TheAstralBackstage

 Hello. C J here. I’ve got some exciting news for today. I’m officially starting work on my video game project Dragon Engine. I’ve made a shortcut on my desktop for Unreal Engine 4.27.2, the version of the Unreal Engine I’m most familiar with. I’ve made and named the project file DragonEngine. I am moving the game back to being a desktop game because I’ve run into some technical issues making it for Android. I know what I can do for a desktop PC and it’ll run great on a PC. The software has some limitations when working with Android that I can’t get around. This point has taken since I was in Grade 6 to get to. That’s 20 years almost to the day. I’m going to release Dragon Engine in stages, one version number per stage. These versions will continue to be made indefinitely by me and will add new content, locations, story, characters and items each time. Find out more on the Dragon Engine page here on the website. My first version will contain the prologue to the game’s official main...

 Hello. C J here. I've got two new Heart and Fur World samples up on the Downloads link in the Downloads page. The first is Draft Three of the core rules with new mechanics for equipment and more Skills. I've also uploaded a new first draft of one of the setting supplements I'm working on called Thousand Heavens. This is my setting manual for the setting's afterlife and also contains some musings on the power of spiritual imagination in real life. Enjoy. C J Mcpherson

 Hello. C J here. Goodness, not working on the Quantum core rules has been nice. They’re done. That took eleven years of research and typing. The whole thing was trial and error the entire time until I got both the art and the rules text done. Quantum being done has freed up a ton of my time. I’m putting together an Easter party on BARQ with the Kingston and Area group. I’m on BARQ actively and these days I check my messages actively if anyone wants to say hi. I go by Zed there. I’ve had some time to think about the next steps for Quantum. The core rules are not a playable game without the rest of the Starter Set. Quantum requires about 200 more cards to be played at all. I realized, I have all the free Ascala sample content. Just make the Ascala content into the Starter Set. This makes more sense than my previous plans. The modern day lore cards, hero cards and training cards are mostly done being written and need art. I can reuse my previous years art of the interiors and exterio...

 Hello. C J here. I've got another draft of Heart and Fur World up on the Downloads link. I'm working on this game as a side project while also working on setting up the art and card text for the full release of Quantum, my card game. I can work on the art set up for Quantum for about an hour a week without burning out after three weeks. This involves an hour of running numbers and making assets for landscapes and furniture by hand. It doesn't take long but it's really hard work. The game will take about a year before I can get the first set of creature and spell cards out and then I can play test it for final sale. So I'm working on the easier side project with the rest of my time. This game has simpler mechanics, an easier leveling system and more normal combat. The core mechanics and combat rules are done and I am working on adding uses to the Skills and detailing the setting more next. Each Skill needs multiple specific uses that characters trained in it get for...

 Hello. C J here. I’ve got a few notes for today. First, I’m preparing to work more seriously on the first Quantum Expansion, Roads to the Spirit World. This means I might not be posting here as much for a while. I am also going to resume marketing on YouTube and that will take up some of my time. I’m hoping to use YouTube to find people to work with to help build the Legend setting as part of the Discord server I’m working on. Second, the Discord server is a while away but it’s going to be part of what I’m calling the Collaborative Setting Project. The Legend setting is vast as an entire galaxy. The galaxy is named Creation and Creation shares no history with our own night sky. I have the core rules of Quantum done in advance of doing this for a reason. I do not need help inventing the rules. The rules are done really and they work. I need help with the narrative part. Each Expansion has a theme and I’m perfectly willing to take suggestions from people about what they’d like. I’m ...

Hello. C J here. The item cards I had planned for today will take a bit longer. I realized I don’t have recipes for any of the food items in real life. The food cards are supposed to be real life recipes themed after the setting region they are from. This will take a while. That’s fine. I guess I make some flatbread pizza later this week. Also I keep thinking I should write a smaller novel before I get to my current main novel project, The Relic Wars. I don’t have any of the setting done enough to do that yet. Well, I sort of don’t. If I write a novel with spells in it then I need to take a break part way through to put the spells in the card game before I can write more of the novel. I need to do this so I don’t forget a spell. The card game is being built as well and it might make sense to go the opposite way. I have some of Roads to the Spirit World typed and I’ll have more this next week. I think it makes sense to write a novel with the spells and spirits from that Expansion to the...

