Morale bars added, advantage (finally) separated as a separate step, and buildings are coded (but untested). All that's left now is to add some building abilities and some minor polish to make things make sense to people other than me. After that it’s FINALLY time start some play testing. I expect it to go absolutely horribly, and I’ll tell you why:
The resource system in Praxis is kind of odd. We’re not in Solforge/Yugioh’s “every card is worth the same (1 play)” boat, but we’re not in MTG’s “cards are balanced by their cost” boat. That is, a card that costs 1R is not worth ½ as much as a card that costs 2R, because there’s no “buildup” to resources. If this is the case (which it is currently in my current balance, which I got to test out for a few games until I made all the changes outlined below), then it’s almost strictly better to always play 5R guys, because the deployment counter makes units surviving much more important. On the flip side, because of our draw mechanic, if 5R guys are only marginally better than a 2R guy, then I will likely quite often play my 2R (or TWO 2R’s) and play a tactic to make up the difference in power . So there’s a delicate balance to be struck, and I think that will take a lot of practice to nail. But it’s exciting nonetheless.
More info to come when more is done!
-J
Hey John, great to see your continued posts!
ReplyDeleteI was quite intrigued as to your resource management and how you are going to handle that in the game. I found it neat that you are considering a system in which resources don't build up. Could you elaborate a little more on that or point me to where you have it written, apologies if you already have!
I was curious about implementing this same sort of no buildup system for resources in my game so that each turn a player would have to make the most out of where they are utilizing their workers. This way something that was much more costly to build wouldn't just be held in the hand as resources stocked up through the game and then played basically as a freebie towards the end of the game.
I'm focusing on doing a hex based resource management and combat game rich with a created mythology and culture. It involves settling a kingdom through which you grow and prosper your empire. Cards will be held in hand as well as used as markers on the field. To put in context what I wrote above, something like a "Silo" would let you increase your grain storage rate, however it would also cost a substantial amount of stone and metals. I am thinking about using a system where resources don't build up so that a player that draws the "Silo" at the beginning of the game doesn't just hold onto it and wait for things to stock up and then splurge all their resources. This would require players to make strategic decisions as to where they would place their workers each round as well as what type of "Tree" would be best to follow in building new technologies.
As always, your concepts are sounding great and I like how simple and organic you can make it all sound. As you can see, it apparently takes me a small essay to explain myself!
Cheers,
Austin.