This is the latest game based around The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The art is simply amazing and the only reservation I have is around the binding, which may be fine but, equally, might be a pain in the butt for actual play. And, to be fair, some sort of GM screen would have been great. All in all, Cubicle 7 have knocked this one out of the park: again.

The first day is not uneventful. Godfroi spots two unmounted figures shadowing the group in the forest as they approach the Brod townlands and the Greek confronts two horsemen who seem to be catching up. It is then they realise the enormity of their journey as none of them have but a smattering of the rough Slavic tongues of the region. Their own communication is difficult - a pidgin made of Bretonian, French, Latin and German. The horsemen jabber their excuses and ride ahead. The unmounted figures have vanished into the murk of the woods.

Two hours later, the four arrive, their horses foot-dragging exhausted, in the village of Brod. The locals are perplexed at their visitors but Jacques convinces them they mean no harm and they are led to a grain store, dry and warm.

Early next morning they are woken with the smell of cooked edges and rye-oat biscuits fried in suet, washed down with a weak beer. And the journey starts again, next stop Brno!

Wed, 14 September from 10:00 to 12:00 at Radisson Blu, Gasworks, Belfast

The speaker is Paul Durrant, Abertay University’s Director of Business Development. He has been instrumental in developing a range of projects to support digital media IP generation, business start-up, incubation, and skills development particularly in the video games area. He developed Dare to be Digital and Dare ProtoPlay to become significant international events including a partnership with BAFTA to recognise talented young developers and the development of the Channel 4 Crunchtime TV series. He also raised £2m to establish a prototype fund for small games developers and has recently launched a partnership with the Technology Strategy Board to fund novel games applications.

In this seminar, Paul will describe the Scottish experience in digital content, the contribution from Abertay and the funding opportunities available through Abertay which are available to companies in Northern Ireland. In particular, he will describe the Abertay University Prototype Fund (http://prototypefund.abertay.ac.uk/) and the Future Games Contest ( https://ktn.innovateuk.org/web/future-games-contest )

I'm happy about this because I had some of my best fun with Ars Magica back in the 90s. The campaign of Y Draig Goch, a Covenant in the Stonehenge Tribunal, dominated by the Tremere magus, Callistratus, and a rag-tag group of junior Magi, Consors and surly Grogs. The main sourcebook I used for this was Pendragon "Beyond The Wall".

Notable Characters:
Stefan Barbarossa, Bjornaer Magus
Sheridan of the Imposing Beard and Piercing Stare, Grog Sergeant
Randle - "I'm just a cook"

But we're starting a new game. I still like the idea of being 'hunted' so that will be a theme as the players want to play in the Transylvania Tribunal, there are some leads already. There's really no comparison between Wales and Transylvania. Luckily I have a few more books on Transylvania.

Yes, they're for "Vampire: The Dark Ages" but what would Transylvania be without some sort of concession to vampires? And it seems to be the only Mythic Europe tribunal that hasn't been covered by some sort of sourcebook.

The plan is to have a Plan B game to turn to.

I'm happy to run one though you'd have to choose between:

1. Ars Magica (campaigns over years, trouple play, multiple characters - what's not to like?)
2. Smallville (I'd love to try this out with the Batman legend or maybe
3. Traveller (No ideas here but sure I could think of something)

I might be convinced to run something like Dr Who again or maybe GODLIKE.

I'm looking for a prototype of a RTS game on iOS developed. Just a single level, basic graphics. 2D sprites on 3D isometric plane.

Happy for it to be done in Unity and/or another rapid development environment. Would be nice for combat (ranged and melee) and some pathfinding for units.

Can be SP, MP or 0P. For the prototype, I'm not fussy. It's not necessary to have full functions.

Email would be lovely but you can also tweet me.

It uses a variant of BRP which will please some but not all. I've certainly had a lot of experience with people heavily into BRP - most notably a guy called Neil who maximised the experience point system of the original RuneQuest II by carrying one of every desirable weapon for a battle and swapping as soon as he got an XP checkbox.

I'm enjoying reading it - mostly because it's a dead tree edition and a lot easier to read than the eBook versions of Clockwork and Chivalry and The One Ring which I received earlier this week.

These are:

• Clockwork and Chivalry

- clockwork and alchemy in Cromwells England

• The One Ring

- the latest in a long line of RPGs set in Middle Earth.

• Cthonian Stars

- note it's an end of line property

Many game developers, indie or not, view the Mac as a freak that no one cares for or wants to be associated with. They look at statistics that show only 5% of desktop machines are Macs and say: “Why waste a lot of time and money for only 5% of the market?”
Consider this:

• Out of the several hundred thousand downloads of Tribal Trouble. the Mac is responsible for 23%!
• Out of all sales of Tribal Trouble, the Mac is responsible for 47%!

Not bad for 5% of the market.. And we haven’t even done any paid advertising that has been directed solely at Mac users.

What this shows is that not only are the Mac users easier to reach, they also convert at a much higher rate.

This is not a secret. Wil Shipley talked about this in 2005. Developing for a platform where the users appreciate design and good software will reap dividend (if your product doesn't suck).

This is why I question people who make silly decisions. Like not to support the Mac when porting software or deciding to go Android-first when developing for mobile platforms. Go where the money is - where the money truly is.

And yes, it's not an easy ride. As I said, your product has to not suck. And if you're entering a crowded market (like games on the App Store), you may have to work a little harder to get noticed but these people do not mind paying money for quality software. That has to count for something.

Users relate to them differently. Immersion matters. Balance matters. Drawing people into the world of the game in a way that doesn’t break their attention every few seconds matters. Any successful game weaves a web of illusion around the player to engage them at more than just a rational level, and so they are more than the sum of their parts.

This applies just as much to tabletop RPG design. They are made of words and pictures but they are not words and pictures.

It's the difference between a well-made FPS and a poor FPS. The former is addictive, the WASD and mouse look are intuitive and it becomes part of you. You don't have to think about it. In contrast a poorly made FPS feels like you're fighting the system. It's like lag in a multiplayer system - it just becomes an exercise in frustration.

Many RTS games are about whether the user interface is tolerable enough for you to learn. The control of subunits is left to grouping strategies activated through arbitrary keyboard commands. We learn the controls but we're not learning tactics.