Darius' Unlimited Adventures Domain
What's New?
- 1/17/11 -
It's a shame that each time I update this page the first thing I say to myself is "has it been this long since I've provided a news update?!" I apologize that it has been so long, but I've found so little time to work on anything
that I have had to devote every spare minute to designing, which unfortunately means I have to neglect my lonely webpage. I do have good news to share, however -- after all this time I've finally finished Flight of Fury, the next chapter in the Tale of Twin Dragons series!
It's currently in the playtesting phase and should be released very soon. Following that, I plan to work through some of the bugs that have cropped up in the latest version of the OA Worldhack and see how many I can resolve. On a sad note, my friend and collaborator
Brian O'Donnell passed away in March of last year, as some of you may have heard. You will be missed, Brian....
- 10/19/08 -
Wow, has it been this long since I've provided a news update?! Unfortunately, Flight of Fury, the next chapter in the Tale of Twin Dragons series is not a great deal farther along than it was the last time I made an entry, although it is nearing completion.
There were a couple of other projects since then that have occupied most of my time. In fact the Serial Mod Project did indeed rekindle (literally), with the release of Olivier Leroux's outstanding module SM3: Mutiny! which I highly recommend.
This was followed up with my chapter of the project, SM4: The Price of Gold which was released last October and is available at the UA File Archive. My goal in SM4 was to weave together many of the plot threads created by the previous designers and try to form a cohesive main plot that could be carried to the end of the series.
As a result, there is a great deal of talking by some of the plot characters and not so much action, but I feel very good about what I was able to do. If you haven't checked out the Serial Mod Project yet, do so today!
In addition, Brian O'Donnell and I have been working on an update to the OA Worldhack with tons of fixes and new features to make a great design base that much greater. We've added some new functionality for designers, 11 brand new spells for players, removed the racial level limits and more. Look for the OA Worldhack v1.3, coming soon!
Along with the release will be an updated version of The Tale of Twin Dragons: Part I to take advantage of some of the new enhancements. You'll hear from me again shortly...
- 05/19/07 -
Things have been moving along nicely on Flight of Fury, the next chapter in the Tale of Twin Dragons series designed for the Oriental
Adventures Worldhack. But I did take about a two week break to put together a collection of combat icons inspired by the old Masters of the Universe cartoon from the
1980's. I'm actually very proud of this pack and consider it my best icon work thus far, especially considering the difficulty of making a small cluster of pixels resemble
a well defined character with which many of us are intimately familiar. Anyway, check it out sometime at the UA File Archive!
Stay tuned for more exciting projects. Flight of Fury should be ready within a month or so, and it looks like the Serial
Mod project has been rekindled and my episode is coming up shortly. This means a couple of new designs should be available for you soon!
- 03/10/07 -
The New Year brings some new changes to the website. I've reordered my Designs page a bit so that my current projects now appear at the top of the page
instead of near the bottom. Also, I've added completion dates next to each of my previous releases to show the progression of my work. I hope you like it!
As I wrote in my previous entry, my attention has returned to the Oriental Adventures setting, and work is progressing on Flight of Fury, the
next chapter in the Tale of Twin Dragons. I'll admit to having been temporarily consumed by Neverwinter Nights 2 since its release in October of last year, but for now my loyalties still remain with Unlimited Adventures.
It's not that Neverwinter Nights 2 isn't good or that the design possibilites don't appeal to me, but rather the scale of it is so huge that I think I'd need an entire design team to come up with anything
remotely comparable to what I can do all by myself in UA. And ultimately, my hobby of writing adventures is something I enjoy doing in my own time, not by committee. All that to say that UA is still the best experience for me at this time, so I won't be going anywhere --
at least, not while I still have stories to tell...
- 10/25/06 -
At last, it's here... I've just uploaded RQ3: From the Shadows to the UA File Archive,
timed appropriately for a Halloween weekend release. You know, I've always wanted to coordinate one of these Ravenloft modules with
Halloween, and it seems so fitting that the timing has worked out with this final chapter. Anyway, I'm thrilled with how it all turned out,
and I hope you find it as enjoyable as I have. I'd love to hear your thoughts...
