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Meet Our Columnists: Lewis Pulsipher
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<blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 9246081" data-attributes="member: 3285"><p>This interview is part of a series introducing our EN World Columnists. In this latest installment, I get to interview the esteemed <a href="https://www.enworld.org/ewr-porta/authors/lewpuls.30518/" target="_blank">Lewis Pulsipher</a>!</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]343916[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p><strong>Michael Tresca (MT): Tell us a little about who you are and what you do.</strong></p><p><strong>Lewis Pulsipher (LP): </strong>My column is “<a href="https://www.enworld.org/ewr-porta/categories/worlds-of-design.81/" target="_blank">Worlds of Design</a>,” which dates back to April 2017 with some 175 released. Christopher Helton, the original editor, described it as “Somewhere in the intersection of world building advice and role-playing game design theory.” My Wikipedia entry (“<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Pulsipher" target="_blank">Lewis Pulsipher</a>”) is likely out of date, but is a good starter about me. I am a retired computer teacher, computer programmer, computer support person, computer networking teacher, and game development teacher. My favorite game these days is “the game of designing games.” I have designed many board games, about a dozen of them published (depends on how you count) as early as 1979. But in the past my favorite game was first edition <em>Dungeons & Dragons</em> (I started playing with the three booklets plus Grayhawk), and during a 20 year hiatus from the game hobby to learn computing and make a living the only game I played was AD&D. I wrote a great many articles about D&D/RPGs for game magazines in the late 70s and early 80s, I think I was contributing editor to <em>Dragon</em> and <em>White Dwarf</em>, then they required to buy full rights which I would not sell, ending my contributions; then the hiatus occurred. My most well-known game design, one that has seen various editions in five languages, and many games designed by other people using the game system, is <em>Britannia</em>, an epic game of a thousand years of British history for four players. (Currently out of print after 2021 issue.) I have not tried to design a full RPG, because I could modify AD&D to my satisfaction. I wrote a book about game design: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Game-Design-Create-Tabletop-Finish/dp/0786469528/" target="_blank"><strong>Game Design: How to Create Video and Tablketop Games, Start to Finish</strong></a> (2012, in print) I would have called it “Learning Game Design,” but as with games, a book author cannot always pick his own title.</p><p></p><p><strong>MT: What's next for your column?</strong></p><p><strong>LP: </strong>I have <strong>many</strong> dozens of columns partially written. Though I can still occasionally get an idea and have a draft more or less finished the same day, I tend to add onto columns as I go along until I’m finished, which can literally take years. And I try not to get stuck into a rut. So I really do not know exactly what’s next for my column!</p><p></p><p><strong>MT: What games are you planning to play this year?</strong></p><p><strong>LP: </strong>During the pandemic I fell into the habit of playing only one game, the (old) computer game<em> Empire Deluxe Enhanced Edition</em> which I have modified quite a bit. I may play some of my game design prototypes, but I am more or less “retired” from that. RPG isn’t likely to be available.</p><p></p><p><strong>MT: If your work is published anywhere else, where can we find you?</strong></p><p><strong>LP: </strong>I have (historical) game design articles fairly regularly in <em>Against the Odds Magazine</em> and <em>War Diary</em> magazine. I have the twice a week Patron-supported “Game Design” <a href="http://youtube.com/LewGameDesign" target="_blank">video channel on YouTube</a> and I post far too many tweets on X/twitter (<a href="https://twitter.com/lewpuls" target="_blank">@lewpuls</a>), sometimes about game design. My not-for-free game design video courses <a href="https://www.udemy.com/user/drlewispulsipher/" target="_blank">are at Udemy</a>. Sometimes there are discount coupons on my website.</p><p></p><p><strong>MT: What is your relevant social media and where can fans follow you?