IOT Developmental Thread
- Thread starter Joecoolyo
- Start date
Robert Can't
Éponine
One Night In Bangkok - The Thorbert Prologue
Its 2043 and the world teeters on the brink of nuclear war. Fortunately from your perspective there is no uncertainty in this time - you know that this ends in assured destruction. Why? Because this is in the past - this is but the prologue to Thorbert.
Tensions are flaring up across the globe as the various powers in Washington, Beijing, Brussels and Moscow and playing a dangerous game of chess where the winner loses everything and everybody is a winner. But there is one final hope for humanity, one spark of light in the darkness: The Bangkok peace conference.
An emergency summit held with all of the world's major players in attendance it represents our last and best hope for peace. Can the delegates reach compromise, will a single night in Bangkok humble these hard men or will they tumble? All is to play for as the devil walks next to them, an olive branch in one hand and the nuclear launch button in the other.
Thorbert in its current planning stages will feature more exciting UN bureaucracy than any other game conceived since the creation of the UN itself. One night in Bangkok does not just intend to establish some of the lore and backstory to our post-apocalyptic future but also is a test of concept for the ideas for the diplomatic focus of Thorbert proper.
Each player will take on the roll of a delegate at the Bangkok peace conference representing one of the major nations of the world. Each player then gets PMed a list of priorities that they have been given by their government. Victory is determined by fulfilling as many of these objectives as possible. Defeat is starting a nuclear war. There are 5 players who represent the leaders of their respective power blocks - the delegates from Washington, Brussels, Beijing, Moscow and New Delhi
Every fourth day the main delegates of each of the power blocks picks three issues from a list to be debated in the next three days. Everyone then votes on which itinerary and the one with the most is chosen. Then each day the delegates proceed to vote on the issue corresponding to that day. If by the end of the day a qualified majority of players agree on a course of action then that action is taken however this does not stop the issue from being raised again later in the conference.
The big 5 can use their influence to affect the outcomes of the conference by the voting blocks they control or by threatening to pull out of the conference. If too many nations pull out of the conference nuclear war might occur. As well as a list of objectives some players will also receive a bonus ability in their PMs. The conference ends when decisions have been made on all the issues on the list.
The game will take place in real time with daily updates as the conference continues and really I will accept any sort of intrigue you want to use. You can threaten to unleash your nations nuclear arsenal, you can broken private deals with other delegates to ensure your most important objectives get secured and I'll also probably be fine with attempted poisonings and such. All is part of life in the high stakes game of diplomatic intrigue.
Sign ups will be in the form of saying you are in rather than picking a nation. This is so that we can get even numbers of players for all the major power blocks and to ensure that all of the big 5 along with the host nation gets a player assigned. I will however allow you to post any preferences you have - don't expect to get your preferences necessarily though.
JohannaK
Heroically Clueless
PLS I WANT IN. 
Robert Can't
Éponine
Since I forgot to post in the initial post here have an exciting new post just for the song.
Link to video.
Link to video.
Thorvald of Lym
A Little Sketchy
you did this on purpose din't'cha
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2011
- Messages
- 4,131
Hello and welcome. Please hold your collective sighs. Tyo is yet again trying to run a game, but this time, it's personal!
No but seriously I'm tired of having to shut down games because it turns out they require more work than I am willing to put out on a regular basis. So, my plan is to create a game wherein updates take minutes to create outside of the writing, rather than hours on both ends.
So yeah. This game.
The Abyss: Development Diary I
Mandates
Off the bat, I'll say that this game is another experiment in Space. I want to quickly get into design discussion, so I will speak more on the setting on the next Dev Diary.
One of the hurdles involved with keeping a game active is making it as interesting as possible and as not tedious as possible. I have learned that making very specific things, such as unique buildings you place on the map, might increase interest but also increase how tedious it is for the player - and the GM - to place and keep track of them. So, I'm doing away with that.
However, players still want their actions to have noticeable affects and well, buildings are usually noticeable. Meanwhile, old games like multipolarity had no means of communicating how someone was doing except numbers, something that could easily make someone's interest in a game wane. So, I wanna find a balance. Here's what I'm proposing.
When a entity sends out a colonial expedition, it is unlikely the central government will have a direct hand on everything being done. So, rather than constructing specific buildings which have specific effects, players will assign Mandates.
A Mandate can cover many of the biggest projects a polity would want to do. From terraforming, to mass fleet construction, to colonization.
The details of a Mandate include everything from the scale of a project to what the project actually does and even how the project might change or react to certain events. In more centralized entities, the ones in charge will have a larger say, but there's no reason to tell every group of colonists to build mines and farms. They're bound to do that anyways so long as they're supplied.
