Behind the Scenes: The Past, the present, the future.

Oh boy, did I just dig myself into a nice hole? Probably yes. And a catchy title.

2019, I got fed up with the things that were out there, the same thing over, and over again. And then there were the infamous words "if you think you can do it better, why don't you?" followed by "hold my beer." Well not exactly, but not that far off.

Chiel was the first character to get visuals, I've said that before, and I'll say it probably 100 times in the future, she is probably the dearest character to me because of that. But Terminus Reach: Sentinel wasn't the first one I wanted to do, but practicalities dictated that it was. I can't draw, so I had (or have) very limited choices for visuals.

 

I did consider Honey Select, TK17 or whatever it was called, and some others. All had problems. So it was DAZ Studio in the end, which meant it was going to get expensive. Original Terminus Reach: Sentinel was confined in a space station intentionally, which meant that I didn't need multiple and complex environments which were a perfect solution for someone who was:

1. Learning.
2. Not sure if it would work the way I wanted.
3. Unsure would people like what I do.

So, I invested some money in environmental assets and things and gathered a pile of freebies to learn. And got to work on July 8th, 2019. And in June 2020 TRS1 was completed, I forgot the exact date for it, but still. And being fair and honest, I hesitated. Originally, I wasn't it wasn't going to be published, it was a project I did to learn things. But... in the end, I thought. Why not?

 

It took me three weeks to make enough posts on a certain site to be able to publish TRS there and gain an audience. And people liked it, of course, some hated it. That encouraged me to continue what I was already doing, Sorcerer, the funny thing is, I started rendering Sorcerer on July 8th, 2020.

Enter Alexander and Miyuki. In July I published the first version. You can say that Sorcerer was the introduction to my work for many people. Sorcerer first, then followed by Terminus Reach: Sentinel. And Sorcerer ended up being special for a lot of people. Fast updates on more or less regular basis, during tough times. For 20 months, roughly every two weeks an update came out, well 19 months since it took one month to make the epilogue if I nitpick. Some of the messages I've received due to it has made me humble. But onward.

 

While doing Sorcerer, I was already contemplating the next one. It is how my mind works. Before starting this endeavor, I used to work on three or four stories parallel to each other, write something for that, and then write something for this. This was mostly for my own leisure, to keep my mind occupied. But at the same time, I'm a person who wants to get things done in a timely fashion, so doing things the old way wouldn't work now.

 

I became focused, I want to do the story as fast as possible with the best ability I have. I'm not the greatest in making renders. I'm the first one to admit that there is room to improve, and I try to. But even when I focus on rendering, and writing the story I'm doing, my mind doesn't stop working on other things.

This is a duplicate image of Monday's progress post, I could have chosen the Orc as well here as they are related. And as said, while working on Sorcerer I was contemplating the next one. It wasn't Terminus Reach 2 in my mind, but I had made a promise, that after Sorcerer I will continue the story of Garrett and Chiel.

 

TRS2... it's progressing smoothly, the speed at which things are going has surprised me. It might be because I have better hardware, or it might be because I now know how to do things. I'm not complaining, I enjoy what I do.

Enter you guys and gals, the patrons, and the fans. No, the orc isn't related to this section, I just wanted to post her again. I enjoy the interaction with you guys and gals because random things spark ideas. The problem with ideas is that they aren't always usable in what you do. Enter the Mage, aka the previous image... She is something I've been trying to visualize for two weeks, until last night it wasn't happening. This is my gift and my curse.

 

At times, something just forms in my mind, it can be from a random discussion with you guys, a random comment that I read somewhere, or it can be triggered by a bird flying past my window. But end result is the same, I have to get it out of my head sooner rather than later. Before DAZ was a thing for me, I wrote stories with the characters, and now I can put them into visual form. Luckily, I've been investing the money I get into hardware and software so I can keep doing this, and try to get the things out of my head without interrupting "the work."

 

So where does this long rambling lead?

Enter the Naga... hah! For sometime I've been saying that I want to do fantasy, it's something that has been growing in my mind since I started Sorcerer. Some might say that Sorcerer is fantasy, that is true, it is a Urban Fantasy. But I never can put an orc in Shattered Seals, simply because orcs as we know don't exist in mythology. The root word for it is "Orcus", which means evil being, specter, evil spirit, demon... roughly saying, then Tolkien took it and some stuff from Beowulf and ran with it (and some other story). Granted, not a lot of things from Shattered Seals are 100% accurate with the mythology, but they are close enough to be plausible. Could I change it? Yes, but at the same time I would break the essence of Shattered Seals' setting which is sort of "plausible with existing mythology".

 

So where does it lead us in the future? I've always been vague about what happens after the current project is done. This isn't to keep you guys and gals guessing, or dangling some carrot in front of you in hopes to keep you as a patron. I appreciate every single patron more than I put into words, I appreciate every single fan of my work. I show my appreciation to you guys by not taking 10 years to complete a singular story.

On October 1st, 2021, almost a year ago, I made my discord server banner... that image above. It has 5 figures in it, Miyuki, Alexander, Garrett, and Chiel. In the middle is one that you can barely see... Enter Tomas.

 

Tomas is the fifth figure in that banner, he was created a year and a half ago. He is the protagonist of the third setting I want to do. And how does this relate to the Mage, the Orc, and the Naga? They are characters in that setting. So why three? Isn't Shattered Seals and Terminus Reach enough? Yes and no. As an author, you don't want to be trapped into one thing, as no matter how much you love one of your settings or characters it will be a trap for creativity. There are things I can't do in Shattered Seals, and while Terminus Reach can house almost everything, it will also have limits that I don't want to go over. And if I overstay my welcome in one of those settings? There are settings that I've created and loved that I haven't touched since shortly after their creation, and honestly, I most likely never touch again. 

 

So once again, where does it lead us in the future? What do I want to do? Fantasy, followed by urban fantasy. Will it happen like that? I don't know. If my estimate holds there are still about 12 months of Terminus Reach left. And life has shown that a year is a long time and a lot of things can happen and change in one year.

 

And I know I took a risk by not continuing Sorcerer, but in all fairness, after 20 months on single project and a lot of more hours than I want to admit, I was ready to Sorcerer to be the last of Shattered Seals ever. However by doing TRS2 and doodling around with the fantasy stuff has given me clarity on where I want the potential Sorcerer 2 to go, and interest to make something with it. Yes I keep saying potential until the first word of the script is written and the first render has been made.

 

Well not exactly the behind the scene I wanted to do, but probably what was needed to do. If you got this far. Thank you for reading. Hopefully this gives you some clarity what I would want to do in the long run. And yes, the Urban Fantasy is what you think it is... So it is far sooner than 9 years. :)