~ Novelty's March Monthly Report ~
A new engine required games to get updated for it, and this month saw the culmination of the new engine, so quite a nuber of games got updated.
Tournaments
The February MND Elder's Legacy tournament had 9 participants, although more signed up. Malovis was declared the undisputed winner. The March MND Elder's Legacy tournament is still ongoing and more players are playing this month than last month.
gNet BOT
Cleared out quite a bit of useless questions and some not so useless ones. Edited quite a few so that they are now compliant with the new look engine and the new tokens system. Quite a lot of questions still do needs answers though so that will get done when I get the time.
Forums
The forums was moved back to the main server, which took a bit of time, but was otherwise uneventful. No new forums debutted this month, although a few of the Vancancy signs have been removed.
Games
New Engine, some games got updates for it.
BOWL Bowling
The game was updated to ensure that the broken things in it were corrected. Also Ed wanted a few things changed around so that was done. I think it'll probably need an update soonish as well to move the message box to local quiet buttons. I already have an idea of how to do that, but I'll need to find images to implement them.
FTWIL Final Twilight
The money and moren counters were reused from B5. No more. They are now graphically correct and shows the images as it appears on the cards. Also fixed a few bugs in the game while I "was looking under the hood".
GOFSH Go Fish
Go Fish had 6 cards added and quite a bit of updates not to the play, but to the sliders which were discontinued in the current engine.
HALN HumAliens
Beast and Clone cards for New Order was added.
KINGS Kings
Kings needed a huge and major overhaul to make it compliant with the new version of the engine. It was one of the two games that the new engine mangled up.
MND Magi-Nation Duel
This was MND month, or so it seems. Anyways it's a good anniversary for me and MND. Yes, I've been the PL for MND for 2 years now. The game got 6 more Tainted glimpses cards and had an update that was more than just bugfixes (although that was included as well). The Brushfire script was redone for the third time, the Bottled City script finally works the way it's supposed to, and there's better handling of the variable X in the pay and play scripts. Increased some more automations to the game which might speed things up a little bit more.
PAD Portable Adventures
Portable Adventures was the other game that the new engine mangled, and as a consequence, it needed a "patch" for the new version of the engine. Bugfixes were also included as well.
WS Wildstorms
The handling of Battlesites were given more options and the common view was adjusted slightly.
gNet BOT
Cleared out quite a bit of useless questions and some not so useless ones. Edited quite a few so that they are now compliant with the new look engine and the new tokens system. Quite a lot of questions still do needs answers though so that will get done when I get the time.
Forums
The forums was moved back to the main server, which took a bit of time, but was otherwise uneventful. No new forums debutted this month, although a few of the Vancancy signs have been removed.
Games
New Engine, some games got updates for it.
BOWL Bowling
The game was updated to ensure that the broken things in it were corrected. Also Ed wanted a few things changed around so that was done. I think it'll probably need an update soonish as well to move the message box to local quiet buttons. I already have an idea of how to do that, but I'll need to find images to implement them.
FTWIL Final Twilight
The money and moren counters were reused from B5. No more. They are now graphically correct and shows the images as it appears on the cards. Also fixed a few bugs in the game while I "was looking under the hood".
GOFSH Go Fish
Go Fish had 6 cards added and quite a bit of updates not to the play, but to the sliders which were discontinued in the current engine.
HALN HumAliens
Beast and Clone cards for New Order was added.
KINGS Kings
Kings needed a huge and major overhaul to make it compliant with the new version of the engine. It was one of the two games that the new engine mangled up.
MND Magi-Nation Duel
This was MND month, or so it seems. Anyways it's a good anniversary for me and MND. Yes, I've been the PL for MND for 2 years now. The game got 6 more Tainted glimpses cards and had an update that was more than just bugfixes (although that was included as well). The Brushfire script was redone for the third time, the Bottled City script finally works the way it's supposed to, and there's better handling of the variable X in the pay and play scripts. Increased some more automations to the game which might speed things up a little bit more.