So, spelled out more directly, here's what I envision. The United Nations of Earth creates a Colonial Mandate to colonize the entirety of the Pleiades Star Cluster. The Mandate promises x resources per turn. Should the colonists run into alien life forms, they may only passively observe them for research. This Mandate is one of many rather large projects Earth is undertaking to expand its galactic borders, and to continue expansion Humanity needs more minerals. This is the goal of the mandate: the creation of a new colonized Star Sector that ships minerals to homeworld to perhaps contribute to the next mandate.
Once the Mandate is created and resources allotted, it will be visible in Earth's stats. A mandate appears sort of like how you would expect a major project appears in other games, but it is quite different as well. For example, Mandates have certain "milestones" that are tracked that, once completed, will begin adding some modifiers to the mandate automatically. For example, one of the early milestones of the colonial expedition outlined above would be ground-based farming, so that the colonies can be self-sustaining. Once completed, this milestone lessens the how many resources the homeworld needs to dedicate to the mandate per turn. One of the late milestones would be Core Mining Operations(assuming the technology is available), which would greatly increase the mineral output of the mandate.
"But Tyo," you say, "You just said you were axing buildings!"
I am axing unique, player-ordered buildings. These buildings, when fully implemented, will be created automatically as the mandate gets funding, requiring no input from me.
Once the mandate has completed all the milestones technology would allow, the mandate is itself considered completed. This turns the mandate from a mandate to something more tangible and permanent within the context of its creation. Colonies become integral Star Sectors in their affiliated empires, massive space stations become fully operational, and star fleets become truly worthy of interstellar power projection.
Mandates will be regular things to spend on, but it should be noted they aren't the only thing players can commit to. While upgrading infrastructure to current technological standards is easily within mandate territory, creating your first fleets, incorporating a new ship design into your fleet, building a single space station above a core world, and other such things are small enough to happen immediately the next turn after funding is allotted.
No but seriously I'm tired of having to shut down games because it turns out they require more work than I am willing to put out on a regular basis. So, my plan is to create a game wherein updates take minutes to create outside of the writing, rather than hours on both ends.
So yeah. This game.
The Abyss: Development Diary I
Mandates
Off the bat, I'll say that this game is another experiment in Space. I want to quickly get into design discussion, so I will speak more on the setting on the next Dev Diary.
One of the hurdles involved with keeping a game active is making it as interesting as possible and as not tedious as possible. I have learned that making very specific things, such as unique buildings you place on the map, might increase interest but also increase how tedious it is for the player - and the GM - to place and keep track of them. So, I'm doing away with that.
However, players still want their actions to have noticeable affects and well, buildings are usually noticeable. Meanwhile, old games like multipolarity had no means of communicating how someone was doing except numbers, something that could easily make someone's interest in a game wane. So, I wanna find a balance. Here's what I'm proposing.
When a entity sends out a colonial expedition, it is unlikely the central government will have a direct hand on everything being done. So, rather than constructing specific buildings which have specific effects, players will assign Mandates.
A Mandate can cover many of the biggest projects a polity would want to do. From terraforming, to mass fleet construction, to colonization.
The details of a Mandate include everything from the scale of a project to what the project actually does and even how the project might change or react to certain events. In more centralized entities, the ones in charge will have a larger say, but there's no reason to tell every group of colonists to build mines and farms. They're bound to do that anyways so long as they're supplied.
So, spelled out more directly, here's what I envision. The United Nations of Earth creates a Colonial Mandate to colonize the entirety of the Pleiades Star Cluster. The Mandate promises x resources per turn. Should the colonists run into alien life forms, they may only passively observe them for research. This Mandate is one of many rather large projects Earth is undertaking to expand its galactic borders, and to continue expansion Humanity needs more minerals. This is the goal of the mandate: the creation of a new colonized Star Sector that ships minerals to homeworld to perhaps contribute to the next mandate.
Once the Mandate is created and resources allotted, it will be visible in Earth's stats. A mandate appears sort of like how you would expect a major project appears in other games, but it is quite different as well. For example, Mandates have certain "milestones" that are tracked that, once completed, will begin adding some modifiers to the mandate automatically. For example, one of the early milestones of the colonial expedition outlined above would be ground-based farming, so that the colonies can be self-sustaining. Once completed, this milestone lessens the how many resources the homeworld needs to dedicate to the mandate per turn. One of the late milestones would be Core Mining Operations(assuming the technology is available), which would greatly increase the mineral output of the mandate.
"But Tyo," you say, "You just said you were axing buildings!"
I am axing unique, player-ordered buildings. These buildings, when fully implemented, will be created automatically as the mandate gets funding, requiring no input from me.
Once the mandate has completed all the milestones technology would allow, the mandate is itself considered completed. This turns the mandate from a mandate to something more tangible and permanent within the context of its creation. Colonies become integral Star Sectors in their affiliated empires, massive space stations become fully operational, and star fleets become truly worthy of interstellar power projection.
Mandates will be regular things to spend on, but it should be noted they aren't the only thing players can commit to. While upgrading infrastructure to current technological standards is easily within mandate territory, creating your first fleets, incorporating a new ship design into your fleet, building a single space station above a core world, and other such things are small enough to happen immediately the next turn after funding is allotted.
