Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Drinkwound]

I've realized that anything I write in the aftermath of an all nighter is probably not ... as good as it could be otherwise, but I'm stubborn and I'm going to respond to some posts anyway.

I've played all of these games, and I think the Dungeon Lords theme fits DF the most.

However, I must say that I would play any version of DF-based game Drinkwound can come up with. I could even code an online analogue in the future.

By this I mean, let the guy do whatever he wants. He probably has much more plans and ideas in his head and he planned it for a long time, so simple "change type of a game" is not an as easy task as it seems.

The last word, he's probably doing it because it's interesting for him. And it takes much more than a few words and links to change someone's interest .

P.S. I wanted to ask, did you find an artist for your game? Asking in the Fan Art thread may attract a few really great artists to your side. If you plan to work with multiple artists though, I would only recommend to work with those who can cooperate and find a similar style to avoid totally different themes and styles.

I wish I was doing this just because, and I've realized that its something that I'll need to truly create in full but this is actually a project for school. My exam in fact.

Either way, an electronic version of this would be pretty damn awesome, and the idea fills me with childlike whimsy, I shall need to discuss this further, preferably after the long, horrible slog that is the last bit of school is over and I've had some rest.

Art sounds good, but it honestly had not yet factored into the whole thing, and you now have me looking for any place that I could fit ANY art into this, because that sounds awesome and I know that there is some serious talent lurking about in here.

Thank you sir, I will take all that you have said into consideration.

At one point I thought about a DF board game, but because I like doing a lot of crazy projects at once I sort of forgot about it. This thread intrigues me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

So how would moods work with this game?

Also, the FUN cards need something a few cards of export mandate crimes. Fun for the whole fortress when the bins have been forbidden from trade.

Also also, can players target other players, hire mercenaries to attack them or so on?

If I had a newsletter I would certainty give you a link to where you could sign up.

Moods: You draw them from the FUN cards, you will need resources (determined randomly of course) or you may lose dorfs.

FUN will be had in many ways don't you worry. If only people continued to suggest FUN cards such as you have...

Players can not lay siege to other forts or any thing such as that, but are encouraged to laugh at those who draw sieges, ambushers, and other things from those wondrous piles of FUN.

Also: What sort of "Euro" games? I am intrigued.

Just imagine your game, but all the dwarves are topless.

... Hot damn, this is 8 times as awesome!

Edit: MARVEL AT MY GREAT WALL OF TEXT.

[buman]

Monopoly is not the way you want to go,

you want to treat it like a 2d side stroller with one sided random cards as the ground.

Dwarves start on the top and when they mine a square you flip it over, there can be whatever items or events on that card. Cards could be split into three groups to represent changes in depth.

Each game you just need to shuffle the cards and lay them over the board again

[Drinkwound]

Monopoly is not the way you want to go,

you want to treat it like a 2d side stroller with one sided random cards as the ground.

Dwarves start on the top and when they mine a square you flip it over, there can be whatever items or events on that card. Cards could be split into three groups to represent changes in depth.

Each game you just need to shuffle the cards and lay them over the board again

Make your own? Ive kinda got my own thing going here, and I likes it.

(Keep In mind that I'm rather deprived of sleep here.)

Edit: What does everyone here have against Monopoly?

Secondary Edit: What does everyone here have against Monopoly as a brief model around which i am building a game, taking very little of actual monopoly other than the fact that everyone goes around a board over and over. which allows me to do neat things on a regular basis, such as migrant waves, you checking your forts happiness and merchants.

[buman]

first monopoly is a horrible game, and the general theme doesn't fit well with dwarf fortress. The roll dice and move squares in a line board game is so overdone its really depressing.

If you want to make something that feels like df then you need to try something else.

