Back It Up

So, my computer got so screwed up by malware (installed via software I've used hassle-free for years) that I had to do a complete system restore. Fortunately most of my pictures were preserved, and most of my games were already on my external hard drive; but one of the things lost was my file I've been using for my world map in Hexographer.

Fortunately I had a few screenshots of parts of the map, so I won't have to rebuild the entire continent from memory. I've made a little progress already, and finally bit the bullet and upgraded to Worldographer - the interface takes a little getting used to, but it runs so much smoother. I'm also being more careful with my files, and have copied a backup of my work so far onto my external drive in addition to sending it to one of my partners.

Lesson learned: Back up your data before you have a total system failure.

My reconstruction so far; hopefully I can at least finish the Kingdom.

My Gaming Resolutions

My New Year's resolutions as far as gaming is concerned are the following:

• Make a plan of running a game every alternate weekend, and stick to it. Even if only one or two people are able to show up, have something. Temple of Elemental Evil works nicely; Cthulu Dice works nicely; even a video game with good cooperative play, such as Gauntlet: Dark Legacy or Dynasty Warriors: Gundam would be a good way to spend an afternoon with a friend.
• Read any books I buy (hard copies or downloads) cover to cover. I still need to do this with Basic Fantasy and a few others; sitting down and powering through the AD&D 2nd Edition Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master Guide (particularly the sections on combat and wilderness exploration) gave me a better understanding of the systems involved.
• Figure out a good platform for online tabletop sessions. I tried OpenRPG but couldn't figure parts of it out, and Skype is fairly limited in terms of visual display (although a program I found a while back called ManyCam would serve decently). Tabletop Simulator seems pretty cool, although each person would have to pay for it.