Team Epimetheus

Cultural Shortfalls With so many things going on this year it has been hard to stay on task. The goal was to work on the Trolls this quarter. Having completed the cultural development of the Centaur we worked laboriously at putting the information into the blog. That is where we present the majority of our content. Upon inserting the culture of the Centaur of Evates, we noticed that there were some serious discrepancies between the races and their respective nations. For one there was a lack of consistency in presentation as well as inconsistencies in the information itself. This simply would not suffice. And so an overhaul of the Races and World pages was needed. Cultural work on the Trolls requires a level of involvement that isn't available from the team right now. To be completely transparent, we're not really sure where we want to go with them as a race. We know where they live, what they look like and how they are born. But that is where the buck stops. Ok, ok. We also ...

Breaking in to the New year there had been some serious excitement around the artistic talent that Blizzardchill brought to the project. Her style and talent really added some life to our concepts. Unfortunately, not all good things work out the way we would like them to. Whether the complications that we are confronted with are due to the distinct language barrier, the artists changed priorities or our intent to secure legal rights to the work we paid for we cannot be sure. They have refused to complete an Intellectual Property Release Form. This step is fundamental in selling artwork to an upcoming business. It releases the artist from having any legal claim to the work. Not only is this a common practice when selling artwork it is a legal requisite that must be covered to prevent lawsuits, as well as a must to secure investors. Luckily, we have only paid for one piece of artwork from her and so our loss is minimal. It is a shame that we will not be able to use her talent in the futu...

   Looking back on this year really excites us with a sense of pride. While we stuck to our guns on some of our approaches we also embraced a new one as well. What did we do differently this year you ask? Well, work was outsourced. Thomas Brush, a well-known Indy developer, strongly suggested outsourcing work to alleviate pressure on a small development team.    The artist that we found has a remarkable talent and her work is certainly generating a buzz. Her rendition of Valentina is what we were hoping for. This style of art that she brings to the table is exactly what this project needed. Please take the time to check out her other work < here >.    At the beginning of the year the decision to expand on each race and their corresponding nation gave the team direction for development. That goal was met and exceeded. One race per quarter meant four races per year. That gives a projected completion date of 2024 with twelve races needing development. ...

  I think my first time seeing a cyclops was on the timeless classic: Clash of The Titans (1981). I remembered it as a massive one-eyed oaf. Brutal strength tempered by a dim wit. In developing this race I decided to stick with this take and add a little bit of humor. To be honest though I have found that a little challenging. Thinking back to all of the movies in times passed I asked myself: "Where have I seen the combination of cruel, powerful, dumb and funny?" Unfortunately  recollecting a fitting reference was a dead-end. There was this three movie franchise in the eighties and nineties called "Gremlins" where the combination of cruel and funny was attempted. Unfortunately, it fell short of success. There were moments that made the audience laugh but it would be easy to argue that the music and sound effects played a big role. There is also the scene where Bilbo Baggins outsmarted the trolls in the Lord of The Rings storyline. Regrettably, this was more of a sit...

 The creation of a civilization from scratch is both complex and revealing. As I read through this quarter's update , the influences that have shaped this team's work is at times funny. Someone might have suggested that we can use those influences as Easter eggs. Some of us think that person just might be a genius. If you have been following along then you know that each quarter of the year a civilization is focused on for development. The decision of who recieves this attention is voted for by Facebook followers. As the DP of this team, much of the workload falls onto my shoulders. There was such a limited response to the last poll that I was able to sway the decision of the poll with very little effort (sorry Ben). I really had no desire to develop the Gnomes yet as they feel more like a spring quarterly project than a winter one. Cyclops happen to live in an area called the Barrens, a relatively inhospitable rocky region with constant snow and ice. So faster than old sleep...

   There was a time when I believed in dreams. I had hope, this little glimmer of light that had miracoulsly survived every storm I had weathered in life. When the torrents of suffering dragged me down into the abyss I would look to that small flickering beacon and find my way back to the surface.    Some people wish for a family with a nice house and a fence. Others might desire a career that allows them to leave their mark in the sands of time. Perhaps fame and fortune motivates their soul, wanting nothing less than the best things the world has to offer. Everyone has a driving force that moves them in life, the gales of intent that keeps them upright when they should be down.     These ideals that move us, that shelter us from the torrential downpour that is life, they make up a core of purpose. It is in this center, the eye of the storm if you will, that who we really are is revealed. There is no right or wrong when we strive for something, there i...

Here in the most eastern state of the US, our weather is a little unpredictable. We can have snow storms on Monday and clear skies in the 70s by Wednesday. We have cold snowy winters and bright sunny summers. But that isn't always true. Sometimes we can go all winter with very little snow or all summer with very little sunshine. So when we have a summer like we have had this year: full of sunshine and bright blue skies, we are definitely going to take as much of it in as we can. This is not to say that there is no forward progress taking place in Epimetheus. We are ever vigilant when it comes to the development of this project. So in between the lathering on of sunblock and snorkling, the devouring of burgers and dogs, the bicycle adventures and trail stomping we have still chipped away at the sculpting of Epimetheus.  Each quarter we focus on the culture of a particular race predetermined by our Facebook fan group. This quarter we have developed the Dwarven people. A post has bee...