Carcassonne Central

Hey there,
I've recently discovered this website and have plans to construct my own tiles using many of the very nicely made expansions on this site. I've strongly been trying to think about what designs I can make of my own to add to the collection. So, I thought I would throw this one out there to see if it would possibly be worth making. I've thought of a very small expansion (maybe even only one or two tiles) that included a forest fire (under-siege or not?...I haven't decided). My early thought is to make this a rare tile that would actually zero out any forests that are being constructed. I would appreciate some feedback from anyone as to whether it's something they would enjoy using, and suggestions as to how it could be improved. Thanks.

That sounds like a good idea - one or 2 tiles would definitely fit the concept well.  The artwork won't be too difficult as well.  I like the concept behind the expansion.

Oh and welcome to your first post.  Please feel free to contribute your ideas here on this forum!

Well, I've made my design for the tile...now how do I show it so that I can receive your thoughts on it? Upon trying to attach it to the post, it claims it is unable to do so due to the upload folder being full. Thanks for the welcome, I'm looking forward to contributing to the site!

I've had problems with that too, so I upload the images to an online image host (photobucket) and then put up a link to the image.

Good idea, that's easy enough. So here's my design...feel free to lend me your thoughts and suggestions!

http://s772.photobucket.com/albums/yy5/jputt927/?action=view&current=forest_fire_expansion.jpg

You can also use the link provided in the "Share this image" box on the left under IMG code to show it in the post like this:

(http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/yy5/jputt927/forest_fire_expansion.jpg)

And I have to say I like the brown bits and the smoke.  The fire looks a bit fake (it could do with a bit of yellowing and some transparancy), but nevertheless it's a good effort!

I think it looks good.  Perhaps something more fully involved would stand out more, but it wouldn't be necessary.

Well...I tried incorporating some suggestions...I think it looks better. Let me know, it's appreciated!

(http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/yy5/jputt927/forest_fire.jpg)

Wow! Very nice. Much better. Some smoke might be nice, if only it didn't obscure your fantastic flames...

Well, here's some added smoke...

(http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/yy5/jputt927/fire_smoke.jpg)

Well done! This tile keeps getting better and better!

I like the version without the smoke better (it was cleaner).  If you are using smudge for the smoke, spray (paint) in a bit of light grey or white so that when you smudge it, you'll see grey whisps which makes the smoke look better.

Really? IMHO the smoke looks better, but evidently others would disagree...

I like the concept behind this. A really good idea. All that needs to be done is work out how this will be scored (or rather impact on scoring).

IMHO, the tile with smoke is the better one (wood smokes when ignited in this manner).

I like the smoke too. I've seen a lot of forest fires in my life and some greyish-black smoke is quite common and makes it look like wood is burning.

I agree with these guys, I like the smokey one.  Great job!

Ditto here and usually, due to the high water content of the trees, the smoke is more light grey than dark-grey/black.  Anyways, with regards to the tile, it's personal preference I guess.

Oh and the other thing, if you still have your layers try bluring your fire more around the edges so that it'll blend in more.

Well, after a little more tweaking...I'm personally content with the possibility of using this as the final design...

(http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/yy5/jputt927/Fire-Final-3.jpg)

Now, in regards to the rules...here are my early thoughts, feel free to share your opinions.

- Since a forest fire is extremely damaging and will render a forest as nearly useless, my idea is to make the forest it is attached to worth zero points, regardless of what is inside of it.
- Furthermore, any deployed followers will remain in the burning forest until it has been completed...as per the usual rules. However, as stated, the forest will be worth nothing once completed.
- Finally, any trade goods (such as lumber and apples) that lie within the forest will also be rendered useless. Upon completion of the forest, the trade good icons inside should be ignored, and will not be given to the player who completed it.

Another rule to ponder...should the size of the completed burning forest be considered when determining who receives the Outlaw tile?

Let me know what you think and whether those rules seem appropriate for the tile!

The rules seem good. Maybe make it somewhat more similar to seiges? I don't think the trade good rule is good, if someone wanted to retain the majority all they have to do is put it in a burning forest...

The tile and the rules look good!  Could you add some smoke to the left side so as to show the forest is still smouldering?  That would make it look better.

I would say no.

How about that?

