Card Game "Aim, Fire!"(A pass time turned Project)

[SethJ]

(All the artwork being used is borrowed from online sources such as Don Troiani and warfarehistorynetwork.com. They are placeholders until I can commission the games own art.)

"𝓐𝓲𝓶! 𝓕𝓲𝓻𝓮!"
The pass time turned Project.

"Aim, Fire!" Is a 1v1 Card game, in which you command your Infantry, Cavalry and Cannons to the order of an Officer, and the beautiful sound of the Fife and drum.

Currently the BETA version is being developed by yours truly on "screentop.gg". I won't go into all the rules here, for they can be found in the game itself... Which can be found here:
"Aim, Fire!" (BETA)​

The game uses 3 types of cards.

1.) Muster Cards (Infantry, Cavalry, and Cannoneer's [Artillery])

(Don Troiani Artwork... temporary use)


2.) Special Cards (Fifer, Drummer, Officer, and Color Bearer)

(Don Troiani and warfarehistorynetwork.com art... temporary use)


3.) "Death" Cards (Medical, Volley, Cannon, and "New Recruit")

(Don Troiani art... temporary use)


Each card bringing something new to the table, your initial card draw being random, and the way you play being developed on your own, means each play will be new.


The game is still in development, and any Insights, ideas, tips, or criticisms will and are considered.
As mentioned, if you would like to look at or try the game, the link can be found above.


What have I gotten myself into...
-Seth

 

[Pat Answer]

Well done! Whatever the future of this, whether market or hobby, be proud and be encouraged. Passtimes becoming projects becoming labors of love are, well,... that's why most of us who frequent this part of the forum are here.

What have I gotten myself into...

I believe it's called creativity.

 

[SethJ]

UPDATE
​

After posting it here, I've updated the games setup (online at least) ever so slightly, updating the art of one of the cards, and updating mistakes in the rules books...​

Updated Card

I've officially moved the game to Pre-Alpha
(The point where the game is basically finished, but I'm looking for any last touches or fixes).

GAME SETTUP

SIMULATED GAME PLAY

​

I'm considering "Expansions" such as "Cavalry Expansions" with the addition of lancers and Buglers... "Infantry Expansions" with the addition of Zouaves and Pioneers...
And possibly more including things like "Sharpshooters", "Rocket Artillery"... and whatever else I can think of.

I'm actually thinking about trying to push the game forward... But I have no knowledge on how to... I suppose time will tell what happens.

Link to the game:
"Aim, Fire!" (PRE-ALPHA)​

"Yippee keye' yikes... I've gotten more invested!"
-Seth

 

[7thWisconsin]

This may sound really weird, but before you publish your cards, or send them to people, or pretty much anything else, change the artwork to period photos you got from LOC or period woodcuts Every image on your cards is copyrighted and the owners of that intellectual property will want their material protected.

 

[SethJ]

This may sound really weird, but before you publish your cards, or send them to people, or pretty much anything else, change the artwork to period photos you got from LOC or period woodcuts Every image on your cards is copyrighted and the owners of that intellectual property will want their material protected.

Oh absolutely! I've made a note in the update logs that all the art is going to be changed. As of the moment I wished to have good quality civil war backgrounds...

I actually hadn't heard of Period Woodcuts or LOC... Links would be awesome if you could spare em!

 

[7thWisconsin]

LOC = Library of Congress.
If you do any search for ¨period illustrations of Civil War soldiers¨ you´ll return dozens of woodcuts that were the illustrations in newspapers like Harpers and Frank Leslie´s. Use those for your artwork because they´re all public domain.

 

[SethJ]

LOC = Library of Congress.
If you do any search for ¨period illustrations of Civil War soldiers¨ you´ll return dozens of woodcuts that were the illustrations in newspapers like Harpers and Frank Leslie´s. Use those for your artwork because they´re all public domain.

I feel dumb for asking
Thanks again

 

[SethJ]

From my bit of research, I've been told images taken during the civil war are public domain... If this is true or not... I don't know

So, I've swiped a few images from online and compiled the first set of cards with period photos... If any of these are in fact copyrighted, or if it turns out that my research was wrong... I'll gladly change 'em.

 

[7thWisconsin]

This is very pretty. I used to play ¨Dixie¨ from time to time. I would play this.

 

[SethJ]

Wanted a physical copy so I could try it out without the computer killing my eyes even more...

Currently in the process of attaching ever card to their card back... A lot of cutting still to do, and many a card will have to be laminated so I hopefully don't lose em...

 

[SethJ]

(In lack of a clean table, and unlaminated cards.. well, a chess board and a book works pretty well)

Cards finished... 88 cards, die, and a "Death Cards" sheet.... And a whole lot of cutting.

 

[Bradley]

Some feedback on card design...

I would suggest making the text identifying card type much smaller in your design and either dropping the text entirely for an icon, or at least not using all caps cursive.

Images should be identified in small print at the bottom of every card, even public domain.

Flavor text should be smaller and probably italicized. You don't want the card traits that are important and the flavor text which is unimportant being the same.

 

[7thWisconsin]

While I agree on flavor text and attributing your images, please don´t use icons for the special abilities! That means keeping a rules sheet nearby all the time and really slows down play. One of the advantages of Heroscape over Heroclix was that the ´Scape cards had all the information at your fingertips, and ´Clix had those hard to read icons on the mini.

 

[SethJ]

While I agree on flavor text and attributing your images, please don´t use icons for the special abilities! That means keeping a rules sheet nearby all the time and really slows down play. One of the advantages of Heroscape over Heroclix was that the ´Scape cards had all the information at your fingertips, and ´Clix had those hard to read icons on the mini.

Did a quick search of "Heroscape" and "Heroclix"... Instantly saw how small the text and icons were on the cards...
If I'm understanding correctly, you are speaking of additional icons, and nog removing the images used.. As far as images go, that was the main catching point of the game. Thank you though, I will most definitely keep it in mind! Should I had made a mistake in interpretation (again) please feel free to correct me!

 

[SethJ]

Some feedback on card design...

I would suggest making the text identifying card type much smaller in your design and either dropping the text entirely for an icon, or at least not using all caps cursive.

Images should be identified in small print at the bottom of every card, even public domain.

Flavor text should be smaller and probably italicized. You don't want the card traits that are important and the flavor text which is unimportant being the same.

Looking at the cards again... I understand what you mean by italicizing the "flavor" aspect of each one. Definitely going to make that change on the online version... as far as physical, I don't wish to go through the trouble of making them all again... yet.

I probably should make the text a little smaller for card identification... if I remember correctly, the font I was using for some reason continued to make my life a pain with the Caps to lowercase... Definitely going to look into fixing that.

And as far as the images go... I'll try and find any identification. But my attempts to go back and reverse search many of the images failed... I'll have to try again.

Thank you for the input!

 

[Peace Society]

grammar: roll dice (as you would roll a ball), not role (as an actor's role, or role-playing)

 

[SethJ]

grammar: roll dice (as you would roll a ball), not role (as an actor's role, or role-playing)

mmm... Grammar. My favorite thing to forget.

Update: Fixed it online... I'm not in the mood to scrap, reprint, and reconstruct 40 cards... Unless I make some massive changes to the game... or take it somewhere.