[Board Game] The shattered Kingdom

[Accname]

I am working on my own board game for a while now.
The game is supposed to be a multiplayer economy simulation game, much like "The settlers of Catan".

I will only give a little bit of information about gameplay and mechanics since not much is yet final.
The games board consists of multiple provinces. Each province consists of 4 tiles. On each tile you can either gather one kind of resource or you can trade resources.
Players can connect tiles with roads. A player can construct buildings on each tile he has connected with roads.
Only one building can be placed on any tile. Only one road can connect two tiles with each other.
Players gather resource cards and gain action cards which they can use to expand their territory.

I made some mockups and graphics for a video game implementation of the game.
I would really appreciate feedback and constructive criticism on these graphics:

This mockup shows how a game might look like. We got 2 players (red & blue) on a board with 5 provinces.


Here are the tiles for the board; all facing north.
From left to right: Corn (Food), Meadows (Food), Quarry (Brick), Mine (Ore), Forest (Lumber), Lake (Food), Village (Trading)


Here are all the buildings the players can build. They will be colored in the players color.
From left to right: Street, Street, Village (Resources), Town (Resources x2), Kontor (Action: Trade), Castle (Action: Diplomacy), Academy (Action: Science)

 

[tom_mai78101]

If you could sort of demonstrate how the game is to be played, it would be very helpful for us to learn more about the game rules that is taking shape.

That way, game rules can be modified. We can then be able to "see" and "understand" the game flow, thus allowing us to give more feedback on this game and the game rules.

Your placeholder art is enough for a person like me to distinguish the differences of each "block". If the art were to "blend" with the environment even more, it will be optimal when it comes to generating your world.

 

[Accname]

The gameplay itself isnt finished yet. There are some aspects for which i have several possible solutions and i dont quite know which one to use.
I will play test this game a few times with friends and then decide.

This thread is mostly for feedback on the graphics.

 

[Varine]

No one plays board games any more. I already went down this road, it sucks.

 

[vypur85]

The tile idea looks awesome. The graphic looks a lil old school though.

I agree with tom. Perhaps come up with a gameplay system first before moving on to more gfx and stuff?

 

[tom_mai78101]

This thread is mostly for feedback on the graphics.

Ah. Numbering in order, going from top left first, and moving on to the right:

1. I don't know what the first tile is, upon first impression. Is it a pine forest? Looks more like a hay needle preluding out from the ground. Maybe more like the bottom of the CPU. I finally see that the first tile is a corn field tile. I don't recall seeing corn naked when it's growing. It tends to have green leaves surrounding the corn, until they are ripe.
2. Those are pretty cute cotton balls. I can't tell they are sheeps unless I have to zoom in closer to my monitor. If you were to zoom out from the monitor, they look like powdered puffs of white dots.
3. Stone mountain. Am I wrong? If yes, it is lacking a mineshaft and some mined mineral stacks.
4. Dirt mountain with wiggly worms. (Yes, I'm harsh. Sorry.) It also lacks a mineshaft, along with a pile of gold. Okay, I finally see the mineshaft, it's so hard to make out the shape of the mineshaft. Maybe it needs to be a bit lighter, and a portion of it should be outside of the mountain (to protect miners from landslides from above.)
5. Okay, this is an evergreen forest. Looks a bit dark. Most of the trees don't stand out much.
6. A lake. I see a problem with this tile. If you were to put all of these lake tiles around next to each other, you can see that you will get a thin diagonal border crisscrossing through a giant lake.
7. Pueblo houses? Or are they abandoned? Even though they are villages for trading, they do look bleak, and not lively. Even more, the ceilings are flat, giving it an impression of a pueblo house.

All of the tiles have a common problem. If you were to rotate the tiles, your terrain will orientate, making your world look as if it's just purely randomly rotated, and not giving depth.

If you were to separate the tile shape and the tile terrain properties, then put down the terrain that's facing in one direction, it will fix your problem.

 

[Accname]

No one plays board games any more. I already went down this road, it sucks.

I play lots of board games. And many of my friends play lots of board games. There are anually board game conventions here with millions of visitors and alot of cashing changing hands.

The tile idea looks awesome. The graphic looks a lil old school though.

I agree with tom. Perhaps come up with a gameplay system first before moving on to more gfx and stuff?

I already have the gameplay worked out. Just not tested and balanced. I want to create a quick video-game like simulator to test the game with a few friends.
In the process i decided to craft some graphics myself (because i like that).
Maybe i will update and show what kind of ideas i have so far for the game.

@tom:
Thanks for the feedback.

1. I dont really like the current design for the corn field either. The crops are way too big in comparison to everything else. But i honestly dont know how to do it any better. Suggestions would be nice.
2. They need to be scaled accordingly to the rocks, trees and houses. But i could try to work in a little bit more grey if you think that would make it better.
3. Its a quarry. Theres no mine shaft. They break the rocks from the mountains and work them in shape. Like the stone blocks shown on the tile.
4. I changed the color deliberately to make it easier to distinguish it from the quarry. But i will try to make the mineshaft look better.
5. .
6. I really dont like the lake that much either. But it adds diversity to the landscape. I dont mind the borders with grass. Its a tiled board game, that happens.
7. Supposed to be little farm houses with a thatched roof. I know that it looks rather poor but i dont have a good idea how to improve them. Maybe somebody can give me a suggestion.

