8/10/2021 update
over 3 years ago
– Tue, Aug 10, 2021 at 10:37:11 PM
Hi everyone, I apologize for being quiet over the past month. Life has been challenging and frankly, I’ve been pretty depressed.
Work is progressing, though I keep finding errors and get suggestions, questions from people, and a lot of hate mail though some of it comes with notes about issues I previously didn’t see, so I guess that’s a positive.
There has been a demand for a glossary of terms, so that is going into the final. I’m really starting to hate the word “final.” Every time I think it’s completely finished I find or hear about errors. Very frustrating. Real life has been challenging as well. The water main to my house has to be fixed, so we have no water right now. I get nightmares thinking about how much that is going to cost. When our plumbing broke a few years ago it cost around 20 grand to fix.
Anyhow, I’ve been blasted in a review about the base graphic design being too “white.” There is also a lot of white space that needs to be cleaned up, which might require some additional content. I really don’t want to fix these issues with artwork, but we’ll see. Perhaps more edges, more information about Psions might help in certain places. I’m not sure yet.
All in all, I really hate the idea of changing page graphics, but if the revisions are more problematic, it might be worth looking into optional designs just to see if it might look better.
I’ve also been thinking about formats for both POD and offset and I wonder if they should be standardized into a 7x10 format so I don’t have to go into two separate InDesign documents and do the revisions twice. The book sizes aren’t all that different, so space on the bookshelf isn’t going to change that much. I just need to decide now.
The Malmart Catalog
Not much news about that right now. One writer backed out for personal reasons, but that’s not slowing it down much. You’re going to find more information on Megacorps in the book as well as Savage Tales involving some of them. I think a gear book doesn’t_have_to be just about gear and rules; it can also give insight into the world, why people buy the things they do, what is trending in various markets, etc. At least that’s the goal.
The Solar System
I haven’t started writing this yet. I’m just taking notes, gathering reference material (things that inspire me, whether it’s a TV show, movie, a piece of artwork or a video game) and generally thinking about how various elements might impact the setting. If you have ideas, I’m certainly open to hearing from you.
Interface Zero: Dark Pathways (working title)
I’m in the same place as I am with the solar system; generally pruning ideas, incorporating others, and gathering sources of inspiration to help me focus. Right now, I have settled on three of the four alternate worlds: Cybercanum, Nexus (working title), and the Cthulhupunk setting. Sadly, I don’t have a name for it yet.
I’ll write more about these soon.
7/3/2021 Update: Explaining my decision to launch a new Kickstarter.
over 3 years ago
– Thu, Jul 08, 2021 at 04:01:00 PM
I need to explain myself and try to clear up some misconceptions.
First off, I apologize for the way I just threw out the announcement of next week’s Kickstarter as if it was an afterthought. That wasn’t my intention. I just wanted to let people know so they weren’t surprised, but in retrospect I should have explained myself, as I’m attempting to do now.
I didn’t make the decision to launch a new project lightly. I weighed a number of factors into the decision, not the least of which was the current state of IZ 3.0. Physical products have yet to be delivered, and I certainly understand the frustration and feelings of betrayal. After all, how can I start something new when they haven’t been delivered yet? The truth is, after I send the books and GM screen to the printer, I’ll have roughly 8 weeks to finalize the Way of the Gun Deck and get that printed. Other than that, the physical aspect of this kickstarter is going to be out of my hands very soon.
I still need to hire authors for the Solar System and Asia/Europe/UK book, but that will happen soon. The Malmart catalog is being written and I expect that I’ll have the manuscript later this month. That means all I have left for stretch goals is Dark Pathways, which I’ll be writing myself.
I also took my health into account. I’ve been very sick these past few months, but my health is much better now. I have more energy and most days I don’t feel like I’m a zombie. I’m focused, and able to make progress on my writing (mostly outlines) and I’m speeding through the last-minute adjustments to the Player’s Guide, GM’s Guide, and the Adventure. In general, I feel more in control of my life, and the direction of this kickstarter than I have been for the past two years.
