Well, I just uploaded my Game Chef entry to the official submissions thread:

My entry

I'm pretty certain that most of Chapter 6. is rubbish but that's okay. It's done, it's up there and I can proudly say that I finished a good 7 hours before the deadline. Now I need to sleep!

What I will note, before heading bedwards, is that I've had a lot of fun with Game Chef in my first time entering. It's amazing just how much you can manage to get done when you have a deadline to work to, even with kids, work and other Real Life™ things getting in the way. The Three Clans is a little longer than I'd like at just shy of 13k words but that's okay. Carrying on after Game Chef is over will allow me time to do some serious editing, something that the game currently lacks. It will also give me a chance to actually playtest the thing. I'd hoped to do that on Saturday but the reality was that I wasn't far enough along to get a playtest in. It's a shame as I think the game would really have benefited but there's no point beating myself up over it. In the end I've achieved what I set out to do and I'm happy with the final result.

Feel free to check it out (bearing in mind that the format of GC this year required the submitting of games in plain .txt format, hence the rather basic nature of the submission.)

Tags: game chef, three clans
Current Mood: accomplished

So I've been hanging fire a little on Anarchy recently as I've had a fair amount to do outside of game design, although I've tweaked it since I posted up chapters 2, 3 and 4 here. I'm not too bothered though as it was always going on the back-burner sometime around now because Game Chef 2008 is kicking off. In fact it has kicked off, a few hours earlier than expected.

Thus far I've blitzed through all of the art submissions and have been impressed by many of the entries, not least of those being the steampunk set submitted by ginasketch. My initial reaction, though, is to go for a sci-fi theme and base my game around the victoriana/sci-fi bugs of Bjamesyoung. That's just after a first pass though, I've got a few art sets to look at again before I make my final choice.

Whatever the case I'm psyched to be participating this year, even if I have no idea what kind of gae I'm going to make!

Tags: anarchy, game chef

...possibly.

Okay, the final chapter (thus far) in my playtest doc is Chapter 4: System and Scenes which talks about the structure of an Anarchy session, the mechanics of conflict resolution and the consequences thereof. Behind the cut:

( Chapter 4: System & Scenes )

Tags: anarchy

...and I know how to get it.

Edit: I think (other than examples) that I've finished this chapter now. The extra bots are now included in the cut.

All right, the next chapter is Cell Creation. This one is still a work in progress and has yet to be finished but I'll put up what I've currently got anyway. I should also note that I haven't yet designed either a Character Sheet or a Cell Sheet. ONce again behind a cut to preserve peoples sanity:

( Chapter 3: Cell Creation )

Tags: anarchy

...and I am an Anarchist!

Ahem.

So after my last post I decided to take my own advice and try working on my system chapter for Anarchy. I've found myself with a bit of time available over the past few days and have therefore been getting on with it at a reasonable pace. Not wonderful but reasonable. As such I'm about to make a series of posts, hidden behind LJ cuts due to their length, that encompass most of what I've done on Anarchy thus far. This isn't everything but it is a lot of it. I'll start off with:

( Chapter 2: Character Creation )

Tags: anarchy

Two things in this (admittedly belated) entry:

1) Anarchy;
2) Game Chef 2008 – Artists First!

First Anarchy; I admit that I’ve found myself stalled out on it again. My post-Conceptions motivation has waned and I’ve been struggling with re-writing the Character Creation chapter to my satisfaction after garnering some useful feedback from the Collective Endeavour on my Five Questions. Not to mention the fact that I’m drawing a real blank on Cell Creation. I think that I might need to re-read Covenant and break out the copy of Conspiracy of Shadows that I got for Christmas for a bit of inspiration in that area.

So Anarchy is on hold again until I can get my head around what I need to do with it. What I might try is to begin writing the System chapter as I know what I’m doing there, at least to begin with, and it will allow me to get something useful down on paper. I need that to try and regain some momentum and to make sure that the system-stuff in my head doesn’t become corrupted through neglect. If I have it written down I don’t need to try and remember the details!

