Layout update
almost 4 years ago – Fri, May 13, 2022 at 04:06:59 PM

Hi guys,

A quick progress for you on layout. I have learned in the last couple of weeks that laying out a 200+ page book is much harder than I expected. Some pages come together in literally a few minutes, and others take considerably longer, particularly where a lot of artwork is involved. All the character creation and new setting rules sections are done, and have been proof read by my amazing test readers, and edits / corrections made.

I'm now through the equipment section, which includes images for over 60 weapons of the late 30s and WWII period, and I'm putting the finishing touches to the Q Division section at the moment. The Q Division section also includes a lot of examples of interesting gear, both real and imagined, and lots of images as well. 

I also decided on a shift of a major section of the book. What was the "Villainous Equipment Guide" had all the rules for creating new spy gadgets for both sides. After some consideration, I decided that this section would be better as a generic guide for both good guys, and bad. So an edit to take out the Villain focus was needed but that's all done now and, I believe, better for it. This change makes the book flow better and removes a lot of forward / backward referencing I think. 

The good news is, once the Q Division section is done, the page layouts are easier, and therefore faster. I've previously posted a few layout pics in the Discord channel, if you haven't joined that yet, here's an invite link:

 https://discord.gg/9S46mfaP 

Here's a layout of one of the weapon spreads to whet your appetite!

I hope you like what you're seeing so far. 

Allan.

Layout preview
about 4 years ago – Tue, Mar 22, 2022 at 03:23:36 AM

Rubbish!

Yep, that's what I've been in terms of updates. I truly hope that you good folks will like this one though.  It's been a tough month at Imaginarium towers. We had 3 named storms in the space of 5 days which literally left bits hanging off our house (I work from home). Water ingress and an electrical issue had to be dealt with. All fun and games so I'm told! Anyway, enough about that, here's what you guys are interested in....

As mooted in my previous update, I was looking at a page shift from 7x10" to US Letter size. The key reason for this was to keep the page count roughly at the 200 I was shooting for while also getting in all the new stuff I've developed for The Secret Files of Section D. Chiefly the increased page size makes tables and things a lot less compact and they just work better. So, US Letter size it is. 

Once that decision had been made I got into layout, got a load of it done, and then scrapped it because I wasn't happy. I'd tried to evolve the layout from the Taster Edition but I knew it wasn't quite right. After consulting a couple of trusted advisors I decided to rebuild it. There are some familiar elements in there but I did, pretty much, start again. Here's a preview of one of the spreads which also shows the new rules for the Cryptography skill which replaces Hacking in Section D

That green handwriting used in the example boxes is a direct reference / hat tip to the Chief of the SIS. The first 'C' was Mansfield Smith Cumming who always signed off with a C in green pen. To this day, the Chief of SIS carries on the tradition.

The test prints I've done so far look great and things are progressing at pace!

I'd love to know your thoughts on the look of it. In the mean time, happy gaming. 

Allan.

Size matters
about 4 years ago – Tue, Feb 01, 2022 at 03:03:17 AM

Hello all, 

So this is kind of an update and kind of a question / feedback request.

I've been wrestling with a little problem over the last couple of weeks, for good reasons I think. Basically, The Secret Files of Section D got bigger than I thought it would. I'm about to commence final layout and as it stands, and in the proposed 7" x 10" format, the book is likely to be in the region of 240 pages as opposed to the originally thought 200. Good news for you right?

I originally picked the 7" x 10" format because it's the closest standard size to the core Savage Worlds Rulebook and I wanted to retain some consistency for future Section D books if they are delivered via Print on Demand while looking good on a shelf full of Savage Worlds stuff.

What I'm intersted in learning is what you, my wonderful backers, would think of a format change to US Letter size? That little bit of extra page space would make a big difference in the layout, particularly with tables for weapons and gear, stat blocks, and space for artwork etc. US Letter is obviously a standard size so all future Section D products would match whether they are offset printed or POD.

So, it's a potential change from the Kickstarter details, but I believe it will improve the finish of the final product. It's your book, please let me know your thoughts.

Please comment on this update with your opinions rather in the KS page comments section.

Thanks to all,

Allan.

Happy New Year
about 4 years ago – Fri, Jan 07, 2022 at 07:28:28 PM

Hi everybody,

I'm going to start this update by wishing everybody a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. These last couple of years have been very tough for everybody but I honestly think there is light at the end of the tunnel and I'm  hopeful of a return to normal in the near future. 

As for Section D, it gets nearer. I've nearly completed the final section on bad guys who aren't Nazis and I think you'll find some very interesting concepts in there. The last thing to do for that segment is a re-write of an enemy faction who I originally introduced in Shades of Grey, the final part of the Better Latte Than Never trilogy. I thought these guys were just too good to not have them in the main book but their backstory needs re-working so they can be used as protagonists in many adventures and not just one. 

Once that's done I'm on to final layout and because the basic trade dress is already in place it should be a fairly quick process. On the subject of the trade dress, I have altered it slightly from that used in the Taster Edition and I'll be ditching the red box outs for something more appropriate. 

I'd like to say the PDF of the main book will be ready in 4-5 weeks and I will do my utmost to make that happen. I really do appreciate the patience of the backers on this project and I assure you it will be worth it!

Happy gaming folks.

Allan. 

Gadgets, gizmos and villainous gear
over 4 years ago – Tue, Nov 30, 2021 at 07:03:10 PM

Hi all,

So it's been a busy few weeks here at Imaginarium Towers. I was invited to run some Section D sessions at a four day conference and took the opportunity to do further play tests on the Better Latte Than Never trilogy of adventures. That also involved updating the adventures to incorporate some of the new rules and also updating / upgrading map assets and artwork in general. Sadly I didn't get to run everything as the conference was oversubscribed with games and underattended. Largely, I think, because a lot of folks are still very Covid conscious, which is totally understandable.  The sessions I managed to do were very well received though and positive feedback was great to hear. 

Most recently I have completed the toolkit for developing villainous equipment which has been great fun. There are now solid rules for equipping minions with all manner of crazy gadgets while making sure adventures remain balanced. Being honest, I think that with the Villainous Equipment Guide and the other tools for creating bad guys, their lairs and their dastardly schemes, The Secret Files of Section D has evolved from a nice setting into a comprehensive toolkit for pulp adventure!

Here are a couple of gadget examples:

Geheimdienstforschungsgruppe (GFG) Parfum No6

GFG is a fictional creation, a German group of inventors in the mould of Q Division. This is their purse sized atomiser for delivering an Empathy spray. They might have taken some design cues from a well known fashion house. 

Charles Hill's Arctic Rifle

Charles Hill's Arctic Rifle utilises a liquid nitrogen pack shoot ice needles but it has another interesting feature, a Freeze Ray!

I really hope you like these ideas. 

Layout work has now started and there are just a couple of things left to edit and test. I'll post another update soon. 

Happy gaming everybody!

Allan.