Vista was so bad, I returned both computers that I've had with it. I got a cash refund, and I purchased a basic iMac with 1GB of RAM which will be be upgraded with more so I don't experience too much slow action while painting with Corel Painter X! I'm still learning the Corel Painter X, and GIMP doesn't run near as well on the Mac as it does with the PC... But I'll figure it out soon enough. I can't wait to export the hex grids as .psd files and import them into Painter... Should be interesting. I'll try and get a legal sized sheet of 3/4" hexes here sometime. I'll post the .png file, and see about what I can do to have a .svg (Inkscapes basic scalable vector graphics file) available for download on my Deviant Art page.
Considering the way the economy might be going and the threat to gaming, it might be worth a look at self publication and open source/Creative Commons licenses online. If one can print a good game, one can establish a board game globally! Here are a few games that are down loadable after purchase, and have kept the spirit of these games alive long after print publication was ceased for whatever reason:
Starfire was a game my Dad had lying around, and is just about impossible to find except on E-Bay and Boardgame Geek at premium prices, or in questionable condition... If at all... However, a guy bought the license, and rules are updated and current with many problems fixed, and now its still available if you want to purchase and print it yourself!
Ground Zero Games still sells miniatures, and even print editions of rules. However, you'll more than likely buy they're miniatures if you read the rules first... And so they've published .pdf files for download for free to get you hooked! Excellent plan!
So if you have ideas for gaming, these are great examples of how to publish in a rough economy. Will you see money? Maybe... I'm going to attempt making maps for fun though. If some rules come to mind, I hope to contribute to the free games already available! Money isn't all its about sometimes, though it sure would be nice. Perhaps the open source computer program system is what the gaming world needs to look to for survival. Form foundations and request donations for continued development while maintaining a day job and letting things circulate freely as long as due credit is given to the creators... Of course, this doesn't work like the software world in every aspect. But its an idea.
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