Topic: Developer's Journal

[Defendi]

1/19/07

I just wrote a whole big journal and then lost it.  So here are the highlights:

Product 3: Things are coming along nicely.  I turned in the HERO version for approval, and that places my projected release date around 3/18.  I?ll turn in the Rolemaster and HARP versions soon.  I don?t foresee any problems getting approval on any of them.

Product 4: I think we?re coming out of an art crisis.  Kevin Wasden had to pass on this one and that leaves me with Brian Hailes and a new artist.  I THINK we have it all covered, but if you know any artists that are willing to work for a small company on royalty, let me know.

Product 6: We should start play testing in a week or so.

Release Schedule: I?m incredibly stupid.  I redid the schedule a month or so ago and gave myself a six month cycle.  The idea was to release everything early instead of slipping on release dates.  Problem is I placed the release dates 2 months apart and so it?s really still only a two month schedule.  So I only have an extra month built into it now.  If I take three months to produce product 4 . . . well, then I?ll be right back just making deadline.  So I might have to redo it one last time to fix that mistake.  If I do, I promise to try to make it the last.  I?m still fighting for the mythical two month production cycle.  Anyway, please forgive the foibles of a new publisher.

Until next time.

[Defendi]

I couldn't get on last night.    Here's the Dev Journal.

2/24/07

All right.  More than a month.  A pretty hectic month too.  Let?s see if I can get it all down.

When I last updated you, we?d just had an art disaster as Kevin Wasden bowed out of product 4.  We?ll he gave me two names and one of them has worked out VERY well.  Anyway, I?m delighted to have her, and my goal is to get as much art out of her as possible before she realizes she?s too good for my company.

When I last wrote, I had also just finished the HERO version of the product and sent it off.  That puts my projected release time right around 3/18.  Let?s see . . . that?s about 23 days.  Hmm.  As I said in a post on the ICE board, that?s going to be all about the maps, but I should come in right around that time.

After the HERO version, I had to hammer right into the play test for product 6.  When I posted that last dev journal I was already late starting it.  I finished that in about a week and a half and now we?re happily playing away.  There is a bonded item in it I?m not happy with, but I have time to play with that before it matters.  Other than that, it?s going fine.  I?m getting great reactions out of GerikGnome, so I know that someone who knows the IP will like it.  I fear sometimes the subtle emotion is lost on the other play testers, who?ve never cracked the books and don?t seem to remember anything I tell them from one session to the next.  They seem to be having fun though, so who am I to judge?  (Update.  Since I started this yesterday, we did another play test.  A lot of cool things came out of History maneuvers and now at least two players are convinced K?lan is their favorite saint ever).

We added another play test group.  They?re behind of course, but I hope to catch them up by product 4 release.  It?s a HARP group so it serves double duty (I have some HARP stuff coming up and I need to get game-design familiar with it, which is a far cry from writing adventures familiar).  The funny part was over half the group has been in the setting in past play tests, but they still roleplayed the first conversation in Act One of Throne of God for more than an hour.  That?s commitment to roleplaying, when your willing to spend more than an hour playing out a conversation with no new information.

An interesting side note.  It?s about the first real encounter (that isn?t optional) in Act Two of the first adventure.  Don?t tell me your stories here, because it would involve spoilers and even with the spoiler features, let?s avoid accidents.  Anyway, tell me how that battle played out for all your games.  In every play test, it completely fell apart. Haven?t lost a character to it yet, but each time we come REALLY close.

So, after writing the play test I hammered together the HARP version of product three (no matter how the play test notes look, that is ALWAYS a lot of new writing).  Then I wrote PART 4 of the RM version (I wrote part 4 as HERO first, since that needed to be turned in.  Then I collapsed in exhaustion and got a wicked case of pneumonia.

As another side, part 4 is a nightmare in this product.  It?s only a few pages long, but it?s the hardest to write, since it involves Dwarven Rune Magic, a base profession (base class, d20), and two training packages (prestige classes, d20).  No matter how well I have it laid out, it always takes forever to write.  Especially in RM and HARP where the word Rune has preexisting meanings for me to hurt myself on.

