SLA Film? Series? Comic? Video Game?

So the boys at Nightfall made a pretty big announcement:

Romark Entertainment has acquired the film and television rights to the critically acclaimed Role-Playing Game, “SLA Industries,” from publisher Nightfall Games.  As part of the acquisition, Romark and “SLA” creators Dave Allsop and Jared Earle are also announcing a partnership that will see the two sides come together under one banner to focus exclusively on the expansion of the 20-year running series into the comic book, video game and art worlds.

This is actually a huge thing. Not that many games or game worlds end up optioned like this. D&D, Heavy Gear, Shadowrun…. that’s about it really. Lately video games become TTRPGs more than the other way around.

SLA is a wonderful game and world, a great ‘place’ to write about and for. Having been involved working on the Hunter Sheets, Cannibal Sector One and other aspects of the game in the past I’m very excited to see what occurs out of this.

Personally I’d love to see a procedurally generated, mission-oriented tactical CRPG come out of it. What do I know though eh?

Guys, if you need a writer, let me know!

Censorship & Future Projects

It’s been a tough couple of weeks in my personal life as those who follow me more closely will know. I’m not going to be able to do a great deal of work for some time while I recover, but there’s at least one thing I wanted to talk to you about.

If you’re not already aware from other sources Paypal has decided (perhaps under pressure from credit card companies) to use its financial pressure to censor the publication of certain erotica.

This has not yet impacted on games and comics material, but it can only be a matter of time before it does. As a producer of games that include adult material and themes I am at risk of being censored.

This is already having an impact on many small press authors of erotic material and while you may not have a taste for such material it is setting a dangerous and disturbing precedent where you potentially can’t spend your own money on what you  want.

This is now directly affecting me. One project I wanted to do this year (health permitting) was a Science Fiction/BDSM game which would touch on a lot of transhuman themes and the boundaries of human sexuality enhanced/perverted/changed by technology.

In this current environment, with margins being what they are and with the risk looming of being unable to sell this material I don’t think I can take the risk at this time.

This means:

• You don’t get your game.
• I don’t get to make an experimental game.
• The artist I was going to employ doesn’t get her money.

Needless to say, this all fucking sucks.

I’m looking into other ways to go about it, such as crowdsourcing funding and releasing it for free, but to do it justice and be worth the effort I’d need to get something like £2,000. So we’ll see if that’s remotely possible.

Meanwhile, the art in this post is taken from Satine Phoenix’s portfolio, give her some work, admire the pretties and here’s hoping this problem goes away in the near future and freedom of expression wins out.

Please support Satine and please think about getting involved in the fight against financial censorship.

 

Updated to-do List

1. Irrepressible! (Just waiting on art from Claudia) – This should take 2-3 days once the art is in.
2. ImagiNation (I need to collate, edit and put together my notes) – This should take 2-3 days.
3. Blood!: Windycon (Adventure for Blood! needs an edit and layout) – This should take 1-2 days.
4. Blood!: Clearing (Adventure for Blood! needs an edit and layout) – This should take 1-2 days.
5. Untouchable: (Agents of SWING adventure – needs an edit and layout, and probably a couple of small pieces of art) – This should take 1-2 days once art is in.
6. Steampunk Mech-Fight Boardgame (Waiting on art) – This should take 1-2 days once art is in.

Camelot Cosmos is just waiting on art now, then all it should need is layout. Raven’s on that and her preview stuff looks pretty good.

PROJECT & Gilder will be the big projects once all this other stuff is out of the way!

After that I’m taking some time out to finish my short fiction and to work on a novel.

I’m going to take tomorrow off though I think. I’ve made pretty good progress on clearing the decks and today’s been a lot of paperwork.

Gosh, Spies! Preview – Alex the Tomboy

Alex (Member of the Prying Pentad)

Alex is thirteen years old and very much a tomboy, so much so that she often gets mistaken for a boy and that’s something that makes her enormously happy. Fierce, fiery, almost perpetually scowling Alex is – nonetheless – a loyal friend and very protective of those she cares about, especially her dog, Jimmy. Alex is very athletic and physical and cares not a jot for academics despite the scientific bent of her father.

