Tuesday 8 April 2014

Stuff... and Things

So, What's on my mind? I could talk on any number of subjects today, but I will limit myself to a few odds and ends.

Mad Science Update
The Mad Science sourcebook is in the final edited and ready for layout. There is a slight delay, however. The esteemed game designers over at Modiphius had a brilliantly successful kickstarter for their Achtung! Cthulhu game. First off, I have met several of their designers and they are all brilliant people doing excellent work, and I highly recommend you check them out. The problem is that we share an artist (the irreplaceable Dim Martin) with our British brethren, and they have first dibs. As I would never dream of violating the ancient and rarified rules involved in the system of dibs, I must wait until they are done with him before he can make our art. This pushes the PDF for Mad Science into the June timeframe, and means we just might get the print version in time for Gencon.

History
RPGs turned 40 this year. Holy crap! Personally, I have been gaming for a little over half of those years. I look back and remember things like the satanic panic (summarized here),  the rise of White Wolf, the Magic card explosion, the D&D collapse, the Wizards resurrection, 3rd Edition, the OGL, the indie movement, the backlash to the indie movement, the war between Paizo and 4th Ed, and a million more little changes and details. Time is weird.

Winter
As a Canadian, it is my duty to complain about winter. This one has been brutal. It's supposedly "spring" but snow lingers like the creepy weird guy that hangs around the game store who doesn't buy anything, but never leaves. As a protest, I ceased all winter snow removal activities. I stopped shovelling my driveway, and just rammed my Mazda through the snowbanks instead. I am sure that my neighbours think I am some sort of lazy slob (I'm not saying I'm not), but I am acting on principle, dammit! Winter is done. It's supposed to be spring. You know what, screw this. My day job is sending me on an exchange position in Florida for a few years. I am getting away from this winter insanity.

Titanfall
It's time for a giant robot aside. As a person who designed an entire game about robots beating the shit out of each other, I feel as though I should comment whenever a new piece of giant robot media makes waves. This time it's Titanfall. It has a story... but it's neither good nor engaging. It has first person shooting... it's nothing special; I'd rather play Halo. The big deal is that it has giant robots that beat the shit out of each other. Titanfall's robot combat is fast, brutal, tactical, and incredibly addictive. It's not perfect, and at times it can be frustrating, but I keep loading up to play another mission. There are hundreds if not thousands of Titanfall reviews out there so go check them out, and then figure out if you want to give the game a go. So, to summarize:

Cons
-Terrible Story
-No Single Player
-So-so first person shooting

Pros
-Giant robots with guns and missiles and stuff
-See above

Other Projects

I said I was working on other stuff. That stuff will become more apparent as time goes on. Some things are being shuffled in the schedule right now, and I will see what will be done when. Something just fell onto my plate recently and it requires immediate action.

4 comments:

  1. Next year you won't have to deal with the snow, handsome. Just the snakes.

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  2. Anything you can share on your Remnants game?
    Or is that game considered "Complete"?

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    Replies
    1. The impression Broken Lands supplement gives is that that there would be a similar supplement for each of the City States - Amantin, Morat Kerr, Crater Lake and possibly Wosaro Oasis.

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    2. The plan is for at least 2 sequels. One north and one south. Problem is I am moving this summer, so I won't be able to start work on it until fall at the very earliest.

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