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Investigation (part 2) - Maze grid

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Sun, 12/14/2008 - 07:11
larienna
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To follow the spirit of an trail investigation, I came up with the concept of a maze grid. I made some pictures so that it is easier to understand. Don't think about how the components works right now, just look at the mechanic. Look first at this picture:

http://ariel.bdeb.qc.ca/~ericp/tempbgdf/NSMazegrid1.png

You have a 5x5 grid, it could be more or less, with tiles locked on the grid. Each square on the grid represent a location on the map( it could be fliped down tiles). Around the board, each side is dedicated to a villain and each side square is matched to a clue card to be revealed.

The investigation starts with an event. When an event occurs, a tile is placed face up and it points to another location. Probably event will spawn more arrows on the location. On the picture below, I have removed 2 locked location, so that is is easier to display, and spawned an event.

http://ariel.bdeb.qc.ca/~ericp/tempbgdf/NSMazegrid2.png

As you can see, something happened at the library. This event can make the investigation follow to the casino or post office. Now players need to go to the library first. They place a pawn on the maze grid. Then once the library is investigated they can go to any of the other location.

For example, let say the investigator goes to the casino. The after the investigation, the casino point to the newspaper, which is beside a clue card. So when the investigator will reach the newspaper, it will reveal the clue. Here is the status of the board:

http://ariel.bdeb.qc.ca/~ericp/tempbgdf/NSMazegrid3.png

On the board, there are locations which are locked. These locations cannot be investigated unless unlocked. Probably player actions or event cards will unlock these areas in order to pursue the investigation. Another variant could be hard locations. Here is an example:

http://ariel.bdeb.qc.ca/~ericp/tempbgdf/NSMazegrid4.png

It seems that the post office gave clues to follow the investigation but there was not enough clue to pursue since it's harder. So you need 2 areas that point into the square to be able to investigate it. I am not sure yet if players would have to follow both trail in order to solve it.

How can that happen? Other events through the game will spawn new investigation start point which would allow multiple trails to lead to the same destination. If an event spawn on an already investigated area, it will add new arrows. Here is a picture:

http://ariel.bdeb.qc.ca/~ericp/tempbgdf/NSMazegrid5.png

As you can see, something happened at the market which could make the investigation follow to the museum or the hard location. SInce there is 2 arrows pointing on the hard location, you can uncover it. Or if you have a pawn on the market and post office, you can uncover the hard location.

Any comments?
Does it makes sense?
Does in seem interesting?

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Sun, 12/14/2008 - 12:21
#1
coco
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Joined: 07/27/2008
It sounds interesting, but I

It sounds interesting, but I cannot see the images.

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Mon, 12/15/2008 - 11:19
#2
larienna
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Images Wtf!

OK, I am now at work (which mean on a different computer), I tried with firefox 3 and internet explorer 6 and it works.

You only need to click on the link to access the pictures. So I don't know why people often have problems seeing stuff I link.

Anyways, you can always look at images labled "testing" in the side pannel. They are not all there but the 2 first ones are there. I was trying to see if I could not embeed them in the message, but it seems I could only attatch 1 image per message.

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Mon, 12/15/2008 - 11:25
#3
coco
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larienna wrote:OK, I am now

larienna wrote:
OK, I am now at work (which mean on a different computer), I tried with firefox 3 and internet explorer 6 and it works.

Hmmm. Firefox 3 here and it doesn't work.

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Mon, 12/15/2008 - 11:48
#4
kungfugeek
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Joined: 09/10/2008
Looks fine to me

I'm on Firefox 3 on Windows XP.

I think this is an interesting idea. Will there be a mechanic to rotate the tiles to get them to point in other directions?

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Mon, 12/15/2008 - 12:01
#5
ilta
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pictures

not working for me either. I wonder if it's a canada/us thing? I'm on Firefox 3, Vista, in New York city.

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Mon, 12/15/2008 - 12:05
#6
kungfugeek
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I am in...

Rochester, MN. Not quite Canada but close enough, aye? :-)

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Mon, 12/15/2008 - 12:08
#7
awakener76
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Joined: 10/07/2008
pictures

Not a canada/us thing, can't access it from uk either in Firefox 3. And for completeness also tested in IE6, IE7, Chrome, Opera and Safari without luck.

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Mon, 12/15/2008 - 14:18
#8
larienna
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WTF! again

Can you at least see the picture listed in the side bar as "testing 1" and "testing 2"

Quote:
Not a canada/us thing, can't access it from uk either in Firefox 3. And for completeness also tested in IE6, IE7, Chrome, Opera and Safari without luck.

Ok, that is really weird

Maybe the problem is the file format, I saved them as PNG. But since both my browser can open PNG, don't see why your's won't decode them. Still, I think I had this kind of problem with other file formats.

test: If it does not work for you, go to this page and try to open any of the 2 pdf files at the bottom of the page (forget the content, just open the file)

http://ariel.minilab.bdeb.qc.ca/~ericp/cgi-bin/boardgame/index.php?n=Var...

Tell me if it works or fail. The point in common is that the images and these files are on the same server. So it might be a server limit/restriction.

Quote:
Not a canada/us thing

But maybe a "canada/other country" thing. So my question: is there somebody outside the canadian network which can see the images?

It's important for me to know because I want to rebuild my websites soon.

-----------------------------

I like the idea of rotating tiles, but I am not sure what could make this occur. Maybe some changes in the villain's behavior

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Mon, 12/15/2008 - 14:27
#9
awakener76
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Server Permission?

Tried that link and got the same thing, network timeout, so it looks like the server is refusing connections for some reason maybe

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Mon, 12/15/2008 - 16:07
#10
Darkehorse
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Images

FYI - They All worked for me.

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Mon, 12/15/2008 - 19:33
#11
Gogolski
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Time out problem

I can't load the pictures either. (FF3 on win XP)
Firefox says that the site takes too long to respond.

The idea looks promising, but I don't get it completely. The testing pictures on bgdf explain it more or less though. (The other pictures would help, I think)
Maybe I need more info on the events or player actions that trigger a starting place or that reveal a second clue.

Will this mechanic be used with scenarios or certain setups? (it looks like trails could die easily, especially if you need more than one clue to investigate a location?)

Certainly interesting!

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Tue, 12/16/2008 - 10:11
#12
larienna
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Contacted the admin

I contacted the admin of my server and waiting for the answer.

I will post the images tonight as bgdf images.

I have another variant for this mechanic that I can also show. It consist that each side of a square has a letter corresponding to the clue needed to cross to the next tile.

I'll allso post another thread, maybe during the day, about another way of seeing the investigation system.

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Tue, 12/16/2008 - 21:57
#13
larienna
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The images are on bgdf

The images are now on BGDF, here are the links:

http://www.bgdf.com/node/723
http://www.bgdf.com/node/724
http://www.bgdf.com/node/725
http://www.bgdf.com/node/726
http://www.bgdf.com/node/727

Thank you. A variant will follow soon.

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