16
CCG Design Forum / Re: Macro: The Micro Card Game
« on: May 07, 2013, 08:24:09 AM »
This is incredibly close to the final template. (Also the game is now language independent using symbols instead of text).
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17
CCG Design Forum / Re: Tactics -- A classical fantasy CCG
« on: May 05, 2013, 05:41:15 AM »
I think the betting system actually makes this worse than MTG honestly. People shouldn't really be guessing who is going first because it creates various imbalances. I also found myself a bit bored reading the rules, mainly because I could replace everything with Magic Terms.
I think, before you start making something, you would have to ask yourself What is your objective here? What "idea" are you trying to capture in this game? For example, MTG was supposed to capture the idea of being a Mage whereas Cardfight!! Vanguard was supposed to capture the idea of being a Commander.
Don't worry though, you're still in a growing step. I've had a number of games be typical and boring before I found my inspiration that I'm confident on.
I think, before you start making something, you would have to ask yourself What is your objective here? What "idea" are you trying to capture in this game? For example, MTG was supposed to capture the idea of being a Mage whereas Cardfight!! Vanguard was supposed to capture the idea of being a Commander.
Don't worry though, you're still in a growing step. I've had a number of games be typical and boring before I found my inspiration that I'm confident on.
18
CCG Design Forum / Re: Tactics -- A classical fantasy CCG
« on: May 04, 2013, 04:42:49 PM »
Just curious, is this the first game you're attempting to design?
19
CCG Design Forum / Re: Tactics -- A classical fantasy CCG
« on: May 03, 2013, 08:16:50 PM »
It sounds basically like Magic/Kaijudo.
Although the betting system seems different, care to expand on that?
Although the betting system seems different, care to expand on that?
20
CCG Design Forum / Re: Macro: The Micro Card Game
« on: April 17, 2013, 11:27:22 AM »
Introducing two new concepts into the game, the first is the simple "Regeneration phase" at the end of every round which each card restores 1 point of vitality.
The second is a bit more intricate
|Combat Phase Sub-Step: Card Effect Turn Structure|
Each ability has at least one effect and may have up to a total of three. Each effect has a period after it to note when it is finished.
During combat, the ability who wins in the speed gets to activates its first effect first, once it is resolved, priority is passed over to the opponent (Player who gets to activate his first effect, before passing priority back to his opponent (Player A). This process is repeated until all effects are resolved.
If an ability has no additional effects, priority is still passed. (E.g. Player A may play and resolve an ability with three effects fully regardless of Player B playing an ability with less than three effects)
In short, a card with the abilities
+1 Endurance. Deal 2 Damage.
Is a different card than
Deal 2 Damage. +1 Endurance.
E.g
Player A plays "Deal 2 Damage. No Effect. No Effect."
Player B Plays "+1 Endurance. Deal 2 Damage. No Effect"
(Player B's card activates first)
In this case, Player B gets +1 Endurance before Player A deals 2 Damage, therefore resulting in Player A dealing 1 less damage.
Player A plays "Deal 2 Damage. No Effect. No Effect."
Player B plays "Deal 2 Damage. +1 Endurance. No Effect"
(Player B's card activates first)
B: Deals 2 Damage
A: Deals 2 Damage
B: +1 Endurance (after already being dealt damage from A's card so this has no effect on that battle).
Same effects but different order resulting in a different play.
The second is a bit more intricate
|Combat Phase Sub-Step: Card Effect Turn Structure|
Each ability has at least one effect and may have up to a total of three. Each effect has a period after it to note when it is finished.
During combat, the ability who wins in the speed gets to activates its first effect first, once it is resolved, priority is passed over to the opponent (Player who gets to activate his first effect, before passing priority back to his opponent (Player A). This process is repeated until all effects are resolved.
If an ability has no additional effects, priority is still passed. (E.g. Player A may play and resolve an ability with three effects fully regardless of Player B playing an ability with less than three effects)
In short, a card with the abilities
+1 Endurance. Deal 2 Damage.
Is a different card than
Deal 2 Damage. +1 Endurance.
E.g
Player A plays "Deal 2 Damage. No Effect. No Effect."
Player B Plays "+1 Endurance. Deal 2 Damage. No Effect"
(Player B's card activates first)
In this case, Player B gets +1 Endurance before Player A deals 2 Damage, therefore resulting in Player A dealing 1 less damage.
Player A plays "Deal 2 Damage. No Effect. No Effect."
Player B plays "Deal 2 Damage. +1 Endurance. No Effect"
(Player B's card activates first)
B: Deals 2 Damage
A: Deals 2 Damage
B: +1 Endurance (after already being dealt damage from A's card so this has no effect on that battle).
Same effects but different order resulting in a different play.
