For those of you who don’t know how NFL overtime rules work, consider yourselves lucky. Briefly: If the game ends in a tie, they flip a coin, and the winner gets the ball. The first team to score wins.
This means that a team may never get possession of the ball in overtime before they lose. Kind of like a baseball game going to extra innings. If the visiting team scores a run, they win. The home team gets an at bat.
As a game designer and a Vikings fan, I have a suggestion for the NFL…
New Overtime Rule:
They play until Team “A” scores. Team “B” then receives a kick-off. During its possession, Team “B” will either:
A) Not score points, or score fewer points than Team “A” = Team “B” loses
B) Score points equal to Team “A” = Reset, do it again
C) Score more points than Team “A” = Team “B” wins
Monday, March 1, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Vikings Fan
It’s a good year to be a Minnesota Vikings’ fan. Most years you figure on the team going 8 and 8, or maybe lucking into a play-off spot. Like I said, it’s been a good year.
I’ve been a fan since I was about 5 years old. My family lived in Bellflower, CA where my dad owned an Arco gas station. The company was called Richfield back then. One of his customer’s was the Yary family. Their son, Ron, played football at Bellflower High School. He later played as on offensive lineman at USC. He was the first draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 1968.
Around 1974 we moved away from the area and lost touch with the Yarys, but I continued being a Vikings fan.
Tonight, in a burst of Viking’s support, I decided to shave two Viking horns into my hair. I copied the helmet art from online graphics, printed a few to get the sizing right for my head, then cut-out a template. Holly then traced the templates on my head with a magic marker, and then cranked-up the electric hair trimmer. An hour later, I was the proud owner of Viking horns!
Kevin and Kira also helped with the shaving. Just the other day, Kira was saying how we should have more family time. So it worked out well for everyone. Actually, both kids are mortified and have insisted only Holly pick them up from school until the hair grows back. Riiiight!
Here's hoping the Vikings defeat the Saints, then go on to win the final battle - Super Bowl XLIV - RAGNAROK!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Hornet Leader Has Launched!
Hornet Leader is in the air! We just launched our new mega-boxed game Hornet Leader – Carrier Air Operations for pre-order.
This game is huge! It includes 330 cards, 2 counter sheets, an 11” x 17” mounted Tactical Display, Player Aid Sheets, Rulebook, and a die.
With this one game, you have all the material you need to replay US Navy strike missions throughout the service life of the Hornet, from 1983 to present day, and beyond.
This game is perfect for newbie pilots as well as you old hands who have been there and seen that.
Visit our web site to see artwork, details, and pre-order!
http://www.dvg.com/
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
3 New Games!
Since the new year, we’ve been busy bouncing between three games: Field Commander Napoleon, Hornet Leader – Carrier Air Operations, and Vendetta – New York Style.
We’ll have the games ready for pre-order in the upcoming weeks.
Napoleon is the third game in our solitaire Field Commander series. It’s looking to be 6 mounted maps and 2 or 3 counter sheets. A huge game of Imperial fun.
Hornet Leader is also looking to be a monster game with 330 cards, a mounted tactical map, campaigns maps, counters, etc. The game will include all the material you need to strike targets around the world with your naval fighter squadrons.
Vendetta is a “family” card game of mob warfare in New York. Each player plays a mob boss vying for the top spot. The players take control of business to gain cards and cash, and send their wise guys out to whack opposition. The first player to whack a boss or control three of the five Boroughs wins.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Dan's Top 7 Predictions for 2010
The DJIA will end the year between 12,000 and 12,500.
The housing market will bottom-out, and start a nice recovery.
National unemployment will top out at 10.5% then decline to 8.5% by year-end.
US troop levels in Iraq will remain the same. US troop levels in Afghanistan will significantly increase. By year-end, neither region will be any more stable than it is now.
Yemen will emerge as the new “bad guy” country.
North Korea and Iran will further their nuclear ambitions. There will be much condemnation and sanctions, but nothing significant.
Credit and bank loans will remain tight throughout the year.
The housing market will bottom-out, and start a nice recovery.
National unemployment will top out at 10.5% then decline to 8.5% by year-end.
US troop levels in Iraq will remain the same. US troop levels in Afghanistan will significantly increase. By year-end, neither region will be any more stable than it is now.
Yemen will emerge as the new “bad guy” country.
North Korea and Iran will further their nuclear ambitions. There will be much condemnation and sanctions, but nothing significant.
Credit and bank loans will remain tight throughout the year.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Cutting Your Losses
Another key lesson learned from games is cutting your losses.
There are times in a game when your chosen strategy just isn’t working. Maybe another player is farther along the path you’ve chosen, an unforeseen event has popped-up, etc. In these situations, you need to re-evaluate and change course or you are going to lose. Giving up on a partial plan is painful, but you must do it, or you will lose, which is even more painful.
