I’ve been silent of late. Lots has been happening, some of it good, some bad. On the whole I think that it’s better not to say anything than to start ranting and railing, so I’ve kept my counsel. Still, as Grzegorz reminded me this morning, you guys deserve to know a bit more about what’s going on. So, here’s a quick round-up of what’s happening here.
As always, there’s a bunch of things rumbling around in the background. Something like 6 possible board game projects, among other things. We’ll see how many of those pan out. More on them as they bubble up to the surface.
The rest falls into 3 main categories. Starting with the simplest…
Halji30
This competition is now closed.
Mantic Stuff
I am currently in dispute with Mantic 😦
I don’t want to discuss details which is why I’ve not mentioned anything publicly till now. I had hoped to have it sorted months ago. Unfortunately, it’s taking a very long time, and until this is resolved I’m not going to be doing any more work for them on any project, new or old.
My apologies to those of you who feel caught in this crossfire. I’d rather not be here either.
Mythic Battles
On a much happier note, you may have seen me with the Mythic Battles/Monolith guys in some of the reports on the recent Essen Spiel. If you didn’t, then here’s a random picture of me playing Mythic Battles: Pantheon on a fancy 3D demo board, with some Conan stuff in the background.
Essen was an experience, and no mistake. The Spiel is vast, and sprawls over 4 public days, plus a day for professionals, and more of set-up. Something of a marathon. All good fun though, and their upcoming game (Mythic Battles: Pantheon) was very well received by both public and professionals, which always makes things easier. It goes live on Kickstarter on the 1st of Nov.
This project is a bit of a departure for me as my initial work for them is more like being back as a magazine editor than as a game designer. Fun though. A sort of blast-from-the past.
I’ll explain more over the next few days. For now, just let me point you at their Facebook page, and tell you that I should now be addressed as the Voice of Olympus 🙂
Other Stuff
Naturally, I’ve got more on my mind than this. For example, some jolly-looking Kickstarters I’m pledging for, plus the sadly lost opportunity of Lost Patrol. I’ll have to come back to them.
Quirkworthy 
Sad to know that you are going to work more with mantic… but happy to know that you are going to work more for… yourself / another company /aliens… Happy to know about you, Jake.
Aliens. Definitely.
I had somewhat guessed that there was something afoot given Mantic not touting you working on Star Saga or Dreadball 2. It’s disappointing but I’m glad to hear you have lots of other stuff in the pipeline – I’ve heard nothing but good things about Mythic Battles!
🙂
Good to read post since a while.
Waiting for Halji30. Sadly I didn’t manage to participate because my vacation was nearing end when the competition was finally announced. Will you be distributing the game yourself?
Sad to hear about Mantic dispute. Although I had been wondering if it would be happening after they released free core rules for Deadzone.
From discussion in Dungeon Saga FAQ a question arised:
Do you have any financial ties for keeping up FAQ’s or is it all on your own time? I personally think that “upkeep” should be a paid work as well as initial development.
Halji30 – probably. Not entirely sure yet.
FAQs are all on my own time.
hey i am excited that you got messed up with the mythic battle pantheon game.
the game minis are oooohh so gorgeous and the game design seems also very good with lots of good ideas in there.
I’m excited too. It’s a fun game, with nice people 🙂
I don’t miss you leaving Mantic at all — because that just means you’ll be able to develop games for a company that doesn’t bollox up its KS fulfillments! Thanks for helping out with Mythic Battles. Maybe you can develop some rules sets that use the MB and Conan figures in other games!
Using all the models in other games sounds like missing out on making cool new miniatures. Can’t be doing that 🙂
That’s easy for you to say — you’re not the one painting these things! (:
Okay, see you on the MB comments pages. Keep up the hard work, and thanks for helping out on the English translation!
Sorry to hear things are still not resolved for you with Mantic.
Never a good place to be, in dispute.
It’s a shame because everything seemed to be going swimmingly there for a while.
The development of Dungeon Saga was one of the best things Mantic have done to date.
The Kickstarter was really successful and hopefully more will grow from it in the future.
I enjoyed your input on the Mythic battles; Pantheon Kickstarter that I dropped a load of dosh on.
Good luck.
Thanks Nick 🙂
That is a rather lovely looking display board!
It is indeed!