Monday, March 5, 2012
The Last Blog
The game was presented to multiple people as the finished product. I would have to say that although there were minor kinks that needed to be dealt with, the game was mostly a success. It was vastly different than the original idea that the group has presented, but it was much better. Many of the problems that arose when creating the game had been discussed and changed. The problem the still remained was balance of the power of the role cards. If there had been more time to work on it though, I am confident that a solution would have been incorporated.
The creation of the finished product took a lot of time and effort on everybody in the group. We all had contributed in some way to the product, utilizing our different skills and talents. As a group, I would have to say we were compatible, we all understood what was needed and was open to listen to the different ideas pitched. The finished product is a mixture of the different talents that the group demonstrated. Without everybody working hard, it would not have turned out as well as it did. The group's effort is clearly conveyed through the final product.
The finished product included lamented tree deck, a monster deck, a rule book, and what was supposed to have been a lamented role deck. There was some problems with RU Copy that we did not have time to deal with. The game was also presented in a treasure box, to complete the air of professionalism that the game needed.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Final Stages of Development
After our last play test we found many problems with our game. Some of the errors were due to prior changes we made which had caused new problems to occur. One of the major problems we discovered is that some of the cards did not match up with the role cards. This was because we changed the names of the roles but did not change the corresponding monster cards which targeted those roles. We fixed this error by changing the monster cards to match the role cards. Another major problem we discovered was there was a lack of monster cards which prevented the players from building their bridges. The monster cards were not destructive enough to stop people from finishing the game quickly with little strategy. We addressed this problem by adding more monster cards with the sole purpose of attacking level 1 and level 2 bridge pieces.
Once all of the monster cards, the role cards, and the wood cards were set we went into the process of finishing up the product. We constructed a rule book to hopefully address all of the possible questions players might have when playing the game. We then put the rulebook on glossy paper and stapled it together to get a finished rule book. We had trouble trying to get the cards aligned on documents so that it would print back and forth but after doing so we were able to get the cards printed out onto card stock. The last step in finishing up our project was obtaining a box to put the cards in. We needed the box to be related to our project so we decided upon a golden treasure chest in which the explorers would be seeking to get.
Thus, we concluded our project called "Bridges". Our final project includes 80 wood cards, 60 monster cards, 7 role cards, a Chest, and a rule book. The game can be played by up to 6 people and is a card game based on the idea of trying to build a bridge to escape the monsters with the gold you have discovered on a mysterious new island.
Once all of the monster cards, the role cards, and the wood cards were set we went into the process of finishing up the product. We constructed a rule book to hopefully address all of the possible questions players might have when playing the game. We then put the rulebook on glossy paper and stapled it together to get a finished rule book. We had trouble trying to get the cards aligned on documents so that it would print back and forth but after doing so we were able to get the cards printed out onto card stock. The last step in finishing up our project was obtaining a box to put the cards in. We needed the box to be related to our project so we decided upon a golden treasure chest in which the explorers would be seeking to get.
Thus, we concluded our project called "Bridges". Our final project includes 80 wood cards, 60 monster cards, 7 role cards, a Chest, and a rule book. The game can be played by up to 6 people and is a card game based on the idea of trying to build a bridge to escape the monsters with the gold you have discovered on a mysterious new island.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Prototype Development
On the fourth week of designing our game “Bridges”, we created our first prototype, and we were actually able to sit down and play the game and see how things fell in place. After playing the game a couple times, we were able to notice some holes in the game where it needed modification. Professor Parks even had a chance to play our games and gave us some feedback.
A visual modification we made was showing the wood planks on the card so players can actually visualize the amount of planks they have. This idea was brought up by professor parks. Another visual change we decided to do was to keep the original drawing for the roles and just scan it and color it on the computer. We also decided to change the template of the wood cards to the same template as the monster card. Another change that we made that would make it easier for the player was the actually name of the pieces. When cards in the wood deck are place into your personal deck, they are called wood pieces. When it goes into your hand, it is called a plank and when you build it, it is called a bridge piece. Some rule changes were also made. Whoever the engineer is, gets to go first but everyone can still build that turn just so the game can speed up a bit. Since the building process is enhanced, the amount of bridge pieces to build the bridge is increased from 10 to 15 pieces.
For the upcoming week, we are going to play test it a couple more times and actually let other groups play our games. With other groups playing our games, we can actually get more feedback so we can use them for further modifications.
