29 May 2012

Phoenix Comicon

Comicon Day 2 Friday May 25th
Comicon Day 2 was pretty great.  For one, I didn't have to spend it alone all day without eating, for fear I would then have to go to the bathroom and leave all my stuff, because Rosie and Jordan, a girl from our church, attended with me.  While they spent a bit of time at the convention center seeing all the goings on they were there to spell me from just sitting all day and they brought me food.
First thing, almost immediately after setting up, Ken St. Andre stopped by to play the game and find out more about it.  I first saw Ken at Randomcon a couple of years ago.  He is the inventor of Tunnels & Trolls and he had some criticism for the game and much of it was quite constructive.  I didn't agree with some of it and likley won't do anything with what I disagreed wtih because some of it was influenced by his RPG background and that for the most part doesn't transfer to wargaming.  Like his argument that defense doesn't give you a strategic advantage.  I agree that it doesn't in hand to hand combat but in war I tend to think it very much does.  Look at the Alamo where a small number of men were able to hold off Santa Ana and his thousands.  Anyway, I digress.  He also commented that he doesn't like balanced games and that Generals of the Revolution was too balanced.  We will talk more about this in a bit.  With the negative were some constructive items.  He also had some input on how to make the game more accessible to the masses and reduce cost by making the game a battle of only infantry.  This really got me thinking and it opens up a lot of possibilities.  I opined making it a game of the past (ie. Generals of the Revolution 1800) and he said, "Absolutely not.  It's a game of the future."  Then he proceeded to take the introduction/story of the game, which I had told him earlier and expounded that 'after or due to that war the land had become a wasteland with resources very difficult to come by and on and on (I can't remember all of it and wished I had taped him going on.  He's a good storyteller), therefore building armies has become difficult.'  It will take elaboration on my part but I liked where he was headed and it makes possible the option of having a game with the same board components but with only the caltrops at a cheaper price and then people who have that game and want the full original version would merely need to purchase the expansion later and players who just want the original could by it that way.
Second, 2 more players came a little while after Ken left and they had some input as well.  One of the players, Jake, said that he liked balanced games and thought it played well.  When I told him about Ken's suggestion he simply stated, " Ken is unbalanced."  Apparently he knows who he is and suggested I take that input with a grain of salt.
There were many more people who stopped by to check out the game and we got to talk and polish my game description a bit more.  My enthusiasm for the game and my purpose for attending the Con started to brighten as well.
That night, four friends (Aaron, Michael, Ben, and Zach) stopped by and inquired about the game.  After hearing about it, they all decided to sit down and have a go.  It was a good time and even after I suggested they play a few rounds and then if they needed to move on to other things, one of them, Aaron, said, "No, we'll got until someone wins it."
They played for a while and then when Michael made a strategic move that went against an alliance that had previously been in place..  After that the game was on.  Ben made some rapid moves to shore up his defenses and then Michael made a move that pretty much was the writing on the wall and 4 hours into the game they all agreed that this game was going to take a lot longer and the only person that didn't appear to have a chance to win it was Zach.  They determined at that point (almost 11pm) that it was time for the nuclear option.  All four players rolled a d4 for the win and the high roller, Aaron if I remember correctly, was declared winner.
For documentation sake, it was the first time in all the playtestings I have viewed that a Level III Fight Kite lost to a Level I Caltrop.  Poor Zach little luck going his way up to this point and roled a 1 for his Fight Kite a d4 roll of 3 doomed his highly armed Fight Kite.
Jordan took a picture of the Crew and I need to get a copy to post here.
The Crew (Zach, Ben, Michael, and Aaron)
Afterward they all stuck around to provide their input abotu the game and volunteered their home for future playtesting if was ever down in Tucson.
Because Rosie and Jordan were there, I had the chance to go over and visit Michael of Crash Games over at their booth on Industry Row.  He is where I want to be by end of year and that is with one game on its way to market with a few others to follow.  He has a lot of knowledge that I would like to leverage going forward and he used to manage a game store, Game Daze, that a lot of people here in the valley would be aware of.  Later in the day he came by and took a look at Generals.  Immmediately he could tell cost was going to be a concern.  We discussed several options and he offered to meet with me in the future to enlighten my path goind forward.  And something as simple as a value meal would open the vault.  His words summarized.  I got a chuckle when he said it.
Michael from Crash Games and I discussing Game Designing
THANKS AGAIN to all who stopped in to play and inquire about the game. And Michael (the one from Crash Games) you can plan on a value meal some time after you get back from Origins.  We look forward to future correspondence with many of our visitors this day.
Thank you Jordan for the pictures

25 May 2012

Blog Views

We're hoping to break our previous record for viewers in 2009 after letting the blog go for so long through 2010.  With Comicon and a week to go I think we might be able to do it.