I've now turned my attention back to the Oriental Adventures setting, and have resumed work on the
Tale of Twin Dragons. It's refreshing to be writing a mini-series with my own plot, and for which I've already collected
all (or most all) of the art resources in the OA Worldhack. Since this series is on a much smaller scale than the Hexad adventures --
mainly, each of the Hexad adventures qualified as an epic or near epic design, while the Twin Dragons series is all building toward a single
epic design -- and also because of the reasons stated above, I expect to be able to crank these adventures out rather quickly. Stay tuned!
- 09/14/06 -
It's taken more time than I anticipated to wrap up From the Shadows, but I sincerely feel that the extra work is well worth it. I made the decision not to do Roots of Evil, the final adventure in the Grand Conjunction series, so I'm currently writing up an expansive conclusion to From the Shadows that ties up several loose ends and unveils plenty of the secrets of Ravenloft. Still, I've learned never to say never, so while I'm trying to create a satisfying finale to the series in this adventure, I'm also leaving a window open for either myself or another designer to add the true final chapter some day.
So again, I'm very, very close to wrapping up this last adventure, and with the rest of this week off as well as the weekend, I now fully expect to finish the story within the next couple of days and begin the internal playtesting phase. That part usually goes quickly since I do a great deal of playtesting while I'm actually writing the design, so within a week or two I expect to be able to send the completed module off to my playtesters for their opinions. I truly feel this is my best yet, and I can't wait to share it with you -- thankfully, that time is almost here!
- 07/03/06 -
Well met, and welcome back! I hope you like what I've done with the place; the original site design was some six years old at least, so I felt it was time to modernize the look a bit. Sorry it has been another long period of time with no updates, but I have been very busy trying to wrap up From the Shadows as well as version 1.2 of the Oriental Adventures Worldhack. I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear that last night I finally uploaded the final version of OA 1.2 to the UA File Archive and we should see it posted momentarily. Lots of wonderful new goodies in this version including two more new events, two new event conditions, some bug fixes and a fully functional Page 1 of each event so you no longer need to rely on the use of another editor to use those special new event conditions. We feel with this update our work with the OA Worldhack is done and the tools are left to you to show us what you can do!
Work is going very well on From the Shadows, and I expect to be able to release it to my playtesters within 2-3 weeks. It has seemed like I've been working on this one forever, but it really hasn't taken any longer than most of my other designs considering the long interruption of OA. Anyway, I can't wait to play through it from start to finish myself, and I eagerly await the day I can announce its release to the public. Thanks for patiently waiting -- it will be worth it!
- 02/11/06 -
Alas, one never has enough time in the day! Slow but steady progress
is being made on From the Shadows, and the end is drawing near. I've shifted my focus at this time solely
to completing this adventure before moving on to my mini-mod and the next chapter in the Tale of Twin Dragons.
If there's one thing that's made me successful in finishing designs, it's learning to focus on just one project
at a time until I see it through to fruition.
You might also be interested to know that even more impressive hacks have been added to the Oriental
Adventures Worldhack and a final release is now pending. You won't believe what Brian has cooked up for you. Stay tuned
to the mailing list for further details in the next week or two...
- 10/22/05 -
And I thought my last entry was late...has it been an entire year?
For that I am sorry; I have indeed been busy, and the time has flown by.
The Oriental Adventures Worldhack I mentioned last time turned into a huge,
all-consuming project which I've been working on almost exclusively for the past
year. Two UANLs have been released since then, too, and I even wrote an
introductory adventure for OAUA to show off some of its new features.
Today marks a significant day, though; it is the day on which the OA Worldhack,
UANL #36 and The Tale of Twin Dragons were all completed and simultaneously
released. So what are you waiting for? Head on over to the UA File
Archive and start downloading!
So where do we go from here? My free time is ever waning these days, and
my heart lies in designing adventures. So I've said farewell to the UANL
so that I can devote all my focus and attention to churning out more great
designs. My immediate plans are to do a brief and simple adventure which I
had already begun -- you can probably expect that one soon, but I'll leave it as
a surprise as to what it might be. And for you Ravenloft fans, don't
despair, I've come much too far on From the Shadows to stop now, so that is
definitely still in the works. As for OA, depending on the response to The
Tale of Twin Dragons I may very well write another chapter. I definitely
had a large scale adventure in mind, but just not the time to do it all at once,
so I'll wait and see if people would like to hear more of that story.
