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Curved Region Rendering

Around a month ago I had an idea in my head: a voronoi grid modified to have rounded cells that change in size. I made an attempt here for single cells changing size. The next step was to merge cells together, as I had done on this project. I decided that the way to demo this would be to simulate some kind of belief/cultural systems that spread over time across a map. I tried this here.

Simulation

It didn't go well.

What happened? I think the problem was that I had three unknown elements in this project:

1. Simulation with the simplest rendering code I could get away with. Figure out what simulation rules are interesting and cool.
2. Rendering isolines on a triangle mesh.

   

3. Rendering curved isolines on a triangle mesh, using Bezier curves.

   

In trying to figure out all three at once, I didn't do a good job on them. I should have instead focused on one at a time. I ended up succeeding with #2 when I learned about and implemented the Meandering Triangles algorithm, and also built a little interactive visualization that helped me understand how the algorithm works. I failed with #1, having tried several algorithms but not finding one that I liked. I realized towards the end of the week that #1 was a red herring; I didn't need a simulation at all, as I really just wanted curved regions. I also failed at #3, having tried some experiments but never finding what I wanted, and also rejecting Chaikin Curves for reasons I can't remember. Since I really wanted the curved variable sized regions, I should have spent more time on #3 and less on #1. I ran out of time on this project so I'll leave #1 and #3 for another day.

You can see the animation I ended up with.

What do I mean "I ran out of time"? That's the next blog post!

Roll West, Young Man...

"Roll and write" is an emerging style of game that seeks to reduce production costs by eschewing cards, tiles and tokens in favor of players simply marking changes to the game state on a piece of paper with a pencil or pen. This allows these games to be sold at a much lower price point, which can only be an asset in the increasingly crowded board game market.

Actually, roll and write games have been around for many years, with Yahtzee usually pointed to as the first commercial example. But the genre has exploded in recent years, either as a way for game publishers to increase their visibility in stores by putting out simplified versions of games like Settlers of Catan or Patchwork, but just as often with off-the-wall ideas that might not support a $60 board game.

We picked up Rolled West on a whim, having not played any roll and write games (other than Yahtzee), and also having not played Gold West, the full board game it's based on,. So we should be able to judge the game on its own merits without comparison to its parent game or other games in the same genre.

Each player is given a dry-erase board showing what initially looks like a dizzying array of icons. But once you play a few times it's pretty straightforward. The icons represent banked resources, boom town buildings, shipment routes, and mining contracts and claims. On his or her turn, the acting player rolls 4 dice showing symbols that equate to copper, silver, gold, and wood. The player chooses one of these to represent the terrain for the turn, and the other three are resources that can either be spent or banked for use on a future turn.

Players spend combinations of resources on the aforementioned buildings, routes, contracts and claim, with an eye towards maximizing their points at the end of the game. There are a lot of options, so clever players will quickly identify a particular strategy, such as staking claims and building mining camps, developing shipping routes, or saving up resources to buy expensive but lucrative contracts, and then staying with that strategy over the course of the game's six turns. Trying to do a little of everything, or changing strategies mid-game, can be disastrous, as the points tend to rack up the farther along you go on a single track, such as staking claims in the woods or developing a shipping line for silver ore.

Boom town buildings confer bonus points based on the other things you've developed in the game, which can be tricky since you don't want to invest in a particular building before you've figured out what your strategy is. At the same time, as soon as one player buys a building it is no longer available to the other players (the corresponding icon is crossed off on their board), so you don't want to wait too long either.

Players also have the option to bank one resource each turn for future use. Banking resources is really the only way to save up for high value contracts that generally require four or five resources but are worth a lot of points at the end of the game, Additionally, in between each of a player's turns they can bank one of the resources rolled by another player. This doesn't prevent the other player from using it, it just allows you to use it also. This is one of the more interesting decision points in the game, since it can only be done once between each turn -- you're always running the risk of banking a resource, only to have someone else roll a more useful one before your turn comes around again.

