Skip to Content
 

Tabletop Game Creator's Warehouse

9 replies [Last post]
AdamRobinGames-ARG
Offline
Joined: 02/11/2015

Hey all,

I am looking to develop a board game database for designers (and aspiring designers, like me) to organize their game ideas, rules, components, feedback, iterations, contacts, etc. This is part of a Senior Design Project at Miami University. I would like some preliminary input for anyone willing to put up with a long post.

The Questions:
A. Is there anyone on here who would be interested in an app specifically designed for tabletop game development (mainly prototyping)?
B. Other than Component Studio by Game Crafter, what other game design apps or programs do you know of? (Not looking for card design only programs, I know there are a few of those available.)
C. Below is an outline listing the features I am looking to incorporate. Is there any feedback on these features? Ideas for additional features?
D. Would anyone be interested in testing the app throughout the design process? (Note: Being a senior design project, a quick turnaround on feedback would be needed to keep within their semester. This is the first time I have been involved in a project of this type, so there will be a learning curve.)

Ultimately, I would like this to become a way to share a prototype game design by exporting a single file to anyone else who has the program to aid in sharing and play testing.

Thanks
Adam

Tabletop Game Creator’s Warehouse Application:

1. Welcome Screen
1.1. New Game Design (Opens a blank Game Dashboard in the General Information)
1.2. Existing Game Design (Opens Dashboard for an existing game)
1.3. New Iteration of Existing Game (Creates a copy of an existing game and archives a “snapshot” of the existing game)
1.4. Libraries (Opens the Libraries Dashboard)
1.5. Play Test (Opens the Play Testing Dashboard)
2. Game Dashboard
2.1. General Information
2.1.1. Title
2.1.2. Description
2.1.3. Iteration
2.2. Elements
2.2.1. Rules (Have some standard layouts to choose from. Text boxes on standard print sizes. Text boxes can be adjusted to meet )
2.2.1.1. Name
2.2.1.2. Tagline
2.2.1.3. Introduction
2.2.1.4. Age Range
2.2.1.5. Number of Players
2.2.1.6. Play Time
2.2.1.7. Rules Version (game iteration)
2.2.1.8. Objective
2.2.1.9. Contents
2.2.1.10. Setup/Assembly
2.2.1.11. Game Play
2.2.1.12. Special Conditions
2.2.1.13. Win Condition(s)
2.2.1.14. Definitions/Clarifications
2.2.1.15. Variants
2.2.1.16. Strategy Tips
2.2.1.17. Credits
2.2.1.18. Citations
2.2.1.19. Insert Art
2.2.1.20. Insert Text Box
2.2.2. Cards (A table for each card type that lists the fields as column headers and each row is a new card. Default fields will be size, art and text. Additional fields can be added as needed. Have a sample card to view and drag around fields.)
2.2.2.1. New
2.2.2.2. New From Existing
2.2.2.3. List of Card Designs
2.2.2.4. Add Field
2.2.3. Boards (This will be large play areas where multiple arts, text boxes and simple geometric grids/shapes can be loaded and moved around.)
2.2.3.1. New
2.2.3.2. New From Existing
2.2.3.3. List of Board Designs
2.2.3.4. Add Field
2.2.4. Chits/Tiles/Punch-outs (This will be a board that can have images laid over punch templates or create custom punches.)
2.2.4.1. New
2.2.4.2. New From Existing
2.2.4.3. List of Punch-out Designs
2.2.4.4. Add Field
2.2.5. Dice
2.2.5.1. New Standard DX (This is for standard dice. List D2, D4, D6, D8, D10(0-9), D10(1-10), D10(%), D12, D16, D20, D24, D30 and D60 with a quantity box next to it.)
2.2.5.2. New Custom DX (This is for custom print dice. List D2, D4, D6, D8, D10, D12, D16, D20, D24, D30 and D60 with a quantity box next to it. When a die is selected, it opens a table for custom image or text. It would be nice to have an unfolded version of the dice to view the faces/orientation.)
2.2.6. Money (Coin/Cash table for art and denominations)
2.2.6.1. New Coin (Plastic, metal or wood. A table to provide custom user denominations and an image of each side for each denomination.)
2.2.6.2. New Cash (Paper. A table to provide custom user denominations and an image of each side for each denomination.)
2.2.7. Pieces (Pawns/Tokens/Gems/Meeples/etc. This one we’ll need to discuss as it includes several bits in several colors.)
2.2.8. Dials/Spinners (To be discussed.)
2.2.9. Clips/Stands (To be discussed.)
2.2.10. Score Pads (To be discussed)
2.2.11. Box (Enter retail, game, tuck or hook. Dimensions of standard ones should be included, and custom dimensions
3. Library Dashboard (This is where people can build libraries of resources/components to use in multiple games)
3.1. Contacts (Allow sync with common emails)
3.2. Links (Game resources, GameCrafter, BGDF, boardgamegeek, etc.)
3.3. Elements
3.3.1. Rules
3.3.2. Cards
3.3.3. Boards
3.3.4. Chits/Tiles/Punchouts
3.3.5. Dice (Polyhedral)
3.3.6. Money (Coin/Cash)
3.3.7. Pieces (Pawns/Tokens/Gems/Meeples/etc.)
3.3.8. Dials/Spinners
3.3.9. Clips/Stands
3.3.10. Score Pads
3.3.11. Box
3.3.12. Art
3.4. Forms
3.4.1. Play Test Questions
3.4.2. Form Templates
3.4.3. Play Test Result Templates
3.5. Import Library
3.6. Export Library
4. Play Test Dashboard
4.1. New Form (Opens a blank Form to be populated with play test data and/or player questions)
4.2. Open Form (Opens an existing Form)
4.2.1. Forms
4.2.1.1. Likes/Dislikes
4.2.1.2. Ratings (Art, mechanics, length, etc.)
4.2.2. Testing Notes
4.2.2.1. Event location
4.2.2.2. Attendees
4.2.2.3. Captive/Free (specifically getting together to play test this game or open environment with this being a game option)
4.2.3. Results
4.2.3.1. Player data (personal data can be omitted)
4.2.3.2. Results of each game
4.2.3.2.1. Game length
4.2.3.2.2. Winner(s)
4.2.3.2.3. Victory Condition
4.3. Analyze Results (Show tables illustrating key aspects such as play time, distribution of group size, results of game play, results of questions, etc.)
4.4. Import Results (Import data from an online form such as Google Forms)
4.5. Export Form (Export a form to an online system like Google Forms)
4.6. Fill Out Form (Open a form where results can be entered and saved locally or the form printed)

