August 2024
Wrapping up TEA 02, more DURF Expanded, Dread Delusion, and more
August was a month of tying up loose ends, taking some time to breathe after, and looking forward.
The Electrum Archive
By now, The Electrum Archive - Issue 02 has arrived in the hands of most backers and I’ve pivoted to working on the stretch goals for the project. These stretch goals will be completed at a slower pace than the main zine, since I’ll be dividing my time between them and other upcoming projects, and I’ll be depending on others for the new art and the soundtrack. Speaking of the soundtrack, here is a first rough sketch I got from my friend who is composing it:
For those still looking to pick up a physical copy of TEA, in addition to being available at Indie Press Revolution in the US, they are now available at All The Problems In This World for EU folks (consider picking up Ava’s game Errant as well) and at Peregrine Coast Press in the UK!
DURF
With TEA wrapping up, I’m going full steam ahead on DURF Expanded. I’ve been working on DURF Expanded for a good year now, but it was always a side thing next to TEA, now I can fully focus on getting it written and illustrated!
One of the things I want DURF Expanded to have is a solid GM section with some actual good advice. The first 6 pages of it are now up on my Patreon and talk about designing your own dungeons! I’m really proud of how it turned out, since it is the first time I’ve written advice instead of just rules, procedures or adventures.
If you want access to the other DURF Expanded rules and adventure I wrote over the past year, or just want to support me, consider becoming a Patron!
Fun & games
I also spent a good chunk of this month recovering from the madness that was the shipping of TEA 02, by reading books, making games, and playing games.
I made a small video game where you play a dolphin that blows up ships and helicopters.
I read a bunch of good books and comics, so I’ll do a quick rapid fire of reviews of my favorites:
BLAME! by Tsutomu Nihei. Some really cool atmosphere. The ending confused me a bit, but the whole thing ran on vibes anyway.
Rosewater by Tade Thompson. Interesting concept and I liked how information about the aliens and xenosphere was slowly revealed through these chapters that jumped in and out of chronological order.
Head Lopper Volume 2 by Andrew MacLean. The art, like in Volume 1, was amazing. McLean’s stylized forms are so good.
Hellboy Omnibus Volume 3: The Wild Hunt by Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo. The characters in this were great (I especially loved Gruagach) and there were some really memorable moments, like the fight between Hellboy and Koshchei the Deathless.
Hellboy: the Wild Hunt
My favorite game I played this past month is Dread Delusion by Lovely Hellplace. I bought this game when it first released in early access, really enjoyed it, but stopped playing to wait until it was finished. I was reminded of it when I saw Artyom Trakhanov posting about the art they made for it. So I booted it up on my steam deck and have played it a bunch in the last weeks. I honestly think this might be the first game I’ll 100% all the achievements for, I enjoy it that much. It is right up my alley: a Morrowind-like RPG with an interesting, weird fantasy setting? Sign me up! The setting is this group of mushroom-covered floating sky islands inhabited by people who killed their gods during a bloody war and have outlawed religion, but groups of cultist trying to bring back their gods have started cropping up causing all kinds of trouble. So most of the quests have you helping either side or dealing with the lingering scars of the God War on the lands and its people.
Dread Delulu’s main way of progressing is by finding these floating blue skulls called “delusions” that increase your stats. So instead of gaining XP for killing monsters, advance by exploring and looking for secrets. And exploration is really fun, the floating sky islands are filled with weird creatures and interesting little quests to do. One of the early quests is centered around cultists attempting to resurrect their harvest god by offering someone to be digested by a giant mushroom tower. Good stuff!
Also, Artyom’s art is incredible and can be found in the game world on posters and in books, and it is used in cutscenes for important moments in the main quest!
Odds & Ends
The tomatoes in my garden are finally turning red! So I’m looking forward to harvesting them soon :) The carrots were dissappointingly small.
I took pictures of a frog and a mouse I saw:
I have found a new ramen place nearby and it is very tasty.
That’s it for now, thank you for reading and stay safe!
Talk soon!
- Emiel
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