-- Derek Chui
Sunday, February 12, 2012
The Process of Creation
The Process of Creation
This week some of the mechanics and structure of the game were discussed. During this process, we touched upon what could be improved, more ideas on how to make the game interesting, and some minor problems with the game so far. As we delved further into the details and rules of the game, more and more modifications were added.
The latest version of the game includes three decks; the role deck, the ogre deck, and the bridge pieces deck. The role deck contains various roles for the players, each specific role having a specific ability that can only be used when the player chooses that role. Some roles will affect every player, while others will not. For example, as the "Tree Cutter" everyone will be able to cut down some trees for wood, but the player who chose that role will have an additional advantage of being able to cut more than one piece of wood. While in the role of "Engineer", only the person who chose that role will be allowed to use its ability of constructing the bridge.
In the ogre deck, there will be a mix of cards that target specific roles, specific types of wood, and every player in the game. The ogre deck will just be filled with cards that bring disaster to the players, which adds anxiousness to the game. It will keep players on their toes and keep each round interesting. It is essentially the "world changer" in the game, as each time the game is played, the disaster happens in a different order. It also renews the game after every card played, as the player has to use various tactics in order to keep up with all the misfortunes played each turn. It does not prevent players coming up with strategies for the game, as there some strategies that aid in winning the game regardless of the ever changing problems that arise.
The bridge piece deck has numbers on the bottom, which helps keep track of which piece of the bridge the ogre is attacking. In order to win the game, the player must have assembled the pieces of entire bridge, as well as having constructed the bridge. The various roles help in the entire process of building the bridge, from getting the wood to make the planks, to putting the planks together to create the bridge.
The entire process of game creation was a learning processes in how much effort and planning actually goes into creating a game. Little details had to be worked out before proceeding, as those details could change the entire game. It was hard making sure that no player had an advantage over another, and to keep "the rich get richer" problem from occurring. As a team we worked out the kinks, and kept changing ideas for how to solve the problems. So far, we have a concept, a theme, and rules for the game. Obviously, nothing is in concrete, as we will continuously modify the game to keep up with new problems that we uncover.
This week some of the mechanics and structure of the game were discussed. During this process, we touched upon what could be improved, more ideas on how to make the game interesting, and some minor problems with the game so far. As we delved further into the details and rules of the game, more and more modifications were added.
The latest version of the game includes three decks; the role deck, the ogre deck, and the bridge pieces deck. The role deck contains various roles for the players, each specific role having a specific ability that can only be used when the player chooses that role. Some roles will affect every player, while others will not. For example, as the "Tree Cutter" everyone will be able to cut down some trees for wood, but the player who chose that role will have an additional advantage of being able to cut more than one piece of wood. While in the role of "Engineer", only the person who chose that role will be allowed to use its ability of constructing the bridge.
In the ogre deck, there will be a mix of cards that target specific roles, specific types of wood, and every player in the game. The ogre deck will just be filled with cards that bring disaster to the players, which adds anxiousness to the game. It will keep players on their toes and keep each round interesting. It is essentially the "world changer" in the game, as each time the game is played, the disaster happens in a different order. It also renews the game after every card played, as the player has to use various tactics in order to keep up with all the misfortunes played each turn. It does not prevent players coming up with strategies for the game, as there some strategies that aid in winning the game regardless of the ever changing problems that arise.
The bridge piece deck has numbers on the bottom, which helps keep track of which piece of the bridge the ogre is attacking. In order to win the game, the player must have assembled the pieces of entire bridge, as well as having constructed the bridge. The various roles help in the entire process of building the bridge, from getting the wood to make the planks, to putting the planks together to create the bridge.
The entire process of game creation was a learning processes in how much effort and planning actually goes into creating a game. Little details had to be worked out before proceeding, as those details could change the entire game. It was hard making sure that no player had an advantage over another, and to keep "the rich get richer" problem from occurring. As a team we worked out the kinks, and kept changing ideas for how to solve the problems. So far, we have a concept, a theme, and rules for the game. Obviously, nothing is in concrete, as we will continuously modify the game to keep up with new problems that we uncover.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Week 3 of our game design and we have already ade drastic changes to our game, we have decided to change up a lot of the game. We wanted to avoid having a board game oriented type of game so we removed having physical pieces. We added multiple roles you can be in the game and also we changed it from a collaborative game to be a more individual oriented game. Our group, I feel gets along very well and we all have various opinions which I think is very important because this way we have many ideas that come up to us and we can debate about which would work and which ideas we can dimiss. A very important deciding factor for the game was the cards that Jane made this week. She made preliminary cards with several roles and out of those roles it was clear which roles we should keep and which ones we should omit.
