Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Real life, eeep!

I know that my last post said I was not dead yet, and it's true. I am not. Unfortunately I have had not as much free time as I had originally hoped once I graduated. But that is mainly due for a couple reasons. One, I got a real job doing Graphic Design and Web Development at Sportsman's Warehouse.

Second, I recently got married at the end of July. So that took up a lot of my time, between getting ready for the wedding, the honeymoon, buying a house, and moving in (which will probably be happening for a long time to come).

I haven't forgotten about my game and I am planning on updating soon. It is probably safe to assume that no one is reading this but I figured I should post something anyways. If you are seeing this, thanks for your support even though I have not provided much for you.

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

I'm not dead yet!

Just thought I would throw out a quick update just to let everyone know I am still working on the game. I received a lot of great feedback including a few suggestions for some great changes.

I plan on recoloring all the cards soon, so it doesn't take so much ink to print. I am also looking into some royalty free images that I can play with for card graphics.

It's just been slow the last few days as I shift to work full-time and enjoy not being in school anymore. :) Thanks again for all the support, comments and suggestions!

Sunday, April 22, 2007

The purpose of a Ninja is to . . . .

Have a look at the new card, "Flipped Out!"

Card Preview tonight!

Thanks again for all the support I have been receiving from everyone! I was able to sit down on Friday and work out some of the details to automate the card creation. I also did some brainstorming for some new cards, including a few key ones I can't believe I forgot.

After all, what Ninja game would be complete without having the ability to "Flip out?" So later this evening I will put up a card preview of the new card "Flipped Out", which will also be displayed on the recolored card design.

Thanks again everyone! Check back soon!

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Thanks for all your support! Updated and news!

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to download the game, or even take the time to view it.

Tonight I was able to sit down with a group of friends and hammer out almost 20 hours of playtesting to further refine cards abilities, and see how different cards interact with each other in more detail. They had a lot of good suggestions as well as some great ideas for clarity to help the game be easier to play.

So on my list of things to do is the following:
  • Color code the building pieces so that it is much easier to tell the difference between a Pirate building piece and a Ninja piece
  • Rework some of the abilities to make them more entertaining to use. The response I had from friends was abilities like the Black Spot and Long Tom were fun and more cards should function like that
  • Tweak some abilities and weapons to make them more desirable to use. Examples of these were the Musket which no one ever wanted to play
  • Rework Evasive and Seductive. These cards were based off some old rules and were nearly worthless in the current format
  • Add in another Ninja character to bring the character count to even numbers.
  • Adjust the Deployment cost on all the building pieces so that the deployment costs varies much more throughout the draw deck
  • Rename some cards to make their titles more entertaining
  • Rework abilities so that the use of Building Pieces has a greater purpose and interact more often with characters
  • Adjust the requirements for winning to make both methods of victory more plausible
  • Rewrite the rulebook so the instructions follow a more fluid pattern and are easier to read
  • Much more!
It's a big list but I am excited to get the game position where it's easy understand and play, and hopefully a lot of fun! After these necessary tweaks are made, adding more cards in the future will become much easier as I am taking the steps to help automate the process of generating cards based of the lists I create.

Thanks for everyone's support who have e-mailed me about the game and taken the time to try it out! I am working on these updates and plan to devote a lot more time to it within the next week once the semester ends.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

"Pirates versus Ninjas" is ready for download!

I am pleased to let everyone know that the first version of "Pirates versus Ninjas" is now online and ready for download.

There are 4 files available for download. The first file contains all of the character cards and location cards for "Pirates versus Ninjas." This is the largest file, weighing in 71.4 MB. The Weapons and Items file is 48.4 MB. The Rulebook is 270 KB in size with an online readable version coming soon. The fourth file simply contains blank cards that can be used for setting up the game.

I am sure I missed some balance issues during playtesting, so if you come across any issues please feel free to let me know either in the comment sections here, or send me an e-mail.

I hope you enjoy playing the game! I will continue to update the game with any balance problems that arise or any clarification problems in the rulebook.

I also am looking forward to creating additional cards to add into the game as well.

"Pirates versus Ninjas" Characters and Locations
"Pirates versus Ninjas" Weapons and Items
"Pirates versus Ninjas" Rulebook
Optional: Blank Cards for Set-up

Minor Changes coming

There were a few clarifications that I missed on some of the cards, so I am recompiling the PDF with all the card updates. It will be uploaded tonight!

Thanks for your patience.