Hardware Blues

So far, the holidays have been a major bust when it comes to my game.  The biggest downer occurred when my hard drive completely crapped out on me.  I mean it was DEAD.  Having had problems like this before, I routinely back up my documents on an external hard drive and even uploaded them into the “cloud.”  This time around, however, I discovered two very important weaknesses: a) backups can become corrupted and therefore useless, and b) it’s a good idea to backup your art assets as well as the finished documents the assets go into.  In short, cover your assets.

So, after installing an entirely new hard drive and reinstalling various programs, I discovered that I had lost almost all of the art I had done for the Ovid Incident (except for whatever was already in the document itself).  This means all the mutants and characters I had created are gone unless I had already put them into the Ovid Incident document (which had been safely backed up).

It was very demoralizing to say the least.

Along with all the busyness of the holidays (family, drinking, getting bailed out of jail), I haven’t gotten much done.  On the bright side, however, the New Year is upon us with its promise of hope and improved hardware performance.  Although I’ve learned some valuable lessons, I’m glad to say goodbye to 2009.

For those of us at the Imperium Chronicles, I wish you a Happy New Year!

The Crimson Kiss

Before writing the Imperium Chronicles RPG, I originally created an online graphic novel and (shorter) online comic based on the universe that would become the game. Although both have been available through my website, I decided to publish the latter (called Magnus Black: Born in the Grave) on DriveThruComics so people could download the PDF. Several people have downloaded it, but since the comic’s free, that’s really no surprise. On the other hand, H1N1 (Swine Flu) is also free, so I shouldn’t assume people actually like the comic.

I love the graphic novel/comic format because it combines story telling with a visual media. Films (live action and animation) also combine these elements, but I lack the money, skill, or time to make movies. Truth be told, I also lack the artistic skill to create a good comic. I’ve always depended on software like Poser and Photoshop to compensate for my lack of drawing ability. Even so, I’ve been playing around with the idea of writing a script that a real artist would then turn into something people could read. This is actually pretty common: there are countless comics writers who can’t draw a straight line to save their lives and plenty of artists who have trouble signing their own name (unless it’s in some sort of calligraphy).

So, besides working on the Ovid Incident (the adventure module for Imperium Chronicles), I’ve also started writing a script for an Imperium comic called “The Crimson Kiss.” It’s based on an adventure idea for the game, which I think would make a pretty good comic. Coincidentally, I first mentioned the Crimson Kiss in this blog entry which just happens to be the most searched post on my blog, apparently due to the words “naked elf women” in the title.

I won’t go into much detail right now about the script, but I will say its protagonist, Rowan Ramus, was included in my most recent supplement, Home Worlds, and in a story fragment I wrote here. He’s a Dahl outcast who’s teamed up with a Gordian named Orkney Fugg and a robot named Gen. They’re hired to investigate attacks on some merchant ships that eventually lead them to a surprising discovery. I’ll try to keep you posted about how it’s coming along.

Home Worlds Now On Sale!

Home Worlds is now available for purchase! Considering I delayed it by a month, I’m pretty pleased with the outcome (maybe because of the delay). As I explained before, I pulled out about a third or more of the content and replaced it with a lot of new stuff (including NPCs and new creatures). The end result is a better product. Now I need to see if anyone buys it.

Speaking of which, I’m happy with how my previous product, Cardboard Citizens II, has been selling. It’s not very expensive, so I’m not getting rich from it, but selling stuff you’ve worked hard on does wonders for my fragile self-esteem. Would it kill my Mom to buy a copy?? ;-)

Currently, I’m churning the story for the Ovid Incident in my head. The whole thing starts when the characters get a distress call saying a research station has been hit by a micro-singularity (a black hole basically). For that reason, I’d like to incorporate some fractures in time, perhaps ghost-like images from the past showing people from the base before the accident. I plan on using this as a storytelling device, to move the plot along as the characters explore the damaged structure.

Below is a work-in-progress for Ovid. It’s a mutant I’m calling “Dark Angel.” He hovers above the ground and kills with a burst of radiation.

Ancient Temples (in Space)!

It’s taken four tries, but I think I’ve finally got something I can use for the cover of Home Worlds. I already did two images, the first was the Pool of Memory (which really sucked) and the second showed an Aztec-style temple (for the Draconian home world). Since the latter wasn’t really “sci-fi enough,” I decided to create a new one that showed a street scene with an alien walking down the sidewalk. However, the Editor (also known as the Wife) didn’t like it, so I tried again. With the Editor looking over my shoulder, I fashioned a scene with the Draconian temple again, but with a large alien moon filling the sky. This was met with a conciliatory gesture from the Wife (i.e.: she put down the stun gun), and the cover art was decided!

As for the rest of Home Worlds, it’s almost ready for re-proofreading, so I need to figure out what I’m doing for my next project. Previously, I had been doing stuff for the Ovid Incident adventure module, but all this work on creatures for Home Worlds got me thinking about doing a supplement on minor races. I’ve also considered doing a supplement about the Five Families (and the minor aristocratic families) of the Imperium. However, from a business point of view, I really think I need more adventure modules, so I’m going to finish Ovid before tackling anything else.

As a side note, I’ve been writing for the Examiner.com website lately. It doesn’t really pay anything frankly, but it does give me some experience. Take a look at one of my newest articles, an interview with another game publisher located here in the Midwest.

So, here’s the two cover images: the first is the rejected street scene, and the other is the one I think I’ll be using.

Fantasy/Sci-fi Smash Up!

I’ve been working full speed ahead on the Home Worlds supplement since my last blog post. Although I was disappointed with how the supplement was shaping up before, I’m feeling more at ease with it now. I pulled out everything that wasn’t related to actual home worlds, including Dark Psi and the racial abilities. Instead, I’ve been adding NPCs and creatures for each planet, and changing the formatting a bit to highlight each world.

The Imperium Chronicles RPG is a fusion (or “smash up”) of fantasy and sci-fi, and I’ve been able to continue that theme with Home Worlds. For example, the Dahl (who are analogous to fantasy elves) share their planet with a minor race called the Fae (or “fairies”). For die-hard sci-fi players, the idea of seeing fairies flying around their science fiction universe might seem crazy, but that’s exactly the kind of incongruity that I love. Besides, who wouldn’t like to see a centaur (a future race I have planned) running around with a missile launcher strapped to his back?? ;-)

Since my last post, I’ve also published a print version of my online comic, Magnus Black: Born in the Grave. Lately, I’ve been thinking about writing a script for a comic based on my adventure module, Scent of Decay. I wanted to write the script and then collaborate with an artist to do the actual drawing. Since I’ve never written a script for a comic before, however, I’ve been practicing with my Magnus Black story. Of course, this is backwards from what you’d normally do, but I thought it’d be a good way to familiarize myself with writing scripts. I’ve only done a little bit so far, but it’s been educational and a lot of fun.

Here are a couple of images from Home Worlds, both with a fantasy theme. The first is an NPC named Danu the Fae Queen, and the other is a minor race called the Sporemen: