Basically the Case Studies of the original version are becoming Character/Creature/Test Subject/whatever cards. I have not come up with working names for the various card types I need to do a little more research to make sure I don’t infringe upon any existing games or systems out there. My goal is for Designer Genes to stand apart from what is already out there. Sure it’s a saturated genre so there will be some conceptual overlaps but that’s expected. Overall what I have started to come up with here is somewhat different, and does provide some strategic differences to make it an interesting game to play.
Character Data – this is a huge part of the creative process. It’s what defines a large portion of the cards and really is crucial to game balance and enjoyment. No artwork, right now I’m essentially building a database chock full of stats, information, descriptions, ideas for the artists, etc. I’ve gotten about 90 completed so far and I’m hoping to have between 150 and 200 done before I take any of that to the next step. There is a hierarchy to it all and each set has 4 possible tiers of cards. Within each tier there is a vast range of diversity so it feels like there are even more tiers but they are defining specific add ons or mutation levels with them.
I personally like the ideas behind it but that does not guarantee others will. My personal balance is to keep it simple for anyone to play (even if they end up sucking lol), but leave enough meat on the none for the advanced player to be able to put some deeper thought and strategy into their gameplay.
Balancing the 4 tiers both within themselves and each other has been a struggle and a lot more mathematics than I would normally be used to in my day to day life has been involved. The systems are being built on 1d6 and 2d6 to keep it simple and easy to replace if someone loses their dice from the starter set.
I’ve devised a system that should keep things relatively in check but allow the chance for explosive gameplay and moves within a game if the right cards fall and the proper decisions are made. Some tests here using just the computer and pen/paper have been good. I;ll print out some dummy cards soon for more randomization and testing.
Not the biggest update to offer today but it’s something. I’m working on it as time allows and have a lot more in place than my last post. I’m going to try to keep future posts to more specific items of the game to go into deeper details.
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