Thoughts going out to space again

Been walking on the beach, thinking how I couldn't extract a decent sound from X-Com UFO defense to serve as a notification on my phone. I managed to extract the bubbly button sound I wanted, but it's full of hiss and sometimes doesn't play correctly (that might be the phone or the conversion from .wav to .mp3)

Then the "We are the Mycon" bit from Star Control 3 came to me, and I thought I would try to get my hands on that (proving even more difficult to find, now that I'm home,) which got me thinking about this wonderful series of games again.

If I did something similar, I would like to make ships much more difficult to obtain, with a lot of questing and politics to go through to add one to your fleet. They, in turn, would be much more powerful, customizable and unique to each species. Combat would need to be changed as a result, so the quick melee battles where you bounce like crazy around the screen would have to be replaced with a turn-based or a slower real time system.

I'd also find a way of incorporating research, because research in games in the bomb.

Worker Placement Deck Builder - Now With Auction!

Last couple of weeks have been a little stale as far as my thoughts go on games. Probably the recent job, new classes and with playing Burnout 3 on the PS2.
A game night and some Dice Tower videos have made me think board games again, with some new possibilities on my deck builder - an auction mechanic.

This may not be exactly compatible with previous iterations on the idea - trying to incorporate too many elements for a diluted experience, but it might be worth looking into.

What I am imagining specifically is players building a deck of various resources (wood to lumber, seashells to beads, whatever) and cards enabling them to make these various resources. As each turn passes, a travelling merchant piece is moved forward. When it reaches a predetermined spot (perhaps aided or hindered by certain player actions) a number of new options are put up for auction. Players will then use the resources they collected until that point to bid. While they will gain various improvements to the way they play their deck, or to final scoring, they will bid on what they had earned so far, thinning out their deck of the resources  they still need to continue playing, thus needed to find the right balance.

This auction will occur several times throughout the game until final scoring.

GDC Fever

The GDC Europe volunteer application form has come up a week ago, and there is a lot of action going on the facebook group for past volunteers. Everyone is excited about this year's event, anxious whether they will be picked, worried about sleeping and transportation arrangement, and anything else that needs to be taken care of.

As I wait for a response for my own application, hoping to hear a yes, wondering what I'll find this year in Cologne, Germany, I also think of my past experiences, and I thought I would share.

GDC Online 2011 in Austin, Texas, was my first GDC and I was delighted to have been chosen as a volunteer.

Small when compared to GDC and focusing on online, mobile and handheld, it nonetheless presented ample opportunities to gain new insight, network, and collect the all important swag.

GDC Online had the best parties in my opinion, with free food, open bars, more swag and enough room for everyone.

I wasn't able to enter as a volunteer at GDC 2012, but had plenty to do with my expo pass.

This show was huge: The career fair alone was about the size of GDC Online's expo, and I visited most of the booths with my business cards, portfolio and resumes. I went to the main expo floor and collected swag, spent some time in the Play area before the press got in, talked with the conference associates I met before or followed on social media, sat through the breaking in sessions and showed up at some parties.

GDC Europe 2012 was another conference I managed to get into as a volunteer. Similar in size to Online as far as sessions go, it had a tiny expo, although it was through here that I got my first art test.

My fellow volunteers at this show were more diverse than in Online, which I enjoyed (where else can a German, Swedish, Dutch, Briton, Greek, Turkish, American, Australian and Israel hang out in a bar and talk about video games?)

Lunch at the convention center was a definite bonus, although the parties weren't quite as good as the American counterparts, held in expensive places with insufficient space.

The best part about this show may actually be Gamescom - the computer game trade show which follows. While the main halls were open to the general public, volunteering at GDC gave me access to the business area, where I collected even more swag, got VIP passes to cut through lines which could reach 3 hours long for a hot game like Assassin's Creed 3, and made even more contacts. At the main halls I checked out some of the hottest new games (and a few duds,) took photos and yes, collected swag.

Can't wait to do it again, and with enough luggage space to take all my swag home.