As usual, there’s a new MP3 and a new poll. I haven’t had the time to make a new comic strip though 🙁 I’ll try to do it over the next couple of days, but I can’t promise anything. Sorry about that! I’m sure you’ll love the other additions though 🙂
I’ve added several Fan Art submissions, and updated various related merchandise pages 🙂 Keep the Fan Art coming!

I still need to update the chronology, midis and my collection (I’ll probably wait until the batch of items I’m waiting for arrives). I’ve yet to add my “want list” and a number of game storyline summaries. I also hope to add some Desktop Wallpapers and more Greeting Cards soon, once I’ve left my job.

Expect some new links to be added later this month.

Well, before I leave you with the results of last fortnight’s poll, I thought I’d tell you about the letter I received a few days ago. I was most amazed to find a Camelot Software Planning envelope when I picked up my mail… I haven’t had contact with them for a few months, so it was quite out of the blue. This is what it said:

I congratulate you opening in Ms. Mariska.
A New Year’s Card is given to you!!
Please enjoy yourself as a collection by all means.
I’m also asking for our Company well this year!!
Thank you.

With it came two Camelot 2002 postcards, and some Camelot stickers. The letter itself was hand-written in English, on some Camelot development paper! Woohoo! Those guys really are great! I was really pleased to see that they’ve kept in contact with me, even though they don’t have to! I’ve emailed them a thank you message, and wished them all the best for 2002 – the year in which we all hope there will be a new venture between Camelot, Sega and Nintendo for a new Shining game on the GameCube. I wonder how they’ll respond?

The storyline summaries for Shining Force CD, Gaiden 1 and Gaiden 2 have been added – thanks Earl! See the relevant game sections for the summaries.

Phew! I’ve been extremely busy trying to get lots of new bits together for the site, while trying to spend more time with my dearly beloved! Well, I think you’ll see that I’ve made some progress!

Before I talk about the new additions to the site, I’ll take a moment to remind you that, as with every fortnight, there’s a new MP3 for you to download and a new poll. “What? No new comic strip?!” I hear you cry! Well, I spent so long on the Christmas Comic, that I figured I’d leave it up until the next update. That also gave me a little more time to work on the new features. Oh, and the winner of last month’s contest has been announced – which means the new contest is launched today too!

Okay, now the new features!

Well, as I mentioned at the last update (now in the Archives), I had plans to add a lot of new areas to SFC. The good news is that all the areas are ready… the bad news is, they’re not all complete. I thought you’d want to have a look at what I’ve done so far though, so they’re up and running, and I’ll be adding to them constantly.

The new areas can be accessed from each game’s section. They are:

• Storyline Summaries – only about half of these are online at present
  
• Reviews – I’ve got them all up and running, but there may be typos, and some will need final tweaking! Also, I’ve yet to add any screenshots.
  
• Fan Artwork – each game now has a section for your art submissions. So far there’s only a picture on the Shining Force, Shining Force II and Scenario 3 pages. I do have a few more to add, but no time right now. If you have art to submit, please read the instructions on the fanart pages.
  
• Fan Fiction – each game now has a section for your story/literature submissions. All of these pages are basically empty. I do have some work to put on them, but again, time has stopped me for now. Feel free to send in your work according to the instructions on the pages.
  
• Related Merchandise – I think you’ll find this area the most interesting. Each game has a page listing other items released relating to the game. The pages include pictures and as much information as possible about the items. I’ve left out unofficial items (like doujinshis), but there’s a lot in each section. Thanks to Olivier for some of the pictures. Oh – I also listed the places you might find the items, in case you want to expand your collection, and links to any more relevant sites 🙂

Throughout the rest of the site I’ve done some minor updates too, including on the intro page for each game, and there are a bunch of new sites added to the links database. My collection still needs updating, but I’m due a few more items and will add them as a batch later on. Likewise, I intend to add my “want list” to that page at some point soon.
The Chronology is still awaiting an update (I’ve had some submissions of extra details), I’ve finally finished off the next section of my Final Conflict translation (I’ll try to get it online this week, I promise!!) and at some point this month I shall continue to work on adding all the town maps to the Shining Force II Guide (thanks again, Zor!). More midis to come soon.

