Author Topic: Newsletter Issue 38: Summer 2020  (Read 2305 times)

Leafly

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Newsletter Issue 38: Summer 2020
« on: July 10, 2020, 02:50:05 PM »
Issue 38: Summer 2020

EDITORIAL

Dear reader, unprecedented times are at large but as the world starts to get back to the way things were before the pandemic, there are areas where the virus is still active and other places in the world where people have gone back to school,work and of course many other things.
We're all at different stages of these processes, but we hope from all of us at Exilian that you are all staying healthy.
While it has been a hectic time around the world, some good news is, we've been busy with creating some fun projects for you to look at! We've got some great game dev topics, nature and wildlife, top rated beers you can find near you while listening to Jubal's planned bannerlord tavern songs mod if you like!!
This month in our regular six-monthly election round all of our current regularly elected team were ratified in post. The full election results were as follows:
Jubal (FIF) re-elected as Basileus, Chair of Exilian!
Tusky (Ind) re-elected as Sebastokrator, Voting Members' Officer!
GMD (Ind) re-elected as Spatharios, Senior Moderator!
Congratulations to Jubal, Tusky and GMD!
Election results

There's more to read so lets get to it and as always: 'Enjoy your stay!'.

CONTENTS:

  • Editorial
  • Game Development
    • Roadwarden: New demo version out!
    • Jubal's Bannerlord tavern songs
    • Rbuxton's boardgaming dev diaries
    • Calling the Faithful to Utherwald Press
  • Writing & Arts
    • An Unexpected Bestiary: The Fourth Parchment
    • Topic: Dune's Island - A Free Video Learning Series
  • Miscellany
    • The Beer Thread



GAME DEV


Roadwarden: New Demo version out!



In Roadwarden, from Moral Anxiety Studio, you play as the eponymous character, tasked with patrolling and making safe the pathways from place to place in a world where nature is much stronger than mankind and scattered villages struggle for survival in the wilderness. The game is story-focused, with navigating your way through discussions being vital and a range of options for tones and player body language allowing a highly detailed approach. A range of items and item uses can also help you unlock the mysteries of particular places and events as you go, and as with creator Aure's other games there's no 'right answer', just the stories you create for yourself on any given run.

As of recent updates there is a new demo version of the game out which is available on Steam, as well as improved visuals and more to do. More intricate details on the map have been added - a map which, unlike in many games, is focused not on a geographic in-fill but keeps its focus closely on the roads and routes from place to place, with empty and unknown lands between them. Small villages, dolmens, hermit's caves, crossroads, and more all await the Roadwarden on their travels. Where will yours end up?





Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord songs, from Exilian's Jubal

The Flower Of Charas

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, from Exilian's Jubal is the sequel to Mount & Blade. A role palying game (RPG) focused on immesive medieval warfare! Currently in Early Access, don't you want to know more?

A bit of history: set in a world called Calradia, it's a fairly historical fantasy with not many magic or supernatural elements. Bannerlord is set several hundred years before the previous game, in a more early medieval setting.
Mount & Blade and Bannerlord are particularly known for having a higher level of support for mods than other games which are similar.
If you want to know more check out the range of mods Exilian has hosted on Mount and Blade games!

This is the first of the eight regional themed songs planned, a popular Vlandian song commemorating their capture of the city of Charas.
By James 'Jubal' Baillie, inspired by the Calradian setting of M&B: Bannerlord, which will come out as a tavern music mod, enjoy this majestic piece offered by one of Exilian's very own!
Here are some awesome comments from YouTube!

Quote
Beautiful job man! This is what I want to hear in the tavern while I'm hiring Vlandian Armed Traders and rescuing Petta the Wronged...AGAIN
- Canticles

Quote
awesome man,  i ll be waiting to hear the flower of charas while hiring some mercs!
- Pierrelicious

Quote
great song, keep it up!
- Ayush Khanal



Rbuxton's Dev Diaries


Boardgame designer rbuxton has been busily chronicling the continued progress of Test of Time, a quick and lightweight civilisation-building game he's developing, on his blog. Test of Time is playable in just over an hour, with scientific advancements, cultural achievement, and military might all being bundled into a simple card-playing dynamic. Players expand across a modular hexagonal board to gain resources and power up the actions on their cards: playing cards in front of you builds your military strength, but technological advancement requires you to "scoop" them,  allowing you to make strides forward through technological time but leaving yourself vulnerable in order to do so.

Recent development blogposts include some useful discussions of the steps that rbuxton and other boardgame designers have been taking to keep going under lockdown. These range from teething problems with the use of Tabletop Simulator, to where to find some more good discussion and testing communities, to the problems of not having the same levels of face to face interaction as boardgames usually offer. It's a set of insights that's well worth reading for anyone interested in the processes of boardgame design and how games like Test of Time take shape.




