RE: [piecepack] Re: Alien City is cool

[Michael Schoessow <mschoessow@...>]

My concern with a high number like 12 is that the competition will always be
so close that the scope for clever placement and timing of caps becomes less
because by the end of the game, as you say, most of the towers will be
capped anyway.
Maybe there could be some advantage to stacking two caps on top of each
other. Players would be restricted to doubling up only their own caps. Or,
caps can be placed as singles or stacked pairs (both placed at once) but
caps could never be placed on other caps placed on previous turns. Doubled
caps would of course need to give some advantage. Perhaps the effect of
doubled caps would be to partially offset the effects of competition
(multiply the distance to the competition by 2?). 
 
Here's another idea: Each player starts with 3 caps (3 or 4 player game) but
the total number of caps that may be placed in a game is 8. Once the eighth
cap is placed players are prohibited from placing more (although the game
continues as far as placement of towers and domes goes).
 
One more idea: Each player starts with 3 caps (3 or 4 player game) but there
is now a new rule: orthogonally adjacent towers may not both be capped. If
this turns out to be too restrictive, then modify the rule:no more than (x)
pair(s) of orthogonally adjacent pyramids may be capped. All other capped
pyramids must not be orthogonally adjacent to other capped pyramids. Make x
whatever works best abased on play-testing. 
 
Karl, if you try a game with modified rules and three or four players be
sure to post the results.
 
 
-Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: Karl von Laudermann [mailto:karlvonl@...]
Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2002 12:54 PM
To: piecepack@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [piecepack] Re: Alien City is cool


On Thursday, August 22, 2002, at 03:44  PM, Michael Schoessow wrote:

> You might be right Karl and I admit that I didn't give a lot of thought 
> into
> making it work for three or four players. Your suggestion about common
> ownwership is interesting because the progenitor game, San Jose, is more
> like that; there are four kinds of buildings in that game but only one 
> kind
> is owned by the players, with the other three starting out in a common 
> pool.
> Also there are no pieces equivalent to the ownership caps that player's 
> have
> in Alien City.  I think the biggest issue for turning Alien City into a
> 4-player game involve the distribution of the small pyramids (the caps).
> Right now we have a total of six of them in the game and this number 
> seems
> to work well. I don't think the number is extremely critical but on the
> other hand I would be surprised if 12 (3 per player in a 4-player game)
> would work well at all. Possibly eight (2 per player) would work, but 
> having
> only two chances to claim a building seems unattractive somehow.

12 caps might work fine in a 4 player game. You'd only have 2 uncapped 
towers at the end, but that's not necessarily bad. Although it would 
limit the opportunity to score for uncapped greens.

--
                        Karl J. von Laudermann
                        karlvonl@...
                        http://www.geocities.com/~karlvonl/
<http://www.geocities.com/~karlvonl/> 
                        Richard's PBeM Server ID: karlvonl


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