[Djohaal]

What about a large (say, 10x10, if not more) map which would be made of several different "cards" which would be shuffled and turned down. Each player would start at a point of the map (which would represent a mountain) and would dig around by flipping such cards and revealing what's in them. Most cards would be just stone, that can be turned into chambers (where you can add workshops or whatever), others would contain ore veins that add to your wealth, and there would be landmark cards such as magma pipes (maybe abstract the whole magma forge idea into making the magma pipe give out one free ore per turn?), underground lake (allows farming on tiles around it), bottomless pit, maybe special placement of the random cards could allow for multi-tile things like chasms and rivers, and of course, and of course the dreaded HFS 

Economy could run on picks and other discrete one use items, for each tile you reveal you spend one pick, for each tile you expand into a chamber you spend an additional pick and get stone, to build a workshop you use stone, so on. Each player would start with their seven dwarves, allowing for seven jobs per "turn", or they could be used like the peasants in carcassone maybe.. I dunno...

I didn't think up the purpose of such game, of course, but maybe something like saving up and training warriors, and once someone strikes the HFS each player rolls to fight the demons and the survivor (if any) wins? Of course a bad placement of the HFS would mean people would die as soon as they start...

[Cheddarius]

If everyone goes around on a fixed board, you're probably going to get a game where every play is basically the same, and the luckiest players win. You need something else for a good game; you can't just have resources and things like that. You need armies, or buildings or something, and that's not going to work very well on a board where everyone just marches forward inexorably in one (or, at most, two) direction(s) with the roll of the dice.

[Umi]

Is there any actual player to player interaction then?

An idea, to compromise between all the suggestions.  Have the resources and other such things controlled by the monopolyesque board, but have a separate one for fortresses and interactions.  You could have fortifications, workshops, army movement, etc while having the predictably random resources and troubles gathered on the other board...

Honestly, this idea probably sucks as it is 12:30 in the morning and I just got off work/school and I'm awfully tired...  But hey, from the sounds of it we're both running on empty sleep fuel tanks. 

[Cheddarius]

That sounds awesome, but way too complicated.

[frightlever]

first monopoly is a horrible game, and the general theme doesn't fit well with dwarf fortress. The roll dice and move squares in a line board game is so overdone its really depressing.

If you want to make something that feels like df then you need to try something else.

According to the article someone linked to (thanks anonymous stranger whose post I can't be bothered to look up! It was a great article.) the main problem with Monopoly isn't the randomness as much as that it's a zero sum game, where you only win when someone else is losing. The other problem was duration and I think the proposed implementation of the DF board game will last longer than a typical Monopoly game but time isn't a problem to anyone that's watched a fortress crawl along at 6fps or less.

I liked the random tile turning idea. There are a bunch of games like that already but it just proves it's a solid idea.

[Impaler[WrG]]

buman & Djohall:  You guys are totally on the right track here, I was going to suggest just the same system of flipping face-down tiles as excavating as soon as I read the initial post (I too was flabbergasted at use of Monopolies round-about mechanism, it is quite uninspired).

I would like to add some more points to what you two have.  Rather then the typical player-vs-player boardgames use a players-vs-board design.  The players are working as a team to meet the challenges the game is throwing at them, which in a DF inspired game would consist of invasions, plagues, earthquakes, starvation and ultimately the HFS as the ultimate challenge.  Pandemic uses this technique and it makes for a very enjoyable and interesting game.  It's also simple to ratchet up difficulty by using more or less of the nasty of the event cards/tokens at setup.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/30549/pandemic

I'd also completely 'shrink' the game and have each player represent a single dwarf, their token would move around the board (by a set speed not dice roles) through the flipped over tiles and they would interact with the board only in their immediate vicinity.  Limited numbers of resource cards (Settlers of Catan like) are kept in the players hand to literally represent their carried inventory and can be picked up or placed on the map only at the players location.  Hostile creatures would also be tokens (moved semi-randomly each round) and could combat the players token and even kill it (of course the dead player need not quit as they can still advise the remaining players and might even be able to rejoin as an immigrant).  This would make for a much more personal game rather then a 'high up' management game, combined with the cooperative nature and danger elements you present the players with a very a stick-together or split-up dilemma.

Another Pandemic feature that's interesting is giving each player a unique roll they get to choose which gives them a special 'power' or advantage.  Several such roles exist and only one instance of each can be used in each game with 1 role for each player.  If fewer then maximum players are available then some roles will be absent but this is ok as none are essential to winning the game.

