First Draft is Done!!!, But Wait.. There’s More!, Give Me A Break, Back to the Muse

Well, the first draft of The Horror Game is now done.  I actually like it – there’s a surprise!  It weighs in at 104 pages, and after adding the artwork I’m licensing in, it will be about 114 pages.  It’s going to be printed in a smaller form factor than most gaming books – designed for carrying easily in a purse or back pack, or even a back pocket.

Fucking cool.  I’ve done it twice now – I’ve written two books. Too fucking cool.  

It’s still got to come back from the editor, a book cover designed, etc. (though layout is already done, so the editor is looking at the design and readability of the book as she edits)  So it’s not a book YET, but close.

I think I’ve mentioned on here that The Horror Game isn’t a stand alone concept, it’s part of a package of ideas.  Now that the first draft is done, I can wrap it up and hand it to another game master who’s good at scenario building, and see if I can convince him to write a second book for it – basically just a book of bad guys and scenarios.  Hopefully have it weigh in at just about the same size – just over 100 pages.

Now that just leaves the next phase, which is where things got interesting.

Development on the iPhone is done in Objective C.  For small apps, you can crank things out pretty quickly.  For larger apps, you’ve got to get down and dirty and it becomes a multi-month application development cycle.  There are no rapid application development systems for (non-jailbroken) iPhones.  Suckage.

Except there’s a company doing exactly that – and I got ahold of their SDK and looked it over.  Right now, it’s in Alpha – the language is Lua based (easy stuff, feels a lot like working with a combination of Basic and C Script) but there are already four apps in the iPhone App Store using it – they had talked the Corona project into letting them use it for release stuff ahead of time.  For everyone else who’s seen the SDK, you’ve got to wait until it’s in real release before you can even compile for the iPhone – right now it only runs in the simulator.

I contacted the developer, and told them what I was getting ready to work on, and after having looked through the SDK, their stuff would work perfect for what I’m up to.  They liked the ideas, and are tossing me in to the Seed Program – basically pre-release time developers who can compile and release iPhone projects using it. 

Exciting stuff – I’ve now got a rapid application development environment (with no UI designer, unfortunately, I’ll have to do that the old fashioned way).  But it got better – the key to success on the iPhone platform is exposure.  The more you get, the more your app sells.  They asked me if when it comes time for their press releases, can they mention me, and would I talk to press?

Would I talk to press?  Silliest damned question I’ve ever had anyone ask me.

I’ve mapped out the product line, and why it’s interesting – right now, there’s nothing on the iPhone like what I’m going to do.  I’ve been looking for a nitche, and I’ve found it.  Fucking awesome!  I won’t get rich off of it, but hell, there’s gonna be some pretty happy gamer geeks who own iPhones and iPod Touches when I release this 🙂

I’m pretty excited, if you haven’t guessed.  No idea if this will turn into something pretty successful or not, but even if it doesn’t, I’ll put Midnight Ryder Games on the map in an interesting way, and break some new ground on the iPhone development.

I’ve been broke as hell.  Lots of money out there that people owe me, and not a damned bit of it is getting paid up.  What the hell.

But I’m managing to just barely survive – I managed to get enough service calls this week and last week that I’ve just covered the bills (until Friday, when the phone bill is due – I’m only 2/3rds the way there.)  

But since things are stable at least, then I don’t have to lay out extra cash, right?

FUCK ME.  My monitor died.  This is the one that’s integrated into my luggable Mac Mini setup.  I have a second LCD monitor – it’s 15″, so it actually doesn’t fit into the case.  CRAP.  I’ve got no way of going on site right now if someone needs me, unless I throw an extra monitor under my arm with the case.  *SIGH*

When I DO replace it, I’m going to be pretty happy with the result at least.  LCD monitors have improved price wise and feature wise since I bought that Acer monitor.  Now they are full 1080 screens, better color management, better brightness, etc.  So at least it will take away my gripes I’ve had about that monitor I guess.

Though I must admit… I did have “one of those moments” while shopping.  I found this 28″ monster of an LCD monitor on sale, and thought “DAMN that would be kick ass!!!”  Until I realized that, well, it would have the same problem that my 15″ monitor has.  It won’t fit in my existing case layout.  And I’m not gonna modify the case design to fit something that extreme (and that damned heavy!)

Can things please wait until I have plenty of money to either change or break?  Sheesh!

I’ve pretty much decided that from now on, at all times I’m going to keep two (and only two) novels going at the same time.  Great for those moments when I’m stuck on something in one, I can switch my energies over to the other.

So I’m back to writing on Muse, which I’m really enjoying.  This means I’m also pulling back out my super villain book too, so now I’ve got two novel writing projects to work on that I REALLY enjoy.

It’s been, what, two weeks since I wrote on Muse?  I can’t remember actually – I’ve had my head wrapped into The Horror Game for a bit too long.  Fun part was opening the file, seeing the last line I had written, and without hesitation I started writing right where I left off.  The story was still there in my head just fine.  (Which was a worry of mine.)

No idea how long all of these will take.  I really don’t have a gage on if I’m writing books faster than the first one, or if it’s taking longer.  The content of the first two completed books are just too different, and these are completely different from the first two also.  

One of the thing that really interests me is if the super villain book is just one book, or multiple books – it covers A LOT of territory.  I could easily see that turning into something like a trilogy or who knows what.  

I’ll say this for the super villain book(s?) – of anything I’ve worked on, that’s the one most likely to end up with a mainstream release of some sort.  Muse is cool, but I think it’s too… abstract I guess?  The Horror Game is nitche stuff, and so is The Story of Gamer Zone.  But the super villain book is the stuff movies are made of. 🙂

Now then, back to work on stuff.  I need my customers to pay me – I need to get stuff done, bills paid, and I STILL need to get teeth fixed!