24 May 2012

Phoenix Comicon

Comicon  Day 1 Thursday May 24th

What can, or should, I say about Day 1.
It was the tale of two halves I suppose.  The first half, sitting there by myself with very few people, I got very discouraged.  Mostly it was too much time to think.  I kept wondering why I do this to myself.
Then about 5pm hit and things started to pick up.  All in all I am very pleased with how things went.  We had a substantial number of people stop by and ask questions while I rambled and if nothing else I got to polish my shpiel a bit.  Then one guy came and was really interested in getting in some play time just based on my description of the game and anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a salesperson, but I am passionate about Generals.  He said he would be bringing his friends to play one of the days and that they are all interested in the big box games that take hours to complete.  He was a really great guy.  He ended up calling one of his friends over and they agreed it was something that they should work into their schedules.
Then a couple of guys stopped by and asked some questions.  Then they asked if I would be there through the weekend and committed to getting to a table to play it with their friends.
Then yet another stopped and said he didn't have 4 hours to give me but was interested in seeing other people play and said he would be stopping by again.
Their were many others that stopped by and talked, asked questions, and I provided them with Lanyards, pens, and flyers.
I really appreciated those who took time to find out more about our prototype game and hope it sparked some interest in you as well.
THANK YOU very much!

23 May 2012

Box Art Idea

When it was originally created we loved the Box Art for Generals of the Revolution with the exception of the portal, center piece with the waterfall and felt like a war scene in the middle would better.  We are certainly still a fan of the box and with the evolution of the artwork that Ian has been coming up with, we think it could be improved.
John has been coming up with a high level idea to request a revision from Mark with Ians piece parts as well as Marks Logo designs and the army colors.
We will try to grammatically explain the concept:
We want to keep the title and raise it more toward the top
Keep the red 'ribbon' cutting the box in 2 pieces and raise it to the middle.
Then essentially take the battle scene that Ian is creating and put that behind the 'ribbon' and take the color and logos that Mark created and use those as a transparent overlay of the battle in for pieces to show kind of like the box art that Mark did for War of the Suns:

 with something like this:
I'm sure Mark will be able to use his artistic capabilities to make it look better than I have here and to cover the box, but this give the general idea.
I'm not sure how well I've conveyed the idea, but I hope this gives you an idea of where our heads our for our future design.
All in all in might look something like this:
Obviously with better resolution and the other changes we're thinking about above.

19 May 2012

Comicon Invitation

Come visit us at Phx Comicon.
Below is a copy of an 'official' invitation copy from Facebook:
 
Thursday 24th through Sunday 27th!!

Come check out gaming at Phoenix Comicon 2012! We have roleplaying, board games, collectible card games, tournaments and other big events! We are located on the second floor of the Hyatt. Seriously, just up the escalators, you'll see d...ozens of swarming attendees taking part in the events!

Check out Industry Row where local gaming industry folks are showing you games they've designed along with new game demos. The D20 girls will be in attendance as well. You can also check out the Game Library where games are available to check out.
 
We're in the program if you go to the Phoenix Comicon website under gaming (as referenced from the program link):
 
Generals of the Revolution
The world has been tossed into turmoil. But amidst the upheaval, leaders are being made. You are to leverage your innate capabilities to master the market, leverage trades, and then develop and command your military to conquer provinces.
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Location: Hyatt Atrium B-13
Day/Time: Thursday, 12:00pm
Length: 4 hours
Location: Hyatt Atrium B-13
Day/Time: Friday, 10:00am
Length: 4 hours
Location: Hyatt Atrium B-13
Day/Time: Saturday, 10:00am
Length: 4 hours
Location: Hyatt Atrium B-13
Day/Time: Thursday, 4:00pm
Length: 4 hours
Location: Hyatt Atrium B-13
Day/Time: Friday, 2:00pm
Length: 4 hours
Location: Hyatt Atrium B-13
Day/Time: Saturday, 2:00pm
Length: 4 hours
Location: Hyatt Atrium B-13
Day/Time: Thursday, 8:00pm
Length: 4 hours
Location: Hyatt Atrium B-13
Day/Time: Friday, 6:00pm
Length: 4 hours
Location: Hyatt Atrium B-13
Day/Time: Saturday, 6:00pm
Length: 4 hours
We're not sure what the particulars are for entrance (walk-in or if it's a paid entrance with Comicon) since we aren't actually inside the convention center but hope to know more soon.

