I wasn’t originally going to write about this for a while, but I think it might be cathartic…and since I’m hours from leaving for Gen Con I’d like to be back in a frame of mind of loving the experience and wanting to embrace the communities that’ll flood the booth…so I hope you’ll bear with me as I spill my guts a little here…
I’ve always been fascinated with the concept of the power of love…both for good…but also for evil. What love can make us do. In fact I wrote one of my favorite original science fiction short stories exactly about that concept (if you want to check it out, Many-Colored Slavery is here at Amazon).
Now I believe utterly in love…the love I have for my family and friends…for my children…for my wife…for the desire to help perfect strangers in need…I am (and the world in general, IMO) far better because of it…but as with anything that powerful it can cause…issues. And the intellectual in me (the distant and dark side that went “oohh…I wonder what did that” as blood shot across the Dr. and all the way onto the wall during the emergency c-section of our first child) devours the sociological aspects…(I think I do agree with one of my best friend’s wife that long ago said horror writers are simply serial killers that found an outlet).
The title of this blog, in addition to being a brilliant song, sums up the dark side of what happens when you care too much….
So I was listening to The D6 Generation podcast a week or two back (if you’ve not listened to them, they’re very enjoyable and informative; check it out here) and it started me down memory lane of some of the decisions made along the way.
The D6 crew were discussing various coming games and whether they were anticipating them or not and Leviathans came up. Now one of the guys (sorry, can’t remember which one) had some issues with the basic concepts/presentations of the ultimate form of the game. What was so fascinating to me is that at multiple times during the development cycle we’d had those exact same conversations.
Now I don’t want this to turn into a “justification” on my part, nor do I want it to spark a war of “what is better.” Instead, as with all my blogs these last two years, I’m just sharing the process I passed through with the community. Will it change his mind? Will it change anyone else that may have the same issues as they peruse the game? Likely not…and that’s okay. Instead, I’m hoping to simply show that we did consider these issues and ultimately chose a course after a lot of discussions.
I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a big believer in using every last second you’ve got to keep trying to improve a product. While it can be a pain, I believe this almost always results in a superior product. However, there are downsides. To-print schedules can slip if you’re not careful; it can mess up layout’s schedule as you’re asking them to ‘tweak just one last thing;’ it can actually cost money if you’re making those changes on the printers proofs; and so on. So every time you push for changes at the end after files have rotated into the final proofing/heading-to-print stage you have to weigh the pros and cons of what you’re doing.
With Leviathans that was especially a careful balance that needed to be maintained. At this year Origins Game Fair a few weeks back, usually after midnight, Jason was proofing final Shadowrun Street Legends layouts and then I was proofing and signing off on final Leviathans work after that; both final material Matt was wrapping up, as well as digital printer proofs direct from the manufacturer.
As we sprint to Gen Con (and it is always a sprint to Gen Con at the end), I’ve gotten an update from Behrle Hubbuch on the progress of the 4-foot Leviathans-class British battleship model.
Soooo excited to see this thing in the flesh in 19 days…
Yesterday, at the crack of work, FedEx (I’m on very good terms with the nice woman by now) was dropping off a very large box, filled with more printer proofs at one time than I’ve ever seen. It was a glorious, glorious moment I’ve been waiting for (as have so many of you) for a long, long, long (okay, just one more…long) time.
Let’s dive into some photos I took of my proofing process.
As I mentioned in previous blogs, we had a 2-foot long Grenouille-class French Destroyer built for this year’s convention season. While the HML Leviathan didn’t make it (just too much work and too little time), the destroyer made a fantastic splash (huh…wonder how you could turn that phrase on its ear to be appropriate here…).
Anyways, while a few photos have posted, thought I’d provide a video showcasing the model in all its glory.
If you’re on your toes you’ll notice some little details missing from the model, such as the railing. Behrle Hubbuch is hard at work finishing up the HML Leviathans to display at Gen Con (when I have more in-progress photos, I’ll share), and he’ll also be upping the detail level on the destroyer.
Catalyst Game Labs had its biggest presence yet at the Origins Game Fair, including a larger booth than last year, as well as the most new releases at an Origins to date: Runner’s Toolkit, Shadowrun Gamemaster Screen Limited Edition, Spy Games, Era Report: 3062, A Time of War Gamemaster Screen (Standard & Limited Edition versions), and HexPack: Lakes and Rivers (including the DropShip Promotional Tile). We also had new, unique BattleTech and Shadowrun dice, as well as sharing the booth with Dan Tibbles and his brilliant, new IronDie.
It’s been a long, long haul, crewmen. But the sea trials are over and celebrations are being organized (wonder if we can get a miniature bottle of champaign somewhere?)…literally right now I’m signing off of final proofs of various material and it’s all being uploaded to the printer (80% percent is already up and the rest will be signed off on and uploaded by end of the day).
To celebrate this wonderfully momentous occasion, thought I’d share a video I took at the 2011 Origins Game Fair last weekend of a Leviathans diorama that Robert DeHoff put together (he had about a week to pull it off and he did a brilliant job of it!).
So, what does all of this mean to those who’ve patiently been waiting for the Core Box Set to land on local retailer’s shelves? It means the clock is actually ticking in count down mode. It’s transitioned from “sometime soon” to “it’s now at the printer”…which begins the inexorable march to release.
Now we do NOT actually have a Street Date yet. We do not provide that until the product is sitting in our warehouse. The closest we can provide at this point is “late summer/early fall.”
Of course I know the next question…will it be on sale at Gen Con? We are doing everything in our power to have it on sale at Gen Con. However, because of how close it is, we literally won’t know it’s going to be there until we arrive at Gen Con and I run up and hug glorious piles and piles of Leviathans boxes.
In the mean time I’ll be writing up a more thorough report on the Origins Game Fair, along with some additional photos, to post in the next week or so. And of course I’ll still be blogging every few days with more stuff, including a very cool rules tweak we decided on at Origins, photos of the printer proofs once they’re in hand, photos of the final miniatures and their flight bases, and more.
It’s been a long, hard road to reach this point…but I’m exceedingly glad of the company I’ve had along the way and the explosively growing interest and community…not too long now until we watch those keels lift off their dry docks and launch into skies of action across hundreds of gaming tables round the world!
With the removal of the Captain’s Manual into the future Captain’s Box, there has been some desire to know what all will be in the Commander’s Manual…in other words, is it a full-fledged game?
An emphatic yes is the answer there…so many fantastic games await for any gaming table just out-of-the-box…speaking of boxes…thought I’d toss in a sneak peak at the entire box lid (this is literally ‘exactly’ how we turn over the file to the printer, who then takes it, prints it, and wraps the box with it)….
Back on track, I promised before Origins I’d share the TOC for the Commander’s Manual…and here it is. Read the rest of this entry »
Over Togo's head the Zed flag was burning. The pride of the Japanese fleet, the battleship Mikasa, his Mikasa, was sinking. His aide tried to pull him toward the lifeboats, but Togo stopped and looked up. He saw the battered Russian leviathan claw its way into the blue sky. And at that moment Admiral Togo Heihachiro knew that Japan would not rule the east, after all. And one more thing. It was not the age of the gun.
