RE: [piecepack] piecepack pyramids version 7

[Michael Schoessow <mschoessow@...>]

They look good Tim. Thanks! Of course now I have to find time to assemble a
set or two :)


-Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: Tim Schutz [mailto:hexchex@...]
Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2002 7:42 AM
To: piecepack@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [piecepack] piecepack pyramids version 7


I've been working on some changes to Sorcerer's Chamber. I've added two more
spells and removed or changed some of the mechanics that I've thought made
the game a little clunky. But that's not why I wrote this email. What I've
also been doing is using the current version of the piecepack pyramids for
some of the play testing, but I've also been using a newer set that uses
suggestions from Michael for play testing.

 

<Clip from message 466>

One variation on the pyramid design is to color the tips (say the top 1/8")
the same color as the suit icon. This retains the advantage of the suit icon
as an orientation indicator and also could support the hiding of suit when
the pyramids are stacked, but at the same time the suit of an exposed
pyramid will be clear from any seating position around the board.

</Clip>

 

But instead of placing a color tip on the top of the pyramids I placed two
letters on the sides near the top and placed a smaller suit symbol on the
back near the top. What I call the information ring.  I also added a black
line on the back to designate that as the back of the pyramid. (It's easier
to see if you print out a set and make one.) The front of the pyramids still
has a large suit marking. With the new pyramids you can now tell the suit or
the size from almost any angle, I admit if you're looking at one from the
side you might have to move your head a little to see the suit, but I find
that it's not that much of a inconvenience. 

 

Why did I do this way instead of a colored tip? There were several reasons.
The first one is that I am beginning to see a growing trend in making games
a little more colorblind friendly or at least I see it being discussed more.
One of the things I like about piecepack is that it is pretty much
colorblind friendly. Another reason is that if you print out a set with a
b/w printer a colored tip doesn't work very well. All of the printable games
on my website are made to work if they are printed in color or in b/w. I
have both a color and b/w printer, but I have friends that only have b/w.
The last reason is I prefer to designate things in piecepack by the suits
instead of the colors.

 

Why change the pyramids? As I see it the pyramids are going to be used more
as a modified pawn then anything else. Part of the inspiration for the
pyramids was the discussion about a direction pawn. And so I would have to
agree with Michael when he say's 

 

<Clip from message 466>

I'm still not sure that I agree with the idea of making the suit visible
form only one side however. While I can see the advantage of this for some
game designs, there is a significant disadvantage in many games if one of
more of the players can't tell what the suit is of some of the pyramids. I
suspect the potential size of the latter category of games may be larger
than that of the former.

</Clip>

 

I was discussing the pyramids with a friend and he said" The piecepack
already has pieces that hides both the suit and value (the tiles) and pieces
that hides either the suit or the value (the coins)" and he thought a piece
that hid just the suit would be great, but I think that the next logical
choice would be a piece that didn't hide the suit or the value.

 

The new pyramids can be found at http://www.tjgames.com/ppp7.pdf and the
current version can be found at http://www.tjgames.com/ppp.pdf  Any comments
or input would be greatly appreciated. I find that Sorcerer's Chamber is lot
more enjoyable to play with the newer version of pyramids. I should be
releasing the newer version of Sorcerer's Chamber in a few weeks.

 

Tim Schutz






To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
piecepack-unsubscribe@egroups.com

 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/