Decadent Singularity

D&D Community Introduced a Novel Game Mechanic
Basically the floppy disk geometry.
1. Start with an empty disc board, with concentric areas.
2. Central area has the strategic objective. Outer edge are has doors.
3. Other areas have objects. Each object is a separate zone.
4. Characters are placed near an object to show they are in that zone.
5. Characters is same zone can interact with one another, and with the object.
6. No explicit grid necessary, since circles and objects break disc into segments.
7. The "disc" can have any shape as long as topology is the same. E.g. you can have a circle,
or a hex.
8. Can be setup really fast, and generated with a simple algorithm.
9. Still allows for large abstract maps, where such disc rooms are connected with edges.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnozcfwmw5E

I always had this problem while designing the Spell of Mastery.
since I had that relatively fine grained voxel grid
And it turned my game into an overwhelming simulation.
E.g. I had to simulate water flow,
since I couldn't just did "flood this zone".
And now it has momentum and displaces air.
And I have to resolve everything explicitly.

That realization really made me demoralized.
So I took a break to research the subject.
I want these mechanics, but without the complexity,
impeding the abstraction scale.

In fact, many new designers commit this error.
Make a grid engine and drown in complexity.
Since larger grid always implies physics.
And it always tend to be turing complete.
It also enforced the square grid onto all assets.

I still plan to finish the Spell of Mastery,
Even if it will be imperfect.
But I will have to devise a plan to gamify
all the simulation aspects.

Current Mood: amused