i spend more time writing than I do on the internet, so im not too savvy on how to go about this.
But…
what is the best way to introduce a new hack to the AW public? what does everyone want to see first? Is it better to wait until it is finished and available, or are in-progress hacks fun to look at? is it better to post about it here or on the AW forums, or some other site?
thanks for replies
To post it, post it.
Personally, I post stuff here when I come up with it, and on the SomethingAwful forums as well. Just post where you’re comfortable, really.
I would say it depends on your intention for the hack. If you want to make something casual and free I would just post it on a community like this one. If you want to spend the time to have a polished product like Monster Hearts, I would say, spend the time edit and play test over and over again. Find people you trust to help with the process, maybe some from communities and forums. Once it is something you are happy with then you can release it onto the market place, probably giving previews to active web communities.
Here if you want immediate feedback, AW forum if you want it to stay visible longer term and have ongoing discussion.
Hi Taylor, welcome aboard. All the above info is good, but David Rothfeder’s comment especially is worth reading again. What’s your plan for this hack?
We love seeing hacks, or even shadows of ideas for hacks. If you’re looking to publish, the best thing to do in your situation might be to look at the AW forum and check out the Dungeon World and Monsterhearts and Monster of the Week and Sagas of the Icelanders sub-forums, and see how Sage&Adam and Joe and Mike and Gregor introduced their hacks, or the other hacks on the site that haven’t gone to publication.
If you’re asking about the process of game design and how to develop a game with a goal of publishing, that’s a related but different set of questions.
I don’t have much time or patience for the AW forums, but I wouldn’t mind “flooding” the group with this, so people can comment on whether it works (or not) and why. And ways to improve it.
okay. very cool. I’m aiming for a full product, like they did with Monsterhearts and Dungeon World. I’d love to post some of the material i already have down on here. What does everyone want to see? playbooks? moves? stats?
Meguey, im curious about the process of game design as you describe it. I’ve written for RPG companies before, but the process was just “hand them a manuscript and they do everything else”. What is different in preparing an AW hack for publication? I assume all the costs and obligations fall to me alone? What kind of I.P. agreement am I looking at?
thanks everybody for the responses
I’d say that a couple of playbooks with catchy art and an audio of a one shot are a good way to drive interest. I’m curious what this particular hack your working on is.
For making a hack of AW, you are on your own as far as costs and obligations, including all development, art, layout, editing, and publishing decisions. That doesn’t mean you’ve got to work in isolation! Share whatever you want however your creative process best works. Some folks like to do a lot of early development in public, talk about ideas and get feedback as they go along. Others want to present a relatively polished draft and be more selective in how they get other eyes on their work.
We are super happy to share the Apocalypse World engine, meaning the concepts in the book like MC and Basic moves and 10+/7-9/6- success and fronts and character class tri-fold playbooks and etc, but we expect you to write your own words. If you’re using text lifted from Apocalypse World and it’s more than a couple clearly credited sentences, you need to check with Vincent Baker about that directly.
Recognition of Apocalypse World and Vincent’s name is courteous and preferable, and we make the “Powered by the Apocalypse” logo available to games that fit within that scope, but finish the work first, then come ask.
Going back to your OP, here are some more succinct answers, based on my personal preferences and practices.
What is the best way to introduce a new hack to the AW public?
Talk about it. Once you have a clear idea and direction, and you’ve started to actually work on it, making a post here or on the AW forum that basically says “Here’s my AW hack idea! Here’s where I’m coming from, here’s what I’m excited about, here’s where I’m still working, here’s what I’d like feedback on” is really good.
What does everyone want to see first?
More of the above! A good way to communicate the type of hack you’re working on, after the above info, is to list the basic moves, or at least a few of them. Stats and art are good too, because all those pieces show your audience what slant you’re taking on your source material.
Is it better to wait until it is finished and available, or are in-progress hacks fun to look at?
I prefer solidly in-progress, if you’re serious about making it a thing. I love seeing people’s posts of “Ooo, I have an idea! What about a Spiderman hack?”, because it’s cool to see the possibilities. However, if you are looking for feedback and community involvement, there should be something there beyond that, something to discuss and ask questions about and turn over to see how it works.
Is it better to post about it here or on the AW forums, or some other site?
Either or both of the first two, depending on which is moving at a speed you prefer.
Post to find out what happens…
thanks Meguey for the info and everyone else for responding. I’m going to put this intro here and start posting to the AW forums since there’s a little more space for editing and you know.
My hack is called “Lonely World”. It’s apocalyptic in the sense that the apocalypse is still happening. Like a slow bleeding of people.
WHAT’S GONE AND WHAT’S LEFT
The End of Everything: Everyone in the world is dead except you and some strangers you met. Or maybe they aren’t strangers. Maybe they’re your friends, lovers, or enemies. But you need each other to survive because there’s something terrible out there. And it’s coming for you.
The Invaders: The Invaders caused the End of Everything. This is their world now. A world populated almost entirely by them. They run the streets, they control everything. What they do with it is entirely up to them, and you have no chance of stopping it.
The Invaders could be anything. Do you like zombies? Martians? Robots? Barbarian hordes? Maybe it’s not a person, maybe it’s a thing: pockets of radiation, destructive weather patterns, swarms of flesh-eating insects. As long as it’s good horror.
The Survivors: You are a survivor. You lasted through the End and the time that followed, watching humanity’s numbers dwindle to nothing from behind a window. However you made it doesn’t matter now; that’s in the past. The world before is like a dream you can’t remember and the world now is a nightmare that never ends.
The Signal: That’s what you call what remains of the grand information infrastructure that once connected the world. All of the collective knowledge of mankind was out there in the ether, and all you needed was a device that could touch it. The signal is still broadcasting from somewhere, maybe a lot of somewheres. And you can still get to it, to answer your questions and dull your pains, provided you have the tools.
The Lonely Struggle: All you have is a small band of people just like you: survivors, alone in a world that doesn’t belong to them anymore. But unlike the billions who have perished, you will last. You can find what you need to keep going. You can create hope and love in this world. You will have a reason to live.
When you meet the Invaders, you kill them. Simple as that. They are the enemy. They threaten your life and the lives of your friends. Kill them and run and never look back.
Why: Because it’s dark and cold and dreary. You have little hope of making it through the year. Death and ruin are everywhere. There is silence all around, shattered only by the inhuman chorus of the Invader.
The Invader did this. The Invader put you here. Whether you fear them, hate them, respect them, or need them, they don’t care. They’ve killed everyone else and they won’t ever stop. You’ve made it this far; you’ve outlasted the whole world. But they won’t ever stop coming for you.
It’s good drama, and it speaks to a rugged individuality we all carry with us. Up against the world, you will find a way. Even if the number goes down to just one, you will be that one. Because one of the survival guides speaks to you and shows you the path to transcending the Hell all around you.
In a lot of ways it sounds like pre-apocalypse world
it could certainly be read that way. one of my challenges in writing this is to make it starkly different enough in actual play from other apocalypse-centric games that the setting similarities aren’t as obvious.
Also, AW is a very sexy game. Not only in the moves, but in the writing and the art. Lonely World will not be very sexy. I’m going for something more Evil Dead and less Book of Eli. know what i mean?