I suppose that's all for now. Thank you for reading,
and sorry once again for such a long delay between updates. Now that so
much has been completed and taken off my projects list, I should be able to
write more often. Take care!
- 10/09/04 -
Egad, it's been too long! Much has
happened over the last couple of months, most notably there has been a
new addition to the Whiteheart household. As my responsibilities
have increased, my time for designing has diminished, and yet progress
has steadily continued. I had to take a break to write several articles
for UANL #34 (now due in two weeks!), but my enthusiasm for finishing the
Grand Conjunction series has remained high. Now that the bulk of
my duties are finished for the newsletter, I can really get back to work
on From the Shadows. I'd guess I'm about a third of the way
through stage two of the adventure, and loving this dungeon crawl!
In the coming newsletter, be sure
to check out the Monster Hunter's Toolkit, an article I put together with
some clever ideas for implementing things like Wooden Stakes, Wolfsbane,
Silver Weapons and Holy Water. Some of these items appear in the
Hexad series, while others are improvements and others are entirely new.
With what I've learned since beginning the series, I have half a mind to
go back and add or correct some of these things!
Also in the works, once the newsletter
is released and From the Shadows enters its playtesting phase, is
the Oriental Adventures worldhack. I'm not an expert on the
setting, but I have gathered all the source material and I know how to
accomplish this feat. The UA community has been waiting for it for
years, and soon indeed they will have it. I welcome any feedback
or suggestions you might have on the campaign setting and what you would
or wouldn't like to see included.
Until next time, then...
- 07/18/04 -
I'm pleased to report that significant
progress has been made in the last few weeks on From the Shadows!
Last week I completed the first stage of the adventure (about 1/3rd of
the design), and the second stage is now in full gear. The second
stage, which is the bulk of the game, can pretty much be categorized as
one long, glorious dungeon crawl. Since the first part was almost
entirely narrative, this second part is going quickly and smoothly, though
it does feature some very complex event chains that take some time to put
together. I think you'll really enjoy this one; I'm having a grand
time writing it!
- 06/27/04 -
I was determined not to keep you hanging
for so long this time, even if there is not a great deal to report.
UANL #34 is moving ahead as scheduled, with a planned Halloween theme which
coincides with the release date, and you can expect some really cool articles
that will greatly expand the possibilities of UA as we know it. Work
on From the Shadows is progressing steadily now, as well.
I'm nearly through with the first stage of the design, and I expect the
second stage to move very quickly. My schedule has freed up somewhat
now and I'm targeting this Fall for the release of the next installment
of the Hexad. Much thanks to those who have sent along encouraging
emails -- you keep me going!
- 05/31/04 -
Has it been this long? My, I've
been busy. UANL #33 was completed and released on time, so be sure
to check that out for some great UA goodness. I've also been elected
to continue the editorship with UANL #34 which is now in the early planning
stages. I think we'll be doing a Halloween issue this time around,
and I'm planning a special feature on the Hexad series.
I've also been quite busy with Survivor:
UA, a fun little project with the purpose of building a new and improved
CPIC.TLB based on the community's selections, as well as a new MONST.GLB
with tons of bug fixes. That project has taken up a great deal of
time over the last three months, but is now nearing completion, which will
allow me to get back to designing at last.
RQ3: From the Shadows has suffered
with my lack of time, but it is still progressing. I can now promise
you some very cool, never-seen-before hacks in this one, like you've come
to expect in my designs. The story is shaping along nicely as well
-- I've just completed a section that offers a great deal of insight into
the foundation of Ravenloft, and it is chilling indeed.
- 01/17/04 -
A new year again, and a new adventure
as well! I am honored to have been elected as editor-in-chief of
the next UANL. I do have some good ideas on how to make the
newsletter even better and am really hoping that the UA community will
take advantage of what it has to offer. The release date has been
set for May 15th, so I'll have some work to do between now and then...
But in case you're wondering if I'll
still have time for my designs, there is no need to fear. I'm happy
to say that RQ3: From the Shadows is fully underway, and I've just
completed the introductory sequence -- a segment that uses nearly all of
a dungeon's text and events, by the way. There is going to be some
very cool stuff in this one; as with many of my previous designs, you'll
see things that haven't been done in UA before. And hopefully, you'll
see them before long...