It helped us narrow down to the roles of having an Architect, Native American, Protector, Robber, Woodcutter and Carpenter. Also we found that an orge can only have so many actions he can do until it becomes repetitive and we also found that if we have more roles we can target those roles specifically as well. So instead of having an orge deck we changed it to have a monster deck with various monsters that include dragons, sea monsters and other things as well. This computer deck can not only affect the bridges that the player may make but it also affects some specific roles as well. They can either really damage the role cards and the players or some of them may even help them.
The new game is still called Bridges but the rules have slightly changed up, we still have a monster deck, role deck and a tree deck. But the new idea is that 4 players must be needed and everyone starts out with 2 tree cards face down infront of them and 2 cards in their hands. These tree cards have 2 sides, 1 side is a generic tree however on the other side of the tree there is a number that represents number of planks that it can produce and the quality of the planks. There are 5 qualities, rotten, oak, willow, mahogany, magicand they go in that order. The roles have specific jobs, such as only the wood cutter can draw from the tree deck, and the cards are then placed infront of you facedown. Only the carpenter can process the trees and you can hold them in your hands, on the architect can actually use the cards to build the bridge. the Native american can draw 2 cards from the monster pile and decide which monster to play and the protector can be protected from any monster attack. There are still some kinks in the game and some roles are stronger than others so we still fix them out. However the group is getting along great and we are able to make much better progress as well.
It helped us narrow down to the roles of having an Architect, Native American, Protector, Robber, Woodcutter and Carpenter. Also we found that an orge can only have so many actions he can do until it becomes repetitive and we also found that if we have more roles we can target those roles specifically as well. So instead of having an orge deck we changed it to have a monster deck with various monsters that include dragons, sea monsters and other things as well. This computer deck can not only affect the bridges that the player may make but it also affects some specific roles as well. They can either really damage the role cards and the players or some of them may even help them.
The new game is still called Bridges but the rules have slightly changed up, we still have a monster deck, role deck and a tree deck. But the new idea is that 4 players must be needed and everyone starts out with 2 tree cards face down infront of them and 2 cards in their hands. These tree cards have 2 sides, 1 side is a generic tree however on the other side of the tree there is a number that represents number of planks that it can produce and the quality of the planks. There are 5 qualities, rotten, oak, willow, mahogany, magicand they go in that order. The roles have specific jobs, such as only the wood cutter can draw from the tree deck, and the cards are then placed infront of you facedown. Only the carpenter can process the trees and you can hold them in your hands, on the architect can actually use the cards to build the bridge. the Native american can draw 2 cards from the monster pile and decide which monster to play and the protector can be protected from any monster attack. There are still some kinks in the game and some roles are stronger than others so we still fix them out. However the group is getting along great and we are able to make much better progress as well.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Creation of an Idea
You are an explorer traveling the world in search of the worlds finest riches. The greatest prize of them all sits just beyond a fragile bridge. However, lurking on the other side of the bridge is a ferocious Troll who will not let anyone pass. Using your great skills in diplomacy you are able to recruit the help of experts in the fields of distraction, construction, and exploration. With your team of navigators, engineers, and natives you attempt to trick the Troll and reach your destination before any other explorers claim the wealth.
Bridges is a strategic turn based card game requiring the use of different types of cards to advance across the bridge,to prevent other players from advancing or to protect yourself from an oncoming Troll attack. The players will be able to request help from various navigators, engineers and natives on the foreign island. The navigator is required to advance forward throughout the bridge. The engineer is involved in the construction and repairing of the collapsing bridge to help you reach the other side safely. Lastly, the natives will provide tools of distraction to protect you from the danger of the Troll.
The game mechanics require each player to take a recruit card at the beginning of every turn. They will choose between different navigators, engineers, and natives to provide the specific assistance they need at the moment. The players follow the directions written on the cards and plan their course of action. Then the player will flip a Troll card which will negatively affect the players chances of reaching the other side of the bridge. After a player has finished their turn phase the player on the right goes next and chooses from the remaining recruit cards. Once every player has gone all the recruit cards are placed back into a pile and the player on the right is the first to pick between the recruit cards. Once a player reaches the other side the game is over.
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