~ Novelty's April Monthly Report ~
A lot of things happening this month, but not a lot of it is mine. I'm also branching out into other things as well though, which means game coding is suffering a bit as well.
Tournaments
The March MND Elder's Legacy tournament had 10 participants, although more signed up. Malovis was declared the undisputed winner. The April MND Elder's Legacy tournament is still ongoing and more players are playing this month than last month. It is very likely that Malovis will also be the winner this month
gNet BOT
nipa did a lot of work there, so I didn't do much this month. Most of it is cleared out now though. Still it gets filled up rather fast, particularly with people asking it stupid questions.
Forums
The forum underwent some major readjustment this month with three new categories being created - Games in Development, Games awaiting Leads and Games Removed. This is to ensure that the current games now available for playing are located near the top of the forum. It also allows the Games Removed section to showcase some of the games removed by the publishers so that people can see what has gone on before. A number of forums were added, a couple were taken up by PLs looking for games, and all game forums now have a cardback icon again.
Games
The focus this month seems to be on games that will get tournament ready and a few things were done in that regard.
gNet BOT
nipa did a lot of work there, so I didn't do much this month. Most of it is cleared out now though. Still it gets filled up rather fast, particularly with people asking it stupid questions.
Forums
The forum underwent some major readjustment this month with three new categories being created - Games in Development, Games awaiting Leads and Games Removed. This is to ensure that the current games now available for playing are located near the top of the forum. It also allows the Games Removed section to showcase some of the games removed by the publishers so that people can see what has gone on before. A number of forums were added, a couple were taken up by PLs looking for games, and all game forums now have a cardback icon again.
Games
The focus this month seems to be on games that will get tournament ready and a few things were done in that regard.
ELEM Elemental
The Elemental update attempted to add the new stuff developed for RSP to automatically center a piece in a square. However the method isn't working very well on elemental, so it's disable for the time being.
GOFSH Go Fish
Go Fish had 4 cards added and 4 cards updated, in addition to some plate changes. Otherwise, the game remains the same.
HALN HumAliens
Most of the New Order was added - the only outstanding ones are the Pet Enhancements and the non-Team Actions.
MND Magi-Nation Duel
MND updates this month consisted mostly of new cards to TG and updated images on some of the TG cards. Some corrections to the feature update started last month were made, and a few were extended to other areas.
URLND
Urland had a quick update this month to ensured that it work in the new build. Once it did though, the game played flawlessly, as evidenced by a playtest session I had this month.
YNDT You Need Drew's Truck
YNDT had a quick update to automate setup. Setup could not be automated when the game was first developed. Since then, the engine has moved forward leaps and bounds and have left the game behind. YNDT though received its first update to make it slightly better.
GOFSH Go Fish
Go Fish had 4 cards added and 4 cards updated, in addition to some plate changes. Otherwise, the game remains the same.
HALN HumAliens
Most of the New Order was added - the only outstanding ones are the Pet Enhancements and the non-Team Actions.
MND Magi-Nation Duel
MND updates this month consisted mostly of new cards to TG and updated images on some of the TG cards. Some corrections to the feature update started last month were made, and a few were extended to other areas.
URLND
Urland had a quick update this month to ensured that it work in the new build. Once it did though, the game played flawlessly, as evidenced by a playtest session I had this month.
YNDT You Need Drew's Truck
YNDT had a quick update to automate setup. Setup could not be automated when the game was first developed. Since then, the engine has moved forward leaps and bounds and have left the game behind. YNDT though received its first update to make it slightly better.
May 2005 Plans
I only did 2 of the 6 things I said I'll do this month. Ack, I'm falling behind. And I'm scheduled to fall behind even more in May, even as I carry forward the 4 outstanding tasks from April.
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 Shadowsfall goes into playtested status, and a semi-major MND update is envisioned this month as the "Novelty rules" take effect on the engine version of MND. Playtesting of Tainted Glimpses continues this month, and hopefully all the cards will be made available - only two regions, Nar and d'Resh needs to get added tot he engine.
