Hi all,
Well I just wanted to post an update regarding the most recent playtest I did with *The Derelict* scenario. The Derelict scenario is a single player scenario that can be played alone without any other players. The main reason for testing this scenario is because it is rather good at demonstrating the "pacing of the game".
Here are the conclusions of the playtest:
1-Only 8 (4x level 5, 2x level 4, 2x level 3) cards were purchased from the upgrade piles. This seems low since the player relies heavily on the original 10 cards given to them at the starting. This is NOT good.
2-The trading mechanism works great - but the purchasing of cards is the opposite. I plan to test a 1:1 ratio for purchasing. This would be similar to Dominion where players can purchase one or more cards per turn.
3-The blocking combat mechanic is lack luster. Without dice action, the mechanic seems rather plain and not very exciting. I am still thinking about including dice into the mechanic... This remains to be seen.
4-The game took a little over one (1) hour to play. This is not too bad considering the other flaws of the game.
As I said in point #2, I will try to playtest a 1:1 ratio. This will for sure increase the number of cards players can buy... But the overall pace of the game will remain unchanged (which is good - one hour sounds reasonable).
I will keep you updated as to my progress. Cheers!
Comments
2:1 ratio
Overnight I came up with the idea of using another ratio for purchasing upgrades: 2 for 1. So if a card's trade value is 3, the cost to buy the card would be 6 (2x 3). This may be a little more reasonable than a 1:1 ratio.
I will start with the 2:1 ratio as a first playtest since I feel the 1:1 ratio is too high.
Therefore I will playtest *The Derelict* scenario tomorrow with the 2:1 ratio. Stay tuned!
Good and bad news
Okay so I have playtested the game with a 2:1 ratio for buying cards. And the conclusion is: it works pretty good! It allowed me to buy more cards quickly which in turn led me to win the game within 30 minutes. The game length time although shorter was still sufficient time to play the game (down from 1 hour). But the nice thing was is that it allowed me to use other game roles (such as the Chancellor and the Engineer). This is a step in the right direction because those roles provide other ways of helping players figure out what their strategy is going to be (which cards to buy, as an example).
Now the down side... The problem I see with forcing the Derelict's weapon to have a recharge rate (roll 1d6) makes it that players will ALWAYS win the game. All you need to do is put up a starship as a blocker and wait for The Derelict to destroy it before you put up another starship... This is sorta the pattern to follow until you can configure a starship with sufficient toughness to defend against the Derelict's +5 Weapon Rating.
If you cannot lose, why play the game? This repetitive style of gameplay doesn't really form any tension when playing the solo scenario. All it takes is a little patience to build up your deck (and maybe a few good dice rolls) and you can pretty much defend against The Derelict.
In my opinion, not enough to make the scenario worthwhile playing... I think by removing the *recharge rate*, and allowing The Derelict to attack each turn might make the game more challenging. I know, it's going to be a *B!tch* having to defend each turn... But I might restore the concept of *initiative* back into the game as a trade off.
Initiative was part of the game when players used dice in the combat mechanic. Each player rolled 1d6 and the attacker needed to roll HIGHER than his opponent to be able to strike. If I restore this, well that means even though the Derelict would attack EACH TURN, there would need to be an initiative roll. This means the Derelict will not always be able to attack successfully each turn...
I will playtest this variant tonight and post back the results!
Other note-worthy changes
The other thing that came to mind while playing the new 2:1 ratio is forcing the players to CHOOSE between *buying* upgrade cards OR banking the money. For The Derelict scenario, this is not very relevant since your end game goal is to destroy the alien starship. However in the three (3) other scenarios, this changes game play since you cannot rely on previously banked money to purchase cards.
So basically what happens sorta follows this thread of events:
1-You look at your five (5) cards and figure out if you have enough money to buy an upgrade card.
2-If YES, you spend the money on that card and bank the remainder.
3-If NO, you either keep some cards for the next turn and/or bank as many cards as you want to.
What this means is that your bank (or Treasury) never goes down, it simply gets more and more money in it. In a way this simplifies tracking of money. Instead of adding and subtracting, all you need to do is accumulate money (adding only). This is also beneficial by *simplifying* the way of playing.
It also adds another level of strategy: do I buy cards or do I bank money???
Note: This is a very important decision a player needs to do each turn. Proper balance is required such that you can defend your homeworld with starships and accumulate more money to win (depending on victory conditions).
Other ratios...
