tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186297002024-03-14T04:20:43.016-07:00Echo's CornerWe're sane. ish. Kinda. Yeah. Okay, we're all round the corner here.Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.comBlogger154125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-39186697581214908642011-09-27T20:35:00.000-07:002011-09-27T20:35:48.626-07:00EC Studios is stumbling up!Hey! MY new site is in shambles but it's totally here: <a href="http://ec-studios.com/">EC Studios</a><br />
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Figured i should also mention that here. There's more on the homepage.<br />
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Must get to sleep. Never a dull day.Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-89717394911565198982011-09-15T07:56:00.001-07:002011-09-22T20:50:42.918-07:00Tokyo Gore Police and some other things<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-bHZqxrZeXBoLiyRbRhtDFRMRsaX9nQsxyoomP4dXw5MkRoz1JfNgX8nMmt6T-5KCZGIjK-aDWIgNhh_0xvJy0hsf_CQOypZOmnvKB0Q8h27CECKrQkQPO7g1plTpWMCiaQNtw/s1600/tt1183732.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7-bHZqxrZeXBoLiyRbRhtDFRMRsaX9nQsxyoomP4dXw5MkRoz1JfNgX8nMmt6T-5KCZGIjK-aDWIgNhh_0xvJy0hsf_CQOypZOmnvKB0Q8h27CECKrQkQPO7g1plTpWMCiaQNtw/s1600/tt1183732.jpg" /></a></div> So this was an interesting watch. Interesting insofar as it was one of the more surreal mind trips I've been on in a while. to start off, it lives up to its title. there are police, in Tokyo, with lots and lots of gore. the version i was watching was a french dub as well, which just made it.. yeah...a bit speechless after the fact. it's craazy in off the wall ways. there are gallons and gallons of blood, putting films like Kill Bill to shame. <br />
As far as summaries go, I'll try as best i can, though most of the plot i understood later after a net searches later. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audition_(film)">Audition</a>s lead actress is now a bad ass lady cop/ merc out after her fathers killer while battling splicers called engineers who are transformed by another guy out for revenge called the key man. engineers deserve mention as their gimmick is to grow weapons out of any wound they receive, which gets squicky very, VERY quickly. though it does make for many 'What the- huh, now their- wait WHAT!?!' moments. like the opening chainsaw duel. yeah that's how it opens. <br />
The Tokyo painted is more under totalitarian regime rather than cyberpunk dystopia, what with the privatized police and the fetish clubs and the self mutilation promoted on TV. live execution through your WII remote. curious take on the future of entertainment, but I'll run with it. <br />
I liked the costume design on the basic police though. The singular glowing red eye and the modernized samurai armour worked well for me. the chief, not so much, but this entire movie is a demented vision. at so many point it curb stomps logic that you really just have to sit back and go along for the ride. questioning anything gets you sprayed with a few more gallons of blood. so, so much blood. <br />
i wouldn't go out of my way to watch it again, but i can definitely understand the cult following it might/has gained. haven't seen anything like it before, for all the good and bad that means.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmN6zjA3asUpXMvszgK2utXAqhLjDgpSHEKOT8MnT994gIUOzAGyVeUkyVDzjGlpF5YaVcsmkddOOhZnlPN0vMqbvihjyNmxipUyzJP2FQ2pnKS8uwCNV92daxStr_FkSFVQRrA/s1600/title.720x480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmN6zjA3asUpXMvszgK2utXAqhLjDgpSHEKOT8MnT994gIUOzAGyVeUkyVDzjGlpF5YaVcsmkddOOhZnlPN0vMqbvihjyNmxipUyzJP2FQ2pnKS8uwCNV92daxStr_FkSFVQRrA/s200/title.720x480.jpg" width="200" /></a></div> Onto other things! I'm working on a full site, so i can throw more things up. there was another episode of UtD (<a href="http://blip.tv/UnderTheDesk/04-the-value-of-nothing-5540076">Value of Nothing</a>) and i should have Mogworld up next week. i might have a two act for Psychopath Test and Waiting for Godot, the former i flew through, the later i should finish by weekend's end. <br />
New site here: <a href="http://ec-studios.com/">EC Studios</a><br />
Hopefully it should be up soon. It won't be anything intense, but it'll give me something to do overarcingly, a word I've found my self using in the last week, which further explains my descent into grammar. or maybe it's my morning and broken night of dreams. either way, NEW SITE COMING!<br />
Got footage of the first part of my Link's Awakening Let's play. audio lags a second, and that's before the over dub. i think I'm going to try doing it all at once for the next. I'll see. <br />