I think the some of the professions of DF would work well here, each profession allows that player to do/make something very easily/quickly but which all players can do slowly or less efficiently, for example a miner can flip over 3 underground tiles on their turn while others can flip only one.  Crafters/Builders could use half the normal resources to make things or make unlimited 'batches' in a turn.  Warriors are of-course superior in battle, Traders can exchange items at superior ratios, a Hauler could even incresse your hand size to let you literally haul more!

The game area should indeed be a grid of face down 'rock' tiles but we will need to have z-levels which will be the primary 'ramping up' of difficulty as the different events/riches are shuffled into progressively more dangerous and rewarding stacks to draw the players down and towards the HFS.  If the board was like DF in the XY plane then it be far too complex and tedious to have multiple layers active at the same time (even if we had some kind of vulcan-chess setup).  Rather the z-depth should be one axis of the grid, essentially a side-on cut away like an ant-farm.  All the players would start on a special 'surface' row or rows (which might be though of as top-down) at one end of the board and progress downward by crossing the board area.  Players can move their tokens freely in all the areas they have excavated/discovered and don't suffer any movement differences between moving in rows or columns.  Their would need to be some 'cave-in' restrictions to keep the board from just being systematically hollowed out.  I'm thinking a rule that states no 4 excavated tiles meeting at a corner.  Combined with random underground features you should see some interesting shapes.  Lastly it should be a simple matter to widen the board in either the vertical z-axis for length & difficulty or in the horizontal for player count.


Ultimately the players need to be compelled to dig deeper for greater wealth which which they need to surmount the ever growing challenges thrown at them (thus preventing a strategy of not digging down until massively prepared).  I'm thinking that making an artifact should be the 'win' condition, with deep metals being a key ingredient.  Perhaps a random recipe is drawn each game and revealed bit by bit to the players.  The required materials would entail a large amount of time/exploration and time for dangerous encounters and challenges.  Their might be a victory condition for each role and the players as a group only need to achieve one.

[daoist]

Are you sure you really want to use the Monopoly gameplay model?  Have you ever played any of the better known "Euro" board games?

Base it off of candy land, because spinners are inherently dwarven.

The monopoly board fits a dorf face quite nicely in the middle. Also: It works for how i intend the game to be played.

Also: What sort of "Euro" games? I am intrigued.

Monopoly, despite its popularity, is actually a poorly designed game. Misterstone is speaking of German style games such as Settlers of Catan, which are, in my opinion, far better suited to a Dwarf Fortress-inspired board game.
This article about Settlers of Catan discusses the problems with Monopoly on page 2.

Right, any game like this, Agricola, etc. that involve building stuff on a map rather than walking around seem like a good analogue to DF.  Also there's this gmae

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/45315/dungeon-lords

which I have never played.  ANyway, I'm not a boardgame expert, since my experience is limited to just a few games (including the ones I listed) which are also the most popular games out there.

I have dungeon lords and love it.

You could make a pretty dfort game by just retheming DL. It already consists of digging out passages and rooms, allocating imps to work in those rooms, and resource management. Just sub out imps and sub in dorfs and you're already 50% of the way there. You can retheme the rooms to give it more dorfy spice, like say a craftsdwarf workshop to crank out baubles (that's your PR room), or a mechanic's workshop to make traps. Speaking of that, just get rid of the monsters in DL and make tons and tons of traps! Magma traps, etc. Oh, and replace the adventurers with dorfy things like elephants, elfs, and carp. You can still do the random events; that's built into DL already. You'd just have a lot more possible ones than the 3 boring ones that come with DL.

[alfie275]

Idea for a FUN card:
Goblin raid - Roll a number of dice based on how many resources you have, this is the number of goblins.
Now from this number take your army strength number (total points of military dwarves, ie, fighting skill, amour, weapons) this is the loss number, if it is less than 1 you win and get the goblins' stuff, if not then you loose loss number * some number resources and loss number/10 (rounded down) children dwarfs (could just be adults).

[Fikes]

There should be a card that just says

"Fuck! Kittens!"

And forces you to lose any butcher cards you have.

[Hyperturtle]

Settlers of Cattan, anyone?

