As I'm sure many of you are already aware, Vox launched his Alt*Hero project yesterday. Within four hours, it had met its 25k(US) goal. It is currently past the first stretch goal of 40k, and well, if it manages to get all the way to 70k, there will be a second omnibus.
I'm still a bit on the cautious side with my optimism for this project. Not for the funding side, it's already doing really well there, to the point where there's less than I believe 50 similar projects over the years that have done better on Kickstartr, a much larger platform. In fact, I(in addition to many) appear to have underestimated the demand for this type of project. Given that only 11 people are backing just to trigger the SJWs(no comics rewards), people that have been pretty quiet are using their money instead of their mouths.
Why have I been a bit cautious? Vox has admitted it's not his format. This is a bit of a concern if he doesn't understand the conventions of the media. Also, I was not impressed with the art early on. As I see more, it's growing on me, and the world is definitely becoming more immersive. The character designs look pretty good so far.
If the writing and art continue to improve(I mean for the medium, Vox's prose is excellent), this bodes very well for Castalia House Comics. I'm guessing that Vox is turning in prose, rather than scripts, to his artists, as he's commented that he gave them what he thought was two pages of material, and it came out to three or four. This indicates not thinking in terms of the medium, and might actually be undermining the art. How? Because if Vox learns the trick he can pull if he starts thinking in panels and nonstandard layouts, he can write as though he's directing a movie, detailing each shot. Right now, the panel layout is pretty standard, and looks very much tied to comic strips(modern newspaper) or webcomic ideas.
Vox only recently found out that most work at the Big 2 is done for hire. Now, that's not the way with a lot of other places, because the do a lot more creator owned work. But, Vox finding this revelation might make it easier for him to deal with comics creators down the line, as he mentioned he will pay royalties, in addition to some flat fees. I don't have a clue how the fees will compare, but this will help draw guys like Chuck Dixon in when the time is right.
Given growth similar to what Castalia has had in print, I have no doubt that they'll become a real presence in comics within a couple of years. And I anticipate other players coming into being as well, both on the production and distribution side.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
Friday, September 29, 2017
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Boardgame mechanics: tile placement
Today, we're going to take a look at tile placement.While a lot of games use this for map building, there are also some that use it for territory control. The most popular tile shapes are hexagonal and square, as those are space filling shapes. There are a few games that use other shapes as well, though they are a minority.
This is one more chance to visit Keyflower. Each player ends up building their own village from the tiles. Other players can use your buildings, but that grants an advantage in future turns. Tiles are auctioned in this game.The below shows a four player game underway.
Tigris and Euphrates uses tiles to represent rising and falling civilizations, as well as support for factional leaders. Tiles are randomly drawn here.
Suburbia has a market to purchase tiles, which represent a very SimCity type abstraction. Certain tiles will trigger effects in others inherently, others through adjacency. This player has a lot of industry. There's a semirandom set of stacks for each of the three phases of the game.
Galaxy Trucker uses randomly drawn(1 at a time) tiles to build ships that well, are going to fall apart. The real question is how badly. Can you get to the finish line with your ship? While the game has 3 heats officially, there's a good experience in one race.
Taluva uses tiles to build a single volcanic island that players are vying for control of . The tiles even have volcanoes that enable the game to be built up, which allows more building types. Tiles are randomly drawn, and are also tri-hexes.
Escape: The Curse of the Temple uses tiles in real time(the game takes 10 minutes once setup) as exploration sites. The players have to work together to move, find jewels, and the way out. Tiles are drawn from a semirandom setup.
And in Between Two Cities, players are drafting tiles and build a city with each neighbor. The initial draw for two of the rounds is random, and the middle phase is draw three, play one in each of your cities. Yes, the players are sitting between the cities. This is a feature of the game, not a bug.
There are a lot of other games with tile laying out there, some simpler, and some certainly more popular. These are some of the more interesting ones I've come across. This is without going into the giant mess that would look too much alike for most of 4x games with hexes.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
This is one more chance to visit Keyflower. Each player ends up building their own village from the tiles. Other players can use your buildings, but that grants an advantage in future turns. Tiles are auctioned in this game.The below shows a four player game underway.
Tigris and Euphrates uses tiles to represent rising and falling civilizations, as well as support for factional leaders. Tiles are randomly drawn here.
Suburbia has a market to purchase tiles, which represent a very SimCity type abstraction. Certain tiles will trigger effects in others inherently, others through adjacency. This player has a lot of industry. There's a semirandom set of stacks for each of the three phases of the game.