- 12/30/03 -
Happy Holidays, all! I apologize
for my silence over the last month. After finishing up Ship of
Horror, I had to devote most of my time to UANL #32 -- which is now
available at the Magic Mirror, by the way. Take a look, if you have
a chance; I do hope you enjoy it. And now that that project
is complete, it's time to start work on the next installment of the Grand
Conjunction series, RQ3: From the Shadows. This adventure
is more or less Part One of the big finale -- this is where the really
good stuff begins. I'm now in the process of gathering resources
for the design, and I just completed the title sequence and the opening
musical theme. This one is going to be exciting! I'll keep
you updated...
- 11/29/03 -
It is my pleasure to announce that RA2:
Ship of Horror is at last complete and available for download.
Special thanks to my outstanding playtesters and to all those who assisted
me along the way. Go visit the Magic Mirror and start playing today!
The updated version of RA1: Feast
of Goblyns is also available from the Mirror for those who have not
yet experienced it. Happy Thanksgiving!
- 11/8/03 -
The Online Player's Guide is now available
from my designs page. Check that out for a preview to Ship of
Horror while you're waiting on the final release. Also, I'll
be sending an updated version of Feast of Goblyns to the Magic Mirror
in the next couple of weeks with a bug fix or two I came across, so look
for that too.
- 11/3/03 -
I've missed the Halloween release date
(which was rather optimistic on my part, I admit), but the good news is
that I did complete design work on RA2: Ship of Horror the very
next day and have just finished my initial playtesting. Now I'll
be sending the beta release off for some feedback from my playtesters (for
which I am eternally grateful) and it shouldn't be long until you can get
your hands on the final release. It's been a long, long time coming
and there were many challenges to face, but I believe this adventure is
a fitting addition to the Hexad series and I think you'll be pleased.
The underwater combat is a nice addition and there are a few other surprises
in there as well. I'll have the Online Player's Guide finished up
and available soon, so keep an eye out for that.
- 10/1/03 -
I am now three-fourths of the way completed
with RA2: Ship of Horror! I've found it's helping me to set
smaller goals -- which also means more frequent updates. I'm really
pushing for a Halloween release on this game, so work has been kicked into
high gear. Currently I'm coding a section in which I've given the
player chances to choose the method in which they accomplish their quest,
whether it be through brute force or blind luck. Having an alterior
path creates a lot of extra work for the designer, but in the end I'd say
it will be worth it for the player. It won't be long now...
- 09/14/03 -
What did I tell you? A couple of
weeks and I'm now halfway through the design! I've finished up the
underwater portions of the game and most of the ship travel and am now
ready to get to the mystery-solving, dungeon-crawling portions. I've
coded some pretty interesting things like a knife-throwing contest, diving,
underwater exploration and underwater combat which I think you'll like.
The characters are also definitely a step up from my previous designs.
I think I've succeeded in making them more realistic by giving them motivations
and complex personalities. Look for the pace to stay quick on the
second half of Ship of Horror...
- 08/24/03 -
I was tied up for a bit with the final
formatting of UANL #31 (which is available now at the Magic Mirror), but
now that that's over I'm back on course with RA2: Ship of Horror.
I'm now about a third of the way through the design, and while it has taken
a long time, I have a feeling that the rest of the design will flow very
quickly. The first third of the adventure was all about setting the
stage, but now I've finally reached the major turning point where the adventure
unfolds. You're also going to see a lot more delving into the psychological
with this design as well as the next two, which I'm very excited about.
More later.
- 06/11/03 -
The Ship is still sailing along
at full speed, and things are getting very creepy...I've been watching
ghost movies lately and rediscovering the art form of terror. Hopefully
I can translate as much of that into my work as possible, because this
is
Ravenloft after all. Now that my real-life projects are settling
down, I've been able to get back to doing what it is I so enjoy doing:
designing adventure games and telling stories. I'm claiming artistic
license with Ship of Horror in an effort to strengthen the storyline
of both the adventure and the series. Now, I most certainly have
taken some liberties with the previous conversions, but this one needs
an extra boost, and it's getting it. But don't worry, for you Ravenloft-faithful.
For the most part the story remains true to the original, and I think you'll
like what I've added.