21
Plugins & Plugin Creation Forum / Shift - The Single Card Card Game
« on: March 22, 2013, 04:47:28 PM »
Shift is an anime themed card game in which players duel using a single card and some coins. Shift cards have stats and Modifiers on all four sides, called Gears. Each card functions like a deck in a traditional CCG, where each Gear is a separate hand. And much like decks in a CCG, each card rewards different strategies and play styles.
Players take turns attacking or shifting their cards to another Gear. To use a Gear's Modifier, you might have to pay a cost; costs may require flipping a coin, or paying spirit - which is earned by taking damage. The first player to deal six damage to their opponent wins!
This game has already reached it's goal on Kickstarter so it will be created. I got to say, despite the heavy coin-flipping and that card art being somewhat squashed, I'm actually loving this game. It's nice to have something that can just fit in your wallet too. It's quite refreshing to say the least.
The Kickstarter ends this Sunday, $7 ($12 if outside US) for a PnP Template, $15 ($20 if outside of US) for fully developed set of 10 cards - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/laboratory/shift-the-single-card-ccg
LackeyCCG Plugin
Quote
Notes
Spending Spirit: First click "Heal Damage" then click "Spend Spirit"
Refreshing Spirit: First click "Heal Damage/Refresh Spirit" then click "Deal Damage"
Healing Spent Spirit: Click "Heal Damage/Refresh Spirit". DO NOT CLICK "Heal Damage"
Healing Active Spirit: Click "Heal Damage". DO NOT CLICK "Heal Damage/Refresh Spirit"
How to Play Video
Critical Preview
22
CCG Design Forum / What if Mana was relative?
« on: March 18, 2013, 08:46:45 AM »
What if Mana was relative?
(Note – I say Land but any mean any game with a similar resource mechanic, including but not limited to Duel Masters, Z/X etc)
Instead of Land being “Tap this for 1 X Mana”
It would be
“Tap this for 1 X Mana for each X LAND in your mana zone.”
E.g
Turn 1 – I tap the only Forest Land in my mana zone for 1 Green Mana
Turn 2 – I play another Forest. I tap both forest for a total of 4 Green Mana (2 each).
I feel this could help pace your generic mana/resource systems a little bit better so they don’t become something of a snorefest which is a possibility with those sort of games.
(Note – I say Land but any mean any game with a similar resource mechanic, including but not limited to Duel Masters, Z/X etc)
Instead of Land being “Tap this for 1 X Mana”
It would be
“Tap this for 1 X Mana for each X LAND in your mana zone.”
E.g
Turn 1 – I tap the only Forest Land in my mana zone for 1 Green Mana
Turn 2 – I play another Forest. I tap both forest for a total of 4 Green Mana (2 each).
I feel this could help pace your generic mana/resource systems a little bit better so they don’t become something of a snorefest which is a possibility with those sort of games.
23
CCG Design Forum / Macro: The Micro Card Game - PnP Templates available
« on: March 14, 2013, 11:30:01 AM »
As half-promised, PnP sheets for Macro: The Micro Card Game
Microsoft Publisher Template
PDF Templates
How to Play
I understand a couple of aesthetics problems with the designs currently. Try to bare with them for now.
Feedback much appreciated!
Microsoft Publisher Template
PDF Templates
How to Play
I understand a couple of aesthetics problems with the designs currently. Try to bare with them for now.
Feedback much appreciated!
24
CCG Design Forum / Transmutation (Alchemy/Combat/Card Game)
« on: February 22, 2013, 12:40:50 PM »
I posted an earlier version of this a while ago. This is a slightly revised edit with a lot more text to make it clear. I currently don't have any examples of cards but will be getting around to a few draft ideas sooner or later.
Transmutation
In Transmutation, players take on the role of Alchemists creating abominable creatures known as “Homunculus (plural Homunculi)” and compete over resources and funding to further their other unspeakably detestable projects.
Pre-Game Setup
Each Player starts the game with a Material Deck of X0 Material Cards and a Transmutation Deck of X0 Homunculus, Attachments or Catalyst cards. At the start of the game players draw five cards from their Material deck and choose one Homunculus from their Transmutation deck and play it face down. Both Players simutaneously flip their selected Homunculus face-up and then pay their cost.
Win Condition
When a Player's Homunculus is destroyed and sent to the discard pile, the owner of that Homunculus takes one Material from the top of their deck and places it on the field. That Material is now “Corrupted”. Players may not use Corrupted Material for any costs. When your Opponent has three or more corrupted Material, you win the game.
