What is the Galactic Council Project?  

The Galactic Council project is about constructing a game environment that's directly reflective of the community that plays it. The currently available format is a fine-tuned sci-fi deckbuilding game readily accessible from any of 3 major (Chrome, IE, FF) browsers. Check it out, play a game right now in your favorite browser: http://www.samthewebsiteguy.com/galacticcouncil/onepage/play_now.php

Outside of this game, players are able to access a web-interface that allows recombination of card abilities to make brand new cards for play. This Kickstarter campaign is meant to take the current Galactic Council website and put it on steroids. You have not seen a game like Galactic Council before, and nor will you for some time. Not the way I’m going to do it at least, a pure game-democracy where players' direct feedback is the biggest influence on the development of the game.

Message Incoming From Council Custodian

Good. You’ve come. The hour grows late and there is great need for your talents. This universe stands poised on the precipice of total obliteration and you are one of the few who might shield against such a fate. You are a Nanon Host, a rare and truly wondrous affliction that grants untold powers over space and time itself. Long ago, a race whose name has long been forgotten expired and left behind their most beloved creation: Nanons. They are sentient nanobeings, tiny molecular builders that respond to a strong will to create, to manipulate, to survive, and to conquer. They have seen this will in you, and they have chosen you for their many gifts.

This universe is a dangerous place, fraught with peril and the stuff of nightmares.There is chaos and mutiny abound. Untrained hosts wreak havoc upon themselves and those around them. Nanon colonies broadcast their siren’s call loud enough to drive hosts insane, right up until an uncollected colony abandons their search for a willing host. An unclaimed Nanon has a shelf-life, and once they switch functions they become “Anons”, a molecular entity focused on destruction rather than creation. I have seen proud warships ebb out of existence in the space of a breath, I have seen entire planets shimmer and fade into nothingness. I have seen the empty space left by a scorned Nanon, and I am afraid. They are breeding.

I must control my fear; there is hope yet. I work tirelessly to stem this tide of annihilation. I have scoured ancient texts and I have located our salvation, a seed of potential that could save our universe. I have reconvened the Galactic Council, a collective of Nanon Hosts who are responsible for keeping the Nanon threat contained. We claim them before they turn, we battle over them, we lend our voice to the Council, and we both enforce and perfect our creeds of battle. Without our mutually agreed upon standards of battle, nothing stands between a Host and an unquenchable thirst for power. Anarchy ensues.

The Galactic Council needs you. I have reached the limit on what I can do alone. Resources are short, our creed does not reflect the great diversity of Councils past, and while the Anon threat runs unchecked countless wonders will give way to utter darkness. Together, we can bring this universe to peace and prosperity. Divided, our dreams of channeled will disappear alongside everything else.

-The Custodian

See the "uncut" GC interview with me the video above.

Where is the Project Now?

The primary combat system (for now) in Galactic Council is a deck building game. For those unfamiliar with the genre, it is a card game where both players start the game with identical decks of cards. Players then augment their deck with additional cards they purchase with in-game currency, choosing certain strategies and card combinations to reach a victory condition. There is a ready-to-play deck building game available on the game’s website ready to play right now, no download required (just an up to date browser): http://www.samthewebsiteguy.com/galacticcouncil/onepage/

Check out the Demo above for create-a-card and a gameplay demonstration.

Current features include:

• A playable 1v1 deckbuilding game
• An interactive game tutorial
• 1 Solitaire type game for practice
• A new way to challenge a friend - send them a link leading straight to your game
• Or find other players in the game's existing lobby
• A first-round beta of the create-a-card feature (Try it - http://www.samthewebsiteguy.com/galacticcouncil/createacard/createacardpage.php)

Over the past 9 months, I've created, edited, and streamlined the GC prototype. I’m pleased with it but there are still many features I would like to implement  It is basically just a launch pad, collectively the community and I will determine the directionality of development. Grab a reward level today and join in directly shaping this unprecedented game experience!

