My first scenario/battle submission

[Patrocles]

I submitted my first battle design titled "Assault Guns Forward!" to The Proving Grounds and The Scenario Depot.

I couldn't find a spot on the submission form for uploading my battle to teh scenario depot(did I miss something?)...so I ended up emailing the site and including my battle as an attachment.

A colleague and I playtested the battle and had some fun matches! However, we are both 'conscript level' CMBB players so I'm sure we are not utilizing optimum tactics.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

[Pzman]

Originally posted by Patrocles:

I couldn't find a spot on the submission form for uploading my battle to teh scenario depot(did I miss something?)...so I ended up emailing the site and including my battle as an attachment.

You didn't miss anything. You did the right then when you emailed it. Should be posted in a day or two.

[Patrocles]

Originally posted by Panzerman:

You didn't miss anything. You did the right then when you emailed it. Should be posted in a day or two.

Thanks for the info!

[GJK]

I downloaded it yesterday and have it on my weekend "to play" list. I'll post discussions in the scenario discussions area on TPG and a review on TPG as well when done. Will you be modifying the scenario any based on reviews (not just mine, collectively)? If so, I'll hold off on reviewing it on the SD until a final version is posted and I've played it.

Thanks for submitting it!

[Mad Russian]

How exactly do reviews take place on TPG? Just anybody picks any scenario they want to play? I see some that seem to have been there for some time without a review. Just asking since I am fairly new to TPG. :confused:

Panther Commander

[GJK]

There is a "Review" section at the bottom of each scenario listing. That is more or less a note to others letting them know how the play was and helps people determine if it's a scenario that they want to playtest or not.

When a scenario is uploaded, a discussion "thread" is automatically created for that scenario and that is where detailed discussions about it take place, AAR's, spoilers, etc. The goal is to have the scenario's author join that discussion so that he can give and get feedback from people currently playing. You'll find far more "discussions" going on for scenarios than you will reviews. Mainly because we're all playing them PBEM mostly and as you know, those can take a while. It's kind of neat to discuss the scenario as the turns are progressing.

That's the idea at least. As I always post there, I'm open for any suggestions that anyone has and if we come to an agreement on a change, I'll get to work on implementing it right away.

Thanks for joining, look forward to reading some of your feedback!

[Patrocles]

Originally posted by GJK:

There is a "Review" section at the bottom of each scenario listing. That is more or less a note to others letting them know how the play was and helps people determine if it's a scenario that they want to playtest or not.

When a scenario is uploaded, a discussion "thread" is automatically created for that scenario and that is where detailed discussions about it take place, AAR's, spoilers, etc. The goal is to have the scenario's author join that discussion so that he can give and get feedback from people currently playing. You'll find far more "discussions" going on for scenarios than you will reviews. Mainly because we're all playing them PBEM mostly and as you know, those can take a while. It's kind of neat to discuss the scenario as the turns are progressing.

That's the idea at least. As I always post there, I'm open for any suggestions that anyone has and if we come to an agreement on a change, I'll get to work on implementing it right away.

Thanks for joining, look forward to reading some of your feedback!

Wow! I like the idea of a discussion thread at TPG for submitted battles. I will make changes once a few recommendation are given and then repost to TPG and SD (assuming I can overwrite my previous version...is that possible at TPG and SD?)

[GJK]

At TPG, you can go to "Join/Authors Login" and see the stats for each of your scenarios, how many and who has downloaded them (and maps if any) and also you can click to modify your scenario or delete it (once it's been "proven" and moved on to the SD or elsewhere...remember, we're just a playtesting outlet and not a permanent scenario archive).

When you go to edit your scenario, you can change any of the parameters for that scenario, troop type, size, points, etc. Make sure you bump up your revision number and then you will be given the chance to upload an updated version if you want. Make sure that the updated version has the same filename as the original and it will take it's place. If you've made some changes and aren't sure if they were better changes or not, you could upload the updated version as a 2nd scenario, with it's own discussion and review area, and let us compare the two. Usually though, people have just been replacing the original with updates based on feedback given by others.

There's more info in the "Help/About" section (or there should be, I better check that)

Oh, and I belive the SD works pretty much the same way. I'm not a scenario author and haven't uploaded any there, so you would have to check with others on that.

[Mad Russian]

Originally posted by GJK:

At TPG, you can go to "Join/Authors Login" and see the stats for each of your scenarios, how many and who has downloaded them (and maps if any) and also you can click to modify your scenario or delete it (once it's been "proven" and moved on to the SD or elsewhere...remember, we're just a playtesting outlet and not a permanent scenario archive).

What does playing blind refer to? When entering a scenario it asks for points. What exactly does it want here...the points for the largest force or what?

Panther Commander

[Mad Russian]

Also is there a way to see how many times the scenario has been downloaded to get some kind of an idea if anyone is even looking at the scenario?

[Sergei]

Playing blind means neither player has looked into the scenario or played it before. TPG tracks who has downloaded your scenarios so you can contact them if necessary. The points I think refers to the combined total of both forces.