Right, I think that’s it for now! So, until the next update, I hope you enjoy the new additions. Feel free to send me your feedback 🙂

Merry Christmas!

The Christmas Comic Series has been completed!

As an extra Christmas present, I’m working on some new sections for SFC. I hope to get them online by the end of January, sooner if I can 🙂 They’ll include (for each game):

• Fan Art – quality artwork drawn by fans from across the globe
  
• Fan Fiction – fan-written stories based on the Shining series
  
• Story Summary – a synopsis of the events in the game
  
• Review – my thoughts on all aspects of each game
  
• Related Merchandise – items relating to each game, further information on them (ie, ISBN numbers etc), price guide and where to buy them (if possible).
  

I’ve also got some more high quality links to add to the SFC site database 🙂 Looks like the Christmas break isn’t going to be much of a break afterall! 😉
Due to time constraints, I may replace the Comic Strip of the Fortnight with Fan Art of the Fortnight, but we’ll see.

The Final Conflict site is due for an update soon, as I’m almost done on another section of the translation (the Christmas Comic kinda delayed me a bit there!); I’ve added some bits to the Shining Force II site, and there’s more on the way in the form of maps of every area of the game (thanks to Zor!); more midis are due to be posted soon, and with a bit of luck, sometime in 2002 I’ll continue work on my Shining Force site which has been on-hold for some time, while other projects took priority. My collection page needs updating, as does the Chronology (still!)… eventually. Also, in case you didn’t know, I’ve been working with shining3master on his Shining Force III Guide. I’m just doing the design and construction, it’s his content – but I can assure you the site is going to be great when it’s all up and running! More news as it’s available.

Well, I think it’s time for me to go and unwrap some presents! Hope you enjoy the end of the comic 🙂

The Christmas Comic Series has had another page added 🙂

The Christmas Comic Series has had another page added and there’s a new MP3 and poll for you 🙂 Less than 2 weeks left in which to enter this month’s contest, so hurry up! Not much time right now, so nothing else to say…

Oh, I need to update my collection page, and also add a couple of URLs for sites that have reappeared 🙂 Also got some big plans for additions over my Christmas break – watch this space!

The Christmas Comic Series has had another page added.

The Christmas Comic Series has had another page added. I don’t know why I bother though, given the current poll results 🙁

The Christmas Comic Series has had another page added 🙂 Enjoy!

The winners of the November contest have been announced – were you one of the lucky ones?
As always, there’s a new MP3 for you and a new poll. As you probably know my now, the Comic Strip of the Fortnight is a bit different during December… it’s now the Christmas Comic Series, which will be updated every Saturday and Wednesday until Christmas day. Another page has been added today of course!

I’ve updated my collection page, but there’s not much new there. Some artwork has been added to the Shining Force III artwork sections for all three scenarios, many thanks to Parn for providing the scans!

Wolfgang’s popular animated Shining Force sites are now back online, thanks to Parn of synbios.net! The links in the SFC database have been updated accordingly. I still have a batch of links to add, my apologies if yours is still waiting – visitors to my forums will know that I’ve been very busy of late, and the links have been on a low priority. I’ll endevour to do a major database update over Christmas.

Not much else to report, except that I’m trying to get some more of Final Conflict’s translation done while working on more of the Christmas Comic Series…

Unfortunately, due to file corruption, the results of last fortnight’s poll (“Would you buy a Game Boy Advance for Shining Soul?”) are lost 🙁 However, I do know it was a very mixed bag of results, with the majority saying that yes, they would buy a GBA for Shining Soul. It also seems a good few of you already have a GBA!

The Christmas Comic Series has started! A new page will be added every Saturday and Wednesday in December 🙂 Enjoy!

I’ve done some updates to the Shining Chronology page, and have posted some thoughts on the history of the three Devil Kings at the forums.