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Zombie Mall Progress

10.30.2012

It's been nigh on 3 months since I mentioned anything about the board game I was attempting to work on. I've been making progress, although it's one of those 1 step back for every 2 steps forward that I take. Better that than the other way around.

Since working on the map graphic I last posted, I focused more on my first (and maybe second) pass at the rules. I noticed this is one of those things where the map feeds the rules, then the rules feed some other aspect, and then that returns and feeds the map. Frustratingly circular since you don't know where to start sometimes. So I took a few steps back and thought about how to approach this to where I could actually make some progress. That's where the rules came in, along with a 6"x6" section of map.

I had my first pass of the rules, so I took them and simulated a short game that I could use as a tutorial walk-thru on a smaller section of the map. None of this was printed out, I was copying and pasting graphics in Paint Shop Pro. It was oddly fun, and along the way I found lots of things that needed tweaking in order to clarify, and that was with me: the person who knew how all of this was supposed to work since I was the one making up all of the rules.

After a week of that I needed a break. I was at the point where everything was running together and I didn't know what really needed to be done, what made sense, and what didn't make sense. This brought me to Loot Cards. These would be the cards the player draws throughout the game in order to get the items needed to finish the game, but thrown in would be hindrances and helpful items. I knew I needed cards, but I had no idea what would really go on them. So I set about thinking about that part.

Time marches on. I start a spreadsheet where I split the Loot Cards into types, and then more specifics as to what will be helpful and what would be detrimental. Instead of just trying to make up stuff, I keep a little formula plugged in for a percentage of helpful items and a percentage of non-helpful items. Play balance is important! After a while I get a good mix of items, about 30 spread across the 3 types I've made up, and it comes time to design the graphics and layout the card. Since this is just for beta-playtesting I'm not making cool, original graphics. I've decided to just steal stuff off the internet, but I still want something that will appeal to my eventual play testers. From here I spend a little time looking at card designs, such as Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games.

I've gotten to the point where I've put off making card layouts that everything has stalled. Then I luck out when I see a message board post. Artscow.com will let you print custom cards (front and back) for $11 per 54 card deck. I knew this already, and had been planning to use them since custom making your own cards can be a real pain. The important part was they were running a special through the end of October for 25% off you order, plus free shipping. Now I had a deadline! A deadline that was 2 weeks away at the time.

I finally got invigorated and started putting designs together. My spreadsheet had all the the stats I needed to keep track of, so that would steer my layout as far as content. I surfed around for images to steal for a couple of days, and surprisingly ended up picking a lot of pictures of people dressed as zombies - zombie walks seem to be pretty popular. I'm suddenly focused more on the "zombie" than the "mall".

Over this past weekend I my goal was to get the graphics together and place my order. I decided I would make 108 cards (2 of the 54 card decks), since that would give me a little variety for my game. I went to those 30 items I originally made stats for, then expanded them a bit and decided what I would duplicate - the players are going to want more than 1 chance to find a gun, after all. I made the first card, then started the second. Then I went back and changed a couple of things and started over. Amazingly enough, I think I stuck with the layout after that first change.

It took a little longer than the weekend, but Monday night I was uploading graphics and placing my order!

Once my order was placed I ended up saving more than I was paying. At first I thought it was funny I was rushing for this deadline to save 25% off $11, which over 2 decks would be roughly $5, but I forgot about the free shipping. These cards are actually being made in Hong Kong, and the cheapest shipping option was $17. After $22 in savings, my order was $16.49 and should arrive sometime in the next 3 weeks, if I read their email correctly.

Today I went back and looked over the rules again, to see what needed tweaking along with real changes since I've actually gotten the Loot Cards done (or play testing done, at least - there will be changes later). Except for a little change on combat and updating some graphics, I didn't have to change much. I guess things really did make sense 2 months ago when I was re-hashing all of this.

My next step is to make the map, that part that I started on when all of this began. Jerry asked when the game was going to be ready for us to test out, and I told him it would depend on getting the map made. At the time I set a deadline of our Christmas break from work (which for me usually starts mid-December). My spreadsheet of card descriptions also has a layout for the map, so I know sizes and how many stores I need to populate my map. Originally I was opting for a modular map, where each store could be placed wherever you wanted. But for testing, I'm going with a static, 40"x30" map. No need to get fancy for testing at this point. It'll still a visually pleasing map, just not dynamic from test game to test game - and that might be a plus.

If I do things right and get a [mental] assembly line method going like I ended up doing with the cards, I think I can get everything on the map put together in a couple of weeks. Thanksgiving is my secret goal to have everything together. It's a secret in case I don't make it.

