I found myself in agreement with Judge Alpha's comments regarding the use of the required ingredients. However, while brainstorming for ideas without the pressure of a deadline, I found that rather than re-working the game to fit the Game Chef ingredients, I got sidetracked by an idea that makes too much sense for an RPG about videogame characters - genres. So now characters can choose a genre, such as First-Person Shooter, FRPG, Survival Horror, Crimulation (a la Grand Theft Auto), etc. Each genre puts a twist on gameplay for that type of character. This also carried over into the GMing advice, where there's now information about running games in each type of genre.
However, I digress...Alpha also commented on the "points-heaviness" of character creation. I think that's largely unavoidable given the bit-definition = character points conceit, but I came up with a "beginner's level" where starting characters don't buy subsystems or features until they need them in game, much like videogames with tutorial modes.
Hamsterprophet found the Reality Check rules a bit confusing - I've tightened those up, and introduced "walkthroughs" into the game, which are game design explanations of the wackier concepts of the game. There are also "cheat codes" which are hints about min/maxing for those who want them.
The end result of last night's successful playtest is that I am now on the path towards getting the game published as a pdf through my connection with PlotDevice. The twist is that, with his usual flair for attempting the impossible (exhibit A: Myrmidon), he plans to do a d20 conversion of SAVEgame.
So now I guess I've got some work to do...and more playtesting!
Michael.