Autumns finally here. Woo. onto other things now. Bai bai ^^Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-61229806583337230312011-08-26T18:25:00.000-07:002011-08-26T18:25:01.744-07:00UtD - Bioshock: Rapture<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmN6zjA3asUpXMvszgK2utXAqhLjDgpSHEKOT8MnT994gIUOzAGyVeUkyVDzjGlpF5YaVcsmkddOOhZnlPN0vMqbvihjyNmxipUyzJP2FQ2pnKS8uwCNV92daxStr_FkSFVQRrA/s1600/title.720x480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmN6zjA3asUpXMvszgK2utXAqhLjDgpSHEKOT8MnT994gIUOzAGyVeUkyVDzjGlpF5YaVcsmkddOOhZnlPN0vMqbvihjyNmxipUyzJP2FQ2pnKS8uwCNV92daxStr_FkSFVQRrA/s320/title.720x480.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> Episode 3 is up! This week I dive underwater for John Shirley's Prequel to the Bioshock Franchise!<br />
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<a href="http://blip.tv/UnderTheDesk/03-bioshock-rapture-5501144">http://blip.tv/UnderTheDesk/03-bioshock-rapture-5501144</a><br />
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And thus uploaded, i feel happy fleeing up north to my friends cottage for a few days. i'll try to have something quick up next week, maybe talking about books in general or my reading list. dunno. something a minute long without much cutting. maybe a quick review of something that i don't want to bore people with.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjLVCgZurz7B3RP_sSBgfpAvz06bBI21Suxj4kJ6vZvp0nfWChdcs2LoLZQQ8dgrV-npgrSmjEiLaS-2RCW2GhKL9QT2OxlCRMwOFHQrsDb4KcVWV6xJq06Hpd8NsLDZjP5FS26A/s1600/rapture27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjLVCgZurz7B3RP_sSBgfpAvz06bBI21Suxj4kJ6vZvp0nfWChdcs2LoLZQQ8dgrV-npgrSmjEiLaS-2RCW2GhKL9QT2OxlCRMwOFHQrsDb4KcVWV6xJq06Hpd8NsLDZjP5FS26A/s200/rapture27.jpg" width="200" /></a>And now to fold laundry. I think that's all for the moment. i'm tired, sleep well.Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-55677360583385898722011-08-25T19:26:00.000-07:002011-08-25T19:26:17.817-07:00Ramblings There's a certain something that makes me dislike joggers. it isn't the actual act of jogging, nor is it the fact that they're like clockwork, or the houses that they jog. i think it stems from the gear they use and the loook thy keep about them. the mana sized water ampules set in utility harnesses on their bodies, the skin tight clothing leaving nothing *shiver* to imagination, all of it cries out wrong. maybe it's because i don't believe jogging should be a 'thing' at all. running is good. sprinting is good. both are useful, both practical, even in today's transport heavy society. jogging, not so much. if you're going to the corner store, you might walk, or if its important (your cake/other tricky baked paraphernalia will fall if you don't get more butter into it NOW) run, but jog? not likely. similarly, if pursued by a horror movie slasher or a velocraptor or fundraising sales rep, running is a useful skill to have trained. jogging, not so much. jogging is the idea of long distance travel by foot at a quicker pace than a walk, presumably to outpace and outlast the animals taht would eat you back in the day. now we have transportation. and if you need to get somewhere in a hurry, you would run, and rely on that stamina as opposed to a slower stamina sap. <div> And these thoughts have nothing to do with the fact that i'm going running tomorrow. early. gods will it be aggravating to get up that early. </div><div> Moving on, finished storyboards for tomorrows vids, definitly got a better process, a pity i started so late this week, but i still intend to have another episode of UtD up tomorrow, it just ight be later than usual. than, cottage! huzzah!</div><div> Almost went to FanExpo today, but couldn't bring myself to wait ANOTHER two hours in the line i was in. the day had to go on. still, i think i'll get more into the con scene more in the future. i like the enthusiasm and freedom of the people. also, excuse to wear cat ears and a collar, so yeah.</div><div> I think that's all for the moment. oh, looking into getting a site to pull everything to a single place. will advise as that goes.<br />
Bai bai</div>Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-36259986496987079592011-08-12T23:29:00.000-07:002011-08-12T23:29:36.832-07:00UtD - Hagakure<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmN6zjA3asUpXMvszgK2utXAqhLjDgpSHEKOT8MnT994gIUOzAGyVeUkyVDzjGlpF5YaVcsmkddOOhZnlPN0vMqbvihjyNmxipUyzJP2FQ2pnKS8uwCNV92daxStr_FkSFVQRrA/s1600/title.720x480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmN6zjA3asUpXMvszgK2utXAqhLjDgpSHEKOT8MnT994gIUOzAGyVeUkyVDzjGlpF5YaVcsmkddOOhZnlPN0vMqbvihjyNmxipUyzJP2FQ2pnKS8uwCNV92daxStr_FkSFVQRrA/s200/title.720x480.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Ep 2 of Under the Desk now up on blip!, also youtube, but blip!<br />
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<a href="http://blip.tv/UnderTheDesk/hagakure-5464023">http://blip.tv/UnderTheDesk/hagakure-5464023</a><br />
