Imperial Odyssey is a vast sci-fi franchise, how do you organize it all for easy access to the fans?
In large part, the World Wide Web is built on the shoulders of content management systems. The Imperial Odyssey DataCore is no different. We use the world’s most widely supported and powerful CMS, Joomla, to update and distribute the rich content of the Imperial Odyssey universe.
What makes Imperial Odyssey so unique is that it is everything by everyone. The DataCore would be nothing without the creative talent of the diverse IO fan base. So when inspiration stirs in the minds of fans anywhere, they know where to bring their ideas: the home of Imperial Odyssey at ImperialOdyssey.net
You've done a lot of work for IO, including graphics work. What is your favorite accomplishment or design and why?
Publishing Imperial Odyssey: The War of Twelve. That was the tipping point for IO, I think, because it was the first physical manifestation of the years of work put into making Imperial Odyssey a science fiction franchise. Holding a paper back copy of the flagship novel that started it all was what created the momentum which lead then to the Map of Imperial Odyssey’s universe, and ultimately the DataCore where we’ve hosted the short story contest and archived past Imperial Odyssey events held on Facebook and Twitter.
The Devil is in the details. Tell us what are some of the challenges of maintaining the IO website.
Connecting all of the content together. Imperial Odyssey is an intricate web of interrelated topics and plot twists that weave themselves in every direction imaginable. To make this information available in a meaningful and comprehensive way, I ensure that each article is connected to every related subject through keywords, linked phrases and searchable metadata. With every new work added to the DataCore, the complexity of the stories, characters, and settings increases and must be met with an equally complete connection of data objects in the system.
With music, movies, stories, games and more, what is your personal favorite Imperial Odyssey piece?
It’s a pretty close race between Austin Craft’s “Imperial Odyssey – The Kae” and the franchise canonic work “Pariph la’Kae”. I really love it when a massive story franchise like Lord of the Rings or Star Trek gets down in the weeds in such detail with writing that really makes it complex and vivid with detail. When it comes to storytelling, I can’t get enough detail and both of these works bring IO that much closer to reality.
Something you want to say to the fans?
Imperial Odyssey is nothing without its fans. What makes it so great is that it is all things to all people. It may still be a science fiction series at heart, but today Imperial Odyssey is successful at noir, romance, espionage, fantasy, horror, comedy, thrills and tragedy. All because that’s what the fans want. Come to think of it… Imperial Odyssey has always been completely free to everyone. How many entertainment franchises can you say you’ve been a part of without spending a penny? Keep Imperial Odyssey alive with your imagination without worrying about killing your wallet.