Getting back the basics of scenario design

[witchbottles]

Many aspiring and new to the "ride" designers wonder ( lord knows I did) ; "How do I design a scenario? What is it a scenario should be when finished? How will I know when it has achieved a 'good' design, and is ready? What makes the design complete?"

I do not know what guides others who have made this endeavour to design one or more scenarios for ASL. For me, it was the following words of wisdom, so I thought I might share them for everyone interested:

"A good design will strive to eliminate excessive chrome that complicates play; redesigns
the flow of the scenario if needed, to add enjoyment to the game; reduces the
scenario, if needed in drastic measures, to its basic elements and building it anew. The final
result is to have the rules and scenario information read well; and the game play well."

( William E. Peschel, 1984)

I cannot think and have not yet heard or read a better concept of what a designer is trying to accomplish.

YMMV

KRL, Jon H

 

[dlazov]

For me I purchased both Mark and Micheal's books on scenario design. Between the two you got some good ground to work with.

My enemy right now is time, and the the enemy flees on DDay...lol

I got a couple in the hopper still cookin

 

[chris_olden]

Agree about "excessive" chrome, but I like chrome.
It's like adding a spice when ya cook.
I still think there's an "art" to scenario design. If it was strictly a numbers crunching
process it'd ASL : DYO. I love to be reading some WW2 history book and come across
some little intriguing passage and think; "I wonder how to represent that as a scenario?"
If you've played scenarios, there's no reason you can't design one.
"It ain't rocket science."

 

[witchbottles]

Agree about "excessive" chrome, but I like chrome.
It's like adding a spice when ya cook.
I still think there's an "art" to scenario design. If it was strictly a numbers crunching
process it'd ASL : DYO. I love to be reading some WW2 history book and come across
some little intriguing passage and think; "I wonder how to represent that as a scenario?"
If you've played scenarios, there's no reason you can't design one.
"It ain't rocket science."

I agree completely. I got bit by reading a history book in 1998 and coming across a tidbit; then I saw a mention of it again in another primary source book in 2001; and finally a third time in 2007. Amazing that I recalled it ,but the fact itself was rather interesting, a French designed set of MGs spread all over Europe, and not by sales.

The tidbits were like "rabbit holes" and it was like Pokemon I "had to check them all out!"

I really found that a keyword to focus on was "does it game well?" you can design a perfect scen, a perfect historical simulation, but it needs to flow and play well in order to be a scenario. Logical, following the rules, easy to understand SSR mechanics, setup instructions that make sense, I really am not fond of these overtly complicated VCs. Whatever happened to K.I.S.S.? Yes, Batty- P was a VERY fun scenario, but overtly complicated VCs are not my "cup of tea", and a lot exist in the Action Packs overall as the years have gone by ( just as an example, I am NOT picking on anyone.)



KRL, Jon H

 

[chris_olden]

The tidbits were like "rabbit holes" and it was like Pokemon I "had to check them all out!"

ABSOLUTELY.
Connecting the "rabbit holes" is particularly satisfying.

 

[dlazov]

Chris is correct there is an art to it.

I have learned a lot from talking with both Jon and Chris (with Jon in quasi person, skype, and with Chris from his posts, and his scenarios). I have also had the luxury of seeing Pete and Brian in 'action' during play testing with them and you can learn a lot by those interactions even while playing.

 

[Srynerson]

"A good design will strive to eliminate excessive chrome that complicates play; redesigns
the flow of the scenario if needed, to add enjoyment to the game; reduces the
scenario, if needed in drastic measures, to its basic elements and building it anew. The final
result is to have the rules and scenario information read well; and the game play well."

( William E. Peschel, 1984)

The statement is true, but doesn't that just raise the question of what constitutes "excessive" chrome?

 

[chris_olden]

The statement is true, but doesn't that just raise the question of what constitutes "excessive" chrome?

I think it's the same as "what is too much spice?" in cooking; it's a personal taste thing.

 

[Darrell Andersen]

Scenario design is decidedly more "Black Art" rather than "Science".

