Sunday, April 24, 2011

[Lantz's Corner] AdMech FanDex Part II: The Present

I Am One Therapy Session Away From Making One Of These For Myself

In Part I of this series I discussed the beginning of the fandex and how it came to be what it is currently. In this section I'm going to discuss the next step in this steam-punk timeline bonanza; what the fandex is right now. At this time, the newest beta-copy open to the public is version two or v5.022811.L (aren't I just the fanciest fella you ever did see?) Full of robots, tentacles and tanks (oh my!) the current version of the fandex has launched with great reviews. But where are we at right now, months after its release? More after the break.

As I mentioned in Part I, with the release of the second version in February the criticism I received came to a standstill. The only feedback I was receiving was filled with compliments and "Nice job!"s. While I don't want to seem ungrateful, and I do enjoy all of the positive feedback, there has been little said on the fandex in the last couple of months that would help me develop it further. At this point I am in need of hateful reviews and criticism so I can fix the flaws the dex has currently (and oh-buddy there are plenty of them.) As I've said, it's bittersweet. I'm more than excited to create something the community enjoys, but the dex is far from finished and needs a lot of work. I don't want to say that the lack of criticism threw me into a deep depression, but there was a sudden increase of Augustana on my mp3-player and Reese Witherspoon movies on my DVR.
God Help Me...

And help came, indeed. You know, other than the Lifetime channel going on strike.

About a month ago there seemed to be light at the end of the tunnel. Toward the end of March I found my way across this post on Porky's Expanse! with mention of my fandex and a note at the bottom for promoting new ideas in the hobby world. I promptly (on my birthday) emailed The Porkster on getting my fandex up on his blog. Well, happy birthday to me. The next day Porky pushed the link and an article to his blog and the downloads of the fandex increased substantially. But the good fortune didn't stop there.
The Magnet Pro and Miniature Wargame Conversions does not condone abusive use of gambling or traveling to weird islands that involve polar bears, time travel and/or the Dharma Initiative. For gambling addiction help please use this link. For time-traveling island assistance do not hang out with this guy.

A few days later, my buddy Matt here at MWC offered up some article time with a post for the fandex as well as an offer to become a guest writer. I have to admit I peed a little...or a lot. Either way, the changing of pants was a must. A couple of days later Matt made his post and I made my first article as a guest writer. Downloads of the fandex exploded. Feedback continued in praise and compliments were aplenty. But there seemed to be a glaring question on a lot of people's minds:
Why wasn't I sending the fandex to The Codex Project? It's a fair question. The Codex Project's goal is to promote new fandexes, and here I am with one in the works. But that right there is my answer to this question. In its current form, my fandex is still very incomplete. There are many holes that need to be filled (more on that in Part III, also, giggity-goo,) fluff that needs to be written, artwork that needs to be created and images that need to be put in place. I'm an all-or-nothing kind of guy, and putting subpar work up on something like the The Codex Project doesn't sit right with me. My plan is to submit the third beta version to TCP once it's available to the world as I feel the fandex as a whole is shaping up. But until that fateful day, I'm holstering my gun on this one.
On a similar note, I try to keep my distance from TCP and similar websites. It's not that they don't intrigue me; I hear great talk of them everywhere I look. At this point in time, I'm still working on new units for the AdMech and the ideas that I come up with myself--I want to be pure. Since that fateful day I found Tim Huckleberry's fandex I have yet to lay eyes on another fandex. I want this fandex I'm creating to be as original as possible, and seeing others ideas can cloud that originality. I'm not saying that I would steal another dex's ideas, but once you see what others have created your mind can and will wander, stemming from those good ideas. This is not something I'm willing to chance and until the AdMech's completion comes closer is something I stand firm on. You know, except for ideas stemmed from GW. /wink

So where is the fandex right now? As it stands it has been a rough month. I lost someone very close to me a couple of weeks ago, and with the alcohol-induced mourning, funeral arrangements and moving to a new location as he was my roommate at the time; anything hobby-related has gone by the waist-side. The fandex continues to truck along, however. Unlike modeling where a hefty chunk of time needs to be set aside to get something accomplished, editing the dex is something I can do in as little as ten minute increments. So, what's the third version of the dex going to be all about? What shiny new things are on the horizon?
Double Rainbows Are A Possibility

These answers and more in Part III. Stay tuned.

~Lantz aka Sinaura

2 comments:

  1. The community is always seeing a lot of loss. RedStarone would definetely be someone to talk to about that. Just know that our best wishes will be out for you. Shoot me an E-mail if you need to talk to someone. I check it about twice a week on average.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks much, Adsaa. That's very kind of you. I should be fine. Time heals all wounds and all that jazz.

    ReplyDelete