The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Well...no sooner to I come back from a hiatus...

As most of you are aware, we have reached the beginning of the full blossom of Convention Season, where the gamer's life becomes an unending string of plane trips, bad food, and no sleep (even more so for those of us who do this for a living). So, I took time out of this marathon to write this column, primarily to inform my kind readers (and even the not-so-kind ones) that Game Design Step By Step will be going on hiatus until after GenCon.

What it comes down to is that I really want to put some effort behind the design of RetroFuture, especially keeping in mind some of the requests that have appeared on the forums, where it was asked that I show more of the "roads not taken" (more of the process, rather than the final results). Honestly, if I'm trying to do that at the same time that I'm juggling a convention schedule, the column is going to suffer--and I don't want to pound out a few hundred words every week that I'm going to look at later and think: "Boy, I could've done that better...."

So, RetroFuture kicks off in late August.

As of late, as you might imagine, my life has been filled with UnderWorld. I've been adding last-minute materials, some of which is based on the absolutely phenominal artwork that we've commissioned. For example, take a look at the following piece by Raven Mimura, depicting a Junkman Librarian:

Or this digital piece, by hive, entitled "Ghost Train":

Images like that have fueled my imagination, inspiring me to add new material--which is great, except when everyone else is pestering you to quit tinkering with the damned thing so that it will be ready in time! Anyway--I thought that you might like to see those, to get an idea of what the book is going to look like.

This book has a lot of artwork, folks. I have always thought that it is better to have more art than you need, than to be stuck with less. Artwork, after all, is the quickest way to bring across to the reader exactly what the setting is like...and, let's face it: potential consumers are more likely to buy a game based on the artwork and a brief perusal of the text (on the back cover, for example), than they are to sit and read a lengthy description of the setting.

The art in UnderWorld is a combination of traditional and digital media, with artists such as Christopher Shy, Raven Mimura, hive, Thomas Denmark, Brad McDevitt, Jerry Grayson, Frank Fallon, Yesse America, Andrew Baker, and others (including myself, actually--shameless plug). These artists have all managed to absolutely nail the look that I was going for...and I think you'll really appreciate their efforts (I know that I do).

In other news, for those of you who are interested in UnderWorld, we have started the Official UnderWorld email list, over on eGroups. To subscribe, go to the main page at
http://www.egroups.com/group/UnderWorld-RPG

Or, you can just join by emailing UnderWorld-RPG-subscribe@egroups.com. All lot of you were really a great help during the process of design, and I'd love to see you continue your enthusiasm for the game on the official mailing list.

So...I'll be talking to you on the mailing list, and I'll be seeing some of you at GenCon. For the rest of you, I'll be back here with the opening volleys of RetroFuture in a few weeks. See ya then.

Gareth-Michael Skarka
gms@synistercreative.com

Game Design: Step by Step

A Brief Return to the Underworld

What do you think?

All "Step by Step" design columns

Discussion of UnderWorld

Earlier Comments (Issues 1-7)

(Editor's note: I'll consolidate these when I get a chance)

Other columns at RPGnet


Game Design: Step by Step A Brief Return to the Underworld Gareth-Michael Skarka July 13, 2000	Well...no sooner to I come back from a hiatus... As most of you are aware, we have reached the beginning of the full blossom of Convention Season, where the gamer's life becomes an unending string of plane trips, bad food, and no sleep (even more so for those of us who do this for a living). So, I took time out of this marathon to write this column, primarily to inform my kind readers (and even the not-so-kind ones) that Game Design Step By Step will be going on hiatus until after GenCon. What it comes down to is that I really want to put some effort behind the design of RetroFuture, especially keeping in mind some of the requests that have appeared on the forums, where it was asked that I show more of the "roads not taken" (more of the process, rather than the final results). Honestly, if I'm trying to do that at the same time that I'm juggling a convention schedule, the column is going to suffer--and I don't want to pound out a few hundred words every week that I'm going to look at later and think: "Boy, I could've done that better...." So, RetroFuture kicks off in late August. As of late, as you might imagine, my life has been filled with UnderWorld. I've been adding last-minute materials, some of which is based on the absolutely phenominal artwork that we've commissioned. For example, take a look at the following piece by Raven Mimura, depicting a Junkman Librarian: Or this digital piece, by hive, entitled "Ghost Train": Images like that have fueled my imagination, inspiring me to add new material--which is great, except when everyone else is pestering you to quit tinkering with the damned thing so that it will be ready in time! Anyway--I thought that you might like to see those, to get an idea of what the book is going to look like. This book has a lot of artwork, folks. I have always thought that it is better to have more art than you need, than to be stuck with less. Artwork, after all, is the quickest way to bring across to the reader exactly what the setting is like...and, let's face it: potential consumers are more likely to buy a game based on the artwork and a brief perusal of the text (on the back cover, for example), than they are to sit and read a lengthy description of the setting. The art in UnderWorld is a combination of traditional and digital media, with artists such as Christopher Shy, Raven Mimura, hive, Thomas Denmark, Brad McDevitt, Jerry Grayson, Frank Fallon, Yesse America, Andrew Baker, and others (including myself, actually--shameless plug). These artists have all managed to absolutely nail the look that I was going for...and I think you'll really appreciate their efforts (I know that I do). In other news, for those of you who are interested in UnderWorld, we have started the Official UnderWorld email list, over on eGroups. To subscribe, go to the main page at http://www.egroups.com/group/UnderWorld-RPG Or, you can just join by emailing UnderWorld-RPG-subscribe@egroups.com. All lot of you were really a great help during the process of design, and I'd love to see you continue your enthusiasm for the game on the official mailing list. So...I'll be talking to you on the mailing list, and I'll be seeing some of you at GenCon. For the rest of you, I'll be back here with the opening volleys of RetroFuture in a few weeks. See ya then. Gareth-Michael Skarka gms@synistercreative.com Underworld, RetroFuture and all related terms and concepts contained herein are copyright 2000 by Gareth-Michael Skarka. All rights reserved.