Concept: Fierce tomboy.

“No, I’m a BOY.”
“You leave my dog alone, you prig!”
Stubborn as two mules in an argument with each other.
Terribly fierce.

+1 Cool: Alertness, Athletics, Endurance, Fists, Intimidation, Investigation, Might, Resolve, Stealth, Survival.

Boys will be Boys – You can spend a FATE point to unquestionably get away with convincing someone that something you were up to was simple, boyish hijinx.

Secret Club (Prying Pentad) – The characters with this Stunt share a special, communal pool of FATE points that any of them can tap into. Whenever a character from the team gains a FATE point they can, instead, choose to donate it to the group fund.

Physical Stress: OOOOOO
Composure Stress: OOOOOO
Social Stress: OOOOO
FATE: OOOOOOOO

Prying Pentad FATE: OOOOO

Refresh: 8

New Year, New Regime

I’ve been taking December off in order to reassess where I stand on work, depression, how I go about working, promotion and so in. Introspection often isn’t a good thing if you suffer from depression as you will tend to ruminate and be extremely self-critical which really isn’t any good for you. At all.

Still, I’ve come to a few conclusions about what needs to be done to make some changes and how I plan to attack these changes come the new year.

Plucking a stereotypical definition of your average working stiff out of thin air, at least in the UK, he’s going to be working 9-5, five days a week, 52 weeks of the year with something like 20 days off as holiday per year, not counting bank holidays and so on. That amounts to a working schedule of 240 normal work days per year, minus some, but let’s go with 240.

If I wanted a modest income of, let’s say, £12,000 at the best rate I can expect for my work ($0.06/£0.04 a word, sometimes more, usually less, self-publishing is harder to track) that would entail writing a minimum of 1,250 words per day, of sale quality.

Here’s how my days currently run, when I’m fit and able:

• 7:40am – Get up, check e-mail, reply to work mails where possible. Mess about on social media games/work related topics mixed.
• 8.00am – Start work properly.
• 12.00pm – Lunch
• 12.20pm – Back to work.
• 1.00pm-2.00pm – Sometimes a nap, otherwise working. The nap is something that came in with the depression which often manifests as exhaustion.
• 7.00pm – Finish day’s work. Cook evening meal.
• 8.00pm – Blogging/Reading, semi-work related.
• 11.00pm-12.00am – Bedtime.

Thing is, I’m often not fit and able. I’m not sure when I became such a workaholic, it doesn’t sound like me. Somehow though, I did. Other writers/creators tell me they’ve never worked as hard as I do and that I even put them to shame. I am, quite literally, killing myself by exhausting myself this way though. Things seriously need to change and I need to learn to relax again, to regain focus and to put it onto one main project at a time so that shit gets done.

To that end I’ll be making the following changes next year:

• Assisting/fronting for more creators under my ‘brand’ as Ian and Uri, and others, have. This is less work for me, keeps a good product flow and lets me help people out and even mentor new creators.
• Working on more fiction. I enjoy writing. I want to spread my wings this way some more. You can see some of the stuff I’ve written over on talesofgrim.wordpress.com
• Setting my workday target to a ‘mere’ 1,250 words. I know I’ll go over that (I’ve been known to crank out 10,000 a day) but as a target that’s achievable even when I feel bad and a mark of progress day to day. Achievable goals are important.
• Concentrating on one project at a time and once I hit my goal spending my time on projects that my brain WANTS to work on. (I will finish all my outstanding projects before this new regime starts).
• Picking up my exercise regimen.
• Learning to relax and ‘consume’ media as well as produce it again.
• Less freelancing. People can come to me, I shouldn’t need to pursue them for work any more. I’m known now. Hopefully somewhat respected and valued as well but I’ll settle for known.
• I tend to undervalue my work. A common comment at cons is that people expect my material to cost more. I need to value what I do more and bring myself a little more in line, price-wise, with other indie producers.

