THINGS YOU LEARN ON YOUTUBE

It is a very interesting concept and I had to check if it is any good for "THE PIT" :)

2019 APRIL

Choosing your teachers

I am a huge fan of Rym & Scott and I watched almost all Youtube Videos on Rym DeCoster's Channel. They make totally awesome content and they are very experienced in presenting it. If you want to know about Game Design and mechanics and want to be entertained at the same time look no further.

They have a video about games with a rondel as game mechanics and in the talk they argue that the mechanics are super interesting and there are not enough games that use a rondel.

The mechanics are actually super easy to integrate into my game: The rondel shows different bonuses. The player may place one (and in the further course of the game several) coins on the rondel and move on, turn by turn, to get the bonuses. This means the player has to plan a few turns in advance what he wants to achieve and adjust the coin on the rondel to support his strategy.

SPACE IS ALWAYS A PROBLEM

The problem is that there is not much space on my field. So I just put my rondel on stilts so that you can still place cards under the rondel.

In the first game tests, the rondel hasn't proved itself yet, but maybe it will come back in later versions. At the moment I'm struggling to reduce the complexity of the game a bit and do some "streamlining".

For building the rondelI invested only one day, for testing several days. I made some changes to it and tried many different versions. I learned a lot and it has a lot of potential to become a part of the game. However, a rondel is a very dominant technique and I'm not sure yet if I want to build the game on it. I have left the possibility open and built many mechanics around it to be able to insert it like a module sometime.

IT sure looks Fancy

...but I am not sure if it holds up.

THIS IS A CHALLENGE

There are 54 different locations in the game so far. Of those 54, 10 or 12 will be used each game. So you will almost never play with the same locations again.

The function of the location is written on the card. But if the card is on the board, the text will be hidden under various humans, monsters and coins.

That has to be solved in a convenient way for the players.

Playtesting the new setup. A new hurdle.

Now that all the cards and small parts are under control, the testing will again be the focus. What I noticed: If the locations are occupied with humans, nobody can read what is written on them.

Sadface.

And of course you can't remember whats on them either. Therefore I have to find a user interface design solution. I think I already have an idea, but it costs a lot of time...

Well! I'll get to work on that soon! At the moment it still works quite ok.

TRYING TO TAKE MY MIND OFF THE CHALLENGES

To loosen up I made some quick sketches with Photoshop. Game testing is a very exhausting thing and you absolutely need something to do afterwards to let your subconscious work on your problems.

The subconscious mind is very good at sorting things out and after a day or two you usually find the solution to the problem you encountered during game design.

I AM NOT A VERY GOOD PAINTER

But I am starting to understand the basics of light and color. Painting is always good when you need to get rid of your thoughts, make the mind empty and just let your subconsciousness work on things.

It is always there, solving problems for you if you just manage to shut up your inner voice.