wob
Offline
Joined: 06/09/2017
wow thats a lot of

wow thats a lot of features.
tabletopia and tabletop simulator are the most popular digital prototyping systems out there but i dont think they have the databases you are offering.

Jay103
Jay103's picture
Offline
Joined: 01/23/2018
I scrolled right down

I scrolled right down to

Quote:
2.2.4. Chits/Tiles/Punch-outs (This will be a board that can have images laid over punch templates or create custom punches.)

How exactly does THAT work? You're actually going to incorporate features from real design software, like Illustrator/Inkscape? And output it as, what, SVG? With a separate layer for the cut lines?

Seems unnecessary, since there's software that does this.

AdamRobinGames-ARG
Offline
Joined: 02/11/2015
I think I may have stated something wrong

This won't be a game physics engine with moveable pieces. This is merely a tool to organize and share game ideas without having to grab multiple files. Basically export and send. There will be iteration tracking to try different versions of the same game. It'll have an added function to print to pdf for print and play. I am also putting in a spot for tracking play tests that the creator can use to collect statistics. A stretch goal is to have a form for people to pull up online to share how they felt about the game.

Stuff like the 2.2.4 was just a description for the design team to understand functionality. It'll just be an excel style table that you can upload images and insert text to generate multiple components. The cut lines and stuff will need added in an external image editing program.

Hope this clarifies.

Thanks for the input,
Adam

Jay103
Jay103's picture
Offline
Joined: 01/23/2018
AdamRobinGames-ARG wrote:This

AdamRobinGames-ARG wrote:
This won't be a game physics engine with moveable pieces. This is merely a tool to organize and share game ideas without having to grab multiple files. Basically export and send. There will be iteration tracking to try different versions of the same game. It'll have an added function to print to pdf for print and play. I am also putting in a spot for tracking play tests that the creator can use to collect statistics. A stretch goal is to have a form for people to pull up online to share how they felt about the game.

Stuff like the 2.2.4 was just a description for the design team to understand functionality. It'll just be an excel style table that you can upload images and insert text to generate multiple components. The cut lines and stuff will need added in an external image editing program.

