A Slight Delay...

There hasn't been much news on this over the Summer.  For that I am sorry.  Between a couple of funerals and an injury in the family, as well as a healthy influx of paying work, this project has been set to the side for the time being.  Work still progresses, slowly.

Despite Shapeways enigmatic unpredictability in their printing, I have managed to obtain 4 Tarsus models, at game scale.  Some of my efforts have been sapped with unsuccessfully modifying those 3D models to get them to work, and just when they print one for me, they will refuse to print another for some new reason (that didn't happen to stop them printing the first one?)

Also on the go is artwork for an illustrated manual, and new planets.  I am also reworking some of the artwork, having learned that in a printed form, the game would run about $110.  To reduce cost, some items will be reshaped to include more information, reducing the number of tiles needed.  Also, I'm thinking of making an optional additional pack to include standies for the ships.  - if you have any input on that throw it my way in the comments below!

-J-

Artwork for the Manual

Working on some artwork for the manual, and I have to admit, it's been a lot of fun, so i thought I'd share. In the Downloads section, you will find a couple of wallpapers made from the background artwork.  These are my first attempts, so my hope is to improve some as I go, making the manual an experience in its own right.

Ordered Prototype Models from Shapeways

Working with some of the original 3d models, as well as some of my own interpretations, opens up the door for actual models for the game.

I've just ordered 4 different materials, to see what I like best.  I hope to have all of the ships up, as well as a basic ship set for people interested in playing with models from the game.

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Module and Rules Now Available for Download

There it is, the vassal module is available in the downloads section, along with the rules and a link to the vassal engine for pc and mac.  This is something of a soft launch, since there is artwork to still be completed, and the huge job of making the game available to be printed for yourself.  Sure you can print it now, but it's not laid out, and there is on-demand printing available now to produce everything in the game in quality, for a reasonable price.  Note that the team who have worked on this game are receiving no profit from any recommendations we make in that regard.

A special Thank You to Stephen Rogers for his hard work on the solo play, and squashing the ambiguity in the rules.  You can check out his RPG here.

A Lot of Hard Work

Anyone who tells you that playtesting is the bomb, because you get to sit around playing games, is either a bad playtester, or selling something.



The truth is that playtesting is hard.  It can be hard work, hard on your time and hard on your brain.  Wo open up the rules and dissect every interpretation we can think of, balance the use of nouns and adjectives, against what is a satisfactory explanation, and then see if it works.  Playing a game repeatedly for over a year, I still have fun with it, but I can tell you now, the list is only just getting shorter on things I have to address.

And therein is the good news; the rules are almost ready for open beta testing.  At the moment, we've had some great discussion and some of our testers have played so many games that mentioning a name of a character is enough to draw conflicting memories of our games with them, some fond, others... well not so fond.  Like the time I went through all of the pilots available in the game in one game, without ever getting anywhere.

Yes Privateer is a simple game to play, once you know the rules.  When you've read 7 variations of the rules, you start to forget which ones are from now, and which ones are from 3 iterations in the past.

So starting sometime at the end of next week, I hope to have the rules available for download, and a Vassal module to play with.  Yay!  Along with that, we will be assembling a FAQ on the rules to be available for people to ask questions and have them answered.  As questions are asked, they will be answered (if not in the rules) in the FAQ.

An old version of the board

Blog Launch

Hello and welcome to the Privateer Boardgame blog.

Here we will be posting updates on progress of the game, and you will be able to see concept artwork and in the near future you should be able to download the Vassal Module and Rulebook to start playing.

A little information about the game:

Privateer: The Kilrathi Menace can be played by 1-4 people.  It is a game that provides a player-driven experience.  You are in control of your destiny.  Your choices and actions will effect your reputation with powerful factions, where you can go, what you can buy.  If you want to trade goods and accumulate wealth, so be it, but there are pirates out there looking for juicy morsels.  Or maybe you would like to be the Pirate, or work for the Confeds and hunt Pirates and Kilrathi.

Key Features:
-Challengin Solo and Multiplayer
-Emphasis on Replayability
-Dynamic Universe population
-Dynamic Universe behaviour
-Exploration and other variants
-Multiple quadrants to play in
-Meaningful advancement in multiple factions

For those looking for a nostalgic moment in the Wing Commander universe, or just looking for a challenging game of entrepreneurial glory hunting, Privateer the Board Game will satisfy and make you want to play it again.