Some Progress

Just a quick note to show that I have been making real process on the map end of things. Unfortunately, the scanning and touch-ups aren't as fast as I would like. I am still not completely satisfied, but I think these are what I am going to go with for a number of the maps. Jason Ludwig's locations have artwork and cartography that he did for me. He did much nicer maps than I have, but I think they'll get better.
The map above is for The White Tankard, a shady tavern that, well, I don't think I have listed as one of the coming releases. I suppose if you want to know more about The White Tankard you'll have to wait ;).
I am probably going without formal map keys. I'll have labels for a few items but allow the reader/viewer to figure out what the rest is based on the room descriptions. I guess I will wait and see how that goes.

Computer Fun

Well, today I spent my spare time moving things around a bit on the desktop machine in order to free up space on the main drive. Basically, this means I backed everything up (twice) and then moved the iPhoto library to a new external hard disc. This means that we have to leave that particular drive on pretty much all of the time. Those of you that are counting, yes, the back-ups are on different drives meaning a total of 3 drives was involved. Meanwhile, of course, I did a full back-up on this machine as it has most of the drafts and outlines. Basically, I just put off any pressing need to buy a brand new machine until later this year or sometime in January.

I actually end up doing lots of the layout on the laptop for some reason. I can't really explain why. Art touch-ups, scanning, picture modifications, etc. are all done on the other machine as it has a MUCH bigger screen. You'd think that would make the layout easier too.

I am getting very close to having enough done to start releases. I need to scan the maps I have been working on, touch them up to the point that I am satisfied (sometimes pretty time-consuming) and start plugging though the layout. A lot of things are mostly through layout (sans maps) but I am probably going to play with the top borders a bit. We'll see. I should have a bit of artwork and/or maps and maybe a sample page or two ready to post to the website and blog sometime this week. The beginning of the week is pretty busy, but I think it is promising.

Long Day

Warning: This is mostly Soccer News...
Well, it has definitely been a long day. The boys' soccer games went, well, "mixed." DS#2's game was a "club friendly" so they actually played against one team the first half and a different team the second half. They played fairly well, lost the first half but one the second so I guess it was about even. DS#1's soccer game was only about 35-40 miles away so that wasn't a bad drive. It is considered a "non-conference" game meaning it doesn't count for standings. That is a good thing. We had a significant edge in ball possession but lost the game 2-0. The team played very well, they just could not seem to put the ball in back of the net. The goals the other team scored shouldn't really have happened. DS#1 didn't get a huge amount of play time, but while he did play he played very well. He is clearly improving and if he continues he is certainly going to be getting more playtime. His coach was very pleased with him.
DD's party went well, or so I hear. I would have liked to have been there but it did overlap with DS#1's soccer game, well, the travel time to the game was the big thing I suppose. This will be the last "big" party for her. Next year she gets to invite a few select friends for a movie or something similar.

Well, in other news... the harddrive for the desktop machine is full. I cleared some material out but the biggest draw on space right now is the collection of digital pictures. The desktop is fairly old and only has a 150 gig drive. When your iTunes and iphoto libraries take up almost 2/3rd of that, well, you start to run out of space. This means I have an excuse to buy a new desktop, which for me means getting a top-end iMac. I would almost go for one of the bigger Macs but really can't excuse the expense right now.
What does this all mean? Well, I have spent more time cleaning up files and clearing up space on that machine than I have scanning and touching-up the maps. I should be able to get them scanned tomorrow night. I will try to post at least one of them so the few of you reading this can laugh at my maps ;).

Latest

Well, I have a few hand-drawn maps done now. I need to get them scanned into the computer and touched up a bit. They aren't the quality I would like but I guess the hours of drawing lately have helped me improve a bit. I am, if not "thrilled" with them, I am at least "satisfied."

This means that I should have things ready to go fairly soon now. With the older 3 in school I have been able to get a bit of work done during DS#3's naptimes and I have been getting a few things done during soccer practices and/or at night. All in all, I have been a bit more efficient.

DD has a birthday party this Saturday (her birthday was last month but we wait until after school starts to have the party). I will actually miss the party. I will be with DS#1 in New Braunfels (it is a bit NW of SA) for a soccer game. DS#2 has a game Saturday morning, but it is before the party and it is a home game so it shouldn't be a big deal. We'll have my nieces and sisters-in-law over for the weekend as well. This means that it is very unlikely I'll get much done this weekend. Particularly as my oven isn't scheduled to be fixed until next Tuesday. They had to order the part from Indiana...

Another day ....

