Finished up the newest Adventure Block Layout for our Fantasy line.  I just need to put together the final PDF and record the publisher Audio Commentary which I want to get done in the next day or so.  I have another smaller product behind that one dealing with PC professions before they became adventurer’s along the same lines as those presented in the Modern game, along with a small mechanic about being born under certain Astrological signs.  Those two are next on tap.

In the mean-time; feast your eyes on our newest cover:

Woke up this morning to a snow storm. Cool! I like staying home on a snowy day and just relaxing.

Saw an awesome video on youtube on how Sony is killing the PlayStation brand. Check it out.
On one of the Blogs I check pretty regurally the owner posted this:

According to this CNN article our Vice-President said:

“We believe it would be a serious mistake if a nation such as Iran became a nuclear power.”

Okay. So what country do we, as Americans, feel should become a nuclear power? Or are we so arrogant these days that we, as a nation, feel we’re the only ones that have the right to nukes? I don’t think we’ve actually demonstrated that we, as a nation, can even be trusted with nukes.

What act would trigger our President to authorize a US nuclear response?

I was thinking about it and I think it’s not a question of arrogance on our part, but one of responsability. You wouldn’t give a thirteen year old boy hopped up on Prazac and Sugar a loaded shotgun would you? That’s called “being responsable”. Countires are the same way. No one would get all hot-and-bothered if Finland, Belgum, Greenland or Switzerland said they wanted nukes. I for one don’t think the leaders of those countries would be willing to use them in a means other than ultimate self-defense. But Iran is run by people who have demonstrated by word and deed their willingness to use them on Israel and, if given the chance, the US. To let such a regime gain access to nuclear weapons would be Insane; and we are right to prevent them. (Oh, and no one is buying that they need nuclear power for energy; oil can provide all the energy they need for the next Zillion years over there. Peddle that crap elsewhere.) My prediction: Israel or the US (maybe a joint mission) will bomb their nuclear program into the stone age if they continue. Or maybe lots of Iranian nuclear scientest will disapear “all of a sudden like”. Hey, maybe I can use that in a game suppliment!

Oh, and I posted the Crime Family PDF to the usual places! The revised cover:

Quote I heard on Cartoon Network this morning:

“I’m off to destroy Canada.  They’ve had it too good, for too long.”

I got quite a bit of work done today. I finished up the layout of the Mob Family PDF, created the Flash flip-book demo for it and now I just need to record the Publisher Audio Commentary. I also laid out our next Adventure Block for D20 Fantasy detailing the City Watch; everything from the peasant Militia to hard-core professional soldiers and everything in between. Once the cover art comes back from Anthony that one will be ready to go as well.

Now I’m off to the Peoples Republic of Maryland to do tech support for my dad and my firend (who both live in the same town, fortunately!)

***UPDATE***

I just finished up recording the Publisher Audio Commentary about the Mob Family. Will be posting the product shortly.

Listen Now:

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Still working on the Mob Family layout, but it is coming together nicely. I have a few edits and some additional text to add to the appendix. I also got some interier artwork back for a Fantasy Adventure Block detailing the City Watch; from the peasant militia with pitchforks to the well-trained Guards of a major city. That will be out following the Mob Family. And Brett Boyd sent me some notes on the next item he will be working on for the Adventurer Essesntials line.

I went to the gun range last night over in Fairfax, VA where the NRA headquarters is located. They have a world-class firing range and one of only a few where you shoot rifles in-doors. A buddy called me up last week, said a guy he goes to church with was an exchange student from Germany, and wanted to shoot some guns before he went back home. Since he knew I was a “gun guy” and all that (NRA certified pistol instructor) I loaded up a few guns and met them over at the range. We started off with a little .22 pistol, moved up to a .38 revolver, and then a 9mm DAO pistle followed by a baby Glock in .40. The German guy was in heaven; not only was he a natural (good stance, no flinching etc.) he put some good groups on target as well! Then to finish off we fired a Maadi clone of the famous AK-47. (In civilian legal semi-auto, of course!)

We were there a bit later than I had anticipated, so I got home just in time for some Halo II with my regular Thursday night group. So last night I was shooting in Analog and Digital!

It’s been buys the last couple of days. I got the cover art for our long-awaited Mob Family for D20 Modern back from Anthony. Feast your eyes on my new desktop background our newest cover:

Not positive I am going to use this as the final layout; not sure I like all the text elements but we’ll see. I started doing the layout on this one last night; and I hope to have it completed by the weekend.