17 May 2012

Game Piece Art

We wanted to share some of the designs that Ian has come up with so far and ask for inputs. 
Caltrop Level IV Design
 We like what he has sketched so far.
Fight Kite Level I Design
We're pretty jazzed about where he is taking us so far and look forward to final designs in the coming weeks.  He's pretty motivated to get things completed for us and we are motivated by his excitement.  Keep looking back in because at the rate he's working we'll likely have updates pretty consistently.
Again, please share your opinions of where we are headed and what could be better.

11 May 2012

Comicon Program Details

We've been given a great opportunity to have Generals of the Revolution played at Phoenix Comicon this year and as such will be listed in the program.
We've been given space for 256 characters to tell about our game and/or company and as such we have come up with teh following for each:
Prodigy Game Works

Prodigy Game Works LLC is an Arizona based company dedicated to the design and publishing of strategy board games. Our intent is to bring people to the game table for camaraderie and social interaction.

Generals of the Revolution

A game of economic and military strategy set in the near future. You are a General, managing and commanding the development and deployment of your military. Every game is something new forcing you to adapt your strategy to maps and economic change.

Let us know your thoughts on each (keeping in mind that we only have 256 characters or less.

09 May 2012

Meeting Ian

We had a meeting with Ian Rosenthaler last night and overall liked what he brings to the table.
At risk of making it sound like I'm blowing wind up his skirt because I know he'll likely be reading this, he is very motivated and passionate and we pretty much came to an agreement during the meeting to proceed to some concepts.  To show how much we has taken the initiative he contacted me yesterday asking about the what concepts I had in mind and asked about other details.  When I pointed him to my Deviant Art account he took it upon himself to prove he's not a one dimensional fantasy artist and that we is equally comfortable pursuing somethign in scifi as well and in one night came up with a few items to prove himself.
Needless to say I was impressed to see him take the initiative and bring the above (the scan doesn't really do it justice) with him to our meeting.
I look forward to seeing more from him next week and I've promised to deliver some more details about the pieces and the faction logos we have from Mark.  We'll keep you updated and will likely look for feedback from you.  I'm really partial to one of the designs above though its not really exactly indicative of what the Caltrop is, and again, anxiously await what he comes up with for all of the pieces.

05 May 2012

Potential New Artist

In preparation for Phoenix Comicon, I was getting the rulebook for Generals of the Revolution printed at Kinko's today.  While the guy behind the counter was working out the layout for printing he noticed what he was working on and asked if I was doing artwork for something and I mentioned that it's a rulebook for a game and I'm not an artist.  This sequence touched off further conversation and he said that he is an artist and he has been working with a local game publisher (Crash Games) on some artwork.  His name is Ian Rosenthaler and interestingly enough he has a bunch of artwork on the Deviant Art site (listed as Isorose) that I have referenced on a few occasions previously.  Upon his recommendation I looked him up on Facebook as well and low and behold he has FZD listed as an interested/activity.  That is the design school that I believe Kai attends/ed as well.
Needless to say we may be talking with him a bit more in the near future.
We will likely run into Crash Games at Phoenix Comicon as well and hope to be able to talk to them about their path to publishing games.
Small World.

03 May 2012

Plastic Molds

A few weeks ago we published a post about meeting with a local company about potentially manufacturign our game pieces.  We've been terribly delinquent with a follow up post to let you know how it went.
It's not that we just let things go.  We've had several meetings (Face-to-Face and telephone) to try and work something out that will be mutually beneficial.  The hardest thing is coming up with the delicate balance between long-term and short-term budgets as well as trying to determine the best manufacturing process so the numbers on the pieces will show up clearly without increasing the cost per piece too dramatically.
All of that said, the folks at Plaztech and PCM Custom Molding have been very flexible and have revised their quotes and sharpened their pencils to try and make something work.  Something we've really not been able to get out of many manufacturers.  Still the costs for molds tends to push us outside our budget.  We continue to search for options and PCM has agreed to hold their costs even at lower volumes which helps tremendously but in the end to make money we would still need to sell thousands of games to really break even due to mold costs and we haven't even really started quoting other components of the game past cards, dice, and mini poker chips.
Things aren't looking great but we press on hoping to find a way to make a go of it and hopefully can drum up interest at Comicon and might possibly be able to get enough people on board that we at least know we can sell a minimum.  We will also start calling local game stores to see what we would need to do to get on shelves.  With enough interest it would reduce some of the risk of $32k for molds.
Our deepest appreciation goes to Plaztech and PCM.  I've been encouraged by Phil's enthusiasm for a project he knows only from what I've briefly told him.