Have finalised the first draft of War is Over, and remain happy with it. Now to try it one other systems. I went to a meeting this morning about a new festival in Crewe this summer, more details coming at some point.
I've spent an hour or two working on my board game idea, which evolved into something like Go, crossed with a cellular automaton. One problem is that, on a triangular board, the centre square, and thus the first turn, is too powerful. Avoiding that wouldn't solve the problem (say, by blocking the centre) because I suspect that the first turn would remain too powerful. Ideally, the game mechanic itself would make up for this. I will explore a few options.
Here is an image of the test board. The solid triangles are power-cells, like food for the cellular growth.
The other cells can be placed, or move, or capture; but movement and capture are, in practice, rarely part of the game. The game turns into one of territory blocking. I can sense an intelligence and strategy when playing, but I suspect that the initial placements determine the outcome to a great degree. I'm working on rule variations now and will share full details when it is ready. I call the game Zell at the moment.
This is a temporary distraction. War is Over is as good as complete. We will order some CD copies, which are expensive and might remain unsold, yet, it is more important now than ever to make music physical and real, special. Digital music is somewhat valueless. I want to make art, and that means something people can hold that is rare and precious due to its rarity; its physical, as well as musical, beauty.
Next; the Apocalypse of Clowns music, but I'm very tired of music and have had a headache every day for the past several days. I must rest, and will change direction for a few days. I might revisit my old short stories to assemble. I'm a better writer now than I was when I wrote them, but we all improve, and many of those stories are not published or published in many different collections. Several of them have won prizes in competitions. Thinking about it, they're some of the most successful things I've done, but I need to check them through, have them properly proofread and then get them out there.