As you can see, there is a lot going on here, especially for a game that consists of four dice and what amounts to a 4x6 card for each player. My only complaint about the game is that the iconography on the player cards can be a bit difficult to remember, causing frequent referral to the rules to answer "what does this mean again?" questions. It might have been better to make the player boards larger and include gameplay reminders and tips.

Rating: 4 (out of 5) It's got a huge amount of depth for such a simple game, and yet it can still be played in 30 minutes or so.

• Rolled West on BoardGameGeek
• Weirdly, there is no mention of this game on the publisher's website

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People Behind The Meeples - Episode 242: Steven Ridings

Welcome to People Behind the Meeples, a series of interviews with indie game designers.  Here you'll find out more than you ever wanted to know about the people who make the best games that you may or may not have heard of before.  If you'd like to be featured, head over to http://gjjgames.blogspot.com/p/game-designer-interview-questionnaire.html and fill out the questionnaire! You can find all the interviews here: People Behind the Meeples. Support me on Patreon!

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Name:	Steven Ridings
Email:	cretaceousboardgame@gmail.com
Location:	Pennsylvania - United States
Day Job:	3D Modeler - Environmental Artist
Designing:	One to two years.
Webpage:	Cretaceous
Facebook:	Cretaceous Board Game
Twitter:	@cretaceous_game
Instagram:	@cretaceousboardgame/
Find my games at:	Cretaceous: A Dinosaur Hunting Adventure is on Kickstarter in August 2020, Gamecrafter after the campaign

Today's Interview is with:

Steven Ridings
Interviewed on: 7/17/2020

This week's interview is with Steven Ridings, the designer of Cretaceous: A Dinosaur Hunting Adventure, on Kickstarter right now! Read on to learn more about Steven and his projects.

Some Basics
Tell me a bit about yourself.

How long have you been designing tabletop games?
One to two years.

Why did you start designing tabletop games?
I wanted to create something people could have fun with. I am a 3D modeler professionally and I got into it in order to make video games to give people fun, emotional experiences. However I found myself in the government contracting side of the field and while I enjoy what I do, it doesn't scratch that itch to provide people with a fun experience and since I get that from board games it seemed like a great hobby to get into the design side of things.

What game or games are you currently working on?
Cretaceous: A Dinosaur Hunting Adventure

Have you designed any games that have been published?
Not yet!

What is your day job?
3D Modeler - Environmental Artist

Your Gaming Tastes
My readers would like to know more about you as a gamer.

Where do you prefer to play games?
At home or at a friends house. I definitely feel the most comfortable to be loud and just relax.

Who do you normally game with?
Well I have two real groups. One I grew up with in Winchester VA and try to play anytime I swing through town. Another my wife and I met online playing video games and dungeons and dragons.

If you were to invite a few friends together for game night tonight, what games would you play?
I'd say my top two would be Clank! and Evolution. Some runner ups would have to be Dinosaur Island, Betrayal at House on the Hill, and Arkham Horror.

And what snacks would you eat?
Red Baron mini frozen pizzas have kind of become a signature food over here when friends visit. Maybe add some cheetos or chips too.

Do you like to have music playing while you play games? If so, what kind?
We don't, but a buddy of mine always had it when we played Magic and it was cool. Maybe it's something we should start.

What's your favorite FLGS?
I have two since we travel a lot back and forth to VA normally. In Winchester VA there is Kung Fu Comics. It's run by a long time friend and has everything from MTG, board games, and miniatures. In Pennsylvania I would have to say New Dimension Comics. They have a HUGE store at the waterfront and I met my D&D group there.

What is your current favorite game? Least favorite that you still enjoy? Worst game you ever played?
Current favorite would be Dinosaur Island. Making Cretaceous really got me more into a dino mood. Least that I still enjoy would be Joking Hazard as you seem to get the same cards pretty fast so if you play it a lot it starts to get a bit repetitive. I feel a bit bad putting a worst but I would have to say Keys to the Castle. I saw it on sale and I should have known better with no gameplay art on the box but we gave it a try. It's been gathering dust since.

