SB: My answer to this has to be both and neither
— it can help to create something or flesh out an
idea, but it too often restricts the way I
personally work. GIS mapping can help as a
reference for real-world maps, but all in all, in
my opinion, cartography thrives in the areas not
restricted by programs but only by skill of the
artist to visualize his work in his own unique
way.
DAL: Right. I hear that the RPG world has been
very impressed by the visual and design quality
of Black Atlantic. Has it led to others in the
industry also ‘upping their game’ and producing
works of the same quality?
SB: /laughter/ The same quality is hard to
achieve, but I think many try to at least offer
more than they had. I can only speak for myself
here, but I try to push — in early concept
development — for new games to boldly go in
different directions than what we are used to.
Printers are offering more and more techniques
to increase the ‘haptics’ of the game. If a game
maker steps off the main highway they will find
there are now a lot of interesting directions to go
in, and I think many in the industry can learn
from others in different areas of expertise like
innovations in magazines or the user experience
of digital games.DAL: And I see that the fans also contribute to
the game? For instance I see that there’s a new
Degenesis Atlas book which collects the best of
the fan-made maps? Is there likely to be
something like that for the Justitian book? Or
does Degenesis Atlas cover all the territory?SB: The fans who created the Atlas are
dedicated to to providing no end of additional
content, and I applaud them for the work they
put in there. The Atlas is probably something
that can never truly be called 'done'. There is
always more that is possible and I do not see