Daily Illuminator Archive for October 2004

All Archives

October 1, 2004:
Now geology is getting into the act, with the Mount St. Helens webcam . . . read article

October 2, 2004:
Turns out Tolkien was just painting by numbers. If you really want to know how to write a best-selling fantasy novel, you need only familiarize yourself with this quick guide . . . read article

October 3, 2004:
Long, long ago, when SJ Games was just getting started, Denis Loubet did some fantastic covers for us . . . as well as all the original Cardboard Heroes. He eventually moved on to computer game illustration, creating a lot of covers for the Ultima series and other games . . . read article

October 4, 2004:
Our Internet provider, Birch, had a bad day over about half of Texas. As a result, our site was unreachable for some of Sunday, and dead slow for some of the rest . . . read article

October 5, 2004:
Pyramid Magazine, the award-winning online publication devoted to the best in gaming, published its 5,000th article this week. And what's going on this week in Pyramid? Why, no less than the last semi-final round of our third Iron Ref competition! . . . read article

October 6, 2004:
We are proud to announce that Jeff Johannigman (known as “Johann” to his friends), has joined us as our first “Director of Digital Game Development.” It will be his job to bring our paper games to electronic form, and to develop new computer game titles as well. (And another computer-related project, a couple of years in progress, is about to bear fruit just in time for Johann to lend his skills to it . . . read article

October 7, 2004:
The SJ Games crew will be out in force at Linucon this weekend, since it's (a) a neat idea, and (b) right here in Austin. The Chaos machine will be up . . . read article

October 8, 2004:
Don’t be fooled by the innocuous Mini Cooper – you don’t know the kind of firepower this thing can field. Some of the secrets have now been revealed, and this may be only the tip of the iceberg . . . read article

October 9, 2004:
It is with great regret that I share the news that Andrew Hackard is leaving us. He's been an invaluable part of the team for the last few years, and he's one of the people without whom the Fourth Edition of GURPS would simply not have happened . . . read article

October 10, 2004:
Short note from Linucon: • It's going well. Having fun. • It had NOT been a good week going into the event . . . much stress, not enough sleep . . . read article

October 11, 2004:
In order to be able to give more people the opportunity to be a part of the GURPS Banestorm playtest, we will be reopening the call for playtesters on Tuesday, October 12. This playtest will take place on a private mailing list, but you still must be a Pyramid or JTAS subscriber to take part . . . read article

October 12, 2004:
Writing this Monday night after returning from Linucon. My living room is filled with boxes of Chaos and Pirates stuff which needs to be checked and sorted before going onto the shelves . . . read article

October 13, 2004:
GURPS Fantasy did go to press today. Moe, Monica, Alex, Scott, and Andrew all got to be heroes . . . read article

October 14, 2004:
If you were wondering what was new with us, you'd likely ask Steve Jackson, Sean Punch, or Andrew Hackard. But what would you ask Jeff Johannigman and Wil Upchurch? . . . read article

October 15, 2004:
The playtest for GURPS Traveller: Interstellar Wars will be starting soon. It will take place on a private mailing list . . . read article

October 16, 2004:
A couple of years ago, I was introduced to an online game named UltraCorps. It had been running on MSN's Zone, but by the time I started playing, it had been dropped . . . read article

October 17, 2004:
Steve Jackson Games will release this new product in February, 2005: Murphy's Rules 2 Murphy's Rules is back with a vengeance! Since the original Murphy's collection was published in 1998, games have gotten bigger and more sophisticated, the components have gotten fancier, the boards and cards more colorful, the graphics more dazzling . . . but the boneheaded mistakes keep on coming . . . read article

October 18, 2004:
These are the latest games winging, rolling, and rocking their way to distributors across the globe from Steve Jackson Games this very minute. Look for them on the shelves of your local game store in the very near future: Munchkin Bites! It's the World of Dorkness! . . . read article

October 19, 2004:
He's a microbiologist, he worked at Area 51, and - when he's not busy disappearing, being kidnapped, or having his memories wiped or altered - he's willing to speak the truth before Congress. The Mystery of Dr . . . read article

October 20, 2004:
A couple of special Munchkin cards from Linucon . . . "Heart of the Anomaly" was given to every Linucon attendee. Many of them got theirs signed by Wil, for the extra bonus . . . read article

October 21, 2004:
The Chaos Machine was a great success at Linucon . . . this incarnation was even bigger and better than the Penguicon one. Among those having Too Much Fun with it were Howard Tayler, who you ought to know by now as the creator of Schlock Mercenary, and his friend and co-CONspirator Chalain . . . read article

October 22, 2004:
If the world today has you down, just remember things could be worse. Or better . . . read article

October 23, 2004:
The playtest for EABA Dark Millennium by Blacksburg Tactical Research Center is happening now. It is open to all Pyramid subscribers. Dark Millennium is a gameworld of 11th century zombie terror with Biblical overtones . . . read article

October 24, 2004:
SJ Games is looking for a full-time editor in our Austin office. Duties will include both copy editing and fact checking, as well as some liaison with writers . . . read article

October 25, 2004:
Dungeon Majesty" is a cable-access TV show in Southern California (where else?) of four young women sitting around a table playing Dungeons & Dragons with a male DM. Except intercut with the video of them playing is more video of the women in costume as their characters, acting (sort of) with not-so-special effects and . . . well, you just have to see it to believe it . . . read article

October 26, 2004:
SJ Games is looking for a full-time Print Buyer in our Austin office. If we find a good candidate, the current Print Buyer will move to an editorial position and will remain available for training, consultation, and shoulder-crying . . . read article

October 27, 2004:
Another Linucon snippet . . . Sam Jones took video of the Chaos Machine, and did . . . this . . . read article

October 28, 2004:
It's that time of year, and one of the great Halloween stories of all time gets a classic Lovecraftian retelling in "The Great Old Pumpkin" by John Aegard, the lead story in this week's issue of Strange Horizons. Strange Horizons is an online weekly magazine of "speculative fiction." By accepting charitable contributions and corporate sponsorships, they can pay professional rates for great fiction and art, and you can read it for free! . . . read article

October 29, 2004:
The tourist trade is dead, and that's a good thing as far as The Necronautical Society is concerned . . . read article

October 30, 2004:
We did our own at the office. Second year in a row . . . this has all the makings of a Halloween tradition . . . read article

October 31, 2004:
And how does this connect with gaming, you might ask. And if you ask that, you don't know, so we'll tell you . . . read article

TopDaily Illuminator Archives


Steve Jackson Games
Top of Page | Home