I enjoyed seeing the different individual approaches as well as the evolution. Anachrony is an interesting automa PVP example.. It's kind of like an automated flow chart. There are different numbered tokens in that chart that have their own track of actions. A die is rolled to activate one of these tokens' action space and then it is advanced to the next spot in its track. The randomness keeps a player from knowing which action will be fired off, while the tracks help constrain the bot to make smarter choices. You can also modify the track if you are plugging in different content. Not as smart as a flow chart, nor as evolved as the PVE bots, but a unique approach that strikes a balance for some players.
Geoff, this is outstanding! It is clear that "elegance" was not in the mind of designers 40 years ago. While I've been so happy to engage with many designers over the years as a developer, I have no doubt that if our industry was more mature (as it's becoming year after year), I would have absolutely pursued a degree in modern game design. I also remember, picking-up Trade on the Tigris having listened to the early (first 50 episodes) of Ludology.
We are forming a school club that has tabletop gaming, dnd and designing small games for the school. I highly enjoyed this lecture and use some of the points to coach the students. Thank you
Thanks for the well organized and extensive review. One question about the Automa system if you happen to be checking these comment boards, Geoff. You mentioned that it often feels that they just get in the way. Do you think that's a consequence of something inherent in the Automa system itself or just the ways it has been used to date?
Good question! I think it's inherent with the 'surface' level that it operates at. Sometimes it feels like it is throwing out arbitrary obstacles at you rather than being a true 'opponent'.
Hi Geoff. I'm an OLD SPI designer. I really enjoyed this solitaire game system survey. lecture and I was particularly interested in your Fog of War design. Coincidentally, I'm currently working on an intelligence/codebreaking-fog- of-war centric game on the Pacific Theater called Divine Wind, and I have an interest in doing a follow up game on the European theater that would share some concepts with your design. I'm looking for one or more co-designers for this project and I'd be happy to work with you if you're interested. Due to my current workload, the design work on the new game would start about six months from now.
Great talk, Geoff! Can anyone recommend other videos/talks on this topic in board game design please? I'm hungry for more.
Excellent presentation and very thorough. Thank you so much for taking the time to put this together and share!
I enjoyed seeing the different individual approaches as well as the evolution. Anachrony is an interesting automa PVP example.. It's kind of like an automated flow chart. There are different numbered tokens in that chart that have their own track of actions. A die is rolled to activate one of these tokens' action space and then it is advanced to the next spot in its track. The randomness keeps a player from knowing which action will be fired off, while the tracks help constrain the bot to make smarter choices. You can also modify the track if you are plugging in different content. Not as smart as a flow chart, nor as evolved as the PVE bots, but a unique approach that strikes a balance for some players.
Geoff, this is outstanding! It is clear that "elegance" was not in the mind of designers 40 years ago. While I've been so happy to engage with many designers over the years as a developer, I have no doubt that if our industry was more mature (as it's becoming year after year), I would have absolutely pursued a degree in modern game design.
I also remember, picking-up Trade on the Tigris having listened to the early (first 50 episodes) of Ludology.
Thank you for enjoying our webinar series
We are forming a school club that has tabletop gaming, dnd and designing small games for the school. I highly enjoyed this lecture and use some of the points to coach the students. Thank you
Love the presentation and I am also a Scott McCloud fan. The section on abstraction is particularly effective.
This was excelent.
Thanks for the well organized and extensive review.
One question about the Automa system if you happen to be checking these comment boards, Geoff. You mentioned that it often feels that they just get in the way. Do you think that's a consequence of something inherent in the Automa system itself or just the ways it has been used to date?
Good question! I think it's inherent with the 'surface' level that it operates at. Sometimes it feels like it is throwing out arbitrary obstacles at you rather than being a true 'opponent'.
01:02:27
Hi Geoff. I'm an OLD SPI designer. I really enjoyed this solitaire game system survey. lecture and I was particularly interested in your Fog of War design. Coincidentally, I'm currently working on an intelligence/codebreaking-fog- of-war centric game on the Pacific Theater called Divine Wind, and I have an interest in doing a follow up game on the European theater that would share some concepts with your design. I'm looking for one or more co-designers for this project and I'd be happy to work with you if you're interested. Due to my current workload, the design work on the new game would start about six months from now.
Geoff is a fantastic speaker :)