Seeing as it's Christmas Eve Eve (yeah, that's right!) and 'tis the season for being with friends and family, I'm going with the assumption this will be the last post of 2011. Odds are I'll be right back online Monday, but let's play it safe, shall we?
2011 was the first full year of development for the Optional System and it's been an amazing experience thus far. But I've rambled on about this before. What I'd like to do now is write down some New Year's resolutions for the Optional System in 2012 in a non-binding yet highly encouraging format.
Publish Killshot: An Assassin's Journal
While my initial plan was to produce Redpill as the initial OS production, the Warden needs money. Plus, this mini-game has really started to take off and just screams for release. Some of the additions/alterations made to produce a smaller, faster version of the Optional System has lead to some dramatic changes to the core rules and I can't wait to click my DriveThruRPG bookmark and find Killshot's cover on the home page.
I'm aiming for a Spring 2012 release and seriously considering Kickstarter to give this product a boost in the art department, along with the usual marketing benefits. Once the first wave of playtesting is complete (hopefully towards the end of January), I'll have a much better idea of revisions and scheduling to make some decisions and push ahead with this mofo. There will be a free version titled Killshot: The Black Marker Edition to help stimulate curious players and Directors and I'm planning on sending out several dozen review copies out there to numerous bloggers and reviewers about a month or so in advance.
Begin Development on Redpill
My desk and bulletin board are scattered with notes on the mechanics of Redpill, but that's not the most daunting task of this Matrix-inspired RPG. It's the campaign section. Taking the existing material we all know and love presented in a style that won't get me sued plus extend the mythos even further for a long-lasting career in the cyber-reality will be a full-time task. Odds are Redpill won't be complete until 2013, leaving all of 2012 for design and development.
Begin Work On a Top Secret OS Setting
All I'm willing to say at this point is that it's inspired by my Shadoworld homebrew campaign. A dark fantasy setting built to accentuate the Optional System's dynamic combat without relying on the tried-and-true standards of fantasy. That's all I'll say for now.
Start a Local Gaming Group
I play in a lot of games right now, most of them online with one game a month actually taking place in my home with real, live people commuting from Ottawa. And that's just it - there's no gaming at all in Renfrew, my hometown. It's time to change that. Surely, there's at least three people in town who played tabletop RPGs and struggle with the same problem I'm facing or has heard of them and is willing to give them a shot. What am I looking to run? Seriously, you have to ask?
Update The Office
Right now, my fingers are furiously typing away on my Mac laptop. She's 5 years old and running on fumes. If I open Photoshop and Illustrator back-to-back, she crashes. YouTube videos are choppy, I have 5Gb available on a good day, and had to hook up an external fan underneath to keep her from overheating. It's time to upgrade... somehow.
But there's more I'll need to establish a truly professional home office. Broken Ruler will be my bread-and-butter. I've taken a blood oath to this fact. The past year-and-a-half has been a painful ordeal recovering from the accident, but has taught me what I truly value in life. It's true what they say about appreciating what you have when it's almost taken away from you. Most of what I'd love to set up in the office (a server, tablet, iPad) likely won't be possible until 2013, but it's certainly time to start looking to the future rather than glaring back at the past.
Be Happy
When it comes down to it, all those other resolutions lead to this one. The time has come for me to stop wishing I was something else and start living that dream. It's time for my friends to be envious of my job rather than the other way around. It's time to put up or shut up. One year from now, I want to lean back in my chair and release a giant exhale of satisfaction as that dream comes one step forward.
To everyone out there, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
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