As I was getting ready to write this, I noticed that it was post 100 on the blog. That definitely marks this as the most successful single blogging endeavor I’ve ever undertaken. Back when I was blogging regularly on the Arcane Game Lore blog, I had a total of 91 posts. I’ve considered pulling those posts over to this blog to consolidate but have not done so yet. My old Programming Space blog only had 16 posts before I stopped posting there and my really old Star Frontiers Lives On blog only had 25 posts before it died. (Another set of posts I’ve considered importing here.) To be fair the cause of death of that one was the Frontier Explorer magazine, it started eating up all my time. I’ve also tried off and on to run a personal blog but the most recent incarnation (there have been others that have been lost to time) only had 6 posts and one of those was a test post. So this has definitely been my most successful endeavor so far and will so exceed all the others combined.

Looking Back

I started out with the now regular timeline post which was followed by the map for a small space station location, the space dock crew lounge. This was part of an adventure I’ve been meaning to write up for a while now so I officially launched it as a new project, Asset Recovery.

And then this month took a right turn and went off in a completely different direction that I hadn’t planned on. About two weeks ago I really got bitten by the bug to do some more 3D modeling. This really shouldn’t have come as a surprise given that I just got my new 3D printer and enjoy modeling, but still. It started with me setting up a page on the site where people can order custom printed miniatures using my new 3D printer. I can print any miniature they want or they can choose from the selection of models I’ve created.

When I posted about this new page on the Star Frontiers Facebook group, someone (Andy) suggestions that I make “scenario packs” with the minis needed for the various modules and battle scenarios in the books. I had been thinking along this line already and I guess Andy’s comment was the push I needed to move more in that direction. To do that, however, I needed the rest of the models. That’s when everything went off the rails. I started by sitting down and whipping up models for the UPF and sathar fighters, miniatures that are lacking in the originally released sets. And then I launched into some more miniature models that I’ll get to in a moment.

Behind the scenes, there have been two major projects going on. The first is issue 26 of the Frontier Explorer. I’ve been working on editing the articles for that issue which comes out next month.

The other is I’ve been working on writing my novel set in the Star Frontiers universe. I’ve added over 7500 words (which is half again as much as I added in the two previous months combined) to the manuscript bringing it up to ~52,500 words total. That is now longer than my entire previous novella, Discovery, which clocked in at just over 48,000 words. And I’m only about 1/4 of the way through the story.

The other thing that happened is I got the first round of Extended Frontier Maps shipped out to those that ordered them. There was a bit of a hiccup with the printer but we got that sorted out and the maps shipped. As as far as I know, with the exception of the one going to Germany, they have all arrived. The upside to the hiccup was that I discovered that it’s actually easier to me to order these print-on-demand style rather than having to order them in batches. So I’ve turned the ordering page back on and will leave it open. If you still want a copy, you can order one anytime.

Looking Forward

This month is probably mostly going to be about miniatures. We’ll start off tomorrow with what has become the regular first post of the month, the Detailed Frontier Timeline post. And if you don’t want to wait until the beginning of each month for the timeline events, I still post them daily on Twitter from the @StarFrontiers account.

The post the following week will be a post on the space station mini I made. The picture at the right is a bit of a teaser for that. Continuing on the miniature theme, I’m currently working on reproducing the UPF light cruiser miniature. You can expect to see a post on that before the end of the month, probably on the 22nd. I don’t think it will quite be done by the 15th as I’ll be focusing a lot on the Frontier Explorer between now and then. As these new models become available, I’ll be adding them to the Order Miniatures page so that you can order them if you want. I plan on putting all my miniature files up on DriveThruRPG for people to purchase if they like although all the ones I’ve developed recently and going forward are sent to my Patreon supporters at the Surveyor ($2/month) level or higher as I finish them. I’ve already sent my supporters the fighter and space station models. They’ll be getting the light cruiser when it’s done. Anyone at the Crafter level of support ($30/month) will be receiving a printed space station and light cruiser miniature in November as those models will be released this month. In addition, anyone that joins that support level in October will receive a set of 8 UPF and 8 sathar fighters as well.

October is a five post month so I expect that the other two posts will be one on the module campaign and another related to the Asset Recovery project. Since the next miniature after the light cruiser will be the battleship, I don’t think that will get finished this month. Those will be my regular Tuesday posts.

As I mentioned, this month sees the release of issue 26 of the Frontier Explorer and a lot of behind the scenes work will be going into that. You can expect to see an out of band post announcing its release towards the end of the month. I’ll also continue to work on my book.

You may also see more shorter posts coming in the future. I often post small snippets of things I’m working on on Facebook or Twitter. Since my posts here are posted there as well, I’m toying with the idea of posting those small bits here as short posts instead. We’ll see how that pans out. Let me know what you think of the idea.

One other idea I’m toying with is expanding the scope of this post each month. While I call it “The State of the Frontier,” to date I’ve really only used it to talk about things I’ve been doing. I think I would like to also include other things going on related to Star Frontiers and FrontierSpace that others are doing as well. We’ll see if that come to fruition but if you have news and want me to help disseminate it, let me know.

Your Thoughts

Thanks as always for reading my blog and especially to those that support me on Patreon. Let me know if you have any thought or suggestions on current or future projects.