Would You Buy a Solo Traveller Product?

[castiglione]

In addition to the T & T solos, other sources for inspiration are:

The Victory Games solitaire wargame AMBUSH also used a paragraph system - paragraphs cross-referenced with hex numbers were used to indicate whether a character triggered an event when they entered a hex on the map, i.e. German machine suddenly opening fire from a neareby house, or a grenade coming sailing out of some nearby bushes, etc. The paragraphs also dictated German tactics.

The new Dark City Games solitaires (based on a simplified version of Melee/Wizard/TFT) also have "flags" within the adventure which indicate when certain events have been triggered, causing the story to "branch". AMBUSH also had event triggers as well.

 

[Supplement Four]

In addition to the T & T solos, other sources for inspiration are:

There's all sorts of ways to handle it. A good, creative writer could produce a facinating solo adventure. I'm sure of that.

The question is: Will is sell?

 

[aramis]

T&T solos still sell. Steadily.
Car Wars solos sold well enough for Aaron Alston to sell three "generics" (really, car wars with stats for HW2000 and Battlecars. Which reminds me, If anyone has a spare copy of HW2000 or battlecars, PM me...)

 

[Colonel Mac]

I would love to get my hands on some solo material.

When I do chargen, I try and do a quick step-by-step game with each yearly assignment. I then write up the results for the character's profile.

 

[jrmapes]

I have found it true around the various game stores that solo's do still sell well. T&T one of the obvious - but it also has a long track record. That being said, I see no reason why Traveller based solo's would not also sell well - albeit there may be a slower period in the beginning until people see that the the product delivers. Of course that is the key to anything. If the quality is delivered then I see no reason why sales wouldn't be pretty good. One thing I can see that would make sales turn into really really good is if some of the old writers also had a hand in some of the new material. Unlike many game systems there are only a few where the writers names carry as much and sometimes more weight as the creator - one of these of course is Traveller. Unfortunately the number of old Traveller writers is not a large number and people dying has already caused a good sized gap in the more prolific and talented writers numbers.

 

[Perseus]

Just as a matter of interest, Drive thru RPG has T&T lite available for free download at the moment on their website. http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=54407&SRC=Newsletter

from the website
"This is a short version of the full Tunnels & trolls Rules. It is sufficient to play the solitaire adventure, and to show your friends how to play with the GameMaster adventure.
Tunnels & Trolls is one of the easiest role playing games to learn and play. All you need are paper & pencil and some six-sided dice (at least 3). One of the best things about T&T is that you can play it solitaire, where the book is the gamemaster. Most of the following rules are written as if you are playing a solitaire adventure. If you are playing with a gamemaster, he or she will roll the dice for any opponents or monsters, and normally you will not be told the Monster Rating, or armor of your enemy, only what you might be able to see, and the total of any dice rolls. "

Foxroe: BTW, mass effect does look pretty good. I've been waiting for it to be released for PC (another 12-18 months?) as i don't have an Xbox. However I thought it was mostly first person?

S4: Metalheart looks interesting, but has been seriously panned by just about everybody and their dog. hmmm...might pass on that one. Anyone played Space hack? Isometric Space RPG of sorts(?), but less of an RPG and more of a fight game within a ship, I think.

 

[Supplement Four]

S4: Metalheart looks interesting, but has been seriously panned by just about everybody and their dog. hmmm...might pass on that one.

I have it. Haven't played it yet. Cut scenes are done very well. But, the voice acting is downright awful. Graphics are OK. Isometric view.

Gameplay, though, from just tinkering around with it, seems to be almost exactly like Fallout. If you liked Fallout, you might like Metalheart.

It's hard for me to recommend because I haven't played it yet. But, so far, it doesn't look to be like its going to be a bad game. Think Baldur's Gate in a SciFi setting using a rpg inspired turn-based set of mechanics, and you've got the game in a nutshell.

It's so close to Fallout that some of the Fallout sites have it as an unofficial sequel.

 

[Perseus]

Have you seen this?
http://spacehack.rebelmind.com/en/main unfortunately it's just on a ship. But it could be good. It was cheap here (Aus) somewhere, I just have to find it again.

I must be one of the few RPG' ers on the planet that hasn't played fallout. I've probably got a demo of it somewhere though...

Ever seen a game called UBIK? Modelled afetr the Phillip K Dick Book. Had psi talented people, futuristic world, a party of players, etc very old now.