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No such luck on the sharpies, but a new process for doing things, which worked better. time ran a bit long but, as they say, it's a process. <br />
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</div><div>Next UtD will be Bioshock: Rapture, which i need to finish. yay, a good reason to actually spend some free time reading! Wooo!<br />
</div><div>In other news, It was my friends birthday earlier, so one more happy birthday before i move on to the next topic. </div><div><br />
</div><div>The actual blip site is coming along. i want to redo some of the banners with some sporadic colour and some cleaned up drawings, but at the same time, the charm, to me, is that their representative of teh content. maybe i'll clean them up some...</div><div><br />
</div><div>Another thought was looking into Adobe Premiere or another video editor. windows movie maker is...painful to use. much like photoshop, i imagine Premiere has a learning curve, but hopefully it'll i can get used to. </div><div><br />
</div><div>I'd like to make a font of my script to use as my word base. Need to look into font builders.</div><div><br />
</div><div>I should do some writing. And Sunday i have to run again. And i have to buy climbing shoes. And-and-and-<br />
</div><div>zzzzzzz</div>Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-11486011294256685072011-07-29T10:10:00.000-07:002011-07-29T10:10:12.034-07:00Under The Desk ep 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmN6zjA3asUpXMvszgK2utXAqhLjDgpSHEKOT8MnT994gIUOzAGyVeUkyVDzjGlpF5YaVcsmkddOOhZnlPN0vMqbvihjyNmxipUyzJP2FQ2pnKS8uwCNV92daxStr_FkSFVQRrA/s1600/title.720x480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmN6zjA3asUpXMvszgK2utXAqhLjDgpSHEKOT8MnT994gIUOzAGyVeUkyVDzjGlpF5YaVcsmkddOOhZnlPN0vMqbvihjyNmxipUyzJP2FQ2pnKS8uwCNV92daxStr_FkSFVQRrA/s400/title.720x480.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>First actual episode of under the desk is up!<br />
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<a href="http://blip.tv/UnderTheDesk/01-simplexity-5424186">http://blip.tv/UnderTheDesk/01-simplexity-5424186</a><br />
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Last week was a quick intro, this week an actual review. Next week, i'm going to try for a longer episode, something closer to 3 or 4 minutes, and maybe some colour if i get around to buying those coloured sharpies... <br />
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In other news, i want sleep.Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-6567397247758344882011-05-03T08:34:00.001-07:002011-05-03T08:35:02.155-07:00Wonderland Complex<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixdN7KBPvFkqUML-R0ycDGHR33-AzgV5CTPOi4NVRuYDfp9hvnuN3P4EkYaaoT82QaZ190TJcBbDmzQYsRzTim30i4IMS1x8FMTiPtFmm1WK4dAI7V98Sm_blgVSPhQGjuYndTxA/s1600/screen1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixdN7KBPvFkqUML-R0ycDGHR33-AzgV5CTPOi4NVRuYDfp9hvnuN3P4EkYaaoT82QaZ190TJcBbDmzQYsRzTim30i4IMS1x8FMTiPtFmm1WK4dAI7V98Sm_blgVSPhQGjuYndTxA/s400/screen1.jpg" width="400" /></a>The current build is mostly the ground layer of the world. the maps are all in place, as are a few of the memories. none of the voice work is done, and minimal text and events are done. transfers was where i left off, so some doors lead where they should, others...do not. kind of an apt analogy for the complex itself. this project is going on hiatus , everything's being burnt so i've a backup and the file is being moved. i haven't done work on it in 3 weeks now. the motivation is gone, despite the finish line being in sight. i have the pans to finish, i just need the motivation. hopefully, next time i get the strong push to build a game, i'll finish this one. First game project ECS takes on and it doesn't reach the ship stage. better luck next time. I've learned a ton from this project.<br />
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Wonderland Complex<br />
Jan 2011 - Apr 2011<br />
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<a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=F0IA1SV7">http://www.megaupload.com/?d=F0IA1SV7</a>Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-4139938925114639302011-04-17T14:28:00.000-07:002011-04-17T14:28:17.289-07:00Load In – 17042011, day 8<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We spawned in a back yard. I didn’t recognize the area, but it didn’t matter much. We were in residential, so that gave us some space before the inevitable halls and lines that we’d have to get through. Zoc had picked our load out and now I checked out what I had as we spun around, cleared our perimeter.