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2017/02/27 16:50:42
Subject: Horizon Wars: Zero Dark - 15-28mm SF Skirmish from Precinct Omega (Alpha Testing)
I'm working on something new to follow on from Horizon Wars. Actually, I'm working on a few things, but this is the one that seems to have attracted the most interest and excitement.
Zero Dark is a sci-fi skirmish game. "What? Another one??" Yeah, I hear that. For a very long time I stalled on writing a skirmish game because there were a lot of good ones already out there (especially Infinity, which I love). But Zero Dark is different. First, it's different because it's generic. Like Horizon Wars, you don't need new minis - you can play with the ones you already have, plus you get an excuse to buy others you've always liked but never had a gaming reason to buy. But there are other generic SF skirmish games out there, so why Zero Dark? Well, the best thing about Zero Dark is that it offers a range of ways to play. You can play old-fashioned player-versus-player (PvP), but Zero Dark offers enough customization options that you can also play team-versus-team (TvT) really easily. Thanks to an innovative AI system, you can also play both Solo and Co-op modes of the game.
When the game is finished, there will be campaign systems for both PvP/TvT and solo/co-op modes, too, that will allow you to level-up your characters and gain new skills and equipment through the upgrades system. There will also be a series of adventures: DLC, essentially, for the solo and co-op modes that put your team of characters through a series of tactical challenges that follow a distinct narrative that unlocks as you succeed in each mission.
The game is currently in alpha testing, rolling out the rules gradually as I finish them in draft and put them on the table. You can follow along at the Precinct Omega Beta Testing forum:
I've updated the rules on the beta-testing forum to include the complications table and character upgrades, which include synthetic characters (robots, drones and artificial intelligences, although the AI rules are still WIP).
I'll be doing a spot of play-testing today as I begin work on the first Zero Dark campaign for solo/co-op play.
Electronic Warfare specialist, Cap, having been tasked with snatching the enemy datanode, used his Stealthy ability to move closer into the yakuza base.
Testing the draft stealth rules - which also apply to characters who aren't stealthy but who use the cautious movement speed - proved two things: first, they encourage careful thought about tactical movement by the solo player, which is good. Second, they also create more movement within the Red (enemy) Force, which is also good as they were rather static in the original draft.
However, it was hard to find a reason not to move stealthily as the D(v) test was extremely easy for anyone but a low Discipline character. So two amendments got drawn out:
1. A limited time to complete solo/co-op missions, with the timer represented by the AI card deck. When the last card is flipper, the timer has run out and the characters lose the game. So instead of preventing the AI deck from flipping, the cards still flip in response to stealthy actions, but if the D test is passed, the results of the flip are ignored... unless it's a complication (because who doesn't love a complication!).
2. The proximity of and LOS to bogeys have become part of the D(v) test, modifying the required test score so that it becomes extremely hard, now, to sneak past a bogey right under its nose without causing an AI card action, which might not go well for the sneaky character.
Still contemplating whether bogeys (the AI models) should get the same 180degree arcs of awareness as the characters. At the moment, they don't and it's one more thing to have to manage, but I can think of several quite interesting ways of managing it so I'll put that one on the "maybe" list.
The other important area of playtesting was explosive (currently called "indiscriminate" weapons. I think I've got a better way of managing these, now, that do away with the need for a fixed template and allow for unpredictable effects whilst still accommodating better or worse shooting rolls.
Shadey, picture, took out six bogeys and left two others down with a single explosive shot, which felt just a bit too effective. So now a successful hit automatically gets two blast dice to roll. Additional hits on the shoot roll provide bonus hits but don't increase the radius of the blast. However, the "explosive" upgrade can now be bought multiple times, with each additional purchase adding +1 dice to the blast roll.
I'm going to test this rule a few more times but I think I've nailed explosive shooting without needing a blast template.
Yes, you'll need to sign up to my forum to download them. But, if you're on the fence about that idea, let me tell you a little about what's in the updates.
First, in the core rules update there are the new rules for Electronic Warfare! Hack your enemy's equipment and dominate their synthetics. This is especially useful when a Defence Mech turns up behind you! Buff your allies with better fire data or save them from enemy hacks.
Second, the Red Force rules have been updated. Now the Red Force, too, can have its own synthetics. Invisible to infrared visors, but vulnerable to being dominated: turn the enemy's synthetics against them and draw them off while you dash for the objective!
Finally, some minor tweaking on the Upgrades, too. Indiscriminate weapons are super-effective. But now you only get one use per upgrade, so choose your moment... wisely.
Want to know more? Sign up for the Precinct Omega beta testing forum (it's free) and download your own copies.
I wrote a full reply, bit then decided that was too easy. Here we are on a forum for game design. I am a gamer designer. I am interested in games and gamification. With that in mind, why do you think I did it?