What is your favorite game mechanic? How about your least favorite?
Tile placement and map building are my favorite. I want at the end of the game to look at something and see something that wasn't there when we started. That's one of the main reasons Cretaceous makes the map as you go and spawns dinosaurs during the game, so the map comes to life as you play. My least favorite would be games that put too much power in the cards to draw like Cards Against Humanity or most card only games that have a random draw. It seems that based on what you draw you win or lose and sometimes you know you have lost early based on a "bad hand" and you get to wait for the next round without much of a chance to change that.

What's your favorite game that you just can't ever seem to get to the table?
Arkham Horror. Since there are so many parts to it, it seems a bit overwhelming to new players.

What styles of games do you play?
I like to play Board Games, Card Games, Miniatures Games, RPG Games, Video Games

Do you design different styles of games than what you play?
I like to design Board Games

OK, here's a pretty polarizing game. Do you like and play Cards Against Humanity?
No

You as a Designer
OK, now the bit that sets you apart from the typical gamer. Let's find out about you as a game designer.

When you design games, do you come up with a theme first and build the mechanics around that? Or do you come up with mechanics and then add a theme? Or something else?
I definitely do the theme first. I want to pull a certain feeling out of people and I can get that from the theme. For Cretaceous I wanted the feeling of going through a jungle or forest not knowing what dinosaurs or hazards there would be. It started as a game where you were trying to escape an island and avoid the dinosaurs but slowly the mechanics changed to something far more fun but still gave that same feeling.

Have you ever entered or won a game design competition?
No, I have not entered any. I've only really been focusing on Cretaceous and I didn't want to submit it without all the artwork done. Maybe now that it is at a place I am happy with I can submit it to a few.

Do you have a current favorite game designer or idol?
Definitely Dominic Crapuchettes. The first Evolution really pulled me into the modern board game world and I was so into that game I took it every time I visited friends. They now request and make sure I bring it. And the story of how he came to design board games is amazing as well.

Where or when or how do you get your inspiration or come up with your best ideas?
I'd say my best ideas would come from when I can just sit for 30-60 minute sessions by myself and just write down any ideas for the game. I wont keep most of them, but being able to compare the pool of thoughts easily lets me narrow down to the best ways to accomplish what I want.

How do you go about playtesting your games?
Annoying my wife with countless index card prototypes! But in all seriousness for Cretaceous I remade it a few times with her until I found something I thought was a good base. Then I took it to VA when we visited to get more feedback. After some Game Crafter prototypes to get a feel of costs and components I took it to Tabletop Simulator and reached out to people online. I was planning on more local game store tests instead but with 2020 being what it is, that moved online.

Do you like to work alone or as part of a team? Co-designers, artists, etc.?
I'd like to work with others in the future. Specifically an artist as I believe my skills are limited. Although through all the playtesters I got a lot of great ideas that improved the game, so I can't really say I made it alone.

What do you feel is your biggest challenge as a game designer?
That this is my first game and nobody knows whether to invest in anything I make.

If you could design a game within any IP, what would it be?
The cast of Critical Role for a board game based on one of their two campaigns. They have such rich lore and worlds built that they could go into any media!

What do you wish someone had told you a long time ago about designing games?
I didn't know the Game Crafter was a thing until a little over a year ago. I just had ideas in my head but didn't know how to get it on a real product easily.

What advice would you like to share about designing games?
Make sure to playtest even a really early draft of your game. Even if it is just on index cards. No matter how well you think it will work out, just playing it once will expose things you need to change. Once you finally don't see any major issues, then grab a few more testers and maybe make a better prototype.

Would you like to tell my readers what games you're working on and how far along they are?
This is what I have currently crowdfunding: Cretaceous: A Dinosaur Hunting Adventure
Games that are in the early stages of development and beta testing are: An interesting crafting and creation game is looking pretty fun

Are you a member of any Facebook or other design groups? (Game Maker's Lab, Card and Board Game Developers Guild, etc.)
TGC Designer Discussion

And the oddly personal, but harmless stuff…
OK, enough of the game stuff, let's find out what really makes you tick! These are the questions that I'm sure are on everyone's minds!