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The moon was high, giving good visibility. We were on a cobblestone terrace coming out of the back of someone’s house. The backyard was marked off with chest high chain link fence, annoying, but useful at the same time. There were sporadic gardens of small flowers, mostly well kept grass. Cookie cutter back yards copy and pasted along my left and right. Ahead of me there the flip of the street, more backyards. Above us, hydro lines held up by solid wooded posts every few lots. I made note that the posts had pegs high enough to be climbed, but would give us pause if needed. Another version of climbing a tree to escape harm. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Zoc spoke quietly. The area was fresh, with no contact or devastation. He was right. Not a window broken or blood splatter to be seen. We hopped a few fences, peering down the alleys to the street as we went. After a few fences we decided to head down to the street, try to get a view of the landscape.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I tapped Zoc’s shoulder in the alley way as I checked out my build. He had set us up with new accounts, so we had new weapons. I pulled my guns out, curious to see what my tools were. I was greeted by the shine of two silver and black pistols, k9’s with extended barrels. My secondary weapons were black glazed teardrop throwing knives. I holstered them after finding a comfortable grip. I had rope around my waist and simple clothing. Along my belt were clips and odd shaped objects, which had to be this rounds tool of choice. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It looked like a bat with a flaming mouth, wings folded over itself. I was debating pulling the hooked tail when Zoc put his hand on it. He had a bat of his own and pulled the tail, holding it high. The wings snapped open and its mouth shot off a wave of heat. Looking up I saw Zoc holding his own bat, the mouth cheerily burning like a festive candle, giving out light where the wings are angled. I was expecting a grenade, but this bat looked like something else, if less destructive then I would have thought.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From the bats light I could see Zocs build. He wore simple clothes like me with a hunting rifle slung over his shoulder. So much for a different build. I couldn’t see his secondary weapon, but I trusted he’d put it to good use.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The bat’s light died and started climbing up the alley, feet spread apart against the tight walls. We made to the room and got a look at the neighbourhood beneath us. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were sitting on the edge of suburbia. Across the street were high sheet metal barriers, forcing us back into the honeycomb of houses beneath us. The street was empty, which was good for us, but bad for whoever had the misfortune to deal with our quarry. We decided to travel along the rooftops, hopping from one to another as long as we could. We kept low, standing only when necessary to scout the area. When we hit the end of the block we had another choice, drop to street level to go through a hole in the metal barrier, leading us who knows where, or stick with the houses. The street had come to a corner, making a sharp right turn around the house we were sitting on, turning to avoid a park that bordered the housing development. Across the park were several low lying builds, the closest to a main street this community probably had. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our choice would have been far easier, had we seen anyone. The only movement was caused by the dead wind that scattered through the air. We’d seen no creatures, no monsters, no mutations, no abominations of any kind up to this point, an experience fairly unprecedented. I left it to Zoc to choose our path, who decided we should drop to street level and make our way along the park until we got to a road which led us into the town square. I agreed and we climbed down a drain pipe and scurried along the parks edge, alone, nerves high from the lack of encounters.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> // Elysium and Zoc. i should make character sheets for them both...</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-70162285326966438262011-04-17T14:16:00.002-07:002011-04-17T14:18:37.970-07:00A session in the City - 14042011, day 4<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I don’t know where to start.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Start with whatever you remember. Let it flow back to you. Grasp whatever you can, in whatever disjointed segments you can grasps.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The light dimmed in the room.