Secondly we have Game Chef 2008. I contemplated last year but it wasn’t a good time (I think we’d just moved house and I’d just started working for Steph) and I ended up not entering. I still kinda regret it although I know, intellectually, that it was the right decision at the time. This year, however, I fully intend to take a shot at it for the first time. I don’t know a whole lot about what’s going on with it yet but I’ve registered my interest and am on the official GC forums as Geoff.

I really like the idea that they’re running with this year for Artists First! Getting a whole bunch of art for the first half of the contest and then having designers design game around that art is a pretty awesome (sorry Graham) idea. I don’t know how well it will work mind you but I love the concept in principle. I even know a very good artist (ginasketch) that I might ask to participate. I don’t know whether she’ll go for it or not but I figure it’s worth a try.

Anyway, I’m actually really looking forward to trying my hand at Game Chef this year and I’m hoping that the manic, motivated energy that it engenders will feed into Anarchy when GC itself is over with. Whether or not that happens I’m sure it will be a bit of a crazy ride so what can I say except “bring it on!”

Tags: anarchy, game chef

Cross-posted on the Collective Endeavour forums:

I've pretty much got the whole character creation chapter down now but wanted to focus on the first section of it and throw it out to anyone who happens to read this for some opinions and feedback. From reading a number of indie rpgs and taking on board some of Malcom's experience with Cold City I decided that a good way to begin would be to ask some focussed questions that should help define a players character and set them neatly within the game world with some ready made hooks and potential conflict points. What follows is these questions with my elaborations and pointers as written up in my current playtest document.

What I'm looking for is some feedback on these questions. Do they seem to focus on the correct areas (especially given the background info posted in my previous entry)? Do you think that they will produce useful information that can be brought into later conflicts? Have I worded them in an excessively shite manner or are they reasonably clear and understandable? That sort of thing.

Cheers.

(Note, actual section hidden behind LJ Cut to preserve your friends page)

( The Five Questions )

So, I'm progressing on my self-set target of getting a playtest document for Anarcgy written up by the end of February. I've now managed to get the introduction sorted out and have been working on the system, which I think is looking much better than it was before I lost my notebook! The draft intro is shown behind the below cut, to avoid cluttering up your Friends Page:

( Introduction )

Tags: anarchy

Inspiration and motivation are funny things. I set up Dread Fuzzy Designs Ltd for a number of reasons; primarily (from a personal perspective) as a games design company, specifically roleplaying games. And yet the secondary and tertiary uses of working for Steph and returning to my old job for contracting purposes have become the main focus of the business. Why is that? Why has game design fallen by the wayside for me?

It’s because I lack the motivation to do it. Why do I lack that motivation? Because I haven’t been inspired by roleplaying for some time now. And why have I not been bitten by the bug of inspiration? Because I no longer do it. For something to inspire and motivate me I have to be partaking in the activity itself and with roleplaying I’m not. Our online game has fizzled out and, to be honest, I’d stopped engaging in it and enjoying it some time ago anyway. My regular group is still mostly unsuitable to roleplaying as none of us are interested in taking the GM/facilitator role because we simply don’t get any enjoyment from it. Finally, I have neither the free time nor the finances to organise/join another gaming group that is more amenable to roleplaying (and contains at least one GM!)

Now please don’t misunderstand me, I’m not trying to bitch and make an ‘oh woe is me’ post. My life and circumstance is what it is and I enjoy my Friday/Saturday evenings of board and card games a lot, although I do miss face-to-face roleplaying. The thing is this was all brought to a head by my recent trip to Conceptions 2008, a yearly roleplaying con held in the Hoburne Naish holiday village near Christchurch on the south coast of England in early February.

Conceptions is fun; pure, unadulterated fun. It’s one of the best cons in the UK and probably the top con for just gaming. The trade presence is shite and seems to get worse every year (indeed, there was literally nothing that I was interested in buying this year) but there are 3 gaming slots a day with a whole raft of games running in each slot and the chalets that make up the accommodation make for excellent gaming opportunities right through the night should one be so inclined.