(http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/yy5/jputt927/Fire-Final-3-1.jpg)

And yes, I agree. The completed burning forest should not count towards the biggest forest count. I also believe that the trade goods should become useless, even if this allows a player to maintain majority by placing more trade goods into a burning forest. Therefore, the only advantage towards completing a burning forest would be to get back any deployed pawns. Quite the evil tile. So, being that I'm new to this whole thing, what's my next step towards getting this expansion finished and posted?

I was just thinking this tile will discourage people from building on the forest, because there's no points gained from that forest, and that might be a bad thing.  Perhaps there should be something to encourage people to continue building and adding to the forest after this tile is played, e.g. a player may get his or her meeple back by extending that forest.  It would also be nice if the player who completes the forest (i.e. creates a firebreak) gets 1 point for every 2 forest tiles in that forest, or something like that.  Otherwise, there'll be a huge uncompleted forest on the map and I feel that is just bad.


1. Get the tile to print correctly at 100% - it's best to PDF it to a sheet of A4 paper.
2. Draft out the rules in the Carcassonne Central format.  The format is a downloadable file in a "sticky" post on this forum.

Well, I've drafted out the rules. Do they need to be looked over? If so, how do I get them to their appropriate place?

Post them to this thread and everyone will proof read it and correct any mistakes. Novelty or someone else will put it up when they think it's ready...

THE FOREST FIRE

A Carcassonne Central expansion by JPutt927

A devastating forest fire is threatening the Woodsmen of Carcassonne, destroying the very resources that so many have come to rely on. One’s only hope may be in stopping the spread of this disaster.

EXTRA PIECES

 1 new tile, the forest fire.
 
ADDITIONAL RULES

Preparation

This tile is designed to be played with any or all of the fan-made forest expansions.
At the beginning of the game, shuffle the forest fire tile with the rest of the land tiles.

1. Place a tile

The forest fire tile is placed in the usual way. It may be attached to a field segment and begin a new (burning) forest. Or, it may be added to a forest that has already been established.

2. Deploy a follower

Because the forest portion on the tile is burning, no followers may be deployed on that particular forest area. However, a player may choose to deploy a follower to the field as a Farmer as according to the normal rules. 

3. Retrieving a deployed follower

Upon placement of the forest fire tile, that forest immediately and drastically reduces in value.  Any Woodsmen deployed in the connecting forest become irrelevant when determining who receives any points. 

A player may retrieve their now useless deployed Woodmen by either adding any tile to the forest themselves, or waiting for the burning forest to be completed (either by themselves or another player). The player may retrieve ALL of their deployed followers at one time. Choosing to retrieve the Woodsmen after placing a connecting forest tile will take the place of any further follower deployment for that turn.

4. Score

Any icons inside of a burning forest are immediately worth nothing. These include the forest guild icon and any trade good icons (if playing with those particular forest expansions).   Adding a tile with the cherry icon to a burning forest will NOT give the player an additional tile for the turn.

The only way that a burning forest can yield points is upon completion of that forest. When a player places a tile which completes the burning forest, therefore putting an end to further spreading of the fire, that player will earn points. The player that completes a burning forest will receive 1 point for every 2 tiles that the forest consists of. In the event of an odd number of tiles, disregard the extra tile. Due to the destruction caused by the fire, the player that completes the forest will not get any trade goods (such as apples and timber) that the forest may contain.

Furthermore, a completed burning forest will NOT count towards determining who receives the Outlaw tile, even if it the largest completed forest. However, it will count as a completed forest when determining how many points the player holding the Outlaw tile will receive at the end of the game. Any forest segments belonging to a burning forest will not produce bonus points for touching the corner of a log cabin.


Final Scoring

If a burning forest is incomplete at the end of the game, it will be worth nothing, regardless of any followers deployed within.
Also, as stated above, a completed burning forest WILL count as 1 point for the player holding the Outlaw tile at the end.

I think you might have misinterpreted my unclear instructions... you need to download the rules template from some sticky thread on this board, then type up the rules into that, make a pdf and link the pdf to this thread...

EDIT: but the rules look good anyway...

Well, no...they weren't misinterpreted. I've done that. I just didn't know exactly how you wanted that filled in template posted back to the forum for you all to read.