Galaxy Trucker uses randomly drawn(1 at a time) tiles to build ships that well, are going to fall apart. The real question is how badly. Can you get to the finish line with your ship? While the game has 3 heats officially, there's a good experience in one race.
Taluva uses tiles to build a single volcanic island that players are vying for control of . The tiles even have volcanoes that enable the game to be built up, which allows more building types. Tiles are randomly drawn, and are also tri-hexes.
Escape: The Curse of the Temple uses tiles in real time(the game takes 10 minutes once setup) as exploration sites. The players have to work together to move, find jewels, and the way out. Tiles are drawn from a semirandom setup.
And in Between Two Cities, players are drafting tiles and build a city with each neighbor. The initial draw for two of the rounds is random, and the middle phase is draw three, play one in each of your cities. Yes, the players are sitting between the cities. This is a feature of the game, not a bug.
There are a lot of other games with tile laying out there, some simpler, and some certainly more popular. These are some of the more interesting ones I've come across. This is without going into the giant mess that would look too much alike for most of 4x games with hexes.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Injustice Magazine Review: Cirsova #6
Cower not, fierce reader! This day we have an excellent collection of heroic fiction. If you've not read any of Cirsova yet, here's some of what you've been missing! There will be spoilers.
Novellas
The Last Job on Harz by Tyler Young- A pair of investigators are sent to a check into some peculiarities on a mining planet. They find a cross between mad science and corporate greed threatening the colonists. The subsequent cover up and later revelation are excellent.
The Magelords of Ruach by Abraham Strongjohn- This is a rich story, feeling much like a old pulp sf story. In some ways I am reminded of ERB's Venus or Mars books, and our protagonist measures up to that in his friendships and actions. Our space princess gets her own share of time, and has a great strength of endurance. Oh yeah, there's evil magi enslaving people and spiderfolk.
Short Stories
Death on the Moon by Spencer E. Hart- A bit of a noir detective story, told on the moon. Cool and smokey, with hints of underworld scum and SpaceNazi aftertaste.
The Battlefield of Keres by Jim Breyfogle- Treasure hunters with a bet, a fantastic battlefield filled with magical hazards ages after the fact, and storms and demons.
Othan, Vandal by Kurt Magnus- A story of a thief for hire, a rich dying man, and a tribe with a treasured jewel. Reads as though a hard luck Conan story.
Temple of the Beast by Harold R. Thompson- A mysterious creature sought after by men of adventure, a local cult, and death fill this measure of cryptozoological enterprise.
Tear Down the Stars by Adrian Cole- A far future science fantasy tale of hidden cities, brotherly betrayal, death cults seeking oblivion of worlds, and hidden legacies.
If these are not enough for you, there is one more piece:
My Name is John Carter(part 5) by James Hutchings- Look, this is pretty much amazing for those of us that like poetry and Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Princess of Mars.
How do I put my final thoughts?
Oh, yeah. If you haven't been reading Cirsova yet, you're missing out. And this issue is a shining jewel in the library, for which I am proud to have been a backer. 9 of 10 fell deeds.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
Novellas
The Last Job on Harz by Tyler Young- A pair of investigators are sent to a check into some peculiarities on a mining planet. They find a cross between mad science and corporate greed threatening the colonists. The subsequent cover up and later revelation are excellent.
The Magelords of Ruach by Abraham Strongjohn- This is a rich story, feeling much like a old pulp sf story. In some ways I am reminded of ERB's Venus or Mars books, and our protagonist measures up to that in his friendships and actions. Our space princess gets her own share of time, and has a great strength of endurance. Oh yeah, there's evil magi enslaving people and spiderfolk.
Short Stories
Death on the Moon by Spencer E. Hart- A bit of a noir detective story, told on the moon. Cool and smokey, with hints of underworld scum and SpaceNazi aftertaste.
The Battlefield of Keres by Jim Breyfogle- Treasure hunters with a bet, a fantastic battlefield filled with magical hazards ages after the fact, and storms and demons.
Othan, Vandal by Kurt Magnus- A story of a thief for hire, a rich dying man, and a tribe with a treasured jewel. Reads as though a hard luck Conan story.
Temple of the Beast by Harold R. Thompson- A mysterious creature sought after by men of adventure, a local cult, and death fill this measure of cryptozoological enterprise.
Tear Down the Stars by Adrian Cole- A far future science fantasy tale of hidden cities, brotherly betrayal, death cults seeking oblivion of worlds, and hidden legacies.
