5.31.2010

Outrider Playtest Marred By Car Trouble.

Ironic, I know.

I drove all the way to Austin without a hitch. Got to the Protospiel convention without troubles. It all happened on the way back from lunch. My wife was on her way back to bring me some food and blammo ... the electrical system on our car goes haywire. We spent Saturday night and Sunday morning running around trying to get our car serviceable enough for a trip back to Abilene. Long story short: it had to be towed. I missed out on a good deal of the convention and I missed Steve Jackson. Oh well, there's always next year.

The Good News

Yes, there is good news in all of this. I did get in three solid sessions with some great testers and I spoke at length with a couple of reps from Steve Jackson Games, who were intrigued by the game and gave me some solid 'marketable' advice. Mostly ways to make the game economical to make, sell and appeal to a wider audience than just the semi-hardcore tabletop crowd. I may not make use of all of the suggestions, but they did have alot of common sense advice that will definitely be used.

Outrider is Changing Again

Isn't that what this blog is about? Alot of reaction I got from players at protospiel, including the SJG employees was focused on a few areas that don't seem to fit with the elegance and quickness of the core concepts (such the card maneuvers, the dice mechanics) ... the main culprits were the collision system (again), loss of control mechanics, the HUGE amount of modifiers that have crept into the system and the Skill Point system. I'm not saying these pieces will be removed, but they certainly will be streamlined. Although a typical game hovered around an hour, alot of people commented on how 'slow' the game felt at times. I have some solid ideas for quickening the pace:
  1. Collisions will be simplified ... again. I'm thinking of digging thru some older rules and resurrecting a simplified system
  2. Loss of control checks will be quicker to resolve and less 'harsh' in some instances
  3. Alot of the current modifiers will be removed, leaving mainly the vehicle characteristics as the only source of modifiers
  4. The driver check system will be removed, but most other skill point mechanics will remain the same
That's about it for now, check your mailboxes soon for Outrider v.61!

4 comments :

  1. Hi Gregg,

    Great shame about your car troubles, still the best laid plans...etc. Good that you still had a chance to get some worthwhile sessions in and interesting to hear what the SJG Reps. had to say.
    I'm looking forward to seeing 6.1 and the changes made. I guess you'll never satisfy everyone with the realism/ease of play/ detail balance. I think the hardest part for you may be the 'letting-go' and the decision as to when it becomes a 'finished' product ready for market. You could go on refining for years as everyone will always find something which they would like to change. What an interesting journey you are in for!!

    Looking forward to seeing what happens next.

    Regards
    Steve

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  2. How does one request a copy of v.61 when it is released?

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  3. Sorry about your troubles; Murphy has his unique sense of humor at times. Not familiar with the current rule-set, I remain interested in what changes you implement after hearing SJG rep's opinions. But it's good to read your continued enthusiasm and looking forward to the results. I still happily stand in line. By the way, how DOES one request a copy of the current rule set? :D

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  4. Email me at dicefestgames@gmail.com and I'll add you to the mailing list for updates and get a playtest bundle out to you soon.

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