BC Furries

So, given that the theme for Vancoufur next year is trains/mining/mining trains, I've been rolling a board game with a similar theme around in my head and notebooks for a while, and thought it would be neat if I could work with some of the artists who will be at the convention, and release it at the con itself.

The game is something like Steampunk Mad Max, Underground. Teams of Mercenary Engineers run raw materials to factories, and goods from factories to starving cities, all the while having to fight off bandits, work around or dig through cave-ins, and keep their engines upgraded to stay one step ahead of the competition.

What I would need from the community is 40 pieces of character art, (20 Bandits and 20 Engineers) and some people who would like to work together on the board itself. (I'll be able to fill in gaps in the art department) I'll also need a few people with game groups that would be willing to test the game.

I'm not going to go ahead on this project unless there's significant interest, (Or at least, It might become something else) My goal would be to at least have a copy of the finished game in the hands of everyone who contributed, and maybe a few other people who'd like to fund the printing.

What say you?

Project Status:
Basic Mechanics - 90%
Concept Art - 0%
Playtesting - 0%
Rules - 0%
Card Art - 0%
Board Art - 0%
Printing - 0%
Parts Purchasing - 0%
Assembly - 0%
Distribution - 0%

Got a bit of work to do yet

UPDATE: 08/03/2012

Project Status:
Basic Mechanics - 100%
Concept Art - 10%
Playtesting - 5%
Rules - 80%
Card Art - 0%
Board Art - 0%
Printing - 0%*
Parts Purchasing - 0%*
Assembly - 0%*
Distribution - 0%*

It's coming along, I've got a complete game now, though it's still rather unbalanced, that will take a lot of playtesting to work out. This past week I've built three prototype copies of the game, just to try and work out how I want the information laid out. I've put an image of the board I'm happiest with further down in the post, Once I have a good first draft of the rules, it should make more sense what's going on.

Even though I'll need to adjust the powers of things, I'm more or less solid with what is going to be in the final game. So I'm opening it up to any artists that would like to give a go. The rules for submitting art, along with the full list of cards in the game, are available here: Steam Tunnels Card Art List (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Auapl17Id31-dHZBOFRpWnlEZ09yS1g5T0M0LW1OTGc)

*I've been looking at The Game Crafter, which might be the easiest way to get all these parts done with the limited distribution we'll be having. If anyone knows people with printing equipment, or a 3D printer, or small-scale woodworking tools or crafty friends who would get excited about putting together twenty some-odd copies of a board game, let me know...

I'd be glad to do some of the character art; this seems like a really neat concept. C:

Also, if you don't mind some hyperactive teenage nerds as a test group I can probably get my gaming friends to help out there.

i may of be of some use, how communication if your there and i`m here?

: professor whovianart  June 01, 2012, 10:29:53 -06:00
i may of be of some use, how communication if your there and i`m here?

Email Probably?

My art is very minimalist but it'd be good for concepts or idea tossing. I'll see what I can come up with. The idea seems really cool. What will the art be presented on? cards, pamphlets, chips? Any specific actions? species?

: Tosca  June 01, 2012, 10:26:54 -06:00
I'd be glad to do some of the character art; this seems like a really neat concept. C:

Also, if you don't mind some hyperactive teenage nerds as a test group I can probably get my gaming friends to help out there.

That should be fine :D

: kohl  June 02, 2012, 04:37:00 -06:00
My art is very minimalist but it'd be good for concepts or idea tossing. I'll see what I can come up with. The idea seems really cool. What will the art be presented on? cards, pamphlets, chips? Any specific actions? species?

The only thing I'd say about species is "let's avoid hybrids" But if that's something that would drive people away, it is post-apocalyptic, "Dogs living with cats" and all that :D
Oh, and obviously no trademarked characters. But parodies could be applicable. For costumes and props, just think Mad Max/Tankgirl, but Victorian.

The game will have a large board, a smaller "engine" board for each player, and 50-60 cards (20 Characters, 20 Bandits, 10-20 Upgrades)


Here's roughly what the cards will look like, the grey dashed border should contain the illustration. Personally I'd like to just have the characters on a solid colour background, makes it easier on artists and more coherent.

