To automate or not to automate...

ID:74512
 
Jun 27 2009, 9:16 pm (Edited on Jun 27 2009, 9:55 pm)

Poll: Should I automate part removal from my boardgame?

Yes 38% (7)
No 0% (0)
Make it an optional mode 16% (3)
Who cares 5% (1)
Lima Beans 38% (7)

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This question has come across my mind on a couple different projects?

Do you automate the process of removing a part from a board game or do you make the user "click" the part before it will be removed.

As an example... In Monopoly (perhaps house rules), you have to call out the fact that someone landed on your property otherwise you miss out on the rent.

Should video game versions automate this "tedious" task or should we make users have to explicitly call out this event to be awarded?

My thinking leads me to automation because of the following three points.
1. It simplifies the coding (not really a major selling point as the coding should be trivial)
2. It reduces the grief a player would experience in making a mistake. (this is sort of the human vs computer dilemma. Sure, they make our lives easier but then... whats left for us to do?)
3. It makes the game easier.
Jun 28 2009, 8:17 am
Make it optional; maybe someone will prefer automatic, maybe someone will prefer manual, just let them choose.
Jun 28 2009, 9:20 pm
Lima Beans.
Jul 3 2009, 12:15 am
If you're talking about the board game Cathederal, it does say in the rules that the player has a choice wether or not to capture opponents pieces as a strategic option. But the cathederal piece if captured should be automatically removed, since there is no strategical reason to not capture it.
Jul 5 2009, 3:39 pm
T3h P3ngu1n wrote:
If you're talking about the board game Cathederal, it does say in the rules that the player has a choice wether or not to capture opponents pieces as a strategic option. But the cathederal piece if captured should be automatically removed, since there is no strategical reason to not capture it.

I was sitting here trying to figure out when you would want to do something like this and I just figured out the scenario where you might not want to remove the piece.

Toward end game. If the opponent only has a large piece and can't play it anywhere, you own the rest of the board. You may not want to allow them a chance to replay the part and take valuable space from you. If forced, you could end up hurting yourself more by capturing their piece.

Thanks for catching this!
ts