- 05/05/03 -
Yikes! This has been my longest
stretch of time without an update. Sorry about that. The UANL
has been in full swing lately, and on top of that I've had an enormous
real-life project to deal with since the first of March. Now that
that's finally nearing an end, I can devote more of my attention to Ship
of Horror. I have still managed to squeeze in some designing
time and the things that are finished are looking great. And thanks
to my restricted free time of late, I just can't wait to be let loose on
the things that are yet unfinished. Don't give up on me...the Hexad
will continue.
- 02/06/03 -
So much for New Year's resolutions...or
rather, so much for my time management skills. I haven't been able
to put in as much time as I wanted with Unlimited Adventures, but the good
news is that I have been making steady progress. I think I'd
lost my drive for a while -- which happens to me from time to time -- and
as much as I wanted to work on Ship of Horror, I just couldn't sit
down and do very much. Well...I'm back, and the momentum is
rolling once again. I've been really making an effort to make the
ship seem alive. A major part of that is having the NPCs moving
about the ship, doing different things at different times of the day, reacting
to their surroundings...I think you'll be pleased with the final result.
See you soon...
- 01/02/03 -
Happy New Year, All! I must apologize,
it's been a long time since my last update and I'm afraid I haven't made
a lot of progress on Ship of Horror. A lot of things have
changed in my life of late; things that make it difficult for me to find
any time for designing. So my New Year's resolution is to work on
my time management so that Ship of Horror averages at least an hour
of my attention each day. It might not be much, but it will add up
quickly, I think.
I've been trying a new technique with
this latest chapter of the Hexad series. I found myself stuck on
a crucial dialogue between the ship captain and the PCs and tried writing
it out in script format like a screenplay. It did the trick, and
I was surprised how much more the characters came alive in that scene.
Another sneak peek into Ship of Horror: when you speak to the major
crew members, you will be able to ask specific questions throughout the
story that change as the days pass, not just general 'information'.
Are you getting excited yet? Until next time then, when you can expect
a significant progress report!
- 10/30/02 -
Hello gang! Sorry for the lack of
updates, as that was something I wanted to do more often. I've had
a lot of interference with real-life lately that has led to basically burnout
and writer's block. I am still making progress though (especially
these last couple of days), even if it's been slow going for a while.
Part of the problem is that I reached a stage in Ship of Horror
where I really had to make a decision about how to handle the daily and
nightly events. Yes, that is something I should have done a long
time ago, but I just kept putting it off. Anyway, I believe I've
found the best solution, and now things are going smoothly once again.
Some of you might have noticed that
I made an appearance as an editor of the Worlds and Features sections of
the last UANL, a position which I'm continuing in the current issue.
That's been nice, but I admit, a lot of work falls onto an editor's shoulders...work
that keeps me from designing. Still, I'm hoping to pass off some
of the things I've learned about Dan Autery's Toolbox and drop-in walls
in this next issue, so keep an eye out for that if you're interested.
Lastly, do you know what tomorrow
is? Halloween! Turn off the lights, put on a pair of headphones
and just see if you can make it through the first three adventures of the
Grand Conjunction...
- 09/23/02 -
At last! I've redone all the work
I'd lost on Ship of Horror, and now that that's out of the way,
I can finally start making some forward progress. Implementing everything
that happens in this design is going to be very challenging, but I think
I'm up to it. That's part of what I really enjoy about UA; finding
a way around its shortcomings and pushing its limits. Well, time
to get back to work!
- 09/09/02 -
Well met! Boy have I been busy lately.
Lots of projects are underway right now, including a Neverwinter Nights
conversion of Curse of the Fire Dragon! I'm trying to focus
mainly on UA though because I want to get the rest of the Hexad out to
you. Honestly, the computer crash I had really hurt. I lost
all the work I had done on Ship of Horror and I've been dragging
my feet to redo it all. But no longer...I've finally gotten kickstarted
once more on it, and things should progress quickly now. I've also
found another issue of TMNT that's worth converting, so that is on the
horizon as well. Lots to do! Stay tuned...
- 08/13/02 -
Hello All! I've been busy the last
couple of weeks. At the end of last month I packed up all my belongings
and drove about 1400 miles across the country to a new home. Most
of my time has been taken up with unpacking, settling in, looking for work...all
those things. But I haven't forgotten about Unlimited Adventures...
