Living Starship Academy [Dev blog] 1a

As is normal for my game developing process, just when it's feeling good, like it's finally in the pocket....it turns out to still need some heavy work. Though, in the case of Semester 1 of the Living Starship Legacy Game, it IS getting close, just not as close as I thought.

You can peek at a play through of the current rendition of Semester 1 (the very first game players will encounter in the Living Starship saga) over on our YouTube channel. Two major points came to light for me after completing that live run-through:

1. It was still taking way too long (even though I am playing as if 4 players) and is still a tad too involved when it comes to scoring.

2. For a game that is intended to impart STORY, there is not a hint of narrative!!!

The intent for these first few games is to gradually introduce players the the various elements and concepts that will be woven together into a somewhat heftier game when their characters get their first starship assignment. These first 7 games that make up the cadets' time training at the Fleet Academy should be relatively quick so that players can move on to the BIG story, getting to the meat of the experience.

The elements of the game that are solid and unlikely to change (other than in graphics/layout) are the dice, the character cards (attributes and training), and the use of polyomino shapes as the implementation of dice result.

The NEW idea, as of this morning, is to put most, if not all, of the basic Division training elements onto 1 grid sheet that will be covered with scratch-off stickers. As players roll their dice and acquire polyomino shapes they will scratch off grid spaces in those shapes to reveal which training cards they gain and what story elements get revealed. Yes----story elements. Other cadets at the academy as well as staff and faculty will have impact on your cadets' experience and will leave lasting marks, some for the better and some for the worse.

I'm not exactly sure how these story elements will be implemented, but most likely with a deck of cards with events/narrative tidbits on them that get drawn randomly when a story space is uncovered on the grid. With the inclusion of a digital app, we can save on printing/production cost and effectively have an unending variety of events to be encountered digitally.

So, that's it for now, but tune in here on my blog and on YouTube to see how this all comes to fruition in the very near future (like next week).