Star Trek or Star Wars? Coke or Pepsi? VHS or Betamax?
Star Wars / Pepsi / VHS

What hobbies do you have besides tabletop games?
Retro Video game Collecting and Fishing

What is something you learned in the last week?
Taco Bell has a Grilled Cheese Burrito

Favorite type of music? Books? Movies?
Comedy / Parody Music Fantasy Books 3D Animation Movies like Pixar or Dreamworks

What was the last book you read?
Does the Baldur's Gate campaign book count?

Do you play any musical instruments?
Nope! But if I could, I would choose Violin.

Tell us something about yourself that you think might surprise people.
I don't really like horror movies or books, but for some reason I really like the game Dead by Daylight.

Tell us about something crazy that you once did.
I put Cheetos on a pizza. I used the Joey Tribbiani approach. Pizza? Good. Cheetos? Good. What is there not to like? (It didn't go well)

Biggest accident that turned out awesome?
I didn't know those could turn out well. I'll keep a lookout.

Who is your idol?
Weird Al. He did something he loved that did not fit any of the norms of the time. Accordion parody music wasn't really "in". But he brought so much joy and laughter to the world because he was just himself.

What would you do if you had a time machine?
I think I would be worried about screwing something up in the present. So I guess drop it in the ocean.

Are you an extrovert or introvert?
Introvert. Extremely so.

If you could be any superhero, which one would you be?
Superman. I don't really like DC but the guy has it all. It's like getting to choose multiple choices on this one.

Have any pets?
2 Cats - Nami and Jinx 2 Rabbits - Kisa and Roshi

When the next asteroid hits Earth, causing the Yellowstone caldera to explode, California to fall into the ocean, the sea levels to rise, and the next ice age to set in, what current games or other pastimes do you think (or hope) will survive into the next era of human civilization? What do you hope is underneath that asteroid to be wiped out of the human consciousness forever?
Survive - A thumb drive that some Pirate has filled with all the ROMS of classic video games from NES, SNES, and 64. I bet they would fit. Destroyed - Durian Fruits

If you'd like to send a shout out to anyone, anyone at all, here's your chance (I can't guarantee they'll read this though):
I'd like to thank my wife Kathleen the most. She helped push me to thinking my games would be worth making and not to doubt myself so much. It's really hard to get over the self doubt sometimes.

Thanks for answering all my crazy questions!

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Thank you for reading this People Behind the Meeples indie game designer interview! You can find all the interviews here: People Behind the Meeples and if you'd like to be featured yourself, you can fill out the questionnaire here: http://gjjgames.blogspot.com/p/game-designer-interview-questionnaire.html

Did you like this interview?  Please show your support: Support me on Patreon! Or click the heart at Board Game Links , like GJJ Games on Facebook , or follow on Twitter .  And be sure to check out my games on  Tabletop Generation.

Cha'alt Play Report

 

I took time off from virtual gaming, like the entire lockdown.  That's 5 months.  

Partly, this was because I was finishing up Cha'alt: Fuchsia Malaise.  The rest was due to my being mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted... I've been running my very own in-home daycare (ages 3-9).

Flush with excitement from updating my transparent aluminum (so light weight and durable) O5R house-rules / hack of D&D known as Crimson Dragon Slayer (arcade-mode, bitches!), I ran a 90-minute one-shot of Cha'alt on Roll20.

A couple people dropped out because my way of running 5e isn't RAW enough for them, but we still had a decent party of 4 1/2 players (one guy was late and didn't quite get the hang of the chat until the very end).

The reason I like fast and dirty character creation is because I want to get playing.  And if you get killed, go ahead and think of a new guy and jump back in the next scene.  Everyone's time is valuable.  If I know you're playing a chaotic elf fighter named Gera'ald with a penchant for tentacle cow-tipping, that basically tells me all the mechanical and flavor junk I need to know as the GM.