An updated version of Curse of
the Fire Dragon has been uploaded to my website and should be available
soon from the Magic Mirror. Also, I've been able to recreate and
reassemble most of the artwork and music that I had lost on RA2: Ship
of Horror. As soon as I get my life in order once again, I'll
be in full swing!
- 07/22/02 -
Okay, so it's been a while, but I'm finally
back to announce the release of RA1: Feast of Goblyns! I'm
very, very proud of this design. It really grew on me, you know?
This is, by far, the largest adventure I've ever done and I do hope you
enjoy it. What are you waiting for? Get over to the Magic Mirror
and start downloading! I've also sent updates to RQ1: Night of
the Walking Dead and RA3: Touch of Death there as well, so you
might want to check those out if you haven't played them already.
I had an unusually long absence which
I owe to many things: several heat waves, the release of Neverwinter
Nights, and a complete system crash in which I lost all the work I'd done
on Ship of Horror. Yes, that was a sad day. But I'm
back in action, and I'll try to get back to my promise of updating the
site more often. Look for an update to my first design, Curse
of the Fire Dragon in the very near future!
- 05/18/02 -
Alright, Feast of Goblyns is halfway
through the playtesting phase and will be released shortly. In the
meantime, I've added the Online Player's Guide to my designs page.
Take a look for a preview to the next adventure of the Grand Conjunction!
While I'm waiting, I've begun work
on the next one, RA2: Ship of Horror. I've already finished
the introduction and the first village, and I've got a nice looking ship
deck for the majority of the adventure. I had to be a bit creative
to get it to look good, but I'm very pleased with the results so far, and
I think you will be too.
So until next time...when I'll be
announcing the release of RA1: Feast of Goblyns!
- 05/07/02 -
Hooray! Feast of Goblyns
is finally finished! I can't tell you what a relief it is to complete
this design. It is by far the largest adventure I have done for UA,
using all four overlands, all 36 dungeons and most of the artwork.
Anyway, now comes the playtesting phase. I should be done with it
in about a week, then it gets shipped off to a couple of playtesters and
then
it will be released. Late May might be too optimistic; it all depends
on how long the playtesters take to get through it. Stay tuned!
In other news, I updated the Top Ten
page a couple of weeks ago. Now there are two lists: one for D&D
style games and one for Super-Hero and Sci-Fi games. Enjoy!
- 04/18/02 -
Good news! My schedule has been
freeing up and I'm now finished with the Dark Keep. It took a whopping
seven dungeons! Anyway, I'll try to keep the updates more frequent
now...besides, there should be a lot more to report for a while.
Looking at the big picture, I still need to tie up a few loose ends in
Feast
of Goblyns, then write up the final battle scene. Then it's on
to the playtesting. I'm still hoping for a late May release.
By the way, I just noticed that this news page has been going on for a
full year!
- 03/31/02 -
Aaargh! I've been swamped with work for
awhile, but things are returning to normal finally. Due to the lack
of time, I haven't been able to make much progress on Feast of Goblyns,
but I have made some more nice touches to make sure it's a quality
product when it's finished. You'll find even more exciting hacks
now, and I've gotten rid of some of the minor bugs/annoyances from the
first two adventures. Hold tight...it won't be too much longer!
- 03/07/02 -
Time for an update! Sorry it's been awhile,
I've been pretty busy but I've managed to squeeze in some time to work
on Feast of Goblyns. I've gone back and done quite a bit of detail
work, some with hacks, some with walls and backdrops--you're going to find
a lot of neat surprises in this game, and one of them in particular is
especially nasty thanks to an impressive hacking discovery by Brian O'Donnell.
Anyway, I've also done a bit with the Dark Keep which is coming along nicely.
Real-life is starting to heavily interfere with my FRUA time, but things
are still progressing steadily.
- 02/16/02 -
Well, I probably won't be doing that full
Ravenloft hack project. I don't think it would really be worth it.
But I may upload a whole bunch of that artwork I have...
In other news, Curse of the Fire Dragon has over
400 downloads, Night of the Walking Dead is nearing 200, and Touch
of Death is over 100. I'm glad you all are playing my designs!
Feast
of Goblyns is now about 75% complete, as I've finished up the caverns
of Radaga. Now it's a brief return to Skald and then on to the Dark
Keep!