Order of Play
Transmutation is played in turns, each turn is made up of the following three phases
Main (You may play Homunculus or Attachment cards during this phase)
Battle (You may attack your Opponent's Homunculus during this phase)
Draw (Draw two cards during this phase, draw one additional card for each corrupted Material card on your side of the field)
After your draw phase, it is your Opponent's turn who will then also proceed through the previously listed phases.
Card Types
There are four types of cards in Transmutation; Material, Homunculus, Attachments and Catalyst.
Material
Materials comprise the Material Deck. Materials are used to pay for the cost of cards in the Transmutation Deck that share their Main or Sub-Types. There are four distinct Material Types (each with their own three Sub-Types) however you may only deck one distinct Material Type. The main types are Fire, Water, Earth, Air. Their Sub-types are a combination of their Main Type with the other Material Types. [E.g. Fire Material sub-types are Steam (Fire + Water), Sand (Fire + Earth) and Blaze (Fire + Wind)]
In addition to the three individual sub-types, there is one sub-type known as “Aether” which is common to all Materials. Any card with an “Aether” cost, may be payed for with any Material.
Homunculus
Homunculus are played from the Transmutation Deck to be pitted against each other in one on one combat. They have the following attributes
Name (The name of the Homunculus. Other cards may need to check this information to be played)
Cost (To play a Homunculus, you first overlay a number of Materials from your hand equal to it's cost onto the field face-up and then place it from your Transmutation Deck ontop of them)
Type (Type of the Homunculus. Other cards may need to check this information to be played)
Health (When a Homunculus is played, a number of it's Materials equal to it's Health are flipped face-down, each time a successful hit is landed against a Homunculus, one face-down material is removed, when a successful hit is landed against a Homunculus with no face-down material, it is destroyed and sent to the discard pile)
Power (When Homuncului battle, compare their power values. If the power of the attacking Homunculus is larger than the power of the defending Homunculus, the defending Homunculus is defeated and loses one Health Point. If the power of the attacking Homunculus is equal to or less than the power of the defending Homunculus, then the attack isn't successful and the battle ends)
Ability (The effect(s) that the card has are printed here)
Attachment
Attachments are extensions you can Attachments to your Homunculus to power them up in various ways be it either to help strengthen your offense or defense or have them gain some additional abilities.
Name (The name of the Attachment. Other cards may need to check this information to be played)
Cost (To play an Attachments you first overlay a number of Materials from your hand equal to it's cost onto the field face-up and then place it from your Transmutation Deck ontop of them)
Type (Attachments can only be attached to Homunculus that share at least one of the Attachement's type)
Endurance (When an Attacment is played, a number of it's Materials equal to it's Endurance are flipped face-down, each time a successful hit is landed against an Attachment, one face-down material is removed, when a successful hit is landed against an Attachment with no face-down material, it is destroyed and sent to the discard pile. )
Ability (The effect(s) that card has are printed here)
Catalyst
Catalyst are cards that activate once and instanenously, after they have been activated and resolved they are sent to the discard pile. Catalyst cards may be activated at any time unless otherwise stated.
Name (The name of the Attachment. Other cards may need to check this information to be played)
Cost (To play a Catalyst you first discard a number of Material from your hand equal to it's cost and then play it from your Transmutation Deck.)
Ability (The effect(s) that the card has are printed here)
Battle Step
See: “Power” under Homunculus
Transmutation
In Transmutation, players take on the role of Alchemists creating abominable creatures known as “Homunculus (plural Homunculi)” and compete over resources and funding to further their other unspeakably detestable projects.
Pre-Game Setup
Each Player starts the game with a Material Deck of X0 Material Cards and a Transmutation Deck of X0 Homunculus, Attachments or Catalyst cards. At the start of the game players draw five cards from their Material deck and choose one Homunculus from their Transmutation deck and play it face down. Both Players simutaneously flip their selected Homunculus face-up and then pay their cost.
Win Condition
When a Player's Homunculus is destroyed and sent to the discard pile, the owner of that Homunculus takes one Material from the top of their deck and places it on the field. That Material is now “Corrupted”. Players may not use Corrupted Material for any costs. When your Opponent has three or more corrupted Material, you win the game.
Order of Play
Transmutation is played in turns, each turn is made up of the following three phases
Main (You may play Homunculus or Attachment cards during this phase)
Battle (You may attack your Opponent's Homunculus during this phase)
Draw (Draw two cards during this phase, draw one additional card for each corrupted Material card on your side of the field)
After your draw phase, it is your Opponent's turn who will then also proceed through the previously listed phases.
Card Types
There are four types of cards in Transmutation; Material, Homunculus, Attachments and Catalyst.
