GCFOX

Tabletop Game Designer. Competitive Gamer.

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Terrene Encounters: Core Mechanics

This article is a preview of Terrene Encounters, an upcoming project developed by studio CGC Games and published by Level 99 Games. Look out for it in the next few months on Kickstarter! Terrene Encounters is a drafting game where you will take sides in a duel between two time travelers. Op

Check out my article about the core mechanics of Terrene Encounters. Coming to Kickstarter this summer.

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Game Design Update

Making a game is hard. Early 2015 I launched Terrene Odyssey. Since then my roots into the world of tabletop development has grown pretty deep. I've learned a tremendous amount since the launch of my first game. Now I've been working on my second title but I have yet to publish again. Since then I have 3 nearly complete projects I have not published. Terrene Odyssey 2, Random Encounter, and Rise of the Paragons. Each one stronger then the last. I'm in no rush to push out a game because of how much I have rapidly learned to improve my games. The product of all my experience from these past projects is being combined into a new title called Terrene Encounters. In addition, we'll be releasing a casual set collection game this summer. These other scrapped projects will see the light of day in some way some day. There are a lot of interesting mechanics and art assets we created!

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I’ve begun my 1st playthrough, survivor mode difficulty, in character, playthrough as Ganondorf. Inspired by an image I saw earlier. I will eventually build Guerdo Valley and ensure it only houses women. 10 / 10 STR and END. Let’s go.

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My game, Terrene Odyssey is launching in Germany! This print will feature 2nd edition wording, actual pre-constructed decks, smaller box, and 3-12 draft rules. Check out the German crowd funding campaign: https://www.spiele-offensive.de/Spieleschmiede/Terrene-Odyssey/

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Merry Christmas!

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StarFox Zero: Corneria Stage Intro

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This brings me so much joy.

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Mounting Despair

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want

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Super Smash Tarot / Clow Deck - Major Arcana by Quas-quas

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OMG.

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Telegraph the Challenge. They won’t even know they noticed. Telegraphing something to your player is a great way to teach them what the expect and how to beat it without them really realizing they were taught.  The Breakdown The idea is to introduce the challenge in a safe space first before really putting the player though the challenge as intended.

Classic Example: In the Super Mario Bros. there are two structures you need to jump over. The first one has no plenty for falling the jump and the second will cost the player a life. This allows the player to play with how to jump over something like that without penalty before the real test. It’s not just filler after all! If you telegraph challenges like this, you can guide your player without them even knowing they are being guided. They may actually feel intuitive or skilled for following through! Implement So what are some ways you can telegraph your level in your Mario Maker map? A good telegraph will up your completion rate without costing you much of the difficulty you planned! A Setup for a map I made:  I created a level where music blocks always produced a fireball. In the first part of the map, the player needs to break through 2 blocks to leave the starting area. This allows just enough time for the player to see a Koopa land on a music note and produce a fireball on a part of the map they have not reached yet. The player now knows what to expect and I can jump straight into putting them through a bunch of challenges with that idea. When they do hit a music note and get fire-balled, it won’t feel like a cheap shot! They might even blame themselves for that death. 

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Mario Maker Tips 101

Hello Mario Maker Community, This game is amazing and I'm really excited to see jump in and start creating awesome content. This game is a much bigger deal then I thought it was at first. I'd like to share with you some of my thoughts for your consideration when making content. Check it out and comment! A level should be judged on the following elements:

1.) Fun 2.) Difficulty 3.) Usability

Fun: Did the player have a great time playing your level? Players can have fun even if they never lose a life or if they died 1000 times before you beat the level. Difficulty: Is your level challenging? The harder your level is, the smaller the demographic for the players that will find it fun but it is possible to make 11/10 levels that are fun for everyone. (See Super Meatboy Level design) Usability: Usability is a fine line of players feeling cheated / trolled / lost vs. seeing a clear goal and/or objective and a positive feeling from losing a life.

0% completion rate means your level is terrible ( just the first 15 seconds are terrible enough for players to never reach your good content).

There are many competitive gamers in this thread so I understand the root of wanting to create the hardest level of all time, but if your game has a 0% completion rate, you did not win against or defeat any players. It means ALL players quit because they were not having fun. Creating a 11/10 difficulty level can still be fun and you can do this with good usability.

