Page: News.News201312100100PM - Last Modified : Tue, 10 Dec 13 - 1632 Visits

I think almost everything that happened in 2013 did not happen according to plan. So it had a huge impact on what ever I was producing. In fact I released absolutely no variant this year, the only thing that was released is my second edition of Fallen Kingdoms. Let me recall some of the events:

Pod Cast: In winter 2012, I started doing a french board game podcast with some of my friends. We released 2 episodes and recorded 4 episodes of material. Then the "Manager" got a new job and the podcast was suspended. Of course, time I spend podcasting and planning podcast cannot be spent else where. But in the end, I am not sad that the pod cast stopped, it gave me more time to do other things

Ratscraft website: With the enthusiasm for Ratscraft I designed a website because I had all the mechanics I needed. So the game seemeds to have crossed a step that the others did not. But for unknown reasons, I never had the motivation to work on it for the rest of the year. It does look awesome and I made a temporary combat mechanic to test other game issues. But still, I cannot make it hit the design table.

Wizardry Legacy: I had a chance to do some wizardry legacy coding in spring. I worked on the adventure editor because I wanted to have playable adventures. There is still some work to do with the editor and need to implement events and the adventure saving system. That is what I expect to do for next year.

Fallen Kingdoms: My game was submitted to a publisher that looked interested but they finally rejected the idea. Unfortunately, at the same time it triggered ideas to revise the game. Since I am perfectionnist, I could not allow my self not to change the game even in the hnads of the publisher. So I finally reworked all the components and the rules and released Fallen Kingdoms 2nd revision for free.

New computer: A new computer and problem with this new computer has slowed me down for at least 2 months. Got issues with the hard drive and I had to install linux a second time. I finally reached the end of it, but it was still a huge slow down.

Digital Painting: I bought and read some books about digital painting. Very interesting. I would eventually want to give it a try. Maybe I could do some artwork for Falen Kingdoms cards. Still, pen tablet prices have doubled, so I don't think I'll get more sophisticated input devices anytime soon.

Java Programming: Last summer, I take a look at java programming with the possibility to make a board game framework. There was also the release of the OUYA with the possibility to make games for it. Being in the middle of the console war, I think it's just better for me to wait and see what happens. I'll continue to focus my programming on wizardry and when it will be more complete I might give a try to java board game development. Also, the more I wait, the better the tools, framework, devices and libraries are. That is how technology works.

Article Writting: I have realised that I have written 5 articles this year and I might have another one in store. At least, if I have not been working on games, I wrote a few articles.

Emergency moving: This is more a personal life matter, but it does seem to end this beautiful year by adding the cherry on the top of the sunday. An event forces me to move out of my appartment very soon, in the middle of winter. And where I live, the winter is not always nice on you. Not only I need to pack everything, but it also means I'll have some painting to do in my future appartment which I still don't know where it will be. So expect me to spend months working on my new appartment rather than board games.

So as you can see tons of things, happened where some of them are simply there to put a stick in the wheel. I hope 2014 will be better ... much better.

Enjoy and have fun!

Eric P626