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s-m-r
Slow-Motion Riot
Registered
04/06/2006
Points
1078
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2nd June, 2011 at 04:42:45 -
In addition to being a hobby computer game designer, I also design board games. I dare say I'm better at tabletop games than software. But take a look for yourself:
http://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/keel-hauled
"Keel-Hauled!" is my first-ever published title (publish-on-demand still counts...), and it's one of perhaps a dozen other games I have in various stages of completion. Please consider purchasing it if you like dice games and are interested in supporting indie game developers (the bricks-and-mortar version, that is).
Thanks!
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Assault Andy
Administrator
I make other people create vaporware
Registered
29/07/2002
Points
5686
    
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2nd June, 2011 at 08:29:09 -
The link didn't seem to work for me:
Proxy Error
The proxy server received an invalid response from an upstream server.
The proxy server could not handle the request GET /games/keel-hauled.
Reason: Error reading from remote server
Creator of Faerie Solitaire:
http://www.create-games.com/download.asp?id=7792
Also creator of ZDay20 and Dungeon Dash.
http://www.Jigxor.com
http://twitter.com/JigxorAndy
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Hagar
Administrator
Old klik fart
Registered
20/02/2002
Points
1692
 
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2nd June, 2011 at 10:43:12 -
The page loads for me but it's really slow.
Call me old fashioned, but I think a lot of people would like to see the actual board game setup (just a photo) before purchasing. I think you could get more sales if people could see the board game set up, in a toy store as a kid it was always the thing I looked for in a board game.
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s-m-r
Slow-Motion Riot
Registered
04/06/2006
Points
1078
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2nd June, 2011 at 12:50:33 -
Yeah, I'll definitely be posting photos of the game in action very soon. I was just excited about posting the game online and didn't want to wait. You're not "old-fashioned" at all, hagar...At least as far as board games are concerned. 
As far as the website not loading, I have no idea what the problem would be...?
In any case, I'll be updating the listing with photos of the game very soon.
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Assault Andy
Administrator
I make other people create vaporware
Registered
29/07/2002
Points
5686
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3rd June, 2011 at 03:27:47 -
Seems to be working now, but photos please!
Creator of Faerie Solitaire:
http://www.create-games.com/download.asp?id=7792
Also creator of ZDay20 and Dungeon Dash.
http://www.Jigxor.com
http://twitter.com/JigxorAndy
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s-m-r
Slow-Motion Riot
Registered
04/06/2006
Points
1078
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3rd June, 2011 at 12:13:48 -
Of course I choose the week they're doing website updates to release my own game... 
I'll post photos over the weekend, for certain.
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s-m-r
Slow-Motion Riot
Registered
04/06/2006
Points
1078
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10th June, 2011 at 12:50:04 -
Photo finally included of the game contents:
http://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/keel-hauled
I've also posted additional, optional rules that can be downloaded via a link included with the game instructions. More variants will be posted in the near future to round out the package with more replay value.
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UrbanMonk
BRING BACK MITCH
Registered
07/07/2008
Points
49667
        
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10th June, 2011 at 17:46:14 -
That's pretty cool!
So how did you design it exactly?
Is there a program or something that you used?
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s-m-r
Slow-Motion Riot
Registered
04/06/2006
Points
1078
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11th June, 2011 at 14:02:45 -
To come up with a game design, I didn't have to use any special programs or whatever; to put together the finished board game art and the cover art, I did a combination of hand drawings and an OLD, OLD version of Photoshop.
I've been playing board games for many years; I played tabletop RPGs for a couple decades when I was younger. I run board game design workshops a couple times a month and host a monthly "board game night" at a local pub.
With all those opportunities for tabletop games, it was only natural that I was bitten by the bug and took the plunge into designing, playtesting, and finally publishing a game of my own. I have scads of other designs that are in various stages of completion; this one was the closest to completion, so I decided to finally release it.
My hope is that the game (and others I design) will eventually be picked up by an honest-to-goodness game publishing house. We'll see.
If anyone has questions about this game, or the game design process, just let me know.
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Sketchy
Cornwall UK
Registered
06/11/2004
Points
1971
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11th June, 2011 at 17:00:35 -
Well this is all very interesting, I must say.
Your game looks nice and professional, and surprisingly affordable.
The "GameCrafter" looks like a very interesting site too - kind of like CafePress/Zazzle, but for board games. Too bad they can't do custom miniatures - I guess you could have them make a game using card pieces, and then sell miniatures (from another source) to replace them.
Anyway, good luck getting something published.
The game I was designing a while back, was kind of like "Space Crusade" combined with "Hero Quest" and the movie "The Thing". It was a game of squad-level tactics, where the human players had to work together as a team to defeat the alien player - but there was also a system whereby human players could become "infected", so you'd never really know who you could trust...
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UrbanMonk
BRING BACK MITCH
Registered
07/07/2008
Points
49667
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11th June, 2011 at 19:04:53 -
You'd prolly need to be submitting your designs to publishers before you'd have a chance of being picked up.
I'm not really a big fan of board games though, the only kind of game I play these days are like tetris on my cell phone when I have time. heh
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s-m-r
Slow-Motion Riot
Registered
04/06/2006
Points
1078
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12th June, 2011 at 17:25:11 -
Originally Posted by UrbanMonk
You'd prolly need to be submitting your designs to publishers before you'd have a chance of being picked up.
@ UrbanMonk: My main reason for putting together the game is so that I could send a nice-looking prototype to game publishers. I hope to be hearing back from a few in the weeks ahead; if I do, I'll ship out one of these prototypes to them so they can see the game as I currently envision it.
@Sketchy: Your game idea sounds very interesting...! It reminds me of a game I was playing just yesterday, called "Fury of Dracula." It features a group of hunters traveling through Europe, while another player is Dracula, who stays hidden throughout most of the game. It's a constant race through the different cities, and Dracula attempts to whittle down the strength of the players as time goes on. Games where there's information hidden from most of the players add a lot more intrigue and tension to the game, which makes it very memorable in most cases.
If you need some pointers on putting together your game Sketchy, don't hesitate to drop me a line.
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Johnny Look
One Happy Dude
Registered
14/05/2006
Points
2942
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12th June, 2011 at 19:41:59 -
I'm not much into board games but this looks very professional and well designed.
Have you thought about making a PC game based on it ? Could help get some publisher interest and raise the sales of the tabletop game.
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s-m-r
Slow-Motion Riot
Registered
04/06/2006
Points
1078
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12th June, 2011 at 20:29:49 -
I have thought a lot about creating a software version of the game, although there's a fairly strong divide between audiences. There are a number of marketing decisions as well that have convinced me that a computerized version might not be the way to go just yet.
But above all, I've had technical limitations in terms of turning my board game designs into flash apps. If you look at my "portfolio" of finished projects, you'll see that my skills are limited. I don't have the urge to dedicate my time to learning more about MMF2, as opposed to sticking with real-world versions of the games. There's simply a much quicker turn-around if I stick with a tangible prototype.
I may come up with flash versions of my games in the future. I've actually used MMF2 to develop a mock-up of more than one of my prototypes, so it's not completely out of the question. But at least for now, I'm not going forward on releasing any designs in software format; I have a few too many barriers at this time.
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s-m-r
Slow-Motion Riot
Registered
04/06/2006
Points
1078
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14th June, 2011 at 12:55:10 -
Keel-Hauled! now has a page on Board Game Geek!
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/100298/keel-hauled
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