Craig Van Ness Q&A Thread

[GUILD_WARRIOR]

Originally Posted by Craig Van Ness

Ok, I will pick 5.

That's a tough one. My first thought was Sgt. Drake Alexander, the first one, because he is named after my son Drake and Rob's son Alex. Plus I have always liked WWII minis and the story we created was really about his journey.

The next one I thought of was Sonlen. It's named after one of the talented designers of who worked on Heroscape, Chris Nelson. The sculpt is pretty awesome, and his powers are cool.

Realin, the first one.

Kaemon Awa. The sculpt and the paint job on this guy is insane and he is a solid hero to field.

Krug. Krug good. Krug strong.

Krug argh! He is amazing unless he is in your opponents army! I hate attacking him. It's a really fantastically horrible creation. Truly great job!

[skyknight]

Excellent to have ya back Craig, been a while since I have kicked back at Scapers.

Quick question- when you developed Heroscape did you think it had the chops to hit the market like it did and the staying power to be considered a classic as it has become? Obviously no designer designs a game thinking it will fail, but did you realize how truly unique Scape was at its conception. Kind of like a day you looked across the table at the other designers and said "this is going to be big".

[Hendal]

who in the design team hates Elves so much? he he

[Craig Van Ness]

Originally Posted by Dysole

Thank you so much for the hard work you put into this game. It has provided me with many hours of entertainment and introduced me to this wonderful community who has been a positive impact on my life. I am happy I got to run into you at Gencon 2015 and I am super happy I have a signed Ashigaru Harquebus card.

Question that goes in an opposite direction from vegie. What's your biggest regret designwise or something you wish you had done differently?

~Dysole, feeling like she could probably ask many more questions

I wish we developed exclusives for the hobby market with mostly common packs and new terrain packs- Repeat purchase items. I think this would of been very successful.

[Craig Van Ness]

Originally Posted by wriggz

On a similar vein, would you ever mix Arena of the Planeswalker with Heroscape? The 500-600 point limit and similar attack and defense values on the units seem to suggest it would be somewhat balanced, and lots of people have given the experiment a try with varying results.

I think you could mix them with some added rules.

[Craig Van Ness]

Originally Posted by Chachi

Craig,

I just wanted to let you know that I bought a Master Set One for my son's 7th birthday in 2007. I bought it on a whim. We have been hooked ever since. We have made new friends that are now like family. It actually reunited me with an old friend and his kids, he is now my best friend and like a brother.
this game is more than a game to us. It has given us a "father and son" gaming night to a lot of us here.
We have amassed a collection of epic proportions here at my house. SO MANY memories with family and friends over this game.

Thank you for your creation and what it has done for us! Good luck with your future endeavors, sir.

-Chachi

PS- I won't bother with the "where is HS2.0" and other things. It would be epic if something happened, but we are grateful for what we have.

PSS- I won't plug my design site here, but if you ever need an artist for anything, let me know

Thank you! it is great to hear stories like yours. A family that plays together stays together.

[Craig Van Ness]

Originally Posted by happyjosiah

Craig, thanks for everything. Not just Heroscape (my favorite game), but for some of my other favorite designs as well. Star Wars Epic Duels and Risk 2210 both come to mind. It was wonderful to have someone with the creative skills of an independent game designer but with the budget and production quality of Hasbro.

Can you talk a little bit about the influence that 1992's Battle Masters (a Baker design) had on Heroscape?

What figures or types of figures do you most regret that never saw the light of day with the move to D&D and then cancellation? Pirates? The final Elf Wizard? Aquilla Flagbearer? Something else?

Battle Masters. That's an epic game. The idea that Heroscape could be as epic as you wanted to make it was appealing. Rolling the dice on attack and then rolling the dice on defense is something I really liked about Battlemasters. We kept that in Heroscape. The deck is a bit random, but if you know what cards have not been played yet, it really can influence your strategy. It flows like a battle with waves of excitement. Like Battlemasters, we wanted scenarios as well which essentially are different ways to play and set up your game.

Classic Heroscape- We had plans for the elf army. We had a bunch of pirate sketches.
I felt like we were designing for the future, creating armies that worked well with each other and then slowly rolling them out.

Star Wars Heroscape... Marvel expansion packs...

[TREX]

@Craig Van Ness , just looking at C3G and HOSS, do you think we did an ok job at creating these universes in fan scape compared to what you guys were working on?

[Dad_Scaper]

Originally Posted by TREX

@Craig Van Ness, just looking at C3G and HOSS, do you think we did an ok job at creating these universes in fan scape compared to what you guys were working on?

. . . and in the C3V, expanding the universe of Valhalla compared to what you guys were working on?

Geez, TREX.

[wriggz]

Originally Posted by TREX

@Craig Van Ness, just looking at C3G and HOSS, do you think we did an ok job at creating these universes in fan scape compared to what you guys were working on?

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

. . . and in the C3V, expanding the universe of Valhalla compared to what you guys were working on?
Geez, TREX.

I have played with many newbies and given them cards from all these project, and they have no idea they are not official. Perhaps the next best endorsement to that of one of the actual designers. (Through the existence of Hatamoto Taro in Classic give me pause)

[TREX]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

. . . and in the C3V, expanding the universe of Valhalla compared to what you guys were working on?

Geez, TREX.

I just mentioned the two because he had said something about Star wars and marvel. You guys continue the original idea of what was made. What you guys do is great stuff, and I fully endorse its use in all the tournaments I run and help run. Some folks do not like to use any custom content in their tourney formats.(I don't know why though)

[Sherman Davies]

Craig, like everyone else here I want to thank you for your part in designing this game. It is, pound for pound, my favorite game and has given me the chance to know some very good folks, both on this site and in real life. It's also been one of the best creative outlets I've ever known. Heroscape rules.

Anyway, my question is about how the order marker system came about. It's one of my favorite elements of the game and I was curious if it was inspired by another game, a bolt-from-the-blue "Eureka!" moment, or more of a collaborative idea.