Okay, so pneumonia.  Here?s the good and the bad of it.  The good news is that my lungs are so fricken huge that I can walk around and hardly notice with cases that cause doctors to go white (I got a panicked phone call once because I?d lost 80% of one lung and 20% of the other and they were afraid I was in danger of passing out.  I was at work when the phone call came, chugging away oblivious because I?d believed them a week earlier when they said I didn?t have pneumonia).  The bad news is my lungs are so big, or there?s something about their structure, that I get pneumonia on average once a year.

So, I?m wrapped up the HARP version, threw the RM and HARP versions at ICE and I get smashed with a really bad case of pneumonia right before a big convention.  So, at that time my schedule says I?m supposed to be writing d20, Datanet 6, two adventures for Guild Adventurer, Doing errata for Spacemaster, and scanning the new pagemakes of SM that for errors.  At the same time I need to prep an academic paper on Religious and Mythological Symbols and Archetypes in Game Design with a focus on the Echoes of Heaven (for the con, which is really a symposium).

That was a bad week.

So all the SM and Guild adventurer stuff suffered and then we were straight into the convention.  That went well . . . even got some sales.  Someone gave me magic pills that are supposed to . . .

Dammit!  Life changing news.

About six weeks back (this was in the lost dev journal) I was told that I probably have celiac disease.  So now I?m avoiding gluten (I haven?t been officially diagnosed, and I?m keeping it that way because I don?t have insurance).  So I can?t have any wheat.  Wheat?s in everything BTW.  By the time I got to my favorite soy sauce, I was about in tears.

So anyway at the convention someone gave me magic pills that are supposed to break down the gluten before it has time to do much damage.  Not an ideal solution, but a good backup.  I THINK my first experiment was promising. I had a huge gluten meal and it had only slight effect on me.  Problem is, I did it a second time the next day (which they told me not to do) and I?ve been paying for it ever since.

So convention.  Symposium.  Whatever.  I got to hang out with Kevin Wasden.  Generated GREAT buzz for the setting.  Hung out just a bit with Brandon Sanderson (read Mistborn).  Met and had lunch with Stacy Whitman from Wizard?s Mirrorstone books.  Hung out with Dan Willis (Dragonlance author) and Howard Tayler (www.schlockmercenary.com).  Picked up a stalker.  Was able to buy original Wasden Spacemaster Art at the auction.  Overall a very nice event.  We had some kinks with the writing workshop due to massive turn out, but Brandon took half the people out.  They want us to do another at Conduit in May, but the Brandon already backed out and Dan is a little worried on the format.  We?ll see.

So.  Product Three was a bear to convert.  The main reason for that is the Warlord and another character, both epic level (to use the D20 term).  It?s amazing how long it takes to write those guys up properly.  In the d20 version, PCGen does great, but it chokes on a 50th level character with Divine Rank of 0.  Go fig.

Anyway, since the convention ended, I?ve finished the d20 conversion of three (yesterday) and the first draft of Datanet 6 for SM.  Now I?m trying to hammer out two adventures for Guild Adventurer.  One is Spacemaster, because I?m their SM guy (naturally.)  The other is a RM adventure that takes place between Episode Two and Three of Moving Shadow in Echoes.  I?m happy about that, but now I?m realizing it will probably come out after three.  Oh well.  It?s still a fun little Echoes adventure.

So.  There I am.  Tonight I?m back to my same old.  My schedule, as I see it now, is pretend I?m writing for Guild Adventurer (I?m actually already done for the day), then do the Equipment Manual Errata for SM.  Then MAYBE scan all the pagemakes of Privateers, because I saw a pagemaking error.  Maybe do some chapters for a novel (new draft, not new writing), then I?m into maps for three.  We?ll see how much of that I actually finish.  I already critiqued a chapter for a friend, during ?lunch.?

Anyway.  Keep smiling.  If the world gets you down, punch it in the throat a little.

[Defendi]

Quick update.

Just finished the CC2 versions of the maps.  That bodes well for 3/18 or right thereabouts.  My goal is to finish all the CC3 and DD3 by the time I go to bed tomorrow night.  That has me pagemaking Thursday night.  I'm stilling waiting for one piece of art, but I expect it soon.

