I purchased the Founders Elite Edition.
I want to see a couple of potential worries addressed before getting interested- premise sounds promising, but want to hear more before committing.
Why not list your potential worries? Soren seems interested in answering questions in this thread. (And it is fun, if you’re into cut-throat competition)
What are the worries? Seems like this would be a good place to discuss them.
Personally, I’m excited about the idea to the extent that I understand it, but I’m having trouble envisioning how the market and the development of claims play out in real time. Apparently there are maps that contain the raw resources everyone is competing for, so the refineries and such must also be placed on the maps somewhere. Are there supply lines? What determines who gets to develop a specific resource location? Can resources be discovered or depleted?
Is the market purely between the players, or is there an intermediary? In other words, can you corner the market on a certain resource, and if so how does that work in a 2-player game? Are market interactions purely one-shot resource dumps, or can you have a contract for a portion of production over a longer term?
How do you make a comeback mechanism in a game like this? I suppose resource discovery and depletion could be one way, but it seems like there should also be some agency to it - some way for one side to play “control” while the other plays “rush”. I see how the control side could work, but I’m unclear on how something akin to a rush could be implemented. Maybe you can develop claims that become insolvent if you’ve overreached?
Anyway, I’m sure all these questions will get answered at some point along the way. I said I was excited, right?
As excited as I am to hear about a real-time cutthroat trading game set on Mars, I’m going to have to see a stream or two of gameplay before I can plunk down money on a preorder. I’m still very interested and I’m sure the devs have some great ideas, but I’ll really need to see it in action.
yeah, indeed, I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have although I understand if some people want to see it in action, of course.
There is a randomly-generated map of hexes, with discrete amounts of resources on each hex (low water, high iron, etc.) After founding a colony, players can claim these hexes, and whichever drone gets their first gets the claim. (The drone is an AI-controlled ship that launches from the colony as soon as you decided to claim a tile.) The market is determined by three things. First, player actions. Second, random events. (“Oxygen Shortage!”) Third, a slow but steady demand affects all of the resources but especially the more finished products (chemicals, glass, goods) which can be thought of almost as “cash crops” although they have their other uses as well (especially chemicals).
2-player games are quite interesting because it is likely that you might be the only player producing a specific resource. That’s a good situation to use the Espionage building to trigger an artificial shortage to drive up the price.
As for comebacks, if you combine some black market items effectively, you could cripple another play and overtake them. (EMP some of their power plants while stealing another while also causing an energy shortage, for example.) However, it should be said that - like many board games - there is a certain point that gets passed where the game should not really allow comebacks and should hopefully allow the top players to take out the bottom players as quickly as possible. We want to avoid that “walking dead” issue in RTS games where you know the game is over but are going to have to go through the motions for another 15 minutes.
I’m not sure if there is a “rush” strategy. So much of this game is different from other RTS games that the standard tactical triangle is not really applicable (although, I suppose, their are riskier strategies - like skipping water in hopes that the price will stay low - that might be thought of as a bit of a “rush” gamble…)
That all sounds great! Thanks for the reply. So I guess the two pieces I hadn’t noticed were the ability to directly impact other players’ production, and the idea that you would actually be supplying these resources to a global economy. If you are reliant on income from your resources, then it makes the interplay of when to stop selling them to hurt another player a lot more interesting even in a 2-player game.
The black market items sound like the comeback mechanic I was thinking of - I agree that you really don’t want a prolonged mop-up phase, but the only way to have that is to have a long period of time where a comeback is possible. The stock buy-out mechanic may be exactly the type of thing most RTS games need - that vulnerability that you get in TCG, where once your defenses crumble there’s a single point of attack to end the battle.
I still the varied strategies would be a good thing - if it’s impossible to over-extend for some payoff or to build up instead of out in the hopes that you can turn the corner before others solidify their expansion, then it will come down to rote application of the safe concepts. Asymmetrical resources will create a lot of variety in the play, but hard counters are what make an RTS shine - they let you overrun an unwary opponent, come back from an apparent deficit, and have something to plan out in between games. Taking a gamble is fun!
So pleased to hear about this. Sounds like the first real economic RTS since Settlers 7. Also shades of SM’s Railroads!. Good luck with development!
That the game turns into poker or luck of the draw mostly- those are design parameters that won’t really be seen until the game is in the wild.
I’m not too worried, this sounds like something fresh, which is what I need right now.
I don’t want to get too far into specifics (I’ll let Soren box himself into any design promises, heh) but you can’t get screwed by the luck of the draw in starting position in Offworld any more than you can in M.U.L.E.
So, no screenshots or video yet, but I did post the game rules, in the style of an old-school Avalon Hill/SPI game!
Excellent! Now you must print it and send bound copies to all players. :)
Hah! So is the Avalon Hill format actually a GOOD way to document a video game in development?
I’m not sure, but it is one I’m familiar with! Note, however, the absence of most of the numbers as they are destined to change…
Pssh, there aren’t nearly enough made-up words and portmanteaus and Proper Nouns done in emphatic italic case for this to be a proper Avalon Hill manual ;)
Given that once company a’s total stock is owned by company b then company b gains control of all company a’s assets, doesn’t that give company b a huge advantage vs any remaining companies?
Also what happens when a robotic company gains control of a company of any of the other three types? Do the robots suddenly need to take gardening classes?
When does the coupon code from the pre-order bundle deal work?
It should work now, let me know if it doesn’t. You just won’t get anything until the prototype is available; we’ll send an email to let you know when that is.
That reminds me, I don’t think I ever received my code from the Founder’s Edition. GeeWhiz?