DreamScapers!

This has been a pretty good week, all told. I started a new job Monday, and am settling into the groove there. I've also had a little time to work on the developmental edits I received a few weeks back. There are a few sections of the Data Heist chapter left, and I'll kick it back over to the dev editor for a few more notes.

This is my first time working with a dev editor, and the process has been really enlightening. From my day job, I already knew and believed that having an external perspective was priceless. But, seeing how some of my ideas landed with one person before sending it out to a broader audience gave me time to tweak some things that weren't hitting the way I wanted them to.

Beyond that, I've added a new procedure to the book for just, wandering around and filling in the map. I've been playing Wind Waker lately (I swear I play non-Zelda games), and I took a light stab at emulating the experience of looking around the map, seeing something on the horizon, and pulling out the telescope to look at it. That came about because of a comment

Our charming editor Josh also pitched something for the DreamScape Usernames that I'll leave as a surprise for now. But, I am pretty excited for when I start layout and make the thing. 

Fingers crossed the rest of the year will be pretty calm and straightforward, but we won't hold our breath...

So I believe cards still haven't gotten charged or locked down yet. I'm going to pretend that it's for Strategic Reasons and not just because I got busy and distracted last week. Definitely something that makes me sound cool, mysterious, and generous.

Planning to lock 'em down tomorrow or Thursday, so brace yourselves for impact.

Hi again, DreamScapers!

Just got a reminder that there are 3 days until cards are charged. So, this is your reminder to check your orders (maybe double-check addresses?) and make sure you've got all the stuff you want, your cards are up-to-date, and all that fun stuff.

Progress on the book: I've gotten notes back from my Dev Editor, the amazing Josh Domanski of OB Month's Paramour. So now I'm working up the courage to go back and make updates to the main text.

I've also been pulling together art for the book itself, including the commissioned pieces, the art I've made myself, and stock art (which includes Due Diligence of "Was this made by an AI?", and when in doubt, tossing it out). Once I've got the text updated, and all the art together, it'll be Layout o'Clock.  Then we get to figure out how printing works...

Day job hunting continues as well, nothing particularly exciting there. Let's talk instead about one of the factions: 

I've worked in cybersecurity for 12 years now, and one of the most enduring things one picks up in that industry is the knowledge that any new technology is going to attract curious people who want to see if they can break it. Not maliciously, just to see where the boundaries are of what's possible. I had some of my colleagues in mind when I wrote the Surrealists, the hacker collective in the DreamScape.

The DreamScape is going to have some rudimentary tools for building and designing shops and other virtual spaces for people to hang out in. People given a toolbox will create, and I'm envisioning the Surrealists as a group who really love doing just that. They build virtual parkour courses, and challenge each other to beat them.  Compared to the more grounded spaces over in the Open Market, the Surrealists' courses are cobbled together from random assets. Think Mario Maker levels designed by people trying to put the "Dream" in DreamScape. 

The book includes a procedure for making your own courses, in a collage style from maps of other platformers and 3D games, as well as a minigame for completing those courses. Impress the Surrealists, and you could gain access to their hacker knowledge: They're not *just* pushing the limits of the physics engine, they're also testing the limits of the system-wide network security and trying to understand what Commway's got going on under the hood. 

As long as the Mods are asleep, anyway...

Hey there, DreamScapers!

I have just put the finishing touches on the first draft of the manuscript, and I've sent a copy off for some developmental editing. Really excited/nervous about that

We're also working on some commissioned art for this book. This is a first for me, and I'm really excited about adding some bespoke work to the book. I've already got a couple of the pieces back, and I'm really excited about how great they look. Galen Pejeau is fantastic to work with, and has a really incredible eye for technical details. Here's the blueprint/patent drawing for the Dreamscape pods:

I really love the vibe here, it's a very tactile-looking machine. Even with this being a line drawing, it feels like something I can imagine walking into a cassette futurism-style space station and seeing people lining up to use. I like that the helmet looks like they're strapping a whole PC tower to your face (and let's be real, VR looks a little silly). I'm excited to put this thing in the book.

There's one more art asset I want to get for the book, and I'm trying my hand at making it myself (while looking for someone y'know, good at that sort of thing). I'll maybe talk about what it's gonna be in a future update... 

Hello DreamScapers All!

Just a quick note to say that I clicked the Lock Down button yesterday, and it looks like nothing broke. It also looks like those of y'all who grabbed Electric Sheep Shuffle, Jumpgate Charade, and Station-bound Semitones have started downloading your PDFs.

Feel free to reach out here if you have any problems!