PAD Encounters automation should start with the first 3 cards this month.
Urland needs a few updates. Might as well put them in this month.
Likewise YNDT could do with a few automations. Might as well put them in so that the game can flow smoother in a tournament.
Elemental needs to get things fix once Ed figures out what's wrong with the coding.
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, games for this month not prioritized, nor with expected completion dates:
1. Automate some Portable Adventures encounters.
2. Babylon 5 Bold text.
3. Magi-Nation Duel - add in the last 2 regions for Tainted Glimpses. Update game for "Novelty Rules".
4. Firestorm - spoiler and images
5. Hyborean Gates - spoiler and images.
6. HumAliens - New Order updates - Pet Enhancements and non-Team Actions.
7. YNDT - Automate truck. Automate play stuff to donut.
8. Urland - Change volcano to marker, make ichtos to be movable by all, add sound if possible.
O. Add Go Fish cardbacks when available.
O. Bowling - change dialog box to buttons.
O. Bowling - change dialog box to buttons.
O. Elemental - complete hotspots and Tidal Wave automation.
Rest of the Year Plans
Aliens vs Predators and Terminator (AVPVT) - Add Atmosphere cards and create the Planetfall scenario. Add Terminator 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. Hotspots aren't working properly yet for Elemental.
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) - 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 probably getting licensed, it'll have to move beyond that.
Firestorm (FIRE) - New licensed game for me to do for 2005, it's going to be delayed to a November 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 and to add in functionality for New Order cards.
Hyborian Gates (GATES) - Hopefully this will go public in June. 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) - Encounters needs to be automated, and then there's quite a bit of work involved with the playtesting.
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 and a number of suggestions were developed during playtesting this month including a few functional changes.
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 Firestorm, Hyborean Gates and Triple Triad. I guess that makes it a December 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, automate all cards and automate playing stuff to (replace) the donuts. Sounds would be a good addition too.
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
June - WSS1, HGATE, FIRE, URLND, AVPVT (Terminator)
July - HGATE, FIRE, WSS1, WS (clipping)
August - HGATE, FIRE, WSLS, WS (clipping)
September - FIRE, WSLS, WS (Stormwatch)
High Priority for next 3 months (after March):
* Automate Encounters in Portable Adventures
* Make Hyborian Gates beta
Medium Priority:
* Firestorm
* Add bold text to B5 cards
* Automate YNDT truck moving
Rest of the Year Plans
Aliens vs Predators and Terminator (AVPVT) - Add Atmosphere cards and create the Planetfall scenario. Add Terminator 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. Hotspots aren't working properly yet for Elemental.
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) - 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 probably getting licensed, it'll have to move beyond that.
Firestorm (FIRE) - New licensed game for me to do for 2005, it's going to be delayed to a November 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 and to add in functionality for New Order cards.
Hyborian Gates (GATES) - Hopefully this will go public in June. 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) - Encounters needs to be automated, and then there's quite a bit of work involved with the playtesting.
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 and a number of suggestions were developed during playtesting this month including a few functional changes.
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 Firestorm, Hyborean Gates and Triple Triad. I guess that makes it a December 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, automate all cards and automate playing stuff to (replace) the donuts. Sounds would be a good addition too.
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
June - WSS1, HGATE, FIRE, URLND, AVPVT (Terminator)
July - HGATE, FIRE, WSS1, WS (clipping)
August - HGATE, FIRE, WSLS, WS (clipping)
September - FIRE, WSLS, WS (Stormwatch)
High Priority for next 3 months (after March):
* Automate Encounters in Portable Adventures
* Make Hyborian Gates beta
Medium Priority:
* Firestorm
* Add bold text to B5 cards
* Automate YNDT truck moving
In between Medium and Low Priority:
* Add Terminator to AvPvT
* 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:
* Tempest of the Gods
* Armageddon
* 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:
* Tempest of the Gods
* Armageddon
posted by Novelty @ 10:19 pm
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