A Sci-fi Deck Building Battle

You and your opponent are exploring the vast universe and seeking out invaluable Nanon Colonies to harvest and claim. Both of you locate a particularly rich Colony breeding ground, and a battle ensues to determine who gets the lion's share of the harvest. During your battle, you must send off a portion of the Nanons you’re harvesting off to the Galactic Council in exchange for influence. Influence can be used to acquire contracts and equipment, both instrumental in securing the victory over your opponent. There is a more detailed story-like vignette located here - http://www.samthewebsiteguy.com/galacticcouncil/promo_content/story1.php

More on the Deckbuilder  

You can see an explanation of the deckbuilding game type in the video above. There are also two kinds of tutorials on my site: an interactive tutorial and a “solitaire” type game one can play alone and practice deckbuilding strategies. They can both be found here: http://www.samthewebsiteguy.com/galacticcouncil/onepage/tutorial/

Game Development as a Gameplay Mechanic

Galactic Council is a new way of both developing and playing games. Traditional game development involves arranging content just so, ensuring the core experience is balanced, fun, and intuitive, but then fails to provide the player any ownership over the mechanics. I am taking a different approach to game development; one where players are agents of the game’s design as an active part of the game itself. Players, representing proxies of the Galactic Council, will have the option to vote, vet, balance, and create new content for the game’s combat system - all under the umbrella of the Galactic Council’s “outer shell” council voting component.

What will the Money be Used For?  

More everything. What you see on my prototype website is what I've been able to do in about 9 months time on an tight budget, and its damn impressive considering those facts. I am a resourceful, creative, and frugal developer; you can rest assured that your contribution will be stretched to its limit to improve the already impressive game environment. I have a network of programmers, designers, stats nerds, and artists ready to assist in making this vision a reality, but the biggest savings comes from my ability to act as the middle man of these diverse areas of expertise. By contributing, you’ll be invited to participate in what I’m calling the “Phase One Beta”.

Phase One Beta includes development or enhancement of the following features:
1. Game Addition - New Cards - I’ll be adding about 40 new cards to the primary card pool, but of course players will be making new cards during the Phase 1 beta as well. Expect a ton of cards, ensuring new content to enjoy at just about every turn.

2. Game Addition - Card Abilities - I’ll be adding roughly 15-20 more card abilities for myself and other interested card-creators to work with. Examples include status effects for the opponents turn, deck searching/foresight & card selection, and choose between X outcome (ie gain 2 influence) or Y outcome (ie gain 1 draws.) More card abilities means a more diverse card pool and/or card creation abilities! 

3. Game Addition - Game-Type Options - Though there will always be a well-oiled "standard" game option for Galactic Council, I believe in games that let you tailor the experience to your liking. Select and alter available game rules to custom build the kind of game you’ll play. For example, play a shorter game by increasing the hand size to 7 and decreasing Hull and Shield strength.

4. Visual design “Facelift”  -  I’ll be seeking a designer to tweak the game’s visual interface. I’ll be selecting for a cleaner, more attractive, and maximally intuitive interface. Your contribution will ensure I can select the most qualified candidate for the re-design.

5. Fleshed Out Lore - I have strived to make the lore of Galactic Council adhere to a simple principle: anything is possible. I want players to be able to have the utmost freedom in constructing their cards, and to that end I want the lore of the game to have some simple driving mechanics that allow for huge variation. This is where the Nanon comes in - a tiny sentient builder that, when working in a big enough colony, can produce practically anything and everything - with a few catches of course. Fleshed out lore means:

• General guidelines for writing characters and stories set in the universe
• A complete narrative of the current universe’s setting
• A handful of short stories written by yours truly, which will then be translated to card(s) form
• An open call for story contributions from interested community members

7. More Art - A portion of the collected money will go to commissioned art specifically for the GC universe. Some will be used for specific lore stories I write, some will be for new cards I make, and some will be joining the current pool of available artwork for player made cards!

