There’s a great series of articles about procrastination over an Wait but Why. I struggle with procrastination. It’s one of the reasons that NXS is taking me longer than it should. These articles really do a great job at delving into the psychology of procrastination and putting it in a relate-able format.
http://waitbutwhy.com/2013/10/why-procrastinators-procrastinate.html
I realized recently that I’ve probably been working on NXS for about 20 years!
I mean… 20 years, man. That’s a long time.
Don’t get me wrong; I haven’t been *actively* working on it all that time. The game has been relatively fully-formed and gathering dust, as they say, most of that time. I’d drag it out of the closet occasionally, and strong-arm one of my friends into playing a game or two. Or I’d get a burst of enthusiasm and work furiously on one of the three computer versions. But all-in-all, from conception to today, it’s been about 20 years.
Putting it out in front of the general public. Actively trying to get eyes on it. 3D printing a prototype. Those are pretty big steps for me, and I’m excited to see it happening.
A bit on the history of NXS
I was inspired to create my own strategy board game because of the work of two men who I met many years ago.
They invented a brilliant game called Terrace. Like so many others, I’d seen the game sitting on a table in the background of Ten Forward on Star Trek: TNG. I thought it was a prop until I spotted it in the store of a local science museum (OMSI). I was thrilled to discover that it was not only a real game, but that it had simple and elegant rules that belied a complex and deep game.
I was even more excited to discover that the inventors (Buzz Siler and Anton Dresden) lived quite close to my home town. I fired off an email, like any good fan-boy, gushing about their wonderful game, inquiring about a computer version, etc.
As it turned out, they were very close to releasing a computer version. Buzz was kind enough to invite me to come over to his home and try it out. I met him and Anton, and gave them my impressions of the computer version. They were even kind enough to give me a pre-release copy (on floppy disk, ah the good old days).
That experience stuck in my brain for a few years. If these local guys could create their own strategy game, why couldn’t I?
Thus the kernel of the idea that became NXS was formed.
the NXS nexus 