Adam from BeastsofWar.com stopped by again to interview me at the Catalyst Game Labs booth. I managed to snag a photo of him playing on Thursday, and then you’ve got the interview below that.
Gen Con 2011 Leviathans Demos 1
Thanks to the BeastsofWar.com crew for their fantastic work spreading all our passion for table-top miniatures game play around.
So much happened surrounding Leviathans at Gen Con there’s no possible way I’ll be able to cram it all into a single post (especially as I’m heading on a camping trip in 2 hours for the next few days as it’s the only way my wife could figure out how to get me to take a short vacation after the long, long sprint to the convention).
Instead, in the coming weeks I’ll roll out photos, videos and comments surrounding the brilliant experience that was Leviathans at Gen Con. First out of the gate is a video that shows the two large models created by Behrle Hubbuch (you saw the destroyer already for the Origins video, but here it is in all the glory of the 4-foot-battleship!)
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.
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.
