War of the Worlds: The Eve of the War
14×8.5″, pen & ink on bristol, 2014
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So, last year I did some extensive work in designing and playtesting a tabletop game called StarSpeed 17. I even got to the point of developing a bunch of art for it before I ultimately scrapped the project. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I knew the game wasn’t as much fun as I wanted it to be.
StarSpeed 17 was basically an evolution from Mille Bornes, a vintage auto-racing card game from France. The basic mechanics were simple but problematic – it was always too easy to disrupt your opponents and too much of a challenge to make progress toward the goal. When I was developing StarSpeed 17, I came up with some pretty good fixes for the mechanical problems, but I don’t really think they made the game any more fun. It was challenging for the players, for sure, but there just wasn’t the sort of nail-biting excitement I was looking for.
I put the game aside for a while, but it’s always been in the back of my head to keep working on it, and I’m starting to feel like it’s time to give it another look. I’ve come up with a near-complete revamp of the movement mechanic, getting away from the card-based movement and moving toward a dice-based system reminiscent of another vintage racing game, Formula D. I’m also planning on adding in system stats for each ship, to add more variety and strategy for the players to work with. I’m still going to keep the modular board system, though I’m revising that as well so that the board sections are larger than before. This will make the track configurations less flexible, but easier to set up.
With any luck I’ll be able to set up a play test for the new rules in a few weeks, and will post the results here. Keep a lookout!
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I am truly excited to announce the kickoff of a project long in the planning stages, a series of illustrations based on The War of the Worlds
by H. G. Wells! I’ve been wanting to do this one for a good long while, and now that I’m at a good spot to get started I’m just champing at the bit. I finished the logo this week and am just bristling to get started on the first full piece.
War of the Worlds will be a series of illustrations based on selected scenes from the classic sci-fi novel of the same name, one from each chapter. When completed, the first six illustrations will be collected into a 5.5×8.5” black and white folio edition. A second and third folio of six additional illustrations each are also planned, depending on interest.
The six chapters selected to be included in the First Folio are:
- 1. The Eve of the War
- 5. Heat Ray
- 10. In the Storm
- 16. The Exodus from London
- 19. What We Saw from the Ruined House
- 25. Dead London
Thanks to the LunarBistro Patreon Progress feed, supporters can follow the creation of these six full-page illustrations from sketches and studies on through pencilling and all the way to completion. Patrons will also be able to pre-order digital and printed versions of the folio at higher pledge levels.
I’m really looking forward to the challenge of creating illustrations worthy of one of the all-time great classic sci-fi novels, and I hope you enjoy following along.
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Ellie Connelly and the Eye of the Vortex chapter 3 has been released for download on Gumroad.com! This DRM-free pdf file contains 16 pages of black and white art you can carry anywhere – on your phone, computer or tablet.
Ellie and the gang need Rocky Waters’s help to find a mysterious stone known only as “The Eye” before the Mystic Legion can use it to gain control over a powerful Vortex of mystical energy, but first they must rescue Mr. Waters from a gang of thugs who are tearing his house apart! The story continues from Ellie Connelly and the Eye of the Vortex, Part 1, with 16 new pages of black and white art!
And don’t forget you can also still get the first two chapters for free, featuring full-color art, in Ellie Connelly and the Eye of the Vortex, Part 1!
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Mockup copy of Eye of the Vortex #3
Hey! If you’re anything like me, you’ve been wondering if you’ll be able to pre-order the upcoming issue of Ellie Connelly and the Eye of the Vortex when the chapter is finished in just a couple of pages. The more I thought about it and weighed various preorder options, it struck me that I already HAVE the perfect mechanism for preordering the comic: The Patreon page!
The $5 patron level is the perfect way to preorder the comic – the price covers domestic shipping, and you’ll also get access to the digital copy (the $2 pledge reward) AND constant access to the process feed as I continue working on my next project. The current chapter will be completed very soon (I’m shooting for this weekend, with any luck and another day off of work), and when that happens all pledges will be collected and I’ll start putting together rewards including your shiny new physical copy of Ellie Connelly and the Eye of the Vortex #3!
After all Patreon supporters have their copies, and I’ve had a chance to drop some off at a few of the local shops, the issues will make their way to my Storenvy store, so if you want the earliest available copies, get your preorders locked in now!
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