</strong></p><p><strong>LP: </strong>My "handle" is almost always lewpuls. I don't use Facebook or Instagram for distributing game information, though there are some pages for a few of my games on Facebook.</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">My Website: <a href="http://youtube.com/LewGameDesign" target="_blank">http://pulsiphergames.com</a> , NOT well-maintained, includes repeats of the tweets.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">My blog used to be very active, but now I rarely post: <a href="http://youtube.com/LewGameDesign" target="_blank">http://pulsiphergamedesign.blogspot.com/</a></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I occasionally answer a question on Quora: <a href="https://www.enworld.org/file:///C%3A/fppulsnet/Quora.com" target="_blank">Quora.com</a></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Occasional comment on Board Game Designers Forum: <a href="https://www.enworld.org/file:///C%3A/fppulsnet/BGDF.com" target="_blank">BGDF.com</a></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">My Patreon supporters get an exclusive monthly letter describing my experiences: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/LewisPulsipher" target="_blank">https://www.patreon.com/LewisPulsipher</a></li> </ul><p><strong>MT: Anything else you'd like to add?</strong></p><p><strong>LP: </strong>Some interviews with me online:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I was interviewed 21 Sep 20 for <strong>Dirk the Dice's </strong>podcast (UK), Grognard Files: <a href="https://thegrognardfiles.com/2020/10/24/episode-43-part-1-dungeons-dragons-with-lew-pulsipher/" target="_blank">Part 1 (1:29)</a>; <a href="https://thegrognardfiles.com/2020/11/27/episode-43-part-2-dungeons-and-dragons-with-lew-pulsipher/" target="_blank">Part 2 (1:35)</a>.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">I was interviewed 2 May 20 for <strong>Grogtalk</strong>, a podcast and YouTube channel. The 1.5 hour interview was released <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqH_DpKU59Y" target="_blank">on YouTube</a> and as a podcast, Episode 56. There a couple more recent times I’ve been on the show, but those were for specific talks.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>The University of Edinburgh History and Games Lab </strong><a href="https://historyandgames.shca.ed.ac.uk/episode-3-interview-with-lew-pulsipher-author-of-the-boardgame-britannia/" target="_blank"><strong>Podcast</strong></a> Length 48:34 August 2020.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>The Journey Show (Galactic Journey) </strong>- The gimmick is to pretend it is 55 years ago, <a href="https://event.webinarjam.com/replay/39/7r8nks7vf17tgncr0q" target="_blank">so in 1965</a>. Length 61 minutes; August 2020, I confess the gimmick felt disingenuous somehow; maybe because I had actually lived through it, other participants had not.</li> </ul></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="talien, post: 9246081, member: 3285"] This interview is part of a series introducing our EN World Columnists. In this latest installment, I get to interview the esteemed [URL='https://www.enworld.org/ewr-porta/authors/lewpuls.30518/']Lewis Pulsipher[/URL]! [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" alt="Collage of Lews works from Coreldraw1600x1400 px added Doomstar for printing 0317.jpg"]343916[/ATTACH][/CENTER] [B]Michael Tresca (MT): Tell us a little about who you are and what you do. Lewis Pulsipher (LP): [/B]My column is “[URL='https://www.enworld.org/ewr-porta/categories/worlds-of-design.81/']Worlds of Design[/URL],” which dates back to April 2017 with some 175 released. Christopher Helton, the original editor, described it as “Somewhere in the intersection of world building advice and role-playing game design theory.” My Wikipedia entry (“[URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Pulsipher']Lewis Pulsipher[/URL]”) is likely out of date, but is a good starter about me. I am a retired computer teacher, computer programmer, computer support person, computer networking teacher, and game development teacher. My favorite game these days is “the game of designing games.” I have designed many board games, about a dozen of them published (depends on how you count) as early as 1979. But in the past my favorite game was first edition [I]Dungeons & Dragons[/I] (I started playing with the three booklets plus Grayhawk), and during a 20 year hiatus from the game hobby to learn computing and make a living the only game I played was AD&D. I wrote a great many articles about D&D/RPGs for game magazines in the late 