The latest update to the alpha-test version - 0.2.4 - is up for download via the PO Beta-Testing Forum (yes, you have to register #sorrynotsorry).
Latest updates include:
1. Negative tests are gone. Feedback from playtesting was a mix of dislike and confusion and it had some pretty swingy outcomes. They been replaced by counter-tests which will be familiar to anyone who's played Horizon Wars as they are directly inspired by the Defence roll in that game. Counter-tests differ from the Defence roll in that they also get critical success outcomes. This should serve to barricade against the swingy results of negative tests.
2. Upgrades have introduced the Spook, amended the Leader slightly and clarified that synthetics are immune to stress.
3. Speaking of stress, that got a bit of an overhaul. Grit is gone (should have gone last update!) and now replaced with stress. Stress can make a character under- or over-perform. Suffering stressful experiences while you're clear-headed and unwounded is likely to mean over-performing. Suffering it whilst already stressed and/or wounded will have the opposite effect. Really pleased with the stress testing of the, er, stess test.
There's still some work to do on the alpha-test edition, but it's looking like a really solid, interesting game for solo, co-op and PvP play.
An unexpected outcome from the solo play is... it's really quiet playing a miniatures game on your own. I was slightly freaked out by the experience, only ever having played solo card games before. I recommend playing solo with a suitably cyberpunk soundtrack and possible talking out loud a lot.
Now I have to get back to doing some Ragnarok hobbying and get that game finished, illustrated and published.
It's often hard to get a sense of tension in a solo game, but the cards really give you that creeping clock of doom feeling. It does lead, slightly, to analysis paralysis as you try to work out the most efficient way of getting your objective and getting out. But the "bonus action" mechanic helps with that. You get bonus actions for extra successes on certain tests (most tests, actually) - it's my version of bullet time, so it lets a character snap off a shot, leap the barrier and snap off another shot. Characters with the "gun fu" upgrade can generate bonus shooting actions from bonus shooting actions (which you can't usually do) for that full Equilibrium experience.
Anyway, it all means that there's only so much time you can waste in analysis paralysis before you realize you just have to go for it and trust the dice!
I was really hoping to have the final alpha test version finished and ready to share this weekend gone. Unfortunately a major family crisis has slowed progress down, somewhat. However, I've put up a stop-gap update because a number of important changes and additions have been developed and as I've got a contingent of new alpha-testers joining, I thought they deserved the latest gen.
Important changes Well, first of all I've split "characters" into "heroes" and "allies". I nearly went with "extras", but that was too close to 7TV (which is great, btw!) for comfort and not completely accurate, either. Heroes are your principle actors. They are the ones you customize and build. Allies, meanwhile, have fixed stats and abilities. At the moment, there's a fairly narrow range of options for allies, but I see it being built on to add theme to campaigns and special missions. We have remotes and emjays (embedded journalists) with rules, plus dogs. I'm in two minds about retaining dogs. They don't really fit with my bespoke setting, but they feature a lot in my sources of inspiration. Suggestions for more allies are welcomed.
I'm really pleased with the emjays. They are allies and you have to activate them like any character, but they can't complete objectives. Why on Earth would you include them at all? Well, they work as a buff unit. If the active character makes a test within an emjay's LOS, the character gets a re-roll - this is supposed to represent the character trying harder because he or she is being filmed, plus the tendency of the emjay to film whatever's most interesting/important at any given moment. There will be more rules that involve emjays in campaign rules and missions involving civpop.
I've also fine-tuned the Control Deck (formerly known as the AI deck, but I binned that to avoid confusion with AI characters!). No iteration of the Control Deck hasn't worked, but they haven't all worked how I wanted them to. The latest version has the Red Force moving around somewhat, but not too much, whilst equipping them with support tokens to make them more threatening, but not with too many!
@Easy E - For a long time, I was trying to do something completely different. Then I realized that I was likely to appeal to people who already trusted my rules design from HW, plus I was going to use the same setting, so it made sense to try to cannibalize the rules. So yes, d12s (best dice ever). Crits are different because damage is different, but there are still positive effects from Lucky 12s. The Defence roll of HW become a more complex counter test in ZD - same principle, but with wide applications.
The Control Deck is awesome. I actually enjoy playing this game solo more than I do PvP, although I'm yet to give it a proper PvP test. That's coming soon.
@gyro5 - Please take it for a spin! 15mm is a great scale for it, because you can get a lot of fun minis for I'm working on the final alpha draft now. When it's done: no more changes until we go to beta! That will mean one document, with all the sections combined, plus at least one solo/co-op campaign. Beta will be a pay-to-play arrangement through Wargame Vault, in order to raise some money towards art for the final version, so grab the alpha while it's free!
And do let me know how you find it: I'm more interested in criticism than compliments, although the latter are good for my well-being.
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