The PCs had been wandering for a few hours before coming to a well-known landmark in the desert wasteland known as S'kbah.  The adventurers stood on the edge of a sarla'ak pit, it's gaping mouth wide and sun-burnt tentacles writhing hungrily.

20' above floated a hover-skiff containing a prisoner, two Federation guards, and a man wearing all-black.  It appeared that the prisoner was going to be executed very soon.

After some chit-chat with the Federation people, a PC (pixie-fairy thief) flew up and helped the prisoner get his hands free.  Fighting soon commenced.  Weirdly, two of the players chose clerics as characters but only a single healing spell was cast the entire game.  Hand-crossbows versus blasters, the PCs were taking heavy losses.  Feeling cocky, the man in black ignited a purple laser-sword and jumped down to engage the party's only fighter - a reptilian named Drak'thiss.

I missed every single attack with the man in black, so he eventually fell after the PCs flanking him both rolled a critical hit.  In the meantime, the prisoner had run off.  

The survivors looted the bodies and started walking as night approached.  Replacement characters met up with the party and shortly after discovered the prisoner crawling on the sand, dehydrated and near death.

One PC helped him up and gave him water.  Everyone listened to the prisoner's promise of wealth and power if they kept him alive long enough to get off-world.  He mentioned the infamous black pyramid...

Two seconds later, another PC attempted to brain him with a mace.  He missed and the other PCs brushed it off with uncomfortable laughter, somehow unable to see the giant red flag being waved in front of their faces.  Next round, that same PC shot him point-blank in the head.  

A couple of the other PCs complained about their comrade's rash action, but they didn't take up arms against him.  And then we were out of time.

While I'm running the game, I try not to judge.  I may slightly nudge adventurers in a certain direction from time to time, but ultimately it's their choice.  

Now, that the game is over... well, let's just say mistakes were made.  Nothing was set in stone.  The scenario could have gone in one of a dozen different directions.  Next time I run the same scenario, it'll go a different way.  Always does.  

If you choose to GM your own introduction to Cha'alt, feel free to use that (completely and utterly original start-point), and ask me for further information on the NPCs, possible future plans, etc.

VS

p.s. I still have 40-something luxury Cha'alt hardcovers left.  Want one before they're gone?  Here ya go, hoss!

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ASOIAF: Rodrik Cassel 40Pt Army

Let's get down to business.

Winter has come.  While there are some people out there that prefer to go maneuver-heavy with Robb or face-smashy with Greatjon Umber, I like going Rodrik Cassel.  The reason why is because his tactics cards are absolutely bonkers and making units Vulnerable just makes a smashy faction even smashier.

First, let's take a look at Rodrik Cassel and see what he offers to our army:

A true soldier.

As you can see, Rodrik is a soldier who has an Order to make the opponent's unit Vulnerable after Attack dice are rolled.  The timing for this is exceptionally important because it's what Sworn Sword Captains have as well and it's considered one of the best 1-point attachments in the game.  Vulnerable is huge for someone like Rodrik because it unlocks his Tactics cards and skyrockets the damage potential of all your units.  Having Vulnerable on something after you charge it would mean you re-roll all hits and your opponent has to essentially re-roll all their successful saves.  It pretty much means the Stark army will obliterate units that have low saves or punch through tougher targets that can normally deflect their blows.  Peeling ranks off enemy units will also keep your units around longer as the enemies' damage potential will decrease.

Let's take a look at Rodrik's tactics cards:

All that martial goodness!