As is my cooking to remain with the analogy...

 

[chris_olden]

Scenario design is decidedly more "Black Art" rather than "Science".

Well, I don't know about that.
I haven't conjured anything while designing a scenario.
Nor, have I made any great discovery either.
:laugh:

 

[Tom Morin]

Sorry to necropost.......

One of my fellow New Englanders asked me for advice on how to design a scenario, as he is designing his first one for a scenario pack planned for the XX anniversary of the Nor'easter tournament. I had never been asked this before, and never really thought about it before, because when it comes to scenario design, I just do it. So follows my thoughts after I put 'pen to paper'...........

Scenario design.......ah, where to begin indeed.

For me it usually starts with finding the right historical situation, one that, when reading it a part of your brain says "THAT would make a great scenario". If you can find more than one account on the action it is always better, but you want something descriptive enough so you can write an interesting scenario intro and aftermath. To me, the research part is what I enjoy the most <edit- I put a lot of effort into the historical commentary, I love this part>

Then get a pad and pencil and sketch your outline.

Start with the date, a tentative scenario title (something 'snappy'!) and the location of the battle. Then the opposing forces. I usually like to pin down the identity of the units, the lower the formation size the better (e.g.- 'A Company, 1st Btn, 26th RCT' is better than '3rd Army'. Decide how you want to recreate the action, including the scenario size (tourney? monster? medium?) which includes game length. Always good for a scenario to have a hook or eye catcher, something esoteric, be it cool AFV, cool SSR, different VC, etc; don't want it to just be vanilla. Pick out your boards/map; just sit down and lay them out, try different combos, looking for something close to what they describe in the battle account; I try to look for maps, photos and aerials whenever I can, to make the terrain as real as possible. Then pull counters and put them on the rough sketch scenario card until you get what looks/feels like what you are trying to envision. Jot down your SSRs. Once the thing starts looking pretty complete then solitaire it several times to get the feel of how it flows and works, how it feels balance-wise, and look for things that can 'break' the scenario. Once it feels and looks right, I'll format it and can start FtF playtesting.

Regards,

Tom

 

[clavain]

Sorry to necropost.......

One of my fellow New Englanders asked me for advice on how to design a scenario, as he is designing his first one for a scenario pack planned for the XX anniversary of the Nor'easter tournament. I had never been asked this before, and never really thought about it before, because when it comes to scenario design, I just do it. So follows my thoughts after I put 'pen to paper'...........

Scenario design.......ah, where to begin indeed.

For me it usually starts with finding the right historical situation, one that, when reading it a part of your brain says "THAT would make a great scenario". If you can find more than one account on the action it is always better, but you want something descriptive enough so you can write an interesting scenario intro and aftermath. To me, the research part is what I enjoy the most <edit- I put a lot of effort into the historical commentary, I love this part>

Then get a pad and pencil and sketch your outline.

Start with the date, a tentative scenario title (something 'snappy'!) and the location of the battle. Then the opposing forces. I usually like to pin down the identity of the units, the lower the formation size the better (e.g.- 'A Company, 1st Btn, 26th RCT' is better than '3rd Army'. Decide how you want to recreate the action, including the scenario size (tourney? monster? medium?) which includes game length. Always good for a scenario to have a hook or eye catcher, something esoteric, be it cool AFV, cool SSR, different VC, etc; don't want it to just be vanilla. Pick out your boards/map; just sit down and lay them out, try different combos, looking for something close to what they describe in the battle account; I try to look for maps, photos and aerials whenever I can, to make the terrain as real as possible. Then pull counters and put them on the rough sketch scenario card until you get what looks/feels like what you are trying to envision. Jot down your SSRs. Once the thing starts looking pretty complete then solitaire it several times to get the feel of how it flows and works, how it feels balance-wise, and look for things that can 'break' the scenario. Once it feels and looks right, I'll format it and can start FtF playtesting.

Regards,

Tom

Very kewl - that is pretty much the approach I learned from someone else with much more experience than I at design. Just don't let the research phase last 20 years and get nothing published! I'd never do that... ;-)