❖ Version History ❖
20th of January, 2021:
The last twelve days have been jam-packed, and it is becoming hard to even find time to keep up with this journal. All parts of the project are coming together simultaneously as we approach the finishing touches on a complete prototype. Right now on my daily project timeline I am constantly juggling these tasks:
1. Rule Book: Organizing the wording, layout, and artistic examples
2. Card Backs: Design preferences for the art on the back of all four card types
3. Proofing: Going back to correct small changes in spelling error or text placement
4. Play Testing: Continuing as frequently as possible with tests to the system as a whole
5. Statistics Reconfiguration: Doing a major edit to how the characters function
Of the above list, tasks like proofing are especially tedious because at this point in time I have done at least four entire arrangements to the appearance of the cards in the Flight Deck. It is the Statistics Reconfiguration however that truly challenges me this week.
After showing my prototype Character Cards to Matt a few weeks ago, I received a message describing how he would like to rearrange which of the characters were best at each skill in the game. This is the sort of request that seems easy up front but leaves some serious complexity in finding a good solution. There are exactly two reasons this is an enormous challenge:
1. Balancing :: Each character has four numbers they use to interact with the rest of the game elements (Movement, Crew, Solving, & Skirmishing). When I was originally designing these skills for the characters, the numbers were balanced alongside the data for the flight cards and mission cards. I had done several charts to make sure these numbers would all work before beginning the digital graphics. Changing the numbers on the characters has an impact on each and every other element in the game. These elements include details like: How challenging is each turn? How difficult is each flight deck card to solve? Are things too hard, or too easy now? In essence, the character numbers were the origin of the balancing process across all of the numerical interactions in the game – every number changed alters the flow of everything.
2. Play Testing :: In addition to the above notes on balancing, a whole new regiment of play testing will be required by changing the arrangement of the character statistics. Though it is true that the play testing to this point in time has allowed us to balance various other elements in the game (for example: the effects of each mission card would ideally be unaltered), changing the character values essentially means that each difficulty of the game and each combination of playable characters must be tested again as much as possible. For scale, this means a minimum of 30-50 more play tests of a game that takes 30-60 minutes to play. While it is achievable, it is an enormous amount of time to invest.
While this reworking of the characters has many potential setbacks, there are some wonderful possibilities that do arise at an intersection such as this. One such issue on the table at this point in time was the “Skirmish” statistic, and how it had been used in the game mechanics. In the original design of this game, Skirmishing was an interaction with the flight deck that was far too confusing to keep in the final rendition of the game. By changing character statistics, this gave us the perfect opportunity to fix Skirmishing. To understand what happened, I will explain how skirmishing originally worked and then what it became:
Original Skirmish Mechanic:
Character Statistics :: “Skirmishing” would be similar to “Solving”. To recap, a character who “Solves” a flight card will roll dice against the “Solve #” of the flight card and add their character’s individual solving skill to that dice roll. If the dice rolled matches or beats the solve number on the flight card, it would be considered solved. When “Skirmishing”, a player would roll dice against the “Movement #” of the flight card and add their character’s Skirmishing Skill to that dice roll with the same goal of matching or beating the number on the flight card to successfully skirmish (successfully skirmished or solved cards contribute toward completing missions).
Missions Role :: “Skirmish Missions” would add cards from the flight deck to a unique pile outside of the 12 map spaces (in addition to crashes on the map). If any cards were in this pile, players would have the option to “Skirmish” against them, rather than trying to “Solve” Flight Cards that had been placed onto the Map, since some characters are far better at skirmishing rather than solving.
Revised Skirmish Mechanic:
Character Statistics :: Interaction on the dice roll remains unchanged: (Skirmishing = roll dice against Flight Card ‘movement #’).
Description language of the mechanic is altered. Rather than thinking of it being a character ‘fighting’ another aircraft, it is now described as a different form of solving: “Was this wreck a Crash to be Solved? or was it the result of a Skirmish?” -highlighting the varied expertise of the investigation team characters.
Missions Role :: “Skirmish Missions” would now add Flight Cards to the map the same way every mission does, however, a Skirmish Mission would require players to do Skirmishing dice rolls in order to contribute anything toward completing the mission (effectively forcing out the ability to do anything productive toward completing the mission with the Solving skill during these turns).
Though it is an enormous effort to make these changes happen to the characters and to the missions, fixing up these numbers and altering the mechanics make The Great Chase a much better game in the end. Not only does the new balance of numbers keep the game fun, but the experience of the interactions are far more streamlined & user friendly.