 Hello. C J here. I'm updating the free samples I have in the Downloads link of the Ascala cards to be in the new version of Quantum. Quantum has been updated and finalized since the Ascala samples were made and I have the 20 Hero cards redone to be in the new version. All of these are real life summoning spells, all 20 of them. I'm going to further expand these into full decks for each of the five gem colours that Ascala uses when I get to Five Million Strong, the Ascala Quantum expansion. I'm also working on updating the item cards next with real spells. Then I'm working on some Quantum cards for environments and locations. More soon. C J Mcpherson

 Hello. C J here. I've finished making an entire batch of sushi. Yes, this is all for me. The recipe either is or will be in my cookbook. Here's some photos. In my opinion the rice part of sushi should be more tasty than the fish. I think I pulled that off. C J Mcpherson 

 Hello. C J here. I've just uploaded the first partial draft of my new game project, Heart and Fur World, to the Downloads link under the Heart and Fur folder. I've grouped together most of my free samples and previous experimental projects into one game and in my opinion it's functional as is. I've got a partial draft of it done and for free download with the core dice engine and most of the character creation already done. The game is in the Legend setting but uses the core dice engine from Heart and Fur. The Legend setting is hard to build because the core dice engine it runs on is hard to design around. Now I can have it but with an easier set of numbers to work with. The game already has a combat engine that is designed to feel like an actual firefight with characters, and their players, acting and reacting in real time to each other. Think fast because your enemies already are. The game will also contain rules for romance and social conflict like the original Hear...

 Hello. C J here. Rarely does a recipe for my work come together the first time. Rarely does a recipe pass both of my tests at once without me making it more than once. First test, I don’t feel sluggish after eating it. Second test, it goes well with caffeine. This one did both. I got this recipe from a cookbook I own and altered it to taste as I made it. I’ve written down the new steps here so I can make it again. It’s an amazing oregano and tomato soup, a variation of the classic tomato basil soup. Ingredients One Onion One Tablespoon Minced Garlic Three Tablespoons Canola Oil One Can Crushed Tomatoes One Cup Chicken Broth One Half Cup Cream One Half Teaspoon Salt One Tablespoon Pepper One Tablespoon Oregano For the Tomato Oregano Soup Peel and chop the onion. In a large soup pot fry the onion for five minutes until translucent. Add the garlic and tomatoes. Simmer for five minutes then add the chicken broth and cream. Add the salt, pepper and oregano. Simmer for another five minu...

 Hello. C J here. I finally have Quantum done enough to show. Dear All, that took a while. I’ve updated the Quantum page here with new stuff detailing my plans for it for the next few years. This is and will remain my main project and now that the core rules are done I can actually get something done with it. By that I mean I can get back to writing spells. Real life spells. The summoning spell I mentioned yesterday isn’t the only one I have or even the only category I have but I needed the core rules done to explain how they work enough to share them. First up on the list of projects is the spirit world themed expansion Roads to the Spirit World. This one is strongly based on the real life mysticism of Ancient India, the ancient Asian world and a number of indigenous cultures the world over. The spirit world exists in most mythologies as the dwelling place of the gods and their spiritual servants. For most is isn’t a heaven or the heaven but is a natural part of the living world a...

 Hello. C J here. I think I’ve recovered enough from writing Quantum to discuss why I actually put this much effort into a single card game. Quantum combines the plans for about a dozen card or video game projects into one brand name. This makes my job marketing and selling it easier but also helps its actual goal move forward. I’ve researched just about every scientific and spiritual discipline there is in preparation for making my setting and the card game is designed to record everything I learned while doing so. It also aims at making these concepts playable and enjoyable to learn. I should specify something here. I don’t mean we’re dealing with broad abstracts and theoretical concepts. No, those are the ones I didn’t learn. I mean the knowledge here is imminently practical and useful. The cards work. I mean the spiritual concepts I read and researched all reliably do things. Science is known to exist in order to make life better and spirituality does the same or it doesn’t des...