Hope this clarifies.

Thanks for the input,
Adam

Well, I could certainly see using something like this.. except..

What I'd most want it for is tracking my art assets. Second most would be for having a clear list of my components.

Component list I can pretty much track myself in a spreadsheet that looks like the list a manufacture requires. They all seem to have used pretty much the same basic excel layout, which is (going across):

PART NO.
GAME COMPONENTS
DIMENSION
PRINTING PROCESS
MATERIAL / CONSTRUCTION
FINISH / COATING
QTY of Each Set
REMARKS

You'd want to export that format, I suspect. I took those fields right out of Ningbo Lijia's spreadsheet.

Having my art assets organized would be awesome, though. There are a lot. There are different versions/iterations of each thing. For example, I have a map tile that I got from an artist. I have the original TIFF file from him, plus the PSD source. Then I modified the PSD and generated a PDF from that, which is what's going to the printer.

Organizing THAT would be great. I have 12 tiles like that. Double-sided.

And then I have other art assets, such as a character that exists in the forms: PNG sketch, PNG colored, PNG final, PSD, and PNG reduced for use on the website. I've got.. well, dozens of those sets.

My campaign book is made up of 10 Word docs and 10 map images, which I used to build a single Scribus document, that generated a final PDF. I also may have different versions to track and store. My rule book started as one Word doc and a bunch of art assets, then a Scribus doc, and a final PDF. Again multiple versions over time.

---

If your goal is a tool for people with a dozen designs in their head to keep track of how many players each one has and stuff like that, well, that's a different thing I guess.. but that tool also doesn't need stuff to store art assets, like section 2.2.4 or section 3 do.

I think you may have two separate tools specified, with two separate audiences.

larienna
larienna's picture
Offline
Joined: 07/28/2008
I am not really sure what you

I am not really sure what you want to achieve, but from what I understand, everything you propose can be done by creating directories on your hard drive and following file naming conventions.

There is no need to have a software to handle that.

Jay103
Jay103's picture
Offline
Joined: 01/23/2018
larienna wrote:I am not

larienna wrote:
I am not really sure what you want to achieve, but from what I understand, everything you propose can be done by creating directories on your hard drive and following file naming conventions.

There is no need to have a software to handle that.


If you're talking to me, yeah, that's what I do :)

AdamRobinGames-ARG
Offline
Joined: 02/11/2015
Thanks Jay

Jay103 wrote:
What I'd most want it for is tracking my art assets. Second most would be for having a clear list of my components.

This would be what the library section is for. Reference the library as your building games. When you export, the library information would be included for the components.

Jay103 wrote:
Component list I can pretty much track myself in a spreadsheet that looks like the list a manufacture requires. They all seem to have used pretty much the same basic excel layout, which is (going across):

PART NO.
GAME COMPONENTS
DIMENSION
PRINTING PROCESS
MATERIAL / CONSTRUCTION
FINISH / COATING
QTY of Each Set
REMARKS

That's the feedback I'm looking for. Thank you, very helpful.

Jay103 wrote:
If your goal is a tool for people with a dozen designs in their head to keep track of how many players each one has and stuff like that, well, that's a different thing I guess.. but that tool also doesn't need stuff to store art assets, like section 2.2.4 or section 3 do.

There are 3 separate parts to this. The Libraries are to help house, organize, track iterations, etc. of your images, components, contacts etc. The Game Dashboard allows you to build out the components of your game so that a simple export will provide someone with all the elements to Print and Play or Scrounge around (for meeples, dice, etc.) and Play. The Play Test Part is a place to house data collected from play testing. You could use it for any 1 of these parts. Each part builds on the previous part.

Jay103 wrote:
I think you may have two separate tools specified, with two separate audiences.

Probably, but I want to have something that tracks all the meta data through the entire prototyping process.

larienna
larienna's picture
Offline
Joined: 07/28/2008
Again I think everything you

Again I think everything you listed can be accomplished using directories and file/dir naming conventions. I don't need a specialised software to do that.

I could even keep a directory structure template and copy it when I create a new idea in order to simplify the directory creation process.

I could even git the project if I really wanted to, but I think that would be an overkill.

Jay103
Jay103's picture
Offline
Joined: 01/23/2018
Git only if you really really

Git only if you really really needed versioning, rather than a very broad set of files in a good directory tree.

Syndicate content


forum | by Dr. Radut