Host it on mediafire or something like that, and then link it to this thread.

(first photobucket now mediafire, I hope this isn't too annoying for you)

But with the pdf we can check your formatting as well as the rules...

Ok...well, that should do it. However, I filled things out on a Mac...so it appears that some of the formatting may have changed due to my program not having certain fonts, amongst other things.

http://www.mediafire.com/?mmfytnm2k2j

The heading font appears unusual, but works. Maybe you should make mention of a logging camp from the green dragon expansion. (It means normal forests are worth 2 points per tile when completed, but none if incomplete). How would one of these affect a burning forest?

Good call. It's been added.

Now now, hopefully this will be one of my last questions...sorry for being a first-timer! But alas, how in the world do I post my tile image so that it will actually print as the appropriate size? In other words, how do I format it into a pdf while making sure it will fit a tile when cut out? It's probably simple, but I can't seem to wrap my head around figuring that one out. I certainly appreciate all the help!

It's okay, we were all a first-timer once (except for the founding members). I'm not too sure how to make it the correct size. It's easiest to create it the correct size with a high resolution, which allows you to get close up and add detail, without having to later resize it. If it is the correct size in photoshop or whatever you use, I add it toa word document and make that a PDF. If you do that, try to add the carcassonne logo like on other tile pdfs in the download section.

Sorry if this is too long winded and confusing/ doesn't work...

There we go, I guess I should have tinkered around with it some more...as I somehow managed to get it to work! It should be correctly sized and ready to print...

http://www.mediafire.com/?5ehjiqz3exz

Looks pretty good to me... wait to see what others think...

Wow, the rules are good.

I can only spot 2 things:
1. The page number missing from the first page
2. The "story" paragraph (i.e. starting with "A devastating fire...") needs to be justified.

The fonts really don't matter too much, but if you are pedantic, you might want to try changing them to something that matches.  Also, another minor quibble is that the alignment of the background box does not "line up" when comparing page 1 to page 2.  You might want to fix that also.

After that, all you need to do is PDF the tile so that it prints out at the correct size at 100% and then it'll be ready for public downloads.

Well, I've fixed some of the things you mentioned. As far as the story goes, I'm not so sure what you mean as far as "justifying" it. I actually chose to write a different one altogether... let me know if it seems adequate, and if not, feel free to suggest how it may need to be stated.

"For years, the forests of Carcassonne have provided Woodsmen with rich resources and valuable trade goods.  However, this craft is at risk as the threat of forest fires is at an all-time high.  Forest fires so devastating that they may destroy all that was once profitable."

Also, I've posted a PDF of the tile that should print at the correct size. I posted the link above. Finally, thanks for all the help...I appreciate it.

Justify is a formatting option (like left, right and centre alignment). It increases/ decreases the space between words in ech line to fill the entire line with words.

Unjustified:
-----------------------
-------------------
-----------------------
----------------
---

Justified:
-----------------------
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
-----------------------
-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
-            -            -

See how the text (dashes) is lined up by varying the spaces. Novelty wants you to do that to the text.
It should be the 4th formatting option

Hahah, wow...I read too much into that. Here I was thinking the actual content of the story needed justification...which really had me perplexed. I didn't even consider the possibility of it referring to the formatting. Thanks for making clear what should have been obvious to me. :)

And finally, I seem to have "justified" my story! Here's the link once again...

http://www.mediafire.com/?ygzcmmnm1nt

and the tile PDF...

http://www.mediafire.com/?5ehjiqz3exz

The story bit is still not justified.  To justify it, there should be a format paragraph - align = justify option.  Other options should be left/right/centre.

The tile is fine.

Yes, just need to sort the justification of the opening story out.

This is a very good expansion for a first timer! Well done. Looking forward to what else you can come up with ;)

Well hmmph. According to the formatting options of my word program...it's definitely justified. Now that I look at it...it certainly doesn't look justified...tho the program would argue otherwise... I'll get this thing figured out sooner or later!

Ok! Justified, and looking like it. The link above should be updated. Thanks for the compliments...I've already got some ideas for more expansions...  :)

I'm looking forward to them!

I'll add this to public downloads later today, and will update the completed thread when that's done.  Merit point to you sir  (or ma'am) for your valiant effort at a first fan-made expansion, no less.