The P.A.R.V.
History
The inspiration for the PARV came from Wayne McCaul, who suggested the concept
for the BrikWars game. The idea was for a Mad Max style BrikWars game, where
post-apocolyptic inhabitants wrestled for control of an advanced vehicle, and Blood
Warriors would attempt to try and board the escaping vehicle. I began playing with
ideas shortly thereafter, and took over the game direction from there. It wasn't
long before I began sketching out preliminary designs for the PARV.
The design was largely influenced by Wayne's initial descriptions and also
by the game itself. According to the description, it had to be large-- capable of
housing dozens of people for months. And for the sake of the game, it had to be
easy for the invaders to board. Hence the rear landing platform, bevy of outer
ladders, and front/side exposed platforms. It also meant I wanted a lot of
functionality that could be manually overridden, like turrets, sub-vehicles, and
the crane.
The idea to make it modular was Shaun Sullivan's. He suggested allowing other
game players to participate in the PARV's construction by letting them build modules
which could be inserted when the game was played. Turns out there were 3 modules
built by other players for the game (two by Shaun and one by Jonathan Dallas).
Construction took place over about 8 months, the majority of which was done in extreme
building sessions prior to BrickFest 2005, in a mad dash to get it completed for display
at the event. It made it there (and won 2nd place in the large MOC Space category), but
the interior wasn't yet complete.
The game took place on Sep. 17, 2005. Participants included the Omics (defending
the PARV): Alfred Speredelozzi, Joe Comeau, and Dan Boger, and the Blood Warriors (attacking
the PARV): Shaun Sullivan, Wayne McCaul, Jamie Berard, and Jonathan Dallas. I served as the
Game Master, and Jennifer Boger served as an audience member. Pictures from the game are
available on BrickShelf:
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