Mechanics Update: Most Wanted
Iterative design is a conversation. When you play the game in your head, you may envision it one way, but when you playtest it, you discover that others see different facets of the experience. And in early design a big part of that conversation, in addition to asking “What’s working?” and “What isn’t working?” is asking “What do you want to see in the game?” I’ve been having this conversation with the people who have been kind enough to help me test Precipice for well over a year (and back then, the main thing people wanted was the ability to Jump).
Today, I’ll discuss the most requested mechanical updates to Precipice as of Open Alpha v1.1, why I think they stand out to people, and why I haven’t implemented them yet (plus, how likely they to appear in the forthcoming v1.2 update).
Pilot Variance
As of Open Alpha v1.1, Precipice has exactly one Pilot card: the Test Pilot. The Test Pilot is the platonic ideal of a character—a generalist with broad competency who excels at nothing in particular. I’ve had some people (rightly) point out to me that this isn’t really a good summation of a “test pilot” in reality, since these individuals tend to be exceptionally skilled at certain facets of piloting. Honestly the name was intended more as self-indulgent wordplay (this is the Open Alpha Test, after all) than a thematic statement.
The Test Pilot possesses all six standard Inputs and stats that I imagine to be average. They also have a small space in which you can write the name of your specific Test Pilot.
The Feedback
At the end of a test, a very common comment I receive is “I wanted my choice of pilot to affect which inputs I had” (often phrased as “Is there a pilot with two 5’s? I’d like to be able to shoot all my weapons in a single round.”) This question makes a ton of sense; Inputs are the basis of the action economy, and pilots provide you with your inputs. Moreover, your pilot is the character you embody in the world of Precipice. Of course there should be different pilots who have different actions and/or different distributions of actions. It’s an important piece of strategic and thematic space to explore.
Why It Isn’t Implemented Yet
The short answer to this question is much the same as the reason it’s obvious: inputs are the basis of the action economy, and pilots provide you with your inputs. Action economy is one of the most delicate parts of a miniatures game, and one of the easiest places to tip balance off-kilter irreparably. If an imbalance becomes baked into the game’s core assumptions, it can undermine fun for players and vex designers for years to come.
So before I go tinkering with the distribution of actions in a major way, I want to make sure have a really good grip on the core loop of the game. In the leadup to the Open Alpha, the number of base Inputs dropped from 7 to 6, and going into the Open Alpha, I was open to the idea that it could drop farther. I didn’t want to tinker with something like variable input distribution at the same time because I didn’t necessarily feel like the foundation was solid enough.
Having now played with 6 inputs for several months, I feel confident that 6 inputs is the right baseline. It isn’t too unwieldy in your hand, and the length of chains on the table feels about right. In a big round of actions, you can theoretically play out twice what you natively recover, but not more than that.
Still, this doesn’t mean I’m ready to tinker with variance in big ways. Right now, every mech requires all 6 inputs to pilot effectively. In the future, that might change, but a simple “swap your 1 for another 5”-type effect wouldn’t work well because it would make actually using the mech too difficult. There are a few softer options for variance I’ve considered:
Favored/Challenging Inputs: A pilot could have a Favored input (blue outline) and a Challenging input (red outline). The Favored input can be recovered for free (or at reduced cost), but the Challenging input always requires pilot strain to recover.
Alternate Inputs: A pilot could have a special version of a particular input with extra text. For instance, perhaps their ‘6’ could be assigned either as the usual icon, or as a ‘5’ (even if their current ‘5’ isn’t assigned).
Double Inputs: A pilot could have an input that can activate multiple Part cards simultaneously.
One-Use Inputs: A pilot could have an extra copy of one or more inputs that can be used only once per game.
Setting-Specific Alternate Inputs: In place of the ‘6’, a pilot could have a special input that pertains to their particular mech or world’s lore.
Of these options, I think Favored/Challenging Inputs and Alternate Inputs are the most likely to appear in a future version as a way to give different Pilot cards different flavor. I think there is an almost 100% chance that Setting-Specific inputs will eventually appear in the game.
Likelihood for Open Alpha v1.2
Given that v1.2 is focused on Encounter and Mission updates, I think major Pilot overhauls are unlikely.
More Parts and Gear Cards
This one should surprise nobody. Precipice v1.2 has a grand total of 18 Part cards, and a small handful of Gear cards.
The Feedback
A big part of the promise of Precipice is “Bring Your Own Mech,” and that means re-creating your favorite machines from across culture and media for use on the tabletop. However, many famous mechs don’t have a humanoid body plan (currently the only one available), or have specialized equipment that isn’t well-represented by the small smattering of options available now. To realize that fantasy, we’ll need a lot more Parts and Gear!
Why It Isn’t Implemented Yet
It’s very gratifying to hear that people want more game to play!
The main reason this isn’t implemented is that the update from v1.0 to v1.1 required refiguring the layout for all card components, moving from my early prototypes to Jod Gulle’s much more precise and aesthetically pleasing layouts. Version 1.0 actually had several more Gear cards, but significantly fewer Part cards. I wanted to keep the test moving while also attempting to address the feedback that the game is easier to teach and learn with no Gear cards (or just a few). This required creating the three “Archetype” mechs, which can function mostly without Gear.
Likelihood for Open Alpha v1.2
Adding more Parts for v1.2 is unlikely, but adding more Gear is very likely. There were a number of Gear designs in v1.0 that didn’t make the jump to v1.1, and they could definitely return in v1.2! We’ve already had requests for the classic “pile bunker” weapon, which appeared in v1.0 as the Pneumatic Sledge. It could definitely make a comback!
Are there any Parts or Gear you’d like to see added to Precipice? If so, check out this week’s User Feedback survey on future Part and Gear cards. Answer a couple of questions and give us your input on what should appear in Precipice!
Infinite Momentum
One specific person really wants momentum to stack infinitely.
The Feedback
ZOOOM!
Why It Isn’t Implemented Yet
Besides being more conceptually complex than the current system for Top Momentum (the cap for momentum a mech can have at any given time), it potentially presents a tracking problem if numbers get too high. With that said, there are some ways that I could see implementing it that would mitigate the tracking problem…
Likelihood for Open Alpha v1.2
Maybe more likely than you’d think!