This year my standard crew combined with a number of Collective Endeavour members to take up two, adjacent chalets. This was a brilliant move and lead to 11 or 12 people squeezed into one of the chalets each night drinking and chatting and generally having a good time. A lot of gaming was done by pretty much everyone and I played a whole bunch of board/card games when I wasn’t roleplaying too. All in all it was a damn good time. This is not, however, a con report; it is a roundabout and long winded look at the way inspiration works for me.

Now, I didn’t even talk about any of my nascent games this year (I ran a playtest of Anarchy last year) and I was playing in Scott’s SotC game whilst the one playtesting slot run by the CE guys was happening so I’ve had no real exposure to games design this con. There wasn’t even much game design talk in the evening, despite about half of the participants being designers and almost everyone being avid roleplayers. What I have had exposure to is roleplaying, one of my favourite pass times and one which I realise I have missed a lot in its absence. And just the simple act of playing has me fired up again. Well, that and trying to sort out the tax implications of DFD Ltd and how best to pay myself, etc. I figure if I’m claiming it as a game design company I ought to have some game designs to show for it, even if I have yet to create an actual product!

So now I’m interested again but my horizons and my scope have broadened some what. I am looking at Anarchy with fresh eyes (something which would have been easier had I not left my sodding notebook with Anarchy notes at the con, argh!!!) but I’m also contemplating other avenues. I’m thinking that Finger on the Button might work best as a card game which, with some prototype pasting-up and some serious playtesting could be submitted to a publisher or, if I feel up to it, self-published; although such things are harder than roleplaying books simply due to cost. I’m also just thinking more of new ideas instead of plugging away at games that have ceased to interest me, or interest me only periodically.

Not, mind you, that any of this will necessarily last. Still, my group are going to try and get some more roleplaying done. It will probably be mostly Contenders variants due to the simplicity of running them GM-less with pro-active players who are afraid to improvise and elaborate but maybe we’ll get a bit more ambitious and run something requiring a GM., you never know ;o) . Either way I’m hoping that a steady injection of actual roleplaying can keep me at least partially focussed on my goals. I would like to get a document written for Anarchy and playtesting started by the end of February. Lets see how I do shall we?

Tags: anarchy, conceptions, roleplaying

So, first off I apologise for not updating here sooner, I've had a variety of Real Life™ issues that have left me with little time to dedicate to DFD but I'll skip the detailed explanations here and save them for my personal LJ.

Today I want to talk about online gaming and my issues with it (as opposed to updating any of my games that I've not had time to work on, shut it Andrew ;o) ). You see for me online roleplaying is pretty much all I've got right now. I have a weekly gaming group comprising of myself, my two older kids (15 and 12) and thoughtfulwolf. The thing is that due to intrusions from my 4 year old, the lack of consistency from week to week and the 12 year old having a general aversion to roleplaying our gaming nights tend to consist of a variety of board and card games. Now, don't get me wrong, I love our gaming nights. I love to play board and card games; they're great fun and the lack of prep time and quick (comparatively and mostly) play time makes them ideal fun from my perspective. But man I miss me some face-to-face roleplaying action!

Right now other facets of my life prevent me from going out and finding a new, roleplaying only gaming group to hang with so all of my gaming has to be done at home. That makes the above scenario with board and card games pretty much the only game in town (pun very much intended, sorry.) As such I get my roleplaying kicks online instead. I play in a weekly game on Sunday nights with thoughtfulwolf, littlestkobold, my 15 year old, littlestkobold's brother and a few other ex-university gaming buddies. Right now we've just started up a WFRP campaign set in Marienburg, a wiki for which can be found here.

These days our online play is done via Teamspeak although in the past it was all text based, either in MSN chats, over IRC or in OpenRPG. In theory using TS means that we're moving closer to face-to-face play. Sure, we're not all sitting around a table, dice scattered about, character sheets and notes strewn everywhere, snacks and drinks littering the surface and littlestkobold waiting with baited breath for us to exclaim "You absolute fucker!" at him when he pulls some truly evil twist on us but we're at least talking in real time instead of typing. It sure as hell makes things move more quickly than our text-based games did, although part of that might be the move away from d20 games. Crunchy combat mechanics and inherently slow online play != gaming fun. In fact it tends to = 3+ week long combats; talk about dragging on!

