#ws1718_analogue

[creativegaming]

Fallout 4 - MDA (Rewritten)

In Fallout 4 the most unique mechanics is the V.A.T.S which stands for Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System. While using V.A.T.S, the  otherwise real-time combat is slowed down. Various actions cost action points and the user can target specific body areas for attacks inflicting specific injuries. There’s also a critical execution bar which gets filled with each successful hit and when full can be used for a devastating attack. In the following text the MDA framework for this system will be explained.

Mechanics

The V.A.T.S system is basically a queuing system inspired partly by the ability to shoot specific parts in the turn-based combat system of Fallout and Fallout 2 which were turn based RPGs. Each click on a specific part of the body is queued and executed one after the other based on the order in which they were clicked (eg. if we click the left arm then the head then the torso the player shoots first at the left arm then the head then the torso)

Dynamics

When using V.A.T.S. against a humanoid enemy, seven different areas can be targeted: the head, torso, left arm, right arm, currently held weapon, left leg, and right leg. However, there may be other points available when facing off non-humanoid creatures (e.g. robot combat inhibitors, ant antennae). As explained earlier when V.A.T.S is used the game slows down to almost being considered paused and the player has enough time to select their desirable target spots on the enemy. The number of selections during the use of V.A.T.S depends on the “Action Points” of the player which are limited and based on how much “endurance” which is part of the S.P.E.C.I.A.L (Strength.Perception.Endurance.Charisma.Intelligence.Agility.Luck) list of the player and can be increased as the game progresses. Another feature of the V.A.T.S is the Critical meter which gets filled with each successful strike on an enemy in V.A.T.S and when full can be used for a devastating hit against the enemy.

Aesthetics

The V.A.T.S allows the player to experience a fantasy world where time slows down to give an advantage to the player over the enemies giving them an edge during combat. Which in a way gives the player a sensation of pleasure from being able to do things that others can’t do in that world in turn making them feel a bit godly amongst a sea of radioactive monsters and psychotic humans.

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Feedback notes of our game Masterplan v.1.1

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Shared with Dropbox

Rule sheet for our game Masterplan v.1.1

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Evil Lab

 You wake up with two other people in a strange laboratory where you realize that you are locked in. A little girls voice booms through a set of speakers: “The first to find their artifact and place it on the opposite side of the room gets a reward. The others… and beware, the walls are moving :)”. Then silence. You look around, measure up your opponents and get ready to be the first to complete the task...

 Setup:  

Each player gets 3 tiles and a character. The players have to start in the middle of the board. The players roll the D6 in their turn and take an action according to their roll.

 Goal: The first player who acquires his/her item and brings it to the opposite side of the board wins. In order to cross the water, lava or acid the players have to bild a bridge with their tiles.

Dice:  

      1 - 2 - 3 --> move 1

           4 ------> move 2

           5 ------> place a tile

           6 ------>turn a tile or big piece

 Only one player can stand on one tile. (except start) Can’t place a tile in the big rotating tiles. In case you are out of tiles, replace on the board. Players can’t step in each others goal tiles. After leaving the center skull area players can not enter anymore.

[creativegaming]

Happy Travels - Rules

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MDA of the Closing Argument in ‘Danganronpa’

In ‘Danganronpa‘ class trials are being held at the end of each chapter after a murder took place. Once you find the collectible evidence you proceed to the court room, in which the trial will take place. The students have to determine throughout the trial, who the ‘Blackened‘ student, the murderer, is. During the class trial, students confront each other in several debate phases and put together pieces of the collected evidence.

At the very end, the ‘Closing Argument‘ takes place. The ‘Closing Argument‘ is an unique element of the ‘Danganronpa‘ series. Through a comic-like story, it narrates the events during the murder, how and why the murder actually happened.

The closing argument gives you a fragmentary comic, which you have to complete. Below, the player has a broad selection of different illustrated round frames. The information in the upper left corner serves as an indicator of how many pages you have to complete with the suitable frames given. In this example, the mechanic is that you have to sort the frames into the comic by dragging it in the appropriate panels. However, you’re given more than ten frames of which some display incorrect information. So you have to decipher which illustration matches with the already filled in panels. If you’ve inserted one frame incorrectly, the story plays out until the panel you’ve filled in wrongly and subtracts one of your life points.

Depending on which game difficulty you started out, the indicator in the upper right corner gives you a time limit in which the trial, including the closing argument with the comic, has to be completed. This gives the player a certain kind of achievement if they finish the trial more quickly because you get a specific grade depending on how fast you finish it. After the frames are properly rearranged into the right order, the story plays out. Accompanied by the main characters‘ narration, the now finished comic visually tells the event of the night of the murder.

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One of three boardgame ideas of our group

Being an entrepreneur isn’t always easy.

Manage your ressources, investments and try to become the most successful company in the world.

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Player elimination in Coup

Player elimination happens in multiple-player games when a player is eliminated from the game and the play continues without the eliminated player. 

The typical examples of games that provides elimination are Diplomacy or Risk (where a player may be defeated) or Monopoly (where a player may go bankrupt and thus be eliminated). There are also games where achieving the winning condition will eliminate you from the game and the last person remaining is the loser. An example for this would be Palace.

Player elimination does not include two-player-only games where the goal is to defeat the opponent, e.g., Chess.

Elimination in Coup:

In Coup, the goal is to be the last one with at least one turned down influence card. The players continuously challenge each other to make the other player lose cards. Elimination happens in the game when a player loses both of her influence cards.  The cards represent members of the government under your control, and you amass money in order to assassinate or stage coups against the other players' cards; turning them face-up and making them useless. Players with both cards revealed are out of the game.

Dynamics:

As the game progresses behaviors like strategic thinking emerge. As more and more cards get turned face-up heading into the endgame, more and more information becomes available to judge who is lying. Elimination creates meaningful decisions. Losing something is a significant consequence. If players eliminate options with every choice, every choice will feel important and tense, which can be a great boon for a game. You can play it safe, tell the truth most of the time, and use diplomacy to target the people who are ahead of you; lie unpredictably and draw your opponents into challenging your truthful plays, or read your opponents and knock them out when they lie.

Aesthetics:

The forced cruelty of elimination can leave a bad feeling in players but the playtime is so short that it will pass quickly enough so at the end they will be able to end the game with no hard feelings. Challenge definitely occurs as the players have to read the opponents and try to defeat them.The tension is raising later when they start to lose influences. Fellowship has a chance in case the players use diplomacy during the game.