Pipesong progress continues, the manuscript is about 80% complete. I thought I'd let y'all know where we are at and what's coming next:
The Tangle pipecrawl is almost finished, we wrapped up:
Tangletown, an underground (as in secret) enclave protected by one node of a fragmented supercomputer.
Manufactory, a dangerously irradiated cult compound where their arachnid cyborg leader harnesses the power of an unstable fusion reactor to produce 'completely safe' warp cores at bargain bin prices.
Hazards and 'weather' for the overloaded encounter die procedure for the Tangle
Entrepreneurs and Crews to meet as encounters in the Tangle.
After the Tangle is finished, we will move on to writing the faction and adventure overviews (we wrote those before we started, but I always write them again at the end to capture the most interesting ideas that came out during the process)
And that will wrap up the manuscript! I'm wrapping up school this week and next, so we are targeting end ofmarch for this milestone.
After that I'll move on to an editing & layout pass, seeking to pack as much into the zine as possible.
Concurrently with editing, Levi will be working on beefing out our tables with more Mishaps, Crews, Entrepreneurs, irresponsible criminal Cyberware, and Rumors.
In the evenings, after I hang up my writer's hat, I'll be putting on my 'cool' three fingered glove and ramping up on art.
Expect another update at the end of the month! Until then, I'll Work When I'm Dead
Today, a community member asked for an update on the project. It's been months since the project funded, and no word. "I know, I'm sorry, I've been meaning to get to it," I thought, "but it hasn't been that long!" It has been that long.
I've brought you all here today first and foremost to offer an apology for my total lack of communication since the backerkit campaign ended. Mothership Month has been an incredible opportunity, an amazing learning experience, and ... a kick in the ass that I've been trying to claw my way back from for the last four months.
Levi (my wonderful co-author and irl best friend) and I got wind of Mothership Month late, with only about a month to develop a pitch. The amount of work that goes into running a crowdfund caught me totally by surprise, and by the time the campaign was over we did not have a manuscript. But in that intervening time, we have been hard at work making the book that we promised you all, and you put your wallets behind.
In it's current form, Pipesong is outlined at 50 pages, with the manuscript text about half-way finished. Our rough draft documents, written by Levi, are currently counting over 12,000 words worth of ideas for me to synthesize into manuscript text. This is my solemn promise that the book is in progress, and it will be ready on time.
I would also like to make a commitment to share regular updates with you all moving forward, and I'll start right now. You'll have to zoom in to read it, but this is our design document for The Lake, a massive open-topped water filtration and organics reclamation processing facility. The water is stocked with live aquatic species, from simple filtering bivalves and krill to complex predators like whitefish and crab. The system's apex predator, Long Tom, is a genetically engineered giant octopus, hooked in to the overseer computer intelligence. You can get fish by the pound in town
In the habitation zone, abandoned after the Lake was fully automated, you'll find the Shit Merchant's (working title) workshop. A genius biologist, wrapped in CBRN gear and standing over 2m tall on exoskeletal stilts, the Merchant combs the organic waste piped into 04 Deck from all over Prospero's Dream for biological curiosities. In his workshop, he brews up designer viruses, new strains of edible yeast and fungus, and horrible poisons.
I'd also like to share a sample page to showcase the layout that I've come up with for the book. I'm really happy with how it's come out, and I am looking forward to sharing more pages over the coming months as the book is finished.
Finally, thank you all for your support, and patience. I'll talk to you soon.
