Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Slave // Think Twice
So. I'm now a corporate slave. No longer a member of the academic intelligensia, I'm now merely a cog in a multinational machine. Why'd I do it? For the money, OBV. But at the same time, Hewlett-Packard actually seems to be a great place to work. The atmosphere is a lot more relaxed and collegial than what I'd expect from a big corp. No time-in/time-out, and they give you a laptop to boot. Just don't ask me what we do, I can't tell.
The real downside though, is that I'm no longer able to spend a lot of time with Pat and Tesla. It's pretty much an hour in the morning and an hour at night (if I'm lucky). T_T It doesn't help that Pat works at night and I work during day.
***
I spent the weekend watching The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Let me start off by admitting that the first episode is bad. Incredibly bad. Amazingly bad. Deliberately bad. As bad as a joke that goes on for too long, when it isn't even funny in the first place.
The episodes are presented all out of chronological order too. A little something to keep the viewer off balance, while evoking a sense of medias res. Perhaps this is to obscure the fact that the majority of the episodes are just character building filler.
I actually set this one aside after watching the first two episodes. But you know what? I watched the third episode last saturday... and ended up watching it marathon-style right until the ending. Stayed up four hours past my bedtime too. It hides surprising depths in the shallows... makes you think twice.
Strongly recommended. Watch it in proper show order, with patience and trust.
Stormcrow
Labels: anime, photos, review, work
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
All Hollow's Eve
A few months ago I talked about this card game I was making. For some reason I forget, I never actually posted the full rules. I recently handed my playtest cards to Celedor, so I figured I'd finish off what I started here.
----------
PART II: COMBAT CARDS (continued).
There are two types of Combat cards: Events and Wounds. These differ in the length of time they stay in play. After an Event is played, it produces its effect and immediately goes to the discard pile. After a Wound is played, it must attach to a target Hunter.
You can quickly distinguish Events and Wounds by looking at the top left corner of the card. Wounds have a damage box but Events do not. In addition, the type will be declared in the first line of the text box.
There are three traits which are associated with Wounds: Shallow, Light, and Heavy. A Shallow Wound automatically goes to the discard pile at the end of any player's turn . Light Wounds and Heavy Wounds will both stay attached indefinitely. However, Light Wounds can be healed naturally over time, during the end of the turn (see below).
A Combat card that has the trait "Action" in the first line of its text box will require and consume your current Action. On the other hand, "Reaction" cards do not consume Actions; they can be played only in response to certain conditions, as stated on the card.
----------
PART III: Starting the Game
You need:
1. A Group of HUNTERS
2. A COMBAT deck
3. An opponent who also has #1 and #2
You start the game by choosing your Hunters. Your Hunters must have a total Renown less than or equal to 40 points. You will not be able to recruit new Hunters for the rest of the game.
Your Combat deck must have at least 40 Combat cards. Shuffle it up and draw 4 cards.
Once everyone is ready, players take their turns one at a time. The player with the most number of Hunters goes first. Play proceeds by each player taking turns alternately.
The game begins on the first player's first turn.
----------
PART IV: The Turn Structure
Let us look at the structure of your turn. After this turn is completed, your opponent will then take a turn. After that, you take another turn and so on.
Pre Combat
At the start of your turn, assign one of your Hunters to attack, and another Hunter (not yours) to defend. You can only assign one of each, though you could choose not to attack at all. These Hunters enter combat opposing each other. Combat now starts.
Combat
The defending player and attacking player may take Actions alternately. The defending player gets the first Action. These Actions can be spent to play Combat cards with the "Action" trait. Combat cards must be performed by a Hunter in combat, and can only target a Hunter who is in combat. A Hunter can only perform Combat cards with a Skill requirement less than or equal to their own Skill level.
You can also spend your Actions on abilities on cards in play in combat. If you have a Hunter (or Item) with an ability that reads "Action: [effect]" then you may spend an Action to perform the effect. Activated abilities on cards not in combat have no effect unless otherwise specified.
Each attacking Hunter has the ability "Action: Withdraw from combat." This ability may be used any time it is his turn to play an Action. If a player withdraws (using this method or a card effect) then combat ends, ALL Hunters go home and neither player can play additional Actions.