Still, even with TS things take longer, you get periods of sudden silence where everyone is waiting for someone else to speak first. It's also much harder to catch what's going on if multiple people start talking at once and it takes awhile to untangle it all and start again. But overall it's definitely faster. Orders of magnitude faster in fact (although still probably an order of magnitude slower than face-to-face play.)

The thing is that there are some negatives to the use of TS over text as well. With IRC (or whatever) you have a record, right there on the screen, of what's been said. If you miss something you can easily and quickly go back over what people have typed in the meantime and catch-up. Plus you have a ready made archive of each session, which is always handy. Personally I find that distractions and interruptions are a huge problem for me when I'm playing online. I live in a house with my wife, our 4 kids (15, 12, 4 and 1), 2 bloody great dogs and 7 cats. Not only that but being on the internet brings with it its own set of perils and tempting distractions to navigate around. If find myself pulled away from the action for short (and sometimes long) periods with a frustrating regularity, a regularity that just wouldn't occur if I were face-to-face gaming (and even if it did it wouldn't be such a killer.) And with TS it means I come back totally out of the loop in terms of the action and plot. It's very frustrating and it's very difficult to catch up as well, at least not without interrupting the entire game and ruining the flow, something that I hate doing.

And that happened to me on Sunday during our very first real session of the WFRP campaign. Due to the younger kids I couldn't get online on time (although the game started late so that didn't matter in the end) and then due to them and a variety of other factors I kept getting pulled away from the game. By mid-way through the session I had no real clue what was going on, no idea where my character would fit into it all, no inkling of what it would be best for me to be doing and, to be frank, no real interest in the session. And that's a shame as, prior to that, I had been totally stoked by the game. The two previous sessions where we talked through what we wanted from the game and made characters had gone really well and left me fired up to play. It helps that I love Warhammer too. Yet the session left me cold. It wasn't anyone else's fault either and I could tell from what I did catch that everyone else was getting involved and having fun. In the end I gave up and stuck around semi-listening to what was going on whilst reading various RPG forums, mostly because I felt obliged to although a part of me wanted to apologise and just go to bed early.

So where am I going with this post? I'm not really sure, I guess that I just wanted to relate my most recent online roleplaying experience and get down some of the hazards of online play. Don't think that it can adequately replace a regular face-to-face session either. It's definitely better than no roleplaying (well, most of the time at any rate) but it really isn't the same.

• Online play is SLOW. Text-based is slow in a way that it's tough to even describe, especially with a crunchy system. It works quite well with something like Nobilis but combat in D&D and similar drags like there's no tomorrow. Teamspeak (or skype or whatever) is much, much faster but still slower than doing it face-to-face.
  
• Distractions are killer. Sitting on your computer there are far more things to distract you than there are in a regular session. Other people come in and out and have much less regard for the fact that your playing than they would if there were a group of you sitting around. The internet itself is a massive trap of alternate things to do, especially when the plot is focussing places other than on you, that must be avoided. Sadly that's far easier said than done.
  
• Even with TS, skype, etc. you lack that visceral sense of being there that a face-to-face session gives you. The body language and subtle, social cues are missing. So are the communal snacks and most of the casual banter, which just can't be done right over TS.
  

All of this means that I find that it's much harder to engage in an online session and that real world distractions and considerations that might barely affect a regular game can completely take you out of the mentality of playing online and ruin a session for you. If you're not in the right mental state then online play will just seem trite and boring, no substitute for the real thing. On the other hand if you're mindset is right and everything is gelling you can have some truly wonderful sessions online. I've experienced both but, sadly, probably more of the former than the latter. Of course that probably says more about my life outside of gaming than it does about the individual sessions themselves but it's a fact that is definitely exacerbated by online play.

So, if online play is the only way you can keep gaming with your group (and in my case I wouldn't want to stop gaming with my group, I've known some of them for 10 years, they're my good friends as well as my gaming buddies) then by all means go for it. Just bear in mind that it will at times be frustrating and unfulfilling and that getting together face-to-face as often as your are able is well worth any hassle involved.

Tags: online, roleplaying, wfrp