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I’m inside a little shop. Its gourmet food and antipasto and some things. It’s on a hill with a steep road outside. The people behind the counters are old, white and grey hair, save for an unsure and timid little girl. She looks miserable. I’ve walked through the door and immediately to my left is the food bar. There are plates of meat and right at the front; grand place is a white rectangular bowl with what looks like meat balls inside of it. There’s no sign saying what it is, but it sounds delicious.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The room is buzzing with gossip. I know of the people they’re discussing but I don’t know them personally. I float through. They see me and the girl greets me timidly before turning back to conversation. It’s as if they can’t see me, like I’m slipping in and out.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The shop’s closing. The employees are looting the place for food. I’m going on a trip, across a long distance, I strip out their milk container and grab it for my own. I head for the antipasto bar and find one of the male workers at the counter. I ask if he's taking the meatball and he says absolutely, he's got it. I want it as well, but don’t think he’ll take all of it. He seems too cautious to really gorge while thieving. He moves aside and I move in with a metal tine tray. I drop the bottom half of a heavy burger bun into the tray and spoon in the meat ball mix. The man tells me its meatballs, mushroom and another ingredient I can’t remember. It slips away every time he says it. I layer it with strips of what looks like bacon in a cross pattern. More sauce and meatballs, then there's this large hunk of cheese. The man berates me for mixing flavours but I know better. I crush the cheese down so that I can put the lid on the tin. I make sure to put in the top of the bun. As I scrape the meatball dish clean, I use shards of a hard baguette, maybe some Italian bread, which shatters like ice if I push it too hard along the bottom of the clay pan. My tin pan looks like a quiche, is what he says. I agree with him after a few minutes. I turn my attention elsewhere.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s earlier. I’ve walked out the door of the tiny shop; close after the small timid girl. There’s a slight breeze. She’s heading down the hill through there subway tunnels, beneath the mountain, all grey concrete and blue metal rising high. She turns back to me, her back against the wall after she gets to the first landing. She stammers out why I’m following her. I move close, breathing slowly, till our lips are nearly touching, I can feel her shiver, so lose to me. My head lowers, my lips drifting along her neck and down to her exposed chest. I hear her ask what I want. The smile lights along my lips before kissing her chest. What I want, I tell her, is you. Her hand comes to mine as I straighten and begin leading her down the stairs. I tell her that I’m going to take her to lunch. We descend the stair case.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Near the end now. There’s an old man with wild bushy white hair, bicycling up the steep road. He has blind eyes and an orange reflector vest. He looks at me through blind eyes and I see his moustache cascade down, drooping as low as his tangle of hair goes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The beginning’s slipping away. There was a hotel that I was staying at, flashes now. There was talk from my parents of a trip at the end of august, of them booking something and me wondering how that’ll fit with going to the cottage in November. There’s something else. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Earlier, something that I should remember but can't I’m trying to go back, but I keep falling into the water, out of the boat and through the mists, never grasping anything tangible. I dint know what to do. I need to go on. I’ve missed the message, the big art, the first three acts of it. Where’d it go? “<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Breathe deep, calm down, don't panic and keep going.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Yes, okay. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I see a hill. The same hill rotating along. I see lines of gossip, as if people were dropping fishing lines, weaved around the hill. I see a room in a hotel/. I’m sitting on the bed and I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do or where to go. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can’t remember what she looks like. How could I have been so close, had such influence on her, when I can’t remember her name, what she did beyond the glimpse. Breath. Breath. Okay. