~ Novelty's September ... and plans for October ~

This is the second time I'm doing this, you should know the drill. If you don't take a peek at what was done at the end of August... I'd like to it, but I'm lazy.

Without further ado:

Mentoring
Didn't pick up anyone new to mentor this month as well. I think celebrations are in order.

Tournaments and Leagues
Nothing here to report as well, it's been quiet.

Shepherds
We lost a shepherd over the last month, but he really didn't have the heart anymore since the games he wanted to play were gone and free games were worthless to him. Yes, we do see quite a few of those. Nobody new signed up properly though (i.e. with 3 weekly tours on 3 different days), which got them all kicked off quickly.

gNet BOT
The questions have slowed down which is either because people got bored with the novelty value of it or it's actually answering most of the questions or people haven't been asking questions. Either way, it's still being expanded and it's growing slightly more "clever" by the day...months?

Games
Like last month I'll only report the games that had an update this month:

Aliens vs Predators
This is the new game for the month, the first of the "no frills" games to be done in a long time. As the engine has progressed, games have become more and more complex adding in layer after layer of automation. This game was made initially without automation. Should the need arise in the future to add automation, and when the traffic demands it, automation will be added. It is rather encouraging to see some people trying out this game after its public release.

Borders
A minor update was required to update the game slightly. The Skip card has been switched to Quartet.

Go Fish
Another game wih a minor tweak and a cleanup. Some new cardbacks were added.

Hamlet
The errata that was published on the site has now been incorporated, and some minor cleanup of the file has been done. The game won't let you carry out more actions than you actually have, so beware!

Kings
It was possible to play 2 cards onto the same area. Not anymore. Cards are now fixed as they are played. Also the displayed languages have been touched up slightly.

Magi-Nation Duel
The usual background change for the month were added and some custom cards were updated. Two more GenCon 2003 cards were added.

Portable Adventures
With the exception of Linda and the Encounter cards, Adventure cards are all automated now. Haven't yet found the time to include the next/pass buttons ala Mythos, but those will have to wait until I have more time so that I don't mess up the game.

Quartet
Like its sibling games (Borders, Concentration, Go Fish), Quartet had a minor tweak this month and some minor substutions were made.

October 2004 Plans
PAD has been moved back slightly to October (unless I can finish it between now and the end of the month, which is still a possibility, but I seriously doubt it somehow). Two things remains for the game that I forsee at the moment and hopefully, those 2 things will be added in October. Then at some point in the future, the encounter cards can be automated.

MND needs its usual beginning of the month update and the WS setup update is to be carried out this month as well. Borders needs to have the reverse card added as a minor update. Hopefully these three minor updates won't take up too much time. Of course MND still has custom cards being playtested and created and is ongoing.

Bowling is the distraction for October (just like AvP was for September) and hopefully it could be made public by the end of the month. This would be my first Dice game and I'm really looking forward to it.

Optionals this month will include updating B5 The Vorlons, which was completed 2 months early. I'll update it if I can squeeze in some time. Triple Triad and Hyborean Gates could also be done this month as well. Let's hope the scanner doesn't break down on me. And of course, Go Fish will continually have modifications as things move around and get added.

So, in list form, with priority from highest to lowest:
1. PAD - Add Pass/Next buttons, automate Linda - by 31st October.
2. MND - change background by 7th October, custom cards ongoing.
3. Wildstorms - Complete setup automation by 10th October.
4. Borders - Add Reverse card by 5th October.
5. Bowling - game to close testing 16th October, public 30th October.

O. Add Go Fish cardbacks when available.
O. Start Hyborean Gates scans. (Optional)
O. Complete Triple Triad scans. (Optional)
O. Update B5 The Vorlons (Optional)

Remainder of 2004 Plans

Aliens vs Predators - It's "low tech" and "no frills" and it's out there. There are no plans to develop it any further unless the player pool can demonstrate that it can have about 100 games played a month consistantly for 3 months. It's also the first of my "no frills" games up for offer to any AvP fan who'd like to become a Project Lead (or a Co-Lead).

Babylon 5 - The rest of the year would be to figure out automations for Babylon 5. Still on the list of things to do is the automation for replacement and the automated influence tracking and automated initiative determination. Those would take quite a lot of time that I'll have to schedule to be set aside.

