It’s August. August? Where is the summer going?
Production
Layout on Blue Planet: Recontact is sailing along, and soon we should have complete digital versions of the books to share. In the meantime, you will still get preview drafts of each of the sections as we finish them up. This month it’s the biotechnology chapter. I know I had promised it in July, but I did such a good job of botching the subsection order and nesting in the original text file that poor Robert, our layout artist, ended up having to do the whole thing over again. I take all the blame and thank you for your patience. In the end, I think it looks pretty dang sharp.
As usual, I will follow up this post with a backers-only update that contains the preview. Also as usual, if you are so inclined, please point out any errors you find via this form.
Speaking of layout changes, we have decided to change up the chapter heading design. As keen as I was to use details from the topographical maps, readability and graphical cleanliness was becoming an issue. We have therefore opted to go with what might be a simpler, but I believe a sharper, more striking chapter header. Hope you like it.
Mahalo Pawel
I want to give another big shout-out to Pawel, who continues to be the single most supportive Poseidoneer on either planet. Not only did he write some fantastic contributions to the new edition, but he has also been an essential continuity director, particularly regarding the cartography. He also continues to donate additional art assets from his own private collection of Blue Planet commissions, most recently a series of character illustrations that I think nail the BP ethos. Here are a couple of examples.
Thank you, Pawel – your contributions, support and enthusiasm have been essential to Recontact.
GenCon
A few folks have asked, so I wanted to share. Sadly, Biohazard will not be at GenCon this year. As much as I love going to the convention, meeting backers and playing games with all my con friends, I figured my summer holiday time would be better spent working on finishing up Blue Planet. Our publishing partner Gallant Night Games – in the person of Alan – will be at the convention, however. Stop by booth #2029, say hi and have a chat about Blue Planet.
Storm Surge Playtest
Given the various summer travel plans of the folks in my playtest group, we took a break from Storm Surge for July, so I don’t have the typical update on how that’s going. I can say that we will be starting the Incorporate security thread when we resume later this month, and I am excited for the chance to run a game featuring some truly awful characters. The fun will be seeing if we can redeem them by the end of the campaign, or if they will go down with the rest of the Despoilers…
Heart of the Muse
Ladysmith Harbor, British Columbia, Canada, Earth
If you ever have the chance to visit the San Juan Islands of Washington State or the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, you absolutely should. They are some of the most beautiful places on earth and provide endless inspiration for ocean people. Who knows, perhaps I could even show you around…