If a Hunter has no Health left, she is KO'd and immediately leaves play. KO'd Hunters are placed in their opponent's Victory Pile.
Post Combat
You may heal one "Light Wound" from each of your Hunters (only if it is your turn). All "Shallow Wounds" are healed, including those on your opponent's Hunters. BOTH players draw cards up to the maximum hand size of four (or discard down to four). Your turn now ends.
Winning and Losing
A player is eliminated when he has no more Hunters in play. At the end of your turn, you win if all other players have been eliminated, or if you have 40 or more Renown in your Victory Pile.
----------
PART V: ITEMS
Items are an optional card type that you can also choose to play.
An Item card is designed to attach to a Hunter. They have a Renown value found at the lower end of the title bar. Sometimes they will have Health or Skill bonuses, found at the top of the title bar.
At the start of the game, after revealing your Hunters, you may attach one Item to each of your Hunters. The total Renown of your Hunters and Items cannot exceed 40.
When a Hunter is KO'd, Items on that Hunter will also be KO'd. KO'd Items go to their opponent's Victory Pile.
----------
PART VI: PREY
Prey are an optional card type that you can also choose to play.
Prey cards are similar to Hunters. They have a Renown value found at the lower end of the title bar, and a Health value at the top of the title bar. They do not have a Skill value; Prey do not use Combat cards.
At the start of the game, you may put into play up to 60 Renown worth of Prey. (The Renown of Prey is counted separately from Hunters and Items.)
At the start of your turn, instead of choosing another player to be the defender, you may choose to attack Prey instead. If you do, choose one Prey to enter combat as the defender. Other players do not receive Actions, and their Hunters cannot be targeted or enter combat. You may attack Prey owned by any player.
In combat, Prey have the ability "Action: Attach a -2H Wound Token on the opposing Hunter with least health." Prey automatically use this ability when they receive an Action.
When a Prey is KO'd during your turn, put it into your Victory Pile. Prey also have a Victory Pile where you put Hunters that they KO, but they cannot win the game.
----------
Now I remember why I stopped posting these... they're too long!
Stormcrow
----------
PART II: COMBAT CARDS (continued).
There are two types of Combat cards: Events and Wounds. These differ in the length of time they stay in play. After an Event is played, it produces its effect and immediately goes to the discard pile. After a Wound is played, it must attach to a target Hunter.
You can quickly distinguish Events and Wounds by looking at the top left corner of the card. Wounds have a damage box but Events do not. In addition, the type will be declared in the first line of the text box.
There are three traits which are associated with Wounds: Shallow, Light, and Heavy. A Shallow Wound automatically goes to the discard pile at the end of any player's turn . Light Wounds and Heavy Wounds will both stay attached indefinitely. However, Light Wounds can be healed naturally over time, during the end of the turn (see below).
A Combat card that has the trait "Action" in the first line of its text box will require and consume your current Action. On the other hand, "Reaction" cards do not consume Actions; they can be played only in response to certain conditions, as stated on the card.
----------
PART III: Starting the Game
You need:
1. A Group of HUNTERS
2. A COMBAT deck
3. An opponent who also has #1 and #2
You start the game by choosing your Hunters. Your Hunters must have a total Renown less than or equal to 40 points. You will not be able to recruit new Hunters for the rest of the game.
Your Combat deck must have at least 40 Combat cards. Shuffle it up and draw 4 cards.
Once everyone is ready, players take their turns one at a time. The player with the most number of Hunters goes first. Play proceeds by each player taking turns alternately.
The game begins on the first player's first turn.
----------
PART IV: The Turn Structure
Let us look at the structure of your turn. After this turn is completed, your opponent will then take a turn. After that, you take another turn and so on.
Pre Combat
At the start of your turn, assign one of your Hunters to attack, and another Hunter (not yours) to defend. You can only assign one of each, though you could choose not to attack at all. These Hunters enter combat opposing each other. Combat now starts.
Combat
The defending player and attacking player may take Actions alternately. The defending player gets the first Action. These Actions can be spent to play Combat cards with the "Action" trait. Combat cards must be performed by a Hunter in combat, and can only target a Hunter who is in combat. A Hunter can only perform Combat cards with a Skill requirement less than or equal to their own Skill level.
