Here we are, nearing the end of this blog's weekly updates. In fact, there is only one more left: Next week you will finally discover OVA's fabled release date!
With the release of the Revised Edition looming, I can't help but reminisce about the beginnings of the game I created. I didn't have a clue what I was doing, learning the skill sets required as I went. I picked up how to use Quark through trial-and-error, conquering all its idiosyncrasies and adventure-game-like unintuitiveness. I concreted my knowledge about a confusing print industry, with all the fiddly dpis, weights, and measures that entails. It was a lot to learn in a short period of time, but I loved every minute of it. Well, maybe not every minute, but you get the idea. It was an experience that not only resulted in my first published book, the same that many of you have already read and enjoyed, but one that has intensified a love of typography, of books, and of design. Without OVA it's pretty certain I wouldn't even have my day-job as a graphic designer.
It's hard to believe nearly 5 years have gone by since then. I might use InDesign now, and the industry I broke into may no longer be the strange, mysterious place that invoked a childlike bewilderment and wonder. But somehow, all the feelings are still there. OVA was the culmination of decades of playing games and dreaming of making one of my own. And even with a new coat of paint and a baker's dozen of patches, refinements, and fixes. It's still that game. My first that I dreamed about many years ago.
Karis was the first character I wrote up for OVA, and somehow it's fitting that she's the last design revealed here. She's still the same hot-tempered bounty-hunter we know and love, just a little bit cooler in every way. Arasuni on the other hand is quite a change in more than one respect, but he is actually much closer to his original concept.
