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cyclotron7
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Drowning in Schnitzel
Jan 2001
time: 21:35
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After a great deal of work, and thanks primarily to our website administrators Ramses and Pyromancier, the Candle'Bre team is proud to announce the launch of our new website.
On the site you'll be able to find news about the project, updated as the game develops, as well as our newest screenshots, contact information, and the entrance to our forums.
I'm the current news editor of sorts, and I'll be posting game news as it comes out. Feel free to discuss the current news or other game issues here or on our own forums.
We at Velocigames appreciate all the support we have gotten from the Apolyton community since the beginning of the project, and we hope to recover from our recent setbacks with your help to finish the project we have spent so much time on and have had so much fun doing. If you have any questions about the new website, etc., I'll take them here; otherwise, I encourage you to pay us a visit and take a look around.
The Courts of Candle'Bre
http://www.pyromaniaks.net/candlebre/
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ApolytonGuest
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Is it possible for Vel to do what Firaxis did when they were developing games? They would release periodic installments of "Designer Diaries" that would talk about what's going through the mind of the person designing the game. For instance, you could see what Sid was thinking when he was trying to make the Dinosaurs game. I think Brian Reynolds wrote the diaries for SMAC.
Basically, each diary installment would focus on a different element of the game and walk the reader through the thoughts, choices and decisions being made. Lay out the options and the reasons why the designer choose a particular option.
These diaries produce a steady stream of updating information of a work in progress. It allows us to kind of see what the decision being made are -- to let us see the perspective of the game designers. These regular spurts of information keep up interest in the game, and develops rapport with the gaming community and audience. It's understood that the information is on a work in progress and that things can change. (For instance, Sid eventually decided to cancel the Dinosaurs project).
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ApolytonGuest
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If you do decide to do Designer Diaries -- you're certainly a proficient writer, Vel -- I could come up with some topical suggestions of what some fans might want to see explored.
1) Fate cards. How powerful should they be? One time effects vs. effects that last several turns. The decision to make some cards user implementable instead of instantly implemented -- thus putting the decision of whether to use a card or not in the hands of the user. This provides a degree of control vs. randomness. What should be the proportion of "good" vs. "bad" effects cards? Would more bad effect cards increase the ominous factor? Would more good cards give the user more options in game play? Should the proportion of good vs. bad cards be determined partly by difficulty level? How so? The proportion of "powerful" vs. more mediocre cards. How best to maximize the aspect of user choice and control -- making the game full of interesting choices on using cards. How to decide whether a card should be included in the game or removed. When is it considered "broken"? Over powered or underpowered? How random should they be?
2) The various victory options. How to perfectly balance them so that all options are feasible and competitively interesting and/or mutually exclusive. How to make the gameplay change entirely based on pursuit of different victory options.
3) The rationale behind the infamy/fame system. How to balance Pariah vs. the super noble. How Pariah/super noble/neutral creates a three point scale. Advantages disadvantages of being either of the three. How fame/infamy affects other game systems. Why these particular affects? To make it thematic? To make it harder to achieve increasing fame/infamy? To change the game play mechanics? What are the particular affects being chosen? Why? How strong should the affect on other gameplay systems be?
4) Investing in hero units vs. massing non-hero units. Is there a better path to victory? Are both choices equally wise investments? Are there trade-offs in game play where one approach would give a stronger opening game while another a better end-game position? Are both strategies necessary to win or can you concentrate on one? Why was this choice made in designing the game? How is this system of heros influenced by other systems like fame/infamy? What if the player wanted to skimp on troops and focus on magic or espionage? Are there rock-paper-scissor counters to each unit type? Are mixed forces necessary to winning? Would someone who invested heavily in one type of unit and/or tech upgrades be able to overcome mixed forces? How strong should the advantage of combined arms be? Can this combined arms advantage be overcome by a player willing to make other sacrifices and use other strategies like investing heavily in magic?
5) Resources. What type of resources are in the game -- gold/wood/stone/fame/influence points with the church, etc? Why these resources? What resources were considered but discarded as extraneous? Or too complex to implement? Or redundant and creating too much micromanagement? How do the resources affect each other? How are the other systems influenced by resources? Or some resources like fame points more valuable than gold? What about the ultimate resource -- time? Game time/turns vs. player's playing time and micromanagement investment.
6) The decision to go with a tactical vs. strategic focus on the battles. Real time vs. turn based. Was it a game play decision? An ease/complexity of implementation decision? Thematic decision? What is the rationale behind rejecting one format for another?
7) The magical system. Why the different schools? Difficulties in balancing them? What's been added or removed recently? How do the schools interact with each other? Do they? To what degree does synergy exist? Was it intentional to have more synergistic effects between schools or was the synergy deliberately reduced? Why? Was the Council of Seven too powerful due to synergies? Too weak without them?
I'm sure I can come up with more interesting topics for Designer Diaries if you're really interested in doing them, Vel 
Last edited by ApolytonGuest on 11-05-2004 at 11:28
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09-04-2004 03:33
. Just a shame that you don't tease us with new stuff much, but well, I'm very glad to see progress!
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