(http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/154/d/6/character_card_by_starflier-d524qgw.png) (http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/154/0/f/bandit_card_by_starflier-d524qgq.png)

The game is a pick-up-and-deliver board game with elements borrowed from Steam and Stone Age, and a dice-rolling combat system.
At the start of the game, character cards are set out on the table, and players bid on who they want in their team. Each character has three statistics, (which translate to amounts of dice rolled for different actions) and a special ability.

On their turn, players assign tasks to members of their team. More than one character can be assigned to the same task. Moving between locations requires a combined Fireman roll greater than the "Incline" of the connecting tracks. If the player's train is at a Mine, the combined Miner roll is divided by the Material's value for the amount of Material dug up. If the player's train is attacked by bandits, any characters not already assigned can use their Brawler roll to try and beat the bandit's Tough value, stopping the attack (The Bandit value is the number of cars lost from the train if the bandit is not stopped) Moving goods on or off of the train requires one unassigned character. Once all characters are assigned, the player's turn is over.

The basic flow of the game is: Mine raw materials (tin, iron, coal, copper, zinc), bring them to factories (tin -> Cans of Beans, coal + iron -> Steel, zinc + copper -> Brass, Steel -> Gears, Brass -> Pipes), bring consumer goods, (Beans, Gears, Pipes) to cities. (Cities will use up goods at different rates) If cities are well supplied with basic goods, they will start buying Gold. (Which can be mined, then sold, skipping the factory stage)

Players can upgrade their engine, (Example Upgrades: "Extra Boiler" +10 to all Fireman rolls, "Gattling Turret" +10 to all Brawler rolls, "Heavy Drill" +10 to all Mining rolls) or hire more characters for their team. Every time a train crosses a track, one bandit token is added to that track. Each time a train crosses a track with bandit tokens, that many dice are rolled, and for each one, the player encounters a bandit. (One bandit token is removed for each bandit defeated) (One thing I forgot on the card mockups: The bandit cards should have bounties on them)

My idea for the endgame, because I'm not a fan of "Who has the most victory points?" is to have a "Promised Land"-esque city as the goal, with three paths leading to it, One with a gauntlet of Bandits, one with a toll gate, and one with an incredibly steep incline. Players could work towards either having the most money, or the strongest, or best defended engine.

That's all subject to discussion. I haven't even made a test board yet, but I think it should all work. If anyone has ideas they'd like to see added, or suggestions on what should be cut away let me know :)

Oh! and if anyone's comfortable with drawing steam engines and stuff, their help would be appreciated too.

For playtesting, why not contact some game stores? Many of them have board game nights and lots of players. Or take it to Rain Rat's Game Night!

I'd also be willing to toss my art at it!! (akariku of FA)

Sounds fun!

I'd be willing to do some art for it :3

Feel free to email me at WildElementStudios[at]live[dot]ca with what you'd like me to do ^^

you can find my galleries with examples of my art in my signature :3

Ohey! Thanks for your interest everybody!
I'm working on a prototype right now to see if the game concept will work. Here's the board I have:
(http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/158/1/5/board_try_3_by_starflier-d52mo9q.png)
The coloured die faces are mines, when on these spaces payers can roll their mining dice, and divide by the sum of dice by the number of pips on the mine.
The circles a cities. At the start of the game, the number of goods shown is placed on each city. At the end of each turn, one of each kind of good is used up by each city. If the number of a given good is less than what is shown on the city, then players can sell that kind of good to the city, getting the base cost, (shown in the table on the right) times the number of goods required to fill the city.
If a city is full, it will buy gold. The amount a city will pay for gold is 10 times the multiplier in the yellow oval.
The buildings are factories. At the end of the turn, goods matching the input (Above the factory) are converted into the output (inside the factory)
The Guild is where players can upgrade their engines
The trading post holds four goods. if a player is on the trading post, he can trade two of any one good for one of the available goods.
The numbers between spaces are the minimum die roll required to make the trip. 1 coal is required for each die used in a movement roll.
As it stands this game needs a whole lot of Eurocubes. One of the things I'm going to do in my initial playtests is adjust the values so that number goes down.