This applies to real life choices like the Tiger Woods situation as well.
I think the marriage is over in all but name. The wife has been humiliated in front of the world, and I’ve got to believe she is out to cause maximum pain and grab as much of his money as she can get her hands on. Today. Tomorrow. Forever.
So, while it might be painful for Tiger to change course today, it is the best thing for him to do in the long run.
It seems like Tiger really likes to play golf and meet women (plural). So, his best course of action is to file for divorce, pay out the hundreds of millions, and get back to the golf and ladies. He will re-earn the money in a few years, and he won’t have the stress of keeping multiple relationships secret.
There are times in a game when your chosen strategy just isn’t working. Maybe another player is farther along the path you’ve chosen, an unforeseen event has popped-up, etc. In these situations, you need to re-evaluate and change course or you are going to lose. Giving up on a partial plan is painful, but you must do it, or you will lose, which is even more painful.
This applies to real life choices like the Tiger Woods situation as well.
I think the marriage is over in all but name. The wife has been humiliated in front of the world, and I’ve got to believe she is out to cause maximum pain and grab as much of his money as she can get her hands on. Today. Tomorrow. Forever.
So, while it might be painful for Tiger to change course today, it is the best thing for him to do in the long run.
It seems like Tiger really likes to play golf and meet women (plural). So, his best course of action is to file for divorce, pay out the hundreds of millions, and get back to the golf and ladies. He will re-earn the money in a few years, and he won’t have the stress of keeping multiple relationships secret.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Risk/Reward
Some advice for the rich and famous guys of the world.
When you design games, you need to understand human nature. The core of which is risk/reward. Which is to say, how much risk is someone willing to take for a given level of reward. Risk/reward is the core of games, and life.
Every time a player makes a purchasing decision, expends a resource, or commits forces to a battle, it is an exercise in risk/reward. The player is weighing the risks in expending resource points, action points, movement points, etc. against the reward of moving closer to winning.
Which brings me to rich guys and extramarital affairs - another example of risk/reward.
The reward is kinda obvious, you get to have sex with many beautiful women. The reward is just as obvious. Your life gets ripped apart.
Fact, guys like to have sex with beautiful women. Notice that women is a plural word, as opposed to woman, which is a singular word.
Here’s the thing. If you’re a rich, good looking, famous guy who travels the world meeting women, you gotta realize that must stop when the ring slides on your finger. Think of it like Sauron’s ring, except you don’t get a volcano escape clause.
It don’t come off.
So here’s the advice. If you’re a rich, good looking, famous guy who travels the world meeting women… Do. Not. Get. Married.
Here’s the second piece of advice. If you’ve just gotta, gotta, gotta, marry a woman (singular), date her for a couple years. During that time, do not sleep with any other women. After two or three years, see if you still gotta, gotta, gotta marry her. If you do, great! But, if in those couple years, you’re still having fun on the side, then maybe marriage isn’t for you.
As for Tiger. Lots of bad stuff is being said about him, but there are some bright spots. Here’s a guy who’s married, earns millions of dollars each year playing golf, has 9(!) mistresses spread around the planet, and kept it secret for years. Talk about organized! If the US government were half as profitable and covert, it would be the envy of every other country on the planet.
When you design games, you need to understand human nature. The core of which is risk/reward. Which is to say, how much risk is someone willing to take for a given level of reward. Risk/reward is the core of games, and life.
Every time a player makes a purchasing decision, expends a resource, or commits forces to a battle, it is an exercise in risk/reward. The player is weighing the risks in expending resource points, action points, movement points, etc. against the reward of moving closer to winning.
Which brings me to rich guys and extramarital affairs - another example of risk/reward.
The reward is kinda obvious, you get to have sex with many beautiful women. The reward is just as obvious. Your life gets ripped apart.
Fact, guys like to have sex with beautiful women. Notice that women is a plural word, as opposed to woman, which is a singular word.
Here’s the thing. If you’re a rich, good looking, famous guy who travels the world meeting women, you gotta realize that must stop when the ring slides on your finger. Think of it like Sauron’s ring, except you don’t get a volcano escape clause.
It don’t come off.
So here’s the advice. If you’re a rich, good looking, famous guy who travels the world meeting women… Do. Not. Get. Married.
Here’s the second piece of advice. If you’ve just gotta, gotta, gotta, marry a woman (singular), date her for a couple years. During that time, do not sleep with any other women. After two or three years, see if you still gotta, gotta, gotta marry her. If you do, great! But, if in those couple years, you’re still having fun on the side, then maybe marriage isn’t for you.
As for Tiger. Lots of bad stuff is being said about him, but there are some bright spots. Here’s a guy who’s married, earns millions of dollars each year playing golf, has 9(!) mistresses spread around the planet, and kept it secret for years. Talk about organized! If the US government were half as profitable and covert, it would be the envy of every other country on the planet.
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