"So Is Anything Happening?"

Candlejack asked, in a comment on my last post, if anything is still happening on the project. Well, here's the rundown...

Until as recently as June 16th, work was continuing on the game. Mostly I'd been sending sections of rules to Stelek over at Yes The Truth Hurts, and he's been very helpful in finding out where I've contradicted myself, or left a rules hole that a WAAC could conceivably drive a car through. But that's slow, nitpicking work that's not very interesting to blog about.

As of right now though, work on the game has been put largely on hold for at least the next 3-4 months. There are some reasons for this:

1) 8th Edition 40K Hit

With 8th Edition, GW has drastically altered its game design strategy in the direction of making everything as streamlined as possible. It's pretty much the diametric opposite of 6th/7th, where they were adding as much useless detail to the game as possible.

And so I've been playing the game (as much as I'm able given the other constraints I'll list) in order to  better grasp its strengths and weaknesses. Which are different that 6th and 7th editions. This will have an effect on WarStrike's design priorities, insofar we need to write the game that competitive players will be yearning for after several months of playing 8th. This new edition of 40K is rather good for casual play, but I'm seeing big problems with competitive play.

I'm not foreseeing a complete rewrite or anything. But certain things will need to be simplified some more, while detail is added to competitive topics that 40K addresses poorly.

2) My Basement Flooded

In mid-June, we had a huge amount of rain locally, and my basement was flooded. I didn't lose too much stuff, but everything is in disarray. My computers have been set back up, but I don't have a game table or studio lighting area available like I did before.

We've decided that remodeling the basement (with waterproof flooring) is the best way to go, but the earliest opening for getting that work started with a contractor is October, and they probably won't be done until mid-November. So I'll be without a good dedicated work space until then.

3) I'm Preparing a New Art Portfolio

For reasons I won't go into, my wife is anxious for me to find a job right now. The good thing is that I found a very, very good listing for one that matches my skills nicely. The bad thing is that my art portfolio is out of date and doesn't reflect the kind of work that this company would want me to do.

So I've been spending the last 2 weeks working on digital paintings and 3D models of various sorts. Making this even more time consuming is that I signed up for an online course on concept art a few weeks before I found the job posting. So I've been busy with those assignments too. Taken together, these two commitments are completely taking up all of my free time. Which means that I can't clean up the basement further, or play 40K more than once every other week. Hell, I couldn't even go on vacation with my family last week.

And if I get the job? Well the recruiter doesn't know what their attitude will be about my continuing this project. So there's several ways that WarStrike might be constrained by whatever employment agreement that I'd be expected to sign. Worse case, I think, is that we're forced to go completely non-profit and basically open-source the rules. Which would have advantages and disadvantages.

So in summary, my family life is in a bit of chaos, I've buried in professional commitments, and my studio space is going to be a total mess until October. In a few weeks, when I get my portfolio done and have gotten an interview with this company, I'll know a lot more about what the future holds.

But I've not given up on WarStrike yet. Not at all. It's just kind of low on my list of priorities at the moment. Summer is always a busy, difficult time to get much done on the project, but this summer has really turned that up to eleven.

Peace.