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Complete Prototype Ready- what's the next step?

12 replies [Last post]
Wed, 01/12/2005 - 04:00
d3nial
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Joined: 07/30/2008

Hi BGDF

I have a completed prototype of a game, called Fliesespiel for now, and I would love to get some feedback including playtest reults if possible from this forum.

Should I post in the "Playtesting" forum, or is it more appropriate to get in to the GDW calendar?

I have complete rules, a .PPT file for the tiles and board so if anyone's interested I can email these.

Is there somewhere on here (or elsewhere on the web) that I can upload a picture of the game to?

Any feedback appreciated. Thanks

d3

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Wed, 01/12/2005 - 04:30
#1
zaiga
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Re: Complete Prototype Ready- what's the next step?

d3nial wrote:
Should I post in the "Playtesting" forum, or is it more appropriate to get in to the GDW calendar?

Depends on the state of the game. The GDW is helpful when you are still very much in the brainstorm phase of the game and you are still willing to make big changes. If the game is already pretty well tested and tuned, then it's probably better to look for playtesters in the "playtesting" forum.

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Wed, 01/12/2005 - 13:32
#2
Anonymous
Complete Prototype Ready- what's the next step?

you also might be able to find more people interesting in playtesting the game if you make us want to play it. What the game is about, what are the rules, etc. I took me awhile to make a prototype for Terra Prime, and it is a very basic prototype. So I am not going to be making prototypes for games I don't want to play (or maybe that is me personally)

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Wed, 01/12/2005 - 15:19
#3
Anonymous
Complete Prototype Ready- what's the next step?

I would say that the GDW is still a valid resource once you have a decent prototype (even after it has been playtested). I submitted 2 of my own games that were fairly well developed and in each case I was challenged to rethink my design and come up with new ways to make it better.

In one case, I chagned a few aspects of the game (simple things that I would have never though about had I not been challenged by the GDW) that really improved the overall game.

In the other case the comments and discussion really made me understand why I included the mechanics that I did. It's a great experience in a better understanding of your game.

Yes, the GDW does work very well for rough ideas, but it also works well for more developed ones.

DrMayhem wrote:
What the game is about, what are the rules, etc.

I second the desire to hear more about your game!

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Wed, 01/12/2005 - 15:45
#4
jwarrend
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Joined: 08/03/2008
Complete Prototype Ready- what's the next step?

SiskNY wrote:

Yes, the GDW does work very well for rough ideas, but it also works well for more developed ones.

This is true, but the problem with more developed games is twofold. First, the game itself may just not need that much in the way of changes and suggestions: it may only need tweaking. The GDW is no substitute for playtesting in that regard. Second, a more developed design might be viewed by the designer as increasingly immutable, and suggestions of changes may be resisted. (which is fine in principle; no one's obligated to make any suggested changes. But if you're not really looking for suggestions for big changes, or not willing to consider that your almost-done game isn't as done or as good as you thought it was, the GDW is not the right place for your game).

Having said all that, I definitely think you should just post a description of your game and a request for interested parties to contact you re: playtesting. Not having tried such a thing, I couldn't say how well it will fair, but my knee jerk guess is that you won't get a lot of responses. It's hard to find time and warm bodies to playtest one's own games, let alone those of others. But if you even get one or two folks to express interest in playtesting, it will be completely worth it, so just float the request and see what happens!

Good luck,

Jeff

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Wed, 01/12/2005 - 16:10
#5
d3nial
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Joined: 07/30/2008
Complete Prototype Ready- what's the next step?

Thanks again for the responses. Within the next 24hrs I will get the rules (.doc) and the game pieces (.ppt) files into the My Uploads section - there is already a photo of the abstract prototype there.

Note that the prototype has been stripped of almost all of the "flavour" (i.e. artwork) because I'm most interested in testing the mechanics to find out if there's anything broken or unbalanced there.

I've also made an entry into my journal as well (this site has EVERYTHING - it rocks!).

d3

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Wed, 01/12/2005 - 18:00
#6
Johan
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Joined: 10/05/2008
Complete Prototype Ready- what's the next step?

