Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Play Test

Last week we our group came to class surprised to find that we had to have a playable game for other classmates to play test. We as a group took an hour to hammer out the rules and get a basic playable game for others to play and comment on. I played the mutant squirrel game which i was very surprised to find that it was a really good game and i was very impressed. We also met over the weekend to talk about our game and assign different things to everyone to help and get our final game completed.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Lady Party

Since we were missing half of our group today, progress was slow. Liz and I spent most of our time cutting out the game board and talking about how the storyline can be incorporated without being overwhelming. I am pushing the possibility of having the game take place before the first book - it would serve as a sort of prequel, expanding on the events surrounding Iorek Byrnison's exile and Marisa Coulter's visit to Iofur Raknison.

This way, we can be more creative with the storyline and not have to rely on the trilogy's subsequent events. Isolating the story and the game, with only Marisa as the bridge between Svalbard and the rest of society, would probably help us out.

Below is from an email sent by the missing Dennis:

"...I was thinking we could take a little creative freedom with the storyline and have Marisa, and the bears essentially competing for the subtle knife/armor as if they could both use either).

I was also thinking that if the avatars we would be using explore to a location that would have a bear's home they would get a new bear follower each turn from that home location each turn. The followers wouldn't be that strong (and we could represent them with a simple color piece for each avatar) but they would be a way for people to battle each other without the risk of completely losing the game in a fight (although essentially if they fight enough of those small bears they will lose)."

We will meet outside of class this week to go over more ideas and develop the game so it is playable (?) by the next class.

- Alison

PS: We hope your hip's alright, Jeff D:

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Preparing for a prototype

After playing a closely related (mechanics-wise) grid based game called "Zombies" we have some fresh ideas as to how we are going to further develop Ursus Versus. Not only will we feature badass polar bears with armor, but we're going to emphasize the storyline of The Golden Compass in our game. Also, seeing as group members were excited about the possibility of exploring a map as they continued the game we are looking forward to developing a tile based game where the terrain will unfold before players as they continue through the game. As we prepare for next week's meeting we will continue to ponder over how we can develop Ursus Versus even more in a way that will hold closely to the original storyline, while creating a unique and fun game for players.

-DM


Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Slow Start

Brainstorming has yielded a few developments. Currently, we are headed in the direction of a "territory acquisition game" like Risk but this can change. We have, however, decided that armor - as seen in the book series by Philip Pullman - will be an integral to the game play. Players will be able to upgrade their armor, whether the armor is created or already provided upon beginning the game.

Further research is needed.