You can also spend your Actions on abilities on cards in play in combat. If you have a Hunter (or Item) with an ability that reads "Action: [effect]" then you may spend an Action to perform the effect. Activated abilities on cards not in combat have no effect unless otherwise specified.
Each attacking Hunter has the ability "Action: Withdraw from combat." This ability may be used any time it is his turn to play an Action. If a player withdraws (using this method or a card effect) then combat ends, ALL Hunters go home and neither player can play additional Actions.
If a Hunter has no Health left, she is KO'd and immediately leaves play. KO'd Hunters are placed in their opponent's Victory Pile.
Post Combat
You may heal one "Light Wound" from each of your Hunters (only if it is your turn). All "Shallow Wounds" are healed, including those on your opponent's Hunters. BOTH players draw cards up to the maximum hand size of four (or discard down to four). Your turn now ends.
Winning and Losing
A player is eliminated when he has no more Hunters in play. At the end of your turn, you win if all other players have been eliminated, or if you have 40 or more Renown in your Victory Pile.
----------
PART V: ITEMS
Items are an optional card type that you can also choose to play.
An Item card is designed to attach to a Hunter. They have a Renown value found at the lower end of the title bar. Sometimes they will have Health or Skill bonuses, found at the top of the title bar.
At the start of the game, after revealing your Hunters, you may attach one Item to each of your Hunters. The total Renown of your Hunters and Items cannot exceed 40.When a Hunter is KO'd, Items on that Hunter will also be KO'd. KO'd Items go to their opponent's Victory Pile.
----------
PART VI: PREY
Prey are an optional card type that you can also choose to play.
Prey cards are similar to Hunters. They have a Renown value found at the lower end of the title bar, and a Health value at the top of the title bar. They do not have a Skill value; Prey do not use Combat cards.
At the start of the game, you may put into play up to 60 Renown worth of Prey. (The Renown of Prey is counted separately from Hunters and Items.)At the start of your turn, instead of choosing another player to be the defender, you may choose to attack Prey instead. If you do, choose one Prey to enter combat as the defender. Other players do not receive Actions, and their Hunters cannot be targeted or enter combat. You may attack Prey owned by any player.
In combat, Prey have the ability "Action: Attach a -2H Wound Token on the opposing Hunter with least health." Prey automatically use this ability when they receive an Action.
When a Prey is KO'd during your turn, put it into your Victory Pile. Prey also have a Victory Pile where you put Hunters that they KO, but they cannot win the game.
----------
Now I remember why I stopped posting these... they're too long!
Stormcrow
Labels: anime, Bleach, cards, games
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Bleach Card Game (part II)
Last month, I introduced my pet project: a Fighting Card Game. Today I'll try to go over the rules very quickly. As I said before, the system is setup similar to Rage, with combat timing that works like L5R. Let's start by looking over the cards:
Hunters have 3 stats. Let's look at Hinamori. The name of the card is the large font on the side, "Hinamori Momo". Hunter cards will also have a subtitle; in this case, Hinamori's subtitle is "Death God in Training". We can also see in her text box, that she has the "Ranged" trait, which is followed by some explainatory text.
She also has some numbers on the left side. Descending, we find that she has 10 Health, 4 Skill Level, and 6 Renown.
Health is the amount of damage she can take before she is KO'd. The higher the health, the longer she can fight.
Skill Level indicates what Combat cards she is allowed to play. In this indirect manner, this determines how much damage she can do. The higher her Skill Level, the greater her options in combat.
Renown is the cost of putting her into play. You start the game with only a fixed amount of hunters. Large Renown costs means you can have only a few Hunters.
----
Now let's look at a Combat card. The name of the combat card is at the top of the card; in this case, the card's name is "Basic Strike". The card's text box has a few traits: "Light Wound Action".
Combat cards have 2 stats. Damage and Skill Cost. The Damage box on the top left corresponds to the Health Slot on Hunter cards. In this case, Basic Strike deals three damage when attached.
The Skill Cost is on the top right and is a restriction on which Hunters are allowed to use the card. For Basic Strike, only Hunters with a Skill Level of 4 or higher can use this card.
