I’ve been quiet latest about my progress with Designer Genes mainly due to the fact that I’ve been working on a lot of things at the same time and there just are not enough hours in the day to get everything sorted out and posted before I’m off to the next task or mission. But here is a brief update of where I’m currently at and what I’m working on next.
Game Mechanics – I have the majority of this done. It’s fairly standard with only one slight variations that I think could be interesting and while the changes are small, they make for BIG gameplay differences. A subtle movement is sometimes more noticed in the overall picture than the immediate glance. I’m not ready to release all of the game mechanics information I still need to write it all up neatly and make a proper PDF for it all so it will look professional. There will be some interesting twists like Consequence Cards which you will learn about later on when I’m closer to releasing the games info, pics, etc. I’m also implementing a Range System which will utilize character cards and other card types to keep it fresh, keeping the original games gene idea with what I’m renaming a GenePool as well as the original games DNA Strand. We are keeping the colored genes which are part of the GenePool and each color will represent cardtypes opposed to specific body traits per the original design. Gene Matrix is also something I’m going to implement as a variable into the game, it’s half from the original and half from my own creation so I’m glad to put a hybrid idea in place for the game as well. It’s part of the battle system and a roll of the dice.
Like I’ve said all along. The original idea itself I still think is fun. It’s how the game was presented and at what gamer level it was anticipated to be for. Adults in 2013 don’t play what was originally designed I can’t change that. I’m trying to open up the market and overall appeal to the game. It’s a fine line between using an old idea in the modern approach to bastardizing the entire thing into a junkie hack of someones original plan. I have been showing the old man my ideas along the way and he is glad to see the original work 1) Saved and brought out of it’s sure death in his garage.. and 2) The fact that I’m even interested in something he designed 20+ years ago, let alone picking up the torch and taking it to the next logical point.Card Information – I’m almost done on the first set of character cards for the game. I still have to work on the Consequence Cards, the Mutation Cards, and a few other card types that I’m implementing into the game. Mutation Cards are an interesting add-on to the typical game play so while they are not 100% required they are certainly more powerful than the average character cards. Overall I’m probably at like 50-60% done with the first set of cards, with it mainly being the characters / creatures / monsters, call them what you will.
You can see some of the placement ideas. DNA strand color in the top right represents which GenePool it belongs too, HP/MUT are going to be changes but I wanted them on the card just to figure out how much data I’ll need to fit on. The DNA Strand itself is along the right side but that idea and the Gene Matrix idea have been slightly merged and edited since I first drew this up. Mutation Cards will actually be a split screen type of card now instead so it changes. Some of the vs. numbers on the bottom were from a previous idea I have since changed. It’s an evolving work in progress but this was the cleanest version I had in my little yellow flip book so that’s what I can offer today
Game Layout - Game mats are popular and often come in Deluxe sets of card games for those who want to spend the extra coin. There is a layout for the cards and game plan already done. I think in the short term I’m just using it internally while testing the game, but at some point I will have an artist make a killer design and include it at part of the Kickstarter perks. I just don’t have the resources on my own for it to be anything more than a bunch of boxes on an Excel worksheet laid out like just like I have done it on my desk.