Material
Materials comprise the Material Deck. Materials are used to pay for the cost of cards in the Transmutation Deck that share their Main or Sub-Types. There are four distinct Material Types (each with their own three Sub-Types) however you may only deck one distinct Material Type. The main types are Fire, Water, Earth, Air. Their Sub-types are a combination of their Main Type with the other Material Types. [E.g. Fire Material sub-types are Steam (Fire + Water), Sand (Fire + Earth) and Blaze (Fire + Wind)]
In addition to the three individual sub-types, there is one sub-type known as “Aether” which is common to all Materials. Any card with an “Aether” cost, may be payed for with any Material.
Homunculus
Homunculus are played from the Transmutation Deck to be pitted against each other in one on one combat. They have the following attributes
Name (The name of the Homunculus. Other cards may need to check this information to be played)
Cost (To play a Homunculus, you first overlay a number of Materials from your hand equal to it's cost onto the field face-up and then place it from your Transmutation Deck ontop of them)
Type (Type of the Homunculus. Other cards may need to check this information to be played)
Health (When a Homunculus is played, a number of it's Materials equal to it's Health are flipped face-down, each time a successful hit is landed against a Homunculus, one face-down material is removed, when a successful hit is landed against a Homunculus with no face-down material, it is destroyed and sent to the discard pile)
Power (When Homuncului battle, compare their power values. If the power of the attacking Homunculus is larger than the power of the defending Homunculus, the defending Homunculus is defeated and loses one Health Point. If the power of the attacking Homunculus is equal to or less than the power of the defending Homunculus, then the attack isn't successful and the battle ends)
Ability (The effect(s) that the card has are printed here)
Attachment
Attachments are extensions you can Attachments to your Homunculus to power them up in various ways be it either to help strengthen your offense or defense or have them gain some additional abilities.
Name (The name of the Attachment. Other cards may need to check this information to be played)
Cost (To play an Attachments you first overlay a number of Materials from your hand equal to it's cost onto the field face-up and then place it from your Transmutation Deck ontop of them)
Type (Attachments can only be attached to Homunculus that share at least one of the Attachement's type)
Endurance (When an Attacment is played, a number of it's Materials equal to it's Endurance are flipped face-down, each time a successful hit is landed against an Attachment, one face-down material is removed, when a successful hit is landed against an Attachment with no face-down material, it is destroyed and sent to the discard pile. )
Ability (The effect(s) that card has are printed here)
Catalyst
Catalyst are cards that activate once and instanenously, after they have been activated and resolved they are sent to the discard pile. Catalyst cards may be activated at any time unless otherwise stated.
Name (The name of the Attachment. Other cards may need to check this information to be played)
Cost (To play a Catalyst you first discard a number of Material from your hand equal to it's cost and then play it from your Transmutation Deck.)
Ability (The effect(s) that the card has are printed here)
Battle Step
See: “Power” under Homunculus
25
CCG Design Forum / Re: Transparent Cards: (Dis)Advantages thereof
« on: February 10, 2013, 07:39:58 AM »
So I originally started this post asking about Transparent Cards but I think that might be a bit too limited on a view how to approach the concept in it's entirety (For clarity, the aim is to allow information from under layered cards to appear easily through to the top of the cards in an effort to present one or more additional levels of depth to a game)
For one, as noted we have problems with concealing hidden information as well as binding (plastic basically melting/attaching itself to certain rubbers) which could cause quite a bit of a problem.
Well one way we could approach the latter problem completely and the former partially, is to have cards with open slots in them. Taking the standardized text box example I created above, instead of having a card with at least a transparent text-box (if not entire card) we could have a standard card but with gaps in the text box for the abilities from the lower level cards to show through. Granted, this might cause some inner darkness that could obscure lower text, it's probably not a huge concern though. As well as this only covers the exact information but it can still give your Opponent an idea of what you have depending if you used a formula similar to the standarized text box (Level 2 abilities have effect text in the middle, level at the top and so on).
So an alternate idea, which actually allows hidden information to exist, would have the text box be just one big gap with an opening in the side where you could sleeve abilities in and out of the text box at will, some restrictions of which abilities go where could be based on what particular titles of cards or even their race.
Using Pokemon as an example again, any Water Pokemon can learn Water Gun but no Fire Pokemon could learn it and this could be noted on the ability text or maybe any Pokemon could learn the move Water Gun at long as they had a water symbol on their card that matches the water symbol on the ability text.
Assuming that there is no other dead giveaway information here and all ability texts are of equal size and shape, concealing hidden information while allowing transparent information is feasible.
However if you don't care so much about hidden information in your game, you could take this to a new level and have abilities "balanced" against each other by their size.
E.g. You have 3 abilities each of which are worth 1 Point and are one lines worth of text. You can place ALL 3 of these abilities onto a single character.
You also have an ability which is worth 2 points and is two lines worth of text. If you slide this card in to the Character's text box, you are now bound by the actual physical constraints of the card itself and only have room to play one additional single ability with 1 Point/1 line worth of text.
