DwD Studios

I have been very dilligently busy at my computer typing up the rough draft of the Space Fleet Commander Starship Tactical Combat Simulator. The game system is meant to be very customizable and the starship itself is the main character of the game. Each player controls one or more starship in head to head combat with other players. It is recommended that each player plays only one starship however if your good at multi-tasking a player could command a small task force. The scale is tactical small scale skirmishes and is not really focused on large fleet actions. The initial game will cover ships of the line but additional game supplements will cover specialized space fighters, military starships, civillian starships, system ships, and more. The heart of the system is based on a core mechanic called the Command Point Value which works alot like XP and currency combined.

This sounds really cool, AZ_Gamer! I'd be interested in playtesting, and I'm sure Larry would too! Let us know if you need anything...

Here. Here.

I am almost done with the rough draft of the construction system. However, its a little jumbled at this time, when I get everything organized it will look a lot better. It suprises me when the system and the math actually works correctly. It is simple and fun but there are some details I just have to put as assumptions such as life support. While I respect those games that go into detail tracking every minor detail on paper. This isnt want I was going for with this game concept.

I am working on a basic and advanced game rule sets

az_gamer,

I just replied to you're email.
Good start. After reading the notes I felt my crew and commander would have ownership in the vessel/fleet they commanded - more than just mini's on a game board.

yes, it will be a very personal experience playing the game. In a way the ship is the character(s) and you have a lot of influence on how your ship developes and is customized with every battle. A beginning commander will have some limitations on how much influence he or she will have to acquire a vessel but once you start winning some battles you can really trick out your ship or acquire a more sophisticated one. A player could command more then one ship but the record keeping becomes increasingly more difficult with each ship but it is designed so a commander could lead a small fleet into battle if he has enough command points to acquire those ships under his or her command. The addition of command characters helps to delegate the authority and adds bonuses to specific systems and abilities.

The basic game would cover the first three classes of ships that a new commander could afford to acquire with their command points. The Scout, Frigate, or Destroyer. While a new commander could afford a destroyer it would be all default equipment with no customization and the commander would be maxed out. However if you started with the scout you could trick it out a bit, win some skirmishes an move up to something more beefy. The basic game will focus on the Shi-an as the only game adversary. Future game modules will allow players to play the Xin, Ganai, Tal, Solaquin, Kalastan Pirates or the Martian Colony Separatists. Other game supplements will include Fighter combat which will also open up lower CP ranks so players can assume the role of a pilot or squadron commander.

I will need some help putting together a decent looking player record sheet (character sheet) as MS word looks ok but not nearly as nice as the stuff you are doing with the Frontier Space character sheets.

Been working on some rule changes. First, default weapons and defenses while not very powerful will not be cost any additional CP or Bay space. Only if they are installed as additional weapons will they cost any additional points. CCM 1 is allowed one default cannon and one default battery, as well as one default defense. CCM 2 is allowed two default cannon, one default battery, and one default defense. CCM 3 is allowed three default cannon, two default batteries, and two default defenses. TWM 1 is allowed two default batteries and one default defense without additional cost. (Additional TWM models are under construction.

New rules reguarding equipment upgrades. Upgrades to additional systems will cost additional CP but will not cost additional bay space because they are upgrading existing systems.

Also, Flagship and Player ranking rules were developed this weekend.

New rules just updated include:
FTL Drive Wake & Minimum Safe Distance (Rule)
FTL Fail-Safe Return Device (Component)
Coalition Games (Group Vs. Group Rules)

First Three stock Shi-an Empire Basic Game Adversary Ships
Amara Class Scout: HC 6, SP 60, MF/AF/DF 5
Sadara Class Frigate: HC 8, SP 80, MF/AF/DF 4
Kudara Class Destroyer: HC 10, SP 100, MF/AF/DF 3

Beta version of the ship record sheet completed this weekend and ready for testing. First starship generated. HC-6 United Colonial Federation Colorado Class Scout USS Hornet. Stats: HC 6, CP 170 (As Equiped) SP 60, MF/AF/DF: 4, 24 Bays, Twin Ion Drive Core Propulsion. Ship began with standard CP 60 but after one initial battle simulation won against a comparatively classed Shi-an Adversary gaining 60 CP for the victory and affording the purchase of additional basic systems. All players begins with 100 CP, + 60 CP for victory over Shi-an Scout ship, and +10 CP for command Character bonus.

