Making my TftL Game Blurb Picture 'On Cloud nine & Golden Sunshine'

So for one of my Tales from the Loop episodes, On Cloud Nine and Golden Sunshine, I had this image in my head. A small Magnetrine ship abandoned in a dried out marsh. Vandalised, missing parts, covered in graffiti, and deserted. A play area for adventurous Kids, a possible machine that could be tinkered with, and a possible means to get onboard a larger Magnetrine vessel floating over the industrial section of Derby. Now I am no Simon Stålenhag but I do have a modicum of artistic flare. So I went about and photobashed an image together, an orange Magnetrine ship, sitting in a green, misty field, it’s Magnetrine discs crushed and buried. Called, of course, Golden Sunshine. I used an actual photo of the field I was envisioning, from next to the location near where I used to live as a child myself. The vessel I cobbled together from a few photos of similar tractors and I swapped out the wheels for an engine to act as an undercarriage of sorts.

I also used it for my advertising for my game so I designed the title as well. I went for a “Top Gun” theme for the first part of the title, ‘Cloud Nine’, swapping Top Gun for Cloud Nine. The second part of the title I went with the Indiana Jones theme for the ‘and Golden Sunshine’.

I was rather pleased with the results, though when I used the picture in my game, most of the players just thought it was an old tractor stuck in a field. Damn, not want I wanted at all! So I went back to the drawing board. I tweaked the image to make it look like the Magnetrine vessel, Golden Sunshine was flying. Fixed and repaired by the Kids, it would hover over the hole it made in the field when it had crashed. I made the turbo in the engine undercarriage spin, added new Magnetrine discs, and added lightning sparks coming off the engine. I added a miss-coloured panel, black smoke coming out the top exhaust pipes, and populated it with eighties kids trying to fly the vessel. I particularly like the girl balancing on the ‘prow’ of the vessel on her BMX bike!

Now it is a dramatic image, an impossibly large Magnetrine ship flying over a Derby field with a range of eighties children flying the vessel away.

