Module talk:Terraforming Mars

Extensions and Module

 * Hellas & Elysium 1.0 extension is available. I see no reason to update this, as it's just made of additional board images and grids and 2 help texts.
 * It must be played with the version 1.5b and later.
 * Saved games and logs created on 1.5a and before can't be played on 1.5b, as the Main board image name has changed. You will notice the problem if you try to resume an old game : White image in the background.
 * Help is available in help menu to explain the awards and milestones specific to these 2 maps
 * Pre-setups : It becomes to long to handle pre-setup for all the boards, so only solo games are available in pre-setup
 * Solo : available on each of the 3 boards, with all Score Cubes at 14, and all Corpos and Project cards mixed up with the decks
 * Multiplayer : Era Corpo - Start with a No Setup, then send the Corpos Discard pile to mix with all ; you send all the projects to the deck as well, with a click on it.
 * Multiplayer : Standard - Start with a No Setup, and don't send Corpos and Projects from the additional piles. Then add +1 to each user productions !
 * To play on the Original Board game, you don't need to deactivate the extension - just chose the board after a No Setup.

Best Practices in Multiplayer by log

 * If you can, Start the game online with all the players, this will accelerate the process, Corpos selection, and 1st 10 cards research
 * When you save an online game, You can use the .vsav to continue the game by turn, but there are no logs in it. So you really start where the game was saved.
 * Suggestion of log naming, for a 3 players game, Red, Green and Blue playing : 3P - log 004 - gen1 - RGB - blue - green next.vlog
 * - 3P : Using a first ID to distinct from other games
 * - log004 : increment after each player's turn
 * - gen1 : keep the number of the active generation visible in each log name
 * - RGB : very important, this will change at each generation, indicating that Red is the first player in that generation, and players will cycle RGB RGB RGB until next gen - GBR GBR GBR ... and so
 * - blue : this is the blue player turn - the log was created by blue
 * - green next : also quite important, especially if red has passed, blue will mention immediately that green is the next player, as in RGB it should be red
 * Click on Pass if you're certain not to do anything else during this generation - especially if you have a very low level of money/steel/titanium/plants/heat, no action card, no cards in hand. This will accelerate next turn
 * Click on 1st Action, then 2nd Action to log what you have done in a standard report
 * Play your turn immediately during research phase, if you're 1st player, and don't care about what other players would do in their research
 * - wait for other players research if you think they could pick up some cards with prerequisites you could blast of during this turn ! You may give them too much info too early by playing to fast
 * Report in plain text when what you do is not explicit from the logs !
 * - The game reports are more and more complete so you don't need to talk in the logs, but it may be useful to remind when : you fulfil the prerequisites, you pay with titanium, your titanium or steel is worth +1, you use your corpo specific powers (there is no such thing as Action / Unit on the corpo cards, so this is to be done manually !!!)
 * - log, log, log and report
 * Use Saved Game Folder in the Module Library
 * - so you see in which version the log was saved, as well as the description the last player mentioned
 * - We are still improving the module development, and sometimes the saved game have to be updated - can be done from the module editor but not everyone may want to do this :)
 * Don't use a synchronized folder (dropbox, googledrive, Box ...) as the Saved Game Folder
 * - You may be creating a log, while still playing, that starts to be synchronized as an incomplete file ... and the next player picks it up before it's complete !
 * Don't open 2 instances of the game at once (like one online real time and the other as a turn by log) - You may completely mess the logs your are playing and both games would be ruined !
 * Have fun

How to play (V1.5)

 * Corpos with an effect will automatically have this effect claimed when kept to hand.
 * Blue Project cards with an effect will report : User should claim the permanent effect ... from the Effect Inventory list.
 * Inventory will easily show you which effects a user can invoke (so no need to repeat each time you have a reduced cost ...).
 * Each user will have their own claimed effects visible in their hand, making it easy to remember what to apply. (But the effects images don't stack, so organise them as you wish.)

Modification : During research phase, you can't send/keep a Corpo to hand ! You need to wait for the actions phase. This to prevent report log showing that you may claim an effect, thus giving too much info to your opponents !

