Have I got this right?

curtis.lacy · Post by **curtis.lacy** » 06 Dec 2011, 02:15

Hello, everyone.

I'm doing a quick survey of a variety of available game prototyping/playtesting tools, and ZunTzu was one of the products recommended to me. If anyone has a minute, and is interested, could you give my writeup a quick look at http://www.globalgamespace.org/index.ph ... rt/zuntzu/ ? I don't want to accidentally leave a feature out!

Thanks!

Post by **Jerome** » 06 Dec 2011, 10:59

Hi!
Thanks for doing this survey.

Everything you wrote is correct. I have two remarks though.

1 - the way game box designers include rules documentation with ZunTzu is by adding scanned material as additional tabs.

2 - I don't think it is fair to write that game box design requires programming skills. The only thing required is to provide a small text file with the correct syntax. I know designers with no programming skill who managed to get it done.
That point is especially misleading when comparing ZunTzu with Vassal. Your readers will have the impression that designing for Vassal is easier while it is arguably much simpler with ZunTzu. The situation is quite the opposite really: Vassal users often expect features that cannot be obtained in Vassal without programming.

For additional information on this matter, here is a link to an independent review. I hope it helps.

curtis.lacy · Post by **curtis.lacy** » 06 Dec 2011, 14:55

Hi Jerome,

Thanks for giving my writeup a look! On your two points.

1 - the way game box designers include rules documentation with ZunTzu is by adding scanned material as additional tabs.

Awesome. I've updated my page to reflect that.

2 - I don't think it is fair to write that game box design requires programming skills. The only thing required is to provide a small text file with the correct syntax. I know designers with no programming skill who managed to get it done.
That point is especially misleading when comparing ZunTzu with Vassal. Your readers will have the impression that designing for Vassal is easier while it is arguably much simpler with ZunTzu. The situation is quite the opposite really: Vassal users often expect features that cannot be obtained in Vassal without programming.

Yeah, the "requires no programming skills" test is proving tricky. I've been setting the bar pretty low as far as that goes, but that "correct syntax" part is the key one as far as I'm concerned. I probably should rename it to "GUI tool available for designing." I want to be complete, though - what features do Vassal users find they want that they have to program to get?

Post by **Jerome** » 06 Dec 2011, 15:46

curtis.lacy wrote:I probably should rename it to "GUI tool available for designing." I want to be complete, though - what features do Vassal users find they want that they have to program to get?

I agree. I am sure your readers will find "GUI tool available for designing" more useful.

Regarding your question: my understanding is that many Vassal modules provide some level of automation to improve the user experience. That is done by attaching "trigger action" traits to game bits, which can be viewed as a form of programming. Take this with a grain of salt as I am not an authority on Vassal - obviously.