💾 Archived View for ythraverse.xyz › gemlog › entries › 240728.gmi captured on 2024-08-25 at 00:09:42. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
⬅️ Previous capture (2024-08-18)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
It's been almost a couple of weeks since my last gemlog post. I haven't lost interest in my Gemini capsule, far from it, but there have been two factors contributing to the lack of output. One is the usual: Work takes up a lot of time and is very tiring.
The second, more interesting reason pertains to a potential content idea I mentioned near the end of my last entry:
"Another idea I've been toying with is putting together some kind of simple game based on my sci-fi setting... one that might not even entail much programming, but rather be kind of like a choose-your-own-adventure with some light game elements. You know those old-school game books or solo board games that would have some simple mechanics and a bit of random event resolution? ...I've considered making some relatively small 'quests' or 'missions' with such a system that take place in my sci-fi universe and posting them on a semi-regular (monthly?) basis."
I was intrigued enough by this idea that I decided to dig out one of my more expansive shelved past game systems I've made, one inspired by the BattleTech board game, called R-Knight. Even with some simplification to try to make it suitable for solo play as a board game (no computer to track and calculate everything), the "simplicity" and "lightness" of the adapted system are open to question. Narratively, I think it has pretty interesting lore and story possibilities. Gameplay-wise, I reached the point where I designed and have now playtested a couple of missions.
The results are that, somewhat high complexity level aside, the system works, seems pretty well-balanced, and is playable. However, I've noticed a problem that when combat is joined, the game mechanics are such that the battle starts out fairly dynamic, but will settle into a state where both sides have reached their optimal positioning where the best course of action is to just repeat the same actions every turn, and from there the resolution of the battle just becomes a matter of dice-rolling and ticking off ammunition and armor points until one side wins. Rather monotonous and not very satisfying.
So, although I had been getting close to the point where I could post the inaugural R-Knight content, based on these playtest results, I decided the system needs more tweaking to be enjoyable. In fact, based on the nature of the problem, I think it needs a fairly significant overhaul, which is unfortunate because it means I'll have to redo much of the work I've put in so far, entailing more delays before I can start posting what I think should be some very interesting content to my capsule.
Shifting gears to more "journaling" topics, this has been a week of gaming cancellations. I was able to run my Saturday game of VanVan (my custom fantasy tabletop RPG) yesterday, but I had to cancel the Friday night game due to too many player absences, and I also had to cancel today's game of Traveller (the sci-fi tabletop RPG) for the same reason. So instead, I went golfing with the one player who was around today -- not on a real course this time because it's way too hot and humid, but at an indoor virtual golf simulator.
Now, I haven't played enough golf to be any good at it. Maybe someday I will (or maybe not, it's not an easy sport and my chances to play are few and far between), but for now it's something I do purely for fun even though I suck at it. That said, the simulator, in addition to just being cool and fun, was also very useful for practicing because you could get zoomed-in slow-motion playback of your swing and its contact with the ball, which was great for seeing exactly WHY our shots would be awful and trying to correct them. By the end I was actually hitting some pretty decent drives that were flying straight and going (according to the simulator) about ~180 yards. (For anyone who doesn't know, 180 yards is a pathetic drive, but right now I'm more focused on just hitting the ball in roughly the direction I want it to go, and once I can do that with some level of consistency, then I'll focus on improving my power.)
It was so hot and humid today that even in an indoor air-conditioned venue, I got pretty sweaty and sticky and was generally feeling pretty gross by the end. Fortunately my house is naturally quite cool even in sweltering conditions, so I feel fairly comfortable in here even though I don't have A/C. I didn't know that about my house when I bought it, but it's a trait I've really come to appreciate in the summer. (Less so during the long, brutal winters.)
Well, I'll spend what time I can this evening thinking about how to make the battles for R-Knight more dynamic and interesting while keep the system simple enough to be suitable for un-computer-assisted solo play.
If anybody is wondering about VVO, I haven't given up on that or anything. It's still in the same state as it was the last time I talked about it, with the basic elements of the client and server working, and the ability for multiple players to move around on the map and to see and chat with each other, and I was in the middle of implementing a robust event scripting system. I do want to continue working on it, but since I'm working on these projects primarily for my own satisfaction and relaxation, I'm just following my whims, and right now my whims led me to working on R-Knight. But who knows when that might change... that's why they're called whims.
I wish I had more time for working on this stuff. Stupid job. Can I retire yet? =_=
Mood: languid.
Current #1 request for extending the Gemini protocol spec: in-line italic and bold formatting.