July 2019 System Reference Update
almost 5 years ago – Tue, Jul 09, 2019 at 02:42:29 AM

Ahoy ahoy, Cortex-Philes!

Just a quick note to say that update to the System Reference has gone out to backers and anyone who pre-ordered the PDF of the Cortex Prime System Reference on BackerKit.

This version adds all of the distinctions from Smallville, revised for the changes in Prime but still more or less set up to be adapted or dropped in as standard distinctions, while being ready to use as die-rated distinctions. Find this list in section 4.5 in the file.

There are still around 40 people who have not responded to BackerKit despite a lot of reminders. Eventually those folks aren't going to get their rewards sent to them, so if you think that's you (and you're only responding to Kickstarter emails and not BackerKit ones) please check your inboxes and respond. Thank you!

Peace,

Cam

June 2019 Update
almost 5 years ago – Wed, Jun 26, 2019 at 01:48:55 AM

Ahoy Ahoy, Cortex-Philes,

This update is in two parts: production and personal. I’m aware that some people aren’t interested in reading about my personal life or issues, so if that’s you, feel free to skip that section. No harm done.

Production Update

I’ve queued up a new iteration of the System Reference document this week for backers and pre-order folks who have the System Reference PDF in their backer rewards. You should see that before the end of the week, just in time for the weekend.

This new version features some tweaks to the content based on feedback, more numbering and cross-referencing, and generally more robust. I’m adding in the distinctions from Smallville after having lots of calls for those to be included, which will also end up in the Game Handbook as well. I don’t actually want to make the book any bigger than it already is, but there’s a good point to be made about enabling folks to recreate as much of Smallville as they can minus the intellectual property, and that includes Smallville-style distinctions to go with the abilities list.

Editing and Spotlight development continues; it’s been stalled on occasion while my wife adjusts to a new job and Josh moves house, but progress is being made on that front. I hope to have a draft of Volume One of the Cortex Prime Spotlights to backers and pre-order folks by mid-July at the latest.

No new milestones or scheduling beyond trying to get back up to speed on the drafts. 

Personal Update

A lot of you have reached out to me to ask how things have been going here in New Zealand after our move. It’s been six months, and while that seems like a very long time, it’s also been much more difficult than I had expected.

Our two sons have been dealing with considerable mental health issues which have kept one or both of them out of school for weeks at a time, including suicidal depression and chronic anxiety connected to their diagnoses. I’ve been devoting most of my time and effort in managing that and trying to get them the support they need, which while available is also slow as molasses to actually do. Because I need to bring in income, I’ve been applying for work, trying to get freelance gigs to eventuate or to complete those I’ve already been offered, and it’s been next to impossible to do that while I’m also full time Dad and logistical support.

I want to make it clear that I’m not being transparent about this to excuse anything, just to be as up front as I can about it. I appreciate all of the kind words and supportive messages I’ve been getting. We have a support network, we have family, we have NZ’s superior health system, but it’s not something that resolves itself overnight. I’ve shifted priorities away from my own design and development work, but I’m still committed to Cortex Prime as I always have been. 

Thanks again for staying in touch, following discussions on social media and other places, and for sending me your feedback. It is alway appreciated and welcomed.

Peace,

Cam

May Update: System Reference Draft
almost 5 years ago – Mon, May 20, 2019 at 01:59:09 AM

Ahoy ahoy, Cortex-Philes!

In your inboxes today: the first draft of the System Reference for Cortex Prime.

This draft shows the first pass of a reorg of the Game Handbook's rules content, having removed the spotlights, examples, session guidance, and other material and leaving only the procedures, rules, and system content. The intent behind this book is to enable GMs and players to quickly find rules references, and for third-party creators to build their own Cortex Creator Studio projects.

Still do do on this document are index tags, more rearrangement of rules for clarity and proximity, and getting rid of a lot of other non-essential text. 

Look for your copy of the draft in your BackerKit digital downloads folder or in the email that's been sent out via BackerKit's delivery system.

Feedback on this document is welcome! Shoot it to me at [email protected] or here as a Kickstarter message. Discuss the draft System Reference over at our Cortex Discord or on MeWe's Cortex Prime group.