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Favorites Reading List

10.23.2012

I've been reading more over the past couple of months. That was one of my goals after cancelling the cable TV. This morning on my way in to work I started thinking about how slow I normally read and how few books I've read multiple times. "Hmmm, I wonder what my favorite books are? I bet the easiest way to figure that out is by which ones I've read more than once." From there, I started making my list of favorite reads based on what I've read multiple times, and what I would like to read again.

• Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein (1959). The first book I actually remember reading more than once, introduced to me by Jer at some point in high school. Since then, I've had multiple copies (I tend to force people to read this book if they haven't) and ended up joining the Science Fiction Book Club so I could get a hardback edition. Although most people think of the 1997 movie, the movie has little resemblance to the book beyond the surface. The movie even has 3 sequels and a CGI-animated series that most people don't know about. The book, though, is where I first discovered my love of a "boot camp" story. The underlying theme of patriotism is also one that appeals to me since it isn't as blatant as I would have though. I still read this book every 5 years or so.
• Forever War by Joe Haldeman (1974). Another book I enjoy re-reading, and the 2nd book I wanted in hardback when I joined the Science Fiction Book Club. The first chapter is a favorite short story in many sci-fi collections, and it was this chapter appearing in another book (I think Armor) that convinced me to read the original source. Although it contains a good dose of space opera, I find the depth of character development and relationships to be what brings me back to this book over and over. The sequels to this book (Forever Peace, Forever Free) didn't hold me as well, unfortunately.
• Killerbowl by Gary K. Wolf (1975). Another Jer provided book. The story is basically a football version of Rollerball. It's not the most original story, and to be honest it moves a little slow, but I originally read it at a time when I would mentally convert the story into a role-playing/board-game and I would actually get inside the story. I still do that on subsequent readings. For the hardback edition of this book, I went to half.com and purchased an edition from a library in Washington.
• Battlefield Earth by L Ron Hubbard (1982). I'm not sure when I got sucked into L Ron Hubbard's sci-fi, but in the early 90's I was reading a lot of it. I've read this 1000+ page behemoth twice, which at my reading speed takes around a month. The movie version had to skip too much story to fit into 2 hours, so a lot of people look poorly at the book to begin with. I enjoy the story and character development of Jonnie Goodboy Tyler, which is what keeps this book on my favorites list. It's been a long while since I last read this book, so I'm not sure how long it will stay on my list - I get a feeling over time the story that goes along with the characters I enjoy may not hold up well.

These other books are waiting to see if they make it on my favorites list. Time plus an additional reading, and I enjoyed the books enough to warrant another reading at some point, will tell if they make it. So in no particular order:

• Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson (1999). My first Neal Stephenson read outside of the cyberpunk genre. The way this story flipped between WWII and near-future was well handled and kept me intrigued. A lot of the details of the story have faded in the almost 15 years since I read this book, but I still remember getting into the story and not being able to put the book down. I would like to muster up the courage to dive into 900+ pages again, but I'm afraid that same level of enjoyment won't be there any more.
• Empire by Orson Scott Card (2006). I like Orson Scott Card books (the Ender series, even his non-fiction on how to be a better writer). Empire was a book I bought because I liked the cover and it had his name on it. It turned out to not be sci-fi (except for some mechanical walkers) but instead was a really good, fast paced Tom Clancy story. I honestly could not put this book down because I wanted to see what happened next. Halfway through the book I thought I had things figured out and everything went topsy-turvey. It was awesome! Unfortunately the sequel, Hidden Empire had neither the story, pacing, or interest of the original and has managed to mar my view on the first. I would still like to read this again later when more of the details have faded from memory.
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (2011). This is the last book I read that I enjoyed with no qualms. The right blend of character, story action, and as a bonus 80's trivia & references. I'm the target nerd for this story because for all the 80's references that were thrown in, I knew all of them. The only part of the book I skimmed over was a 5-page description of techno-babble that could be boiled down to "V/R Immersion Machine". This is the book that I wonder how well it will hold up over time.
• Old Man's War by John Scalzi (2005). I'm entering this book on the "maybe" list early as I'm still reading it, but I'll finish it tonight. Yesterday I ordered 2 of the follow-up sequels. Old Man's War has a lot of Forever War in it, but it is it's own story. I'm not sure exactly what it is about this one that keeps me from putting it down, but I just want to know what happens!

Next I may make a list of favorite non-fiction books, but I doubt that would be nearly as interesting.

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