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BEST PRODUCTION IN A GAME OR SUPPLEMENT, 2004
This Sub-Award is dear to my heart: It goes to the designer who makes not only excellent games of rules and settings, but makes excellent games that are imminently readable and catchy to the eye. It could be through primarily layout and desktop publishing skills, followed by the use of art (not necessarily the best art, just art used to maximize the effect of the layout), innovative or creative new methods of game layout, clarity and readability of the text, materials used in the construction of the game, or, in the case of PDF games, the most effective use of all the features of PDF publishing. This award goes to the game or supplement that shows off the best "Mad Graphical Design and Layout Skillz".
BEST PRODUCTION FOR 2004 GOES TO...
a|state / with 63 points
Selected Peer Feedback:
"I admit, this was one of the few categories where the choice was not hard. A/State jumped out at me pretty much the same way it jumps off the shelf."
"Big production, high value, big cost! I don't know what sort of budget they produced this baby with but it sure doesn\'t look like they did it on a shoe string. All round, good work!"
"The cgi graphics and clean layout is superb."
"These games feature superior presentation, and we are reminded yet again that Indie production can compete with the professional publishers."
"a|state is a Monster of excellent production. Its design is so powerful that it beats you with a belt, locks you in your closet and drinks all your beer."
" The immaculately clean look is easy and pleasant to read."
RUNNERS UP:
NINE WORLDS / with 53 points
"Nine Worlds goes with an Art Nouveau theme and maintains this well throughout the book."
"Nine Worlds is gorgeous. Art neuveau from borders to fonts to art to setting. Absolutely breathtaking."
"Nine Worlds - Breath taking maybe too strong a statement, but I'm going to say it anyway fuckos. The layout of this game is perfect. Just perfect."
"Nine Worlds is a beautiful artifact, something that always catches the eye on my shelf. The game is cool, too.;-D"
"Nine Worlds has perhaps the most beautiful layout I've ever seen. If it dropped the horrible binding, it'd be number 1."
LACUNA / with 15 points
"I'm voting based on cover design, which is the most important part of a game's graphic design - for most games, it's the only thing people ever see, and if it's no good, the game won't get picked up. The first impression also determines how the reader approaches the book, what expectations he has."
"LACUNA's interior is well laid out and very functional. The cover has to be the most evocative cover I've ever seen on an RPG: It makes me think, "What's going on?", and I want to play the game to find out!"
DOGS IN THE VINEYARD / with 41 points
"DitV has only one image but the cover picture is so evocative that you can forgive it that. Also, on the inside, the choice of fonts, layout and readibility make this a clear design winner. Less is more!"
"DitV: A beautiful game, matching color and design to contents of the game. Spare as the sword of god it puts into the players' hands."
"DOGS IN THE VINEYARD is nearly perfect, for a small press game. The cover takes it over the top."
NO PRESS RPG ANTHOLOGY / with 15 points
"With eight different games under the same cover, the NPA could have been a mess, but Luke Crane pulled it together with a strong, unified design, while allowing each game its unique identity"
"In addition to being a great collection of games, the No Press RPG Anthology has one of the best, cleanest layouts I've seen in quite a while, with wonderful art."
MONSTER BURNER / with 38 points
"The Monster Burner is a monster of a layout job. It's crammed with informantion, yet clean and easy to read. And beautiful."
"Monster Burner's digest size and easy to read format really strikes a positive chord. The art is not over powering and fits well in what is being done."
""Monster Burner" has the unenviable task of having to present a lot of information about a lot of different creatures on digest-sized pages. Luke Crane has the skills to make these pages not just easy on the eye but the layout directs the eye to what's important. It's one thing to make text easy to read; to make it demand to be read, though, is something Luke Crane excels at and the dense text of "Monster Burner" is prime evidence."
PRIME TIME ADVENTURES / with 14 points
" PtA: Clean, clear and usable game. A model for layout."
THE SHADOW OF YESTERDAY / with 22 points
"TSoY is another example of clean and clear design, well written and presented."
"The Shadow of Yesterday gets everything right: size, choice of fonts, and artwork. The book is an evocative thing in and of itself, even before you start to read it."
"TSoY: Clint shows that open source can be top shelf. Opening the door, while raising the bar."
THE SHADOW OF YESTERDAY / with 22 points
"TSoY is another example of clean and clear design, well written and presented."
"The Shadow of Yesterday gets everything right: size, choice of fonts, and artwork. The book is an evocative thing in and of itself, even before you start to read it."
"TSoY: Clint shows that open source can be top shelf. Opening the door, while raising the bar."
BATTLEAXE / with 16 points
With production values this high, it is insane to think that this is a free, small press RPG. It puts most mainstream games to shame.
CODE OF UNARIS / with 12 points
"The Code of Unaris book is simply a joy to hold in your hand."
"CODE OF UNARIS had Eric Hotz maps. Nuff said."
WYRD IS BOND / with 15 points
WYRD IS BOND / with 15 points
OTHERS:
0ONE GAMES BATTLEMAPS: "Battlemaps:Excellent 3D-rendered maps."
BONES: "OK, this one was a bit unusual, but I had to give real kudos for BONES' use of all the icons for the custom dice of the game and extensive attention to this."
CONSPIRACY OF SHADOWS: "Keith's CoS has some really evocative art. I exclaimed loudly when I first opened it -- "Fucking cool!""