Friday, December 10, 2010

Final Project: Tactical Advantage Board Game

Objective
Strategically out-think your opponents by capturing outposts and bases while using the terrain to gain the upper hand as you eliminate your enemies in combat.




Game Pieces
• Board Base – holds the four Base Tiles and the twelve Terrain Tiles.
• 4 Base Tiles – these are placed into the base slots on the corners of the Board Base.
• 12 Terrain Tiles – these are placed in the provided slots on the Board Base. (See “Setup”.)
• 40 Soldier Pawns - 10 of each color
• 20 Tank Pawns - 5 of each color
• 8 Missile Battery Pawns - 2 of each color
• 4 Yellow Outpost Markers – Non-moving pieces. One is placed on each outpost space.

Setup
• Each player decides chooses a color (red, black, green, or blue) and collects all pawns of that color and as well as the corresponding Base Tile.
• Each player randomly chooses three Terrain Tiles and places them in the order of their choosing in the three Terrain Slots bordering their respective Base Tile.
Place all four the Outpost Pawn pieces on the Outpost positions provided on the board. *NOTE: See the Board Layout chart below for more information

Game Play
• Players each roll one six-sided die to determine who goes first. Highest roller wins and play proceeds clockwise.
• At the beginning of a player’s turn, that player may place up to a total of up to three Pawns on any eligible spawn point(s) for the following locations:
 The Player’s Home Base, as long as the player still controls it
 Any other Home Base the spawning player controls
 Any Outpost controlled by the spawning player
• During their turn, each player gets three “Actions”. An Action consists of a movement, an attack, or a combination of both. (For Example: Moving a Tank two spaces and then attacking with it is considered a single Action.)
*NOTE: See the Player Info and Movement and Attacking charts below for more information

Movement
• The player must determine the Pawn’s movement range from its current position using the Pawn Attributes and Terrain Attributes tables below.
• Pawns may move forwards, backwards, left and right. However, Pawns may NOT move diagonally! (See “Movement and Attacking”)
• When crossing from one terrain to another, movement modifiers are always calculated from the terrain the Pawn started on.
• Multiple Pawns cannot occupy the same space or “jump over” each other.
• Pawns must move around Outposts.
• Pawns and can only stop on an Outpost or Base if it is unoccupied.
• While the player does not have to attack during an action, any attack does signal the end of the current action.
• Missile Batteries may not move and attack on the same action.

Combat

Combat is initiated when a player, during their turn, has a Pawn within range of an enemy Pawn and proclaims an attack (See the Terrain Attributes Table for terrain attack modifiers.)
• Pawns may attack another Pawn, Outpost, or Base that is within range in any direction. (Pawns CAN attack diagonally. See “Movement and Attacking”)
• Pawns may not attack from a spawn space but they can be attacked. (If a Pawn is attacked while on a Spawn Space the defending player should roll the standard Combat Roll for that Pawn Type.)
• Missile Batteries may not move and attack on the same action. Nor can they attack targets that are less than two spaces away. They can however, defend attacks again these close range attacks.

Battle Sequence

1. The attacking player announces which enemy Pawn he/she is attacking and then rolls the specified Combat Role for his/her attacking Pawn’s Type.
2. The defending player rolls the specified Combat Role for their Pawn’s Type. (Pawns defending from an Outpost or Base always roll two, six-sided dice for defense. See “Outposts”.)
3. The attacker only wins if their roll is higher than the defender’s. A tie, or less, always goes to the defender.
4. If the attacker wins, the defender’s Pawn is permanently removed from game play. Otherwise, the attacker’s current action is over and play continues. (*Note: Attacking Pawns that lose in combat are not removed from the game board and are free to be used on the player’s next action.)