I continue to get very positive feedback on the Flash Flip-Book Demo’s and the Publisher Audio Commentary feature we have been using. I got “two thumbs up” on the RPGNow Private Forum for publishers.  I expect some other publishers will be using these in the near future. (I shared with them the info on how I pulled off this marvel of internet wizardry!)
I bought the Halo 3 Beta Crackdown yesterday but haven’t played it yet. I imagine I’ll be cleaning up the mean streets of the city soon enough. (On Co-Op, of course!)

Click on the player below to hear a Publisher Audio commentary about this product.

Listen Now:

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It was a busy weekend; we put up the Adventurer Essentials: Torch PDF with two new features in the sales page. I included a Flash page-flip book so people can see the whole product including the layout and interier artwork as well as a Publisher Audio commentary with a short podcast detailing what’s in the PDF. So far it has gotten some positive feedback from other publishers as well as the artist and writer!

This means I will be re-thinking my artwork assignments. I had been focused more on the cover art since that is what customers will see on the listings, but now I can let them see the entire product right in the sales page. One of our next releases, the Mod Family for D20 Modern; will be a perfect test for the new interface since it is chock-full of color illustrations. Can’t wait to see what it will look like once finish the layout. I got the last piece of art in today from Anthony. Look for it soon.

Our next release is already laid out and ready to post. (I worked on it yesterday until bed time.) I wrote the Publisher Audio Commentary script today and will try to record it tonite so I can post the product as soon as the Torch falls off the front page of RPGNow.

My car died on Saturday. I am hoping it just needs a new battery due to the cold weather, and not an alternator or some other high-dollar part. Bummer.

***UPDATE***

Stopped by and purchased a new car battery on my way home, swapped it out by the headlights of my wife’s car and it started right up!  Glad it seems to have been a bad battery rather than an alternator! Now I need to bring the old one back for my $7.00 core charge.

Sitting down to record the Audio Commentary for our next release now; I hope to get it done so I can watch Heros at 9:00.

Adventuring can be dangerous. That’s why every treasure-hunter needs the proper equipment. With the introduction of our “Adventurer Essentials” line we will examine the items that every adventurer needs to ensure he makes it back alive for the next adventure. Time-tested, and proven by countless dungeon crawls and wilderness expeditions, these are the essentials you’ll need to survive the dangers ahead.

The next piece of essential gear covered in the “Adventurer Essentials” line is the humble Torch. In this PDF we take a brief look at the history of the Torch, the various woods used in Torch construction and the benefits of each including a special wood not native to this plane from which Masterwork Torches are made.  A brief discussion of improvised Torches is also presented, as well as several magical torches including the Orc Pillage Flame, the Detonation Torch, Pelnor’s Powder Packs (a collection of magical powders designed to unleash their magic when thrown on an open flame), and three new spells.  Written by Bret Boyd, the same author that brought you the popular “Behind the Spells” series from Ronin Arts.  Don’t leave for your next adventure without the essentials!

Listen Now:

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There has been a lot going on behind the scenes over here. (Hence no Blog updates until now!) I got a Flash page-flipping book object to make demo’s of my PDF products, and spent some time hacking the code so now I can embed the page-flip demo right in my product listings. I am pleased with the results. My test-product is here:

www.yourgamesnow.com

www.rpgnow.com

Additionally, I have also been able to create short pod-casts of audio commentary about a product and stick the player-code into my product posts as well. So far both of these ideas work fine at www.yourgamesnow as well as www.rpgnow.com. Still no luck with implemeting it at DriveThru, but with the OBS site hitting soon I will see what happens. I believe these two features will help us boost our sales!

I got all the artwork for the Adventurer Essentials: Torch in, a couple from Anthony and a couple of stock-art pieces I already have. So I will finish up the layout and get that up in a day or so. Following on the heels of that should be the long-awaited Mob Family for D20 Modern. That one is going to look great; lots of full-color art that I can show off with our new flip-book demo!

Played some great games of Halo II last night; we had a whole crew of eight so we could do the Big Team Battles without having nameless, faceless quitters leave us a man down halfway through a game. We won more than we lost, and the ones we lost were either close or the other team was lagging so much I expect they might have been cheating. (At least that’s what I tell myself so I can sleep at night!)

To hear a Publisher Audio Commentary about this product click on the player below.

Listen Now:

 The Angelic Vessel Audio Commentary [4:09m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download