Wow, it’s been nearly two months since my last blog entry. I’ve been extraordinarily busy, but I’m still a bit surprised that I allowed such a long gap. Time to rectify the problem! This will be a longer post the usual, as I have a lot to catch up on.
Since the last post was about my software I’ll start there. The last two months have seen explosive growth in E.G.E.A.K, and I am on target to begin beta testing in early January. But that doesn’t really tell you squat about the software itself, so here goes.
A Quick Peek at EGEAK
Those who know me are aware that I have played games like Dungeons & Dragons since I was six years old. I’ve always loved the art of interactive storytelling, and I imagine I’ll still be playing these games when I’m old and grey.
When I first encountered the iPad a lightbulb went on in my head. Could I run games using it? I didn’t see why not. So I searched the app store to see what I could find. Unfortunately there were no decent applications for people who played pen & paper roleplaying games like D&D. The few that did exist were simplistic, poorly designed and didn’t really meet the needs of your average gamer.
So I started thinking about the features I really wanted. As a Storyteller with decades of experience I knew exactly what I’d pay money for. A good gaming app would need the following:
- A dice roller smart enough to make rolls for dozens of characters at once
- A library of non-player characters including character portraits so my players could see what the NPCs looked like
- A library of player characters, complete with the ability to track experience, magic items, level ups and everything else about those characters
- A library of monsters and encounters I could spring on my players.
- An MP3 player capable of creating a soundtrack for my games
- A Storytelling engine that would guide me through adventures.
- A timeline feature for tracking events
- A library that could read PDFs for gaming books and character sheets.
- An Atlas that included all the maps I’d use during the game.
- A web browser so I could look up information as needed
- A robust generator that could create characters, magic items, encounters or locations
Believe it or not this was the list that came out of just a few minutes of brainstorming back in July. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, but at the time I had no idea how to do it. That’s why I spent the last several months learning the ins and outs of iOS.
Once I understood how the software worked it was simple to begin creating of each of the features listed above. Nothing I wanted to do was out of my reach, and the initial release of my software will include everything above. What’s more in learning iOS I discovered several other important features I could add.
The most important of these was the ability to communicate between devices using bluetooth. This means that I can send information back and forth, so if the game master has an iPad and one of his players has an iPhone he can request dice rolls, send maps or even magic items with the press of a button.
I discovered one other very important feature when learning how to program on iOS. You can create an ‘in app store’ where people can make purchases from inside your application. This is incredibly exciting, and vastly expanded the scope of EGEAK.
If I build the right engine I can sell adventures for people to play. I can create NPC, monster or map packs as well. I can sell game systems like Pathfinder or my own game, Shattered Gods. The possibilities are endless.
The further I get with the application the more positive I am that it will sell like hot cakes. I know gamers, because I am one. Most of my friends are gamers too. So all I need to do is leverage their experience along with my own, and my app should be exactly what they are looking for.
I’ve already shown it to several friends, most of whom were shocked by how polished it already is. Each has provided suggestions for changes, and that feedback has greatly improved the app. I have a few major pieces to add, but those should be done by early January.
After that I need to submit the app to the Apple store for approval. Then I’ll be able to start my advertising campaign, and hopefully the money will start rolling in!
I’ll have another update on EGEAK by the end of the month, complete with a youtube movie showing how it works. I can’t wait to show off all my hard work!
My RPG- Shattered Gods
This next update goes hand in hand with the software. As I mentioned I’ve played pen & paper roleplaying games for over two decades. For about fifteen of those years I’ve been working on my own game. It’s seen many different incarnations over the years, each a bit more detailed than the last.
The most recent began when I lived in Los Angeles. I commissioned original artwork and laid out a manuscript in Illustrator. Unfortunately, the publishing market has exploded with new products over the last decade.
I quickly realized that my game would be lost in a sea of similar RPGs, so with a heavy heart I set the manuscript back on the shelf and stopped work on it. What was the point of pouring hundreds of hours of work into something that almost no one would buy? Especially when a print run would cost me several thousand dollars to produce.
