Exit Stage Right

So my laptop display has been messed up all day. I have small gridlines across the right half of my screen. At least I think they're gridlines, they might be vertical or horizontal instead. The color is screwed up a bit, but is mostly unnoticeable. Since I don't want to risk a long down time getting it fixed, I'll wait until it's really broken (or when I have time). If I can make it through this month on this display, I should be good to go. It'll really suck when I lose the laptop half way through our SGP game.

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We have an SGP deadline this Saturday. All of our tools (editors, engines, etc) must be complete, and the game must be demonstrable (as per documentation). Well ... our document doesn't say it will be demonstrable, but I don't think we have a choice. Basically, everything we've worked on has to somehow be incorporated into this one demo. Being the menu guy, I have to figure out how all this crap relates to the demo and try to organize it.

Since I don't know everything about what my teammates are doing or what they plan to do for the demo, I'm pretty lost here. And the other guys don't really want to think about how it all comes together, as long as each has their individual work done. So ... I guess I'll just be bs'ing the menus and hope they come out right.

We have SGP tomorrow, so I'll actually get time to stab these guys. But I'd really like to have my menus done today so I can work on integrating their work tomorrow. But no, we're only integrating on Friday because no one has their work fully complete. And I don't know what the teacher is really expecting of this demo. I don't think it will be all that exciting.

We weren't scheduled to have Rules of the Game on Friday, but Dave has stolen our day. Since he didn't make it the first lecture (locked out of his car) and he's had our class go to "important" gatherings (program advisory board, final project demos, etc.), he hasn't really given us lectures. Over the seven days, I'd say we might have had two lectures. So, Dave's holding us hostage Friday 1pm-5pm. My team was going to be working together that entire day, but it looks like it'll be cut short. So I'm really hoping these guys will be finished with their parts by Friday morning. That way, we can just integrate it all Friday after class. I'm disappointed that we can't integrate any sooner, but whatever.

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For your viewing pleasure, I'll add my board game I "created" for Rules of the Game.

Escape Velocity Nova

The Board Game

Story:

If you are not familiar with the computer game, I recommend you try it. It is a science fiction adventure. The player starts as a freelance captain of a small ship. The player only has a few choices in missions to start with: delivering supplies or ferrying passengers. The star field only has a few planets listed at first, but expands as the player travels through space. As the game progresses, the player can afford new ships and ship upgrades.

Some of the missions offered lead to storylines. A few of these unlock new ships; others influence the entire game play. For example, one mission I took revealed I had psychic powers, but the government had found out first. They put restraints on me and limited my actions. Though I was severely limited in what I could buy, my psychic powers unlocked some of the fastest ships in the game. I made millions of credits (the currency), but I did not have anywhere to spend it. Of course, had I not been playing the trial version, the storyline eventually would have led to my freedom.

The planets have marketplaces that sell and buy certain items. Each planet has certain surpluses or needs. Thus, a planet may always be in need of medical supplies. Another planet may always have a surplus of the medical supplies. The specific prices are randomly generated upon landing on a planet. Therefore, a “very low” price is not constant; it has a small deviation from the average “very low” price.

In addition, planets have a chance to spawn a random event. These random events may be as simple as a rock band escort, or as complex as the psychic storyline. Upon successful completion, these events may allow access to special ships or upgrades.

The game is not without combat. Most ships have weapons, shields, thrusters, and cargo holds. The thrusters allow for better maneuverability and longer jumps. The weapons may be lasers, ion cannons, or rockets, each doing different amounts of damage. Lasers have an infinite ammo capacity since they pull negligible amounts of energy from the engines. The rockets have an ammunition stock, which is limited by the space on the ship. The ion cannons do not do damage, but they deteriorate the victim’s shields and will eventually incapacitate the victim’s engines. The shields merely vary in strength.

The players start the game working for a small delivery company. The company has access to universal maps, but they have not discovered what goods each planet has. As the players jump between planets, the company’s database expands. The players are competing to be the richest space captain out there, whether it is delivery boy or space pirate.

Game Type:

This is a nonlinear board game. Players are allowed to move back and forth across the board, jumping from planet to planet. The goal of the game is to be the first player to 10 million credits.

