considering creating a module for a new game...

Module Design
1

i have a few questions about the capabilities of the vassal engine and whether or not if is a good fit for my game i am designing. i have been reading the manual for creating a module, but i wanted to ask a few specific questions about whether or not certain aspects can occur before i get too deep. i am not necessarily asking how to do these (though any info would be very helpful down the road) but rather if they can be done and if so how hard is it.

my game is a space trading/combat game. the players start out with a semi-randomized map location that is face down and they must explore the map to discover where things are, etc. most of the map is made up of 7 hex “flower” tiles. within each individual hex there contains things such as planets. all the planets can be developed to produce resources for the player to use. some planets can contain “keys” which have some similarities to monopoly property. each key belongs to a set of three, and once all 24 sets are assembled, an artifact appears in the center of the map. the first player to retrieve the artifact and get it home wins. there is also a card element similar to magic the gathering.

some of the questions i have are these:

  1. a primary rule of my game is any player can trade anything with anyone at anytime. this includes all military units, credits/resources, cards, control of systems, safe passage, etc. can this engine produce this effect?

  2. the map is roughly hexagonal in shape with an inner ring, middle ring and outer ring all composed of these “flower” 7 hex tiles. when starting the game these are face down and in a random order. however, outer ring tiles will be randomly placed but only within the outer ring. same for middle and inner. can this engine produce this effect?

  3. related to #2, when these flower tiles are discovered, they are placed face up. but since they have 6 possible entry points (the outer 6 of the 7 total individual hexes) when they are flipped over can they follow a specific axis of symmetry so that the first hex entered stays in place and the tile rotates around the axis formed by that hex and the center?

  4. related to #3, when these flower tiles are initially placed face down, can there rotational orientation be randomly generated so that the same side does not always face north?

i am sure i can come up with some other questions if vassal can do all of this. thanks for any help.

2

Thus spake Donahue:

  1. a primary rule of my game is any player can trade anything with
    anyone at anytime. this includes all military units, credits/resources,
    cards, control of systems, safe passage, etc. can this engine produce
    this effect?

What effect are you wanting here?

  1. the map is roughly hexagonal in shape with an inner ring, middle
    ring and outer ring all composed of these “flower” 7 hex tiles. when
    starting the game these are face down and in a random order. however,
    outer ring tiles will be randomly placed but only within the outer ring.
    same for middle and inner. can this engine produce this effect?

I believe so, yes.

  1. related to #2, when these flower tiles are discovered, they are
    placed face up. but since they have 6 possible entry points (the outer
    6 of the 7 total individual hexes) when they are flipped over can they
    follow a specific axis of symmetry so that the first hex entered stays
    in place and the tile rotates around the axis formed by that hex and the
    center?

Why is that necessary if the tiles are dealt out randomly?

  1. related to #3, when these flower tiles are initially placed face
    down, can there rotational orientation be randomly generated so that the
    same side does not always face north?

Yes.

–
J.

3

  1. i would like the player to be able to trade anything with other players. i want one player to be able to trade with player 2 during player 3’s turn. i would like them to be able to trade say control of system tile a in exchange for 2 dreadnought units and a back rub. basically, does the engine allow for change of ownership or whatever to occur at any time and for virtually any entity?

  2. i figured as much but i wanted to check.

  3. this is probably more important in a real game where players may be able to determine the contents of a face down tile by recognizing marks on the back due to use.

  4. on a computerized version, this probably makes #3 not needed.