I have to say Rob, all this looks very interesting. Keep posting stuff.

Regards,
David R

Quote from: Rob LangI am very tempted but I am not sure if I know how. I've done a fair amount of PBP on the Desert Realm (as Moggle) but I've not GM'd online. I shall give a read through some of the other games and see what it involves.

Are there any PBP you think might be good examples?

I think Kyle is talking about IRC real-tiem GMing,which I do quite a bit.

-clash

Rob,

I have to say I appreciate the work you have done even more since I have fooling around with free version of DAZ studio 2.  This may telling you something you already know but it is a program that allows people to manipulate objects, scenes, etc, that others already made.  It's amazing what's done when the stuff is made for you.  Hard to imagine what it takes to do something from stratch.

Quote from: flyingmiceI think Kyle is talking about IRC real-tiem GMing,which I do quite a bit.

-clash

Being in the UK, that might be a little more complicated than it sounds. I'm willing to keep an open mind on it. I'll do some research on what's involved and get back to you.

What about using Skype? I know the peeps over on Sons of Kryos do it a fair bit. I think it might need a fair bit of preparation. Are there any good do's and don't guides online somewhere I can read? I know of a load of collaboration tools that might be good for maps and such.

Quote from: David RI have to say Rob, all this looks very interesting. Keep posting stuff.

Thanks David, I do sometimes wonder if anyone cares. It's great to know you do!

Quote from: ancientgamerI have to say I appreciate the work you have done even more since I have fooling around with free version of DAZ studio 2.  This may telling you something you already know but it is a program that allows people to manipulate objects, scenes, etc, that others already made.  It's amazing what's done when the stuff is made for you.  Hard to imagine what it takes to do something from stratch.

Thanks mate. Keep fooling about, that's how I started. Time and lots of online tutorials. You might also like to try Blender. It's free and it's really old. It also has a community of wonderful fanatics, who are really do help. You might notice that I don't really do people. That's the next thing to learn - fiendishly difficult, though.

Thanks again for the kind words, they really do make all the difference.

Quote from: Rob LangBeing in the UK, that might be a little more complicated than it sounds. I'm willing to keep an open mind on it. I'll do some research on what's involved and get back to you.

Bah! Kyles in Oz and he manages! Heck, he played for quite a while in one of my games. I regularly game with Brits!

QuoteWhat about using Skype? I know the peeps over on Sons of Kryos do it a fair bit. I think it might need a fair bit of preparation. Are there any good do's and don't guides online somewhere I can read? I know of a load of collaboration tools that might be good for maps and such.

I know nothing about Skype, and I'm not sure I want to use it. One of the great benefits of IRC is that the text-based format really promotes roleplaying. Marco Chacon has done some Skype roleplaying as well as lots of IRC gaming - he and I have gamed together many times in both his and my games. Maybe he can tell you!

-clash

One advantage with IRC is, if you remember to setup your IRC program correctly, you have instant logs of everything typed in game. Very handy, esp. for playtesting purposes and for GMs who run off the seat of their pants (innocent look).

There's also a ton of free IRC client programs for most any OS, very handy.

The time zone issue would be the same regardless of text or voice chat. IRC does require a GM who's decent to great at typing. Personally we tend to use an #ooc and a main channel + private conversations. OOC handles the dice rolling and chatting.

We've had UK folks before but it isn't the best time zone if the GM is in US Eastern time. Australia and the like would be ok if on a weekend.

IRC certainly suffices for non tactical games, however, if you want even more control and a visual flair to your online gaming experience (maps, battle grids, electronic minis, graphics, custom-made character sheets..etc) virtual tabletop applications like OpenRPG, kLoOge, GRiP, Screenmonkey, and Fantasy Grounds do wonders.

BTW, great job on the graphics, Rob!

Thanks for the tips, I'll go through the list of the different programs and check out how they might be useful for running Icar. It doesn't use any standard system (d20 etc) and the character sheets really need drawing on, rather than writing figures in boxes. I am still researching this idea, so don't write it off RPGSiters!

Not been about for a while 'cos I've been working on an online game for a few months. That's paused for a bit, so I've done some more Icar.

These images are taken from the next version of the Society (background) book.

A Star Enforcer (police officer) sitting.


