Art & IT Management
Here is likely the final update to the classic Speedstream gameplay loop. While this new rule is entirely optional, it is highly recommended for anyone looking to add a deeper layer of strategy to their racing. Now, your position on the track matters more than ever—whether you are leading the pack or fighting your way from the back.
Finally! The rulebook is officially done… for proofreading, anyway. Still, this is a huge hurdle cleared. We’ve finally translated the rules from “designer-speak” into a language players can actually follow. Believe me, that’s no small feat—when you’re the one building the game, everything seems completely obvious!
And yes, it will be available to read right alongside the upcoming TTS module!
Up until now, the game featured 20 dice—which, let’s face it, is a lot. While color-coding them, rolling the matching color, and counting “X” marks looked great on paper, it felt pretty clunky during actual play.
To fix this, I’ve consolidated the pool down to just 10 dice. The challenge was making them visually distinct while maintaining a cohesive theme. You’ll also notice a shift to yellow—the signature color of Drift (and, appropriately, the color of “problems”). While players now have to look for specific icons, there are only two to keep track of. That is still a massive upgrade from managing 20 dice!
The only downside is that this will take a bit more time to integrate into the rulebook, as I now need to update it with the new icons and logic.
This week, we ran into an interesting balancing issue with the Initiative system in Speedstream Recharged. While the mechanics work as intended, we noticed it becomes a bit overpowered in the late game, inadvertently creating a rigid metagame pattern.
But don’t worry! We already have a fix in mind. It still needs a round of playtesting, but after a quick brainstorming session, the solution looks promising. Honestly, if all our design hurdles were this easy to solve, I’d be thrilled.
Alongside the gameplay tweaks, I made a few visual corrections based on player feedback regarding distractions and color-coding confusion. Sometimes, you have to put artistic ambition aside to prioritize clear, functional gameplay.
The cherry on top! The track in the image is a quick “what could be” doodle. Now that the old jump ramp has been transformed into a tunnel with simple entry and exit mechanics, it’s completely possible to create unaligned track builds. It’s opening up a lot of creative freedom, and honestly, it’s really inspiring!
It’s been a bit quiet around here lately, but there’s been a ton of work happening behind the scenes! For starters, I’ve put together the pitch deck for Speedstream, and now I’m diving deep into the game manual. Wrapping your head around all the rules and translating them into a smooth, easy-to-understand guide is definitely tedious work, but I’m making progress. All the layout images are ready, and the manual is officially about 33% complete!
How about a really short track and the Eliminator Mode in an endless loop?
The core rules and gameplay of Privateers of Aether are stable, and now it’s time to play a little more with possibilities. It’s time to add some spicy weaponry and gadgets.
Four already existing weapons got an “upgrade”, so there will be more options for the captains. We have also added new machines of destruction: Flamers that can also be used in reaction, Railgun with the ability to deliver massive damage and thus great glory to the crew, and Lightning coil with a quite intriguing way of attacking.
This still needs testing, but I’m optimistic. Drop me a line if you want to dive into the aerial battlefield.
Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you know that Privateers of Aether is still very much on my radar.
I recently made a slight tweak to one of the weapon cards and added a TTS quality-of-life feature: button-controlled card hiding areas. Thanks for the feedback, and stay tuned for more!
I’m looking for all those interested in playtesting the new Recharged version of Speedstream. You will have the opportunity to witness all the changes the high-speed sport is going through.
https://calendly.com/rafal-zerych/speedstream-recharged
Gather all players wanting to become speeder pilots and select a fitting time slot during the next two weeks. Please keep in mind that I’m located in the CET time zone.
Due to the rules changes, we had to change almost all of the Equipment Cards. The overall feel of them is similar, but now they are more balanced, and each of them matters. You may notice some of the cards have changed into different things, like the Drone.
In addition, we have introduced some new ideas and new equipment. You will now have even more tactical possibilities to overtake or disrupt your opponents. I promise you, this will be fun!