Also, The Vorlons was finalised 2 months earlier than usual, but I haven't been able to slot in time for it to work on it. The cards change colour from olive/gold to blue. Also, the schemas all need to be tweaked to make them as close to the real cards as possible... and the cost "football" icon needs a better scan IMO. Another thing to look out for would be bold text on the cards. I have an idea of how that could be done, but it'll need some work.

Borders - The addition of the Reverse card should be the last thing to be done here. People have requested for icons or something... that's something I'll think about, but it's more fun not knowing which of the cards are the "specials".

Elemental - The tidal wave automation has long been outstanding. I think it's possible to do this now, but the script is going to be rather complicated. No schedule for this. Not a high priority since the game works well without the automation and I don't want to introduce something that would introduce errors. It will be done when I can find the time and the motivation.

FastBreak - The game is beginning to feel a bit "low tech" now, eventhough it did have a few innovations (when it was first made). Could do with more playtesting and more inprovements, but until I find the time and the motivation, this isn't going to be done anytime soon.

Go Fish - What do you do when the game plays well and is bug free? Nothing I suppose. However, it'd be getting a minor facelift soon - a tiny crab will be added which will allow an 5 more players to play the game simultaneously. I doubt we'll ever get 13 players into a Go Fish game, but who knows? The schedule is undermined at the moment, and it's not high priority. It could be this year, it could be the next. As usual, cardbacks will continually be added to this game.

Hamlet - There really isn't much to do on this simple game except more playtesting... and perhaps a tournament or two. Hamlet is one of the few of my licensed games I'll consider ready for Now Playing status.

HumAliens - The game is dead, but there's still work to be done. Hopefully, the New Order would be an Online only expansion and the schedule has been moved back to December, due to low gameplays of the game.

Hyborean Gates - Work is scheduled to start in October. This is still going for a public by November, preferable on the anniversary of the engine to keep the "tradition" of having a new game every anniversary alive. It will probably be a "no frills" game.

Magi-Nation Duel - Custom cards are still ongoing and I think people are rather used to the gameplay. The only other thing that can be done is to track how energy is gained and used up. However that is a monumental task since every card does it differently and there are many modifiers... which means it's not going to get done. I think I might also add in something to shuffle all creatures back into the deck for Dream Rift. That's as much automation as I'd be doing...but not this year.

Portable Adventures - After the adventure automating, the other major area would be Encounter cards. I have a rough idea of how to automate these, but they seem rather inconsequential to the whole game, so they might not get done until I get the time and the motivation. In addition, there are two card sets that will be added near the end of the year so those will get priority.

Quartet - More playtesting is needed on this game. Not much improvements will be made until further playtesting is carried out.

Reversi - nipa needs to add a left click to place piece ability, but that's of extremely low priority.

Triple Triad - Scanning has started, but I have no idea when I'll have the time to do this. Hopefully it'll all be scanned by November. I only have 1 - 90, so if anyone wants to scan in the rest of the 18 cards, for me, they are most welcome. Please PM me for more details.

Urland - It could use some scoring automation at some point in the future, but not this year.

Wildstorm - Complete automating setup. Watch out next year when I add my custom StormWatch expansion.

Wildstorm: Set 1 - The WSS2 update is still planned, although it hasn't gone ahead. The game also needs and auto-score if the defender wins. This will be done with the WSS2 update. ETA: Next year.

You Need Drew's Truck - I'd like to automate moving the truck, and automate the initial placements of the donuts. Not this year though, unless I get the time.

Yukk - This game feels rather low tech. After working on Portable Adventures, I think it's possible to put everything in one view... but again not this year.

So a monthly summary:

October - BORD, BOWL, PAD, WS
November - B5, TRIAD, GATES
December - HALN, TRIAD.

Wildstorm: Legends Solitaire (CCG) is still one of my hopefuls. Kings was built just as a demo platform to show that it's actually possible to do this game. I have most of the cards, but time is the limiting factor. Maybe next year, I'll put it on my plate.

No more new licensed games for me this year, unless it's the Urland Expansion or the 2 Portable Adventure Expansions - Firestorm and Iron Maiden - or an Interactivities Ink game. I've a full load for the rest of the year. I have actually decided on which of the licensed game I'll do next year, pending approval from BugLaden. Of course, I'm not going to approach him about it now... at least not until after I've done what I've wanted for PAD.

Quarter 1 2005 Plans

Just pencilling in for next 3 months of 2005 for planning purposes:

January - PAD, WSLS, URLND
February - B5, WS, YNDT
March - WSS1