Skip to Content
 

CyberBoard~ Tool for designing and playtesting

11 replies [Last post]
Tue, 10/05/2004 - 13:44
Anonymous

I have proved that the free CyberBoard /Play by email system can work well in designing a game. My final playtesting was done in two ways. 1. The designer playing the prototype with the playtesters and 2. The playtesters playing independantly and the designer monitoring remotely through a spectator file. It answered questions instantly and allowed unmolested play to proceed. A great tool.

I have a new project and am using this system much earlier than the previous design. Links: http://cyberboard.brainiac.com/index.html

Top
Tue, 10/05/2004 - 14:09
#1
phpbbadmin
Offline
Joined: 04/23/2013
Re: CyberBoard~ Tool for designing and playtesting

kyllroy wrote:
I have proved that the free CyberBoard /Play by email system can work well in designing a game. My final playtesting was done in two ways. 1. The designer playing the prototype with the playtesters and 2. The playtesters playing independantly and the designer monitoring remotely through a spectator file. It answered questions instantly and allowed unmolested play to proceed. A great tool.

I have a new project and am using this system much earlier than the previous design. Links: http://cyberboard.brainiac.com/index.html

Kyllroy,

Are you the programmer of Cyberboard? It looks very good. We're looking for a real time solution for our project though.. I.E. Client/Server with the ability for watchers and chatting. Also does Cyberboard support more than two players? Multiplayers is a must.

-Darke

Top
Tue, 10/05/2004 - 18:19
#2
Anonymous
CyberBoard~ Tool for designing and playtesting

No, not the programmer. I just used it for what it does best: make your favorite board games come to life on the computer. It has a map making and playing piece design program built in. We played it by email and used a moderator to allow 7 others to play a very large game.

Instead of a bulky paper prototype, you can design in CB and send it to players for blind-testing.... the true test of a good game.

Top
Wed, 10/06/2004 - 08:28
#3
Anonymous
Re: CyberBoard~ Tool for designing and playtesting

Darkehorse wrote:
We're looking for a real time solution for our project though.. I.E. Client/Server with the ability for watchers and chatting.

Cyberboard is pure PBEM...there is no realtime component to it (as far as I know). VASSAL, from what I understand, is more "online" than CB, but I have no idea how easy it is to create custom game sets with it, having absolutely zero experience with it.

Darkehorse wrote:
Also does Cyberboard support more than two players? Multiplayers is a must.

I am >60% sure than CB supports >2 players. If there are no secret components (hidden cards, etc.), then I am 100% sure that CB supports >2 players. It's just whether it can handle secret items owned by more than 2 players that I'm not gun-to-the-head sure of (although, there is an ownership attribute, which may come into play regarding items hidden from other players).

Can anyone else out there with more experience than me chime in?

Top
Wed, 10/06/2004 - 14:28
#4
Anonymous
Ownership issues/Testing

I have found that using ownership limits card viewing or counter peeking, but cannot prevent cheating if a player goes through a duplicate file method. For this reason, a utility such as an online chat in realtime is necessary for face to face type games and can be done easily with ICQ or any of the messenger systems. :idea:

Best use of this system in a design function are the tools when making changes and improvements. An age ago, a playtest kit had to be produced, and duplicated, sent to playtesters and if problems existed, it rendered the set obsolete. In CyberBoard or Vassel (I am nearly ignorant of it's features), the set can be altered and copies sent in very much less time. Hours instead of days to make changes, get results and test further.

Top
Thu, 10/07/2004 - 08:00
#5
Anonymous
Re: Ownership issues/Testing

kyllroy wrote:
I have found that using ownership limits card viewing or counter peeking, but cannot prevent cheating if a player goes through a duplicate file method. For this reason, a utility such as an online chat in realtime is necessary

Or playtesters who are trustworthy enough not to cheat! ;)

Top
Thu, 10/07/2004 - 13:31
#6
Anonymous
playtesters

Mike, I have found no playtester willing to cheat. For most it is an effort to play a prototype with not so well rounded features that they must help point out and fix.

It's like taking your car in to a mechanic and worrying that he is under there yanking wires out or something. Feel lucky that you can find someone knowledgable enough to help and bored enough to actually spend time on your pet project.

Most are on a quest to break the game and make you look dumb anyway. :roll:

Top
Thu, 10/07/2004 - 14:33
#7
Anonymous
Re: playtesters

kyllroy wrote:
Most are on a quest to break the game and make you look dumb anyway. :roll:

I want my playtesters to try to break the game. If they can, a publisher can, and therefore won't publish. Fill as many of the holes in playtesting so it'll be rock-solid when it goes to a publisher.

Top
Fri, 10/08/2004 - 15:21
#8
Anonymous
Break the game please!

Mike, I'm with you. Still, there are game mechanics that make a system work and still seem contrived, or fabricated and if the process does not smooth things through so that the gamers can simply proceed with play, something is wrong.

We were amusing ourselves last night on the Consimworld Live Chat that there are still a couple of rulesets that are over 150 pages long! How could you not make errors?

Top
Sun, 10/10/2004 - 19:54
#9
Anonymous
CyberBoard~ Tool for designing and playtesting

openrpg.com

Top
Wed, 01/19/2005 - 23:34
#10
Anonymous
CyberBoard~ Tool for designing and playtesting

I've designed a couple of card games I'd like to get prototyped for real-time online play. PBEM doesn't work. Any realtime alternatives available. Even commercial ones are fine.

Top
Tue, 02/22/2005 - 15:18
#11
Anonymous
CyberBoard~ Tool for designing and playtesting

DigiLusionist wrote:
I've designed a couple of card games I'd like to get prototyped for real-time online play. PBEM doesn't work. Any realtime alternatives available. Even commercial ones are fine.

Hi there, my name is Michael Gilbert, and my company produces realtime online games. We offer other features such as text chat, private chat, voice chat, and watching others play. Drop me a line to dicuss this further mercsoft@comcast.net

Top
Syndicate content


forum | by Dr. Radut