 

[Rhialto the Marvelous]

Whoever's going to write one, take a look at the Call of Cthulhu solo games for inspiration. Man, are they well done, especially Alone Against the Dark. Handouts galore, several roads lead to Rome approach, both resource and time management, ultra-suspenseful.

 

[jrmapes]

The CoC solos were (IMHO) superior to any and that even includes T&T solo's, that have ever been published. They were as complete as you could ever ask for. However, as I recall they didn't stay around very long and only a few were made - I can only think of 3 maybe 4 (the two Alone books and Grimrock? Isle - I think there was one more but cant recall - there was a short one printed in Fantasy Gamer in the first couple issues. Maybe that is the 4th I am thinking of.) I would have to dig thru my bookshelf, I spent most of 2006 tracking down copies of the two Alone books that I had somehow missed when they originally came out.

Now as to why they were so few and came and went quickly is the real question. They all, as I said, were far superior to any other solo adventures ever done. I think their demise and lack of more being made was a two-fold problem.

1) They were so detailed they were more difficult to write up - difficult in the sense that they were all paragraph style solo adventures and being that they were so extensive I can only imagine how hard it must have been to keep track of all the plot points and possibilities. ( I written a couple very short paragraph/follow the path adventures for AD&D/OD&D and it was something I would not like to do again unless I was being paid well.) Being so difficult due to scope and size in general possibly no one wanted to do more.

2) I don't recall them selling all that well. At the time, Pick-A-Path was popular with juvenile gamers but the CoC market was more adult oriented (or at least college age) and there had never been a real set up for solo play in CoC like you found in other RPGs of the same time period (such as AD&D1e, Traveller, Star Trek, Top Secret, etc.) CoC was always geared towards group play. Of course this is speculation but from personal experience (and back then every RPGer I knew - regardless of their favorite system - all played CoC. Out of all my friends only those that were die hard CoC players/keepers ever mentioned or talked about solo play (that I can remember).


All that aside, the CoC model for solo Traveller games would be utterly fantastic. I still have to wonder though if it wouldn't be too much. I mean I remember reading that the Grimrock Isle folio took as much time to put together or a bit more than Masks did - and IIRC that took better part of two years.

I'm really not trying to come off as a party pooper. I know a couple posts including this one have been kinda negative sounding towards the idea. That really isn't the case. This is a just a project that as soon as I heard about it, I was/am ready to buy into - lock - stock - and barrel and I would hate to see it be left to drift onto the stack of great ideas/never gonna happen because grandiose directions were taken then it was realized that it would be far too much work to make it all encompassing with a must please everyone set in stone start point.

Jerry

 

[Perseus]

If I was going to list an ideal, I start with a system that could be replayed, ie. one that might generate some randomness in the path, rather than a one shot adventure. The paragraph system is good, but maybe a little linear sometimes. Maybe it's possible to come up with something more replayable. maybe I'm asking for the moon, but I could forgive quirks/bugs in a system like that.

I'll have to think a lot more about this.

 

[deniable]

I'm wondering if solo play plus the Beginning Traveller concept could be merged to give people a solo introduction to some rules and the OTU. It could be a way to draw in new players.

 

[wordserpent]

I'd buy a solo Traveller adventure. Hell I'd even write one.

In fact...I'll do so.

 

[castiglione]

I believe the average CoC solo was almost a solitaire campaign because of its length. Were there really that many? I thought there were only two plus the mini adventure published in Space Gamer (and cross-referenced for different systems so you could play it using Traveller!).

Such complexity may or may not be appropriate in a Traveller adventure but that's mainly context dependent.

 

[Maladominus]

Would you buy it?

Sure I'd consider buying it, especially if the rules system was well-made.

However.... IMHO a solo product won't necessarily be "superior" or more enjoyable than an RPG that actually entices you to play with real human players.

For me, about 60% of the enjoyment of RPGs is the fact that you have a bunch of imaginative role-players around to play with; human interaction is always a good thing for tabletop games. I can only remember one instance where human interaction was NOT a good thing.... long ago, one of my players accidentally dropped a soggy slice of pizza (with oozing melted cheese and lots of tomato sauce) on my game board. I felt like punching him in the face.

 

[DaveChase]

Thanks - I just checked out that game on BGG...I'm curious as to how you could you play it solo.

I think what people have in mind are programmed solos like the T & T solos or the Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks or a board-game/paragraph hybrid like Star Smuggler.

I don't remember of the top of my head, but the solo rules are included in the book. I think they were scenarios that you had to accomplish a set objective.