Well last night I did not get a chance to playtest the Derelict scenario again... BUT I did start to think more about the game's buy ratio. And it came to me during the evening that besides a 2:1 ratio (which I have already playtested), there are three (3) other ratios possible:
-3:1 = This makes the cards of value 5 just out of reach at the beginning of the game (7x 2 = 14 vs 3x 5 = 15).
-4:1 = This requires more card purchasing before being able to purchase cards of value 4 and 5 (16 and 20 points respectively).
-5:1 = This means the most expensive upgrade cards (5) cost 25 points to purchase. BUT it makes it impossible to buy level 3 cards because that is 3x 5 = 15. 7x 2 = 14 only (1 short).
So there are a few alternatives to the 2:1 ratio. I just need to playtest these to figure out which ratio gives the best play length for the game (duration of the game). The 5:1 is IMPOSSIBLE, since you cannot buy level 3 cards.
Another playtest
Although I have not completed the playtest yet, here is what my *settings* look like:
-Using a 2:1 ratio for buying cards = Just makes the game flow well. I know this way more cards will get purchased.
-Using *Initiative* = Makes it that even though the Derelict starship attacks EACH TURN, it does not always do so successfully. Also noteworthy is the fact that *initiative* as previously defined has better odds for the defender...
-The player can only use the cards from his HAND to purchase upgrade cards. Money left over goes into the player's treasury (which is useless for THIS scenario).
So far the pacing of the game seems okay - and the Derelict, well each roll is filled with some tension... Although I can put up a starship as a blocker, you need to be quick about it and get the starship in space FAST since the Derelict has a chance each turn for a successful attack!
---9:30 PM---
So my homeworld has taken 16 damage points (out of 30). I am about half-way to the end of my game (losing). With the new initiative roll, the difference of rolls can add another +5 in damage, which means NO starship is enough to defend against The Derelict. The only chance I have is to be smart and launch four (4) starships with enough firepower to destroy that alien starship! There is some tension in the game - I am invested in terms of playing and gaining cards to help win the game and there is always the Derelict's successful attack that spells doom... So far the game is enjoyable! That's GOOD news! :D
---10:00 PM---
I finally, after a previous attempt, get the chance to put up three (3) starships with not bad stats (Firepower = 16) enough to defeat The Derelict... All that remains is that *initiative* roll: the Derelict rolls a 1! All I need now is to roll 1d6 and get higher than 1. I roll a 3... And just like that the Derelict is DESTROYED!!! I admit those last couple rounds were close... because I felt that with the cards I had bought I should have enough firepower... and I did! Way COOL. This game has renewed my enthusiasm in the game.
Final thoughts and conclusions:
-Having The Derelict attack each turn is NAIL BITING. When it is successful in it's attack the response is: "DAMN STUPID STARSHIP". And when it fails it's like: "OK, next turn..."
-The 2:1 ratio allows players to buy a lot of cards. This is great, I even used the Engineer as a role to recycle four (4) cards of value 1. As the game progresses those cards are of lesser value and you really want your higher scoring cards to be drawn.
-Tonight was a good night for Tradewars - Homeworld. I had been getting frustrated about how much more *tweaking* would be required to make the game interesting. More importantly to make the game FUNCTIONAL!
-I am now ready to playtest another scenario, knowing what the *settings* of the game should be.
-I am planning to change the *Chancellor* role such that player's simply need to discard 1 card to preview the next card in a pile. Recycling will be left for the *Engineer* role...
-I even used the *Officer* role once to bypass a level 1 upgrade. Good stuff!
Deck-building comment
Well it turns out that in my last playtest, I only *purchased* 16 cards. The distribution goes as follows:
-1x 1 point
-2x 2 points
-8x 3 points
-5x 4 points
So the *deck* in my DBG had only 26 cards (10 + 16). This is far from the original idea that a deck would contain 40+ cards... Considering I only playtested the solo scenario, this is still far from the total amount of cards (available to players) which is 75. So this is about 1/3 of the cards.
Obviously in The Derelict scenario, Instant and Mission cards were not purchased often (unless it was for their trade value - in points). You don't have time to invest in those cards since your focus must be destroying the alien starship, not earning more money.
I can see how the game could be played with the other scenarios. One thing for certain, I will need to playtest the winning conditions for 2 scenarios (which require players to accumulate 1,000 qS). Those scenarios will probably require their own *tweaking* in order to get the RIGHT pacing.