Hi

d3nial wrote:

Note that the prototype has been stripped of almost all of the "flavour" (i.e. artwork) because I'm most interested in testing the mechanics to find out if there's anything broken or unbalanced there.

I think that you do the wrong thing. I belive that a game is about theam, mechanism, goal and how well the components are working together ( also including grafhics, style, size, colors and so on). The mechanism is just one of the ingrediance of a game and sometimes it is not the most important.
You have a better chance to find players that wants to test the game if you have more then the structure.

// Johan

p.s. I looking forward to see your game.

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Thu, 01/13/2005 - 11:58
#7
Anonymous
Complete Prototype Ready- what's the next step?

Johan wrote:
The mechanism is just one of the ingrediance of a game...

I would agree that a more complete look at the game would be more helpful both to use who are looking over your game and providing feedback, and to you who are looking for as much feedback as you can get. It would be greatly helpful to see not only the mechanics, but the interplay between the mechanics and the theme. Who knows, some members may even have some suggestions for enhancing the game to more closely fit the theme. You wouldn't want to exclude that potential feedback.

Besides, I think you'll get some feedback on the mechanics even with the theme included.

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Thu, 01/13/2005 - 14:24
#8
d3nial
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Joined: 07/30/2008
Complete Prototype Ready- what's the next step?

Again, I appreciate the feedback. In the next few days I will endeavour to re-introduce the theme to the game and make a more finished product available from "My Uploads".

d3

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Thu, 01/13/2005 - 18:37
#9
Anonymous
Complete Prototype Ready- what's the next step?

Johan wrote:
Hi

d3nial wrote:

Note that the prototype has been stripped of almost all of the "flavour" (i.e. artwork) because I'm most interested in testing the mechanics to find out if there's anything broken or unbalanced there.

I think that you do the wrong thing. I belive that a game is about theam, mechanism, goal and how well the components are working together ( also including grafhics, style, size, colors and so on). The mechanism is just one of the ingrediance of a game and sometimes it is not the most important.
You have a better chance to find players that wants to test the game if you have more then the structure.

// Johan

p.s. I looking forward to see your game.

While I agree a nice looking finished prototype would be nice. Some of us have extreme difficulty even making a prototype that has the entire game held within it. Personally I have found making a bare-bones prototype to play with my wife, and making adjustments to gameplay based on that experience to be very helpful. Of course, not everybody has somebody that they can reliably get to play a crappy prototype of their game.

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Thu, 01/13/2005 - 19:09
#10
sedjtroll
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Joined: 07/21/2008
Complete Prototype Ready- what's the next step?

DrMayhem wrote:
While I agree a nice looking finished prototype would be nice. Some of us have extreme difficulty even making a prototype that has the entire game held within it. Personally I have found making a bare-bones prototype to play with my wife, and making adjustments to gameplay based on that experience to be very helpful. Of course, not everybody has somebody that they can reliably get to play a crappy prototype of their game.

Word.
I have had to basically commit to high quality prototypes just so that MAYBE my friends will try the games out. I STILL have tourble getting them to try them, but it would be an absolute no-go if the protos were shoddy.

- Seth

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Thu, 01/13/2005 - 20:31
#11
Anonymous
Complete Prototype Ready- what's the next step?

sedjtroll wrote:
DrMayhem wrote:
While I agree a nice looking finished prototype would be nice. Some of us have extreme difficulty even making a prototype that has the entire game held within it. Personally I have found making a bare-bones prototype to play with my wife, and making adjustments to gameplay based on that experience to be very helpful. Of course, not everybody has somebody that they can reliably get to play a crappy prototype of their game.

Word.
I have had to basically commit to high quality prototypes just so that MAYBE my friends will try the games out. I STILL have tourble getting them to try them, but it would be an absolute no-go if the protos were shoddy.

- Seth

My protos are horrible. Everybody should get a gaming slave for proto testing. Not that I think of my wife as a slave, but I have one person I can pester until they will agree to play :)

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Thu, 01/13/2005 - 21:10
#12
d3nial
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Joined: 07/30/2008
Complete Prototype Ready- what's the next step?

I don't think my protos are "horrible" or "shoddy", although they aren't publication quality, so I don't feel like I'm inflicting them on anyone (see the links in the playtest forum).

d3

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