Bay 12 Games Forum

Alternate Title: I'm gonna start my own crime squad! With blackjack! And hookers!

I've started working on an idea I've had for a while now, and it's actually in a decent-enough state that I thought I'd show it off and get some feedback on it. See if it was as good of an idea as it seemed in my head.

If you haven't guessed from the title, I've added a casino to the game. Inside, there are three different casino games to interact with: Poker, Blackjack, and Slot Machines.





The games themselves are nothing overly fancy. You basically get a prompt asking if you want to play, another prompt asking if you want to attempt to cheat, and (when playing blackjack or the slot machines) the game randomly determines whether or not you've won. Poker is a little different, in that victory is determined by your Persuasion skill (“I know I was bluffing with my last ten hands, but I'm totally holding a Royal Flush right now. You should definitely fold.”)

Here's an “honest” blackjack game to demonstrate:









Alternately, you can use your Stealth skill to cheat in blackjack and poker, and your Computer skill to hack the slot machine. This'll guarantee a victory, just so long as your skill is high enough to avoid getting caught.

For instance, if you're caught cheating in blackjack or hacking the slot machines, you'll have an angry Pit Boss to deal with, which may actually be easier than the angry mob you'll have screaming for your blood should you be caught cheating at the poker table:



Anyway, this is still a work in progress, so be sure to let me know what you think of it so far.

Additional Notes:

Though it's yet to be implemented, I also plan on allowing you to steal money from the casino directly. So far, I'm torn between giving to casino a vault similar to the one in the bank (thought easier to break into and containing less cash), or just stashing to casino's profits in a safe, similar to the one in the
Corporate HQ/CEO's House. On one hand, I kind of feel that the Bank Vault should one of a kind, but  a regular safe just feels anticlimactic. Thoughts?

So far as I know, cheating in a casino isn't actually illegal. Currently, when you're caught cheating while playing blackjack / hacking the slot machine, and you choose to surrender, you get sent to jail with a loitering charge. I'd like to make things a little more interesting, and plan to set it up so surrendering to a pit boss results in you “getting taken to a back room and beaten to a pulp”. Instead of going to jail, you'd basically just find yourself kicked back to your safehouse with some fresh injuries and your clothes in tatters.

With regards to slot machines, I haven't shown any screenshots with them because I'm toying with the idea of changing how they function. Currently, as with blackjack and poker, you're given a prompt asking if you'd like to play the machine, and another prompt asking if you'd like to cheat by hacking the machine. If you don't hack the machine, your odds of winning are completely random (but certainly not in your favor), whereas your odds of successfully hacking the machine are determined by your Computer skill. I may remove the option to cheat entirely, and have the computer skill determine your odds of victory when playing the slots normally. The implication being that players with a higher Computer skill are just more in tune with the machine they're playing. They've studied the particular model of slot machine they're using, they know its quirks and weaknesses and can predict when it's going to hit the jackpot.

With regards to blackjack; currently, if you don't cheat, your odds of winning are completely random. I'd like so that playing blackjack actually relied on one of your skills. The higher the skill, the better your odds of winning. The problem is that while Persuasion makes sense with regards to bluffing in poker, and the Computer skill is the obvious choice with regards to slot machines, none of the skills currently in the game lends itself to playing blackjack. If there was a Mathematics skill in the game, it would be a perfect match (with the implication that you're subtly counting cards), but it doesn't make sense to add a new skill into the game if it's only going to be used for one possible skill check. Tying the Business skill to your blackjack performance is an idea I'm considering, but I'm wondering if it would be obvious enough?

With regards to adding skills to the game, in older versions of LCS, I remember there being a skill called “Sleigh of Hand”. It could be found on Amateur Magicians. I believe it was taken out for being unnecessary, as well as being redundant when paired with the Stealth skill. While the Stealth skill certainly works with regards to cheating at the table games, Sleigh of Hand seems like it would be an even more perfect match. It would also work perfect for another non-gambling related idea I had. That said, the skill was removed from the game for a reason, and as I've stated above, it just doesn't make sense to (re)add a skill to the game it it's only going to be used in one or two ultra-specific situations.

Again, let me know your thoughts on what I've got so far, and whether or not you think a casino would add to the game at all.

I had couple of ideas for some small "improvements" to LCS, and I thought I'd share them to see if anybody else thought they were decent, or if my brain was simply steering me in the wrong direction (again).

1. Selling stolen cars seems to be a bit on the easy side. I propose that a new "car salesperson" character should be created, and that stolen cars can only be sold once you have recruited one of these "car salespeople" and have sent them to work at the dealership as a sleeper. A random "You have been caught in a police car theft sting" event could also be added/substituted for my above idea.

2. The pawn shop already serves this function (somewhat), but I was thinking that a new "Used Clothing Store" could be added to the game. You would have to sell your clothing here instead of at the pawn shop, and you could buy cheaper clothing here as well. The selection would probably have to be randomized however (Sorry sir, we sold our last cheap suit yesterday), and the clothing might not (in certain cases) be in tip top condition. The lower a character's tailoring skill, the higher their chances of buying a second/third/forth rate article of clothing. A character with a higher tailoring skill would be more likely to notice these flaws, and would therefore only purchase first rate items. Either that, or they could request a discount after bringing such flaws to the clerk's attention.  A "Used Clothing Store" could also allow the creation of a "vintage clothes" item, which, though it probably wouldn't serve any useful function, would be damn awesome as it would allow the player's squad to run around in whatever the player's perception of "vintage clothing" was.

Also, I've got some ideas for some "flavor text", so if anybody knows the proper steps I need to go through to submit it for Fox's approval, could they please let me know?