[Defendi]

I think you're going to just get quick updates until release.  Here is, off the tops of my head, what has to happen after I start the maps:

Finish Maps
Output maps to high res graphics files.
Get Part 4 of the d20 version back from editor.
Get d20 doc back from proofer.
Design the Covers
Get the Covers Proofed
Input Edits for the Covers.
Pagemake Master Doc
Pagemake RM Version
Pagemake HARP Version
Pagemake HERO Version
Pagemake d20 Version
Pagemake CC Readme
Get CC Readme proofed
Get all the maps ready for packaging (some them out, hide one of the grids, etc.)
Build the Zip Files
Upload the Zip Files
Build the Product Pages
Get Product Pages Activated.
Announce release

Here is what I've completed tonight:
Finish the Maps (2-3 versions of 16 different maps on this one).
Design the Covers (They're printing now for proofing.  My editor is at the Saturday playtest so I hop to get that done tomorrow.)
I've output SOME of the maps to high res files, but not all of them.

[Defendi]

I'm about to lose the remaining night for writing, mostly due to Daylight Saving Time.  Here's what I worked on but didn't finish today:

Output four more graphics files for maps.  Worked getting maps ready for packaging.

Here's what I finished:

Get Part 4 of d20 back from editor (and inputed changes).
Get the Covers proofed.

I should start pagemaking before the night's over.

[Defendi]

Today:

Input edits for the cover.

Remember why it takes time to pagemake the master copy (boxed text).

Wierd thing today.  Today I discovered that the product link for purchasing the HARP version of the second product was broken on my store.  I didn't realize until today because no one has ever purchased the HARP version from MY store (plenty of sales on RPGNow, but none on my store itself before this morning).  So the problem went undetected all this time.  Funny how things work out.

Anyway, it's fixed now.

[Defendi]

All right.  I built the maps and the master pagemake.  Then I did my master pdfs and discovered that you couldn't see the map grids.  It seems that DD3s grids are dotted lines.  When I exported from high res files they disappeared.  So I had to reexport all of them at 300 dpi.  Now they're faint but there in a print out and easily visible in the pdf on the right zoom.  I think it's a good effect.  If you want something a little sharper, you can always download the Jpegs from the website.

So, here's where we're at.  Since my last post I:

Output maps to high res graphics files.
Pagemake Master Doc
Get all the maps ready for packaging (some them out, hide one of the grids, etc.)

That leaves me with:

Get d20 doc back from proofer.
Pagemake RM Version
Pagemake HARP Version
Pagemake HERO Version
Pagemake d20 Version
Pagemake CC Readme
Get CC Readme proofed
Build the Zip Files
Upload the Zip Files
Build the Product Pages
Get Product Pages Activated.
Announce release

[Defendi]

Finished Pagemaking RM version (that's actually pretty easy after I've done the master pagemake).
Just for those that want a glimpse behind the scenes, what that means is that the RM version have finished PDFs that have passed at least one front to back visual scan for errors (pagemaking errors, I didn't read the whole thing again).  I'll continue to look it over about once per day until we release.  Usually I'll find a glitch or two before we release (for instance, one of my artists tends to end up with a fiant grey line across the top when he scans the art in.  The frame lines always fall right on top of it, so it's easy to miss.)

I also took 15 minutes or so and started the Adventure Seed 6A (the one right after The Day Before Apacolypse).  We'll finish that adventure today at the playtest and we were going to do something else for a few weeks, but I think that's in the middle of falling through (at least on this pass through the playtest).

So, there it is.  I HOPE to have the HERO version finished by Monday night.  This one has so much stuff in it it's a bit of a bear. 

Oh, master pagemake lengths are 67 pages for the adventure and 99 or so for the sourcebook.  The finished ones will likely be near, but not the same, as those numbers.

[Defendi]

Got d20 Doc back from proofer.
Pagemade HERO Version.
That was yesterday.  I was too tired at the end to post. 

[Defendi]

HARP Version Pagemade

[Defendi]

Done:
Pagemake d20 Version
Pagemake CC Readme
Get CC Readme proofed
Build the Zip Files

I'm at this step:
Upload the Zip Files

But RPGNow seems to be down.  I'll keep checking.

When that's done, that leaves:

Build the Product Pages
Get Product Pages Activated.
Announce release

[Defendi]

RPGNow is still down.

