Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Mutants & Marvels stuff

M&M is doing ok.  The PDF sells better than any of my other stuff, and the print edition is doing well over at Lulu.  All in all, I’m happy with it.  My only gripe is not enough reviews . . .

Anyways, after some feedback, and going back over the whole thing a few times, I have some ideas of things to add.  So, I am currently working on an updated version of the game.  However, rather than going the traditional route that RPG’s do, and calling it “Second Edition,” I’m going to call it “2.0.”  It’s an important distinction.

In my mind, a new Edition implies that there have been changes to the mechanics.  That the rules will somehow need some conversion work to be compatible with the previous edition(s).  And this is not what I am looking at doing.  The mechanics will remain exactly as they are.  Mainly because I think they work just fine for the game as it is written and presented.

2.0 will actually be the same exact game, but with some errata integrated, some more detailed explanations and clarifications, and added content.  Additionally, I would like to update the artwork by adding more (especially female) characters.  And I even have an idea for a new cover image that I think will kick ass, if I can pull it off.  As always, the artwork will be on me, since I can’t afford to commission any from anyone with real talent.

This will effect the future of the game in two main ways.  First, the price will go up for both versions.  Not a lot, but some.  Right now the game is probably way underpriced, so I don’t see it being much of a problem.  On the print-side, I am going to go with a whole different format.  I plan to have it printed in 8.5” x 11”, saddle-stitched, with B&W interior art.  As neat as the smaller format is, I’ve come to the conclusion that I prefer the larger format.  Chances are, for the print edition, both sizes will be available, since I can simply update the file it is printed from.

As a side note, I tried setting up a POD thru RPGNow, but the process for rendering the cover image was too complex, and I don’t have the right program to do it (I have an older version of Photoshop).

Anyways, I’m not sure when this will all be done.  I’m still pretty busy with real-life stuff.  But it is probably a safe bet that this little project will preclude issue #3 of Zine-O-Morph from being about M&M.  Still, I haven’t even gotten #2 ready for publication, though I am getting closer.  So, I’m not too worried about that.

If you have purchased it, or know someone who has, and you’ve played it, please, PLEASE give it a review.  You have no idea how beneficial those are to indie publishers.

3 comments:

  1. If you want to do the POD on RPGNow and need help with the cover, I might be able to help you out. I do the Frontier Explorer there. I've got an older Photoshop as well (CS3) and it works just fine (at least it did, it's been a while. I'm in the process of getting caught up so I'll actually know more in a week or so). I even have the template for a saddle stitched 8.5x11 cover as that is what I use for FE. I could literally drop your cover images in and output it in the format needed.

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    1. I might just take you up on that, once I get a new image set up. Until then, I'm just going to keep things as they are. And I have CS2, so you're still one up on me. :)

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    2. I have CS6 and Creative Cloud now as well through work but I've never ported all the settings over to get the colors right. So I still use my old CS3 for layouts for RPGNow POD products

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