Archive through May 10, 2012
Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board: Company-Conventions-Stores-Ideas: About the Company:
TRIBBLES vs KLINGONS:
Archive through May 10, 2012
Quote:Cosmographer by Profantasy Software
While it's definitely some cool software (I've looked into it a few times before), it doesn't really do give you the lighting options I'm using, here. I tend to think that's an important part of what makes the room look "Klingon"...high contrast between the lights and dark areas in the room. This is all done in Photoshop CS5, FWIW.
I kind of think this one might be a little TOO bright, but...eh, guess only print will tell for sure.
I kinda wish it wasn't so red BUT given it's an emergency situation I suppose that is what it would be. (For humans anyway. Do Klingons see better in red too?)
This is the link to the Cosmographer software, btw. Cosmographer 3 ($39.95) is an add-on to their Campaign Cartograph 3 software ($44.95). If looking at doing ONLY maps/deck plans, that might be a good option for ADB to consider if not going for fully-custom artwork on the project. For about the same effort as doing the 'engineering' version of the deck plans, you could get probably 50% of the way to the 'artistic' version of them using the ProFantasy kit, and at less than $100 a fairly reasonable cost.
Quote:I kinda wish it wasn't so red BUT given it's an emergency situation I suppose that is what it would be.
Have you seen many Klingon ships!?
Terry: Jean put it in COOL STUFF so it is there.
They have free reader on the site that you can use to open/see what others people are making for maps and deckplans. They also have a few videos on youtube that run you through the basics of their software and show you how to do some stuff. I bought it but like so many other things, I haven't had time to use it. CC3 Viewer: http://www.profantasy.com/library/dpv.asp
Cosmographer examples: http://www.profantasy.com/products/cos3_examples.asp
Demo videos: http://www.profantasy.com/community/cc3_tutorials.asp
Xander,
All of those Klingon ships are based off the ST:TMP movie version and from Paramount. They continued that lighting detail into their following series. The TOS didn't follow that method.
Most TV series, the lighting interior on space ships are usually well-lit. while it is the opposite if the spaceship is off of a movie. this is because movies use lighting to give the illusion of depth and distance, which isn't done on a television studio set.
As an example, the bridge lighting of the Enterprise-D during the TV series was bright, but in movie Star Trek: Generations, the bridge lighting was much darker. (And it wasn't because engineering was lazy at replacing the light bulbs 
)
Like this one much better.
Quote:The TOS didn't follow that method
Well, we don't really know that...we never actually got to SEE the bridge (or, really, inside at all) of a Klingon ship in the original series.
Closest was when the Enterprise hailed the Klingon ship in 'Elaan of Troyius', but as common with ship-to-ship communications on that show, we didn't actually get to see any room behind the Klingon captain.
I think the only non-Federation ship in TOS Trek we really got a good look around the inside of (at least the bridge of, anyway) was the Romulan Bird of Prey in 'Balance of Terror'. And...well, that interior was very much 'reddish'.
Enough on red, for cripes sake. Leanna will have him do whatever looks good with the tribbles when they get here. Move on to something else.
Xander,
Kirk and Spock ran around a Romulan Kestral for a good bit of the show, when they stole the Cloaking Device ---
Oh, that was just the Enterprise with different curtains...
Anybody remember "Azhanti High Lightning" by GDW? Combat on starship deck plans. I'm sure this is *much* simpler.
David, I heard of AHL but when it was available Traveller wasn't my thing, so never owned or played it. Tribbles vs Klingons looks like something I can play with a smart 8 year old.
Is the tone of the game tongue in cheek so to speak? Tribbles have a natural association with humor. Something illuminati or munchkin like; maybe drier.
I don't know, but the official page makes it look like the theme is rather tongue-in-cheek.
Just from reading the sequence of play, I've picked up a few clues about the game.
1. Players kill 4 per turn with pistols without risk, assuming there are four in range. Tribbles breed at 1d6 more each turn (3.5 average), so they breed at almost the optimal kill rate. You get two more from each food replicator each game round, so that's an extra six each round. On average, they are probably breeding a little faster than you can kill them unless you go for hand-to-hand combat. If you fall behind, you'll pretty soon be overwhelmed by tribbles.