[Defendi]

April 11, 2007

Okay.  It?s been a couple of busy weeks since the release, and I think it?s time for an update.

I had a great deal of catching up to do.  I always do, I suppose, but the Adventure Seeds added another twist.  Here?s where we are so far.

I finished and turned in the latest Rolemaster Quarterly.  I believe that?s already online for sale.  I then turned in my outline for my first HARPer?s Bazaar and it was approved.  The manuscript is about halfway done.

I did my map for The Echoes of History in Guild Adventurer #2.  I?ve also been testing for Campaign Cartographer, and that?s fun.

With the introduction of the Adventure Seeds, I?ve found myself woefully behind on them.  I?ve written Adventure Seeds 1a, 1b, 2, 3a, and 3b.  That gives enough filler pieces to take a party up to Episode 4.  They?ve all been turned in to GerikGnome.  He?s edited the first two.  I?ve re-edited the first one and turned it in for proofing.  I hope to get to the second one tonight or tomorrow.

I?ve edited the two next short stories, Ice and Fire.  I?ve turned both those in.  I think Ice is pretty solid.  I suspect we might have to go back and forth one more time on Fire.  Short stories take a bit more editing than the books, mainly because there?s new stuff in the stories.  You see, since the editor?s in on the playtest and I spend about two hours in a car with him every week, the CONTENT of the sourcebooks and adventures is pretty much already finished and agreed on before I start writing.  When I turn in a sourcebook, most of the edits have to do with bad writing, not bad ideas.  If something?s particularly broken I can just have the proofer double check it for clarity and avoid another editing pass that way.  Occasionally, I?ll just send the editor the new sentence for approval.  But with fiction, I can get comments like, ?This argument doesn?t make sense.  Rewrite this entire section.?  In cases like that, you?re producing enough new text that it takes more editing passes.  Every short story goes through at least one extra pass.  Fire?s changes were significant enough there could easily be more.

I also wrote what essentially amounts to a read me file.  It?s purpose is to explain to customers how to choose a product from our store.  My fear is that soon we will have four versions of three sourcebooks and three full adventures (not counting bundles), plus five Adventure Seeds, three short stories and an Adventure in a third product magazine.  That?s thirty-two different documents in twenty three different purchase items, many with very similar names.  Plus, I felt people needed a master document that listed the ideal order of play for adventures and Adventure Seeds.  So that?s done and GerikGnome has edited it and sent it back.

Tomorrow I need to make sure all edits are in with the proofer.  I need to continue work on HARPer?s Bazaar, test CC3, and calculate artist royalties.  Tomorrow is fiction day as, so I need to do enough of that so I don?t feel guilty.

When all that is done and I?ve caught up on the trickling edits (and maybe post a new copy of the HARP version of product 3), I?ll be able to start Product 4.  It?s a busy month because I need to write a Spacemaster Datanet as well, and likely pagemake and post these incoming products.

Things are going (relatively) well this month on RPGNow.  Sales are down, but there?s been at least two occasions where I?ve gone UP on the hot sellers list on a day with no sales, so I know it?s slow for everyone.  I think people are waiting for the next sale.  I believe RPGNow has one scheduled for later this month, at least I THINK I saw that on the customer newsletter.

Oh, last night the Monday playtest degenerated into a hour+ argument on the theological nature of the world (the good kind of argument, with people interpreting the teaching in different ways, in lively debate.)  I learned a lot about how people other than me perceive the religion.  I think that will be useful stuff when I get to Product 5.

I think that?s all for tonight.  I hope everyone is sleeping well.

[Defendi]

4/25/07

Okay, time for a quick update.

The first two adventure seeds are up and moving like hot cakes.  I?ve already had nearly as many downloads as I have with the first product.  One of these days I?ll need to see how this has improved my customer base (for new release mailings).

I have another Adventure Seed and a short story back from the editor.  They are in the pending queue for my proofer now.  I expect to get them up sometime by next Monday.

Product 4 is coming along.  I?ve done all the stating for RM and have them entered into the document.  HERO is coming along nicely (I have a volunteer helping this product).  I?m 25 pages into the Bestiary, but the stat part is the most difficult, time in chair vs. word count wise, at least.

Anyway, I think that?s all the big news for this week.