8. Create-a-Card Feature - This feature is one of the most important aspects of the Phase One Beta. This is one of the primary ways players will be able to shape the game's development! There is a Beta build available for tinkering right now - http://www.samthewebsiteguy.com/galacticcouncil/createacard/createacardpage.php

• Card Abilities - Players will be able to select from the list of available card abilities to determine how their creation will affect the flow of gameplay.
• Art - Players will be able to select from an available community pool of art OR upload any art they have rights to as the image for their card.
• Lore - Players will be able to write as little or as much as they’d like on the history of their card. Inventive and well thought out back-stories should increase the positive reception of the created content.
• Voting process - Other players will be able to vote up or down on all content, judging mainly the fun/balance/utility of the card, the art, and the lore. Once your card reaches a threshold of number of reviews and overall rating, the card will be scooped up for regular rotation in other players' games.
• Player members will only be able to house 3 created cards until it reaches a “community review threshold” - where the card is accepted as “canon”. At that point the card will join the available card pool, and the abandoned card slot will be freed up for another creation.

9. "Dear Developers" Feature - An “upcoming feature” page where community members can vote on future update rules/features, both suggested by the development team and those recommended by the player community to be implemented in future game builds.

The Rewards  

Galactic Council rewards are special for a few reasons. Many Kickstarter rewards offer the ability contribute to the creative process of the game’s development. Since that will always be the case within the GC system, I had to think of other ways to achieve that goal with this campaign's reward levels. 

First off, contributing will get you access to the Phase One Beta. This early access will allow you to snatch up the best art, rule combinations, and many other GC "firsts" before the content-creation mechanics are opened up to the general public. You will also be noted as a "Founding Member" which will always carry with it special perks, first cracks, discounts, increased visibility, and more. Right out of the gate, you will earn more Beacon Nanons per activity than players who join up after this funding drive. As BNs are the basic unit of power and influence in the game environment, this means you will always have more community pull than a non-founding member.

In addition to the many perks of being a Founding Member, each reward level will offer a certain amount of “Founder's Tokens ”, which grant contributors the ability to hand craft their exact reward loadout for starters, but ultimately Founder's Token will be one primary way for contributors to shape the beta. Players will be able to spend Founder's Tokens to influence a wide variety of development decisions, rules, cards, visual layouts, game lore...and in what order they are prioritized. 

Purchasing a reward level will net you Founder's Tokens, where 1 dollar equals one Token. Please note Founder's Tokens have no cash value. Founder's Tokens and memberships won’t be offered after this Phase One funding drive, so grab 'em up!

• What I have now for each level is a “suggested” or “potential” reward loadout.
• You will be able to spend your tokens in any way you see fit (so long as its not a “limited reward” - one per contribution.)
• My estimated delivery date of these tokens is August of 2013. Most rewards mentioned below will be available, but some will have to wait until their components are complete. For instance, you will be able to cash in FT's for Prestige Votes, but the tournament will have to wait until the Beta is nearly complete.
• Notice below there is a list of the currently available rewards and their Founder’s Token cost. This reward list is by no means exhaustive, I plan on adding more rewards (even a few suggested by the community) until every last FT is spent. I grant them to you now, but I will be slavish about retrieving them from you :) You might want to save a few tokens!

Rewards: 

FT = Founder's Token

Founder’s Cards: The Galactic Council recognizes that it owes its existence to your contribution and sends you special reward packages in every game you play. Each of these rewards grants a rare and powerful card that will show up during your games. Note that each card can only be claimed once. More FT specific cards may be added later depending on requests from the community.

"Phase One Complete" Tournament - When the community and I agree that the Phase One Beta has reached an acceptable level of completion, a 3 tiered Tournament will take place. Each tier will have 8 winners. Those 8 winners receive a bonus modifier for all future Beacon Nanons earned - more power within the community.