I took a week off to do some summer things with the family and a bit of time to do some creative work again: drawing a map for a future project. A dozen sites with descriptions that fit into different parts of the Vastlands.
This one was the stratometaship, a self-contained mobile residence-plex in the void. Conveniently also something that will let me illustrate the chapter on the void that got cut from the OGA to save space with an actual location.
The full-size map along with the accompanying text is in the backers-only section down-down beyond the footer.
It's the stratometaship ... a strange vessel in the void.
It was good to do some purely creative work again. Now I feel like I have the mojo to finish the last steps, which are almost all layout:
some final feedback from close readers to implement in the books
the two zines are with the editor. After they finish, I'll lay them out.
meanwhile: legends for the Big Map and layout
layout Mirror man
layout Referee Screen
layout Reference Cards
layout Notebook
layout Golden Box
finalize Limited Edition foil art for covers and box
Am I missing anything? I might be missing something small there in between ... well, I'm sure I'll be reminded in due course. I'm aiming to finish the above in the next weeks. Let's see how that goes!
There's only one thing left to do on the books: a legend for the maps in Our Golden Age. Otherwise, the Endpapers are done, and with that we're in the field of cosmetix.
<<TL;DR?: Skip to the end for the latest PDFs!>>
Doing the Endpapers was, frankly, really hard. I struggled to wrangle the tables into shape, to motivate myself to go through with a fine tooth comb, to pixel-push till the pixels screamed and my eyes turned square and cloudstruck like dying cathode tubes.
But, they do now summarize most of the Vastlands Guidebook and also serve as a visual table of contents / table index.
Behold, front endpapers:
pages I and II
and the rear endpapers:
pages CLXXII and CLXXIII
You may also notice some tweaked tables
look how nicely the table on the right lines up with the page on the left now ...
Not just spot art, I also redid some of the chapter art in the OGA. I'll probably redo 3 more pieces (Yellow Land, Purple Land, Circle Sea section art) to make them more striking.
Green Land megamorph browsing in the Understoreys of the Emerald City's Apartarbres.
I added some really addled spot art ...
Look at all the cute souvenirs!
Some of it is also in color. And I also ended up coloring some pieces while procrastinating from doing the endpapers, which was ... oh, god, I struggled to motivate myself to push those pixels.
Look at that pretty little Ere Bunker settlement at bottom left!
All told, if you go through the most recent PDFs (backer-only content section), you'll find about 20 new pieces of spot art or newly colored line art. Yeah, I really struggled to get to work on the endpapers some days.
The proofreaders, typohunters and knights grammarian over on the discord have also been active, catching all manner of strange beasties, from a rare the-the to several exotic missingas.
Can't believe I got an update out on Thursday (Korean Time). Such speed.
Onwards, to the glorious and eternal future that is here and now!
The weeks churned by so fast, this is three updates in one.
The indices are done.
The final map is done and integrated in the book.
I've added navigation overlays (tabs) to the books.
I've added more spot art.
I've uploaded the latest versions of the book PDFs and the map to the dropbox and added the links in the backer-only section below.
What's left for the books:
Proofreading! We're at the end. Those keen to participate, we've got a channel for the knights grammarian (the grammarchy) on the stratometaship discord server.
The endpapers for the VLG - tables! Some to match the referee screen, some just for the book. Got a table you want to see? This is the time to share your table. Coffee table? Dining table? Card table? All sorts of tables. Even ttrpg tables.
And I'm going to cram in more spot art, but ... that's easy peasy. I'll do it as I get other stuff done.
Then it's just the other side bits. Soon the whole project will head over to the production team to get turned into paper and glue and ink and other bits of physical rawstuff! Exciting! Atlasting!
But now, pictures that may (or may not?) speak for themselves.
Another technical update, which - to be fair - isn't bad. Last week I finished reviewing all the edits. All the way, to the last page, and the 1077th comment. Here is where it was at:
Last page of editorial comments.
At the same time as I was editing the book, I also found quite a few strange concepts, creatures, and places needed to join the Lexicon of the Vastlands. The UVG had a moderately sized glossary, but it has since (and over some books) grown to the extent that it wouldn't fit in the OGA and scattering the glossaries over multiple books feels ... messy. So I've put the whole thing into its own file. I've attached the latest version for the interested.
This last week has been a bit more scattered, with many holidays, so I've focused on some less visible tasks: updating my database of documents and files, clearing up some admin, and reviewing the map of the circle sea. I suppose I have also been putting off tackling the index a little bit. Building indices is never among my favorite tasks, hah hah hah.
Anyway, revised next few steps: 1) the final final FINAL map - and updating it within the book. I need to go through the book and check which locations are already in the map, which need to be added, which don't ... and I'm also reviewing a few of the icons on the map. Oh, and it will need a legend. And a pretty border. 2) make the final proofready PDF - that's going to be a big deal. A 300dpi version, ready for printing. 3) the referee screen - this one will assemble tables from the VLG and OGA, and I need to do the final art. That'll probably be a few days of drawing. 4) reference cards - to match the referee screen! 5) the adventurers' notebook - putting it together for your adventuring delectation 6) final cover art and box art - this will be a big step. 7) layout on the two zines - this will be the last thing.
Sooo ... looks like we're down to less then 10 updates from my end remaining!
I hope you'll miss my dulcet keyboard strokes in your inbocces :P
This is an update from the weeds. I'm slowly working through the thorough and helpful and exhausting and exasperating editorial comments for Our Golden Age. This is one of those things that just takes its time.
It ranges from classics like:
the joy of typos
To interesting clarifications like:
"Single use, or can you fold it back up/shrink it back down?" —it's a magic tent. Now it's clear it's a magic tent.
To mood-boosting comments:
there I was, worried this was unclear ...
To places where strange mechanics, like the toady-accumulation engine, get discussed:
Get your Toddward the Toady today! Free stick-art megahero for the first person to find where in the OGA this is.
I literally have nothing to say. After a few hours of this, I replace my brain, mulch the old one, and resume. I think I'm getting close to the end. 70 pages or so left.
After that, it's:
1) the final final FINAL map - and updating it within the book 2) make the final proofready PDF 3) the referee screen 4) the adventurers' notebook 5) layout on the two zines 6) final cover art and box art
For now, I'll just leave you with the final FINAL version of the card backs:
Also available as a 50MB ridiculous resolution poster-sized file.
![Our Golden Age (OGA): An Ultraviolet Grasslands RPG []equel](https://images.backerkit.com/active_storage/backerkit_production/blob/w3x8sovt158sexgb2brviuof2eia?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&auto=compress%2Cformat&cs=srgb&ar=16%3A9&fit=crop)