Taking the entire train of thought into account, you could use information like this to do some neat tricks like
- Play a Dress Up game (I actually want to find some barbie and other clothes pictures to do this). You would overlay clothes on top of each other until you found a matching outfit (which would probably be noted by some symbol like P1 meaning Pink Outfit - Style 1 on each separate piece of clothing)
- Change up your Equipment. One of the reasons it was so tough to make a classic style Fantasy RPG Card game was because it was so clunky because you would have a party of 3-4 each with their own 3 equipment (Weapon, Shield, Accessory) with transparency, you can save quite a bit of space on the Playing Field to make the game play much more fluidly and maybe even create a successful version of this classic/cliché game
- Mix and Match abilities. Plenty of the beauty coming from Modern Day video games it the ability to let the Player chose who they want to be. You want to be a Black Mage who also knows Cure? Go ahead! You want to be a Fighter who knows how to Summon! GO AHEAD! Freedom of choice is what many, many people crave and letting variations like this exist allows each person to project themselves further onto their character which in turn lets people enjoy it more and more as long as it lets people go deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole.
Not to mention, in many CCGs you'll see the same abilities and much of the time practically the same card, I'm not saying that there wouldn't be overlap in a CCG using this format opposed to a CCG with a more traditional format, I'm saying there is more room and chance to allow for variation in this style.
So yeah, I think there is a worlds worth of discovery to be had here. Also my fingers are on fire from typing, yeowch.
For one, as noted we have problems with concealing hidden information as well as binding (plastic basically melting/attaching itself to certain rubbers) which could cause quite a bit of a problem.
Well one way we could approach the latter problem completely and the former partially, is to have cards with open slots in them. Taking the standardized text box example I created above, instead of having a card with at least a transparent text-box (if not entire card) we could have a standard card but with gaps in the text box for the abilities from the lower level cards to show through. Granted, this might cause some inner darkness that could obscure lower text, it's probably not a huge concern though. As well as this only covers the exact information but it can still give your Opponent an idea of what you have depending if you used a formula similar to the standarized text box (Level 2 abilities have effect text in the middle, level at the top and so on).
So an alternate idea, which actually allows hidden information to exist, would have the text box be just one big gap with an opening in the side where you could sleeve abilities in and out of the text box at will, some restrictions of which abilities go where could be based on what particular titles of cards or even their race.
Using Pokemon as an example again, any Water Pokemon can learn Water Gun but no Fire Pokemon could learn it and this could be noted on the ability text or maybe any Pokemon could learn the move Water Gun at long as they had a water symbol on their card that matches the water symbol on the ability text.
Assuming that there is no other dead giveaway information here and all ability texts are of equal size and shape, concealing hidden information while allowing transparent information is feasible.
However if you don't care so much about hidden information in your game, you could take this to a new level and have abilities "balanced" against each other by their size.
E.g. You have 3 abilities each of which are worth 1 Point and are one lines worth of text. You can place ALL 3 of these abilities onto a single character.
You also have an ability which is worth 2 points and is two lines worth of text. If you slide this card in to the Character's text box, you are now bound by the actual physical constraints of the card itself and only have room to play one additional single ability with 1 Point/1 line worth of text.
Taking the entire train of thought into account, you could use information like this to do some neat tricks like
- Play a Dress Up game (I actually want to find some barbie and other clothes pictures to do this). You would overlay clothes on top of each other until you found a matching outfit (which would probably be noted by some symbol like P1 meaning Pink Outfit - Style 1 on each separate piece of clothing)
- Change up your Equipment. One of the reasons it was so tough to make a classic style Fantasy RPG Card game was because it was so clunky because you would have a party of 3-4 each with their own 3 equipment (Weapon, Shield, Accessory) with transparency, you can save quite a bit of space on the Playing Field to make the game play much more fluidly and maybe even create a successful version of this classic/cliché game
- Mix and Match abilities. Plenty of the beauty coming from Modern Day video games it the ability to let the Player chose who they want to be. You want to be a Black Mage who also knows Cure? Go ahead! You want to be a Fighter who knows how to Summon! GO AHEAD! Freedom of choice is what many, many people crave and letting variations like this exist allows each person to project themselves further onto their character which in turn lets people enjoy it more and more as long as it lets people go deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole.
Not to mention, in many CCGs you'll see the same abilities and much of the time practically the same card, I'm not saying that there wouldn't be overlap in a CCG using this format opposed to a CCG with a more traditional format, I'm saying there is more room and chance to allow for variation in this style.
So yeah, I think there is a worlds worth of discovery to be had here. Also my fingers are on fire from typing, yeowch.