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What time is it? It’s slipping away. The mists around my boat are getting darker. I try to push into them; it’s like sticking my arm through a grey wall. It swirls around my arms, accepting but unyielding. I can’t see anything beyond the boat and the mist. The water is placid and doesn’t move, no matter how I sway in the boat. I can pull back the images I just went through.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another, I’m going through the gourmet shops kitchen and taking the milk container. I've no idea why it’s needed now. The inside of the milk container has a tiny whisk, as well as another metal contraption. I try to empty them, empty it so I can put another bag of milk in. I do and cut it, then poor it out into a container. I don't understand why. I think I need to cycle through the milk if I’m to take the container, but that doesn’t make sense. There’s a tiny whisk and metal contraption in each container. It doesn't make sense. There’s light coming in through the window as I go through the tile of the floor. I think the stores closing for good, just as I’m leaving. Everything’s folding up, as I go. My departure, while welcomed by the townsfolk, signals the end of their world. They don’t know, or don’t care. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I try to hang on but it's gone. Folded up and wire framed, the hill stripped. I’m back to the memory of the concrete and the young lady. Pushing against her and sliding down. The soft kiss and pulling her away. I can tell she’s overwhelmed through it, that’s why it works. Someone who had more control over themselves, someone who had been on more dates would have pushed me off, would have had more attention would have known would have reacted differently. But I was simple. I said I wanted her. She fluttered and I took her hand and told her I was taking her to lunch. She’s followed numbly. I didn’t look back. She's blushing now that I see it. I’m dressed in dark with a mid flair of jacket. She was still wearing her waitress or attendant uniform. Then it fades away again, folded into the mist.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It folds out again below me. The same scene plays out from a different angle, cutting in close as I kiss her chest, seeing her lips quiver above my head; a small gasp slips past her lips, the flush filling her cheeks. It cuts away to another as I watch us going down the steps. It plays again and again. Again. Again. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> And then it peels away, the wireframe eating the concrete steps, dissolving the sun on the blue metal and glass on the high building above where the steps were, folding it into itself. It warps and greys and highlights itself, the panels of materials on each surface peeling up and away, unthreading themselves, and then the racks of wires are left until they too peel away, leaving me back in the boat, no place left to reach out to, only the dying, withering memory of that small timid girl and I. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m hunched in the boat. The hull is empty. No rushes. Nothing left. I want to cry. I know I lost something lovely, something that if only I could remember it, would make a world of difference would direct me and tell me the answer, where to go. “<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I’m pullin' you out now. Come back to me slowly; let the boat guide you out of the mist, back into the shop. The boats docking. You feel a soft bump. Your wooden bench seat rises up, shifting silently into the counter around you, the boats planks into the walls and shelves of the shop. You’re standing in your body, at my counter, your hands flat on the counter, my hands palm up, while your rest on top. Breath deep. Open your eyes and look at me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My eyes open slowly, gaze focusing on the wool covered women in front of me. Her black skin and shinning bright hair made her look like a sheep had always made her look sheep like; beguiling the wolf form she lived. My feet felt heavy on the floor. My body sagged back as my muscles relaxed. I looked around, tilting my head, hearing my neck crack. My gaze returned to hers, small and black, buried in her face, nearly invisible save for the sharp shine on them.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I’m back,” I said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Yez you ah,” she said, her accent winding around me. “Did you fine whet you ah lookin' for?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I don’t think so. Thank you anyway, you’ve always been a help,” I said. She smiles and shakes her head back at me. I put my hands back into my pockets and turn to the shelves, hoping I’ll see what I need, what I’m missing. I sigh as I search in vain. I raise a hand in parting to the old sheep behind the counter and she smiles as I leave a sad look on her face.