Back on the Trail

Being a dad and an illustrator and working part-time to support my family (and my illustrating habit) can lead to times when art has to take a backseat. My son has reached a point in his life where he still needs supervision but is finding his own independence.

Summer finale - Father and son trip to Gencon 50! Hitchhiking sasquatch approves!

It won't be long before he's not going to want to hang with dear old dad. Now that the summer has ended it is time to get back to my raison d être. 

The hard part was simply remembering where I had left off. I knew that I had certain projects I was working on but remembering the priority order was troublesome. There are potential portfolio pieces, time sensitive art, and time-intensive projects and I had the order all figured out before summer started. 

This week was about getting back into the groove. 

Thankfully, it only took a week! It's one thing to have a break when you have only one job. But the rest of life kept going and while I was still drawing, it wasn't to the same degree. 

The good thing about all of this is that I now feel more energized. When I have breaks my mind comes back more motivated and while this wasn't a break from everything, it was a chance to recharge. 

New art is on the horizon and I am so excited to meet it!

Spare Time?

What do I enjoy in my spare time? Aside from watching Science Fiction or Anime (about sci-fi) I have been playing Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures by Fantasy Flight Games.

I haven't been serious enough about it to play competitively. I don't think my skills are that good. But it is a fun take on turn-based combat. I particularly enjoy the non-linear aspect. Players can choose where to go based on the maneuvers of other ships on the board. Out maneuvering your opponent for the best attack with Star Wars themed ships and weapons is amazingly fun. 

I love being able to share stories of flying a tricked-out B-wing through an asteroid field to attack an Imperial Shuttle and its escorts. 

What I have also discovered is that it is fun to paint the miniatures too. Like this Jolly Roger-themed B-wing. The miniatures are only a few inches long (most are 1/270) so the level of detail is impressive and painting is a challenge.

I have a few other ships that I have painted as well but those are for another post. 

Seems I am never far from my strength!

The CJ Racing Sim Prize

With the recent announcement of Need for Speed Hot Pursuit redone for today's consoles, I was inspired to offer a prize to whichever game studio could release a NASCAR racing game to my exacting specs.

Need for Speed HP2 was one of my favorite racing games and has moved with me through several PC upgrades. Recently, however, the game has not been able to keep up with advancing technology and it has become almost impossible to get to run with my current setup and hardware.

That is why I was so excited to hear about the latest NFS-HP and read interviews with the developers. It sounds like it will be a fantastic game and will play on the Wii.

I CAN'T WAIT!

Now all I need is for the NASCAR Racing franchise to launch a program that I would be willing to play again. Here's what I am looking for:

*I don't have a degree in car setup. I don't want to need one to play the game. In fact, that whole segment of the game means less to me than the over-designed packaging it would inevitably come in.

*I want all the NASCAR sanctioned tracks and perhaps some legacy tracks in fantastic detail. No gimmicky kiddy tracks. (NASCAR Cart Racing?! - Seriously)

*I want to be able to hop in the car and race against my heroes. (And of course the licensing rights for Big E must be part!)

*I don't care who my teammate is or how my career is progressing. Racing on the track is my goal

*A functional paintshop would be nice but not necessary.

*And let me race as long as I want. 10 lap sprint or 600 mile marathon.

*Leave the power-ups and rockets where they belong and just make it look good.

Keep in mind, I am a busy person so any game that I have to spend hours learning how to play is not going to keep my attention. Besides, my ability to retain what I learned the previous session often fades after only a few hours. Something I can race right away goes a long way toward keeping my attention. (Do you see a pattern here?)

I used to love Papyrus's NASCAR Racing games and I bought all of them. It was how I chose to unwind. But the hours spent tweaking setups tempered that fun and seriously cut into the time I spent actually RACING. In the end I preferred the Need for Speed series because I could race right away. I didn't have to prepare and study just to have a little racing fun.

So here's my challenge. (Are you listening EA?) Make a NASCAR game where I can simply race. No gimmicky teammates, no setup degree, no hours of preparation. Just race on my favorite tracks. I want it to look cool and make me feel like I am Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty, and Jeff Gordon all rolled into one. Make it as fun as Need for Speed and just as immediate.

Did I mention that I just want to race?

If you can do this you will win the fantastic amount of $59.99.