[GJK]

Originally posted by Sergei:

Playing blind means neither player has looked into the scenario or played it before. TPG tracks who has downloaded your scenarios so you can contact them if necessary. The points I think refers to the combined total of both forces.

Correct on all 3 counts!

You can view who has downloaded your scenario by going to "Join / Author's Login". You'll be able to view downloads, modify the scenario or remove the scenario from the site from there (goes for maps as well).

Also, anytime someone leaves you a Review (not a discussion), that review is emailed to you, so you don't have to keep checking the scenario section to see if one was left. You should monitor your dicussions area to see if someone has begun playtesting it (generally, we'll leave you a note there to let you know). If so, join us in dicussion on the scenario.

[Mad Russian]

Originally posted by GJK:

I have seen some of my scenarios downloaded as many as 14 times but no-one has left a single message that they are starting to PT a scenario. It would help the designer greatly to know who is currently PT'ing a scenario. I may be getting ready to pull the scenario and post it to the SD and there could be three PT's that would finish in a day or two after I did that.

Is there a way to get the PT'ers to post a notice that they are playing the game? That way their efforts can get the proper amount of attention from the designers?

Panther Commander

[GJK]

Which scenario would that be? Chances are, we just haven't gotten to yours yet, there was quite a few new scenarios posted in the past couple of weeks. I've PT'd a handful this past week and I see posts on the site from others doing the same. Did you make an announcement on TPG message board asking for help in playtesting?

[V]

The Proving Grounds is a great resource. I hope to PT a couple scenarios tonight to help some designers out.

I also love getting the feedback from the other guys there.

[Mad Russian]

Originally posted by GJK:

Which scenario would that be? Chances are, we just haven't gotten to yours yet, there was quite a few new scenarios posted in the past couple of weeks. I've PT'd a handful this past week and I see posts on the site from others doing the same. Did you make an announcement on TPG message board asking for help in playtesting?

I put what I thought was a post on the general site about an hour ago, but I haven't seen it displayed as of this moment. There may be a delay in posting the comments or maybe it didn't go through for some reason.

A quick question about asking for playtesting though...isn't that the the sole purpose of TPG? Do you need to post a scenario, then go and ask the group to Playtest them?

Let me make my intentions clear...I have several scenarios now posted to the site. At some point I am going to say enough. Then I am going to post them to the SD. If there are people playtesting the scenario, but haven't put a note on the discussion board, how are you to know this is happening. I've gotten about a half dozen reviews, on the two that have been reviewed, and not once did anybody tell me that they were playing them.

This is not a bitch session!! It is for the PT'ers, as well as the designers. I wouldn't want to be in the middle of play testing one of your scenarios, for instance, and have you pull it before I posted my review of it to you.

I have posted the HSG scenarios, except The Headquarters. And yes there have been several new scenarios put up since I uploaded some of mine. The Welcome to Africa scenario has a few reviews and I am considering posting it to the SD this week. I don't know if anybody is still playing it. If there is, I would like to give them a chance to give me their opinion. Their opinion is very important.

By the way, thanks for a site well done. It is great having a place to send scenarios that need to be PT'ed.

Panther Commander

[GJK]

Messages posted on any of the boards will post instantly, not sure why yours did not.

It is not neccessary to post a message to ask for people to PT a newly posted scenario, there's about 30-40 of us that have been very active in PT and we've done a pretty good job I think of getting through the 150 or so scenarios that have been posted (some since removed) from the site. Yours were just posted, and the CMAK ones were promptly played by some of us. Others may be testing them now but have not yet posted a note. You may have fallen victim to everyone wanting to get their CMAK fix right away, thus the CMBB scenarios haven't had the same response.

Also, there's nothing saying you can't also upload to the SD, you'll most likely get more exposure for the scenarios there as it's a well established site that has been around for quite a bit longer. You can also leave your scenarios at TPG, and when they've been played and reviewed, if you want to make changes, modify the scenarios on both sites, or remove it from TPG and just modify the one on the SD.

Yes, it would be nice if everyone would post a note saying that they're now testing x scenario, I try to make it a habit to do so, and I've seen a number of others do it as well. Not everyone does though. I've thought about implementing some sort of "check out" system where something like that would be logged, but haven't acted upon it and not sure that I will.

A suggestion would be to maybe post a note to the main board saying something to the effect of "wanting to move {scenario} to the Scenario Depot, if anyone is currently playtesting it, let me know so that I can hold off". Let me know if you have any problems posting to the board, it's worked without issue up to this point, so not sure why your post didn't go through (you will first see a "preview" of your message, where you then hit "submit" again before it goes to the board, maybe you left at the preview screen?).

TPG isn't perfect, the number of new scenarios coming in to those that are actively playtesting them is about a 3-1 ratio at best. Also, most people PT them via Pbem, which could take weeks. I see that Assault, Guns Forward! which this thread was originally about and which was posted before yours has not been tested yet either. It's on my play list for tonight. Just got to be patient, or as I said, go ahead and move it up to the SD, there's no hard written rules for how to distribute everyones work.

