Need a Spark!
I have so many ideas and mini projects going on and in my head, but I seem to be unable to execute on them.
Let’s go through them:
“The Vampires” module: First off, I fell flat on my face with NaNoWriMo. I had hoped to have my “The Vampires” module completed by the end of the month but that is looking very unlikely. This is largely because, as I wrote it, I found that I had to completely redesign it; I pretty much have to start over. The way I ran it at a convention is different from how it works in writing. I may switch to another module.
Rifts Character Generator: I had to take a break from this. I found myself stuck on Skills. This isn’t because of Palladium’s skill system, but rather my inability to wrap my head around the most effective way to program the logic. I made the mistake(?) of using a ReactJS technology that I wasn’t familiar with. I should have stuck with Mobx to manage “global” state in the app. I will have to go back to change it all I think. I really do want to get this done, however. My goal is to have something working by the Palladium Open House this coming April (assuming it’s still on. Blah COVID.)
PB Combat Tracker: This is a new project that I just started working on. I’ve toyed with this off and on over the years, but now I’m giving it a real attempt. I want to make a combat tracker for the Palladium system. It’s not too complicated really. You create a campaign, then create Encounters in the campaign. Each encounter has a list of Combatants (can be created on the fly or saved for re-use). You plug in each combatant’s initiative bonus and their number of attacks per round, then off you go. It’ll roll initiative for everyone (if you want). As a player uses an action, you decrement it. After everyone has taken the # of actions they want, the “turn” ends. Once everyone has depleted all of their actions, the next round begins. The tricky part of the combat tracker isn’t the programming. Instead, it’s the interface. I need the app to be quick and simple. Creating a new combat encounter shouldn’t be complicated or intensive. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I suck at designing interfaces.
Another module. Since I’ve put The Vampires on hold, I want to write another module. I’m not sure if I want to put a previous one-shot on paper or if I want to create a new one from scratch. I’m tempted to do the latter. I find it hard to get inspiration sometimes, but I discovered something that helps. A site named Red Trolls sold a small course on story writing. At first, I figured it was going to be a waste of money, but it promised that you’d be able to come up with a story without having to do research or have a prior idea. So I figured I’d give it a shot. Well, you know what? It freaking worked. The guy who made the video offered various suggestions on how to create a story. I was pleasantly surprised by the techniques. My favorite was his use of Story Dice. It sounds corny, but it actually works. That’s how I got the inspiration to write The Fife and will be used for future adventures as well. Here is a link to the course, and I think it’s worth every penny. And, no, I do not know the author and he has no idea that I’m pitching his site here. @trolls_red
In other news, I received my Palladium Books Christmas Surprise Package today! I feel kinda bad - I bought two of them and requested original art, as I always do. Well, they appear to be out of original art and were waiting for more to come in, so my package was on hold. I wrote to Palladium and asked them why my package hadn’t shipped even though I ordered it a month ago. Kevin Simbieda himself responded and explain the lack of available artwork, but wanted to wait to get some for me. He also acknowledged that I was a good customer, which I appreciated. I thought it was really cool that he took the time to personally respond to me.
I did get a piece of original art from Chuck Walton (beautiful, as always.) I also got a personalized dragon sketch from Kevin S. They included the two books I asked for as well as a “Knights of the Dinner Table” comic and the “Hammer of the Forge” novel. I hadn’t actually asked for either, but I was both surprised and pleased to receive them. I think I’ll actually read them! I also like that the novel has one of Mike Leonard’s best works on the cover. I also received a handful of Rifts ballpoint pens (which I requested - those pens are great!) and some of the Rifts holiday cards, which I also requested. Good package!
That’s all for now - more later!