If these are not enough for you, there is one more piece:
My Name is John Carter(part 5) by James Hutchings- Look, this is pretty much amazing for those of us that like poetry and Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Princess of Mars.
How do I put my final thoughts?
Oh, yeah. If you haven't been reading Cirsova yet, you're missing out. And this issue is a shining jewel in the library, for which I am proud to have been a backer. 9 of 10 fell deeds.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Injustice Comics Review: Astro City- Honor Guard and Reflections
Cower not, fierce reader! This day, in the spirit of the comic book discussions going on, we will look at two recent volumes from Astro City, written by Kurt Busiek. I mention the name because he is very much a liberal, and there are some times when his view intrude enough to hurt the stories. Gladly, these volumes have a lesser amount and are more story fitting than the ones in the past.
First, a quick note about Astro City, what it is and how it is presented. Astro City is not part of any other comics universe, but feels like some of the best bits of any hero comics you've read. This is very much on purpose. A big part of Astro City is that the stories feel like Stan Lee or Jack Kirby stories, only written to matter. Another BIG point is the fact that Astro City is always written to let people in at the start of a story arc. Oh, and the stories are not necessarily in chronological order. Don't worry about continuity or characters, you'll get it.
So, Astro City: Honor Guard has a bunch of short stories in it. The first is in many ways feels like a cross between an Atom story, and a multiple worlds in peril JLA or Avengers story. It's about the events leading up to the death of Stormhawk of the Honor Guard, how the people of a microscopic world inadvertently created the circumstances that led to his death.
We also have a late life story of the mystical/comsic powered Starfighter, and see glimpses of an ERB style world of adventure. After this, there's a story of Wolf Spider, encountering his childhood fictional heroes and regretting it. Hummingbird confronts the magic and gods of another world that granted her both power and a curse, with a few feminist notes. Then we have a series of attacks by the Living Nightmare, but who or what is giving him fear?
Lastly, we have in this volume a story of American Chibi, where we find her home and the dark powers that are pushing against the barriers to reality. A quick word here: this volume has a lot of origin stories for Astro City. And while they ususally provide an origin story for each character focused on, this just has a lot of new foci. But, overall, really entertaining.
Astro City: Reflections goes a different route, and brings us back to characters we've already seen, though you still don't need those stories to follow these. This volume has three tales, and all of them have familiar notes.
A powerless member of the First Family has been kidnapped by one of their intergalactic foes. The family goes to rescue her from these near constant enemies. The story is told following a child of the alien enemy.
Samaritan has been having bad dreams. Visiting the Fursts, he is told that he must stay for 24 hours so they can target the cause. Heroes around the world cover for him, and the cause of his dreams is found and manifested.
Steeljack, once a villain, has been hired to uncover who's been framing retired crooks. We visit with street punks, gadget refabbers, and take a meal.
While early Astro City volumes are a bit better, it's still some of the best hero storytelling out there right now. These sit at 8 of 10 fell deeds each
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
First, a quick note about Astro City, what it is and how it is presented. Astro City is not part of any other comics universe, but feels like some of the best bits of any hero comics you've read. This is very much on purpose. A big part of Astro City is that the stories feel like Stan Lee or Jack Kirby stories, only written to matter. Another BIG point is the fact that Astro City is always written to let people in at the start of a story arc. Oh, and the stories are not necessarily in chronological order. Don't worry about continuity or characters, you'll get it.
So, Astro City: Honor Guard has a bunch of short stories in it. The first is in many ways feels like a cross between an Atom story, and a multiple worlds in peril JLA or Avengers story. It's about the events leading up to the death of Stormhawk of the Honor Guard, how the people of a microscopic world inadvertently created the circumstances that led to his death.
We also have a late life story of the mystical/comsic powered Starfighter, and see glimpses of an ERB style world of adventure. After this, there's a story of Wolf Spider, encountering his childhood fictional heroes and regretting it. Hummingbird confronts the magic and gods of another world that granted her both power and a curse, with a few feminist notes. Then we have a series of attacks by the Living Nightmare, but who or what is giving him fear?
Lastly, we have in this volume a story of American Chibi, where we find her home and the dark powers that are pushing against the barriers to reality. A quick word here: this volume has a lot of origin stories for Astro City. And while they ususally provide an origin story for each character focused on, this just has a lot of new foci. But, overall, really entertaining.
Astro City: Reflections goes a different route, and brings us back to characters we've already seen, though you still don't need those stories to follow these. This volume has three tales, and all of them have familiar notes.
