I created a card game with my friend based on StarCraft, called WOTR (War of the Races). It was relatively simple and very unbalanced: cards had only ground attack/air attack stats and a supply cost, exactly the same as StarCraft units. There were also v.2 cards, which had double the attack and supply values. For every card you had, you needed to have a certain amount of supply (each supply counts as only one, so a siege tank needed 4 depots on the field). Supply depot were destroyed with the card. This made the game very unbalanced, as players could draw dozens of supply or units without a single one of the other. No upgrades, and spells were very crude limited. Units were either dead or alive. Don't make the same mistakes I did here.
I created a similar game, WOTR v.2. It was too complicated because I tried to include spells, movement, abilities, armor, buildings, etc. It was so terrible I didn't even make a full deck. Don't try to overcomplicate things.
I created another card game, SCG4NP (You don't need to know what it stands for). This one was better than the first two. What I included here was a limit on attacking, guarding, and HP. It was not SC-based, but it was more balanced. This is where I introduced "levels" of cards. Each card had a level: 1, 2, or 3. Level one cards needed no support buildings to be played. Level Two cards needed one support; L3 needed two support. (Levels were determined by the strength of the card.) There were varied "slots" on the field (average four or five, there was no set slot number). Each unit was put in an induvidual slot, and a building could be put under it-- that unit guarded the building. SCG4NP was still a bit too complicated as there could be up to 5 "units" on one card (each with their own HP).
The final card game I named EPIC FAIL. This one wasn't SC-based, but I think it's the most balanced and successful, although it relives a bit too much on luck. At the beginning, players draft cards by "Packs." Each card has strength, armor, HP, and value (value is how much the player loses when the card is destroyed-- more powerful cards have higher value). Strength+1d20 has to try and beat armor in an attack (armor is usually between 10-18, HP 1-3) Winning an attack always results in loss of one HP. Attacking cards cannot lose HP in an attack unless otherwise stated. Each card ALWAYS has a special ability, from "Second Try" to "Nuclear Strike" (I included SOME SC units) I like the attacking mechanic in this game, even though luck is very involved. I also like drafting, as it forces players to cope when they don't get all the cards they want, and they must invent new strategies. This may not work for your SC card game, but this might: ALTERING UNIT STATS. Yes, you could give a marine 2 HP and 1 attack, and don't worry about armor, speed, or firing rate.
I'll elaborate more later (my time is limited on weekdays), and explain more how this relates to your game.
Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Mar 26 2009, 3:01 am by rayNimagi.
Win by luck, lose by skill.