"Wound" means that after this card is played, it attaches immediately to a target Hunter. "Action" means that it costs an Action to perform. "Light" means it can (sometimes) be healed at the end of your turn.
----
Game structure next week!
Stormcrow
Hunters have 3 stats. Let's look at Hinamori. The name of the card is the large font on the side, "Hinamori Momo". Hunter cards will also have a subtitle; in this case, Hinamori's subtitle is "Death God in Training". We can also see in her text box, that she has the "Ranged" trait, which is followed by some explainatory text.
She also has some numbers on the left side. Descending, we find that she has 10 Health, 4 Skill Level, and 6 Renown.
Health is the amount of damage she can take before she is KO'd. The higher the health, the longer she can fight.
Skill Level indicates what Combat cards she is allowed to play. In this indirect manner, this determines how much damage she can do. The higher her Skill Level, the greater her options in combat.
Renown is the cost of putting her into play. You start the game with only a fixed amount of hunters. Large Renown costs means you can have only a few Hunters.
----
Now let's look at a Combat card. The name of the combat card is at the top of the card; in this case, the card's name is "Basic Strike". The card's text box has a few traits: "Light Wound Action".
Combat cards have 2 stats. Damage and Skill Cost. The Damage box on the top left corresponds to the Health Slot on Hunter cards. In this case, Basic Strike deals three damage when attached.
The Skill Cost is on the top right and is a restriction on which Hunters are allowed to use the card. For Basic Strike, only Hunters with a Skill Level of 4 or higher can use this card.
"Wound" means that after this card is played, it attaches immediately to a target Hunter. "Action" means that it costs an Action to perform. "Light" means it can (sometimes) be healed at the end of your turn.
----
Game structure next week!
Stormcrow
Labels: anime, Bleach, cards, games
Monday, March 20, 2006
Rebirth
It's been a while.
In a way, not a lot has really happened. I'm still living with the Castros, still doing the teaching and MS thing. Still waiting for the baby to appear. Still supposed to be writing my thesis. It's damn hard to concentrate!
---------------
For some reason I put all my creative energies in things other than doing what I'm supposed to do. Sometime before Xmas I looked at all the card games I had and decided to see if I could do better. For some reason my effort at a ruleset looked like it was made of 80% Rage and 20% L5R. Actually, it also reminds me strongly of Pokemon but that might be because Pokemon (looking back on it) is 50% Rage and 50% Magic. Or Ani-mayhem, which is 60% Rage and 40% Middle Earth.
So, being a resourceful guy, I cooked up a cardset on my beat-up old laptop and printed out the cards at a local photo-shop (I mean, a shop that does photographs). After a couple of runs, I realized that I had a game that ran pretty smoothly and could possibly be considered fun.
However, I also realized, somewhat belatedly, that my choice of Art Direction wouldn't be ideal for public consumption. I also thought up several ways to improve the layout and card designs. So I went back to the drawing board for a month and redid everything. In the end, Alekos' Xmas gift inspired me and I decided to theme the game after Bleach.
(to be continued...)
(no, really)
In a way, not a lot has really happened. I'm still living with the Castros, still doing the teaching and MS thing. Still waiting for the baby to appear. Still supposed to be writing my thesis. It's damn hard to concentrate!
---------------
For some reason I put all my creative energies in things other than doing what I'm supposed to do. Sometime before Xmas I looked at all the card games I had and decided to see if I could do better. For some reason my effort at a ruleset looked like it was made of 80% Rage and 20% L5R. Actually, it also reminds me strongly of Pokemon but that might be because Pokemon (looking back on it) is 50% Rage and 50% Magic. Or Ani-mayhem, which is 60% Rage and 40% Middle Earth.
So, being a resourceful guy, I cooked up a cardset on my beat-up old laptop and printed out the cards at a local photo-shop (I mean, a shop that does photographs). After a couple of runs, I realized that I had a game that ran pretty smoothly and could possibly be considered fun.
However, I also realized, somewhat belatedly, that my choice of Art Direction wouldn't be ideal for public consumption. I also thought up several ways to improve the layout and card designs. So I went back to the drawing board for a month and redid everything. In the end, Alekos' Xmas gift inspired me and I decided to theme the game after Bleach.
(to be continued...)
(no, really)
Labels: anime, Bleach, cards, games
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