Calling the Faithful to Utherwald Press

Utherwald press' regular blog entries have continued, now on a monthly schedule and recently including an air combat playtest, a Cold War Skirmishes update, and a fascinating post on the religion of the Commonweath, one of the main cultures in their flagship (or, possibly, flag-plane) Frozen Skies setting for the Savage Worlds tabletop role-playing game. The Commonwealth's faith what we know of Celtic (mainly Irish) polytheistic religion and imagining how it might have evolved forward into a dieselpunk culture, with everyone from doctors to aviators calling upon a range of different deities as situations demand. From the old systems of sacred groves have now emerged networks of round chapels and household shrines, with a loosely defined priesthood of "Keepers" who tend the different sanctuaries, some specialising as chaplains for hospitals or the military but most acting as general officiators of ceremonies.

As ever, you can discuss this and other Utherwald Press blogposts on their Exilian forum. Hope to see you there!





ARTS & WRITING


An Unexpected Bestiary: The Fourth Parchment


Sea swallow.

Ever wondered about how many animals there are that you didnt know existed? The fourth parchment of An Unexpected Bestiary, talks about the Seriema, Noble Pen Shells, Dunnocks, Maras, Sea Swallow, Honey possum and Wryneck! With a bit of everything from land living mamals, sky surfing birds, sea stirring creatures and from big to small there's definitely something here for you.
Quote
this tiny, beautiful Sea slug steals Jellyfish stings powerful enough to kill humans, and can and will sting you with them.

- Sea Swallow
Quote
Its English name is based on the incredibly eerie twisting and turning motions that its head can undergo, contorting and wiggling at strange angles that along with strange hissing noises make the predator convinced that what they%u2019re facing is a much more formidable and more reptilian opponent than they%u2019d bargained for.
- Wryneck

With so much to learn here, there is a variety of different animals, facts and just interesting information that can help you find out something you didn't know before and can share with others. Jubal has now written 4 Parchments, please stay tuned for Parchment 5!
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Dune's Island - A Free Video Learning Series


During lockdown everyone has been trying to find free education resources. Here at Exilian, Eric Matyas has created free information about environmental stewardship that can be found at this website: https://www.dunesisland.org

This follows on well from An Unexpected Bestiary!
Here you will find vocabulary, math problems, writing prompts and more with this free eco-learning series!
There are cool documentaries and and activities too. You will also find fantastic curriculum aids, that can be used in classrooms and have also been supported by science teachers.

Episode 1 of the learning series: Mr. Binnacle sends Dune and friends to the inlet to try to spot Buster, an endangered sea turtle whose tracking device is faltering. For ages 7-12. Please share with family, friends and teachers!
The website is always being updated, do bookmark it to keep up to date with new content.




MISCELLANY


The Beer Thread


In some countries the weather is becoming warmer, beers can be great to try or even cook with.
Beer, why do people like it so much?! So many people like the very wide range of styles, flavours and it has been around for millennia as explained by Exilian's Glaurung.

The general opinion is that there is a fondness for beers from different countries.
Here's what we came up with:

  • Dark, malty stouts and porters (Britain), Belgian sour ales and lambics, German wheat beers and Czec Largers.
  • Guiness
  • Potbelly's Lager Brau (a small chance that this could be a Gold Ale?)
  • More well known beers like Wychwood Brewery's Goliath and Samuel Adams Boston Lager
  • A nice warm lager and a packet of crisps?
  • There was a mention of cider as well as beer
  • A go-to is a local Australian lager called Great Northern
  • More of a fan of a malty beer rather than floral or tropical kind of flavours you get from most Australian ales
  • Pale ales are becoming very popular in a small corner of Australia
  • Mountain Goat Hightail, which is an ale with some toffee, coffeee and caramel notes
  • A good stout or Irish ale
  • The Kilkenny copper ale is a favourite too

There are beers that have been sold through drive-ins during the lockdown because the supplies were in stock with no public to sell them to. As lockdown begins to be lifted, and with the warmer months (depending on where you are of course) when you visit the shops next, check out the beers they have on offer! Maybe treat yourself to a recipe and try something totally new today!

Have you got any suggestions that everyone might like to try? Let us know in the comments!






We hope you have enjoyed the newsletter, we'll see you back here in Autumn!

Tusky

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Re: Newsletter Issue 38: Summer 2020
« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2020, 03:55:09 PM »
Nice updates edition, Leafly!

It's made me want a beer...  :-X ;D
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Leafly

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Re: Newsletter Issue 38: Summer 2020
« Reply #2 on: July 10, 2020, 04:46:20 PM »
Thank you for your kind feedback Tusky!
Let's see...well, it is Summer :8):...I reckon you'll be allowed just the one as a treat! Hahaa  ;D
Congratulations for being re-elected Tusky!!  :)
« Last Edit: July 10, 2020, 05:00:57 PM by Leafly »