A powerless member of the First Family has been kidnapped by one of their intergalactic foes. The family goes to rescue her from these near constant enemies. The story is told following a child of the alien enemy.
Samaritan has been having bad dreams. Visiting the Fursts, he is told that he must stay for 24 hours so they can target the cause. Heroes around the world cover for him, and the cause of his dreams is found and manifested.
Steeljack, once a villain, has been hired to uncover who's been framing retired crooks. We visit with street punks, gadget refabbers, and take a meal.
While early Astro City volumes are a bit better, it's still some of the best hero storytelling out there right now. These sit at 8 of 10 fell deeds each
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
Monday, September 25, 2017
Castalia House, about those book covers...
They're really good these days. So I've got to ask: When are you going to find a way for us to get posters of this great art?
The Moth & Cobweb covers started out meh, but then you found a stellar artist. Appendix N has art by the same gentleman. Your print editions for Mr. Grant's Maxwell Saga has new and attractive art. The Rod Walker covers are great fun, and the Kalsi and Cheah cover look wonderful. You could also use this to rerelease the alternate cover Corrosion had, with the alternate author.
And I know you don't own the art for some, like Mr. Van Creveld's nonfiction books, Mr. Grant's Westerns, and Mr. Cole's that you do print editions for. But you've got some serious art here. As one of the marks of civilization is beauty, why not sell some folios of posters? Say, selected fantasy covers, sf covers, and There Will Be War covers. Perhaps a selected fiction and nonfiction collection, with David the Good's covers, Loki's Child, Cuckservative, and more?
It's just a thought, and I don't know the rights status for these outside of books. But man, I want some of this for my walls. I'd even take a Selenoth collection and consider the map for a game store campaign, leaving it on their wall.(yes, I do remember there's a potential ACKS thing going to happen.)
Now, I'm not suggesting these for shirts, they're really detailed. Mugs, perhaps. Maybe a phone cover? I'm not a big merch guy, but I know that a lot of people are, and it would increase public awareness of the properties. And for your upcoming Faraway Wars, while I'm guessing you have a video game in the works, merch will help push that out as well, building brand awareness.
Note to indie authors and cover artists: This goes for you guys, too. If you get a big bunch of great covers, use them for marketing. Get some of the best covers you have, and sell the posters. Who does this depends on the rights, but that's for you to hash out.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
The Moth & Cobweb covers started out meh, but then you found a stellar artist. Appendix N has art by the same gentleman. Your print editions for Mr. Grant's Maxwell Saga has new and attractive art. The Rod Walker covers are great fun, and the Kalsi and Cheah cover look wonderful. You could also use this to rerelease the alternate cover Corrosion had, with the alternate author.
And I know you don't own the art for some, like Mr. Van Creveld's nonfiction books, Mr. Grant's Westerns, and Mr. Cole's that you do print editions for. But you've got some serious art here. As one of the marks of civilization is beauty, why not sell some folios of posters? Say, selected fantasy covers, sf covers, and There Will Be War covers. Perhaps a selected fiction and nonfiction collection, with David the Good's covers, Loki's Child, Cuckservative, and more?
It's just a thought, and I don't know the rights status for these outside of books. But man, I want some of this for my walls. I'd even take a Selenoth collection and consider the map for a game store campaign, leaving it on their wall.(yes, I do remember there's a potential ACKS thing going to happen.)
Now, I'm not suggesting these for shirts, they're really detailed. Mugs, perhaps. Maybe a phone cover? I'm not a big merch guy, but I know that a lot of people are, and it would increase public awareness of the properties. And for your upcoming Faraway Wars, while I'm guessing you have a video game in the works, merch will help push that out as well, building brand awareness.
Note to indie authors and cover artists: This goes for you guys, too. If you get a big bunch of great covers, use them for marketing. Get some of the best covers you have, and sell the posters. Who does this depends on the rights, but that's for you to hash out.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
Sunday, September 24, 2017
Quick Game look: Villages of Valeria
A friend of mine had Valeria Card Kingdoms(maybe I'll discuss that one another time), and after playing that, I decided to try one of their other offerings, and they have two others in the same setting. Villages of Valeria is a quick and fairly complex game. Images come from BoardGameGeek.
How's it work? First big mechanism is role selection(I'll get to covering that mechanic someday). The rest of the game is resource management and tableau building. This is a lead/follow mechanic, with some interesting limiting factors as to if you can follow. There are three card types: the castle(starting card), buildings, and adventurers.
