Thursday, July 20, 2017

Out of Mothballs

The door to the Barking Alien blog's bridge, control room, and coffee bar lounge opens only part way with a slow, deliberate hiss. Adam and Barkley stand at the doorway tentatively, each pulling out a small flashlight and moving it slowly across the room. 

A thin layer of dust - the exact origin of which - given the life support systems and artificial climate - is unsettling at best, covers everything in sight.

Adam walks across the room, accidentally stepping on a droid part here, an empty nutrient-pack there, until he reaches the main display interface. He runs his hand, fingers outstretched, over the screens, a forlorn look on his face.

Suddenly there is a low beep, a hum, a series of quiet music notes, and the entire interface from floor to ceiling comes alive. 

Looking about every which way, he finally fixes his gaze on Barkley, his paws 'index finger', firmly on the 'Power On' button. A smile beams on his furry, snouted face. Barkley moves his gaze from Adam to the 'Command Chair' and back again, as if to say, 'Go on. Sit down'.

Adam stares as the chair for what feels like an eternity, then sits stiffly, uncomfortably, like being around old high school friends you haven't kept in contact with while at some sort of reunion. Barkley just shakes his head. He saunters over, clicks on the mic, pulls out the keyboard, and points to it. 

"Just write. Write...what's on your mind."

Deep breath. Here goes...

Hi all!

I've been away for a bit, dealing with some real world issues that have luckily been resolved and the results include my living in a new apartment, in a great neighborhood, within easy walking distance of my day job. 

The added free time (though it has still been at a premium) has given me the opportunity to complete my first, honest-to-goodness, for sale table top RPG product! Well...sort of...

I'm really passionate about RPGs. I mean I love them, and I want to write them, and...yeah. My problem is, there are a whole boat load of other skills that are needed to really do them right, professionally that is, and frankly, I don't really have those skills.

At present, the game is complete and has been uploaded to DriveThruRPG. It takes a day or so for them to approve it I guess. We'll see what happens. 

I thought I'd be super happy when it was done, but during the process I felt rushed. It was partially my own fault for announcing to people that I was doing it before it was really done, done, but then people just kept asking me if it was finished, and...well...sigh. It's done now. Hopefully people will like it enough to buy it. The artist in me feel it could be a thousand times better.

What can you do?

Well...Hopefully one thing I can do is make the next product even better. This one was pretty special to me, both because of the subject, and the fact that it's my first, but next one is going to benefit from the mistakes made this time around. I hope.

When I know for sure that it's available, I will link it's page here.

In the meantime...

Barkley and I have a lot of repairs and cleaning to do to get the blog back up and running. We're low on dilithium crystals, there are mynocks and frackles practically everywhere, and the trouble alert keeps blinking '12:00'. 

We'll be here working until late, so stop by in the comments and let us know you missed us. Heheh.

Don't worry, we'll be back to normal soon.

Peace,

AD
Barking Alien







9 comments:

  1. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

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    1. Thanks Rob. I appreciate the support as always.

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  2. Welcome back to Adam & Barkley. I hope when you stepped on that nutrient pack it didn't squirt all over the floor and make a mess.

    Glad to hear things have settled down. Looking forward to seeing your rpg on Drive Thru.

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    1. Me too. LOL

      Actually, I'm looking forward to seeing my second, or even third rpg. I figure with the lessons learned from the first one they will be excellent!

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  3. Glad to hear you're doing better, BA.
    : )

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  4. hey Adam~

    just wondering if you ever finished your Smurf RPG that i saw mentioned in you 2011 posts. i have been trying to find a Smurf RPG for a while now, and you seem to be the only one (that i could find at least) that has put any effort into it. please let me know. thanks.

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    1. Wow, thanks Kevin.

      I mean...really it's done, totally playable from what I've already posted. Now that I am trying to go pro, I feel a little weird about putting a PDF on the blog of something from a known IP.

      If you have any questions, need ideas, or whathaveyou, please feel free to contact me on Google+, or email me at barkingalienATgmailDOTcom.

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  5. Congrats on finishing up the first release!

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    1. Thanks. I'm going to 'hold the applause' until it's approved, and starts selling. I do appreciate the sentiment though.

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