Dev.Log Entry Blue

One of the things that immediately gave me some inspiration in Chapter 6 came right at the beginning is a quote from Reiner Knizia, "I don't have a fixed design process. Quite the contrary, I believe that starting from the same beginning will frequently lead to the same end. Finding new ways of working often leads to innovative designs." I am a like-minded thinker when it comes to creativity. Working in groups or alone, when coming up with a new idea for a game, I am often trying to start from a different point to start generating ideas that can be eventually molded into something much more attainable. I have worked with some people who think the method is to start at one point in the game design process and move on only from there. I've often found myself being more interested in the narrative on some ideas, or on the artwork, or what the player might be getting out of the game. I think it's nice to know there's no wrong place to start, as long as it gets things going. This is not to say that I often will end up with a similar art style, or multiple works of science fiction, or something completely different, but to find that variation is the process of brainstorming. I have started a fresh whiteboard brainstorming session as well, and I like the results.

This week I decided to play Rogue Company developed by First Watch Games and published by Hi-Rez Studios. I spent most of my rounds playing the character in the image above, Ronin. Ronin's special ability is "Ballistic Knife" which involves tossing a knife that will explode on the surface it attaches to, hopefully near an enemy. Rogue Company is a game that you can play with a group of 4 online against other "real people" or a challenge with bots for practice. Some dynamics of this game include the options to upgrade weaponry between rounds using the cash awarded to you from your efforts in the previous round. You must make the purchase while in the cargo plane before jumping out to fly to the bomb targets with your team.

The four players all start in the back of a carrier plane awaiting the hatch to open and to head out onto various scenes in which you will see "A" and "B" objectives marked on the map from an aerial viewpoint. The communication of where the team will go first is a part of the aesthetic. You'll probably want to be chatting on headsets in order to work with your teammates creating that fellowship mood. The challenge of the game, as I've played it so far, is that one team member is carrying a bomb, and they must get it to one of the deployment sites while the entire team assists in protecting the bomber, and themselves.

The players who successfully stay alive and deploy their bombs first will win. If you are the team that gains the victory, you'll get more money to spend on upgrading your weapons. Rounds that end in a loss may still give you some funding based on how well you have performed in that round as an individual. Overall, this game is fast-paced, involves teamwork, and contains challenges of discovering how to best use your weaponry with the controls while traversing a maze-like map.