A small farm being visited by a space craft. The numbers help the description.
[url="http://picasaweb.google.com/brainwiped/IcarScraps/photo#5215951614020379810][/url]

And now the mex city I showed before in situe.


This is an example of the inside of a pre-fab Mex city. The explanation sits on the previous page (not shown).


All comments and critique warmly welcome!

Quote from: Rob Lang;219401Not been about for a while 'cos I've been working on an online game for a few months. That's paused for a bit, so I've done some more Icar.

These images are taken from the next version of the Society (background) book.

A Star Enforcer (police officer) sitting.


A small farm being visited by a space craft. The numbers help the description.
[url="http://picasaweb.google.com/brainwiped/IcarScraps/photo#5215951614020379810][/url]

And now the mex city I showed before in situe.


This is an example of the inside of a pre-fab Mex city. The explanation sits on the previous page (not shown).


All comments and critique warmly welcome!

All of this is excellent stuff, Rob. keep up the great work.

I've been a bit of a busy lad recently. First of all (blatant plug), I'm going to be running Icar at GenCon UK 2008 this year. So I did a nice image to print out for that:



You might have seen that one before. Sorry about that.

Moo Cards
When I go to conventions, I always kick myself that I have nothing to hand to people so that they might remember the website. Some call it marketing material but really it's an aide memoire. It would be marketing if I were to sell Icar. So, I got a load of Moo cards printed off Icar graphics. They're 100 for £10 and you can have as many different designs as you like (natch). If you have less than 100 designs (like I did), then they will just double them up. I had 17 designs at my disposal, which is about 6 cards of each design. I love 'em and can heartily recommend them.

They arrive in a box like this:


Look like this unpacked:


Are pretty good reproduction of Icar graphics. Excuse the blurry photo, my bad.


And they are really dinky, with the web address on the back. Like business cards but cheaper.


Online Character Sheet Maker
I've also (as if that wasn't enough) set up an online character sheet maker for Icar (FF, Opera, Safari and IE7 only, no IE6). It's something I've been toying with for millenia now and although it's still in Beta testing (i.e. there no help files), it does allow you to make really nice and neat characters. The chaps over on Myth Weavers are running a Play-By-Post game, which is really exciting. Their enthusiasm was enough to tip me over the edge to code up the character sheet maker. It's only the front (first of about 4) sheets but it's the most involved one of the four. I'm rather proud of it. It's not linked externally on purpose as I need to make sure it's got documentation and do some more printing tests before I announce it to the world. You chaps are likeable fellows, so please do go and have a play! If you want to save the sheet, you'll need an Icar forum account but don't worry about that, you can do everything else without any of that.

Once saved, you can then share the character sheet with your friends (or GM) using a special code.

Lulu plunge
In other news, I've set up a LuLu account and am playing with getting Icar into print finally. I've orderd just the one book for myself - the core rules. When I see it in my hot, sweaty hand, I'm sure to finish the graphics for the other books and get them online. Then I might make it public for purchase at near-cost. I'll let you know how that goes.

My first order from Lulu has arrived. 88 pages of Icar in full colour. OH MY GOD. I nearly cried when it slid out of the box. It took a little longer than normal to print but it arrived very quickly because I think it was printed in London (down the road from me).

Some of the images inside need to be in a higher resolution but as a lot of Icar is rendered, redoing that artwork isn't very difficult. Time consuming but not hard. It would make the document too large for download so I'll need two versions.

I'll take some piccies tonight when I get home and post them up.

Quote from: Rob Lang;231853My first order from Lulu has arrived. 88 pages of Icar in full colour. OH MY GOD. I nearly cried when it slid out of the box. It took a little longer than normal to print but it arrived very quickly because I think it was printed in London (down the road from me).

Some of the images inside need to be in a higher resolution but as a lot of Icar is rendered, redoing that artwork isn't very difficult. Time consuming but not hard. It would make the document too large for download so I'll need two versions.

I'll take some piccies tonight when I get home and post them up.

Sweet, Rob! Is it generally available yet, r are you waiting 'til it's just right?

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;232012Sweet, Rob! Is it generally available yet, r are you waiting 'til it's just right?

-clash

Yes, and please, if you release it publically, give us a black and white print version. Not all of us are eccentric billionaires like Clash.