Here's a picture of a part of a tableau from a played game:
I'm going to focus on the 2 fully visible cards, one building(left) and one adventurer(right). The rules suggest that buildings of a type be tucked that way, because name, points, and effects are all of the card that matter after building.
Card breakdown for buildings: Top corners are building type and VP for game end. Just under the name of the card is its special effect(some instant, some constant, and some conditional). On the left side is the resource cost of the building when you build it. The bottom section is resources when played a different way, which I'll discuss later. The Adventurer has its effect in the same place, and on the left side is the building requirement to hire the adventurer.
Now, a glimpse of a more full tableau.
Yeah, it's further out. The two cards on the left bottom here are important. The leftmost is the role selection card, with its marker(it helps for people following/tracking turns). The next one in is the starting castle, with some buildings developed for resource availability. Now, for the roles, so the rest fits together better. Cards do change some of these.
Harvest- Draw three building cards from the face up row, or the top of its deck. Followers draw one.
Develop- Discard one card from hand. Tuck another building for its resources under your castle. Followers discard two.
Tax- Take 1 gold and draw one card. Followers draw one card.
Recruit- Pay 1 gold to recruit an adventurer to your town. Followers pay 2.
Build- Place gold on open resource spots to fill the requirements for the building, and draw a card. Followers don't draw a card.
When your turn begins, the gold on your resource spots becomes yours. This also means players can block others from being able to build by using all the resources. If all their money is tied up in resources, recruit or build.
Now, I've only played it with two, but we played three or four games straight. I'd say it's rather light, though the iconography takes a moment to get used to. But there's a lot of variability for such a light game in here, and that's before the little expansion packs.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
How's it work? First big mechanism is role selection(I'll get to covering that mechanic someday). The rest of the game is resource management and tableau building. This is a lead/follow mechanic, with some interesting limiting factors as to if you can follow. There are three card types: the castle(starting card), buildings, and adventurers.
Here's a picture of a part of a tableau from a played game:
I'm going to focus on the 2 fully visible cards, one building(left) and one adventurer(right). The rules suggest that buildings of a type be tucked that way, because name, points, and effects are all of the card that matter after building.
Card breakdown for buildings: Top corners are building type and VP for game end. Just under the name of the card is its special effect(some instant, some constant, and some conditional). On the left side is the resource cost of the building when you build it. The bottom section is resources when played a different way, which I'll discuss later. The Adventurer has its effect in the same place, and on the left side is the building requirement to hire the adventurer.
Now, a glimpse of a more full tableau.
Yeah, it's further out. The two cards on the left bottom here are important. The leftmost is the role selection card, with its marker(it helps for people following/tracking turns). The next one in is the starting castle, with some buildings developed for resource availability. Now, for the roles, so the rest fits together better. Cards do change some of these.
Harvest- Draw three building cards from the face up row, or the top of its deck. Followers draw one.
Develop- Discard one card from hand. Tuck another building for its resources under your castle. Followers discard two.
Tax- Take 1 gold and draw one card. Followers draw one card.
Recruit- Pay 1 gold to recruit an adventurer to your town. Followers pay 2.
Build- Place gold on open resource spots to fill the requirements for the building, and draw a card. Followers don't draw a card.
When your turn begins, the gold on your resource spots becomes yours. This also means players can block others from being able to build by using all the resources. If all their money is tied up in resources, recruit or build.
Now, I've only played it with two, but we played three or four games straight. I'd say it's rather light, though the iconography takes a moment to get used to. But there's a lot of variability for such a light game in here, and that's before the little expansion packs.
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
Saturday, September 23, 2017
Ok, I'm starting back up.
Sorry, folks for the absence. I've had an injury that has kept me shut in and affected my concentration this last week. Thankfully, I'm recovering, and will get back up to speed soon. Yes, I've also fallen behind on my reading. I should get back up and into my normal pacing soon; I've got a quick review set I'm partway through the reading for(unless I just split them all up), an anthology to get reviewed, and Cirsova 6 is almost ready for me to write my review(as in not done yet). Oh, yeah. I also tried out a game yesterday with two players that I want to try with more, but was really interesting.
Now, that I've gotten some of the other stuff out of the way, I posted a drawing for Rocketo just over a week ago, and received four comments on it. And, the winner is: Man of the Atom!
I'll be contacting you shortly(maybe before you have a chance to read this).
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
Now, that I've gotten some of the other stuff out of the way, I posted a drawing for Rocketo just over a week ago, and received four comments on it. And, the winner is: Man of the Atom!
I'll be contacting you shortly(maybe before you have a chance to read this).
When you play Social Justice, the world loses.
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