When I started work on the iPad app I finally solved the problem. If I released my game as a book it would have to compete with hundreds of others…unless I made it available via the software I was making. I could self publish Shattered Gods inside of EGEAK.
Anyone who bought the software would be exposed to it, which meant I could completely circumvent traditional publishing! After fifteen years of work my game could finally see the light of day.
I eagerly gathered my reams of notes, maps and old campaigns and started work. Two months later the game is really starting to shape up, and by early January it will be complete. This was intentional of course, because I’d like to release it concurrently with EGEAK as the first addon available to purchase inside the app itself.
I am unbelievably excited about this, so much so that its hard sitting still. I’ve dreamed of publishing my own roleplaying game since I was in elementary school. A half dozen times in the last decade I’ve tried to do exactly that, but each and every time I failed.
Now, after all these years, I have a real chance at success! I don’t care of if only a few dozen people buy the game. At least I’ll have finally published it.
NaNoWriMo
Part of the reason I’ve been so quiet is that November is National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write 50,000 words of fiction, usually as part of all of a novel. In my case I worked on a novel called The Dagger of Olivanticus, which is a prequel to The Bond of Jhordil.
Unfortunately, for the first time in three years I failed NaNoWriMo. As of this writing I stalled out at 23,000 words, less than half of the goal. But you know what? That’s ok.
The reason I failed is because I’ve poured every waking moment into EGEAK and Shattered Gods. It’s hard to feel bad about not finishing NaNoWriMo when I’ve made such amazing progress in those other areas.
Succeeding with Shattered Gods and EGEAK means something very important where my fiction is concerned. If I can build an audience of people who love the game and use the software, then I have a ready market to sell my fiction to.
All of my novels are set in the Shattered Gods world anyway, so fleshing out the game only provides more fuel for fiction. So hopefully by November of next year the game will be finished and I can focus on belting out 50,000 words for the next NaNoWriMo!
Working Out
A good friend of mine has long held that our well being is balanced atop a tripod of critical parts. Mind, body and spirit. If you wish to be truly happy and live life to its fullest you cannot neglect any of them.
I’ve long understood the logic on an intellectual level, but it wasn’t until this year that I can claim to really know what he meant. You see in the past the best I could ever achieve was mental with a nice dose of spiritual.
I was never in good shape. I ate like crap and was consistently overweight. At many points over the last fifteen years I have been downright obese. Most of my time was spent either on the couch or in front of a computer monitor.
In January I endeavored to change that for the first time in my life. I began working out every day. I started hiking the mountains and forests of scenic northern California. At first this was enormously challenging, but within a few months the hikes became second nature. So did lifting weights and running five miles at the gym every morning.
Fast forward eleven months. I am still going to the gym every day. I hike as often as I can. I’ve gone from benching 70 pounds to a startling 180 pounds. My entire body has changed in ways I would never have predicted when I first began.
It isn’t just that I look better or even that I feel better, though that last is certainly true. I have more energy, but what is really surpising is how I view physical activity. I have always dreaded things like helping a friend move. Now I look forward to it, because at the end of a long day of exhertion I still feel great.
This mentality has changed so many things for me. Before I called myself lazy. The idea of running out to my car to get something I’d forgotten was foreign to me. It was enough of a barrier that I’d rather just get it in the morning, even if it was a book I enjoyed reading.
Now I walk my butt out to the car and get the book. Why? I know longer dread physical activity. I welcome it. This, I now believe, is why body is a part of the trinity I mentioned earlier.
If you are in good shape you greet the world each day, ready for a challenge. Being in poor shape presents many barriers, barriers that will stop you from accomplishing the things you want. You have less energy, less drive.
I still have a very long way to go. I need to drop another 40+ pounds, and my physical conditioning has a long way to go before I’m happy with it. But I have begun and that’s a very good thing!
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