I've started to put some thought into my D&H demo for Games Expo, so I reckoned it might be useful if I did the design process 'in public' and then everyone could comment and use it as a sort of practical learning tool for people in the future? So here goes
STEP ONE: WHAT DO I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT?
So I have 15 minutes to sell the bleeding bayonet of awesome that is D&H.... hmmm, what do I want to get in people's faces? What, from my feedback, have been the 'WOW' factors of the game and what have been the 'ERHM?' misconceptions that people have had.
I feel that the latter one is the one that might need to have a subtle yet palpable presence. I still get people asking me how on Earth anyone would choose to play a game where a fellow player is actually superior to them and in their minds, would have the lion's share of the screen time in the game. I've eyeballed this as one of the hurdles that I will have to overcome to sell the game to a number of people.
So, from my testy feedback, the 'WOW!' factors have been:
1. Very quick to learn resolution system
2. The player-authoring in the Mission system
3. Reputations and their effect on play
The 'Ehrm?' factors have been:
1. I'm a private. He's a Captain. I have nothing to do, surely?
2. I don't know anything about Wellington's army and therefore cannot relate to the game
3. This isn't as realistic as it could be
Which would lead me to the following:
1. There should be a number of resolutions within the demo, to highlight the speed of the system and they should include the opportunity for a test, a challenge and a combat.
2. The demo MUST rotate around a Mission, even a short Mission of two challenges - and in the 15 minutes the players should have a chance to succeed in that Mission.
3. The Mission should involve people whom the characters have Reputations with, and these should come into play.
4. It needs to show that Officers and Rank and File players have the same opportunity for screen time but maybe in different arenas, so it must not be a Mission which favours Officers over Privates. If anything, it could do with being the other way.
5. I need to be able to steal the 'Spain 1812...' intro from Sharpe to give a firm, 30 second grounding as to the setting of the game. I've taken to using 'Europe is Aflame' as the intro to the stuff I do at the minute as well.
6. I need to give a flavour that this is a cinematic-style account of the period rather than a realistic one. No-one is dying of disease caused by a piece of cloth in a wound or dealing with detailed starvation rules for weevil encrusted biscuit!
So, thats my starting point. More later!
Neil
OK! Looks good so far.
Submitted by Matt on Thu, 17/04/2008 - 09:54.
1. Very quick to learn resolution system
2. The player-authoring in the Mission system
3. Reputations and their effect on play
Of those, I'd pay minimal attention to number 1. If you're doing a 15 minute demo, it'll be self evident.
2 and 3 look solid. But try thinking about if from a potential customers point of view. Think in terms of what they help that customer do that other games haven't enabled. It's those realisations you want to trigger.
You should definitely use the demo to turn the status expectation on its head. Look, Superior doesn't equal more screen time! That'll be big thing for a lot of players. I'd suggest, maybe slant one of each resolution to each character type?
Are you making sure the demo features the "double tagging" element of play?
-Matt
Realms Publishing
Senile
Submitted by Neil Gow on Thu, 17/04/2008 - 10:01.
Doh!
I'd totally forgotten about that being the actual #1 *wow* factor for people when they have played. Cheers Matt!
(For those that aren't familiar with the system, the players have to undertake and succeed in a number of challenges to complete a mission and they can have a number of missions on the go at any one time. If they can construct a way that one particular challenge meets the needs of two or more missions, they can 'kill two bird with one stone' by interlinking those missions. As it plays out, this 'double tagging' as Matt calls it brings everything together into one story, keeping what could be tangential threads moving in the same direction. Its an in-play reward for building an integrated storyline)
Neil
Take the King's shilling at http://www.omnihedron.co.uk/dutyandhonour/
Characters
Submitted by Neil Gow on Fri, 25/04/2008 - 10:43.
So now I have been thinking about characters and number of players.
By my experience and reckoning, the optimum number of players for a short demo should be two. The demo should be playable with one person if possible and should be able to accommodate three if needed. Does that sound right? In terms of D&H this set up is pretty easy to accommodate especially if I create the Missions correctly to have a natural junction point.
Its a no-brainer but I thought I would mention it here - the characters have to be pre-generated. Chargen in D&H can take an entire session, especially if you are generating the regiment as well (which is an essential part of an ongoing game) and really want to work around the characters and how they interact.
What I am toying with is running it with stripped down versions of full characters so that it can really focus on the matter at hand without going off on tangents.
Neil
Take the King's shilling at http://www.omnihedron.co.uk/dutyandhonour/
Scalable
Submitted by Matt on Fri, 25/04/2008 - 13:53.
Yeah, three is a good number. I tend to go with:
Two essential characters in conflict.
One optional, complicating, character.
If there's one player, you can just run the conflict with you as one of the characters.
If there's two, you run it as GM, with the players as the characters.
If there's three, you add the extra character.
Reasonably flexible.
-Matt
Realms Publishing