You start with a map that is mostly face down and explore new squares.  Could be the same as digging out the mines, with some improvization.  You need ore, lumber, farm animals, etc.  And you have to fend of thieves and barbarian invaders (and other players) with a few add ons.

[Ieb]

We can still suggest card ideas if we don't have anything else to say, right?
Because I totally am, right now.

FUN cards:

"Tantrum Spiral! Someone punched a cow, a kid fell down a well or it was those damn goblins again, regardless, your fortress has descended into a free-for-all. Throw a dice to see how many of your dwarves end up dead."

"Tantrum Spiral! ...Almost! Things have reached the breaking point. The food is stale, the booze has run dry. There are cats everywhere, and the nobles just moved in. Your populace isn't happy, and if you don't distract them fast they will start taking out their anger on each other. Throw *NUMBER HERE I'M NOT GOOD WITH THEM* gems or *BIGGER NUMBER HERE* coins at them and they'll calm down. If you don't have enough jewels or coins, throw a dice and see how many of your dwarves end up dead."

"Oh Armok, Groundhogs! A groundhog spooked a few dwarves during work, and they ran deep into the underground cavern in their panic. Throw a dice, the number is how many dwarves were never seen or heard from again."

"Rats Inside The Walls! A pack of ravenous giant rats made it inside the fortress and ran off with some of your supplies. You lose *NUMBER HERE* food."

"Let Sleeping Beasts Lay". A horrible beast has stumbled upon your fortress! Luckily it fell asleep soon after, however it's within your fortress. Your dwarves refuse to go near it or where it now resides. The area of the beast is now forbidden until something wakes it up."

I guess you could use military dorfs to attack the beast and do some dice throwing to see if you win or end up like Bronzemurder.

"It Was A Matter Of Time. A group of plump helmet men carried away a few barrels of your plump helmet wine! Throw a dice to check how many barrels you lost."

Then some Fun cards. These aren't as bad as above, but come with some risks.

"Magma Has Arrived! The mountain has blessed you, a river of magma now travelling towards your forges. Throw a dice, if it's an uneven number, you lose a dwarf due to some horrible magma-related accident. If it's even, bad nothing happens."

I don't know what the magma-forge thing should do in the game. I just work here.

"I Know What I'm Doing! A miner has found a cluster of gold/platinum/native aluminum! However, it is resided in a spot of rock that seems rather unstable. Throw a dice, if it's an even number, you will receive 5 pieces of gold/platinum/native aluminum. If it's uneven, you receive the same amount of ore but the miner is crushed under a rockfall."

"There's No Way This Can Go Wrong. A forgotten beast made of precious jewels has arrived! Luckily it's just passing by, but one of your dwarves couldn't control himself. Throw a dice, if it's an uneven number, your dwarf manages to snap off a part of the beast undetected, the piece is worth 5 gems. If it's an even number, the beast notices the dwarf and chases him into the fortress. Use your military to attack the beast, if you do not have military dwarves, throw a dice to see how many dwarves the beast slays before slumbering back to the dark."

Now for some Mood cards.

A Laugh, Fell And Horrible! The good news are, you just had a dwarf go under a strange mood. The bad news are, he used his next-door neighbor to make his item. Throw a dice, if it's uneven, a small tantrum spiral occurs as the family of the victim of art go on a rampage. Throw another dice in that case to see how many dwarves die as result."

"Berserker! Poor Urist, he never had it good. Most of the fortress hated him, his cheese making skills weren't appreciated, and he always told the worst jokes. Urist has had enough, it's go time. Throw a dice to see if your military can get to him before he reaches other dwarves, you succeed and must battle him if you throw an even number. If you threw an uneven number, Urist goes to the Meeting Hall on a rampage! You must throw a 3 for the panicked dwarves to clear enough room for your military to attack him. Every time you throw some other number than 3, Urist kills one dwarf."

"Can You Feel The Love Tonight? After a long day of work, there's nothing that waits the working dwarves of your fortress but their beds, and their spouses. Somewhere, an alunite violin is playing, backed up by hollow beats of a gabbro drum. Throw a dice to see how many babies are born as result of this magical night."