26
CCG Design Forum / Transparent Cards: (Dis)Advantages thereof
« on: February 09, 2013, 05:59:52 PM »
TRANSPARENT CARDS (or game pieces in general) - (Dis)Advantages thereof? For one, I think leveling systems can be applied much more dynamically.
Taking Pokémon as an example, you can evolve an Eevee with "scratch" into a Vaporeon with new but non-additional abilities because for some reason it forgot Scratch.
However, using a Transparent card, you can overlay Vaporeon with the two additional abilities (which are placed higher up in what should be a standardized text box) while allowing the original scratch move showing through the transparent layer). So if you evolve it into a Vaporeon, you'd have scratch and the additional Water Gun ability but if you evolve it into Jolteon, you'd have scratch and the additional Thundershock ability. Using this with something more generic, such as race, could actually create whole new variants of strategy.
I think a good way to approach this would be to have 3 core levels. Each level would correspond to a space on the standardized text box, so top of the box would be Level 1, Middle would be level 2 and bottom would be level 3. Level 3 creatures would have their skills written at the bottom of the text box, whereas level 2 would have them in the middle and level 1 would have them written at the very top.
A disadvantage, readily apparent in my example, is that on lower iterations of the cards you could be left with quite a bit of empty space to the point of disorienting. Granted games like Yugioh and Magic already have quite a bit of empty space on some of their cards and no one has had a huge problem with it.
Any of your thoughts?
Taking Pokémon as an example, you can evolve an Eevee with "scratch" into a Vaporeon with new but non-additional abilities because for some reason it forgot Scratch.
However, using a Transparent card, you can overlay Vaporeon with the two additional abilities (which are placed higher up in what should be a standardized text box) while allowing the original scratch move showing through the transparent layer). So if you evolve it into a Vaporeon, you'd have scratch and the additional Water Gun ability but if you evolve it into Jolteon, you'd have scratch and the additional Thundershock ability. Using this with something more generic, such as race, could actually create whole new variants of strategy.
I think a good way to approach this would be to have 3 core levels. Each level would correspond to a space on the standardized text box, so top of the box would be Level 1, Middle would be level 2 and bottom would be level 3. Level 3 creatures would have their skills written at the bottom of the text box, whereas level 2 would have them in the middle and level 1 would have them written at the very top.
A disadvantage, readily apparent in my example, is that on lower iterations of the cards you could be left with quite a bit of empty space to the point of disorienting. Granted games like Yugioh and Magic already have quite a bit of empty space on some of their cards and no one has had a huge problem with it.
Any of your thoughts?
27
CCG Design Forum / Re: Macro: The Micro Card Game
« on: January 16, 2013, 01:05:34 PM »
I don't think there is anyway to follow that without the use of some outside instruments, which I loathe because it kind of goes against the grain of the game.
That being said, stacking is an interesting idea.
That being said, stacking is an interesting idea.
28
CCG Design Forum / Re: Do we need elements?
« on: January 14, 2013, 08:16:46 AM »
Yes and No.
We don't need to classify/categorize by Elements/Colors but we do need to classify/categorize by some distinction otherwise you'll end up in a position of "Golden Cuffs" or "Staples" as in generic games like Yu-Gi-Oh where cards rise to insane prices because they can essentially be splashed into pretty much any deck (Pot of Duality, Tour Guide from the Underworld, Heck even the rare Chain Disappearance) with only a layer of archetypal flavoring on top (Gadget decks are a perfect example of this). In fact, I think Konami realized that and is one of the reasons they have been printing this considerably full-fledged archetypes recently that require a large space of dedication in your deck to work efficiently.
You propose that classifying by colors limits design space but then you also propose that there are other ways to classify other than colors, wouldn't these alternatives also limit design space as well then?
Cardfight!! Vanguard is a game created by Bushiroad and has quite the success in the past year, in this game they have various "Nations" which each have their own theme with clans within those Nations who use different aspects of the overlying theme
E.g 1
Nation: United Sanctuary - Theme: Advantage
Clan: Royal Paladin - Theme: Swarming Units to the field
Clan: Oracle Think Tank - Theme: Drawing cards
These are both examples of gaining advantage in relatively different ways
E.g 2
Nation - Dragon Empire - Theme: Control
Clan: Kagero - Destroy Units
Clan: Nubatama - Discarding Opponent's Cards (Note: This is actually a discontinued theme because the concept is relatively broken in Vanguard)
This does a few things for the game, firstly every clan has something of a distinctly unique style and secondly due to the generic cards that are cloned throughout each series, it lets the prices on the second hand market be relatively steady.
