The 2020 Digital W23 Speculation and Discussion Thread

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by ULFGARD

Does anyone know why the new Dungeon Fantasy book never showed up on the main GURPS page? I stumbled across it while looking for a TFT item.

Are you talking about the Dungeon Fantasy Encounters 2: The Room? I see it there.

[Proteus]

Originally Posted by Ewan

I wonder if the Realms Management book will be out this year, I know its in production according to the latest update. Thanks

We know that book is long and persnickety, which suggests at least some need for production time. I suspect the year's final slot or two will be Kromm's unidentified, short Dungeon Fantasy title, and maybe David Pulver's untitled short that's been lingering in production for three months or so.

So I'd peg Realms Management as a 1Q 2021 release... unless it gets stuck behind Kickstarter efforts for GURPS Girl Genius.

[Ewan]

Originally Posted by Proteus

We know that book is long and persnickety, which suggests at least some need for production time. I suspect the year's final slot or two will be Kromm's unidentified, short Dungeon Fantasy title, and maybe David Pulver's untitled short that's been lingering in production for three months or so.

So I'd peg Realms Management as a 1Q 2021 release... unless it gets stuck behind Kickstarter efforts for GURPS Girl Genius.

Thanks, guess that makes sense.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Ewan

Thanks, guess that makes sense.

I have not yet seen a Production PDF so it's likely that next year is closer to the mark than this year. Sorry!

[Proteus]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

I have not yet seen a Production PDF so it's likely that next year is closer to the mark than this year. Sorry!

So what does a "production PDF" actually look like? Is it one with all the text laid out, headers set at proper sizes, tables formatted, etc., but with holes clearly marked "art goes here" or "pull quote needed"?

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by Proteus

So what does a "production PDF" actually look like? Is it one with all the text laid out, headers set at proper sizes, tables formatted, etc., but with holes clearly marked "art goes here" or "pull quote needed"?

It can look like anything from "a Word file poured hastily into PDF form" to "something very close to the PDF we'll sell." Where it falls on that spectrum depends on scheduling needs, artist speed, how much time and money the project has already sponged up, and 100 other factors. What's always true is that no matter how snazzy and close to final it is, it can always use one more pass just to be sure . . . no editor is so good that there are no errors left the day before release!

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by Kromm

What's always true is that no matter how pretty and close to final a PDF is, it can always use one more pass just to be sure . . . no editor is so good that there are no errors left the day before release!

There's a saying in software engineering that all software contains at least one bug; no matter how much debugging you do, there's always one you didn't remove. Therefore, any program can be reduced to a single line that doesn't work. I think there's a similar principle present in publishing, where any given work can be reduced to a single misspelled word.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Kromm

What's always true is that no matter how snazzy and close to final it is, it can always use one more pass just to be sure . . . no editor is so good that there are no errors left the day before release!

Sean taught me that. If you can check it once, check it three times. When I did some editing work for SJGames for mechanical consistency it was like a whole new world opening up for me. Trying to understand what someone means when they right about X may not be what you /read/ when you read about it. I learned a lot from that little foray. I hope my writing has gotten better from it because I feel like it's gotten better from it.

[Þorkell]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

Trying to understand what someone means when they right about X may not be what you /read/ when you read about it. I learned a lot from that little foray. I hope my writing has gotten better from it because I feel like it's gotten better from it.

Intentional or accidental?

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Proteus

So what does a "production PDF" actually look like? Is it one with all the text laid out, headers set at proper sizes, tables formatted, etc., but with holes clearly marked "art goes here" or "pull quote needed"?

Also depends on the company!

I have a thing about not doing art direction until I have a prelim layout. I also don't make use of pull quotes. But I do like to know what my art holes look like before I go get images, and so I try and have it poured into layout as soon as possible.

That's also because I'm not averse to CHANGING the layout as things go, and that's horror and death and pain and wasted time...but that's my time to waste. If I were paying a third party for each layout pass...I'd likely have a different strategy.