Construction Formula 1xCCM-2, 1xGFM, 1xFDM, 2xDCM-i

Weapons: Laser Cannon x2, Kinetic Battery x1, Missile Battery x1.
Defense: Polymetal Hull, Repulsor Shield 1, EMP Shield.
Add-On: KB/MB Auto Loader (+1 ROF), KB Ammo Magazine (+4 Ammo),
Command Bridge (+10 CP, +1RF, +1CF, +1 RNG), Security Lockout,
Security Team, Escape Pod.
CC: 1 Command Character, Veteran (+10 CP, +1RF, +1BTH,
+1 Initiative)

After Action Report: Battle Simulation Results.

Shi-an Advantages, The Shi-an Scout Ship was better default equiped and far better powered than its UCF opponent at the same class Rating. The Shi-an Amara Class scout was equiped with a smaller CCM-1 but was better equiped with a Engineering Support Module. The Amara also had a better performance signature with a single Fusion Drive Core Module producing 10 points of power. The end result was a faster more manuverable vessel.

In a skirmish engagement the winning factor was crew survivability. The Colorado class simply had a more survivable crew and with the CF and RF bonuses provided by the ships Command Character the ship simply could out repair and out restore damage and crew casualties better than the stock amara class could.

The CCM-2 of the Colorado class did provide 1 additional cannon against the Amara but the Colorado Class was much slower and less manuverable than its adversary. When closed in to two hexes the Amara could halfway orbit the Colorado Class delivering directed shots at several key systems. However, with the a higher Repair Factor and Crew Factor. The USS Hornet proved to be the tougher bird in this fight.

The amara suffered extensive crew losses and at the end of the skirmish was adrift with only 11 structure points and no surviving crew remaining. The ship was not subject to capture as there were no support craft to transport boarding parties or extra crew to capture the drifting craft.

I actually did expect the Amara to win this engagement based solely on its statistical superiority. However, The Command Character bonuses really did prove to be a tipping point for the Colorado Class. The additional cannon proved to be deal out some additional damage initially but since the they are FWD Firing weapons the Amara simply stayed out of their line of fire whenever possible with its better manuverability rate. So I had to deliver the majority of my hits with the Kinetic Battery. The dice however were with the Colorado Class in this engagement and its CC initiative bonus kept initative on the side of the Colorado for the majority of the engagement. In this game initiative is rolled at the beginning of every round to simulate the fact that advantage shifts frequently during a battle. In this game the winner of Initative goes first, which in terms of crew and repair rates can make a difference. Well I do look forward to getting some other players testing the system soon to see how they fare with the basic game ships. In future games I will like to see how the Colorado Class will handle a Shi-an ship its own CC bonuses.

Just finished building the stats and assembling the digital model of the USS Peregrine, the ill-fated deep space exploration cruiser that was lost while transporting an exploration colony. Unfortunately things didnt turn out well for the ship which was believed lost when it encountered a rare transversable wormhole known as a quantum slip stream event. The ship and its crew found themselves in the Dark Tempest. The USS Peregrine emerged from the wormhole critically damage from the slip streams gravitional forces. With only minutes left before the ships immenent destruction The crew of the Peregrine launched the escape pods containing the hybernating colonists into the black of space. Survivors from the event later emerged from hybernation on an unknown world with limited working technology. The surviving colonists read the barely vidible worn letters P E R E G R - N - on the battered surface of their escape pods and named the world where the landed Peregren Prime. Thus the Peregren system was so named by the survivors of a long lost earth colony ship the USS Peregrine.

...Or at least thats the official story, but nothing is as it seems in the Dark Tempest.

Stats
HC-12 Deep Space Exploration Cruiser, Crew: 240
Mission - Exploration And Colonization
CP: 120, HC:12, SP:120, RF:12, MF/AF/DF:3, Bays: 47 Standard, 4 Default
Weapons LCx1 (+Turbo Laser), MBx2 (+Auto Loader), LBx1

Construction Formula
1xCCM-1, 1x GFM, 1x FDM, 2x CHM, 2x SAM, 2x ESM, 3x DCM-i

Completed some minor revisions to the module system this week and defined the bonuses allowed by the S.A.M as well as added a penalty to CF for the mining module to show that mining is a dangerous task and that it takes its toll on crew members by exhausting them and resulting in frequent trips to medical for accidents and injuries. While this penalty is minor it is far out weighted by the modules ability to provide 2CP per day of operation per module.

I hope to start work on writting the games background articles soon and then will come the long task of putting all of the rules in order.

We still need a gravity rule for planets and celestial objects. I'm thinking something like SFKH's.