How to play (V1.4a)

 * Menu : On Board Actions (nothing automatic, but normalised reports to help the game)
 * Standard Projects
 * Menu for Milestones and Awards
 * Menu for plants and heat conversion
 * 1st player token placed on top left position on the map, and 5 color cubes ready
 * Pre-defined setups :
 * Multiplayer
 * - Era Corpo - All corpos available And cube colors ready on the board)
 * - Normal - additional corpos are in the corpo discard - can still be added by right clic on the discard, as well as the era projects, not shuffled yet with all the other cards. You would still need to increase all prods to +1 if playing standard game
 * Solo
 * - All colors set on position 14 - All corpos available with all the cards, as the solo game must be played in Era Corpo
 * Actions and Research Phase buttons
 * - These should prevent from doing things during incorrect phase (not perfect yet, like calling Research in Next Generation not working)
 * Translation
 * - Some reports - in french
 * - Only report should be translated to avoid issues with the code
 * 1st action, Next Player, 2nd Action, Pass
 * - Buttons options available to normalise report to make the game clear
 * 1d36 - 36 faces die to decide who starts :)

Known bugs :
 * Blue Cards action cubes not removed anymore during next generation - you will reset them manually, like on the board game, until fixed
 * Next Generation should reset phase to "research" but it does not work
 * Prevent all unwanted actions during research, and vice versa

Next improvements :
 * prerequisite shown for on-board actions (if possible)
 * reports should be able to display some calculated properties ...
 * Venus Next ??? As an extension ? Not that difficult to implement, but I only have French Cards !

How to play (V1.1.2)

 * Standard Projects available from a menu
 * They don't automatically check for prerequisites, nor do they consume resources
 * too many specific situations where you could pay less or get reimbursed, depending on some corpo so they just report actions
 * French cards available along with the english cards.
 * No more french version of the game interface and reports - this would make the game bug.

In multiplayer game, after each player has set his color, the Game Master will roll the dice to define the order of players. Then the Game Master will place a colored cube in each of the 1-5 location on the main map, and wait for each player's corporation Card. The Game starts on Generation 1, Research Phase. That phase blocks any activity not related to research.
 * Generation 1, Research Phase

Players will draw 2 Corpos Card and 10 Project cards directly sent to their research.

With or without a draft, the unwanted project cards will be either passed to next player's color, or discarded. The unwanted corpo will be discarded.

Once everybody agrees and has discarded their cards, it's the end of Research Phase : Players will keep their corpo AND their projects.

Kept projects are automatically paid 3M€ when sent to hand.

Both research and Hand are hidden from other players. This 1st Actions Phase of the game should start by each player revealing their Corpo, claming for their starting credit, and placing that corpo on the Main Map.
 * Generation 1, Actions Phase

Only after they chose for their corpo and received their initial money should the players clic on Keep Cards from their research, so the money is correctly calculated from the beginning. As the hands are hidden, we can only rely on the log messages to count the number of kept cards for each player.

Each player plays 1 or 2 actions then ask for next turn.

After a complete round, players can play another set of 1 or 2 actions. This is repeated as many times as wanted until all players have passed.

A player who has passed is not supposed to play again during the generation, but this is not enforced.

Game Master then pushes on Next Generation AND must set phase to Research manually. The Corpos are locked and can't be drawn anymore.
 * Next Generations, research Phase

The Projects can be sent to research 4 by 4, for each player. If a player can draw 1 or more cards, they will be sent directly to hand, and not in research. They don't cost anything, unless said so by the triggering action (like the Inventors Guild). It's then up to the player to pay 3M€ or discard the card.
 * Actions Phase

Discarding a card is not possible from the hand ! It's called Selling Pattent, giving 1 M€ per card. It may be necessary to reimburse that credit if the triggering action is the Inventors Guild and the card should be discarded.

Eeach player has now a 4th board (v 1.0.8 and after)

Research Hidden from other players, used during each research phase at each new generation.

During 1st Generation, the research phase allows to draw corpo sent directly to the research board. They can be flipped, but I see no reason to do so. Suggestion is to place the corpo on the main board after this initial research phase.

Players should not clic and keep any of the research cards before they have shown their chosen corpo and set their initial amount of MegaCredit on their Map. That will ensure the cards paid 3 MegaCredits will find funds in the player's account. As there are some Corpos starting with less than 30 M€, it could cause a problem if they decided to keep the 10 cards ... Better to have the money, no ?