- 02/03/02 -
Hello there! I just wanted to give
a little update here. Feast of Goblyns is really churning
along as I'm deep into the caverns of Radaga. It won't be too much
longer now! Other items of interest--I've been using Brian O'Donnell's
dungeon editor Scruadat which, among other things, allows you to
do some nifty things with events. It has helped me to squeeze a little
bit more into these dungeons. Also, I'm thinking heavily about doing
a full Ravenloft hack for UA. It would be a big project, hacking
classes, spells and items and I would fill it up with appropriate artwork.
If you've got any input, let me know about it!
- 01/23/02 -
I've uploaded new versions of RQ1:
Night of the Walking Dead and RA3: Touch of Death to the Magic
Mirror. No crucial changes, just a couple of little things that were
bothering me. I suppose the biggest change is the updated text colors.
The background of all events is now jet black, and the text is brightened
to silver and charcoal. Highlighted text is scarlet. Together,
it makes reading much easier--and it looks better than that bright yellow
patch I had made.
- 01/16/02 -
Hello, everyone! You know, that TMNT mod
was just what I needed. It was a short project, a distraction, and
it has been well received. But perhaps most importantly, it's gotten
me motivated to get back to RA1: Feast of Goblyns. I'm just
about finished with the Old Kartakan Inn--a very challenging project to
bring to UA--and then it will be on to the Caverns of Radaga!
- 01/08/02 -
Wow, 2002! It's a palindrome!
Well, I've got a New Year's surprise for you all. As I had hoped,
my little project is now finished and should be available from the Magic
Mirror shortly. Are you ready for this? It's Leonardo, Donatello,
Michaelangelo and Raphael--the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! In their
first appearance in Unlimited Adventures, you can play through Issue #1,
the origin of the turtles! Check it out on my designs page, and have
fun!
- 12/30/01 -
Happy Holidays everyone! I've been
pretty busy with a lot of different things, but I'm still working on UA
when I have the time. I'm taking a bit of a break from Feast of
Goblyns, however. I found that the project was just too much
at this point and I'm a little tired of it. I needed to do something
else for awhile--not long, just awhile. So I'm working on something
entirely different right now. It's a short, comic-book style adventure
that's a lot of fun and unlike anything I've ever done before. I
think you'll enjoy it, just as I am enjoying working on it. It will
most likely be wrapped up in about a week, but I'm keeping the project
secret for now...stay tuned!
- 11/28/01 -
I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving
holiday this year. The events of the last few months have really
made 'family time' seem more important and valuable to me. The turkey
is nice too...
So Feast of Goblyns is really
coming along. I'm just finishing up the city of Skald, more specifically
the Old Kartakan Inn, which means that I'm nearing the halfway point.
It's been a long road, but I think the second half of the module will go
much faster. Take care!
- 11/06/01 -
Happy belated Halloween, all! Perhaps
some of you took the opportunity to play through your favorite Ravenloft
adventure for a good scare or two... I've been working diligently on Feast
of Goblyns, and I'm just starting the city of Skald which shouldn't
really take very long to complete. I'll keep you posted.
Also, Night of the Walking Dead
has "gone gold" now, with well over 100 dowloads at the Magic Mirror alone.
As for Touch of Death, well frankly I'm surprised there has not
been more interest in it. I guess I was the only one who was drooling
for an adventure set in ancient Egypt. Alas, when the next UANL comes
out, there will be some further publicity. Maybe I didn't hype the
release enough! Till next time...
- 10/18/01 -
Halloween is fast approaching, and you're
probably wondering how Feast of Goblyns is progressing. Well,
good news--Harmonia is complete and I'm currently finishing up the transition
into Part II of the adventure, the journey to Skald. Slowly but surely,
it's all coming along...
- 09/25/01 -
Ah, hello all! I apologize for not
writing sooner. The truth is, I've been so busy with "real life"
that I've not had much free time lately. Progress is slow, but I
promise you that I will not stop working. Harmonia is almost finished
now, and it's really shaping up nicely. It's so very exciting and
refreshing to design a city with such a rich musical heritage! Of
course, it also has a dark side...You'll see. I'll write again soon.
- 08/28/01 -
Well, I received the first 'official' review
of RQ1: Night of the Walking Dead this morning (hooray!) and it
was mentioned that the highlighted text is sometimes difficult to read.
Of course, I do care about you all and I don't want to cause any
eyestrain, so I've uploaded a patch to my website that corrects the problem.