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s raining outside her little shop. The clouds are low over the dark onyx sky, the ceiling of mist resting on the rooftops of the streets tonight. The dark hour is nearing its end and I need to get out of the bazaar. Before it closes. I dart down a side street and brush shoulders with a face I’ve seen before. I resist the urge to double take and move through the shady throng filtering out through the exits. I’ve seen her before at the market, buying food, a rare commodity down here. She’s one of the Awake, like me, yet we’ve never made introductions. Not surprising, given the scope of the City. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She’s tall and gaunt, with a coat wrapped around her. Beneath the brown folds is a tiny body, wiry and taught, with pale skin. I’ve made out a few tattoos of her before. Perhaps we’ll run into each on a more formal occasion soon. Any Awake who live long enough to get into the flow of the city without becoming a part of it are good to know. She probably knows Cassandra’s organization. I’ll have to make inquiries tomorrow. I pull up my hood and blend into the crowd. My eyes shine as I spot a curtain lying on a wall nearby, unobtrusive to the crowd that flows by. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I step close to it and pull it aside long enough to step through the wall into a low ceilinged passage way. These shortcuts should lead me out of the market and back to the corner of the city near the airplane graveyards, assuming it hasn’t moved again. I trudge along the passage go through the door at the end. I’m in a different part of the city, near the tenth district. It’s not where I wanted to go, but it could’ve been far worse. I turn down the cobblestone street, lined with dying grass and make my way back to my where I make my home. It’s been some long nights.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> //Rob never talked much outside of his few confidents, at least here he found a therapist, of sort, even if it is dream siphoning and memory regression. another tale set in the Mad City of the Undermaze. </span></span></div>Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-69949038191684944372011-04-17T13:26:00.001-07:002011-04-17T14:17:29.641-07:00Laura's Morning - 12042011, day 2<div class="MsoNormal">I woke up to light blinding me. I turned my head to the left; hiding under the shade of the steeple that blocked a fraction of the light out my window. At first I thought it was the sun, but I hadn’t seen the sun in several years. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I rolled over, away from the light. I never woke up being blinded. Usually the cries of the sellers below me pulled me from my light street. The night previous I had been woken by the screams of some poor thing freshly awake, being pulled apart by Tock’s officer’s in the street outside my window. Not something I’ve ever wanted to wake up to, but it got me sharp in a hurry. I was on my feet, locking down my room before the covers had fallen off me.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My clock chimed as the dark hour neared its end. I pulled my coat across the floor, not bothering to rise from my sprawl. Fishing out the pack of cigarettes from the inside pocket, I lit up for the first time since I’d been to the market, several weeks past. I rolled onto my back and exhaled a dark sparking plume of smoke curling in the air above me. I watched it flicker, opaque and full of slivers of light. I wondered what was casting such a light from outside my window. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In the four and a half years I’d been in the city, I’d never seen a sliver of sunlight. It was against the purpose of this place, I guess. I breathed in deep and felt my chest heat up with the swirl of memories that came with each drag. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Pulling myself to a sitting position, I curled around myself as the sheets under which I slept bunched around me, long since abandoning the edges of the bare mattress where I had spent the last week holed up. Outside my window was an orb of light, high above the rooftops. Through the maze of pipes and chimneys I could see it hanging above, casting its light down onto the city. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It wasn’t the sun. I stared at it without blinking for some time, my eyes never feeling the near-forgotten scorch that the true sun would have brought. It certainly was a new, entrancing any of the city’s denizens who happened to look up. It looked like a ball of fire, frozen in place. There were cresses in the flame, what looked to be hollow spots of dark smoke. Tilting my head I could make out a demented face, half on its side, made from ash, smoke and flame. