DESIGN DIARY - 10.26.00
Joe's antechamber
Today, Designer Chuck Kallenbach is busily re-writing the rulebook. "We're
up to version 19.3 at the moment," says Chuck. This is a good sign - the
Product Development team wants to make absolutely sure the rules are as
close to perfection as they can get. Typically, PD resets the counter
to a whole number when they send out the rulebook for the playtesters
to chew on. This means that the playtesters have received, so far, nineteen
different drafts of the rules. "The next one they get will be v.20," adds
Chuck with a smile. Will there be a v.21? We'll probably find out in future
pages of the Design Diary....
"By the way," Chuck calls out, "we also sent the rules to John Kaufeld."
Regular decipher.com visitors might be familiar with that name: John Kaufeld
is one of our avid players and supporters who has frequently contributed
content for the site. He has provided coverage of game conventions during
the summer, including DecipherCon 2000. John also has under his belt a
few books in the popular "Dummies" series. And he owns a game store. And
he's a pretty swell guy (and he's got the right initials, too). "So we
asked John to take a look at the rules and let us know what he thought
from an outsider's point of view," explains Chuck. "He replied with very
useful suggestions and urged us to do a card almanac [where every type
of card is portrayed and described]. The idea had been seriously considered
around the office, so that's one more vote in its favor."
On the other side of the wall, Designer Tom Lischke is updating one card
after another. "After today, gameplay will have gone from 75% final to
95% final," says Tom. "I'm tweaking some numbers, really, making sure
everything is balanced. We're now leaving the design phase to enter the
refinement phase of the project."
I run downstairs to talk to Artist Joe Boulden. He's so absorbed in his
work that it takes him a while to notice my presence at his side. I don't
mind - I love watching him work. It's not every day you get a chance to
see a full-fledged virtual world take shape before your very eyes.
The light pen stops moving, Joe swivels in his chair to face me; I phase
back in.
"I'm putting the finishing touches on a magazine cover that needs to go out
today," says Joe, pointing at his monitor where three famous Star Wars
figures in tight formation are walking down a hallway. There's much to
do: make sure that the shadows look perfect, that the lights' intensity
is just right, that what's in the foreground is crystal clear while elements
in the middle ground are slightly blurred, and the set in the back creates
the required perspective effect. And more. A lot more.
I'd better let him work. His deadline is coming up soon - and so is mine,
come to think of it.
Francis K. Lalumiere
The Juggler
