I fixed a major bug, so the web version of Clash of Empires should now be running in any browser(not just Firefox).

Check it out here.

I updated the online prototype for Clash of Empires.

If you are using Firefox, you can see a demo here.

I am currently talking a break from developing Clash of Empires to make an online implementation of the card game Dominion.

In March 2013, the unofficial implementation on Isotropic was forced to shut down because of the release of the official version on Goko.

The official version currently has several signficant issues.

• There are major bugs such as games failing to start, or an inability to allow other players to join your game.
• It is difficult to find a game to play because Goko splits up all the players into rooms with a capacity of 50.  There is no ability to filter out the list of games to only display open games, or use the matchmaking feature to find games in other rooms.
• The game has significant issues with lag.
• The user interface makes the game difficult to play,  and makes important information hard to find.
• When selecting a group of 10 cards to play with, you must either select all 10 cards manually, or have all cards be randomly selected. There is no middle ground to allow players to exclude specific cards they don’t like or focus on certain cards with random kingdom generationAs a result, I am working on developing an unofficial version of Dominion with altered card art and text.

  A prototype of the game can be found here.

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Over the past few months, I have realized that the small size of the game map combined with the fact that there is only one unit makes combat uninteresting. As a result, I am currently thinking of ways to improve combat. Over the past few months, two of my favorite combat-based board games have been Nexus Ops and Axis & Allies. Both these games successfully make a simple but deep combat system based on armies of units that battle together with a simple way of resolving casualties. My current plan is to implement a similar system and find a way to adjust it to work in real-time.

Tentative unit list

• Arquebus: Basic land unit
• Elite infantry: Stronger, more expensive version of the arquebus
• Galleon: Basic naval unit
• Cavalry: Are faster and more powerful than an Arquebus, but cost more
• Artillery:Supports other land units in combat
• Fort: Good at defending, but cannot move or attack

Nevertheless, there will still be challenges in implementing an effective user interface and making sure the number of unit types does not overwhelm new players.

In the original 2048 game, you had to form a 2048 tile on a 4*4 grid. Now you can customize the size of the grid and the victory condition. Go here to play.

Form a 256 tile

Form a 128 tile using a 3×3 grid.

Note: It is strongly recommended that you use an updated version of Firefox. There are issues with animations and registering inputs in Internet Explorer and Chrome.

You can now play the latest version of Clash of Empires at the website here.

Monopoly suffers from several problems

• A significant part of the game is spent rolling and moving without making any interesting decisions.
• Players are often eliminated or stuck in a weak position without the possibility of winning or making interesting decisions.
• One player often ends up gaining an overwhelming advantage, and is unable to leverage that advantage to win the game.

Proposed variant

• Instead of moving around the board, a random property will show up each turn for players to buy. Starting with the player with the highest victory point total, each player will place a bid on the property in order of victory points. After the last player has placed a bid, the person with the highest bid pays the bid and takes the property. A player then gets victory points based on the cost of the property.
• There will be an additional dummy player that moves around the board during a player turn. When the dummy player lands on a property, the property owner will get money from the bank. If the game says that the dummy player gives or takes money from the bank, the active player will gain or lose the specified amount of money.
• Players will be able to build houses on any property, but they must pay double the cost if they do not have a set. They get victory points based on the cost of the house.
• After all properties have been purchased, the player with the most victory points wins.

In order to add replay value and fix balance issues with the Clash of Empires map of Europe, I am going to experiment with having a randomly generated map over the course of the game.

Updated Rules

The game will have terrain hexes as components instead of the game map. The map will start off as small and expand as players explore more terrain hexes.

Setup

Each player will place their capital hexes so that there are a certain number of unexplored hexes around it. Any territories surrounding a player capital will be considered “cores” for that player.

List of hex types present in the game

• 4 hexes to represent capitals.
• 15 water hexes.
• 30 grassland hexes.
• 15 hill hexes: These give extra defense.
• 15 mountain hexes: These are impassable.

New actions

• Explore:
  • A player choses a hex next to one of their units to explore and draws two hexes.
  • A player choses to place one hex and discards the other. The player may only place a water hex if the explored hex borders another water hex or if both the drawn hexes are water hexes.
  • If there are more no hexes available to draw, shuffle the discard pile to create a draw pile. If the discard pile is empty, then the explore action may not be taken.