If draft was decided as an option, then the Game Master will mention the direction of the draft in the log (Black --> Blue --> Red --> Black, for example) at each Generation (even and odd turns use a different direction). Players should not pay to keep their cards until the end of the Research phase, so they can decide once they have all the researched cards available. So that's on the research board where the players can place some cards in a corner, and pass the others.

It's useless to flip a card before it's passed, as any card landing on the research board will be faced up. So this option has been removed. Only red cards can be flipped, and this should only be done on the cards board, once they are played.

''' Log Log Log what you do ! '''
 * As some cards won't be visible after they have been played, players are invited to comment their actions.
 * As some cards will be paid with steel and/or platinium, players are invited to comment their values and costs.
 * Players should only use the Play Card action from hand when they want to pay in Mega Credits ! This will be taken from their account, even if they don't have enough money ! Money can't drop below zero, so you need to comment your buys.
 * If you are certain you won't play another turn but you played an action, especially on a turn by turn game, clic on the Pass button after your action(s). So next Generation will be started sooner. (The Pass button does nothing but logging your choice to pass.)

Try to respect order when you play a card. (This is just a recommendation)
 * Mention the prerequisites, and how you fulfil them
 * Mention the price and how you pay
 * Mention the reductions and why you pay the whole price then got reimbursed
 * Get the reimbursed money immediately on your account
 * Then apply the one-shot effects mentioned on the bottom of the card
 * Apply effects from left to right
 * Immediately apply the global objectives on the main map if the card has an effect on this
 * immediately increase your score (TM+1) after any move on the global objectives
 * remember : a forest does not give you an additional point during the game : it increases Oxygen level. Only if you can still increase the Oxygen level will you earn a point after placing a forest ! Once 14% has been reached, don't take any TM when placing a forest.
 * log you actions one by one !
 * If you play a standard project, say so ! And consume resources before applying the effect
 * If you play an action from a blue card, say so ! And click on the Action option on the card. This will both log the action and place a coloured cube on it.
 * If an action has a cost to be executed, you will mention the action you're about to play, then pay the cost, then play the action, then gain the revenue it provides.

How to play (V1.0.6 and later)
Each player's map has a Universal Modifier button in the middle, associated with 4 buttons : The modifier can take any value between 1 and 99 (99 is quite big)
 * -- takes 10 from the modifier
 * - takes 1
 * + adds 1
 * ++ adds 10

Each player's map also has a + and - button associated to each production and stock. These buttons will add or remove the value of the universal modifier from the item. It's still possible to edit the value of each of these elements from the toolbar buttons, but faster to use +/- when you want to add/remove 1 or 2 units.

How to play (V1.0.5 and later)
No rules enforcement in this module. You play as if you were in front of the board game.

Just a few securized/automized elements, though :


 * Cards from corpo era can be sent in one click to the main projects cards deck.


 * Right click on the projects card deck allows for multi-pick : chose 10 for the 1st research, then 4 for each future generation. The number only applies for the next pick-up, afterward it's going back to default 1 by 1. Additionally, it has Draw 1 Card and Draw 4 Cards that directly moves the cards to the hand and flips them


 * each player has 3 boards (v 1.1 and after) :

Map Visible by all, indicates production and resource levels. There are toolbar buttons to change each of them. On Generation advance (through the main map) all resources are updated accordingly.

Hand Hidden from other players. Cards MUST be placed here from the main board projects Deck, so their name is hidden from each player. During research phase, if you want to buy the cards, you have a reminder of 3M to pay for each. If discarded, they will go to discard pile as hidden from other players.

Cards Visible by other players, but private. This means one can't move cards on another player's board. This to avoid looking at the red cards after they are played. On this map, blue cards may have resources and/or ACTION action. The resources increases or decreases a counter that is shown with the card; the ACTION is a reminder that the cards has been activated, and should receive a coloured cube until next generation. On next Generation this cube goes away. Play by the rules, and all is fine.

Other Features


 * Bonus TR: when increasing Temp or Oxy, the player gets the TR and any bonuses in production, as well as advancing Temp on Oxy 8%.
 * Game Piece Inventory counts cards in hand, to see if the player claiming the milestone has 16 cards or more.
 * Counters on map (TR, Oxy, Temp tracks; Oceans, Greenery and Cities in map; milestones and awards locations) snap to location.