PAD Portable Adventures
Portable Adventures was the other game that the new engine mangled, and as a consequence, it needed a "patch" for the new version of the engine. Bugfixes were also included as well.
WS Wildstorms
The handling of Battlesites were given more options and the common view was adjusted slightly.
WSS1 Wildstorm: Set 1
The image sliders were updated for the new engine and the first 3 of the WSS2 cards were added to the game.
April 2005 Plans
I didn't finish 3 things last month - B5, HumAliens and Hyborean Gates. All three will be carried forward to this month. The plus side is that I completed two optionals.
Babylon 5 still needs to finally get the bold text in for all the cards. This will be a major upgrade for minor benefits.
Firestorm will need to get started this month. This is going to be huge.
HumAliens and New Order goes on for this month. Hopefully they will be finished faster this month, but it's on a do as much as possible status.
Hyborian Gates needs to get spoiler-ified, cards needs to be clipped and processed for the engine this month.
MND Playtesting of Shadowsfall will result in modifications to those cards... and the addition of Tainted Glimpses continues this month, definately with KT and Weave and hopefully with Arderial. Also, creature dice needs to be created on creatures played from deck lookthrough and top of deck.
PAD Encounters automation should start with the first 3 cards this month.
Bowling goes optional this month with the update to change the message slider to buttons.
The regular optional - Go Fish cardback updates will still be retained for the month.
So, prioritised games for this month:
1. Automate Portable Adventures encounters by 15th April.
2. Babylon 5 Bold text by 30th April.
3. Magi-Nation Duel - add in the next few regions for Tainted Glimpses. Update Shadowsfall Promo if and when necessary.
4. Firestorm - spoiler and images
5. Hyborean Gates - spoiler and images.
6. HumAliens - New Order updates.
O. Add Go Fish cardbacks when available.
O. Bowling - change dialog box to buttons.
Rest of the Year Plans
Aliens vs Predators and Terminator (AVPVT) - Add Atmosphere cards and create the Planetfall scenario. Get Terminator scans from website, add it to the engine and create the 2 additional scenarios, as well as the Terminator scenario(s). Quite a bit of work here, but between Ravage and Ryan(Rekkon), I hope to get everything up and ready by the end of the year.
Babylon 5 (B5) - 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.
Borders (BORD) - Game is fully functional. It should probably get promoted to Now Playing soon.
Bowling (BOWL) - More playtesting is needed for this game especially after the fix.
Checkers (CHECK) - This is another "no frills", "low-tech" game at the moment. It would probably get upgraded once I have the time, motivation and ideas, but for now it's playable and that would have to do.
Elemental (ELEM) - 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. Also the next build should see hotspots being added to the game.
FastBreak (FB) - 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.
Final Twilight (FTWIL) - New cards are being added on a regular basis so those will have to be coded in. A pay-and-play system and card attachments are also in the works. This game
was originally intended to be "no-frills" but since it's now getting licensed, it'll have to move beyond that.
Firestorm (FIRE) - New licensed game for me to do for 2005, for July public release, or at least that's the plan.
Go Fish (GOFSH) - 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 undetermined at the moment, and it's not high priority. As usual, cardbacks will continually be added to this game.
Hamlet (HAMLT) - 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 (HALN) - Once New Order has been added, all that there is to do for this game is massive playtest.
Hyborian Gates (GATES) - Hopefully this will go public in April. It's going to be another "no frills", "low-tech" game though so it might lie fallow until someone with more enthusiasm and ideas comes along to take it over.
Magi-Nation Duel (MND) - 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.
Portable Adventures (PAD) - There are two card sets that will be added near the end of the year so those will get priority when they are available.
Quartet (QUART) - More playtesting is needed on this game. Not much improvements will be made until further playtesting is carried out. The game seems stable though.
