Re: [piecepack] piecepack programming mechanics

[Mark Biggar <mark.a.biggar@...>]

Troy Holaday wrote:
> 1.  Place a coin under the robot-pawn.  I don't have an 'industry
> made' piecepack system, so I don't know how big the base of your pawns
> are in relation to the coins.  If they are the same size, this won't
> work, but if they aren't, perhaps the direction indicator would show.
> Not a great solution, but the only one I can think of without adding
> something to the system.

Of course that means sacrificing one of your coins that could be used
for
programming duty (probably the 5).  If that case though, number coins
would just mean move forward n spaces (blank could mean backup one
space).  Suit-side up coins would mean change direction to match
the tick without moving (whether or not you allow NO-OPs is up to
the game designer).  And, if you want weapons you can use the roborally
rule that every robot fires straight ahead every turn.

> 2.  Your ideas seem sound for translating the roborally type
> mechanics.  I would like to add a mechanics suggestion about revealing
> instructions.  I am working on a game of my own right now that has a
> string-type bit of information discretely set up by one player at the
> start of the game.  (No it's NOT a Mastermind clone.)  I use a
> stacking method with the coins.  The string is built bottom up, with
> reversed coins to indicate certain things.  The point is, you could
> either reveal the string one piece at a time by flipping coins off the
> top, or by picking up the whole stack and dropping one coin off the
> bottom at a time while moving to the right (better, I think).  In this
> way players could hide/stack their instructions, then put a cap on
> them with another coin to keep prying eyes off the first bit of data
> until everyone is ready to 'show their hands.'

I had thought that just hiding your coins under your hand until everyone
is ready to reveal was good enough.  There is no real reason (other
then suspense) to hide your whole program after it is revealed and
thus frozen.  Roborally uses a hidden program system for two
reasons, the cards are to big to hide easily so placing them face
down solves that problem and flipping cards up one at a time makes
it easy to determine where in your program sequence you are.  But
the coins are small enough to hide all six under your hand and 
removing coins as you use them is just as good as flipping cards.

BTW, I do plan to write up a summary of all the discussion
when it calms down. 

--
Mark Biggar
mark.a.biggar@...