Possible New Game Designer Looking for Advice on Game Concept

[dagovan]

Hello all,

I know I haven't been around here in awhile, but recently I've been working on a concept for a scifi game called Drone Commander. at first everyone I talked to said it was a bad idea to create a new minis game. then I found the quote in the rulebook about asking questions and being hard headed. now I really want to make this game happen. so now I'm putting out the concept of the game to test the waters and see if anyone would actually want this game. here's the sort of basic rundown, and I'd love to hear whatever suggestions, comments, or criticism you have:

Story:

It is the near future, and Earth is united in the face of an extraterrestrial threat. Two years ago earth was devastated by a sudden alien attack. Every major city on the planet was decimated, yet somehow in two short years man has not only rebuilt and recovered, he has created from the ashes of his shattered planet the foundation of a new galactic superpower. Under the command of the Earth Defense Command the first human ships capable of FTL travel are being launched. This first step into the cosmos is not the peaceful expedition that many had dreamed of, this is a war fleet sent to haunt the nightmares of the galaxy, this is the Ghost Fleet.

But the EDC will have to contend with the two big fish in the galactic pond before they can claim their place as a galactic superpower, and they are not intent to share the top spot, not even with each other. The EDC must deal with both the hegemonic Cybranian Empire and the anarchic Confederation of Free Planets before they can claim their place as rulers of the galaxy.

What is Drone Commander?:

Drone Commander is a 28mm game where you take control of an army of drones by using your customizable Advanced Command Module (ACM) to lead them into battle. The game is simple to understand, and highly customizable, but with an emphasis on balance. Players choose from one of three factions to lead into battle, each comprised of a multitude of sub factions to allow players to experience a diverse play style without the need to buy an entirely new army. But perhaps the best part about Drone Commander is its dynamic ever evolving universe that will be influenced by the players themselves. That’s right you the players will decide the fate of the Drone Commander universe. Your actions will have benefits and consequences that will effect your faction for years to come.

Unique features of Drone Commander:

1) massive customization: it starts with picking your drone chassis, then you get to pick what they are armed with, but it doesn’t stop there. Different drone chassis can be mixed to form unique units. You can also mix sub factions within your force to create mixed armies.

2) amazing scalability: the massive amount of customization also has the added bonus of allowing the game to scale from a skirmish game all the way to massive battles with hundreds of drones on each side and beyond that can be as simple or as complex as you want them to be. This is achieved through a method called Autonomy Levels. More autonomous drones are more flexible and mobile, however the damage they can do is not as great as if they were in a larger unit.

3) all plastic models: we have experience making plastic construction supplies, so an all plastic line seemed a natural extension of what we have previously done.

4) a live interactive universe: through the Drone Commander website you will be able to log your games and have them effect the outcome of events in the Drone Commander universe. This will in turn effect the game itself as the spoils of war become available to the winning faction, as well as other benefits to the losing faction in the form of battlefield innovation and bitter veteran units.

(also I'd just like to say that I don't want this to be a direct competitor to Malifaux, this game is more intended for mass combat and customization instead of a skirmish driven by characters. think of it like the difference between an RPG and a FPS.)

[noneshallpass]

1) massive customization: it starts with picking your drone chassis, then you get to pick what they are armed with, but it doesn’t stop there. Different drone chassis can be mixed to form unique units. You can also mix sub factions within your force to create mixed armies.

That's a very good idea but also very hard to balance, isn't it? I guess, there has to be a lot of play testing prior to any "official" release. Otherwise it will end up in the 'Necromunda-Syndrome': "Oh, my gang has 20 possible upgrades but only two of them are good and worth the price. Also, it's the best combination of upgrades in the whole game..."

I myself would not overdo the customizability.

2) amazing scalability: the massive amount of customization also has the added bonus of allowing the game to scale from a skirmish game all the way to massive battles with hundreds of drones on each side and beyond that can be as simple or as complex as you want them to be. This is achieved through a method called Autonomy Levels. More autonomous drones are more flexible and mobile, however the damage they can do is not as great as if they were in a larger unit.

Sounds good! I think, many players look for scalable war-games and I don't know any game on the market that does this well!

3) all plastic models: we have experience making plastic construction supplies, so an all plastic line seemed a natural extension of what we have previously done.

Can you provide pictures?

4) a live interactive universe: through the Drone Commander website you will be able to log your games and have them effect the outcome of events in the Drone Commander universe. This will in turn effect the game itself as the spoils of war become available to the winning faction, as well as other benefits to the losing faction in the form of battlefield innovation and bitter veteran units.

I don't think that this is a very good idea!

Do you know Jaron Lanier? He is kind of an "Internet-Prophet". He says, that, in the WordWideWeb, it's not the most competent users that win an argument but those that are most addicted to the internet. (See any Wikipedia-Talk-Page for proof )

That means, if you have a very small player base in the beginning it could easily happen that you only have 3 to 10 player groups and within these player groups you have only a few players that always win. If now only a fraction of these players submit their games to the website it can make a certain faction stronger and stronger whilst the other factions literally "phase out".

Also: There is no absolute balance in a war game and your idea would make the strongest faction stronger and stronger.

Think of MERCS The Game: They recently changed a proper faction (Sefadu) into a rogue squadron because of an "internet war" like the one you have in mind.

Before this, I thought of maybe starting with the Sefadu but this development distracted me from the whole game.

All that said, without any Alpha-rules or even Alpha-Miniatures you won't get any usable advice or serious comments.

I myself am a (board)Game-Designer and I wish you all the best in developing your game. Looking forward to any news!

[Malicte]

As someone who has done a little bit of (amateur) design work in his hobby time, I would caution you on the customization aspect. Only make the game as customizable as actually enhances the game. Providing 30 options just to have 30 options, when 5 or 10 would make just as solid of a game, is a trap that will get you in trouble both in terms of balance and in terms of complexity/workload.

[tothric]

As a person who's spent quite a while studying game design, Some advice I could give you is to build some CORE Values, and CORE principles you want your game to function on, and make sure everything follows those cores in a sensible and reasonable fashion.

When your confused about what kind of decision you should make go back to the Core Values and the Core Principles that you started with. Those will guide you through out a lot of decisions.

Extra Note: It looks like you have SOME core values, Customization, Balance, Scale-ability. Keep those in mind, but also question them. Make sure they are REALLY what you want to focus on, or is there some other more interesting feature you want to bring to the forefront.

Tread-Carefully good luck!

[Shinigami_Taka]

reminds me of any other game with mech units thought up by "that guy" in the store lol. Look up Ronnin it was was a mecha game where you had diff guns and cores ect to swap out and use to battle each other. you want to try to break the mold or at least crack it research research research, do player demographing and see if you have a interest then if its worth the effort. Now the positive note: if only 3-8 people love it DO IT! . They like it thats all that matters they can lead the way.