Also debating the role or use of a referee in game play. Even though this is a board game there is a certain element of RPG that goes on with it too. The Ship is the character which the player controls and customizes as he increases his sphere of influence with experience. A ref would be very helpful in playing the "bad guy" role and mediating feats and resolve actions not covreed by the rules. However there is also something to be said in keeping the game strictly PVP.

I wonder if it's possible to craft Referee Tables that take the place of a Referee decision?

Project is still working along no major new developments. Tinkering with the system a little to make it streamlined into a concise project.

So far the consensus has been to go Referee-less and make the game strictly PVP.

When will the first draft be ready to play test?

I have been pretty busy at work these past few days so im not sure but it should be in the near future. Is anyone volunteering to playtest?

I'd like to and I'm sure we can get other Frontiersman to test. Do you have a test document?

Not sure what a test document is, can you elaborate.

At the same time I started working on Spacefleet Commander I also developed a concept for another board game I'm calling "Quantum Entaglement" which will be a traditional "Sorry" or "Monopoly" Style boardgame of Scifi Mayhem and Comedy. Players will race through the board maze each trying to reach their finish line but many unfortunate "entanglements" stand between the player and victory.

A couple of questions, Arizona.

Is the setting easily divorced from the rules? In other words, can you adapt your combat rules to any SF setting, like Full Thrust?

And, how quick has your sample combats run? Harpoon-length(avg. two minutes)or Star Fleet Battles-length(hours and hours).

As soon as you have something for me to playtest, I'll be more than happy to lend a little time to this.

The squirmish I ran lasted about twenty five minutes. However, I can see an engagement with a capital ship with fully equiped repair features could last a while. I don't think it will ever last a long as a starfleet battles match for two reasons first my game doesnt do energy allocation (its just way to much math)all energy in my game is broken down into max output. Second starfleet battles and full thrust are almost unlimited on the number of ships you can field in a game. In my game you are in command of one primary vessel and while a commander could command a few more, anything more than five would be a major pain to keep track of and i wouldnt recommend it. People who want to run a small fleet action would get some freinds together and play a coalition game where each player controls one to three vessels each in a team effort against another coalition. So I really cant see many games going much longer than two hours unless you really wanted it to. But squirmishes against equally matched vessels, or drastically un-evenly matched vessels, would be pretty quick. Its a tactical game so the scale is pretty small and everything happens at pretty close ranges. Ships that run usually just die tired.

Setting divorced from rules... it will be when its done. I experimented with using my construction system to build the Enterprise 1701-A and came pretty close to accurate. However, I am affraid that Star Wars Ships were just too big to accurately represent with a star destroyer crew being about 18,000 it's just too big. Star Frontiers KH ships fit easily into the modular system and the weapons and movement are similar enough. So yes you could develope new settings for the rules. I wrote the rough draft based on my Titan Rising Fictional Universe.

Cool.

You've definitely piqued my interest; count me in.

On the SF site I have been working on a new digital model for the classic SFKH game. Here are the stats for Spacefleet Commander Game

Construction Formula:
1xCCM-1, 2xTDM-1, 1xCHM, 1xESM, 1xFDM-V, 1xDCM-A (same as DCM-F)

Stats:
HC-07, SP-70, CP-70, CF-09, RF-09, Bays 28, MF-03, AF-03, DF-03

Weapons:
LCx1 (Default), LBx1 (Default), MBx4 (Same As RB), TTx2 (torp x2)

Defenses:
PH (Similar to RH), Masking Screen (Special), ICMx4, Decoy Drone x4

If you wouldn't mind making a legend for the stats that would be helpful.

HC-Hull Class: Ship's Maximum Hull Capacity, Also Indicates Size.
SP-Structure Points: Stat that measures structural integrity.
CP-Command Points: Minimum Number Of CP Required To Purchase.
CF-Crew Factor: Number Of Injured Crew Restored Per Hour.
RF-Repair Factor: Number Of Structure Points Repaired Per Hour.
MF-Manuevering Factor: Maximum Number Of Manuever/Turns Per Turn.
AF-Acceleration Factor: Maximum Acceleration (Hexes)Per Turn.
DF-Deceleration Factor: Maximum Deceleration (Hexes) Per Turn.
Bays-Compartments which contain a ship's system components.

