I hit some huge milestones this month and have some amazing stuff to share!
Layout first pass is done!
Every bit of text I had written for the book is now laid out! For the first time, I have an approximate page count at 132 pages. I expect that number to change as I create the index, finalize the appendix, and add in the final art pieces.
As I approached the end, getting through the final section was tough. Even knowing I was approaching the finish line, it was difficult to press on because i had saved the work I was least excited about for last. When I finished the last page, I expected to know right away that I was done, but it was hard to convince myself that I hadn’t forgotten something! I went back through the book and discovered that I was, in fact done.
It feels amazing to have hit such a large milestone so far ahead of what I had anticipated. So now I’m planning out my next steps.
What’s next?
For now, I’m taking a short break. Nothing too long, just enough to refill the well. I’ve been inspired on a board game project and wanted to practice making and playtesting with paper prototypes, a skill which is very relevant for all my game design!
But for Far Lands, there’s still a lot of work to be done.
Polish: My first pass was rough in places, and it’s going to need a fair amount of polish. Text and page element alignment, style consistency, spot art, copy editing, and filling in a few blanks I left. You can see a few rough spots here:
Final testing: I am planning on playtesting some variants and tweaks to streamline the rules and terminology slightly. Now that the rules are all laid out visually, it’s easier to see that some of the terms I use are clunky, or ideas that could be explained more concisely.
Sensitivity reading: In the near future, I hope to contract a sensitivity reader to look over a few specific passages as well, as I want to make sure to communicate clearly and compassionately about the real-world history of imperialism, colonialism, and exploitation of indigenous peoples by historical “explorers.”
But in addition to this polish work, I have a few exciting events to talk about!
Upcoming live stream!
In late may, I’m going to be streaming a Far Lands demo with Open the Gates Gaming on their twitch channel. I met them at Pax East late last month at an accessibility office hours event they hosted and they had a lot of amazing advice I am excited to put into practice. Expect more details as the date approaches!
First convention demo
I facilitated a game of Far Lands at Somercon over the weekend! It was my first time running a convention game, and the nerves were intense, but I could not be happier with how it went!
The players created an archipelago of islands caught in a time loop. They scaled the crystalline cliffs of the island they believed to be the source of the loop, were lured into losing time relaxing a hot spring cavern, and finally found and slew the Time Worm that was slowly devouring the world.
During the journey, the chronomancer Solomon used up the last of his time to hold the sands of time still for long enough for the team to reach the mysterious cabin where it all began. The soothsayer Athyar finally understood the lesson that Solomon had been trying to teach him- that there’s more to life than always preparing for the future. The vanguard Brigg finally forgave himself for Solomon’s death in a past iteration of the time loop, an event that Solomon had long since forgiven him for. And Brigg and the automaton he crafted, Tau, finally came to see one another as father and son.
The narrative arcs these players crafted really made me fall in love with Far Lands all over again. My goal has been to make a games that allow people to tell the kind of stories I love, and I think I’ve made something really great.
I did learn a lot about running convention games though! There are a lot of little things to tweak about how I get set up and how I facilitate the game when under a tight time constraint. But I couldn’t be more excited for next time.