I’m preparing to bring my Valley
of the Ape game to a regional wargaming convention in a few
weeks, so I’m busy making last-minute adjustments, printing
accessories, and planning my packing list.
I certainly have lots of “toys”
necessary for the game – a huge swath of green dappled felt, dice,
54mm Armies in Plastic figures, and various terrain features from aquarium plants to custom stands of palm trees and quicksand,
crocodile ponds, and a man-eating plant to place when those hazards
appear – but printed game components need a bit more attention,
particularly in the self-promotion department.
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| "Yay! More playtesting!" |
Several playtest games with the Little
Guy and a discussion with my wife revealed some game elements
requiring revision. I needed to adjust extended ranges for some of
the units; most can attack Mungo the giant ape when within 12 inches,
though two had extended ranges of 24 inches...these I snipped down to
a more reasonable yet still advantageous 18 inches. I quickly learned
to revise Mungo’s random movement, eliminating the chance of
movement toward the last group that attacked him at range (odd, too,
when nobody shoots at him in a turn, a likely possibility); now he
either moves toward the explorers closest to the central ruins (and
hence treasure) or toward the explorers closest to the giant ape.
Although I’m using a 30-sided die to track Mungo’s hit points, I
also decided to employ a separate, large six-sided die for making
rolls related to the giant ape (one when randomly determining toward
which explorer group he moves and one to see how many explorers he
takes out if he reaches them). My wife indicated kids might have
reservations about hunting down and killing an ape, even a giant one
that rips through one’s explorers; so I’m revising the rules text
and related handouts to reflect that, once Mungo takes 30 points of
damage, he’s weak enough to capture alive.
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| Mungo with his stat sheet and d30 hit counter. |
Several game components also need
revisions thanks to those playtesting sessions with the Little Guy.
Each explorer group entering the valley gets a half-page card
outlining the different turn phases and what each player can do
during them. This includes specifics on rolling initiative, moving
through the jungle, and shooting at Mungo the giant ape or other
explorers; all incorporate special abilities for each explorer group,
such as rolling an extra die in initiative and taking the best
result, moving through jungle terrain, and extended shooting range. I
also have a similar sheet for Mungo to help with record-keeping (he
takes 30 hits) and help any extra player who comes along and just
wants to run the giant ape.
During playtesting I realized the game
needed some easy means of remembering the turn order among players.
Each turn everyone rolls initiative to determine the order in which
players take actions; everyone takes turns moving, then everyone
takes turns shooting at available targets, all in the order
determined by initiative. I decided the easiest solution was to
design folded “tent” cards with numbers from one to four on them.
Once players determine initiative, they get the corresponding
numbered tent card to place in front of them (or near their explorer
figures) so everyone knows who moves and shoots in what order each
turn.
I also need signs to set around the
table to tempt folks to join the game (using several sign holders
from the long-past days when I actively promoted Griffon Publishing
Studio publications at roleplaying game conventions). One set of
signs will advertise the event itself with the game name, possibly a
graphic, and the times clearly stated. The other signs serve as play
aids, offering a turn and rules summary from the unpublished Valley
of the Ape rulebook draft.
All these at-the-table game aids need
fine print connecting them with the Valley of the Ape game and
my own publishing efforts, including a copyright notice and web
addresses for the Griffon Publishing Studio website and the Hobby
Games Recce blog. I might print out additional explorer summary cards
so participants can keep a small souvenir of their jungle-exploring
experience.
The convention serves another purpose
for me as a publisher, beyond simply giving the rules more play time
in the testing stage: it drives me to develop player aids to include
in the game book as well as complete the draft rules for layout with
graphic elements for a final product. If I can get a copy of the
rules laid out and printed, I might not only have a decent-looking
reference for the gaming table but something I can give away to
interested players if I manage to print multiple copies. I ultimately
expect to offer the rulebook at Wargames Vault as a pay-what-you-want
PDF product, though to play folks obviously need to collect or make a
good deal of “toys” for a decent-looking board.
So I have some layout revisions to
implement on the game aids, a lot of cardstock to print and trim, and
a slew of terrain packing to do before I work on the actual
rulebook...we’ll see how the games go in a few weeks when I load up
my car and head out to the convention.
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