CCM-1: Command Module #1, 1 Default Cannon, 1 Default Batt, 4 Standard Open Bays.
TDM-1: Tactical Defense Module #1: 2 Default Batt, 4 Open Bays.
ESM: Engineering Support Module: Supports Ships Systems, 4 Open Bays
CHM: Crew Habitat Module: Supports Crew, 4 Open Bays
FDM: FTL Drive Module, FDM-V (Void), 1 LY / DAY per unit, 4 Open Bays
DCM: Drive Core Module, DCM-A (Atomic) Drive Reactor / Energy Generating Unit, 4 Open Bays. Similar to SFKH Atomic Drive.

PH-Polymetal Hull (Similar to RH in SFKH)

Still working on the project. Been working up some stats on the Star Frontiers Knight Hawks warships to see if I can make the system work well as a divorced game system. So far the stats are to scale but since I am using a smaller game scale the units are a little bit larger numerically. For example an HS 5 frigate in SFKH is a HC 7 Frigate in SFC. I have created the stats for the FDM-V, FTL Drive Module / Void Jump, which allows for 1 LY / Day per Drive Module installed. And am using the same stats on the DCM-A.

Been very busy and haven't had a lot of time to devote to getting the system organized.

Thanks for the update AZ.
Making games on this scale takes a while if you can't dedicate all your time to it. :-)

So this sounds like more of a war game and less of an RPG, right? If so, it's sort of weird to me that you would only have ONE ship to command in the game. I would think you would want a least a few ships to command, or even a fleet. Something similar to this: http://www.starwars.com/gaming/other/airline reviews/rpg/news20061121.html Or am I off entirely?

The best way to describe it, without having a finished draft to show you yet, is that everything is based on CP (Command Points). As you gain Command Points you can purchase add-ons, new equipment or weapons, more ships or improve to better ships. With the current games rule system you begin with a single ship and improve and build your fleet as you go. It appears that tracking three ship character sheets at once is pretty comfortable but the more ships the more you have to keep track of and the longer the game will go. One type of game scenario is a team or coalition game where two groups of players battle and each player controls at least one ship that compose a fleet.
It is primarily a boardgame style wargame. However, there are some serious RPG elements involved in the game as well. It kind of depends on how much imagination you want to put into the game. What would you and your crew do...how would you as the commander interact with the other players. What is your agenda in the game? Which Command Characters will you hire to command your crew and which advantages do they provide that fit your agenda. When faced with the loss of your ship to a superior foe do you bargain your way out, bluff, use a strategic weapon, form an alliance in exchange for future service? If your ships is captured or disabled do you have command of another ship to mount a rescue of have enough CP to purchase another ship. There are many imaginative aspects to the game. Unlike other wargames, the ship is your "character" and your fleet is your "party".

A smaller scale Player Character RPG may come later as an expansion book. However, I am still awaiting to see if this game project may tie into Frontier Space in someway. A lot still hinges on the release of Frontier Space as it's difficult to see where all the pieces fall into place without the finished rules.

I have been working on a technology tree for the game. So far I have developed a 6 tier system

Level 1: Chemical Drives, Missile Weapons, No FTL Capability.

Level 2: Ion Drives, Kinetic Weapons, Poly Metal Armor, No FTL Capability

Level 3: Atomic Fision Drives, Laser Weapons, limited FTL Capability 1 LY / DY

level 4: Atomic Fusion Drives, Plasma Weapons, FTL Capable 10 LY / DY

level 5: Mater / Antimater Drives, Particle Weapons, FTl Capable 20 LY / Day

level 6: Exotic Technology, Exotic / Gravity Based Weapons, FTL Capable (Unknown Capabilities)

I have developed a new sand box site for development on the game. You can visit us at www.titanrising.webs.com to see all the latest developments for Space Fleet Commander.

I haven't heard anyones thoughts or ideas on the tech tree I posted.

I am interested to hear what the community thinks. Especially the exotics like antimatter and gravity propulsion systems. First which do you think would be the more powerful propulsion technology: Gravity Drive or Antimatter / Matter reactors. Second, do you think five or six branches on the tech tree. Should we stop with just one exotic tech. If you think one, I probably would dump the gravity drive, AM/MA is at least pretty staple in popular sci-fi so it would be easier to keep.

New content for August is now available to view on the Titan Rising web site. Stop by and enjoy a look at things to come or download the latest installment of the Titan Rising Comic Book.

While the game is still in development progress still continues. I have a lot of ideas for a possible RPG too but it makes things difficult trying to divide the two separate concepts sometimes. I look forward to seeing bare bones in use as it may make a perfect platform for the RPG portion of the game, we will see. If it doesnt work out then maybe we will work something out for Frontier Space instead.