JohannaK
Heroically Clueless
*squee*
gay_Aleks
from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!
Link to video.
Dated 1727, before the catastrophic battle of Nalore. We'd like to thank Lady Keyhana and her sons for allowing us to publish her husband's final words.
Well! After this emotional (and slightly race-ist) entrance, perhaps you're wondering what is this all about (or not, because it's been discussed on IOTChat for at least 2 weeks now). It is, of course, the totally official announcement of Arcanum, a joint project between NinjaCow64 and yours truly, Tolni. Its release date would be, in best case scenario, on the 7th of June.
Now. What is this IOT about, you might be asking? It is about the inevitable clash between magic and industry following the collapse of a massive Elf empire that ruled via the power of magic. Casters today are threatened by the encroaching industry, or is it the encroaching industry being threatened by the new waves made in the world of magic? It is unknown, but you, yes, you, the player, are in control of a nation during these extreme and turbulent times, and you can choose where your path will lead.
As the letter already hinted, there's not just humans in this world - no, not at all! There's 9 races, each with their specificity affected by the Knowledge Tree, and with their own quirk that can help you...or, in some cases, harm you!
But more on that later. Until then - stay tuned! There's always more awaiting for you.
Potentially floating SaR-style RP game.
Also Hokoan as a setting isn't dead, not sure if it'll return to an IOT at all, but.
Theoretically also have notes for an ITF reboot, but I have no time to do that and don't know if I ever will again, so.
Also Hokoan as a setting isn't dead, not sure if it'll return to an IOT at all, but.
Theoretically also have notes for an ITF reboot, but I have no time to do that and don't know if I ever will again, so.
Decamper
..!
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2014
- Messages
- 1,159
***
God is dead. For as long as can be remembered, He ruled His Kingdom, and the great Houses existed by and for His will. Now, the Houses stir as shocked silence is broken by the murmurs of intrigue and the sharpening of sword and spear.
Can Gods die? Do they leave bloodlines? Do they reincarnate? Is He still watching, no longer tied to flesh and bone?
Is there a true Heir to the throne of Heaven?
***
In Heirs to Heaven, players control great Houses, vying for control of the continent, using all the tools of espionage, diplomacy, warfare, industry and trade to further their power. HtH is first and foremost a competitive game, but to survive you will need the support of allies. There is a clear win condition: control the Holy City, and be supported by all remaining Houses (player or npc).
HtH is obviously heavily inspired by ASoIaF. While the game is clearly fantasy, magic is not mechanical in game terms, and in-world it is not clear to what extent it actually exists. This is also my first foray into using a territories map, and so this is something of a hybrid between my own style and more traditional IOT style games. Features have been
Below is the stat sheet and map, both completed. I have the rules completed, but not in a presentable fashion. Ideally, a thread will open in the next week, and after a short claims period the game proper can begin. Assuming there is any interest.
Stat Sheet
Spoiler Territories Map :
Spoiler Blank Map :
Spoiler Classic Map :
gay_Aleks
from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!
nevermind it's me not you
gay_Aleks
from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!
The images weren't loading but a refresh did the job.
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2008
- Messages
- 14,926
Don't you hate it when you, the lovely player, have a mass of information to trawl through? Don't you wish you could just filter out the noise in a spreadsheet? Maybe you only want to see your own stats on a sheet. Maybe you just need to compare yourself to somebody else.
Thanks to Google Filter Views. Your dream is a reality. For example
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...DiXU6xu_-VooAer3_IaDk/edit?pref=2&pli=1#gid=0
Steps
1. Go to the Data Tab
2. Filter Views
3. Click create new temporary filter view
4. Column headers should now have arrows next to them. Click on an arrow and go from there.
Thanks to Google Filter Views. Your dream is a reality. For example
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...DiXU6xu_-VooAer3_IaDk/edit?pref=2&pli=1#gid=0
Steps
1. Go to the Data Tab
2. Filter Views
3. Click create new temporary filter view
4. Column headers should now have arrows next to them. Click on an arrow and go from there.
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2008
- Messages
- 14,926
Apparently.
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2008
- Messages
- 14,926
Hello there sexy fellow GMs.
How do you determine what type of terrains you'll use on a map or in battle calculations? I want to add terrain to the map I'm using, and I know how I want to do, but I don't know how to go about determining which provinces should get what terrain. At the moment, I'm thinking maybe I should only add "extreme" terrains such as mountains, jungles, etc instead of attempting to give each province a terrain.
Thoughts?
How do you determine what type of terrains you'll use on a map or in battle calculations? I want to add terrain to the map I'm using, and I know how I want to do, but I don't know how to go about determining which provinces should get what terrain. At the moment, I'm thinking maybe I should only add "extreme" terrains such as mountains, jungles, etc instead of attempting to give each province a terrain.
Thoughts?