As far as the art goes, here are approximately the assets required:
Box art 9.5"x9.5" (Plus four 9.5"4" sides)
Board 18"x18"
Player boards 9"x5.5"

Cards:
Upgrades:
1-3 engine
1-3 mining
1-3 fighting
1 crew

Crew:
2 x weak mercenaries
3 x medium mercenaries
2 x strong mercenaries
2 x miners
2 x fighters
2 x engineers
Prospector
Capitalist
Industrialist
Soldier
Demoman
Chemist

Bandits:
10 x generic bandits
5 x bandit heroes
5 x bandit kings

I think the best bet now is for everyone who'd like to help to start doing concept sketches of characters, settings and engines. I'll run a few playtests, then put up a print-and-play version that anyone can try out.

Sounds rad, man.
What are the specifications for the card sizes?

Did some quick sketches awhile ago just to practice some ideas. Letting you know I'm still thinking 'bout this and would like to contribute. I'm going and try and do some more polished pieces tonight.

(http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg339/scaled.php?server=339&filename=game1i.jpg&res=landing)
(http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg829/scaled.php?server=829&filename=game2n.jpg&res=landing)

Let me know about the ideas you got for cards or if you like any of these.

: Tef  June 07, 2012, 06:56:12 -06:00
Sounds rad, man.
What are the specifications for the card sizes?

Standard Playing Cards are 2.5" x 3.5", Ideally I'd like the character illustration to fit in a 2" x 3" box.

: kohl  June 09, 2012, 12:52:12 -06:00
Did some quick sketches awhile ago just to practice some ideas. Letting you know I'm still thinking 'bout this and would like to contribute. I'm going and try and do some more polished pieces tonight.

Let me know about the ideas you got for cards or if you like any of these.

Those all look good as starting points :D I like the random diver guy, though I think, given the theme, he should probably be wearing a helmet rather than goggles...

(https://d.facdn.net/art/starflier/1343957816.starflier_board_try_4.png)

I'm still working on this, I've played a couple of games solo now that weren't terribly broken, I just want to play once or twice through with my local group, then I'll post a Print and Play version so people can playtest, and start getting in contact with artists about doing cards.

I would still be interested in doing art for this if its still a go. Are there any card specifics ready to be drawn or is that all in the works still?

It's not full yet, but I have a character list here: Steam Tunnels Cards (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Auapl17Id31-dHZBOFRpWnlEZ09yS1g5T0M0LW1OTGc)
I'd love for you to take a stab at a character or two :)

I will see what i can do :3

I got a couple of illustrations done today:

(http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/219/4/5/hero_wolf_by_starflier-d5a8i5y.png) (http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/219/7/5/puppeteer_by_starflier-d5a8i65.png)

And here they are in the current card layout:

(http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/220/a/c/character_card_by_starflier-d5a8sz5.png) (http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/220/8/6/character_card1_by_starflier-d5adn76.png)

Let me know what you think :)

I just finished a full draft of the rules (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LMmZL4sciY8B7e0XTG8t8gFJMtP7-Do-CqePY8Ixhts/edit) today.

Also made this girl:
(http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/220/f/8/urchin_by_starflier-d5aebgp.png) (http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/220/d/4/character_card2_by_starflier-d5aebgl.png)

got a bunch of projects to do. i wont have time until a bit later to try my hand at some of these.

Hey Starflier, I've got a fresh one done for you.

(https://d.facdn.net/art/deaconstructef/1347082937.deaconstructef_cardgamegrunt.png)

It's just the image and the flavour text, by the way.

That looks awesome! Are you able to send it to me at a higher resolution? My email address is starflier@gmail.com

How high do you need it? I checked what I did the art in and it was 72 px/in.

Ooooh....

Um, generally 300 dpi is the minimum resolution for print... I suppose I should have specified that...

Well, if you're done with this, I could trace over it, Or if you'd like to... I'm sorry I didn't let you know that beforehand...

Ahkay, no worries. I just created a new file and set the resolution to 300 ppi (dpi), and imported the grunt into the said new file.
I hope it works. I'll send it to you via email.

Grr. The picture is about 100pixels to big for this monitor. I'll see what I can do. I wanna do the machete wielding guy and the briber/trader guy. anyone else can try it too since I don't know when I'll get them done or what quality.