While I’m thinking SF, I want to take a detour from Deadzone and to mention a couple of other things. Firstly, the Macrocosm Kickstarter is almost finished. As I type this there’s less than 24 hours left, so hurry along if you want to see what’s on offer before it ends.

They’ve already doubled their target, which is great, and have added over 60 models to their existing range. As I mentioned in a previous post, Chris has taken the slightly unusual route of producing the first two races and free rules on his own, and has only gone to KS when he needed to fund an expansion… exactly the sort of thing that I keep hearing folk no longer use Kickstarter for.

The style he’s gone for is very much in the Oldhammer vibe that has emerged from the woodwork of late. Personally, I’m not gone on all of the ranges, but I am rather partial to the Diggers and also like the Malignancy*. I’m sure other people will prefer the other ranges. The big robots will be interesting to see when they’re finished and standing next to the other models. I have a feeling that they’re going to be quite imposing. And then there’s the Kev White space goblins…

Of course, not all of you will like that retro style, and that’s fine. As we were just discussing in one of the Deadzone threads, you can’t please everyone all the time. I mention the Macrocosm thing partly because I know Chris and wish him well, partly because I have an admiration for the energy and drive required of the many one-man bands we have in the gaming world and like to support them when I can, and partly because I like the models (mine aren’t going on eBay) and would like to see him succeed and make more.

On A Related Topic

Another thing I mentioned before was a new set of retro style SF rules I’ve been working on.

The reason I mention this is that you may be interested in it when it is done. It’s intentionally more detailed (hit locations, etc) and designed to play at a more considered pace than DZR. They are very different beasts, and which I prefer depends a lot on what mood I’m in at the time. Sometimes I want the energy of DZR, and other times the story and detail of the retro SF suits more.

Overall, the retro stuff has been a very entertaining and unusual design, and it’s worth a few articles on its own. Deliberately designing something in such a specific style is quite a challenge, but a fun one as it’s allowed me to wallow in my own nostalgia for games I grew up with.

Whether this is the same retro that everyone else recalls remains to be seen. But then that’s nostalgia for you – it’s a very variable thing 🙂

* As an aside, you may recall me remarking about how some figures look better in reality, others when they’re on screen; some painted and some in bare metal, plastic or whatever. I’m sure you’ve all noticed. For me, Macrocosm’s Diggers look really good on screen and in real life (not much difference), but the Malignancy seem much better when I have them in my hand than in pictures (big difference). I don’t know what that means, if anything – it’s just something that intrigues me, more so because that difference is within a single company’s offer. I would normally expect this sort of variation in perceivable quality to be more common between companies.