Mince Pie Fest 2024: Non-Cornish Cornish Pasty Lemon Mince Pie
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Special #MincePieFest2024 special feature special day four! I've had the
lemon flavour before and it's been a firm favourite, but how will it fare
in 2024?...
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Posts
My first copy of Space Opera was ordered from Montgomery Ward!
ReplyDeleteWow, I didn't realize how close to mainstream gaming had gotten at the time. D&D, Traveller, and Squad Leader in a Sears catalog?!?!
ReplyDeleteStan
Ah, Space Opera and FASATrek 1st Edition. Double-dose of warm fuzzy :)
ReplyDeleteMind you, I don't think I'd necessarily go back, what with all of the coolness that's readily available to us now with the internet and indy games and so on.
ReplyDeleteBut that takes me back. It was a different time...
I just noticed that the Monster Manual II has a (presumably production mockup) alternate cover from the actual release.
ReplyDeleteAnd that the Traveller starter set includes activities! More than 10! Yay!
Anybody else play Crossbows & Catapults back in the day? Good, silly fun. They recently revamped the line and I saw a set at the WalMart a couple days ago.
ReplyDeleteYep. I remember playing it with my sister. Good times.
ReplyDelete"Activities"?! What, did it include a page to color, a crossword, and a maze?
Yes, Crossbows and Catapults was lots of fun. Especially when you doubled up on the rubber bands and "accidentally" shot one at your brother's head instead of his castle.
ReplyDeleteGeez, it was just a different time, wasn't it?
ReplyDeleteLooking at that gives me a nice, warm feeling, but also kind of a sad nostalgia.
I had a full range of Crossbows and Catapaults stuff. Too much fun.
ReplyDeleteWe had a Crossbows & Catapults set in the back room of the game shop where I worked in the 80s, on the big metal shelf of store-copy boardgames.
ReplyDeleteIn theory, we could pull any game off the shelf and play it anytime. In practice, we consistently pulled down only a handful, maybe 8 or 9 games on those shelves ever got consistent play (Junta, Talisman, Illuminati, Dune, Rail Baron, Civ, a few others).
We often pulled down Crossbows & Catapults ... but only when we wanted some quick props for Pat's D&D runs (Pat liked the pieces). I honestly don't remember anyone ever playing the game, and I recall everyone mentioning it at some point "We really should give that a try sometime." "Yeah, we should."
Just thinking about it makes me want to play Rail Baron right now :)
Photoshop and Pagemaker killed good taste in colour choice and cover design for gaming products.
ReplyDeletePhotoshop and Pagemaker killed good taste in colour choice and cover design for gaming products.
ReplyDeleteI think that's true. The root problem, IMO, is people confusing knowledge of the software with knowledge of design, which is a bit like someone thinking "I know how to swing a hammer and saw a saw; I guess that makes me a carpenter!"
... although for my own selfish tastes it's of much greater consequence that Photoshop (in particular) not only killed fantasy cartography, it also went on to rape the corpse, skin it, and hang the skin from its head while dancing around the room going "hahahah! glossy textures and obvious digital dropshadows! hahahah!"
And PageMaker (and its descendants, Quark and InDesign) killed RPG interior typography, which was never in good shape to begin with, so it was like beating up a kid in a wheelchari.
And of course, I killed my own ability to spell. Apparently.
ReplyDeleteI´d field a more differentiated opinion of fantasy cartography, but alas this is not the right place and time.
ReplyDeleteMy main point though is that real quality maps cost real money, way more than most people would think, even in Real Life publishing.
So they are either made out of love at a loss, or by non-professionals, or in a short timeframe.
Interestingly, certain styles have trained the (D&D) customer to only appreciate that certain style.
And the fine Sir who is master of that style now is flooded in work and his quality and detail has dropped to very low levels.
It´s really a shame, but the tragedy is even greater in RL mapping...
[...] real quality maps cost real money, way more than most people would think [...]So they are either made out of love at a loss, or by non-professionals, or in a short timeframe.
ReplyDeleteThat's true (and equally true) of every element in an RPG book. Anyone who may have told you different is just ignorant.