Hi! Mark D.C., Product Lead for Lore Link, here to give you more insight into what we’re doing with Lore Link. We’re hard at work things both visible and behind the scenes, giving us plenty to talk about this month.
Stream Recap
First up, as always, streaming on our Twitch channel
has been a great time. I talked about how you can run games like Blades in the Dark and Traveller in Lore Link. On the Blades in the Dark stream, I showed how Lore Link can help you keep track of the complicated social structures you end up dealing with in that game via the Tag system. The Tag system lets you track which locations, events, and even individuals are associated with all the various Gangs running around your city.
Then, when I talked about Traveller, I talked about how you have the complication of tracking a literal galaxy of locations. Lore Link’s Parent and Child Location relationships can help you minimize the number of notes you have to keep, making it so you can write a crucial detail on a planet (like gravity, atmosphere, or government) and have it reflected in every country, city, or even building you build on that planet, saving you time flipping between parts of your notes. It also provides for an easier-to-navigate hierarchical organization of Locations. If you missed these streams, don’t worry! We’ll have them up on our YouTube channel
shortly, as well as our planning and actual play streams!
Charity Gaming
Outside our Twitch channel, but still on Twitch, all of us on the Andromeda Galactic crew attempted to navigate that most challenging of puzzles: trying to cooperate in a platforming game. By that, I mean we played Pico Park, a fun, straightforward co–op game that challenges players to work together to accomplish what should be simple tasks… assuming you can get everyone on the same page. We did this for the Extra Life Charity, which benefits Children’s Hospitals in the Children’s Miracle Network. There’s still time to donate if you missed the stream: Go here to donate if you can.
Accessibility
Along the same lines as our charity efforts are our efforts at Accessibility. We often talk about “Everyone being welcome at the table,” which leads to us constantly getting the obvious follow-up question: “Well, what are you doing about that?” Accessibility can mean many different things to different people. Let’s touch on some of the most obvious:
What if I don’t have a suitable device?
What if I don’t have a stable internet connection?
What if I access the internet differently?
For the first question, you must realize that not everyone can access every device. Some people primarily use smartphones, others use netbooks, and others use desktops. And even in those categories, you can have different types (Apple, Android, Windows, Linux, Android, ChromeOS, etc.). Limiting your application to just one of those types of devices means denying access to those who don’t have access to those devices. Lore Link being a web application means that you can access it on any device that can access the web. And our promise of accessibility also means that Lore Link will not just be available on these devices, but actually have user interface that will allow for meaningful use.
Being a web application of course can bring its own concern: stable and consistent internet access. Many of us live online so much that we often take it for granted, but only some have access to a stable internet connection at all times. That could mean losing access at home or at the gaming table. To mitigate that risk, we’ve included an offline mode. Our current offline mode will ensure that briefly losing an internet connection doesn’t make the entire application useless. It will save these changes to a future point when you have an internet connection again. Further in the development plan, we’ll have more options for offline modes, including printing options for those who prefer to use non-digital elements at the table.
Lastly, and most often overlooked, dealing with how people access the internet. Many people connect with mouse and keyboard, touch and gestures, and still others with Screen Readers. Again, we built our application from the beginning with all of these types of access in mind. Things that may seem minor to you (like Alt Text on Images) could make all the difference to another GM or player attempting to access your content through alternative means!
Looking Ahead
So, what’s coming up for Lore Link in September? I’m (Mark) taking some time out for a long overdue vacation, but work on Lore Link still needs to be completed! You’ll see some exciting updates from the rest of the team, including some new and different types of streams on the Lore Link channel. So keep an eye out for those!
Coming in October, we’ll head into Early Access for those who backed us on Kickstarter. If you didn’t back us, or have a friend interested in backing and missed the Kickstarter, we’ve got late backing open on BackerKit!
Till then, may your games run longer as the days get shorter.
