tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124770754805827894.post5992989851475393513..comments2023-06-15T11:59:39.572-04:00Comments on DYVERS: The Ideal Dungeon is a Lie (and Probably Made of People)Dyvershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06032957275132817602noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124770754805827894.post-64989831161160346732014-10-09T21:42:57.840-04:002014-10-09T21:42:57.840-04:00Parts of it were fun but as I said, it was overly ...Parts of it were fun but as I said, it was overly ambitious and once we got into the middle game it bogged down into more accounting than fun. The people playing the Federation, Klingons & Romulans dropped out because they were just not equipped to keep track of the number of ships they were building and moving around.<br /><br />About a year after this game fell apart, the company released atomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06653459162258850269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124770754805827894.post-20521842871117602432014-10-09T09:10:32.418-04:002014-10-09T09:10:32.418-04:00Wow! Was the Starfleet Battles game fun?Wow! Was the Starfleet Battles game fun?Dyvershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06032957275132817602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124770754805827894.post-75487747148275849202014-10-09T09:09:39.147-04:002014-10-09T09:09:39.147-04:00See this is one more reason why I need to find a w...See this is one more reason why I need to find a way to play with you. <br /><br />Anyway, what you're describing is more akin to the Dynamic Dungeon that I'll be talking about later than the Ideal. So I should probably go ahead and write that so we can reasonably continue this conversation . . . Dyvershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06032957275132817602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124770754805827894.post-43695814600691196742014-10-08T21:00:00.529-04:002014-10-08T21:00:00.529-04:00I tried once. It almost took longer to set up than...I tried once. It almost took longer to set up than I had to play. And it took up so much space we couldn't leave it in my friend's basement for the month or two it would have taken to finish.<br /><br />I did actually play through something almost as crazy once. A guy at the local gaming store sponsored an overly ambitious Starfleet Battles campaign. I had the Lyrans (a minor race of cat tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06653459162258850269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124770754805827894.post-26309748944237979912014-10-08T20:52:45.518-04:002014-10-08T20:52:45.518-04:00Let's take a look at a real life city so we ha...Let's take a look at a real life city so we have a frame of reference. I vote for New York City, NY, since I live there.<br /><br />According to the Census Bureau, the population estimate for New York City, as of 2013 , is 8,405,837. I am one of those people. That is not NY State, that is New York City alone. It does include all five boroughs: Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan (where I live), QueensAdam Dicksteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04840144928096089178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124770754805827894.post-45146248007780473972014-10-08T19:13:46.029-04:002014-10-08T19:13:46.029-04:00Man I've never heard of that thing before. I w...Man I've never heard of that thing before. I wonder if anyone has played it? Dyvershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06032957275132817602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124770754805827894.post-36057911328364936522014-10-08T19:12:47.724-04:002014-10-08T19:12:47.724-04:00Are science fiction games that much easier to do i...Are science fiction games that much easier to do it with though? In my experience you tend to need less realism in the best one, but then I've only gotten to play in two so I might have too small of a sample to accurately form an opinion. Dyvershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06032957275132817602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124770754805827894.post-22640932329709200782014-10-08T19:10:02.605-04:002014-10-08T19:10:02.605-04:00XDXDDyvershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06032957275132817602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124770754805827894.post-616391944968217222014-10-08T19:09:34.811-04:002014-10-08T19:09:34.811-04:00Absolutely.Absolutely.Dyvershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06032957275132817602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124770754805827894.post-46524412244032136792014-10-08T19:09:07.790-04:002014-10-08T19:09:07.790-04:00Often I think that the people who really want to d...Often I think that the people who really want to do things like the Ideal Dungeon have this idea that they're going to publish it all and everyone the world over is going to celebrate the level of detail. Too bad things like that don't happen very often, if at all. Dyvershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06032957275132817602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124770754805827894.post-47033181946461165982014-10-08T19:07:15.705-04:002014-10-08T19:07:15.705-04:00How do they work? Where each individual person wit...How do they work? Where each individual person within the city is treated as an individual and acts independently of all others?Dyvershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06032957275132817602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124770754805827894.post-32681362491370226492014-10-08T18:06:16.944-04:002014-10-08T18:06:16.944-04:00Interesting post. It makes me think of old SPI mon...Interesting post. It makes me think of old SPI monster games like "Campaign for North Africa" which had the reputation of trying to model everything in the minutest detail. All of North Africa with battalion-sized units at a scale of 1 hex equals 5 miles requiring a 3' x 10' playing surface and about 1500 hours to play the full campaign. SPI apparently advertised that "the Chris C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08655640273250716377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124770754805827894.post-69573633626367508422014-10-08T17:01:24.685-04:002014-10-08T17:01:24.685-04:00I've toyed with this idea from time to time bu...I've toyed with this idea from time to time but never quite got it working to my satisfaction for a game as complex as D&D. Science Fiction games are ofter a bit easier, as are non-RPGs or games with a very limited role playing aspect. They tend to run at a higher level of abstraction which simplifies my approach. <br /><br />You don't have to name and detail all of the monsters &tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06653459162258850269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124770754805827894.post-89367642157387942152014-10-08T16:28:45.527-04:002014-10-08T16:28:45.527-04:00Ideal Dungeon is like Denial, a miniature city in ...Ideal Dungeon is like Denial, a miniature city in a bottle called Kandor.MorituriMaxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03297314796303336406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124770754805827894.post-81208462585537819452014-10-08T15:53:15.568-04:002014-10-08T15:53:15.568-04:00Don't obsess and dont do more preparation that...Don't obsess and dont do more preparation that you need to give every one a fun game Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07390344520382399671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124770754805827894.post-9931400990848963622014-10-08T15:17:48.027-04:002014-10-08T15:17:48.027-04:00My question is: what's that point into going i...My question is: what's that point into going into all of that detail about dungeon ecology and the interaction between its groups of inhabitants if--<br /><br />A. You're not going to publish the dungeon. <br />B. Your PCs are going to trash the place and alter the environment anyway. <br />C. You don't have the time to do this. <br /><br />A little bit of this is fine, each accordingStelios V. Perdioshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05466676702515521939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5124770754805827894.post-48270431354151363722014-10-08T15:11:04.080-04:002014-10-08T15:11:04.080-04:00Wait...so, are you referring specifically to under...Wait...so, are you referring specifically to underground fantasy environments when you say dungeons?<br /><br />'Cause my cities, space stations, starships, and subterranean societies work exactly as you describe above. <br /><br />Do people not normally do that?Adam Dicksteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04840144928096089178noreply@blogger.com