The latest Phantom Division proto arrived, and it is looking great. Plastic parts can be doors when the cutout is d… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
Wanted to link to Mark's tweet on this project with a new prototype, I like to support members so they don't feel they have to self promote. I know this has been a long, painful process of waiting to crowdfund. I think what you're showing here looks like a great solution, the open closed door system you have here makes sense.
Thanks, Gary! What you see there are 3D printed door frames and doors, as well as wall connectors. The walls in the prototype are from Catacombs, which is why they look dungeon-y. It's my intent that the doors will have stickers on them and also that there will be separate doors for locked / unlocked status.
Having cardboard walls that slide into plastic connectors lets us do lots of cool stuff like cut in a door where there wasn't one before, or let the player blow a hole in the wall. It also allows us to include some "set piece" walls that are decorative, for example I want to include an elaborate high back wall in the Night Club map. If this happens it will be used sparingly for some visual appeal and so it would not get in the way of playing too much.
The plan is that the box will hold several pre-built "rooms" so that map building is swift. I built the one in my tweet in under 2 minutes and that was my first time doing it.
The large green block is a "pillar". Pillars are indestructible and block LOS, so they make very good cover as well as obstacles.
Enemies will be wooden discs (enemies that move) and wooden squares (stationary enemies like sentries). Phantoms will be discs and hopefully eventually a minis pack will come out for them. Miniatures are out of reach for now because a lot of money will go to door and wall connector pieces.
The discs actually make great enemies because they go in an enemy bag and you just pull them out as needed.
Pete came up yesterday for testing. It was the first time we have been in the same room since Gen Con 2018, I believe. We played a LOT, stopping and starting often to make notes. We smoothed rough edges and identified some things to cut / combine. There are a LOT of cards in PD, and not all of them are great, so I'll likely be buffing / combining some of them into less, more powerful gear.
I had to kick Pete out early this morning, because my cat went into cardiac arrest. At least I think he did. I frantically drove him to Toledo since it's the closest emergency vet service. I was not fast enough. He was a good cat.
Oh, man. I'm sorry about your cat. That's awful. It's bad enough when you know they're reaching the end, but to have it happen so suddenly like that is horrible.
(As a complete side note, I also didn't know you were as close as Toledo, if we're talking about the one in OH and not GA, IA, OR or a half-dozen other states.)
The campaign inches ever closer to launch. I believe the only roadblock now is waiting on a prototype from the factory so they can film it for the campaign page.
There is a ton of game here. I don't know the final prices yet but I know there will be an entry level choice and then things to add on. Some things you can do in this game:
1. crack safes with a new mini game
2. defuse two types of bombs, one of which can even be disarmed cooperatively
3. blow holes in walls to make a new path
4. insert your team via 3 different methods depending on the mission diagram
5. hack into security cameras
6. take on 14 different enemies
7. earn XP and customize your Phantom all sorts of ways
8. find new gear during missions
9. equip powerful augments that bend the rules
10. generate random missions with enough combinations that you will only see a fraction of them before your inevitable death
I missed the boat on STF and I think my girlfriend is really going to dig this one. I average one crowdfunded game per year and I'm stoked about Phantom Division.
Will there be a F:AT Pledge or anything equally preposterous? I want Pete to write the game's theme song.