I’m telling you guys this because it means that things will likely slow down, but quality should go up. Also because I need the support and understanding of my customers, friends and fellow professionals to make this change. I hope you will indulge and assist me as Postmortem Studios moves forward.

What’s Going On?

Quiet around ‘ere, innit?

Couple of reasons for that:

I’ve taken the month off, in order to catch up on my stack of computer games and just to do the ‘take time off’ thing, which I never normally do.

I’m reassessing a bunch of things about how I work and what I do, trying to find a healthier way to proceed that’s easier to fit around my depression and doesn’t put so much stress upon me.

In practical terms what that’s going to mean is that I will be:

1. Finishing outstanding projects as swiftly as possible starting next year.
2. Taking another short break.
3. Upping the prices of new projects as they come online. The increased cost of living and various other factors make this a regrettable necessity and I’ve always ‘undervalued’ my products compared to other Indie authors. Part of this is about valuing my own work more to help fix my brain.
4. Writing fiction.

Products are likely to turn out slower because of these changes but, hopefully, the quality of them will be better, in part because I’ll be working more on what I want when I want.

I hope my fans, friends and audience will continue to be supportive and tolerant as things move forward. Don’t forget that I crave feedback and interaction and the more you talk to me the better I can gauge what people might want.

General Update

Indiecon was very good for us. Second best con – monetarily – that we’ve ever done. So, woo!

Agents of SWING is still going strong and there is more support coming, I promise! Probably Nefarious before Gosh, Spies! given my schedule.

Due to cons and other interruptions I haven’t communicated with all my freelancers and assistants yet this month, so can’t give you a full status update. Regarding what I currently have on my plate:

• Another Pathfinder 6-Pack adventure by Goblinboy just about ready to go.
• The new issue of Autopsy, just about ready to go.
• A new line of generic fantasy gangs for use with any high/mid/urban fantasy games, by Uri.
• Another 4E sixpack adventure by Sarah Darkmagic, not sure what stage this is at. Will need maps and counters when ready.
• Lady Bexington’s Home for Wayward Zombies – Just about read to go – boardgame.
• The Little Grey Book – Story Game, essentially complete but waiting for more feedback.

I will complete what I can in what remains of November but then we have Dragonmeet at the end of the month and then I am taking December as a whole off working (save for maintenance) in order to rest, reassess and work out my scheduling and process for next year, when and where I hope to do more fiction in addition to game writing.

Ian’s Updates

Whore’s Blade 20,000
El-Dazio Inc
Sethian Insurgency
Cults of the Powers of Darkness
Men’s Liberation Army
Priority
Movement
Engagement
Morale
Weapons
Features and Bugs
A Friendly Chat About
Psychic Powers
Missions

Other Kittiwake
Transported Update
Scandal Sheets Vol II Cover

YouTube
Whore’s Blade 20k Teaser 2
Loyalist Trailer
Dissident Trailer
Family
Punisher Warzone Review

Derailment

Hey everybody, just to give you a quick update.

I’m wrapping up work on Outbreak which has been taking all my time. I should finish that this week.

Then I need to finish prep work for Dragonmeet & Indiecon.

Between those conventions I hope to get a bunch of small projects done and dusted that includes:

• More clipart releases.
• Lady Bexington’s Home for Wayward Zombies
• ImagiNation
• Agents of SWING cardboard minis.
• A Pathfinder 6-Pack Adventure

And to recommence work on PROJECT and Gilder, which have been derailed by illness, business, cons and so on.

I’m taking December off other than acts of wanton bloggery and formulating a PLAN for 2012.

I’ll keep you posted.

Ian’s Updates

Doxy
Release
Designer’s Notes (Repost)

Kittiwake
Announcing Whore’s Blade 20,000
2GMs 1Mic Interview

Facebook Groups
Kittiwake
Doxy
Courtesans
Tough Justice
Shadow World
Whore’s Blade 20,000
RISP

YouTube
Friendly Chat Special Edition
Offence Culture
Over the Hills And Far Away (My friend Seaside Tom)
Whore’s Blade 20,000 Trailer