Solo Game * Choose a color * Change the Score counter for this color to 14 * Move the colored cube on the track from 20 to 14 * You have 14 generation to fulfill the 3 objectives ! This is the rule ! * Don't cheat, there is no draft : you start with 10 cards and pay for the ones you want to keep. At each new generation you draw 4 more cards, and you pay for the ones you want to keep. * You only count your point if you finish the game in 14 generations. There are no Milestones or Awards to be dealt with. * If you must reduce some production for a card to be played, this is always possible by considering a ghost player who always have something to lose. Good Luck.

Module 1.0.2 - en & fr
Sorry for the size of the module, but with both english and french cards, this makes more than 20 MB. Unfortunately this can't be done with an extension.

More Counters Added as global properties There are 13 counters for each player. Player Black (and any other color) has a button to increase his TM level by 1. On the Player Black Map, there are 6 boxes with the level of each of the 6 production : Income, Steel, Titanium, Plants, Energy, Heat On the Player Black Map, there are 6 boxes with the amount of : Money, Steel, titanium, Plant, Energy, Heat Below the TM Level and Banker Level, there is a vox for Total Income in M€.

Automatic Counters - Next Generation When the Next generation button is pressed, all Prod will increase the amount of all of the 6 productions level (including the Total Income calculated from the TM Level and the Banker Level) When a Player TM+1 button is pressed, the TM Level increases for this player, plus of course the total income, and the colored cube will move on the track around the main board.

Score Cubes Moves on the track 5 cubes (1 per color) are placed at start on the level 20 on the main board. No need to delete/remove them (anyway, it's not possible) even if less than 5 players are playing. These will move around the board, and shoudl correctly handle the curves at 25, 50, 75 and 100. Still, the +1 at 100 may generate a problem and be counted twice. Don't worry, just replace the cube on the board. Each cube can be manually moved on the track ... this allows for the colored cubes not to be always hidden by another player's :) As the text window tell you at which level a player's score cube should be placed, you can correct this manually if you want. Counters Each player has a counter that can be manually edited from the Dice & Counters menu ... so you can add 10 points by hand if you want, usefull at the end of the game.

Sounds

A sound has been added for each of the 4 major counters : lake, generation, temperature and oxygen. Just reduce the sound if you don't like them.

Next Steps


 * Buttons on the board for the Standard projects to be paid automatically from the user's money.
 * Buttons/counter/property to pay for the cards ... this is NOT automatic at this time.
 * Buttons to revendicate the milestones and bet on the awards, placing a cube on them, and paying from the bank

Module 1.0.1 - en & fr
Localization

English and French available Translated Cards Translated Logs Module size
 * Translated logs and cards are independent
 * Even if you don't want to play in french, the module has a lot of new fatures
 * All the cards have been scanned in both english and french - players can swap from en to fr from the menu (2 flags shown)
 * The logs have been duplicated in french too - this requires to change the Vassal preferences and restart the engine to have the game in french
 * With twice as many scanned cards, the en & fr module is 22,2 MB - Hey, what did you expect ?

Added Features

Counters Set Up Maps Blue Cards Feedback
 * Counters are used for the 3 major objectives and the generation
 * Pushing the objective button moves the White cube on the track (except for the lakes, as there is no track), and gives info in the log that the player should also move their TM marker
 * Oxygen 8% pushes Temp +2° ; Temp 0° tells to add a lake and increase player counters
 * If you don't rely on a saved setup game, you must place the correct White Cube on the main board : the 3 cubes are distinct, as they move with the counters push buttons
 * Suggestion is to use a 5 players saved setup game, and not opening the non-played colors - probably remove their TM counter from the track as well
 * Each color/player has 3 maps : hand, cards, map
 * The hand is invisible from other players and raises warning about the price of cards brought to it ... from the research phase
 * When a card is moved from hand to cards, it raises a warning about the card cost that should be paid by the player
 * On the cards board, blue cards can have action and/or color cubes + unit cubes placed. These may need to be moved manually instead of stacked, as they would not be easy to see at the end
 * Feedbacks are welcome on these modifications so we can decide if we add more

Is someone working on adding the Venus Next expansion to this?
Subject says it all