Thanks again for the ongoing support and for sharing all of your games, sessions, and ideas for Cortex Prime. More news and updates when I have it to share!

Peace,

Cam

End of April Update
about 5 years ago – Tue, Apr 30, 2019 at 01:33:02 AM

Ahoy ahoy, Cortex-Philes!

I want to just deliver another update to all of you patient and supportive backers and colleagues. School holidays and Easter have come and gone and that particular disruption is over, as is a cluster of other momentous time sinks. Back once again to the Cortex mines for me and those of us at Magic Vacuum Design Studios, and the System Reference is closer to being ready to show all of you. Edits are ongoing with the Game Handbook, and Josh is bravely plowing through development on the Spotlights.

In related news, many of you know I've been continuing to line up gigs to help support my family after the move and one of those was announced this week: I'm the editor on Fria Ligan Publishing's upcoming ALIEN RPG. This is something that's been in production for some time, so it's not a new thing for me, but I'm thrilled to be able to talk about it. I want to assure you that, like any other gig, I've been consciously making time to keep working on Cortex Prime while also taking on income-earning positions elsewhere. I'm grateful for your understanding of how this kind of business works.

Completely unrelated to Cortex Prime but also really cool is the LANCER RPG by Massif Press. I've been following these folks for a while as they shared early drafts of the game but now that it's on Kickstarter I'm just blown away by their creative energy. You might check them out - only 11 days left on this campaign.

To those of you wondering about backer creator stuff, fear not, I haven't forgotten about you. It's all part of the big swirling list of to-do items I'm chipping away at. I can't wait to work with you on these additions to the game.

Best,

Cam

April Update: Accessibility and Outlines
about 5 years ago – Mon, Apr 08, 2019 at 02:48:44 AM

Ahoy ahoy, Cortex-Philes!

Quick update on progress and on responding to discussion about accessibility.

Game Handbook

The manuscript is still in Jess' hands for edits. Full disclosure, we've been dealing with a fair amount of parenting crises with our oldest son and his mental health which has impacted our progress on the edits, but fortunately his school is starting to get up to speed on his needs. I haven't yet sent out the survey for the various upper tier inserts but I'll get to that once we're ready to integrate those (mostly the character creator tier).

System Reference

My current project! This is ongoing but I'm keen to send out a draft this week, if possible. I'm exploring the best way to arrange the text for reference and clarity, which includes a completely new organization of the content with numbered headers and other signifiers. Once you see the draft I'm hoping you'll all provide me with feedback on how it reads.

I've been asked for some clarification about the System Reference and if it's an Open Game License SRD, etc. Short answer is no, it's not: the System Reference is the baseline for any and all Cortex Prime content that third party creators produce via DriveThruRPG's community content program. You can use the System Reference to create your own standalone Cortex Prime RPGs, sourcebooks, spotlights, rules expansions, or accessories via DriveThruRPG. If it's in the System Reference or in somebody else's community content, it's fair game for use in these products (except for anything marked as product identity of the creator). As of this update, it is still DriveThruRPG's policy not to allow print on demand as an option for community content program contributors.

Accessibility

I've had questions about providing the Game Handbook draft PDF with an outline so that it's easier to jump through it. My preference is to do this with bookmarks. I thought I could produce a version that exported to PDF with bookmarks generated by the header styles but it's been stripping out the body and header fonts in the process, but if that's not actually a problem for folks (it certainly won't end up being like this in the final product), I can distribute that version of the pre-edited manuscript and you can use the bookmarks to easily get around the book.

I was asked about whether I'm planning to use dice symbols as the die ratings in the Game Handbook, kind of like how this worked in Marvel Heroic and Firefly. This creates issues for those of you using PDF to speech readers but I'm able to include alt-text for those symbols so that readers will interpret them as actual text, not an icon.

I'm exploring an audio book version of the Game Handbook, as Jess has lots of experience working with the Minnesota State Services for the Blind, reading books for those with visual impairment. I think it'd be pretty cool to have an audio book of an RPG, but there's a lot to consider there as well in terms of how to manage the book structure (it's a lot different when you're not just reading the book from start to finish, like a novel would.)

Peace,

Cam