So, as some of you may have noticed our blog went into hibernation for some time. That of course did not mean that our development stopped. But before we start talking about what has been done, lets quickly look at our great plans for 2019.
First of all, 2019 was a year of prototypes. We began this year with a bucket of games in sketches, written in various development diaries. There were almost 16 different projects in different stages of development, from two sentences like : "game about blowing up transports in the ocean" to a developed and ready to be tested miniatures air combat game set in WW II. So it was decided that we take 8 projects and develop each one of them into working and playable prototype. 8 seems like a middle ground number, and just in the balance between time, effort and our game development skills.
Platform for play testing and feedback was chosen a Birmingham Board Game Bash group. In retrospect, that is an amazing group of motivated and friendly game designers, who had a tremendous input on our development as Studio, as game designers and as human being.
So eight chosen projects were:
● CHURCHILL -TRIDENT OF PEACE, mod for Mark Herman's Churchill (game about conferences between allies during WW II),
● COMBAT TURN: tactical miniatures air combat game, based on our BAZILEVS wargame engine,
● CONVOY COMMANDER: tactical logic and prediction game about moving a convoy through submarine infested waters,
● SWAT : tactical miniatures game about storming a rooms with hostages and bad guys,
● STALCKER: : tactical RPG about leading small crew in search of artifacts and survival across the Zone,
● STEEL BATTALION: wargame based on our BAZILEVS engine, set in ww2 where player controls up to battalion size combined force of infantry and tanks, along with air/artillery/naval support.
● WAR & PEACE '41: global strategy set around the World War II, and interaction between Axis and Allied players both in political, economical and military positions. Up to 7 players.
● MEGGIDO '95: global strategy set in alternative universe, where Earth is slowly terraformed by aliens, while two opposing blocks are fighting each other to the death. For 2-8 players.
Our ambitious plans were obviously tampered by events in ordinary life, poor health, day job and many other excuses. However, as of the end of September 2019 we have achieved following progress:
Churchill - second version of working ruleset, prototype is ready to be played.
Combat Turn - playable prototype with core mechanics set, development continues on talents, skills, national specifics.
Convoy Commander - second prototype of rules is in development
SWAT - first prototype is ready and being tested for combat mechanics and events
Stalcker - work on first prototype continues, as well as development of missions and event system.
War 'n' Peace 41 - work on first prototype continues.
Meggido 91 - work on first prototype continues, as game is slowly taking shape and focus.
Main achievement is we have gained as a studio, is that we have build a solid gaming engine capable of being applied to almost any type of the game. BAZILEVS engine remains simple 3 step solution to majority of tasks using one type custom dice and one numerical die:
1) Calculate your dice pool
2) Roll-off, modify and compare results with opponent's roll
3) Determine the difference in successes: the higher the bigger the effect of your action. .
In short, out 8 initial projects 4 are in the state we are happy with. Let me remind you, that despite so many projects, Studio had planned only to establish main working concepts and make prototypes during this period of our development. By reaching 50% of established mark, we should be at least satisfied with current result. Mind you, working on several projects at once has its pluses and minuses. First of all, it allows transfer of ideas from one project to another, second of all, it does not allow to get lost in details of just one system. The biggest problem of course, is that of concentration; focusing on only one project allows for a faster development times, and delivery to the players and customers.
That would be our next goal, as a studio: taking one working concept from prototype and developing it into a full fledged game, along with lore, graphics, dice and world map.
But that is a story for 2020.
Sincerey Yours,
Mark-Paul Severn
