Ars Mechanicum & Gladiator Project Update Announcement

I made the decision to abandon Ars Mechanicum Genesis at the start of the New Year in favour of its novels. At the present time I have no interest in returning to the project, but will continue with the novels instead and place the events in the game intended as an interactive continuation of the novel into a trilogy. It's been a tough decision but given that I've had little or no time to actually develop the game, there's no point in continuing its development.

I will, however, be continuing work on The Gladiator Project. This will be redeveloped for RMVX, with many of the features in its original RMXP format ported over. I may also eventually develop an RMVXA version too, depending on how much it is when the English version is released and when I actually purchase it.

On a side note, it looks like most likely the English version will be released in the first quarter of this year. My prediction is February/March. Let's see how close I am. Haha!

Getting Ready For What's Coming

Getting Ready

While I've been spending more time using Ubuntu than Windows, and only a little time with the RPG Makers, I've not been idle. I'm counting down the days now for when the parts I need for my laptop arrive, which will mean proper experimentation with other RPG Makers. The major problem with this computer is its lack of memory. It's one of those medium-range computers that's "getting on a bit"; it only has two SDRAM slots, so upgrading to at least 1Gb (its maximum) is comparatively costly. Rather than investing in more RAM, I acquired a laptop instead, which needs some attention but it's getting there.

Dungeon Craft

I've been playing around with Dungeon Craft, experimenting with it, and I think I'm getting the hang of it so I'm hoping to have some material and/or tutorials soon.

Engine 001

Another RPG Maker I've been drawn to for a while is Engine 001, but haven't been able to run it. Probably a graphics card incompatibility. I'm hoping that it should work on the laptop, so we'll have to wait and see.

The Gladiator Project/Ars Mechanicum Genesis

My main projects, The Gladiator Project and Ars Mechanicum Genesis, are being worked on intermittently and the scripts are being reconstructed.

CW's Script Compendium

I've been updating many of the scriptlets on this blog, in addition to others I've written which haven't yet seen the light of day. These are being compiled for both RMXP and RMVX, so I'm hoping to have something tangible soon.

Ars Mechanicum Genesis Novel - Sample

Here is a sample of my novel, Ars Mechanicum Genesis, which is the result of a poll I conducted a while ago on the subject. Around 64% of visitors wanted to read a sample, so here it is. (This is the first draft of the opening chapter after the Prologue, so there are inevitable spelling and typographical mistakes, which will be ironed out, of course, in the final draft.) Novel completion and publication dates are unknown as yet.

Nothing mattered to him any more, except for the calming, numbing relief bestowed upon him by mead. He wanted to die, but refused to die by his own hand. Suicide was the coward’s way out and he was certainly no coward.

He would rather die in a vicious street fight or a tavern brawl and he would often seek them out, sometimes instigating them himself just to get slashed by a knife blade or broken bottle. He didn’t care how he died, although deep down he harboured a secret desire to die honourably on the battlefield, where long after his death minstrels would regale their bardic tales of victory and glory. There was no greater honour for a warrior - even a luckless, rundown one like him - than to die fighting alongside his comrade-in-arms, fighting for something more worthy than a vagabond’s life.

For anyone interested in reading the full sample, it can be found on its official site.

Ars Mechanicum Novel Update

Progress on the novel is going at full steam, but progress on the game is virtually at a stop. I'd like to get at least the first novel written before developing the game further, since the two will be a natural progression of one another and will tie up some loose ends.

In the beginning, when I first started writing the novella, it was meant to be a tie-in with the game anyway, with the game literally starting right where the story left off, but as the plot developed it became increasingly more complex. It was apparent that some additional background into the storyline was needed because without it, there were more questions than answers, even with the information being released in the game. So the starting point for the novella was a brief introduction to the characters and how they came to be at the tavern at the very beginning of the game.

As the novella developed, however, it started expanding rapidly. Further plot and story ideas gushed out, new characters and their histories entered into the picture, and the mythos behind the novella was further elaborated upon.

Thus, the novella has developed into a full novel. Depending on how the story evolves, it may become a trilogy. The working titles for the Ars Mechanicum trilogy would be:

Edit: 3 Sep, 2011

• Genesis Legacy - Where it all begins. The prequel to the game.
• Legacy Genesis - The after-shocks of Genesis. The game is loosely based on this one.
• Endgame - The culmination of events and loose ends tie-up.

There is no fixed release date on Genesis, as I'm still writing it. It's about a quarter of the way completed, so we'll probably be looking at sometime next year before anything concrete happens.

That said, I may be releasing a sample chapter earlier than that, depending on the results from RPG Maker Times. If interested in viewing the sample chapter, make your vote count (no closing date yet).

Another "Still Here" Update

I just realised today that the Flash menu was horrendously out of date, so I'll get a more up to date menu up tomorrow.

The Ars Mechanicum (pseudo-) domain name has gone. Apparently there weren't enough monthly "hits" so it got suspended. Oh well, at this point it doesn't matter. I've not been promoting it actively because the focus right now is still on The Gladiator Project.

As far as Ars Mechanicum itself, it hasn't been abandoned, just placed on the back burner for now. Not completely, however, since I'm also busy writing (rewriting to second draft) the novellas and expanding them, fleshing them out. A few hours a night, except when my head fills up with imagery, then I have to write it all down before my head explodes. Next update, I think I'll try and get some windowskins/resources up. We'll see how it goes though.

Extended Hiatus

I'll be taking off for a while - an undetermined amount of time, in fact. Fate can be a fickle mistress at the best of times, sometimes more so; she can be gracious and forgiving, rewarding greatly, or she can be cruel and unforgiving, taking things away. She has delivered the latter, so I'm taking a "timeout".

This means that, for a while at least, all projects and blogs, all RPG Maker updates, has had to be put on hold. At least until I've sorted through these vicissitudes.

Thanks go to all visitors, and thanks to all whose unswerving support and encouragement has meant that the following (and the other RPG Maker projects) can continue:

• The Gladiator Project
• Ars Mechanicum Genesis
• RPG Maker Times Windowskins
• RPG Maker Times FAQs

Be back soon.