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Six Days - and counting!

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robinventa
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Joined: 12/31/1969

Six days left to e-mail Hippodice with my entry. As the moment of truth draws near I have a feeling that I’m wasting my time submitting my stuff to people who are probably looking for the next ‘Settler’s of Catan’ or ‘Puerto Rico’.

As you probably know, talking about the future for board games in an article online Wolfgang Kramer wrote - 'Social strategy games will have difficulty maintaining their special position. Nevertheless, they can succeed. What is required are new, innovative game ideas to bring players a unique playing experience. Authors and publishers must develop good new products that are able to attract new groups of buyers.'

I hope the people at Hippodice have read his words, and won’t be shocked to receive a ‘Gooey Louie’ variant :)

jwarrend
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Re: Six Days - and counting!

robinventa wrote:
Six days left to e-mail Hippodice with my entry. As the moment of truth draws near I have a feeling that I’m wasting my time submitting my stuff to people who are probably looking for the next ‘Settler’s of Catan’ or ‘Puerto Rico’.

Well, only one way to find out! And if you're willing to spend 5 hrs making cards, the time to fill out a Hippodice entry should be nothing!

Quote:

I hope the people at Hippodice have read his words, and won’t be shocked to receive a ‘Gooey Louie’ variant :)

Haven't heard of Gooey Louie, but I agree, it definitely sounds different from Puerto Rico! Good luck in the competition!

robinventa
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Six Days - and counting!

The point I was making is that I am submitting a burger and fries to a competition being judged by gourmets of French cuisine. As you say, there is only one way to find out whether they like the taste.

Like others you seem surprised that I could spend so much time making cards. In turn, I cannot understand that after spending a thousand hours perfecting a game design anybody can be surprised that I am prepared to spend a long afternoon making a near production quality prototype!

Thanks for the good wishes.

jwarrend
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Six Days - and counting!

robinventa wrote:

Like others you seem surprised that I could spend so much time making cards. In turn, I cannot understand that after spending a thousand hours perfecting a game design anybody can be surprised that I am prepared to spend a long afternoon making a near production quality prototype!

Ah...this is an important piece of information. As I think I said at one point, if you've got a game that's basically "done" and you don't anticipate more changes, than sure, spending some time making a higher quality prototype might make some sense. For an early-stage prototype, it makes almost no sense. We both were using the word "prototype", but obviously, we had different things in mind -- different stages in the process. For what it's worth, I suspect that your use of the word was probably more correct than my own. At any rate, I agree with you that 5 hours is a drop in the bucket for a 1,000 hour project. But have you really spent that much time on your game? Is it even possible to spend that much time working on a game? I guess if you're at it for quite a few years, maybe it adds up.

Anyway, again, good luck in the contest and please let us know how it goes! And that goes for everyone who enters Hippodice -- some of us (me!) would really like to hear more about the process from people who've entered. Thanks!

-Jeff

robinventa
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Six Days - and counting!

Jeff asked

Quote:
Is it even possible to spend that much time working on a game?

One of the games I’m submitting (I’m sending in two) has haunted me for more years of my life than I care to remember. I hoped, finally, to have the damn thing finished at the beginning of this year – but it has only recently fallen into place. I am of the “What if?” design school. I believe in endless circumspection. A thousand hours? And some, in all truth. Anybody less tenacious would have dumped the project permanently years ago. I put it away so many times – despairing that I would never find the game I knew was hiding in the box of bits.

But find the game I did – and the good people at Hippodice will hopefully want to see it.

I suspect I was not designing in the way that many do - playtesting endlessly to get the right balance, adding and taking away as required. A closer, if simplistic analogy would be that I had a checkers board and the pieces without knowing what to do with them. I had to rely on a gut feeling that I would “know it when I saw it”. In many ways I was just playing around waiting for something to happen.

The second game is the opposite. It is, in my opinion, a modern ‘classic’ that has been perfect from the moment of conception. I mean by that that no amount of circumspection, no amount of tinkering has been able to add to it or improve it one jot. The first idea really was the best.

Anyway, I have made my two .pdf files – the only attachments I will be sending. The images are pretty poor – but good enough I think. If it comes to sending the games to them I have near production quality prototypes ready. The only thing not sorted yet is what to wear at the winner’s presentation :)

Robin

zaiga
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Six Days - and counting!

robinventa wrote:
The only thing not sorted yet is what to wear at the winner’s presentation :)

Too bad for you that I'm entering too this year! :twisted:

And the competition hasn't even started yet! :wink:

-Rene Wiersma

phpbbadmin
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Ok ok

zaiga wrote:
robinventa wrote:
The only thing not sorted yet is what to wear at the winner’s presentation :)

Too bad for you that I'm entering too this year! :twisted:

And the competition hasn't even started yet! :wink:

-Rene Wiersma

Don't make me seperate you two.

LOL..

-Darke

robinventa
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Six Days - and counting!

Rene

I accept that in a fair and open competition your game has an equal chance. That is why I have had a word with the judges – and money has changed hands 8)

Robin

zaiga
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Six Days - and counting!

Damn those British and their sleazy, underhanded tactics! :evil:

-Rene Wiersma

FastLearner
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Six Days - and counting!

Y'all are welcome to the 2 through 6 slots -- I'll be sure to leave them open for you. ;)

robinventa
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Six Days - and counting!

Unfortunately FL, I’ve heard that the judges automatically disqualify any game with shiny cards :wink:

FastLearner
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Six Days - and counting!

That's ok, I've spent 6 hours carefully sanding them down so they're not shiny anymore. ;)

I am SO kidding!

robinventa
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Six Days - and counting!

Quote:
......I've spent 6 hours.....

Ouch! Those low blows really sting!

FastLearner
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Six Days - and counting!

My tiny type turned out smaller than I thought it would. Just in case it says "I am SO just kidding". All in fun, I promise. Trust me, I am every bit as "obsessive" about my prototypes as you appear to be. I've spent 9 hours hand-sawing little 1/4" wood cubes and sanding them down for my most recent prototype and consistently spend a ton of hours on such things. It was just a cheap shot. :)

robinventa
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Six Days - and counting!

Quote:
It was just a cheap shot.

FL - I thought it was a very clever repost, actually. My fault - I forgot my smiley, giving the reply a tone I did not intend.

-Robin

robinventa
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Six Days - and counting!

Quote:
clever repost

hehe...I emant 'riposte' of course.

FastLearner
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Six Days - and counting!

Now I can sleep. I am, of course, completely dissatisfied in almost every way with my entry but such is life. :)

Fly, baby, fly!

-- Matthew

(PS: yeah, that was singular... I didn't get enough playtesting in on the other game.)

Scurra
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Six Days - and counting!

Well, I submitted both of mine in the end, even though one hasn't had nearly enough testing (simply because it was a small enough game that it just felt right.) Now we have to see which of us gets drawn out of the hat to make it to the final list ;)

(I am, of course, not suggesting that that is the method they use for choosing, but if they get a couple of hundred entries, then I have no idea how else you can cut it down to 50 in a couple of weeks...)

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