Re: [piecepack] Piecepack Graphics Variation

["Mike Schoessow" <mikeschoessow@...>]

Hi Leo,

You may be interested to know that this subject has been discused and conjectured upon in years past and there were some interesting ideas proposed. In fact, I suggest that any newcommer who is STRONGLY interested in piecepack, as you seem to be, would find that a review of the first several year's posts interesting. Some other suit possibilities that I recall have been suggested include: 

The four cardinal directions: east, west, north, south.

The four hoursement of the apocolypse: conquest (white horse, bow), war (red horse, sword), famine (black horse, scales), death (pale horse, scythe)

The four ancient elements: earth, air, water, fire

Some others I can think of are (some of which I admit are a stretch):

sun, moon, stars, planets

sun, wind, rain, snow

height, width, depth, time

line, triangle, square, circle

production or commerce, spirituality or religion, administration or law, military or war

production, consumption, commerce , destruction

order, chaos, light, dark  (this one might lend itself to a 2-color pack----order and light being white, and chaos and dark being black)


The appropriate icons for any of these I leave up to those interested. Personally, I feel that earth/air/water/fire is by far the most versatile for theme attachment purposes. A number of years ago I posted a rather lengthy description of what my ideal personal piecepack would look like (in terms of dimensions, colors, materials, and design. I can't recall the number of the post but the subject line was "piecepack design". Aside from esthetic considerations, and based upon my experience as a game designer, the most significant change I would make is to not use black as one of the suit colors (use yellow instead) and then to add a black pawn. A neutral color pawn could be very useful indeed. The other thing that would be useful is a 4-sided die with the sides representing the four suits, but there is a practical problem with finding a mill that will produce a wooden tetrahedral die. A useful compromise (if my idea of red/green/blue/yellow suits and a fifth black pawn is also adopted) would be a 6-sided die with the sides showing the four suits plus a black side and a blank side. Having said all this, I understand---and agree with---the compromises made in the present Mesomorph piecepack design from a commercial point of view. Using black for a suit color reduces the number of colors and therefore the production cost on a very slim margin product. Also, yellow printing on wood often requires a double printing (first print white, then print yellow on top of it) so this also can increase cost.

-Mike 


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Leo M. Lalande 
  To: piecepack@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2005 2:23 PM
  Subject: [piecepack] Piecepack Graphics Variation



  As I continue to consider, ponder, and contemplate the many, and
  preferable, ways I might construct my first piecepack or two, my geek
  nature calls to me to play around with graphic design of the various
  piecepack parts.

  It's one of those geeky things I love to do, I love to create graphic
  design stuff for the games I work on. :)  (Just ask Ed Thorn, he'll
  confirm this pechant of mine. :D )

  I'm curious to know what people's thoughts are about the icons/symbols
  that appear on piecepack parts.