2. There are two ways to use the tribble breeding and movement rules. One is to set up easy kills for yourself, the other is to make things tough for a rival. In a four-player game, tribbles will breed and move three times before your next turn... so a "sabotage the leader" strategy is viable. Also, alliances and betrayals become possible ("if you move these tribbles away from me, I'll move some there for you on my turn...")
While the theme might be in fun its a combat game so it's REAL FUN.
Well, if you've played 'Zombies!!!', you can definitely see that the elements this has in common with it are basically the FUN ones (that game does have some serious flaws - some of which SVC touched on earlier - which explains its rather poor rating on BGG). And with the right group (and libations!), the events that happen in the game can often turn to the ludicrous...and with proper card combinations become literally ROFL-worthy!
Terry - As I read it, tribbles breed at 1d6 per player, with an additional 2 tribbles at each operating food replicators at the end of the turn. So, in a 6-player game that would be 6d6 + 6 after one turn.
The breeding actually goes down the more players you send to sickbay. (And disable the food replicators)
Yes, you need to go after the replicators first.
Unless some idiot plays a card to turn them back on.
Somebody remind me to start posting random cards.
I've never played Zombies!!! because of some bad reviews on BoardGameGeek. The main criticisms seemed to be that "this game's not balanced, it doesn't feel like a 'complete' game". The designers responded with words to the effect that games you had to tinker with were their favourite games, which is why Zombies!!! felt that way. I didn't consider that a satisfying answer from the Zombies!!! designers, since I feel that while making house rules and so on can be fun, it should not be a requirement. It also wasn't advertised as such a game. As opposed to the game We Didn't Playtest This At All.
I know that with SVC & SPP running the show, not to mention Jean to proofread and pick up any errors that get past them, Tribbles vs Klingons will be a game with solid rules and gameplay. It will probably also have a lot of fan house rules, proposals for new cards, and so on once it comes out... so we'll get the best of both worlds.
Which makes me think it may be worth including a few blank cards in the set, so players can make up their own cards e.g. I came up with the idea "Tribbles in Bits: you throw a grenade at any square within three squares of you. Roll a die for each tribble in that square. On a 1-3 it is killed. Any survivors are scattered one square in random directions determined by die roll."
Speaking of Boardgamegeek, there's no TvK page yet, should I put one up or is that premature as yet?
Well, in speaking of 'Zombies!!!', I'm not really sure how you could argue it's "not balanced", as all the players are on the same side...with access to the same deck of actions, same character stats, etc. Against the zombie side. And maybe the zombie side (run by 'the game') does win more than it loses, but...well, I mean, it's a zombie game. They are SUPPOSED to! If it was easy to win as the player side, what would be the point?
Quote:I came up with the idea "Tribbles in Bits:
Well, the idea with the cards is that you want them to often be something you can play AGAINST your neighbors. "They're not dead, yet" was always one of my favorites to hold onto for when someone was just about to 'win' via number of zombies killed...3 of the zombies from their 'kill bag' re-spawn as live zombies in their square. ROFLs.
Or "I think this could be our last night on earth", whereby you pick another player's piece and move them to your square. ALSO handy to use just when they have slogged all the way across the board to the helipad...hehe. (In fact, one of the guys we played with - Eric - had this happen to him so often we took to referring to him as 'Erica'. So every time we played the card on him and he had to come all the way back - 'Oh, geez Erica, I like you and all but this REALLY isn't the time...' ROFLMAO)
The content of the cards will do miles to setting the overall tone of the game, so very important to get right!
I saw a two-handed sword mentioned earlier. If there's only one sword card, perhaps a 7th miniature with a two-handed sword could be included (Kickstarter bonus level?). If the card is played, that player switches miniatures for as long as he keeps the sword. The same could be done for other visually striking weapons - disrupter rifles, flamethrowers, etc.