You can find it on the designs page, but please use it only if it's necessary.
In other news, the Giga archive has
been updated so you can find both RQ1 and RA3:Touch of Death
there
now as well. As for my latest design, well, things have been a bit
slow, but I have finished about half of the city of Harmonia. Aaargh!
This design is going to be so large that I'm afraid progress will seem
slow. Stay tuned...
- 08/11/01 -
I had a bit of a crisis the last few days
as a massive heat wave moved through the area and then the power went out
for nearly 30 hours. But I made it through alive, and I was able
to upload RA3: Touch of Death just before the incidents. It
is now available at the Magic Mirror, so what are you waiting for?
- 08/07/01 -
I'm back! Did you miss me?
Well, I've received final comments from my playtesters and am now putting
the final touches on RA3: Touch of Death. You can expect its
release in the next few days. And while you're waiting, check out
the Online Player's Guide, now accessible from my designs page. Meanwhile,
I've been a bit sidetracked with an idea for Unlimited Adventures - not
a new mod, mind you - just an idea. It shouldn't keep me busy for
too long, and I will still continue to work on my next conversion, RA1:
Feast of Goblyns. Till next time...
- 07/06/01 -
I'll be out of town for much of this month,
but I thought I would update this section when I had the chance.
Several items of interest have happened lately. First, I at last
received a response for Night of the Walking Dead. Second, Touch
of Death is currently being playtested and will hopefully be released
sometime in August. And lastly, I've begun work on my next design,
RA1:
Feast of Goblyns. Have a great summer, and check back for more news.
- 06/24/01 -
The Bad News: The UA Domain was booted
from the Web Ring yet again. Sigh.
The Good News: RA3: Touch of Death
is in its final stages of production and will be finished by the end of
the week! Things went so quickly on this one, yet I don't feel that anything
was compromised. What this means is that you can expect my latest
design--which I had hoped would be ready by October--to be released in
August!
- 06/12/01 -
In another effort to satisfy the Web Ring
Navigation Bar, I've reverted to the old Web Ring format, which seems to
work for most people. We'll see how it goes...
Night of the Walking Dead
has been available for two weeks now, and its downloads are climbing up
the list at the Magic Mirror. However, I haven't heard anything from anyone
who has played it yet. Please, if you've played it, let me know what
you thought. Only with your feedback can I turn out a better product.
Touch of Death is in
fantastic shape. I've begun my initial playtesting, and everything looks
very good. Right now I'm coding the Tomb of Anhktepot which should
be finished in about a week or so. I'll be needing playtesters soon!
- 05/28/01 -
After receiving final comments from my
playtesters, I touched up a few things in my completed design and finally
uploaded it to the Magic Mirror. RQ1: Night of the Walking Dead
is now available for download!
- 05/23/01 -
I've just completed work on the temple,
and am now coding in the major events of each day. Soon, all that
will be left is the Tomb of Anhktepot! Things are moving along so
quickly now that I should have the adventure completed much sooner than
I first predicted.
- 05/08/01 -
Finally, the village is finished.
Writing all of those characters always takes me the longest amount of time,
because I strive to make each one unique and interesting. Now that
it's done, I can begin coding the temple and tomb, which should go very
quickly. Pretty soon I may be able to release Touch of Death
along with Night of the Walking Dead!
- 04/18/01 -
Friday the 13th has come and gone, andNight
of the Walking Dead continues to be playtested. So it looks like
the release date will be postponed. I'm hoping to upload the finished
version within the next two weeks.
- 04/09/01 -
I've redesigned the site in an effort
to satisfy the temperamental Web Ring Navigation Bar on the main page.
It seemed that every time I updated the UA Domain I would be suspended
from the ring, and I couldn't have that happening all the time. It's a
good thing though. I was thinking it would be nice to have a 'What's New?'
page so I could keep you all better informed.
Work on my current design, a
conversion of Touch of Death, is moving along nicely. The introduction
is complete and the major areas have been constructed. Now comes the fun
part--populating the village. That should keep me busy for a while.
I'm also hoping to release my
latest design, a conversion of Night of the Walking Dead, sometime
very soon. I'm waiting to hear from two of my playtesters, but if all goes
well it will be released this Friday--which just happens to be the 13th...
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