Game Update
I continue to work on the combat particle effects and just like last week I’m getting a lot done now that we made the pipeline simpler for testing. The newest edition to the spells is a wind storm that only hits the center three rows. I posted a picture of it on my twitter after it was done.
I started with one storm column and placed it in the center. That was OK, but I needed more coverage and at best it looked like it covered the center square. I added a front and a back storm which also looked pretty good. Then I thought what if I rotate around the center? So I found a rotate script that we had already written and implemented that. I kept iterating and eventually I ended up with 6 wind effects rotating around their centers in different directions and speed while showing good coverage over the center column. It was nice to feel like I had really expanded on what I had started out with to make something a little more unique.
I finished up the storms and on my game development night with Chris we worked on an issue where AOEs weren’t spawning on both the player and the enemy groups. After 45 minutes of plodding along looking at three different scripts and setting down a couple of debug statements the issue was in the initial coding. We had a conditional statement in which both conditions were being triggered properly but we were pointing to the same center point no matter which one we chose. So all that had to be done was to change a one to a two and that fixed the problem.
Personal Update
I’ve been getting more and more interested in board games lately as I settle in some more at home. I watched reviews for the board game Root and Nemesis a while back and I found that they started to come to mind more and more. I decided to see if I could pick them up at my local game store here in town. It turns out that everything I was looking for was sold out and I was unable to even order it later. I was specifically interested in Root as it has an Asymmetric Design that I haven’t seen in other games. I also watched some Let’s Plays on the YouTube channel Quackelope and it really seems like they have fallen in love with Root.
They didn’t have what I wanted but I did purchase the new Aliens game. I remember the Aliens 2 movie and the miniatures were pretty nice so it was an easy decision. I also picked up the big box for “Carcasonne” as I hardly see it available and we have played it often in the past. My girlfriend scolded me of course, but she was supportive overall and excited to see the miniatures for Aliens. She said something about them being cute.
Luckily Root is available digitally so I got it on my phone. Wow, this game has a ton of depth and just the right amount of complexity. I even think I could introduce people to it after they have played some easier games like “Ticket to Ride” or “Settlers of Catan.” I wouldn’t put the complexity past what “Agricola” does but it feels like it has more choices. It’s just a great fit of a game for me.
Game Development Insight
Being introduced to Root this week has opened me up a bit more to Asymmetric Design. Although I’m pretty new to it, I find it to be intriguing. The interesting thing is to play a game in which each player is playing a much different game but they are all using the same playing field. A good example of this in Root is how there are factions at war with lots of troops and economies, but then you could forgo all of that to be a hero character in which case the game will feel more like an RPG in which the other players are almost like NPCs.
I don’t know if I could make something quite like this. In the game I’m working on no matter what the basic game stays the same. You are building an army to run stages and complete the game. I can change some outcomes or allow you some agency with player choice but it’s not like I can implement an entirely new system to layer on top of the game in which you can win by forgoing the core mechanics that I’ve already built.
That said even in Root it has a couple of core mechanics that I notice are mostly the same no matter which faction the player chooses. From what I can tell those core mechanics are combat, crafting items, using cards to match suits for some purpose, and scoring points to finish the game. Beyond that everyone has different and unique ways of completing those tasks which makes for some amazing interactions. I would recommend this game to anyone that wants to try something fresh in the war game genre.
There are a lot of rules in the game, and if you manage to get the board game version it’s likely you will make mistakes. For that reason I think that it works best if you get the digital version on Steam or your mobile device. It’s also a lot cheaper than the full board game. It’s a great way to try it out first before you take the plunge. As for me I’m really hooked on it now.