 Hello. C J here. I'm contemplating what I'm working on next now that the core game line is done. I am going to need people to play these with to test them out but also to actually play them. I could also use somewhere to hang out with the people who read these posts. So I'm making a Discord server for the company. It will be invite only but I'll have the invite link here on the blog publicly and on BARQ. I've done this before ages ago for making Heart and Fur and it worked so perfectly that I'm repeating the formula. One server, me running it, separate channels for general chat, writing, art and finding players for a game. Marketing and commissions are allowed so long as they're respectful. I'll get to work making it. More soon. C J Mcpherson 

 Hello. C J here. I’m finally done the core rules of Quantum. Dear All, that took a while. That’s the last thing on my list of heavy lifting game design projects, probably forever. It’s an all in one tabletop RPG in a card game that generates its own plot line using card draws. If that sounds hard to make, well, it was. My main job going forward is to add to it. I might also write some longer format setting sourcebooks for fun now that I have the time to write for fun again. I’ve gotten bored of Ascala the setting. I think I’ve mentioned that here before. Then, I realized as I was getting ready for bed last night, I haven’t really. I’ve gotten bored of the card game version of Ascala. Of the dry technical language that setting is presented in. My original vision for the city and nation is still intact. In fact I haven’t had the chance to use it. It’s supposed to be a fusion of the industrial and technological elements of modern day life with the glamour and mysticism of conventiona...

 Hello. C J here. This is just a quick update that I've made a newer version of the Legend - Quantum core rules text file. It's for download as a PDF in the Downloads link under the Quantum folder. I've added a whole ton of stuff including all 100 Traits, the unique powers characters can gain in Quantum that define their combat abilities, and an expanded storytelling and quest system. Enjoy! C J Mcpherson

 Hello. C J here. I’ve updated the Quantum page here on the website. The card game is going to take a long time. I’ve scheduled a year of very slow work on it before I’m expecting it to be done. Quantum will be the core game line I keep adding to but it needs to be done first before I can do that. It is being made slowly so I don’t burn out. This leaves me with a lot of free time. I need more side projects or I’m going to get bored. Bored in my opinion is worse than burnt out. I have been meaning to make an animation, like a full length movie, set in Ascala for a while. Maybe Ascala needs that animation this year. I can hand draw all the characters and backgrounds. This will rely on the same archive of assets and hand drawn props I need for the card game. The problem is the plot. I don’t have it in me as an author to work on another story this year besides the card game. The card game requires that much work. Then I realized something. I could just commission people to help plan an...

 Hello. C J here. I've got a new Novels page up containing all my advice about how to plan and write a novel or fiction anthology using my setting and characters. This new page is compatible with the Partnership page and the rules there. All of my card game content is designed to be used to write these novels and can be licensed through the Partnership agreement. This includes the setting, its history and all of the named characters in it. This agreement is still being set up. C J Mcpherson

 Hello. C J here. I’m going to continue not discussing politics. I’m busy. Yes, I am up on the events of the world very thoroughly and yes I could probably have some intelligent commentary on something. I’m not going to. It’ll take too much time away from doing more important things. I’m continuing to design the card game Quantum in the background while working on drawing the actual backgrounds and background components I need to make the art for Quantum situated in my setting. Quantum is a game about real life spirituality. It’s designed to be educational about a wide variety of subjects. I’m working on rewriting the old Regency page here because Regency was the previous name of Quantum as a project. That project is now going to be a line of products in the new named game line of cards. I’m working on a list of the first ten or so Expansions and what real life subject matter they discuss. All of this will be free to print yourself at home. I will also be selling the Core Set of ca...

 Hello. C J here. I’ve got some plans for the month ahead to share today. Just about every project I’ve started over the last few years has reduced down to three categories. Category one is novels. I’m working on the long term planning for the Prince of Hearts novel and its sequels. The series now has a name and I’ve got enough plans for about eight novels in it. The name is The Relic Wars. I’m going to write all eight as a batch and then print and release them at conventions as a single hardcover luxury volume. The digital versions will be free when the whole batch is done. The novel will be funded by the Patreon when I get that set up. Patreon provides the option to have monthly recurring donations rather than single-use ones and this means I know how much I will make a month in advance of making it. Money though is not and never had been a main concern of mine. This blog here is free software, the software I use for every job I do was selected because it’s all free and I handle ...

