20 years ago I started a project for managing large tabletop wargame campaigns. I loved playing the tabletop battles and duking it out with plastic and metal figures over a painstakingly crafted tabletop, full of ruined buildings, forests, and toxic sludge pools. But, one thing was always the same: X points, let’s fight, it’s over.
So, I got it in my head to put a strategic layer over that (Berthier did the same sort of thing, and it’s still around AFAIK), to give battles a real strategic feel, and Campaigner was born. Vector-based map system, dynamic LOS, step-by-step detection (fog of war) and a generic rules system that allowed any game system to be used (since the battles take place on the tabletop).
It was pretty cool, but life and stuff kept me out of the game store, and not playing much.
Now, I’m rediscovering this once-grand project and bringing it back to life as Landstrike! Current features in this MVP are:
Vector-based maps
Step-by-step LOS and movement cost checking
Multiple factions (all at war with each other, no diplomacy)
A rule system that allows nearby units to contribute effects in nearby engagements (like an artillery firebase, airstrikes, garrisons, etc)
Indicators that allow you to create bespoke properties for units (such as morale levels, supply, etc.)
Elements that can be used to keep track of each army
And more…
It’s finally finished! After a year and a half of design, art, and dreaded rulebook writing, Expedition is ready for sale!
https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/expedition:-beyond
Next is the first expansion, focusing on 12 more artifacts, 36 playcards and 6 characters.
So, the new base for combat is coming along. I’ve switched the way the dwarves work from an orders based system to using finite state machines – the work was a pain in the butt, though definitely worth it for the flexibility. I’ve nearly finished the bit where the good guys and bad guys face off.
Yeah, I had it “done” before, but that wasn’t using states, so it had to be redone. Now it is almost redone! I’ll end up posting a video when I’ve got it working a bit better. Once the core functionality is done, I’ll clean it up.
Here is the basic background music for Beards! the game. Hope you enjoy it. Thanks Jason Haury for your work on it! It’s great.
I posted a very quick rough video of the “jabbing” in the combat system. Basically, every half second, each creature involved in a combat gets a chance to make an attack. So, until I get real art in there, I just put in a “jabbing” motion for baddies and dwarves alike.
Enjoy!
I’m posting these blog entries in both the new site at racingspidergames.com and here as well for a while.
I’m working on reopening the old Racingspider Games, LLC website. That’ll allow me to put more custom content in and all that jazz. Some cool stuff eventually coming!
You can find the website at
which will redirect to
http://www.racingspidergames.com/wordpress
The wordpress is the developer blog, and that’s where all the new posts will be going, though I may link between the two for a while.
I started last month reworking the old Job Manager to handle jobs differently. I got frustrated trying to shoehorn in the new functionality, and then took a break from it for about a month. In that time, I fleshed out some other ideas for different games, and started porting Expedition:Beyond the Walls to iPad.
I’ve now spent a couple days rewriting (completely) the Job Manager and fixed some inconsistencies with miner status (sometimes he didn’t change his status to idle). Anyway, now jobs are created on a tile, and you simply move the correct worker type to it. Once he’s idle, the Job Manager will assign him (and make him start building).
Once all required worker types are present, the countdown will begin to completion!
Beards is on hold for now. It got deeper than I thought it would, and some extra complexity got mixed in. I’ve decided to switch to a less vigorous project – but just as cool.
The project I’m starting on is loosely based on Tiny Adventures (the Facebook one), but with more of a choose your own adventure type feel to it. It’ll use a dice combat mechanic I’ve already created and am tightening it now in javascript and HTML.
The main driving idea is that players will be able to create adventures, enemies and encounters and share them. This is going to start off as an iPad game and then to iPhone (as universal). If it all goes splendidly, maybe it will jump to other platforms.
The game will also take a fair amount of ideas from Expedition:Beyond the Walls, and while it is definitely NOT E:BTW2, it gives a nod to that game (available on iOS).
Watch for more information!
I’ve taken a bit of a break from Beards and worked on a map for the next incarnation of Expedition: Beyond the Walls (iOS game). I’m going to break the map into sections so the player can move his PC party between territories and complete quests and whatnot.
While I haven’t actually played the Facebook game Tiny Adventures, I checked out the wiki on it and thought it was a great idea. I’m reinventing E:BTW2 with party management, gear management and a dice system for encounters. All in all, it should be cool.
Here’s the early version of the map, scaled down a bit.
I’m working on the enemies that will appear in Beards. The primary enemy, of course, is the Necromancer and his savage, thronging hoard of undead. Here are the planned enemies that I’m putting in.
- Nilbogs: These large aggressive creatures typically build small colonies in caves. Once a colony is created, additional Nilbogs will begin to arrive, and the colony will be expanded. Large Nilbog colonies can be difficult to remove.
- Ghouls: The presence of the necromancer will draw ghouls in from afar. Ghouls usually avoid high value (well-maintained) constructions, but they can sneak through sometimes. If a ghoul finds a tomb, he’ll begin living there, darting out to catch victims and generally making a nuisance of himself.
- Tunnel Slugs: There are a couple varieties of tunnel slug creatures that dwell in caves and ruins and low value rooms. Tunnel slugs can vary greatly in size. In general, the longer a tunnel slug lives, the bigger it gets. They are typically VORACIOUS creatures and should be handled carefully.
- Red Apes: The red apes of the forest are less of a problem than other creatures, though when they appear, it will make trading much more expensive, as well as not allowing wood cutting, since they defend their territory.
- Spider: An ever present danger is the cavern spider. They can find their way in to any room and hide until an unsuspecting dwarf or other creature passes by. After the initial spider attack, they are easily identified by hanging webs.
- Cave Monster: These are truly horrible specimens. They can be very powerful enemies – as they are extremely varied. Typically, cave monsters do not roam, but they will pop out of their caves in search of food (everything).
Right now, the basic creature code is being written – I’ve started with Nilbogs since they have fairly complex behavior (building and socializing). Once Nilbogs are working well, I’ll start working on the Necromancer and how his tower gets constructed.
Racingspider Games, LLC 