Cleared for takeoff

I decided to start this blog to help me maintain the momentum, or should I say my Energy, that I picked up from the Story Games thread where this got started. It’s kind of strange that I somehow found the motivation to actually try to design a story game. I wasn’t planning to. Not that I haven’t thought about it before but I just never had an idea build itself to critical mass the way this one has.

So, I intend to use this blog to talk about where the game is coming from, where I’m at with it, and where I want it to go. The game idea comes from my desire to see a game about fighter planes and fighter pilots done well, with clear inspiration from the Area 88 manga and anime. I recently picked up In Harm’s Way: Wild Blue which was a good idea but fell down in the execution, IMO. My reaction to it spurred the idea for Fire in the Sky.

Most air combat games are straight up wargames (and that’s fine, I like wargames) and most role-playing games that have included air combat tended to be little removed from their hex-and-counter cousins. What I want is a story game that is all about the drama of a mercenary fighter pilot’s life and death, combined with kick-ass air combat that is an integral part of the system.

Can I do it? I don’t know but I’m going to try. I’ve done game writing before, but always with other people’s systems. I haven’t tried to design my own game from the ground up (save the D&D knock-off I wrote when I was 12, but anyway). But anyway, it’s been just over a week and I haven’t lost the urge yet.

So my first waypoint on the current flight plan is to try and put together some sort of game system that looks like it will work. if I can do that, I’ll figure out a vector to the next waypoint. In the currently hazy and distant future, I sure would love to be able to release a finished game, but at the moment, I just need to figure out a design that will at least get off the ground.

But any good combat pilot needs a good wingman and squadron mates. So I’m hoping people will join in here to talk about the game with me and help with ideas, talk about your favorite airplane movies and media, and of course your favorite aircraft (!) and see if we can’t push the envelope a bit.

Tomorrow I’ll go over my design goals again.