a MACHINE GUN!!!
That's right this BAD BOY can pump out metal! :D
And I thought the artwork could be Fantasy with Modern elements such as weaponry to make it "less plausible" but much cooler from a "Monster Keep" perspective.
So I don't want it to be ALL Medieval Fantasy... I want an element of FUN to be included (and FUNNY - picture a Skeleton with a Machine Gun! Hilarious!!!) which allows for more powerful Monsters.
Tell me what you think!
Update: Made me think about Army of Darkness (movie). "This is my BOOM-stick!" Hahaha :D
Comments
Crystal Heroes vs. Monster Keep
Working on "Monster Keep" has got me thinking that the player's keeps should have Mercenaries & Monsters! :D
I was having difficulties trying to think up all monsters that would fit in a given category (Race) that I got to looking up "Crystal Heroes", which sucked royally as a game, and all of a sudden my work on fleshing out each group of units started to echo familiarity in my head.
What does that mean?
Well it means that since I am no longer producing the Video Game for the DS/Android/iPhone market, I might as well RE-USE the units that I had designed.
I kept the NEW RPS-9 and modified the "Sky" Race to be "Tech" (Gnomes). And all of a sudden I have guidelines as to what cards I should design. I also made some corrections like "Dark Elves" are now "Chaos"... Which in a way seems to make sense (not too much of a stretch - since in Crystal Heroes, "Dark Elves" were Chaotic Neutral). "Dwarves" were "Thunder" and I have now made that "Storm" (again a minor change).
So now for the UMP-TEEN time - will this be a DUEL game that will stick or not?! For one, I have memorize the RPS-9 "double damage" relationships. Yeah - no more a "beats"... I found this was too simple and made it too easy to defeat strong cards - we'll see playtesting this week should hopefully make things more obvious.
I really like the idea of having to "bribe" Mercenaries & Monsters to do your bidding as the Lord Of The Keep (LOTK). That's why I'm not calling this a "Crystal Heroes"-reboot!
I still have to figure out the "Business Model" for this game. Not sure how I can market and sell this game. I know all the problems with CCGs/TCGs and will not be going down that road... But at the same time, I need to find a way to SELL 15 card sets. Random, semi-random, etc. It would be boring if every player had the SAME identical 15 cards...
So some things to think about.
But I'm not there yet. Let's playtest a bunch of cards (15) and see IF the game is FUN or not... I'm not the designer that thinks his game designs are all the "best". Quite the opposite, especially in DUEL games, my failure rate is high. So I'm still unsure about this "version" of "Monster Keep"...
Only a filler!
Since this game's future is supposed to be a FUN "Filler" game between other games, I think a Deck-Building experience (of 15 cards) would be really FUN and be interesting.
It's supposed to be a SMALL game.
But yet I'm struggling with the amount/volume of cards that need to be made for the game.
I'm also thinking about making PLASTIC cards - so you don't need sleeves.
I need to come up with some kind of "Deck-Building" experience or a way to produce the cards for the game. I have dealt with booster before - so I know a little bit about the caveats and challenges.
Now that I've got to thinking - I'm maybe thinking of a WEBSITE that allows you to ORDER fifteen (15) cards to make your CUSTOM starter deck. Maybe something like 60 cards (Starting) and you choose your 15 cards and we make and ship it directly to you - not sure...
Something cool could be purchasing statistic.
Like at the beginning ALL CARDS have the same value, but as player's BUY cards, they go up in cost. Cards less sought after are cheaper. It's just an idea...
Keep up the great progress.
I was wondering by reading your latest post. If your worried about the 15 card set being popular as a dueling game. How about changing it up to as a solitaire game or a mon-jon type style game?
You still have the wonderful crazy monster fights by upgrading the monsters with guns (modern, futuristic or ancient style weaponary).
If you use the Mon-jon style version. You can have four players fight the game or as a multiplayer style game. Or a king of the hill battle style.
Like having different locations that have different ways of setting up the locations for the players can build and then take over.
Or have four player location sites for your players to build any way they want in free mode or each player can choose a location to build to specifics.
For the solitaire game, you can layout your card set up like the PC game Spider solitaire game or the normal Solitaire style card setup.
Not about the game
No it's not my concern about the game. It's HOW to SELL it?!
Right now my current idea is to make plastic cards and have a website where you could order the cards from. Instead of boosters, I make each 15 card deck custom. Yeah I know - not quite 100% - YET.
I need to think about the SALES MODEL, IF the game is GOOD.
What I need to determine is how to SELL the cards. And my goal is to somehow, in addition to having different prices, have some kind of selection process - to build your deck.
Like you could go to the website and click "Make Deck". Your deck starts EMPTY. If you have already bought cards, you can ADD them. Then either empty or with some cards, the WIZARD can guide you into buying MORE cards for your deck.
This is really an AMAZING idea.
And the wizard does all the magic of offering you cards to complement and/or complete your deck.
This could be a totally AWESOME idea (did I say that already?!)
Each card would need some generated unique # which you could put into the website to configure cards you want to be a part of the deck. And let the wizard figure out your options (from there on wards).