Oh, and I agree with the type. I just asked the question because there are so many types.

There was a Hammer Slammer solo play book, a several different mystery books and other solo play type books that I have read/played besides fantasy/SciFi. They are popular, are rarely read more than twice and unless the individual is really into that genre they rarely buy more than 3 solo play books total.

I think a very well written intro solo book for Traveller would be awesome. Beside the Traveller Lite edition how better to introduce a new player to Traveller.

I think a couple of scenario/mission books would be good.
After reading all the comments, I was wonder if a hyper text online solo book could be made.

I remember something similar in a very limited way with Netrunner (R) card game that WotC did to promote the game.


Dave Chase

 

[whartung]

I guess the solo games I've seen never really interested me that much. They're either luck driven, or the only way to win is to prepare for prior knowledge. That is, you know somewhere along the line you'll need to be able to do X, so you better bring X along, or train for it. But the only way that you know that is that you've been down that road before and got stuck there.

When I was younger, I enjoyed the mechanations of simply running a solo trader from planet to planet. But much like char gen, it's pretty much just luck and somewhat enjoying the experience.

I also recall a game called B-17 bomber (which I never player). But I recall distinctly a "B-17 tournament" at a convention, with all these guys in the same room silently rolling dice to themselves. The concept, a solitaire tournament, was really surreal. Going to a convention to play by yourself.

Now, many could look at a solo adventure much like the original Adventure computer game. Slowly learning the single (or one of several) path to success, and therein lies the challenge.

Mind, I never enjoyed computer adventure games like that. I've always enjoyed the "build up your character incrementally until you can overpower your foes" style games. That give me the ability to (somewhat) tune the challenge, going as slow or as fast as I like.

When it comes to solo RPG, I just found it hard to over come the tyranny of the dice. Most branches have very few options, and the dice tend to decide many for you. I'd rather read a good book.

 

[casquilho]

I think you guys are making a good point. The feel and expectations can not be the same for a solo game and a game played with a group of people.

So when a person designs a solo game or adventure, they need to play to the solo strengths and not try to recreate the same experience as a group game.

Daniel

 

[Klaus]

The market for gamebooks was huge in the 80's. Not exactly sure what happened to it. Nintendo probably....

But Joe Dever's Lone Wolf series sold 9 million books worldwide. In 18 languages. That's a serious bestseller!

Fighting Fantasy was massive in the UK, apparently as successful as LW. 59 books published as of 1995, and now they're doing new ones. So I guess a market still exists.

They are less rpgs and more interactive novels. Mass Effect is pretty much their 21c video game equivalent, with whistles and bells and quality voice talent.

The way to go nowadays would be a Flash based interactive comic, using text, images, sound effects, and limited animation. All the number crunching would be hidden. The trick would be to produce characters that are compatible with tabletop Traveller. As such, the game mechanics under the hood would not have to resemble the rpg mechanics (and in fact shouldn't - far too restrictive to the designer, as Bioware seems to feel after ditching D20 mechanics), as the long as the outcomes did. Combat (in fact any task) could take the form of minigames, depending on the situation at hand.

I have actually planned out a few projects like this, but they were exploratory in nature and tended to feature bloat quite quickly; then something else (usually RL!) would distract me and I'd lose interest. But I do know it is both possible and doable, as long as you tightly define the remit and stick to the plan. And, given enough time....

[Edit] A cool prospect could be turning actual chargen into such a solo game. A series of episodes over a career that defines skills, abilities, and other lovely chrome like decorations and ex-spouses. The resultant character would have to resemble a regular Traveller character from that career but the process behind the scenes would be quite different, based on player choice and circumstance. Obviously, the 'end' would be when the player mustered out or messed up (equivalent to a failed survival roll). This could be done simply using the framework of a multiple choice quiz with some added gameplay elements, cool artwork, and decent writing.

 

[Rhialto the Marvelous]

Two more games I want to bring in because they take a tack that's partly different from the choose-a-path model:

1) Star Smuggler

BGG page: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/1699

The actual game (free and legal download): http://dwarfstar.brainiac.com/ds_starsmuggler.html

2) Voyage of the BSM Pandora (SPI, from Ares magazine):

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/2678

Never played Star Smuggler, but Voyage has got to be my favorite solo game ever. It has an exploration theme and combines choose-a-path with a small wargame--see the BGG blurb. No two games will be alike--well, not the first ten anyway.

A Voyage of the Beowulf, now that would be something...