 Hello. C J here. I've got two new Minecraft builds for today. Taking another route from the waterway earlier we find a standing stone to guide us to our new destination. And yes, I know the internet is up in arms these days in a way that I am going to not comment on. I don't do politics. I also rely on free speech existing on this planet to do my job. I also am in Canada, was born in Canada and have always bought mostly Canadian goods whenever possible. Canadian goods are reliably the best quality. These are normal job statements for me. Back to work now. We can follow these standing stones to something the local wizards don't want us to find. This is Wildflower Craft Site, a secret location the Wild Lords use to construct their potent jade golems and do magic involving the wilderness in secret. This location is a complete secret and all knowledge of its existence is kept closely within their fellowship. And of course, it started raining by the time we got there. This is t...

 Hello. C J here. I'm back with more Minecraft buildings from my setting Eternity. Eternity is the official steampunk region of my setting and the region I'm doing it Celtic-steampunk themed. Here's the outside of the first building in the town of Kingsvale, the Friendly Fire Spa. Kingsvale might be a little farming town but it's got a nice place to relax in the warm, smoke choked, polluted air of the industrial era. Over here on one side we have a nice fruit market selling us pumpkins. And on the other side we have an agility puzzle. This Minecraft map will be available for play or download eventually when it's done. That might be a year or two though. Inside we can see the steam powered alchemical waver vat that heats the water for the tubs and also pumps in healing alchemy to help soothe muscles. That's in the back right. At the back left are the copper walled hot tubs and along the near wall are the massage tables. For a little town they do have all the exci...

 Hello. C J here. Art is a hard job. I’m aiming to make it easier. Announcing Dragon Engine. Dragon Engine is a video game with a set of creativity and art generation tools built in. All of my video game projects including Allegro, Absolute, Ancestral, Duskbringer and Glaive are being incorporated into the game’s Story mode while the level building and character design tools I’m working on will be in its Creator mode. Screenshots and live film exported from the software are allowed for resale and the setting and characters can be used with my Patreon license. With Facebook having an absolute no adult content policy and an absolute no to depicting sex in art I’m stepping away from that software for now. Facebook reliably is getting me no views these days anyway. I’m going to resume marketing on BARQ, which seems to be where everyone is these days. BARQ has proved to be reliable in the past for this job and it’s only growing in popularity from what I can tell. Dragon Engine isn’t tec...

 Hello. C J here. We've got another Minecraft adventure for today. I'm back to Minecraft with a new set of goals in a new region of my setting. I'm building locations from Eternity the steampunk solar system in the Legend setting so I can write novels set here and eventually make an Eternity video game within the Legend video game line. I will look into releasing this map as a download or on Realms when it's more finished. This is how I proofread locations and learn how to present them in fiction. First we start at Northriver Moot. This is a sacred site to the faction Wild Lords where they meet and perform their magic rituals. The Wild Lords are a loose association of nature wizards who dwell in the wilderness and look to ensure the industrial world they live near doesn't destroy the natural world. They ally with the villages and towns who live on the edges of civilization and who share their respect for the living world. They are willing to offer weather magic, fer...

 Hello. C J here. I've finally got some of the planning for my upcoming Eternity setting region game line typed up and proofread. The final Eternity themed RPG hasn't been named yet so for now I'm calling it the Eternity RPG. Find the new free sample in the Downloads link in the Free Samples folder. This one is a test run of some of the character abilities and includes a glossary of the new game terms used. The game will be in the Elements Engine but also contain steampunk themed races, classes and magic abilities. More soon. C J Mcpherson

 Hello. C J here. I was trying to decide between posting about my Eternity video game project or Pokemon. Then I remembered that Eternity and Pokemon are identical and are already friends. See my previous post in this series for how all Pokemon are already in my games as characters. This was not intentional. The Pokemon game I’m playing just happens to look identical to the setting region I was going to work on next. I need a magic engine for the video game. This is why I need reference material. The setting and characters I can make myself and often do but I need inspiration for the magic engine for a game of this size. This one has no real life spirituality in it so I need to look to other games for source material. I’m looking at two genres. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team and the genre as a whole lined up perfectly to be useful. I’m also looking to some of my earlier inspiration in the tabletop miniature gaming genre. Both of these genres feature named setting regions w...