Martial Superiority is one of the best defensive tactics cards in the game.  It triggers off when the enemy unit attacks and that dice rolls less dice AND loses all abilities until the end of the turn.  Now, it isn't as powerful as some of the silences we've been before where it lasts until the end of the round, but this card doesn't need any conditionals like expending condition tokens or anything else.  You cast it, boom, and most of the opponent's plans are foiled.  This card is amazing at stopping something like Gregor + Flayed Men from rolling a unit while you set up for a counter-attack.  To make things even more interesting, if you're going after Rodrik's unit, good luck.  Having Weakened on top of this card pretty much means Rodrik's units going to stay around.  Combat Prowess is a great follow-up card when used with Rodrik's unit or with any unit under the influence of Vulnerable.  What if your opponent rolls poorly and you don't need to spend the Vulnerable token?  Guess like he's being silenced and unable to respond with any defensive tactics cards.  It's really fierce when used on the charge as there are fewer things in the game that interacts with that timing window than when a friendly unit attacks.  Lastly, we have Press the Advantage.  This is another one of those cards that trigger off the attack so you can't use a Sworn Sword Captain's Orders and then play this card because it escapes the window.  What this card does is kick your opponents when they're already down because of the Critical Blows on an already Vulnerable target.  That's why I have taken a unit of Tully Sworn Shields with Rodrik because it makes them one of the tankiest units in the game while giving them the opportunity to do bigger damage than their stats suggest.

Here's the list:

Faction: House Stark
Commander: Rodrik Cassel – Master–at–Arms
Points: 40 (4 Neutral)

Combat Units:
• Stark Sworn Swords (5)
  with Sworn Sword Captain (1)
• House Umber Greataxes (7)
  with Robb Stark – The Young Wolf (3)
• Grey Wind (0)
• House Tully Sworn Shields (7)
  with Rodrik Cassel – Master–at–Arms (0)
• Stark Outriders (7)
  with Brynden Tully – Vanguard Infiltrator (3)

Non-Combat Units:
• Sansa Stark – Little Bird (3)
• Petyr Baelish – Littlefinger (4)

Made with ASOIAFBuilder.com

Let me try and explain some of these choices super quick.  The Stark Sword Swords are simply one of the best offensive units in the game for the cost.  With Stark Fury and 8 dice on a 5-point unit and the ability to make someone Vulnerable, the damage potential for this unit is huge.  Great Axes deal a huge amount of damage and can definitely wreck heavy cavalry if they're already engaged with them.  Robb Stark as an attachment makes them regular infantry speed and gives you the ability to launch yourself out there on a Maneuver trigger on the tactics board.  This makes two units that can do it in the army and that will surprise your opponents a lot!  The fact that Robb (and Bran) come with their Dire Wolves is one of the best things about Starks.  These free wolves not only come with great abilities, but they're a free activation and deploy to be used in battle.  Grey Wind is especially good because he is able to apply Vulnerable onto a unit if already used, or apply it beforehand so it can be consumed using Rodrik's own ability or tactics cards.

I already explained a little bit about the Tully Sworn Shields above, but with Rodrik's tactics cards, this unit becomes a very jack-of-all-trades unit.  It's already super defensive with Shield Wall and 3+ save, but cards like Martial Superiority just takes it over the edge.  While the defensive stats normally lower damage expectations, Press the Advantage and Vulnerable tokens in general greatly increases its damage potential.  As for Stark Outriders, I think they're a great, solid unit at 7 points.  With Brynden Tully however, they can be one of the most annoying units in the game thanks for their great flanking ability and healing on retreat.  A lot of the Stark tactics cards play incredibly well with Outriders as well thanks to their unpredictable damage potential.  Just remember that with 7-point units, you can also decide to trade out the Sworn Shields for a unit of Berserkers if you want some more face-smash.

"And yet you betrayed me.."

As for NCUs, I really like Sansa Stark with Rodrik because of her ability to recycle or tutor for exactly what is needed right then and there.  While we all try and anticipate everything that is going to happen in a game, Sansa offers us extra insurance that if an opponent rolls a 6 for a long ass charge you didn't anticipate and is rolling in with crazy Tactics cards in support, you always have a way to Martial Superiority him into the ground.  For my next NCU, believe it or not, I think Littlefinger is a solid choice for the Starks.  It's just comical that I'm taking both Sansa and Littlefinger in the same list, but his ability to claim Combat/Maneuver that unlocks the secondary capabilities for your Stark tactics cards while still reaping the benefit of other unclaimed zones is amazing.

Try out the list and let me know how you fair!