But the "problem with the rotation" is not really a problem. This is supposed to be a board game. It sits in the middle of the table and the players sit around it. Somebody will always look at it from the wrong angle.

Thanks to all of you for the feedback.

 

[tom_mai78101]

@tom:
Thanks for the feedback.

1. I dont really like the current design for the corn field either. The crops are way too big in comparison to everything else. But i honestly dont know how to do it any better. Suggestions would be nice.
2. They need to be scaled accordingly to the rocks, trees and houses. But i could try to work in a little bit more grey if you think that would make it better.
3. Its a quarry. Theres no mine shaft. They break the rocks from the mountains and work them in shape. Like the stone blocks shown on the tile.
4. I changed the color deliberately to make it easier to distinguish it from the quarry. But i will try to make the mineshaft look better.
5. .
6. I really dont like the lake that much either. But it adds diversity to the landscape. I dont mind the borders with grass. Its a tiled board game, that happens.
7. Supposed to be little farm houses with a thatched roof. I know that it looks rather poor but i dont have a good idea how to improve them. Maybe somebody can give me a suggestion.

But the "problem with the rotation" is not really a problem. This is supposed to be a board game. It sits in the middle of the table and the players sit around it. Somebody will always look at it from the wrong angle.


Thanks to all of you for the feedback.

It sounds as if your tiles can be moved around on the table. In that case, it could explain why you have a latch system for each of your tiles.

Regarding your response, I'll give in some more:

1. I was thinking of something similar to this for your corn tile:​

2. Perhaps adding a bit of shading would be cool. Also, have you ever thought of adding a shack and a shepherd's stick? You can also add some more sheep to it.​

3. For the stone quarry, adding shovels and pickaxes will help aid players in knowing what that tile is to represent.​

7. Would British village homes look nice? This will help you give your village a bit more depth and feel if you view it from above:​

​

​

As you can see, your roof is flat, but in the picture shown above, the roof all have a bit of light and shadow. Adding little dots of white and black will help. You'll have to experiment a little bit since a village can be also represented with 1 main building, a church, or a townhouse.​

 

[Accname]

I might add a shack to the sheep on the meadows.

And I will see what i can do with the corn and the villages. I will definitely add pictures of the resource you can gather to the tiles.

By the way, here is a number of emblems for the provinces. Feedback is highly appreciated:

The emblem will be shown at those spots which are currently left white.

 

[tom_mai78101]

Without you telling us what the emblems mean, all I can tell you is your art isn't very intuitive for Us To understand. Are you limited in the size of your entire tile size?

Why not make the art resolution of the tile size larger, so that you have more room to work on the details of both your tiles and your emblems?

Other than that, nice pixel art you have there.

 

[Accname]

They are not meant to tell anything but to tell the provinces apart.
Its just an emblem used to distinguish the province from the others.

But i am glad you like them.

 

[Accname]

Here is a new version of some of the tiles. I would appreciate your feedback.
Did the graphics improve? Any other suggestions how to make it better?

The new version is on top, the old one is in the bottom.

 

[tom_mai78101]

Your corn field is now a wheat field.

I can see the sheeps a bit clearly, but in my opinion, seeing a shepherd's stick will 100% convince me I'm seeing a sheep herd.

Village is done nicely. A better improvement overall.

 

[Accname]

Corn, wheat, grain, whatever man, as long as it is crops.

But i am glad you like the changes. I am pretty satisfied as well. But unfortunately you will not get your shepherds stick. The size of the graphics is just too small for that.

But here is some other graphics after working on it for a little bit of time:

Resources: Lumber, Brick, Ore, Food


Buildings (Textured): Street, Street, Workshop, Factory, Kontor, Castle, Academy


And a BIG mockup how the game might look like in the end:
All 9 provinces and 4 players. At this point it was roughly half an hour of game time.

 

[tom_mai78101]

You'll have to add a highlighting circle of their colors to each of the buildings (streets, roads, etc.) to make them stand out more.

Their colors somehow blends in with the background too well.

 

[tom_mai78101]

Someone created a board game. I think it will help you get inspired. Just the pictures, not the latch systems and whatnots.

 

[Accname]

That is "the settlers of catan" tom.
I own the first edition of the base game.

 

[tom_mai78101]

That is "the settlers of catan" tom.
I own the first edition of the base game.

... I still stand correct. Someone really did "create" a board game, out of wood.

Would it look nice if your tiles are symmetrical?

 

[Accname]

... I still stand correct. Someone really did "create" a board game, out of wood.

Would it look nice if your tiles are symmetrical?

They are symmetrical. They are octagons.

 

[Varine]

... I still stand correct. Someone really did "create" a board game, out of wood.

Would it look nice if your tiles are symmetrical?

What does it being out of wood have to do with anything?