Miscellaneous Update

Hi folks! 

I say this all the time but time sure flies! Our new story has been going for almost two months now on RR, with more yet to come. Some of you like to binge the whole show after it's finished, so I'll avoid any further mention of it at this juncture.

You'll need to wait for a while longer!

But, let's talk about something else!

As mentioned on Twitter, and as you've likely noticed yourself, Royal Road added recently the feature for authors to arrange their chapters into "volumes" and add unique cover art for each volume.

Had this feature existed already four years ago, I might have taken the hint and sorted this series in a smarter way from the beginning, but it is what it is. Busy as I was with the new story, now that this option has been added, it's more or less mandatory to make use of it too. Having volumes listed with pictures adds a whole new level of appeal and professionalism to the fiction page in the endless struggle for readers.

The cover images show really small on the page, so drawing elaborate images would've been only a waste of time. And time, as said, keeps running from us at breakneck speed. I have very little of it at present, so I tried to make this side project QUICK.

Thankfully, I had various assets gathered over the years, 3D-models rendered in Blender, and a wide collection of photos, so I sought to make effective use of it all to catch some color and mood, that characteristic atmosphere prevalent in each book.

I merged digital models with photo elements and some speedy paint job in photoshop, and this was the result. These are common techniques used in graphic design and advertising. I wasn't quite skilled enough to make it as a GD, but I think these pictures will do for our needs, for now. 

What do you think? 

Was it a success? Is the spirit there? 

A speedy rendition of Alderia's royal "palace". I'm probably going to have to make a more detailed model one of these days...

Even water can be effectively simulated these days. Isn't that cool?

The ship model is far from photorealistic, but it still has over 120,000 faces.

I made the castle as a background for the series of promotional images seen before. 

Modeling the whole castle would probably take months.

My toaster spent over 7 hours rendering the more realistic version in Cycles engine. I think it was worth the wait.

That's all for now!

There's still lots of cool stuff to come before Christmas and the end of the year! Can't wait to show you.

In the meantime, have a nice day!