Development Diary #13
SEPTEMBER RULEBOOK COUNTDOWN
If you are developing a game, I couldn't recommend more than to join a few groups on Facebook dedicated to game design. One of the groups I belong to does a rule exchange at the beginning of the month. I wasn't able to make this month's deadline, but I have given myself a deadline to make the next rulebook exchange.
What this means
It means I need to get on top of the rulebook and finalize the few pieces I left off on when I was working on the rulebook previously. I need to add a a sample turn, finish the glossary, and do one more once over on everything else. I did need to finish the page number holder asset as well. The rulebook isn't messy, and was nearly "done" when I took a break from it.
About those mechanic changes...
Yeah about those... If there is one think I like doing to myself, it's changing mechanics that require me to reformat tons of cards. The two major changes that need to be addressed is the addition of gold and the new synergy/tech tree system for the buildings. I'll go into the building changes in a later post, but basically their threshold cost is removed, and they now have a tech tree that requires players to upgrade the buildings that lead to the higher tiered buildings, and there is an upgrade cost nerf.
Is this Alpha?
Yes unfortunately the game is still in alpha, but the game was just about ready to see a mechanics freeze before I decided to revamp the buildings (once again). But I think this is it. Either the building changes work and I just move forward and tweak, or they don't, and the game goes back to normal, and I move forward with painting.
Let the nerves commence
So I'll let everyone in on a little secret, and it's I'm extremely insecure about putting myself out in an environment to be openly criticized. I'm not that insecure in person, but online, I feel completely vulnerable about criticism. Perhaps this is because people feel more emboldened to be mean, and that some criticism is more about being a naysayer than being constructive. When I posted my first card frame online, someone felt the need to tell me how much they laughed at it because it was so horrible. When I shared my card back, someone told me how much they hated an element with no explanation as to why they didn't like it; however, as a whole though, people have been much more encouraging than mean-spirited.
Learning to embrace the positive
Even though philosophically I know you can never make everyone happy, it would be nice to have the unhappy people as outliers. To clarify, I'm not designing to make everyone happy, but I have concerns about what people want from games. I know what I like, and that has driven much of my design, so as long as it makes me happy, and I am proud of the game, that's the best I can hope for. As far as putting the rules out there and sharing updates in the future, I need to embrace the positive responses, accept the criticisms, and work towards a product that brings joy to people.