Parts:

The star field board is the map where all the planets and characters are laid out. The planet cards are in a deck and denote what planet is at a given spot on the map. The back of the planet cards have the name of the planet. That way each planet’s location is known, but its details are not. The planet cards also give a brief description about its market, events, missions, and shipyards. The event cards are in a deck and allow the players special missions. The event cards give a brief description of the mission and its rewards. The mission cards are in a deck and give the players generic missions. The ships are in a deck of cards; each card gives a brief detail about the ship’s weapons, shields, thrusters, and cargo capacity. The upgrades are also in a deck of cards; each card giving a brief description of its effect. The game also comes with eight pewter player pieces, a pair of percentile die, and a pad of paper.

Turn Logic:

After the game has been set up with the planets dealt facedown onto the map and Earth dealt face up in the center, all players are dealt one basic ship and five thousand credits. A player may enter the cantina, enter the scrap yards, or jump to another planet. The jump can only be performed once per turn, and the cantina can only provide the stated amount of missions once per turn. The scrap yard may be entered any number of times, but it will always have the same amount of ships and upgrades in stock. Likewise, the market can be entered any number of times. The first time a player enters a market on his turn, he rolls the percentile die. This die roll affects his market experience by either increasing market prices or lowering market prices. Upon landing on a planet, if it has not been revealed, it is now flipped face up. Regardless of whether it is revealed, the player also rolls a percentile die to see if any events happen. The event chance is listed on the planet card. If an event occurs, the player flips over the top card of the event deck. If it is a mission, the card will say whether the player may ignore the mission or if the player is forced to complete it.

So to start, Player 1 may read off how many missions are available on Earth (3) and flip over three mission cards. The player may then choose any of those missions he desires. Player 1 may enter the cantina again to pick up any of the other missions, but when he lifts off (or at the end of his turn, whichever is sooner), any forsaken missions will then go into the mission discard pile. Player 1 may then jump to another planet (the maximum distance is listed on the ship) or stay in port. If the player jumps to another planet, that planet is then placed face up, revealing its details. In this case, Player 1 would not be able to visit the cantina because he did so before the jump. However, he can visit the scrap yard. Player 2, instead, decides to jump first, and then check out the cantina. He may move any number of planets away according to his ship. Upon landing, (if he has not followed Player 1) will then reveal the planet and roll the event chance. He rolls an event and flips over the event card. Perhaps this card says, “Market Overflow: Half Prices!” When Player 2 enters the market, he first rolls the die for average deviation. He gets “+10%”. So the +10% is applied to the market prices first and then the -50% is applied. He then visits the cantina and chooses one of the three (according to planet) flipped cards. He visits the scrap yard, neglecting to buy any parts. He then returns to the cantina to pick up the second of the three missions. He ends his turn, and the last mission card is then discarded.

Combat is initiated as an event. When the player rolls his event chance, there is a good chance other vehicles will be present. There is a chance that some of those vehicles will be space pirates. The player may attempt to outgun them, outrun them, or sit and take it. The rulebook has a chart describing how quickly a ship’s thrusters can get it into port, and how many rounds of combat will take place. There are also charts describing the effectiveness of shields against certain weapons. If the player’s ship is destroyed, they cannot take any actions their next turn while the ship is being repaired. The player also loses 10% of his credits for the repairs. If the ship is disabled, the player loses 50% of his cargo. If the player disables the pirate ship, he may loot up to 50% of the pirate’s cargo (which is then rolled randomly on a table). If the player does not fight back against the pirates, they will automatically disable the ship.

Play continues in such manner until a player has 10 million credits. The pad of paper is for the players to mark how many tons of any given goods they are carrying. Thus, they may scratch down, “5 tons of Medical Supplies, 1 Food Crate”. With the larger cargo holds of bigger ships, the player may have quite a few markings on their paper.

Why it is Fun:

There is an aspect of strategy and economy involved. Players buy low and sell high. Players also have to decide if a ship upgrade is worth their money, or if they should save it for something else. Players may play cooperatively to accomplish goals. If Player 1 and Player 2 wanted to team up, Player 1 could delay his turn and then join Player 2’s turn. Because of the way it is set up, players cannot attack each other.