Game Diary Summary - June

6/4/2007
Made progress over the weekend: although I had some writers block Saturday morning. Still, I was able to get some stuff done at least.

I wrote up description of two megacorporations (for factions section): MoFoCo and Warlock Industries. Also, started some notes on vehicle maneuvers.

6/5/2007
I added the two new factions (see previous) to the rules. I also wrote text for shells and armor (which I didn't get done last night due to waining self confidence).

I stumbled across Google Books today which might be a way to improve visibilty for the game once it's published. Just a thought since it's free!

Since the next chapter is about starships, I've been revisiting my thoughts on that. Today I was playing around with speeds: and I may go with using mach numbers. Don't want to go into detail, but basically mach 1 would equal 1 space square (1,500 m) per round. Starships speeds would around mach 5-15. This is not exact (1 mach is greater in m/sec per round) but it's close enough to be clean and convenient.

6/7/2007
I've written up rules for Shells, Armor, Weapons, and Force Fields which I just need to add to the actual rules document itself (not just the Google scratch document I've been using). Basically, for each chapter I've been using a Google spreadsheet for raw data and tables, and a Google Doc for text. This allows me to access these files wherever I am, and then add them into the rules document when I'm at home.

6/8/2007
I put my notes into the main rules last night, but I'm still not satisfied with the armor section. I'm thinking I'll go back my original plan of having diff. thicknesses to keep it simple. I hate being indecisive, but I want to make it right.

So, I went back to the "thickness model" and I'm going to stick with that (until I change my mind again). ;-)

I started assembling the actual robot stats (similar to creatures) that can drop into the rules (hopefully soon).

6/11/2007
Friday night and Sunday, I made good progress on the rules. I even rendered three images for the different robots. I also added this game diary to my regular blog (one post per month w/ all the stuff from that month). Since I doubt people really see this diary, I wanted to give it greater visibility (for the few more people that read the blog).

6/12/2007
I wrote and added a robot design example to the rules last night. However, I still need to add costs as well.

6/13/2007
Yesterday I created stats for some of the nonstandard weapons (ie: blow torch, arc welder, nail gun). I'm putting their stats as part of the device desc, instead of in the weapons section since they aren't technically weapons.

6/18/2007
The robot chapter is nearly done: only the section listing rogue robots and their stats, and maybe a few loose ends to complete. The next chapter will have spaceships and space combat. I intend to take some of lessons I've learned (components, etc) for robots and use it for starships.

I updated the wiki to include some of the robot examples. I'll add pictures once I've reduced the resolution of the ones in the rulebook.

6/19/2007
I reviewed my previous starship notes, and added some to my online doc. I had a bunch of notes on scrap paper, so i needed to transfer some of that to my google docs.

Right now, I'm trying to figure out how to do that FTL fuel: whether to have takes based on slot sizes or not. I woke up at 5:30 this morning thinking about it and couldn't fall back to sleep. :-(

I've made significant progress today w/ some of the starship data.

6/20/2007
Continued with creating data for starships: mostly worked on weapons today. Trying to figure out how I want to do hit dice since I don't want to give starships actual XP levels.

6/21/2007
I'm really struggling with the hit dice (hit points) issue: trying to balance the small ships with the large ships is difficult. Either the small ones are too weak or the large ones are too stong (too many hit points).

6/22/2007
For now I've settled on the hit points. I'll see how it goes when I start doing some testing later. Meanwhile, I've also filled in lots of data so I'm happy with how things are going. I'll be gone this weekend, so I won't be able to work on the game.

6/25/2007
Although I didn't work directly on the game over the weekend, I did think of some things during our long periods of driving. For one thing, I decided to go with actual fuel consumption rates instead of having a set number of days of FTL travel. In other words, instead of having a built-in 5 days of travel per engine, I'm having a rate (mtons of fuel per light-year). This will allow for having actual fuel tanks that are separate from the engines. This will require using additional slots however.

I've been all about missiles today: figuring out how they will work in combat. I've been going back and forth a bit, but basically there will be guided or self-guided using radar and/or IR.

6/26/2007
Created 3 practice ships: after the second one, I changed the # of slots (increased them). While I was doing that, I discovered a huge mistake in the robot's chapter (forgot to actually list how much EPs each power plant produces!!). That was embarrassing.

6/27/2007
I turned one of the sample ships from yesterday into a gunboat. However, I'm still concerned that I'm not allowing for enough slots per hull because they're at a premium when I do a design: there isn't any space for additional stuff like extra staterooms, etc.

6/28/2007
I created another fighter, this one 50 tons. I'm a little more confident about the slot situation. I also added a few more components: drone bays and hangers. I also filled in data for countermeasures like flares and chaff.

6/29/2007
As I make practice ships, I find new things I need to adjust in the stats. This is good but of course then I have to go back and change the practice ships. ;-) Today I made a fuel tanker that provides fuel to military ships that don't have fuel scoops themselves (or streamlining to get their own fuel). Later, after yet more adjustments, I created a pirate raider.