December 2018 Board report

As we prepare to bid 2018 adieu, and welcome in a great big huge game that I will claim is looking to be the best so far.  Guys, this game is as big in scope as I had imagined, if not bigger!

Let's start with some stats:

417  Patrons (+9 from last month) , $2,032  pledged (+ $4)

Torrents—Enpornium 20,2738 ‘snatches’ (total downloads last month)

Forum-- 265 actives (270 last month)

I’m adding this link to see an indie data grab showing our relative position:

https://graphtreon.com/creator/SelectaCorp

Patreon payout was $2,032 USD, which will be reserved for projects and monthly coding.

Costs:

Moimrosoft Project 4th tranche payment: $900

Fiverr for Dominion Anthem/PRF Anthem commissions: $70

Current Project Status:

Spoils of War 2-

The next build of SoW2 will be out before Christmas.  The next build is supposed to include Ministers/Ministries (Tech tree), as well as an improved combat experience.  That will make this build playable insofar as the combat aspect of the game is concerned.

That said, combat ISN’T what most fans are looking for in SoW2.  The ‘fun’ elements are just around the corner and just today I have passed on the final batch of content to MiNT—the rewards associated with Hannah Claydon character.  I thought it was worth giving you a sense of the scope of content just about to come online in the next few builds—it is all complete and ready to be dumped in:

ANTHEMS- The Dominion anthem (already available—ask me for a link if you haven’t seen it) will be accessible in the Province dashboard.  When the Player conquers a province, this will be replaced by the PRF Red Spear March anthem (currently in production—should be able to share this later in the week).

RANDOM EVENTS- There are 68 random events—34 videos and 34 images.  These will spawn at random at the beginning of every turn and may or not have an impact on gameplay (for better or worse).  They refer to news in the game world and may show up later as ‘rewards’ associated with NPCs later in the game.  Most are in the form of a news clip or a classified PRF party communication.  

PRESIDENTIAL PALACE ARCHIVES- When the Player builds this structure, they will have access to Party Archives, which consist of .PDF documents associated with various party policies and plans.  There are 17 such files, many of which have previously been shared as part of the world building work (such as a history book on the Dominion).  None of these will have an impact on game play but are included for flavour.

COMBAT/LOCATION VIDS- SoW2 is a media war, one which is relentlessly covered by our stalwart reporter Hannah Claydon.  She will report on each and every engagement and report on the outcome—victory or defeat. There are 19 such videos (all short) that relate the target of an attack and what happens.  And yes, you can turn her off if you like!

MINISTERS- There are 60 potential ministers that can arrive throughout the game.  Like real life, the more you win, the more eager they are to volunteer.  Each has their own profile and you’ll need to use them (and keep them loyal) if you wish leaders to run your Ministries and administer your provinces.

MINISTRIES- There are 9 Ministries and once you appoint a Minister to run them, you can begin to announce policies and initiatives.  These are the SoW2 equivalent of a tech tree, with certain laws/policies/etc requiring different resources or existing laws to be in place in order to make them happen.  There are 110 types of policies/initiatives/laws/units you can create from the Ministries.

LOCATION REWARDS- At the beginning of every turn, you will be given a SITUATION REPORT.  This report will alert you to any unlocked rewards you may have earned.  Some of these are location based—that is to say, if you occupy a location and have met certain conditions, a reward will become available.  Some of these rewards will require a decision.  Others will have an impact on the game.  Others are just for flavour.  Location Rewards will appear in the Province dash and tie back into the geography of the game setting.  There are 69 Location Rewards—47 images and 22 videos.

MINISTRY REWARDS- Policies will likewise produce rewards, if certain requirements are met and will also appear in the SITUATION REPORT.  The concept behind the Ministry Rewards (likewise the Location Rewards) is to illustrate that the player’s various local commanders and leaders will have initiative on their own and thus you’ll have aspect of the conflict you don’t control directly.  Ministry Rewards will appear in the relevant Ministry dash and tie back into the politics of the game setting.  There are 92 Ministry Rewards—74 images and 18 videos.

PRIORITY LIST REWARDS- Priority List candidates are high value Dominion female personalities that are deemed ‘strategic resources’ for the purpose of the Revolution.  They are scattered throughout the map and may be captured, arrested or kidnapped.  Each has a backstory the Player will earn about through news reports and once acquired they can be ‘spent’ to achieve different objectives (earn power, loyalty, cash, etc).  There are 4 different classes of Priority List candidates—A (Royal Family), B (Political), C (Pro Athlete) and D (entertainment celebs).  There are 25 P List candidates (including Hannah Claydon) and between them all, there are hundreds of images and scores of videos altogether that the Player can access, depending on what the Player decides to do with them.

HANNAH REWARDS- Hannah Claydon is a D List NPC, though with expanded rewards/choices for the Player.  There are 28 Hannah rewards—12 image and 14 videos—that a Player may come across in the course of a game.

Work to Do: There’s a fair bit of work to be done yet, including:

1.)    Testing/Balancing- for resource levels, troops, etc

2.)    Tutorial Campaign- A series of at least 5-9 campaigns for the player to get the feel of the game

3.)    In-game Missions- Island of Zendi and the Embassy scenarios (both penned by Dr. P of Exec2Sec tumblr fame) will be added as in-game missions the Player may earn the right to play.  Zendi is written but not produced; Embassy is still a work in progress

4.)    Credits & Dev Notes- as usual

5.)    PRF Anthem- 50% complete

But as you can see from above, this is a game that should offer lots of immersion.  There’s a lot of content that you’ve seen episodically—soon, you’ll see it knitted into the gameplay itself.  It will be a game that, if you are somewhat successful, should deliver up rewards both expected and unexpected at a decent clip.  It will hopefully be a game you want to both play AND win and provide the player with the feel that they have truly indeed earned the spoils of war they have shed so much blood to acquire.  That is the intent.  In addition, the Player will have a range of approaches.  Some provinces may be ruled with cruelty, others with more restraint—it is up to you.  

Since it has been all in for SoW2 for me, I will be elated when the next builds reveal all I’ve described above.  It will truly be the biggest scope game I’ve ever done and a lot bigger than I had initially conceived. MiNT’s team will deserve loads of credit as we see a game engine and back end that can really support the scale described above.  Without, this would be nothing more than conceptual—but MiNT (and Maxxiiee) will have transform these ides into reality on your screen in the very near future.

Am I excited?  YES I AM!

​​​​​​​Season’s Greetings and Merry Christmas to all!  I hope to be in touch on next build before then!

Feedback welcomed here or here: https://www.selectacorp.com/forum/the-members-only-club/senior-management/december-2017-board-meeting/22069-december-2018-board-meeting-report