I also looked at the next kickstarter and took that into account. How would this affect my ability to get work done? In the end I realized that well…not much. Health permitting, I work seven days a week, roughly 10 to 11 hours a day depending on when my wife gets home. I’m at home, so I don’t have to worry about going anywhere except to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, and I don’t have time constraints that might come with a second job. What this means, is that (especially now that my health is close to normal) I have the mental and emotional capacity to handle more things than I have been able to in recent months. Therefore, I have no problems working on two or even three projects during the day, so long as I manage my time right. This also includes day-to-day responsibilities that come with both running a business and being a good husband.
The last thing I considered was timing. Last August I had briefly considered running a kickstarter, but in the end I chose not to because I was still neck deep in writing and fixing broken material other writers had turned in. As I said, soon I’ll be free of my role in the printing process, and I’ll have writers working on stretch goals, which means between now and roughly mid-august I only have to focus on the card decks, which means I can handle the stresses of running a kickstarter and the additional workload. This month is the only time I have available to launch. If not now, then I have to wait until spring of 2022, and that’s just not feasible.
Last year I made about 10,000 dollars before expenses and taxes, and so far this year I’ve made a little over 4,000. I’ve only published four products since 2019. That’s unsustainable. I need to generate more revenue so I can continue to fulfill my financial obligations outside of this kickstarter. And those are considerable. I’ve stated before that kickstarter has become very important for small press publishers like myself. The platform has transformed the industry as whole and made it possible for rpg companies to reach larger audiences that we could ever hope to by using guerrilla marketing.
I want to stress again that I have not entered into this decision lightly. I have not, in any way shape or form, given up on this kickstarter, nor have I forgotten or marginalized your patience, support, and especially your feelings of betrayal over this, and I am so sorry for that.
Finally, as promised. Here are the links to get the Power armor and drone rules.
Power Armor Rules
Drone rules
June 25, 2021 Update
over 3 years ago
– Mon, Jun 28, 2021 at 07:03:50 AM
Hi everyone, I hope all has been well with you.
First off, I’m so sorry for my tardiness for this month. I’ve been ill and have been dealing with other personal life issues, and that has affected my ability to get work done on any of my projects.
That said, I’ve finally managed to get most of the text reflow done. I just have to re-index both books, finalize the POD covers and order my proofs. There have been some huge revisions to the pricing for Print On Demand books, particularly for Premium books. I did a ballpark estimate for the Player’s Guide, and cost for premium is going to be around 35.00 (!), so I’m also going to do standard quality versions, and I might even do softcover versions; perhaps even Black and White/Grayscale, though that will take more time, so I won’t be doing that immediately.
I’ll be doing prints of the Action deck in August in anticipation of having those ready for when I ship. The “Way of the Gun” deck needs revisions, as there were a lot of problems with the mechanics not lining up with Interface Zero and Swade.
The Malmart Catalog is humming along. In the next few days, I’ll be uploading the Power Armor and Drone creation rules for you to look at.
One final note. I’ll be launching a Kickstarter on July 7thto fund the production of sci-fi maps—primarily for Virtual Table Top games, but they come with print-ready versions as well. I’ve been slowly working on this in my off-time, (perhaps 2 or 3 hours a night), for a few years now, and I’m finally at the point where I feel comfortable enough with the software I use that I can produce some good maps.
Anyhow, I just wanted to let you know about that so you aren’t surprised when I begin to promote it.
Thanks for your time, everyone.
134/05/20201 Progress Update
over 3 years ago
– Thu, May 13, 2021 at 05:14:13 PM
Hi everyone, sorry for the delay in updates.
I've still been pretty fatigued, but progress on the re-flow of the books is coming along. I'm still getting bits and pieces of errata coming through, and that's been a struggle to fit it all in and still move forward with the process.
That said, I anticipate ordering my proof copies by the end of the month.
The Malmart Catalog is coming along nicely. I have play test rules in for Power Armor, and am waiting for Drone creation/customization rules before I share them with you.
That's all for now.
Thanks for your patience.
04/20/2021: Malmart Catalog Beta Creation rules available
almost 4 years ago
– Tue, Apr 20, 2021 at 11:45:49 PM
Hi everyone, I'm just popping in to give you a link to download the Beta version of the Armor, Firearms, Golemmech and vehicle creation rules.
The team has worked hard on these rules, and we think you're going to love them!
They are also working on Power Armor and Drone creation rules, but those aren't ready yet.
You can get the PDF here:
Malmart Catalog beta creation rules