[Mad Russian]

Originally posted by GJK:

Messages posted on any of the boards will post instantly, not sure why yours did not.

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I'll try it again then and see what I did wrong.

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It is not neccessary to post a message to ask for people to PT a newly posted scenario, there's about 30-40 of us that have been very active in PT and we've done a pretty good job I think of getting through the 150 or so scenarios that have been posted (some since removed) from the site. Yours were just posted, and the CMAK ones were promptly played by some of us. Others may be testing them now but have not yet posted a note. You may have fallen victim to everyone wanting to get their CMAK fix right away, thus the CMBB scenarios haven't had the same response.

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I agree the CMAK scenarios were promptly played. They have all been downloaded at least 7 times. That was what prompted the comments of not knowing if they are being played or not.

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Also, there's nothing saying you can't also upload to the SD, you'll most likely get more exposure for the scenarios there as it's a well established site that has been around for quite a bit longer. You can also leave your scenarios at TPG, and when they've been played and reviewed, if you want to make changes, modify the scenarios on both sites, or remove it from TPG and just modify the one on the SD.

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All very true. And a likely course of action for Welcome to Africa at least. Since it is so small I figure that anybody who wants to play it already has. You can play it in less than an hour as you well know.

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Yes, it would be nice if everyone would post a note saying that they're now testing x scenario, I try to make it a habit to do so, and I've seen a number of others do it as well. Not everyone does though. I've thought about implementing some sort of "check out" system where something like that would be logged, but haven't acted upon it and not sure that I will.

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Buddy that was only a suggestion...far be it from me to tell you how to run your site. It looks pretty good from where I am sitting.

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A suggestion would be to maybe post a note to the main board saying something to the effect of "wanting to move {scenario} to the Scenario Depot, if anyone is currently playtesting it, let me know so that I can hold off". Let me know if you have any problems posting to the board, it's worked without issue up to this point, so not sure why your post didn't go through (you will first see a "preview" of your message, where you then hit "submit" again before it goes to the board, maybe you left at the preview screen?).

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I'll try again and see what happens. It must have been my inexperience with the board that I didn't get it posted up.

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TPG isn't perfect, the number of new scenarios coming in to those that are actively playtesting them is about a 3-1 ratio at best. Also, most people PT them via Pbem, which could take weeks. I see that Assault, Guns Forward! which this thread was originally about and which was posted before yours has not been tested yet either. It's on my play list for tonight. Just got to be patient, or as I said, go ahead and move it up to the SD, there's no hard written rules for how to distribute everyones work.

_________________________________________________That works for me.

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Once again I would like to say what a good job I think TPG does and how much I appreciate the work that has been done. The job of playtesting scenarios is not easy. Being diplomatic about failings in a scenario is not always easy either. Keep up the good work. And thanks for your quick responses here on this site. I appreciate that as well.

Panther Commander

[GJK]

No problem and thanks for letting us playtest these HSG scenarios. The couple that I've had a chance to play have been excellent, very well done and thought out and most importantly to me, fun. "Africa" is a pretty small scenario, I might just fire it up now.

[Patrocles]

Ha! I figured out how to link my battle at The Proving Grounds to the The Scenario Depot site!

The CMBB battle is titled: Assault Guns Forward!

http://www.dragonlair.net/combatmission/

Thanks for the review GJK! I appreciate your time and words.

[ December 15, 2003, 08:25 PM: Message edited by: Patrocles ]

[GJK]

Originally posted by Patrocles:

Ha! I figured out how to link my battle at The Proving Grounds to the The Scenario Depot site!

The CMBB battle is titled: Assault Guns Forward!

http://www.dragonlair.net/combatmission/

Thanks for the review GJK! I appreciate your time and words.

Yes, a few people are linking their scenario's from the SD to TPG. Not a problem, but keep in mind that eventually you'll want to move your scenario up to the SD and off of TPG, since we're not a permanent archival for scenario's (just a playtesting area). The main reason for this is that I don't want to compete with the SD in any way, I value Keith's work too much. I just want to help enhance it by giving scenario designer's a place to upload their scenario temporarily for mass distribution during playtesting.

Had fun with this scenario, very good job again!

[Patrocles]

Originally posted by GJK:

Yes, a few people are linking their scenario's from the SD to TPG. Not a problem, but keep in mind that eventually you'll want to move your scenario up to the SD and off of TPG, since we're not a permanent archival for scenario's (just a playtesting area). The main reason for this is that I don't want to compete with the SD in any way, I value Keith's work too much. I just want to help enhance it by giving scenario designer's a place to upload their scenario temporarily for mass distribution during playtesting.

Had fun with this scenario, very good job again!

Thanks for the info! I emailed the battle to The Scenario Depot at the same time (~Dec. 12) but it hasn't been posted as of this morning. Once I hear or see that the Battle is posted at TSD I will remove the link.

-Patrick