Homebrew strategy game

[Hart av Srednak]

Since last Erfworld revieled that the world is born duringn playtesting of fantasy strategy board game, I started to look a thread about Homebrew strategy games. It just got to my head that I might discuss my project also here (and homebrew forum is only for RPGs).

So talks about Erfworld side.

I'd like to know if there is any other ones doing crazy projects like I. Crazy projects meaning homebrew strategy games (computer or tabletop). If there are we can have a conversation.

I'm working with turn based fantasy strategy (but I think I'll put description of my project under spoilers)


I've been (lazy) working with my fantasy strategy game for past nine months (and its not out yet :smallwink: ). I know that it's a long term project.. so it's not going to be ready for some years now. Playtesting will begin at end of this year (that is if I have a good year).

I've gathered small team of friends that are going to aid me with this project. For now I need only couple of them as talking partners to brainstorm with and clear thoughts by saying them outloud. I've got quite a complex design witch I'm working to simplify. When I have reached first dergee of stable-idea then I'll start working with others who are interested.

When I got this idea, it was about turn based computer strategy.. but I abadoned it cause I thought I don't know enough people who could be interested in programming it. So I desided to make tabletop game. Then I started to talk about this idea and all of the sudden I had couple of my coding geek friends intetrested in it (ok they're not all that geeky).

So now we're (we being I at the moment) are making both: comp and tabletop game with the same idea are core-mechanism. We don't have any deadline.. but an urge to make something ready and good. That's why playtesting and correcting phase is going to be long one (atleast couple of years). This is to get very different alliances balanced and to get rid of all easy ways to win. Main benefit of making both is that by playtesting the first (board game will become playtestable first) we'll find things to correct to both. So when computer version is ready for playtesting it'll need less playtesting (atleast basic mechanics should be working and troops balanced).

So this is what I'm making and how I'm working with it. If this comes a living thread (w means there're more people with similiar projects) I'll tell more.

EDIT: this was written after erfworld episode 15.. when I submitted thread episode 16 had appeared

[tgva8889]

I look forward to your game system.

I had worked on one for fun, it was literally a piece of paper with guys, but it fell out of development a while ago. It was a fun game, so said all my friends who played it. It was very bad, though. Very, VERY bad. But it was an interesting idea.

Interestingly, I'm working out an idea for a game similar to the Fire Emblem series. I still have to, uh, create the game system, but as of now it's mostly an exercise of fun.

[McDeath]

Yeah, um...I kinda create the concepts for games for fun. Never actually made any of them. Beh. I would post them, but I've forgotten how to use spoiler tags. Refresh my memory?

[Hart av Srednak]

I came to check this thread and saw that someone is doing same stuff:smallsmile: nice


Yeah, um...I kinda create the concepts for games for fun. Never actually made any of them. Beh. I would post them, but I've forgotten how to use spoiler tags. Refresh my memory?

to McDeath: I would like to see your ideas .. you can make spoiler tags by using {SPOILER} in front of text and {/SPOILER} at the end of text that you want to place under spoilers. You must use [ instead of { and ] instead of }


Interestingly, I'm working out an idea for a game similar to the Fire Emblem series. I still have to, uh, create the game system, but as of now it's mostly an exercise of fun.

I spose your trying to make table top role playing strategy... or are you making computer game?

My game will be compination of kingdom building and war strategy... It will strongly emphasize armament of upcoming war. It will be two level game (one level for kingdom coordination and moving armies and another for witch wars are fought) also in table-top format. It's influenced by Warhammer and WH mighty empires, Settlers, HoMM and Civilization series.

[McDeath]

Well, I have been thinking for a long time about the idea of a massively multiplayer RTS. How would you make it work? Would you be able to attack people when they were offline? Would their bases disappear when they logged off? I thought it would work if you have a territory-based grand map like Medieval: Total War's, and when a player was offline their territories disappeared, but could be moved through.

Then I thought that it would be great to have a contiguous map - no edges, it jsut kept going. The borders between territories would be shown on the map, but could be marched over without loading time. If someone is logged off, their borders are sealed, and moving troops over them will just transport you to the other side of that territory - so you will always be able to launch attacks when you are online.

Each territory has several resource areas, and building mines or farms will add to your coffers. The only resources are provisions and gold - units are created in squads, and each squad requires X food, X wodd (for archers), X leather (for cavalry) and a little bit of gold every five minutes that you are logged on. You can trade with other players, of course, so if you have a glut of food you can trade for metal with someone who has a lot of archers and needs less metal but more food.

Territories also have one settlement slot, and you can build either a Town Hall or Tower on it. Various buildings can then be added to make either a trading town or a military base. Some buildings also add to your Research Points, which you can assign to various tech trees. Fully upgrading could take several years.

Watch this space.

[adanedhel9]

Immediate thoughts on McDeath's ideas:


What happens when someone is conquered entirely (beaten)? Can they just rejoin the game? Do they gain any benefits from their past play time? My thought is that they should rejoin the game in a different locale, but with a very similar total resources as they had before the defeat. This way you don't lose years of play time after one loss.

What happens when a player stops playing, even though they've never indicated that they would? Say there's an extremely successful player who builds a huge empire. One day, he just stops playing. Does his empire stay "sealed" for all eternity, or does it somehow become unsealed over time? I could see advantages and disadvantages either way.

[McDeath]

Response to ideas from adanedhel:
Good points. Perhaps over a certain timescale, various portions of your empire fade back in - the more your upgrade their defences, the longer they stay "phased out", and the harder they are to attack when phased in, of course. As to the final defeat, one of the better solutions would be to have you re-enter the game in a different place, but with an honour guard of powerful units and a lot of resources to start with, and you get an objective this time - to reconquer your former territory. This gives you a major reputation boost (more about that later).

An alternative would be to make your starting province unconquerable, but that just seems too...nice.
More Stuff:
Recruiting units is done in companies. At the start, you can have companies of four or three squads, but later on with research you can make smaller or larger companies, as well as vary the squad size. Anyway, you pick a unit and slot it into each squad and that squad is of that unit. Now, here's the fun part: you get to design your own units.

Research allows you to improve practically everything about your troops, but the more stuff you add to a unit the more it costs. If you add a heap of HP, the unit costs more food to create and maintain, higher armour requires a heap of iron, and so on. Abilities for your magical units would be researched as well, along several distinct trees. As you can see, there would be a lot of variation.

Each race would be different, and each province would contain one or rarely two races. Depending on your reputation, they might not like you and you may be forced to make them leave and bring in new settlers (weakening your other provinces, who lose workers). Anyone who's played Age of Wonders will understand the mechanic. If you recruit in a dwarven province, choosing anything except dwarves costs more (because they have to be imported).

I'm just getting started!