Sunday 22 September 2019

On the turn of a card.

I thought I would just share some of the concept work that has been done for what we are calling the 'Chance' cards.  Various loot markers will be situated throughout the terrain; these can be investigated by using the 'Oh, Shiny!' action.  The player will draw a chance card to see what they have found, but be warned some cards have negative effects!  

I had an idea that I wanted the deck to resemble an old and worn pack of playing cards, adding the logo that I had created at the centre.  Looking at it again, I can see some faults with alignment and have probably overdone the wear and tear, but got close to where I wanted to be.
Concept wise the cards in our game owe much to the 'Zombicide' game and so it seemed fitting to start there when it came to design.  For the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with Guillotine Games' Kickstarter breaking phenomenon, Zombicide is a collaborative board game where the players 'search' for equipment by drawing cards.  These can give a survivor's chances a boost with the addition weapons or artefacts, sometimes having to be combined to increase the value or strength of the item.  The cards might also have an impact on game play, sometimes for the worse!  Above is a typical example of an equipment card and as I was reviewing them, I was suddenly struck by the black, red & white colour scheme, which echoes the German Imperial war flag design and had been a consideration when thinking about palette for this adventure.  As a result, I shamelessly stole payed homage to the card design and added our theme to their existing background.
I was aware of the box art for 'Escape from Colditz' board game and Action Man set and was channeling these themes, along with the Commando comics of my youth.  I was interested to discover that the 'Escape from Colditz' game also came with equipment cards and that theirs had historical information relating to the various escape attempts.  Again this was something we had considered and so will be looking to add facts about the battle to ours; after all our core goal is education. 
With a design concept in place, I thought it only right to try out a few ideas for actual cards.  I have had to learn a few new skills along the way, but quite excited at the results.  Obviously there is a need for consistency, particularly when applying fonts and filters, but these examples are done to show a variety of ideas for discussion rather than a finished article.   I imagined any historical information at the base of the card and the light colour on red, seems to work well, making us realise that this is relevant, but separate information from the game itself. 
 Another concern was how do we show that some elements can be combined?  A simple numerical solution perhaps?  There is a lot of information on this set of cards and I wonder if all is necessary?  As always, these are just my thoughts and any additional considerations about them or their development can only be helpful so please don't hold back. 
I have been considering the possibility of two separate decks, one for the attackers and one for the defenders, but it might be easier just to have the one that can be recycled when exhausted.  If that were to be the case then some of the cards may well be duplicates for example Ammunition, but at the same time it would be nice to have a good variety of items.  

The 'Chance' cards  could seriously change the outcome of the game for the individual player.  This uncertainty hopefully adds some fun to the proceedings and a random element to the game play that echoes the fog of war.  We already have a good number of cards worked up, but we could do with some more suggestions.  Below is a list of ideas that have not yet been completed, please feel free to add any suggestions as to how they might be used, or better still come up with some new ones for us.

In addition if anyone knows of a good source for having cards printed up, do please let us know, thank you.

F.U.B.A.R.
Binoculars
Maps
Lost!
Bazooka!
Sausage
Beef Jerky
Wine Bottles
Canned Food
Frying Pan
Chewing Gum
A lonely goat herd
Nuns on the Run!
The Hills are Alive
Bear Trap!



Click button for all related posts

44 comments:

  1. Great to see how the development is going Michael, as for cards printed talk to Andy Da Gobbo, as he got some printed for his game

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Dave and great shout regarding Andy, I was just reading about his game.

      Delete
  2. These are brilliant, the background artwork looks fantastic, and the historical details are a nice touch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you James, hoping to push them on a bit now.

      Delete
  3. Excellent, DaveD gets cards printed and they are great. I'll tag him

    ReplyDelete
  4. First thing that comes to mind is I.D. cards and Passports. Second is one deck with cards marked attack and defence. This will lessen the impact on the game as some will be drawn for the opposition which can be ignored, or not, as you wish

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you and I like the idea of the cards marked according to faction.

      Delete
  5. Excellent ideas, Michael. I'll add a beneficial card idea - "The Way Through the Woods." A local citizen knows a short cut which speeds movement between two points.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you A.J. and another lovely idea. This could hasten the advance of the American troops.

      Delete
  6. Impressive imagery, Michael. Love the snails!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Dean, just couldn't resit the idea of the snails.

      Delete
  7. Replies
    1. That's incredibly kind Fran, thank you so much.

      Delete
  8. Mailed ya details re card printing .. happy to help if you need it

    ReplyDelete
  9. Excellent, special mention to the 'Escargots'!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a great addition to what is already shaping up to be an amazing game! I absolutely love these types of random game events 😀

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Ivor. We may need some for of production schedule soon, because the pair of us keep going off piste!

      Delete
  11. The concept art for your cards is looking excelent, very professional, sorry I've not come up with any good suggestions though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not to worry, but thank you. Really pleased with how they are shaping up.

      Delete
  12. Excellent work, Michael. What programme did you use to create the cards, as I was looking to do something similar? And I would add a 'sleeping sentry' card, possibly called "Eine Kleine Nachtmuzik" which allows the allies to disable a guard.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now that's the sort of idea we are looking for Jez, thank you. As for the programme, the bulk of the work is done in PicMonkey. All I am doing is using their filters to create the worn look. The secret is to remove the background from your chosen image before you import it. This took a while to master, but getting the hang of it now.

      Delete
  13. Full steam ahead with progress and in many directions it seems.
    You've obviously got a direction in mind for this project and it's difficult to add helpful suggestions. In the game EfC, , dice at the beginning of turn dictates whether you add cards to you hands (and other things iirc, perhaps this cold be incorporated dependant on how you determine aturns ?
    For ideas on cards, generalise which tyes you initially want then add the detail. E.g movement - losing time or gaining time; items - weapons and useful 'thing', reinforcement - gaining (or losing same); weather - and its effects. Once general.
    I beleive Colgar 6 has great experience with cards and iirc he used "Arscow" for both his "Full Thrust" and "All things Zombie" cards. Being the cheapskate that I am, I make my own on WOrd and can add pictures using photoshop (and it's not that difficult).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Joe. I think you are right insomuch that I need to be a tad more methodical about my approach. Love the idea of assigning types of situations and then building the detail, thank you.

      Delete
  14. I LOVE these kind of details - it really brings a shine to a game. More! Bravo!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I had escape from Colditz and the Action Man Colditz set on the same Christmas. I must have been only just out of Primary School.

    I'm bit emotional and overwhelmed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am very jealous of the Action Man set. I had the sentry box and guard dog, but not the rest of it. Happy Days.

      Delete
  16. You‘ve been busy it seems! Great work on the cards and I‘m sure they‘ll add some interesting twist to the game.

    ReplyDelete
  17. The cards are a great idea, can't wait to see what else you come up with.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...