[Defendi]

6/8/07

All right, it?s been a busy month or two so I?ve gotten a bit behind in journaling.  Let?s start with an update, because there are new people reading this and they probably want to know what?s going on.

I?ve started a company called Final Redoubt Press.  I publish and roleplaying setting called The Echoes of Heaven for d20, Rolemaster, HARP, and HERO.  We?ve released three products so far to great success and reviews, all in PDF.  This is my developer?s journal.  Here I promise to lift up the curtains and show my customers all the foibles and trials of a new publisher.  The only information I hold back is stuff that?s not mine to reveal.

For more info on the company and setting, see www.finalredoubt.com.  Download our free preview and products.

Now that the new intro is done, the most important news:  I?ve finished the first draft of product four and turned it into the editor.  He?s returned the Bestiary already.  I haven?t gone through his edits yet.  His wife has come on as a volunteer to do all the brute force work on HERO and D20 conversions as well.  She?s already turned in all the monsters . . . for both, I think, so that?s going to make finishing the HERO version and getting it in a snap.

In the meantime, I?ve been doing oh so many things.  The Adventure Seeds put me way behind schedule, since I had to play catch-up to get so many written at once.  They?ve all been edited and sent back.  I?m going to go through the edits on 3a and 3b very soon.  Probably before I go to bed today.

I?ve finished the next two short stories.  These come after the two already for sale on www.finalredoubt.com.

I?ve been ramping up for print versions.  I have a lot on the plate there, and I still have options coming in.  Lulu is the lead contender right now for individual printing and fulfillment, as there?s no startup and I can do soft and hard bound for each of the four systems (8 books) without a lot of large setup fees.  I have a larger publisher or two that?s been talking to me about taking me on under one of their imprints.  I don?t have enough info to choose on them, yet.  In addition, a certain company offered to help me out on printing and they beat Lulu?s price on POD runs.  They don?t handle fulfillment, but if I need to order a slightly larger load of books (more than one or two), they are definitely a better way to go than Lulu.

But the Lulu front looks good.  I?ve ordered and EN Publishing product from them and looked it over.  The cover is beautiful, the paper quality good.  The interior art and binding are more than I expected from print on demand.  Fulfillment is slow on hard bounds (12 days), about 3 days on soft.  Longer than we?d expect in this modern age, but not bad when you realize they have to print the book to order.  The only complaint I had on the book I received was the actual text was pixilated.  Everyone I know who?s bought books from them is surprised by that, though.  I think it?s something special with the EN World pdf.

If I go with Lulu, listing on Amazon is a snap, but there?s a setup fee.  I?ll likely only do the d20 version that way, and softbound because their subcontracting printer doesn?t do hardbound in the proper size.  Still, that will get the d20 stuff into the browsers of a bigger audience.

I?ve also spoken briefly with Alliance.  There are so many upstart publishers that they don?t accept many new ones right off the bat, but there are options to pursue there.

That and the convention season put me WAY behind.

But we?re in the grove again.

One other thing.  I fairly big-named writer approached my recently.  I can?t be specific, but he?s big enough that most people I ask have read one or more of his books, and the last one made the NY Times Best Seller list.  We don?t have a deal yet, but he asked me if I?d be interested in doing an RPG based on his biggest product.  There are a lot of rights issues to work out, but it?s a happy thing if it comes through.

All right.  I think that?s everything.  I?ll let you back to your regularly scheduled gaming.

[Mungo]

Hi,

Perhaps a stupid question: ICE bought a printing press and I guess it won't be busy night and day. What about using it for you?

BR
Juergen

[Defendi]

I wouldn't be able to say one way or another without their permission.

[Defendi]

Okay, Bruce gave me permission.  ICE is the certain company that agreed to do print runs for me.  I'll use them if I need to order more than one or two books at a time.  Lulu handles fulfillment, though, and that's probably worth a little extra money for me for everyone ordering one book at a time.

[Michael Petrea]

So, when do the printed versions get released? 

[Defendi]

As soon as I hit my first dead spot, I'm doing them.  That will happen sometime after I turn in the hero copies of 4, I suspect.  Then I have to go through the process of getting proofs, approving them, and so forth.  I have no idea how long that will take.  Right now, I'm guessing three months or so for the first book, two or three more until d20 hits Amazon.