70s and early 80s, I think I was contributing editor to [I]Dragon[/I] and [I]White Dwarf[/I], then they required to buy full rights which I would not sell, ending my contributions; then the hiatus occurred. My most well-known game design, one that has seen various editions in five languages, and many games designed by other people using the game system, is [I]Britannia[/I], an epic game of a thousand years of British history for four players. (Currently out of print after 2021 issue.) I have not tried to design a full RPG, because I could modify AD&D to my satisfaction. I wrote a book about game design: [URL='http://www.amazon.com/Game-Design-Create-Tabletop-Finish/dp/0786469528/'][B]Game Design: How to Create Video and Tablketop Games, Start to Finish[/B][/URL] (2012, in print) I would have called it “Learning Game Design,” but as with games, a book author cannot always pick his own title. [B]MT: What's next for your column? LP: [/B]I have [B]many[/B] dozens of columns partially written. Though I can still occasionally get an idea and have a draft more or less finished the same day, I tend to add onto columns as I go along until I’m finished, which can literally take years. And I try not to get stuck into a rut. So I really do not know exactly what’s next for my column! [B]MT: What games are you planning to play this year? LP: [/B]During the pandemic I fell into the habit of playing only one game, the (old) computer game[I] Empire Deluxe Enhanced Edition[/I] which I have modified quite a bit. I may play some of my game design prototypes, but I am more or less “retired” from that. RPG isn’t likely to be available. [B]MT: If your work is published anywhere else, where can we find you? LP: [/B]I have (historical) game design articles fairly regularly in [I]Against the Odds Magazine[/I] and [I]War Diary[/I] magazine. I have the twice a week Patron-supported “Game Design” [URL='http://youtube.com/LewGameDesign']video channel on YouTube[/URL] and I post far too many tweets on X/twitter ([URL='https://twitter.com/lewpuls']@lewpuls[/URL]), sometimes about game design. My not-for-free game design video courses [URL='https://www.udemy.com/user/drlewispulsipher/']are at Udemy[/URL]. Sometimes there are discount coupons on my website. [B]MT: What is your relevant social media and where can fans follow you? LP: [/B]My "handle" is almost always lewpuls. I don't use Facebook or Instagram for distributing game information, though there are some pages for a few of my games on Facebook. [LIST] [*]My Website: [URL='http://youtube.com/LewGameDesign']http://pulsiphergames.com[/URL] , NOT well-maintained, includes repeats of the tweets. [*]My blog used to be very active, but now I rarely post: [URL='http://youtube.com/LewGameDesign']http://pulsiphergamedesign.blogspot.com/[/URL] [*]I occasionally answer a question on Quora: [URL='https://www.enworld.org/file:///C%3A/fppulsnet/Quora.com']Quora.com[/URL] [*]Occasional comment on Board Game Designers Forum: [URL='https://www.enworld.org/file:///C%3A/fppulsnet/BGDF.com']BGDF.com[/URL] [*]My Patreon supporters get an exclusive monthly letter describing my experiences: [URL]https://www.patreon.com/LewisPulsipher[/URL] [/LIST] [B]MT: Anything else you'd like to add? LP: [/B]Some interviews with me online: [LIST] [*]I was interviewed 21 Sep 20 for [B]Dirk the Dice's [/B]podcast (UK), Grognard Files: [URL='https://thegrognardfiles.com/2020/10/24/episode-43-part-1-dungeons-dragons-with-lew-pulsipher/']Part 1 (1:29)[/URL]; [URL='https://thegrognardfiles.com/2020/11/27/episode-43-part-2-dungeons-and-dragons-with-lew-pulsipher/']Part 2 (1:35)[/URL]. [*]I was interviewed 2 May 20 for [B]Grogtalk[/B], a podcast and YouTube channel. The 1.5 hour interview was released [URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqH_DpKU59Y']on YouTube[/URL] and as a podcast, Episode 56. There a couple more recent times I’ve been on the show, but those were for specific talks. [*][B]The University of Edinburgh History and Games Lab [/B][URL='https://historyandgames.shca.ed.ac.uk/episode-3-interview-with-lew-pulsipher-author-of-the-boardgame-britannia/'][B]Podcast[/B][/URL] Length 48:34 August 2020. [*][B]The Journey Show (Galactic Journey) [/B]- The gimmick is to pretend it is 55 years ago, [URL='https://event.webinarjam.com/replay/39/7r8nks7vf17tgncr0q']so in 1965[/URL]. Length 61 minutes; August 2020, I confess the gimmick felt disingenuous somehow; maybe because I had actually lived through it, other participants had not. [/LIST] [/QUOTE]
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