Having trouble scaling down board size

A few thoughts:

* Separate mini-boards:
Would splitting the grand board into separate mini-boards be possible? This depends on the kind of information that you're using the board to represent.

If the board is strictly literal - meaning that it's used to indicate locations of things and their relative positions - you may initially think that this is impossible. If so, take a moment. One possibility: You could have one board that represents macro scale locations and several micro-scale locations. There are other options, but... It would take a long time to get into all of it, and I don't know enough about the project to know that it'd be productive to get into it all here. At any rate, it'll be better if you figure out your own answers. I'm just trying to "prime the pump" as it were...

If the board is a tracker or other abstraction you have many alternate options – so many that I will not go in to detail here. Okay, actually I may, since that leads in to my next thought...

* Abstract / transform the information on the board:
Every prop (dice, cards, the board) in any game you design is a tangible means for you to model and represent the metaphysical structure of your game's universe. Dice aren't just dice; they're a powerful statement about the way chance and fate work in your game-world. Similarly, the board isn't just a board. It's making a powerful statement about the nature of the universe you're creating. I'd take some time to deconstruct the game and figure out what its metaphysical underpinnings are:

-- What does the board represent?
-- Are you overloading the board? Is it responsible for too many metaphysical modeling tasks in the game?
-- Is the board carrying responsibilities that other components (cards, a table of effects, the rules, dice, etc...) could handle better?
-- Can you transform information on the board into something different (cards, etc...) while maintaining or improving the metaphysical integrity of that part of your world-model?
-- Is there superfluous information (or modeling) on the board? Can you remove aspects of the board and still play the game? Can you remove aspects of the board and still model your game-world accurately?

Time to leave for work. I hope your game turns out the way you want it to.

Best regards,

Jonathan L.

It sounds like there's a lot of wasted space on your board. You have a big network of stations and lines which connect the stations. Your map of the London Underground is large because you are trying to keep it properly scaled, and you need long distances between some stations. But the spaces on the board where there is neither a line nor a station are (I presume) empty. (If not -- if there are shops or other useful things there, then I'm just wrong about this.)

To make your map smaller, you change the layout to minimize the wasted space. For example, suppose two stations are connected by a 15-segment line: instead of a straight (or fairly straight) path, push the stations closer together and make the connecting line a zig-zag. The zig-zag allows the line to keep its 15 segments, but makes it physically shorter and wider. This lets you compress your map into a smaller area by making better use of the currently-empty spaces.

Alternatively, just make the whole thing smaller, preserving the proportions as best you can. Instead of a long line with 15 segments, use a shorter line labeled "15". Now come up with a way to show how far a train on that line has progressed. Possibilities include stacking tokens (or unstacking them) to show distance traveled or remaining; using dice simply as number displays; making a little cardboard dial that can be rotated to show a number; and so on.

Your immediate objection will probably be that these methods reduce the fun by making the map less realistic; and that it makes it harder to see how far a train has really gone, and fiddlier to move the trains. And you're right, but you may be forced to choose between that and your ginormous board. (People complained bitterly about Railroad Tycoon's board, and that was only 45x36"!)

A third possibility, less effective in reducing space but preserving some of the desirable features of your current board, is to move the stations in ways that preserve their distance but distort their locations. If a line in real life extends for miles in a straight line from London out to the suburbs, have it zig-zag from station to station on your map (or curl in a spiral, or whatever works best). Think of the lines as sticks and the stations as flexible joints.

A fourth possibility (and the one that sounds best to me) is to scale down the number of segments. If lines currently range from one segment to fifteen or so, consider dividing every line's length by three. The longest line is now only five segments, and your map can be greatly reduced in size. You lose a little detail, but you keep the realistic layout and proportions of the map.

I just realized that the answer to this question may be academic.

If you're just making this for yourself, then you can make the board any darn size you like.

If you're making it with the hope of selling it, you've gotta reduce the size of the map/board. In that case, I agree strongly with everything that Rick-Holzgrafe said.

. . . I'm just wondering what kind of game this is? It would influence my answer, and probably some other people's. If the object is to just ride around on trains, a larger board would be okay, you probably don't have a big problem on your hands, and you just have to take some of the previous suggestions to scale it down a little.

If the object is to spend half the time on trains, the other half doing something else off the trains, I'd say you have a bigger problem. If the trains are just a small part of the game, then there's definitely a problem.

You can say your ideas. We aren't going to steal them.

Unless they're awesome.

Kidding.

:)

My suggestions are:
1. EASIEST SOLUTION: Limit your map to only Zone 1 and key parts of Zone 2. This will cover most points of interests and the areas people think of when they think, "London". If you want to add outer places like Wembley, Canary Wharf, Wimbledon, or Kew gardens abstract the distance and forget about the stops in between. Think in terms of points of destination rather than actual tube stops.

2. One of the tricks to using the tube system is to know when to use the tube and when NOT to use it! Best explained by this quote:
"As Bill Bryson pointed out in his book, Notes From a Small Island, an out-of-town visitor using Mr Beck's map to get from, say, Bank Station to Mansion House, would quite understandably board a Central Line train to Liverpool Street, transfer to the Circle Line and continue for another five stops to Mansion House. At which point they would emerge 200 yards down the street from the location they'd started at." (By the by Mr. Beck is considered the father of the London Tube Map. Very interesting history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tube_map and his original map here: http://britton.disted.camosun.bc.ca/beck_map.jpg Why not make the game using Beck's original map! It already looks like a game board!)

To conclude this point, maybe scale down the game in terms of area and add back some complexity in terms of having passengers decide when it is best to ride the tube, jump on a bus, or even walk! For this though you may need to use a geographic map of the tube rather than the diagrammatic one. (like this but only use it for central London: http://www.thoughtsonthings.com/images/tube_massive.gif)

3. Incorporate specific "missions" for players to help control the size of the board. So I could see that one player is a tourist and has an 8hr layover at Heathrow (and no you don't need to show the Piccadilly line going all the way out--just abstract it so that one move from Heathrow to zone 2 is X amount of time or action points.)

So a gent can travel around the city picking up tourist tokens at the British Museum, Camden Town, Tower Bridge, etc. and must return in time to make his flight. Another person might be a salesman who must make a certain number of appointments around the city in an 8hr period as well. Another is a messenger, etc, etc.

Well that's all I got for now. Hope some of this can help or at least get you thinking towards a solution.

Cheers