Well, I really am trying to post more often.
Map/Cartography problems are still plaguing me. This is par for the course I suppose. I WAS talking with a cartographer that was (thankfully) very honest with me about receiving a contract from another company for quite a bit more than I can pay. I guess that project is in color and has a tight deadline so cheap building maps are not in the works right now.
I have been working on a number of things of my own. One is creating a set of map tiles for my own use. I just finished up a fairly large set. These are designed to be put into one of two tile-using mapping programs that I have right now. The output from both programs still leaves a lot to be desired. Output creating a map in Illustrator and/or Photoshop is much nicer. This means a lot more hand-drawing for me though as I am not terribly efficient at creating the maps with these programs. I have a few more ideas that I am working on.
As frustrating as this has been, I have actually been enjoying some parts of the challenge. Now, it is no surprise that other things have been REALLY frustrating, but I guess we all have to expect this in life, don't we?
Time to get back to work while DS#3 naps. I am guessing that once I finally get on a roll the oven repairman will finally show up (likely waking the baby).

Trying

Well, I am trying to post more often, but haven't had much to post about I suppose. I have gotten more work done on the map end of things. Looks like I am back to hand-drawn maps, well, sort-of. At the very least I will be using hand-drawn elements that I hope to be able to re-use across several different map sets. A few of these aren't all that straight-forward but I am getting certain software tricks down and finding drawing time here and there.
I am awaiting the GSL, like many others really. I do have some 4e product ideas but I am not willing to risk the present incarnation of the GSL so I have stayed out of that. I actually have a product line name and even a possible logo. Yes, now you know why I can't seem to get other things done. I like to think about too many things at once. I actually expected it to be out Friday based on some rumors, but it wasn't, so I am guessing it'll have to be next Friday. I honestly don't expect them to release it on anything other than a Friday. That gives people time to digest the changes, flood the internet with speculations, anger, hatred, etc. and then eventually calm down.
Oh, I did do a slight update to the website with a bit more writer information and some more drawings. One of the drawings shows some nipple (heaven forbid!) so I set up a different page for them. I am working on a table-style product status page but wondering how much information I really want to include on it. I'd like to have something like that live when I finally start releases. This way people can see what is being worked on and possibly even comment/ask for certain products to get pushed ahead of others. We'll see how that works out.

In other news, rain has been quenching a few soccer practices. Okay, not actually rain this week, but thunder/lightning. Every time there is a boom close enough to hear, or a lightning stroke that someone can see, kids are sent off the field for 15-20 minutes. This has been a serious cut to DS#2's practice time which is unfortunate as he has decided he doesn't like his coach. Alas, he doesn't really like big changes in life and I think that if he gives it time he'll get to know the coach better and things will go well. The shortened practices mean there is no end of practice talk or follow-up on what was practiced. DS#1 has gotten some good practices in so I guess it is just luck of the draw. DS#1's season starts next Saturday. The only reason we aren't playing in a tournament this weekend is that we had a team manager change at the end of summer (she had to drop due to health issues) and she didn't get the team signed up. I am not complaining.
This coming week we start the real, full school year schedule and it looks, well, "busy."

End of the Olympics

Well, the Olympics are ending, and it is, well, time. Not that impressed with the closing ceremony, honestly, I have ignored most of it but it is playing here in the background. The kids start school tomorrow so that should be an interesting (and busy) day. DS#2 has soccer practice in the evening and DD has gymnastics right after school. I am guessing they'll all be tired tomorrow.

In different news, I have a new idea for maps that I have been working on. I am hoping the output will be decent enough to use. I should have enough time tomorrow to finish working on some preliminary bits and pieces and then I'll know how well this will (or won't) work out. I have also gotten a bit more writing done, and outlined some other possible products. My wife has off tomorrow for the first day of school so I am hoping to get a lot of work done. We'll see how that all goes. My mother and father-in-law are coming this Thursday and staying for the holiday weekend. This means that I'll have more help then too.
Basically, I have a few more things to try with the cartography end of things, if one of them works out, then I am on the road to getting products out. I have several small books through layout with nice empty boxes for the maps. Fill in those boxes and we are ready to go.
I am still planning the "micro-.pdf" plan but I might try to have smaller .pdf compilations ready sooner rather than later. I am still thinking about pricing on some of them, but I guess I should actually have the products ready to go before I worry about what to price them.

Oh, I am still waiting to see the updated GSL too. I won't say I have "high hopes" but I guess I do expect the GSL to be significantly improved, enough to sign on anyway. We'll see. I am guessing it'll be out sometime this week, but I wouldn't be surprised if they wait until Friday to put it out in order to let people vent on various message boards over the weekend while the real publishers take the time to read and digest it.