Outposts

An Outpost is a strategic location that, when occupied by a player, may be used to spawn said player’s Pawns on the board.
• There are four Outposts on the game board, one at each of the four intersections of four terrains located at equal distances between each of the Home Bases. (See “Board Layout” below)
• The four spaces an Outpost sits at the intersection of are considered one space.
• Only a Soldier Pawn can occupy an Outpost (or Base). This is done by moving a soldier pawn on the space and replacing the Outpost Pawn with Soldier Pawn.
• An occupied Outpost always has a defense roll of two six-sided dice and an attack roll of one six-sided die.
• If an Outpost is occupied, the occupying player can spawn available Pawns at the beginning of their turn in any open space bordering the occupied Outpost. (See “Board Layout” below). The spawned Pawns CAN be moved during that turn.
• If a Soldier Pawn is defeated while occupying an Outpost, the soldier pawn is removed and the Outpost Pawn is put back in its place to signify that it is unoccupied.

Bases

• The Base from which a player starts is that player’s Home Base. It is where the player spawns his or her Pawns at the beginning of the game.
• A home Base must be occupied in order to defend it. However, it does not have to be occupied by its home color to spawn from it. (Like Outposts, bases can only be occupied by Soldier Pawns).
• If a base is taken over by another player, that player must leave a Soldier Pawn on the Base for it to remain their control and use its spawn points.
• If a player’s Home Base is occupied by another player, they can no longer spawn from it. (See “Board Layout” below).

Winning and Losing the game

Players are eliminated from the game in when they have no more Pawns on the Game Board and have no way to spawn more. When only one player is left, that player is the winner. (In the event the game takes too long to come to a “natural conclusion”, players should total up all of their remaining Pawns as well as all controlled Outposts and Bases using the Asset Value Table below. The player with the highest point total wins.


Sunday, December 5, 2010

Board Game Feedback

The following feedback was received about my group's board game:

Pros

  • Rules were easy to understand

  • Game picks up when players can attack each other

  • Movement of pieces is good

  • Sturdy pieces

  • Cons

  • Rules are lengthy, and need to be condensed

  • Picture examples of terrain types are needed

  • The phrase "Line of Sight" needs to be explained in the rules; specifically related to adjacent spaces

  • Confusion over what was meant by "terrain tiles"

  • To address this feedback, we are shortening and clarifying the game rules; we are adding pictures to the game board of the different terrain types along with explanations of how they affect gameplay; and finally we will be using pictographic examples of game pieces movement and attack ranges to address the "Line of Sight" issue.

    Friday, December 3, 2010

    Chapter Seven Book Work

    Question: "What Load and Save system would I implement in my game and why? Also, how would I balance immersion with player control?"

    I'm imagining a snowboarding game where the opening screen is the player sitting in his or her car in the parking lot of their "Home Ski Resort". From there, the player can load and save games, change gear, drive to other mountains, or head up to the "Resort Area".

    Once the player enters the "Resort Area" they can view a "resort map" to help figure out where the shops, ski lifts, and events (challenges) are.

    Gear shops sell snowboard gear and apparel shops sell snowboard apparel to players, who earn money completing challenges and jobs around the mountain. Additionaly, players can load and save the game from within the shop.

    The Ski Lifts take the player to the tops of different slopes where they can shred down the hill or head over to any nearby competition, skill challenge or job, where, a player can earn money. Once the player has enough money, they can afford to travel to other mountains, where they will find new slopes, new shops, and new challenges (that's IF they haven't spent all their money on boards and jackets already).

    Player will also have something called "Shredder Rep", a reputation system based on three factors:

  • Talent: This is based on how the player does in competitions and skill challenges. It affects who might be interested in sponsoring the player.


  • Experience: Based on how many mountains, slopes, competitions, challenges, and jobs the player has completed. This affects what jobs the player will be offered. For example, players with too few skill challenges accomplished are less likely be asked by the resort to give private snowboarding lessons to wealthy VIPs.


  • Cred: Based on how many jobs and competitions the player has done well at. This affects the player's ability to get higher paying jobs and bigger name sponsorships.