What I think Completion rates should look like The easier your level, the higher your completion rate should be. It's ok if you you make a 11/10 level but it needs to be FUN for the players who are hardcore. If it's not, well, there are thousands of other 11/10 levels that will be.(After 100 plays of your level, your completion rate should look kinda like this)

Easy 1/10 - 4/10                     60% of players Medium 5/10 - 7/10                 30% of players Hard 8/10 - 9/10                      10% of players Extreme 10/10                          5% of players Pixel perfect gameplay 11/10   2% of players

So how can you use Fun, Difficulty, and Usability to make kick-ass experiences?Ill write about some awesome combos you can do so even an 11/10 level is fun for Scoops McGee and Johnny Donuts. Next Time: Telegraphing Difficulty 

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Check out my Mario Maker level. Can you find all 3 stars? Difficulty: 4/10.

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We created her during our Terrene Odyssey Kickstarter campaign. Good times! gcfox:

Check out the community created ‘Overclock Engineer’. What should we name her? Join the process on our Kickstarter page. 

Kickstarter Link: 

http://tinyurl.com/TerreneOdysseyKickstarter

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Let's talk about Super Smash Bros. Project M 3.6 Beta

Project M’s latest build ( and I think the previous build?) takes a step into it’s core mechanics and completely redesigns their recovery game. The problem I have with this, even if it’s ultimately a better game, is that they have paid a disrespect to their current audience. 

When you get the next version of a game, you expect the same game except upgraded in some way. New content, balances, etc. Instead Project M changes a core mechanic that if you use the terminology currently, pulls the game back to Alpha ( and maybe pre-alpha because who knows if it will change again). So now you have some P:M players super salty because they did not get an upgrade to P:M, they got P:M 2 and that was not really explained to them. It really about expectations of the labeling of the mod. This is the difference between players talking about characters in certain fashions such as “ They ruined fox in this build vs. Fox isn’t that good in this game”. It might as well be a new game which is fine but its not the P:M that people followed before; the audience will need to be rebuilt. 

On a side note, I feel that there are to many voices trying to guide that game. Game design isn't a science, its very much an art. When you have to many voices, you end up with core changes like this that should have never been changed. Is this game actually in beta? or are changes going to be coming indefinitely?

~What I would do ~

I would have branded the mod differently.

If the engine was overhauled, that’s when I would call it a sequel. It really helps govern the expectations already tied to the current branding. So instead of discussions like “ they changed P:M to much” you will have “ I liked P:M 1 over P:M 2″. You established identities, governed expectations, and made discussion of the mods much more clear. You can make engine changes without looking like you don’t know what you want to design.

I would cut Beta from the game’s name

Your not in Beta. Adding content to the game and adjusting balance is still something people are ok with even if it releases. By cutting Beta and using version numbers instead, you can give the public the impression that your game is being improved all the time instead of a sense of indecisiveness.

I would establish a Game Design lead

Maybe this exists already but I feel like I can’t see it. If your going to overhaul your engine again, pick a lead for that version of the game and give them power to over rule the masses. Seems terrible at first but hear me out. By having a central leader, you can prevent huge overhauls of the engine and character’s design philosophies. Its not their job to ultimately balance the game but it is to keep thoughts on track such as “ This is what our recovery game looks like”, “This character’s strengths and weaknesses look like this”. This let’s you keep flavor and uniqueness on track. Why is this important? Because if you keep buffing and adjusting specifically on tournament results and ignore these design philosophies, you will dramatically reduce your design space. It traditional leads to massive power creep over time and ultimately a less interesting game. I’ll write more about tournament result balance vs. design philosophies in the future.P:M is a good game. Make no mistake. For me to be talking about a mod like it’s a full title is a triumph of the fan base and expectations already established by the P:M team. Give the new P:M a try and if you have played the earlier versions of P:M how do you feel about the changes?

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Want to try out some NEW unreleased Terrene Odyssey cards? Join the Playtest Arena group on Facebook and try out new content every month. Try out the cards early. Your feedback will DIRECTLY affect the balance and future content of Terrene Odyssey! Join the group TODAY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/PlaytesterArena/

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I opened Playtest Arena for CGC Games. It allows you to try new unreleased content. Then your feedback goes into the final balance and maybe even teh art direction of the card! =) Pretty cool huh?

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Sometimes when you take a look back, you release, that literal sketch you did in a restaurant is a thing now.

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Check out this construcuted Nefarious Beast Deck beakdown.  This is a great resource if you are looking for some constructed deck ideas!

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This is my deck. =)

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Inside the garage

Watching the human watch me

It is time to poop