[April Update] UK RPG Conventions and Cancellations

Cancelled and postponed events have been labelled. This is the April update for the UK RPG conventions for 2020 and far beyond. Each has a website (though a few have Facebook pages) for information and details. I am waiting on news on a few regular events so I may update this list. If you know of any that have been missed please mention them in the comments below. Please note, a few conventions have asked to be removed from this list. + Cancelled - Conpulsion 2020, Teviot Row House, Edinburgh, Scotland. Friday 3rd - Sunday 5th April 2020 http://conpulsion.org/ https://www.facebook.com/conpulsion/ Cancelled - TringCon Spring 2020, Marsworth Millennium Hall, 1 Vicarage Road, Marsworth, Herts, HP23 4LR. Saturday 4th April 2020, 9:00am - 9:00pm http://tringcon.org Cancelled - Seven Hills 2020, Garrison Hotel, 635 Penistone Road, Sheffield, S6 2GB Saturday 4th - Sunday 5th April 2020 http://7hills.org.uk/ Postponed - no date announced as yet DevaCon IV, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Trinity St, Chester CH1 2BD Saturday 18th April 2020, 10.00am - 11.00pm https://devaconblog.wordpress.com Postponed - no date announced as yet GBCon Spring 2020 Tabletop Gaming Day, Lopping Hall, 189 High Road, Loughton IG10 4LF Saturday 18th April 2020. 10:00am - 10:00pm https://www.facebook.com/gbconuk Cancelled - National Student Gaming & Roleplaying Championships 2020, The University of Sheffield Students’ Union, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TG Friday 24th - Sunday 26th April 2020 https://nsgrc.co.uk/ Postponed - no date announced as yet ConTroll 2020, The Corn Exchange, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1HF Saturday 25th April 2020, 09:00am - 10:00pm https://facebook.com/events/s/controll-2020/961409550898039/ Cancelled - ConVivial 2020, Caldicot Castle, Church Rd, Caldicot NP26 4HU Saturday 25th April 2020, 10:00am - 6:00pm https://bonhomiegames.uk/ConVivial-2020 Cancelled - Glorantha Games 2020, Geek Retreat, 38 The Priory Queensway, Birmingham. B4 7LA Saturday 25th April 2020, 10.00am - 8.00pm https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/glorantha-games-2020-tickets-74628996337 Cancelled - North Star 2020, Garrison Hotel, 635 Penistone Road, Sheffield, S6 2GB Saturday 9th - Sunday 10th May 2020 http://www.northstarcon.org.uk/ Postponed - no date announced as yet Mega Charity Games Day for Mind 2020, The Core, 32 Foley Trading Estate, Herefordshire, HR1 2SF Saturday 16th May 2020, 11:00am - 11:00pm https://m.facebook.com/events/459922967890974 Postponed - new date in August 2020 UK Games Expo 2020, NEC, North Ave, Marston Green, Birmingham B40 1NT & Hilton, Pendigo Way, Marston Green, Birmingham B40 1PP Friday 29th - Sunday 31st May 2020 http://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk Summer StabCon 2020, Britannia Hotel Stockport, Dialstone Ln, Stockport, SK2 6AG Friday 3rd - Sunday 5th July 2020 https://m.facebook.com/groups/21195645768 Continuum 2020, John Foster Hall, Manor Road, Leicester, LE2 2LG Friday 7th - Monday 10th August 2020 http://continuumconvention.co.uk/ Grand Tribunal 2020, Gas Green Community Centre, Baker Street, Cheltenham GL51 9HQ Friday 14th - Sunday 16th August 2020 http://www.grandtribunal.org/wiki/Main_Page Postponed - New date in October 2020 Tabletop Scotland 2020, Dewars Centre, Glover Street, Perth, Scotland PH2 0TH Saturday 22nd - Sunday 23rd August 2020 http://tabletopscotland.co.uk/ UK Games Expo 2020, NEC, North Ave, Marston Green, Birmingham B40 1NT & Hilton, Pendigo Way, Marston Green, Birmingham B40 1PP Friday 21st - Sunday 23rd August 2020 http://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk FeatherCon 2020, Featherstone Castle, Hall Bank, Northumberland NE49 0JG Friday 28th - Monday 31st August 2020 https://www.facebook.com/groups/485003805271383/ ShadowCon XIV, Northfields Community Centre, 71A Northcroft Road, West Walig, London, W13 9SS Saturday 29th - Sunday 30th August 2020 http://www.shadowwarriors.co.uk GBCon Summer 2020 Tabletop Gaming Day, Lopping Hall, 189 High Road, Loughton IG10 4LF Saturday 5th September 2020. 10:00am - 10:00pm https://www.facebook.com/gbconuk TringCon Autumn 2020, Marsworth Millennium Hall, 1 Vicarage Road, Marsworth, Herts, HP23 4LR. Saturday 19th September 2020, 9:00am - 9:00pm http://tringcon.org Armagh Ged[C]on 2020, Seven Hills at County Armagh Golf Club, 7 Newry Rd, Poyntzpass, Newry BT35 6TH Northern Ireland. Friday 25th - Sunday 27th September 2020 https://m.facebook.com/events/2527944454110946 Wyntercon VII, Eastbourne Sports Park, Ecat House, Cross Levels WY, Eastbourne, BN21 2UF Saturday 26th - Sunday 27th September 2020 https://www.wyntercon.org DragonDaze 2020, Newport Centre, 1 Kingsway, Newport NP20 1UH Saturday 3rd October 2020, 10:00am - 5:00pm http://www.dragondaze.com Furnace XV, Garrison Hotel, 635 Penistone Road, Sheffield, S6 2GB Saturday 10th - Sunday 11th October 2020 http://furnace.org.uk Tabletop Scotland 2020, Dewars Centre, Glover Street, Perth, Scotland PH2 0TH Saturday 10th - Sunday 11th October 2020 http://tabletopscotland.co.uk/ Spaghetti ConJunction 4b, Geek Retreat, 38 The Priory Queensway, Birmingham. B4 7LA Saturday 17th October 2020, 10.00am - 7.30pm https://www.facebook.com/groups/1649755452002793/ Con-Densed 2020, Billing Aquadrome, Crow Ln, Great Billing, Northampton NN3 9DA Friday 13th - Sunday 15th November 2020 https://www.facebook.com/groups/499592967602345/ GrogMeet 2020, Fan Boy Three, 25 Hilton St, Manchester. M1 1EL Friday 13th - Sunday 15th November 2020 https://thegrognardfiles.com UnCon 2020, St George's Church of England Foundation School, Broadstairs, Kent. CT10 2LH Saturday 14th - Sunday 15th November 2020 https://facebook.com/events/s/uncon-2020/460895727909901/?ti=icl GBCon Autumn 2020 Tabletop Gaming Day, Lopping Hall, 189 High Road, Loughton IG10 4LF Saturday 28th November 2020. 10:00am - 10:00pm https://www.facebook.com/gbconuk Dragonmeet 2020, Novotel London West, Hammersmith, London, UK ​Saturday 5th December 2020, 9.00am - Midnight https://www.dragonmeet.co.uk + ConTingency 2021, Searles Leisure Resort, South Beach, Hunstanton, Norfolk. PE36 5BB Wednesday 18th - Monday 25th January 2021. http://www.con-tingency.uk/ Revelation 2021, Garrison Hotel, 635 Penistone Road, Sheffield, S6 2GB Saturday 20th - Sunday 21st February 2021 http://revelationgames.org.uk/ Continuum 2021, John Foster Hall, Manor Road, Leicester, LE2 2LG Friday 6th - Monday 9th August 2021 http://continuumconvention.co.uk/ + Continuum 2022, John Foster Hall, Manor Road, Leicester, LE2 2LG Friday 5th - Monday 8th August 2022 http://continuumconvention.co.uk/