Reversi (RVRSI) - Since Tomi added the left-click functionality and upgraded the images, it's done and has been upgraded to "Now Playing". No work required.
Triple Triad (TRIAD) - Scanning has finished, but I have no idea when I'll have the time to code
this. There is also a rather good site to play it online anyways, so it might be moot to adapt it to the engine... but it'll make a good distraction for one the the months when I need a distraction. I only have cards 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 (URLND) - It could use some scoring automation at some point in the future, time to
be determined.
Wildstorms (WS) - There's the plan to add my custom StormWatch expansion sometime this year, probably in the second half of the year. Also the cards needs to be clipped and blanked. That will have to be done first.
Wildstorms Legends (WSLS) - This game is going into the queue after Bowling, Firestorm, Hyborean Gates and Triple Triad. I guess that makes it a November public release game.
Wildstorm: Set 1 (WSS1) - 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. Schedule: June - October.
You Need Drew's Truck (YNDT) - I'd like to automate moving the truck, and automate the initial placements of the donuts. I'm going to wait for the grid system that Ed has promised
though before working on it.
Yukk (YUKK) - This game feels rather low tech, but it works well. I think I'll leave it
as it is.
I have way too many games on my plate. No new game announcements from me until at least until June, unless it's a game like Final Twilight which will be a one week distraction.
2005 Plans
May - ELEM, FIRE, URLND, AVPVT (Terminator)
June - WSS1, YNDT, AVPVT (Terminator)
July - WSS1, WS (clipping)
August - WSLS, WS (clipping)
September - WSLS, WS (Stormwatch)
High Priority for next 3 months (after March):
* Automate Encounters in Portable Adventures
* Make Hyborian Gates beta
* Card templates for Silk Road and playtest. Finalise rules.
Medium Priority:
* Firestorm
* Add Terminator to AvPvT
* Add bold text to B5 cards
* Finalise Shadowsfall Promo Magi for MND
In between Medium and Low Priority:
* Add hotspots to Elemental
* Automate YNDT truck moving
* Automate scoring in Urland, add hotspots
* Add AI to Bowling
Low Priority:
* Triple Triad
* WS Legends
* WSS2 expansion for WSS1
* Stormwatch expansion for WS
* Atmosphere for AvP
* Crab to Go Fish
No Priority:
* Highlander
* Tempest of the Gods
* Armageddon
HumAliens and New Order goes on for this month. Hopefully they will be finished faster this month, but it's on a do as much as possible status.
Hyborian Gates needs to get spoiler-ified, cards needs to be clipped and processed for the engine this month.
MND Playtesting of Shadowsfall will result in modifications to those cards... and the addition of Tainted Glimpses continues this month, definately with KT and Weave and hopefully with Arderial. Also, creature dice needs to be created on creatures played from deck lookthrough and top of deck.
PAD Encounters automation should start with the first 3 cards this month.
Bowling goes optional this month with the update to change the message slider to buttons.
The regular optional - Go Fish cardback updates will still be retained for the month.
So, prioritised games for this month:
1. Automate Portable Adventures encounters by 15th April.
2. Babylon 5 Bold text by 30th April.
3. Magi-Nation Duel - add in the next few regions for Tainted Glimpses. Update Shadowsfall Promo if and when necessary.
4. Firestorm - spoiler and images
5. Hyborean Gates - spoiler and images.
6. HumAliens - New Order updates.
O. Add Go Fish cardbacks when available.
O. Bowling - change dialog box to buttons.
Rest of the Year Plans
Aliens vs Predators and Terminator (AVPVT) - Add Atmosphere cards and create the Planetfall scenario. Get Terminator scans from website, add it to the engine and create the 2 additional scenarios, as well as the Terminator scenario(s). Quite a bit of work here, but between Ravage and Ryan(Rekkon), I hope to get everything up and ready by the end of the year.
Babylon 5 (B5) - 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.