We don't need to classify/categorize by Elements/Colors but we do need to classify/categorize by some distinction otherwise you'll end up in a position of "Golden Cuffs" or "Staples" as in generic games like Yu-Gi-Oh where cards rise to insane prices because they can essentially be splashed into pretty much any deck (Pot of Duality, Tour Guide from the Underworld, Heck even the rare Chain Disappearance) with only a layer of archetypal flavoring on top (Gadget decks are a perfect example of this). In fact, I think Konami realized that and is one of the reasons they have been printing this considerably full-fledged archetypes recently that require a large space of dedication in your deck to work efficiently.
You propose that classifying by colors limits design space but then you also propose that there are other ways to classify other than colors, wouldn't these alternatives also limit design space as well then?
Cardfight!! Vanguard is a game created by Bushiroad and has quite the success in the past year, in this game they have various "Nations" which each have their own theme with clans within those Nations who use different aspects of the overlying theme
E.g 1
Nation: United Sanctuary - Theme: Advantage
Clan: Royal Paladin - Theme: Swarming Units to the field
Clan: Oracle Think Tank - Theme: Drawing cards
These are both examples of gaining advantage in relatively different ways
E.g 2
Nation - Dragon Empire - Theme: Control
Clan: Kagero - Destroy Units
Clan: Nubatama - Discarding Opponent's Cards (Note: This is actually a discontinued theme because the concept is relatively broken in Vanguard)
This does a few things for the game, firstly every clan has something of a distinctly unique style and secondly due to the generic cards that are cloned throughout each series, it lets the prices on the second hand market be relatively steady.
29
CCG Design Forum / Transmutation - Alchemy: Homunculus Combat Card Game!
« on: January 10, 2013, 08:39:19 PM »
While I wait on some art and related items for Macro, I present to you
Transmutation Card Game
Each Player starts with a Material Deck of 25 Material cards and a Transmutation Deck of 25 Homunculus and support cards.
At the start of the game each player draws 5 cards from their Material Deck and may draw 2 additional cards from their Material deck during each of their respective end phases.
Players play a Homunculus from their Transmutation deck by overlaying it on a number of Material Cards (from their hand) equal to the total cost, with a number of them sharing the same color as the Color Cost.
Players may only control 1 Homunculus at any time.
When a Player plays a Homunculus, they select a number of Material cards equal to that's Homunclus' Hit Points and flip them face down.
During a Battle, You compare the attacking Homunculus Strength with the Strength of thedefending Homunculus. If the Attacker's Strength is equal to or higher than the defender's Strength (after the effects of any and all support are resolved) the attack hits.
When a Homunculus is hit, the defending Player removes 1 face-down Material from that Homunculus (A Homunculus is destroyed when there are no face-down materials under it).
When a Homunculus is destroyed, the owner of that Homunculus discards a number of cards from their deck equal to it's Penalty. (The Homunculus and all it's Materials are also sent to the discard pile)
A Player loses when they no longer have any cards in their Material Deck.
Turn Order
A Homunculus may be played if there isn't already one on the Turn Player's field
Battle Phase. Support Cards may be played.
The Turn Player may draw 2 cards
Support Cards are played by discarding a number of Material Cards from a Player's hand equal to the Support Cards cost (a number of them matching it's color). Support Cards may be activated any time unless otherwise stated.
Material Burn – Is the name given to the cost of certain abilities some Homunculus may have. To pay for the ability, the player must pay the Material Burn cost by discarding a number of face-up underlayed materials that are equal to it's cost (a number of them matching it's colors). Not all abilities need Material Burn but some will still require the Homunculus to have a number of face-up materials present underneath it.
Transmutation Card Game
Each Player starts with a Material Deck of 25 Material cards and a Transmutation Deck of 25 Homunculus and support cards.
At the start of the game each player draws 5 cards from their Material Deck and may draw 2 additional cards from their Material deck during each of their respective end phases.
Players play a Homunculus from their Transmutation deck by overlaying it on a number of Material Cards (from their hand) equal to the total cost, with a number of them sharing the same color as the Color Cost.
Players may only control 1 Homunculus at any time.
When a Player plays a Homunculus, they select a number of Material cards equal to that's Homunclus' Hit Points and flip them face down.
During a Battle, You compare the attacking Homunculus Strength with the Strength of thedefending Homunculus. If the Attacker's Strength is equal to or higher than the defender's Strength (after the effects of any and all support are resolved) the attack hits.
When a Homunculus is hit, the defending Player removes 1 face-down Material from that Homunculus (A Homunculus is destroyed when there are no face-down materials under it).
When a Homunculus is destroyed, the owner of that Homunculus discards a number of cards from their deck equal to it's Penalty. (The Homunculus and all it's Materials are also sent to the discard pile)
A Player loses when they no longer have any cards in their Material Deck.
