SemiOS Workshop

[20:15:15] #Schiavetto: Now that we're entering Round 2, we'll be having a quick workshop on Semi-OSes!
[20:15:52] #Schiavetto: Much like the first round, we'll start off with a few easy pointers & give time for Q&A toward the end^^
[20:16:18] #Schiavetto: honestly, semi-open setups aren't *too* different from open setups - the main thing to realize is that
[20:16:47] #Schiavetto: while in an open setup, everyone knows all the roles right off the bat, semi-open setups have a bit more puzzle-solving
[20:17:21] #Schiavetto: in a semios, your players know all the possible roles in the setup--the twist is that they don't know which of those roles will actually be in the final rolelist
[20:18:02] #Schiavetto: a few familiar examples are setups like Ideas, 2d3, Carbon14, or (on the more extreme end of things) Small Street
[20:18:25] #Schiavetto: [20:18:16] A Year in Advance: and 9:12 :D
[20:18:25] #Schiavetto: yes!
[20:19:30] #Schiavetto: There's a few ways to go about creating the different "variations" within your semios
[20:20:00] #Schiavetto: a lot of themes, like 2d3, will use what's called a matrix
[20:20:03] #Schiavetto: .link https://i.imgur.com/w0O8UUA.png

[20:20:45] #Schiavetto: for matrix setups, you're basically using your rows and columns to create different twists on the same basic setup
[20:21:30] #Schiavetto: another way to go about this is by creating a master rolelist with certain slots with interchangeable roles
[20:21:39] #Schiavetto: .link https://i.imgur.com/3tZbLIt.png

[20:22:25] #Schiavetto: this is the style i went with when i made Copscotch - a lot of the fundamentals are the same, but you can see where some of the power roles are interchangeable depending on which setup is being used for a particular game
[20:23:13] #Schiavetto: Building the themes in that way can be useful from a design standpoint bc it helps to reduce the risk of your setup being broken by massclaim (which can be a major issue in open setups)
[20:23:26] #Schiavetto: It also helps out with balance issues
[20:24:22] #Schiavetto: In an OS, your main concern is making sure that each of the factions have checks and balances for each other - for a semiOS, there's room for things to be a bit swingy
[20:24:39] #Schiavetto: (Ideas are famous for this)
[20:25:02] #Schiavetto: That being said, the sign of a good semi-open setup is having some kind of balance in each setup variant
[20:26:05] #Schiavetto: grouping power roles together can be a good way to do this
[20:27:25] #Schiavetto: Take 2d3 for example: In column A, you can end up with a wide variety of roles - a Neapolitan, a Doctor, a Jailkeeper... You'll notice, though, that in column A, no matter which power role they get, Town always has some way to get clears. Meanwhile, Maf always has some way to block their intel
[20:28:32] #Schiavetto: Similarly, in copscotch, you'll notice that town always has access to some kind of cop and some kind of kill-protection - meanwhile, Maf always has access to a role that bypasses protection and at least one way of tampering with inspects
[20:29:45] #Schiavetto: While semi-open setups can seem a bit complicated on the surface, breaking them down in this way helps make them more manageable and, in some senses, easier to design than your typical open setup.
[20:30:19] #Schiavetto: ~*~*~*~*~At this time, if you have any questions, go ahead an PM them and I can answer here
[20:31:13] #Schiavetto: [20:20:58] Alexander489: https://wiki.mafiascum.net/index.php?title=Greater_Idea_Mafia
[20:31:13] #Schiavetto: [20:21:00] Alexander489: heres my theme
[20:31:13] #Schiavetto: :p I know your joking, but this is probably a good place to remind folks that custom ideas are still off-limits
[20:32:36] #Schiavetto: [20:31:45] AlZev∞2002: wdym
[20:32:36] #Schiavetto: this was in reference to the idea restriction
[20:33:43] #Schiavetto: For those of you who weren't around for the original rule (over a year ago), something that tends to happen with custom IDEAs is that they can feel too similar to Greater Idea or Cracking Idea
[20:35:31] #Schiavetto: as a result, the room made the decision to disallow them. We'll still be allowing setups that draw inspiration from GI, GestI, etc. - but in terms of themes that rely on the IDEA script, the original ruling is still in place.
[20:36:51] #Schiavetto: With that, I'll wrap things up there. If you have any lingering questions, or want to run some ideas by staff before submission, you can always reach out to us through PMs, on Discord, or in the forum thread (probably your best bet)
[20:37:31] #Schiavetto: We'll be holding onto Round 1 scores for now, but expect a talkback thread to go up shortly, for you to discuss all the round 1 submissions while you await judging.
[20:37:40] #Schiavetto: Happy theme-building!