Hello all, I have been silent for a long time but I am back and ready to go now. Actually most of you probably don't know me - I've been a lurker for a while now. Anyway, I was looking to see if you guys had any feedback on my most recent idea. I would be completely willing to post my full write-up as of now. If you find it interesting enough, I'd "donate" the idea to the community, I am okay with that - I just want to see this come to fruition : )
I was wondering if the bits alone could make a game. What I mean by this is that dice represent units (like diceland I guess, I must research that more). One each face of the die for a certain unit would be the die face number and some stats. For now I am assuming that this will be a space combat game - but this is completely irellevent. Each side of the die would represent the individual unit at a certain damage level. For example, some ships may be damaged faster than others so if you have a 20 sided die ship (quite a ship!), its armaments might be hurt before its engines are. The different sides would allow for a paperless damage/status record for the ship. Since these battles would be on a large scale, many details past shields needn't be micromanaged.
My goal here is to build a game imbedded in the bits instead of the board and reams of paper. Instead of having a board, I was considering using a ruler or other measurement device rather than hexes. However, I would prefer to avoid rulers - any input on this would be welcomed.
I have a basic combat system implemented as well.
"Combat: Attacking player and defending player note the status of, and then roll, their respective ships. The attacking unit must roll higher than the defending one for combat to continue. The difference between the two rolls is called the ATTACK ROLL. If the ATTACK ROLL is higher than the defending unit's SHIELDS, than subtract the shields from the attack roll. The defending ship then subtracts that number from it's noted status (from before it was rolled for combat) and turns to the new side."
*"Status" = the number that the die is on*
*"Shields" = level of shields for the ships status side*
I know this sounds a bit obfuscated, but I have worked it out and it seems to be functional. Unfortunately, much of the game has yet to be completed, so I have not yet ben able to test these rules.
Also, it may seem as if combat is too random, but a clause could be added to read "the minimum attack roll for a ship is 1/10 its sides"
Well, there is alot more to this than I have written here, but it is becoming late and I am afraid this idea will be cut to shreds, so I'm going to test the waters with this primer and see how it turns out ; ) .
Thanks alot guys, this is a wonderful place to learn
- Silverdragon0
Hello Silverdragon.
First off, I think just about any idea using dice for a game is cool. A number of years ago I started playing around with an idea sort of like yours but I included a large board. I recently just saw a post under the topic "dice rolling" in the Game Design forum which gave in good detail the rules of play for a game called Star Strife (don't remember the authors name). You can find it listed on Cheap Game(?). I'm not sure if that is the actual name of the site for the game.
Anyways...Let me be sure to make one thing clear; I didn't know a game like Star Strife existed when I started messing around with my game idea using dice as "star fighters". It goes to show that there is obvisiously something quite cool about dice as starships and war! :)
Another reason for mentioning these things to you is that you can look some of these things up yourself and see any simularities with your design and that of others. I really do wonder how many people actually think of this very similar premise using dice? :)
Also, don't give up on your idea. Just because its a similar premise, your game mechanics ccould be quite different. Plus, you could always consider adding new elements to the design. Besides...its good practice for thinking over new ways to make things interesting or better. At least, that's the way I see it.
As far as what you posted for a glimpse of a combat system...I'm not quite picturing it yet. Maybe with a little more detail on your gameplay I can get a better sense of your direction.
Have Fun!
-Vexx