Borders (BORD) - Game is fully functional. It should probably get promoted to Now Playing soon.
Bowling (BOWL) - More playtesting is needed for this game especially after the fix.
Checkers (CHECK) - This is another "no frills", "low-tech" game at the moment. It would probably get upgraded once I have the time, motivation and ideas, but for now it's playable and that would have to do.
Elemental (ELEM) - 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. Also the next build should see hotspots being added to the game.
FastBreak (FB) - 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.
Final Twilight (FTWIL) - New cards are being added on a regular basis so those will have to be coded in. A pay-and-play system and card attachments are also in the works. This game
was originally intended to be "no-frills" but since it's now getting licensed, it'll have to move beyond that.
Firestorm (FIRE) - New licensed game for me to do for 2005, for July public release, or at least that's the plan.
Go Fish (GOFSH) - 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 undetermined at the moment, and it's not high priority. As usual, cardbacks will continually be added to this game.
Hamlet (HAMLT) - 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 (HALN) - Once New Order has been added, all that there is to do for this game is massive playtest.
Hyborian Gates (GATES) - Hopefully this will go public in April. It's going to be another "no frills", "low-tech" game though so it might lie fallow until someone with more enthusiasm and ideas comes along to take it over.
Magi-Nation Duel (MND) - 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.
Portable Adventures (PAD) - There are two card sets that will be added near the end of the year so those will get priority when they are available.
Quartet (QUART) - More playtesting is needed on this game. Not much improvements will be made until further playtesting is carried out. The game seems stable though.
Reversi (RVRSI) - Since Tomi added the left-click functionality and upgraded the images, it's done and has been upgraded to "Now Playing". No work required.
Triple Triad (TRIAD) - Scanning has finished, but I have no idea when I'll have the time to code
this. There is also a rather good site to play it online anyways, so it might be moot to adapt it to the engine... but it'll make a good distraction for one the the months when I need a distraction. I only have cards 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 (URLND) - It could use some scoring automation at some point in the future, time to
be determined.
Wildstorms (WS) - There's the plan to add my custom StormWatch expansion sometime this year, probably in the second half of the year. Also the cards needs to be clipped and blanked. That will have to be done first.
Wildstorms Legends (WSLS) - This game is going into the queue after Bowling, Firestorm, Hyborean Gates and Triple Triad. I guess that makes it a November public release game.
Wildstorm: Set 1 (WSS1) - 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. Schedule: June - October.
You Need Drew's Truck (YNDT) - I'd like to automate moving the truck, and automate the initial placements of the donuts. I'm going to wait for the grid system that Ed has promised
though before working on it.
Yukk (YUKK) - This game feels rather low tech, but it works well. I think I'll leave it
as it is.
I have way too many games on my plate. No new game announcements from me until at least until June, unless it's a game like Final Twilight which will be a one week distraction.
2005 Plans
May - ELEM, FIRE, URLND, AVPVT (Terminator)
June - WSS1, YNDT, AVPVT (Terminator)
July - WSS1, WS (clipping)
August - WSLS, WS (clipping)
September - WSLS, WS (Stormwatch)
High Priority for next 3 months (after March):
* Automate Encounters in Portable Adventures
* Make Hyborian Gates beta
* Card templates for Silk Road and playtest. Finalise rules.
Medium Priority:
* Firestorm
* Add Terminator to AvPvT
* Add bold text to B5 cards
* Finalise Shadowsfall Promo Magi for MND
In between Medium and Low Priority:
* Add hotspots to Elemental
* Automate YNDT truck moving
* Automate scoring in Urland, add hotspots
* Add AI to Bowling
Low Priority:
* Triple Triad
* WS Legends
* WSS2 expansion for WSS1
* Stormwatch expansion for WS
* Atmosphere for AvP
* Crab to Go Fish
No Priority:
* Highlander
* Tempest of the Gods
* Armageddon
posted by Novelty @ 11:02 pm
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