Fantasist's Scroll

Lost and directionless, I plod on.

This morning, I am disheartened. Some months ago, when I had nothing but time and an empty wallet, I put forth the idea of selling catalogs of symbols for Profantasy’s Campaign Cartographer. The mere thought of someone making money off this product and the associated user community seemed to really irritate some people on the CC2 Yahoo Group, for some reason. In any case, after a bit of feedback, both pro and con, I decided not to pursue the idea. I really felt at the time that not enough people would buy the product to make it worth the effort of setting up the merchant account and website.
This morning, from that same Yahoo Group, I got an e-mail announcing that someone had just setup a website for that very purpose.
To be fair, the proprietor of that webshop, Ralf Schemmann, is not only good enough at making symbols to do work for Profantasy, but he’s a nice guy, too. My only regret is not following through on it when I had the chance. Now, while the opportunity still exists, I don’t really have the time. Ah, well, I guess that’s what I get for listening to the nay-sayers instead of my own inner voice.
Oh, by the way, Ralf’s site is called Maps and More. Good luck, Ralf!

Well, I heard from Rob Kuntz over at Pied Piper Pubishing. The snag was really just another project that took temporary precedence over the one I was working on. It’s hard to figure stuff like that out when you’re freelancing sometimes. Of course, the fact that I’m in Houston and Pied Piper is in Wisconson doesn’t help much either! Regardless, we’re up to date on what’s going on now, so I’m sure it won’t be too much longer that I’m working on the next set of maps. I’ll make sure to have an update when the product is ready to go.

On other mapping fronts, I’ve been messing around with the Campaign Cartographer 2 / Hârn Mapping Project, or the CHMP for short. It’s a toolkit designed to work with Campaign Cartographer by ProFantasy Software. It’s really cool, even if Hârn isn’t your “thing”. (Though, if you’re a role-playing gamer and haven’t looked at Hârn, it’s worth your time.) This toolkit was put together by dedicated fans who wanted a unified look and feel for their maps that faithfully recreated the look and feel of Columbia Games Hârn. They did a great job and it’s a great tool! Currently, I’m trying to create a decent gargun lodge. (Garguns are Hârnish orks.) I’ve actually gotten one, but the map is so slow to load that I’m not satisifed with the end result. So, I’m still working on it.

In still other areas, I’ve been doing some hand-drawn mapping as well. I have a world concept that needs a map. The kicker is that I’ve been having a hard time doing this directly in a digital format, so I’ve gone back to paper for “inspiration”. It hasn’t quite worked out yet, but I haven’t given up either! Some of the maps if penciled actually look pretty good. When I get one I like enough, I’ll scan it in and make a Campaign Cartographer map out of it. Then, I’ll have some blog entries about world building!

Until next time, keep writing!

Well, it’s been way, way too long between entries, so here’s a little something to feed the blog monster.

I’ve been working on some mapping lately. I did a little freelance work for a small game company called Pied-Piper Publishing, but that project has hit a small stall. I can’t go into details right now, except to say that my work there is on hold. I’m looking forward to getting started there again, but that’s neither here nor there.
In any case, I learned quite a lot from that small bit of professional experience. And, I think, my personal maps will be greatly improved by the effort. I’ve been sketching quite a few maps, by hand, but I’m having trouble settling on one to go further with than just doodles. It’s not easy having a creative vision. *sigh* And, too, my sketching has taken the place of actual writing, which is bad.

I really need to find a way to focus on my writing more. I have so many ideas that just never seem to make it to paper. I think that’s really the greatest challenge any writer faces. I’ll never run out of new ideas, but I may never be satisified with them once they’re on paper. The curse of creativity!

Well, off to bed for me. Maybe I’ll be more creative in the morning.