I just looked at the list of blog posts and realised that it’s been months since I gave a general status update. While I wait for paint to dry on the figure conversions , here’s what I’m working on these days.
The development focus at the moment is still expansion content. As I mentioned previously, I’m using a modular approach to manage everything. The module with heavy weapons and bigger bugs is the highest priority, so that gets involved in just about every playtest I do.
The heavy weapons are just about all in what I consider a ‘ready to release’ state. That means their rules can be considered complete, the 3d models are acceptable, and the way in which they integrate with the base game is meeting my standards. There is only one heavy weapon where that process isn’t complete: the 3d model for the autocannon still doesn’t quite look right. This isn’t a major problem, though, and working on it doesn’t need any additional development time or resources.
The bigger bugs are also ‘ready to release’. There are six types, all presenting different challenges and opportunities for both sides. I’m quite pleased with how these have turned out, actually, and their reaching a finalised state means two major aspects of the module are finished.
The module is also meant to include some new tiles and story missions. The missions have been written but not tested, although I’m fairly confident they’ll be okay. The map tiles are proving to be more of a problem, though. I’m not much of an artist, so I’m struggling to produce tile art that looks good enough to pass on a tabletop. I think I’m going to have to just make some placeholder art so I can get on with testing the tiles, while I work on the “proper” art in the background. It’s a shame, because I think the testing benefits from having tile art that looks appropriate – apart from anything else, it helps the playtesters keep track of what’s happening. But needs must when the demons drive, and I can’t put everything on hold until I get the art right!
Apart from the stuff relating to this module, there’s also integration with the other modules to consider. This is going more slowly. Partly the issues are the same as I’ve described here – bits of the modules aren’t really ready for primetime, mostly the map tiles. I’m still developing rules relating to the interaction between modules, too. But it’s also the case that the more modules are integrated into a game, the longer the game takes. This means there’s a bit of a conflict for me about how to use my playtesting time: should I play more games to get more datapoints, or should I include more in each test to test integration more thoroughly?
Resolving that conflict is probably a good subject for another post. For now, I need to get back to work!
Encounter Table Games 