Week #2: The Jump from Version 0.1 to 0.2
Group: 8
Game Summary
Our game is based on the Klondike version of Solitaire, but with a twist. We aimed for a game that gives you more chances to beat ordinarily unwinnable games. In our modification of the game we allow two uses of a card searching mechanic to retrieve a card in the Talon or Stock that would otherwise be inaccessible, as well as a pair of Joker cards that act like wild cards in other games.
Update v0.1:
It's week #2 working on our Solitaire Mod for CAGD-170 Video Game Design class and we have made many major strides from the very inception of the project, to today.
In version 0.1 we focused on a minimal design that included pictures. We wanted to present our players with just enough information to understand the game, but not overwhelm them. We were also determined to rewrite the official rules using our own language in order to distinguish ourselves from it.
We found that our minimalist approach left out too many details. There were so many rules of Solitaire that we had never had to explain on paper that we were bound to miss a few. Eventually settling on a more expanded and thorough design, we wrote out the rules in such detail that it could have been used to author a digital version of the game.
We actually went through three or four iterations on version 0.1. Wording was very important, as well as how we formatted our terms. Did we capitalize Aces and Kings? Should we always capitalize the names we gave to the various areas of the board? What terms should we use for those areas? The ones the official rules use, or ones we make up? We also found ourselves concerned with the images we were using. My partner took pictures of her deck which included a bunch of fun graphics on it. Unfortunately that caused the visual to be more confusing and busy. She was able to find a deck that was a bit more consistent on the back-facing design, and she photographed using a dark mat to help increase the contrast. This really helped our rulebook look a lot more professional. Ideally we would use illustrations, but that's a time consuming task which is much too demanding for where we are in the design and prototyping phase.
Originally, we had the Tableau as the Gameplay Stacks, the Foundations as the Winning Stacks, the Stock as the Deck, and the Talon as the Draw Pile. There wasn’t anything terribly bad about these except that when we went to explain how cards/stacks were moved around the Gameplay Stacks, things quickly became confusing. Eventually we went back to the official rule terms. At least this way if people look up rules for the original game, they will already be familiar with these terms.
Update v0.2:
In version 0.2 we discovered that our players had to read all the rules before they could even begin to play. With nearly three pages of rules, we felt that was going a bit far. We wrote up a section using very casual language to step our players through gameplay, while mentioning any outlier rules. We included a more concise gameplay loop after just in case someone wants more of a checklist.
Overview
Our game is looking a lot better. I like the direction we are going that allows users to pick up and play quicker. I also like using more relaxed, casual language that makes it sound like the rulebook is having a conversation with the player. Solitaire is a game about passing the time and keeping yourself busy when you really don’t have anything better to do, or you simply don’t want to strain your mind on other tasks. There is still a lot of work to do. Our document’s formatting got a bit messed up and we just can’t sit by idly knowing that it needs a tune-up.
We’re looking forward to any feedback our players can provide! Don’t hold back! Every data point brings us closer and closer to the perfect Solitaire mod!
I have included a link below to a PDF of the current rulebook. It's messy, but please feel free to try it out!
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