Black Phantom Chronicles Card Deck Behind the Scenes Part 4

October 24, 2016

Challenges of Yesterday and Tomorrow

Of the challenges I've faced, the largest would be in the planning. Sometimes, my mind seems incapable of planning anything as it wanders of its own accord and, sometimes, I discover that the plans I made cannot work and I must start over. This was especially true when I was trying to think of an idea for a project. It is true, I had the entire summer to plan, and I used it. All right, I began in earnest ever since sitting through DAT 290 while I was in DAT 215 last spring.

I considered making an author/artist website from scratch, yet after DAT 215, I did not feel that was as necessary to myself as it had been before, and I also realized that I might never make it through the project considering all the things that could go wrong. At least, I could not finish it with the professional quality I wanted. Although I was interested in making a self-made leather-bound book with illustrations, I knew from the beginning that the project would be far too large.

With those two options out of the way, I considered a small animation with a 3D character that I made, but I have not finished 3D, so I turned to the idea of a short, silent, old-fashioned, comedy based on the Christmas story, yet my imaginations of special effects surpassed my current knowledge. The last thing I considered was a trailer for the first book in my series, and that I considered for quite some time, yet, finally, I forced myself into the reality of the path I wish to take. I love filming, the visualizing of stories, acting, and writing scripts, but when I am honest with myself, I want to be a writer and an illustrator. This meant that, outside of playing around, the self-made book was the best option I had yet considered, and yet, I knew I could never, ever succeed in that. From that thought, the idea of my card deck burst forth.

I have already written about the worst challenges I am currently facing, so in the fear of repeating and making a bore of myself, I will not mention the struggle with time, the hardship of erasers when painting, or the troubles when inspiration refuses to come. Instead, I confess there are new troubles I am expecting for the last half of this semester.

One of the challenges I expect is that when I researched places that would print card decks, I could not find any local place, which means I must incorporate shipping into my plans, and there will be less of a chance to see what the cards will look like as physical cards until I actually have a copy. Due to this, I intend to have a printed copy by the time of the beta test. That way, I will know any last minute changes I must make before the end.

Naturally, this choice makes my timeline tighter. As of now, it gives me about one more month to finish this, but the tightness is also mandated. I have already promised that the card decks will be made available for purchase in December and they must be professional quality when they are available, which brings me to the last challenge I am expecting. I am going to need to figure out how to set up my website for purchasing options. That is sure to be fun.