Needs more thinking - but I like these ideas! :)
Update: The # generation I might borrow from Chaotic Trading Card Game. Although I will not offer online game play - I would only offer "deck-building" EXPANSION given a set of cards (or none).
Really like this - instead of just buying whatever cards you want. The deck-builder helps you put together a DECK (and validate it) so you can play the game.
Just got to figure out HOW to make it work... It sounds simple, but I know, being in the software business, the website will be a challenge to develop.
Been working on the FIGURES!
Okay so my game boils down to 11 cards (to play four rounds). This makes the game a four (4) player game. I figured that the deck could therefore be 12 cards! I'm all for reducing the card count, especially if this means it will be less costly to produce! :D
Thinking about how the deck will be divided, and it goes something like this:
A>5 common cards that are for a specific race. At the beginning only "Order" (Humans - Mercenaries) will be available.
B>4 uncommon cards that are complementary cards for your chosen race (Wood Elves and Giants).
C>3 rare cards that can be any type of card (your preference).
This kind of works... Basically it means that AT LEAST 9 out of 12 cards (75%) of the cards will battle with each other. Which is good because battling is an intrinsic part of the game.
But I still need to do A LOT of figuring out how to select cards from the different categories and races.
Just some minor thoughts about how to divide up the game - and find a way to make it SELL! I am strangely enough examining Postal Fees for sending letters... The cards can fit into small envelopes but they must be registered to have a trackable #. We'll see on later this week - IF the game is FUN or not...
Distinct ADVANTAGE of being LAST
One of the potential problems I see with the game is the DISTINCT advantage of playing "your round" LAST. To simplify what "your round" means, it just means that it is your turn to play three (3) cards face-down. Then the first card is revealed and the first player has a chance to face-off against that card. But he/she can only play one (1) card. The round continues for the two (2) other players.
Then the NEXT round begins (for Player #2 now). He must play three (3) cards face-down and the game continues.
You do this four (4) times, once for each player.
BUT the problem is that even if you earn tokens each round, you may have spent more on the previous rounds such that there are only a few tokens left for the LAST player's round.
This is clearly an ADVANTAGE. So it takes proper planning and management to use your resources to the fullest capacity and still have enough for the remaining round.
What do you all think? Is this going to break the game???
Festive Holiday Playtests
Well for one, I have not yet managed to get a single playtest done. That's the bad news. Now for the good news, all the cards are printed and three more sets need to be cut...
I'm almost there - but I'm also running out of time!
I will do more cutting today - but to be honest, cutting is not my favorite hobby! :P That's clearly why I really dislike PNP game - you have to cut everything yourself.
I also realize that I have forgotten the TOKENS (oh no...)!
And the "Lords Of The Keep" (LOTK) cards to know which Lord each player is playing as. Damn it. I really was hoping to get all this playtesting done before January 4, 2016.
For now I will need to be happy with what I have got done and use real money (change) as the tokens for the game (?!) Maybe. IDK - Yet.
But one thing for certain, I will not have the Homemade prototype ready for tomorrow. It may take me some more time to design the TOKENS (3 types) and the LOTK cards. Not to mention the Damage Tokens (5 types)!
Without either, it becomes a stupid game of just "dueling". Which sucks so bad - everytime I have tried to design such a game. The tokens and LOTK cards add the spice to the game which adds more strategy than a simple duel...
Keep you all posted as to my progress!
Cheers.
*Early* playtest using two (2) players only
Well I have not 100% completed cutting all the cards. BUT I have made a *early* playtest with 2 Players. And... the verdict is??? The game has POTENTIAL!
I played a "Bruiser" (Frost Clan) with 60 HP (Level 6) as my 1st card. Player #2 had a "Golem" (Tech Clan) with 80 HP (level 8) and had a *single* attack (one-way). Both players confirm this by checking their "mini" RPS charts, clearly indicate that Player #2 has the advantage... Since I cannot counter his attack.
Player #2 "Golem" deals 20 Damage (Metal Punch)!
I cannot do nothing to counter... It all depends if Player #2 wants to spend more TOKENS to defeat my "Bruiser"! Now does Player #2 pay "2 Food" to defeat my "Bruiser"? Yeah probably so. So my "Bruiser" is defeated and Player #2 has a "Golem" at 100% HP.
As of today, all decks are "identical". But such would not be the case in the real world: decks would normally be different.
Again, so far there is potential!
Added some cards and printed the tokens
So I quickly designed tokens for Damage and Play. Damage tokens are used to track the amount of health points (HP) lost by a unit (per card). They vary in values from 5, 10, 20 and 50 (for now). In the future I probably will need 100 tokens, if we have stronger units. But for now the above mentioned values will be okay.
I also created 48 tokens of Food, Bloodlust and Treasure. Those will be used by players in playing against each other by paying for Basic and Advanced attacks/tactics.
Another noteworthy point is that I increased each deck by three (3) cards. Now each player will have fifteen (15) cards. This is four (4) additional cards for the POT Luck draw (where the lowest card(s) win the pot).
This feature needs to be tested - but for now it adds a *unique* element to the base game.
And of course... MORE playtesting needs to occur!
Cheers everyone.