Turn Order
A Homunculus may be played if there isn't already one on the Turn Player's field
Battle Phase. Support Cards may be played.
The Turn Player may draw 2 cards
Support Cards are played by discarding a number of Material Cards from a Player's hand equal to the Support Cards cost (a number of them matching it's color). Support Cards may be activated any time unless otherwise stated.
Material Burn – Is the name given to the cost of certain abilities some Homunculus may have. To pay for the ability, the player must pay the Material Burn cost by discarding a number of face-up underlayed materials that are equal to it's cost (a number of them matching it's colors). Not all abilities need Material Burn but some will still require the Homunculus to have a number of face-up materials present underneath it.
30
CCG Design Forum / Re: Macro: The Micro Card Game
« on: January 09, 2013, 07:26:22 PM »
Bumpy! So recently I got some work on my Templates done (by Matildadad). Here's the general looks so far.
Picking up slight speed, got some templates.
Ability Templates (In 3 different colors) below
The two circles on the left are RACE (Top) and COOL DOWN (Bottom). To refresh on mechanics
1. If a card in Cool Down has their "Blue" Circle in the top Right, you add that card back to your hand
2. You turn every card currently in Cool Down 90 degrees to the right
3. You place the card you played this turn into cool down, with the (1) in the top Right Corner
E.g,
1. You play "Dive"
2. You place "Dive" into Cool-Down
3. Next turn, after you've collected all of your currently Cool-Downed cards, you turn "Dive" 90 degrees to the Right. (The 2 is now in Cool-Down position but you've already passed the collection phase)
4. Turn after, after you've played a Card, you collect the Cool Downed "Dive"
5. Therefore 2 Turns wait excluding the turn you played it.
Now, I know there are a couple of problems with the design. I for one forgot to add in the Ability Speed Circle. I won't be changing this design for a long while to come until I'm entirely sure what the improved version will look like. I simply posted them here to receive any constructive criticism (e.g. Use "Arial" instead of "Impact" text) as opposed to just criticism (Don't do X. Nothing else to say). So with that in mind fire away!
Onto the Character Template
The Icon in the corner is the RACE icon. Going clockwise from the top, the 4 icons represent the Avatar's Dexterity (Bullseye), Vitality (Heart), Evasion (Winged Sandal), Endurance (Shield)
The Designer suggested the idea of having Avatar borders be different for each Avatar as stated above, it is currently Blue for Mermaid, Grey for Harpy, Red for Minotaur).
Lastly but not least Icons in general
Icons (from left to right) Minotaur, Harpy, Mermaid, Meleé, Magic, Ranged, Endurance, Vitality, Evasion, Dexterity.
So yeah, criticism would be much appreciated. I'd really like to know what people's favorite color for the Ability template is.
Also here is bit of a teaser for the refined Harpy Art.
Picking up slight speed, got some templates.
Ability Templates (In 3 different colors) below
The two circles on the left are RACE (Top) and COOL DOWN (Bottom). To refresh on mechanics
1. If a card in Cool Down has their "Blue" Circle in the top Right, you add that card back to your hand
2. You turn every card currently in Cool Down 90 degrees to the right
3. You place the card you played this turn into cool down, with the (1) in the top Right Corner
E.g,
1. You play "Dive"
2. You place "Dive" into Cool-Down
3. Next turn, after you've collected all of your currently Cool-Downed cards, you turn "Dive" 90 degrees to the Right. (The 2 is now in Cool-Down position but you've already passed the collection phase)
4. Turn after, after you've played a Card, you collect the Cool Downed "Dive"
5. Therefore 2 Turns wait excluding the turn you played it.
Now, I know there are a couple of problems with the design. I for one forgot to add in the Ability Speed Circle. I won't be changing this design for a long while to come until I'm entirely sure what the improved version will look like. I simply posted them here to receive any constructive criticism (e.g. Use "Arial" instead of "Impact" text) as opposed to just criticism (Don't do X. Nothing else to say). So with that in mind fire away!
Onto the Character Template
The Icon in the corner is the RACE icon. Going clockwise from the top, the 4 icons represent the Avatar's Dexterity (Bullseye), Vitality (Heart), Evasion (Winged Sandal), Endurance (Shield)
The Designer suggested the idea of having Avatar borders be different for each Avatar as stated above, it is currently Blue for Mermaid, Grey for Harpy, Red for Minotaur).
Lastly but not least Icons in general
Icons (from left to right) Minotaur, Harpy, Mermaid, Meleé, Magic, Ranged, Endurance, Vitality, Evasion, Dexterity.
So yeah, criticism would be much appreciated. I'd really like to know what people's favorite color for the Ability template is.
Also here is bit of a teaser for the refined Harpy Art.