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I heard the clocks chime as the dark hour ended, signalling the beginning of a new day. I had got maybe an hour of sleep, far too much to be safe. I flexed my arms and legs as I finished off the cigarette. My body was thin, skin stretched tight over my slim frame. What little chest I had was covered by the tattoos which covered my body. The dragon that rested on my stomach stretched and yawned wordlessly as it flew across my skin, finding its place on my shoulder. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Pulling myself from my bed, I started cleaning the room. Striping anything that I may have touched. I folded the sheet I had slept under and pushed it into my bag. I pulled on my coat before stripping the bare room. I dropped the stub of cigarette into a tin that was buried in one of the pockets of my tattered brown coat. Leaving something like a stub behind was a sure way to lead people after you. All it would take was a single needle nose bloodhound to catch a scent and then I’d be done for. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Finishing the room, I closed the door behind me. The darkness of sleep had done me some good. My body stretched as it shook off the pains that had plagued me the night before. I got into the alleys behind the townhouse I was in, slipping past the silent figures that flowed along the street in the early morning. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The sky was dark as always. Morning was gauged by the clocks that grew like flowers throughout the city, and the fires in the lamps that shed light on the maze like streets. Morning meant that the flames were low in their lanterns, barely giving any light as I passed underneath them. The occasional street lamp gave off its weak cone of light, recovering from the intense light it had spewed forth before the dark hour had hit. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I turned a corner of the alley and found myself on a street lined with dying grass. I was nearer to the outskirts of the city than I would have liked. The warrens, the area outside of the city, were a useful place to know, but it was too confusing to me. The tall, pale grass scared me. The staircases that wound their way up into the mists that blanketed the ceiling unnerved me. I looked down the street to my right and saw that a few blocks away, the city died off with stunning abruptness, a Cliffside canyon spilling forth into the fields of the warrens. I turned my back to the empty sky and walked along the road, back into the heart of the city. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"> </div><div class="MsoNormal"> //seems that the Mad City from DRYH seems to be blending into the Nonaverse's Undermaze, tainted by heavy Echo Bazaar use. it makes for on interesting setting under the misty ceilings of teh Undermaze. - A<o:p></o:p></div>Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-70182353243848350212011-04-17T13:17:00.000-07:002011-04-17T13:17:47.634-07:00Another Set of days and updates<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few days ago, seven or eight ish, i decided to start writing daily again, as much to keep it going as to add yet another thing to my daily to do's. Any that have been refined enough for common reading i'll throw on here. why not, better than keeping them on file to be released ten years down the line.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">wonderland complex is falling behind, though I've a new build (0.4) with the ground work of the world done. i'm working on transfers which is taking a remarkable amount of time. it stuns me how much effort it takes to make sure where a door opens to opens back up to a similar place. with the focus I've been putting on WC, Under the Desk has inevitably suffered. i haven't done any more sketches, nor pieced together any of the frames more than i had a week past. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">i did finish Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, which was a terrific read. anyone who's ever worked as a line cook, or has ever entertained thoughts of professional cooking, this is a must-read. Busy days ahead as the end of April rushes towards us ever faster.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll polish and post what's presentable from the past few days in the next few minutes (read: short time ish)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">bai bai</span>Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-53348674874657409972011-03-31T09:21:00.001-07:002011-03-31T09:25:27.640-07:00EC Studios<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt5lajOpndaqmE2boWbSXVc4P_kR1oc6TV3ZF7ki3A67-jBbSE9hzOUB2ETsswyq_xESaLCBUneP5p07XyoYy_5cyGrAPnhL2r_nhDPP_ivQRynJLE3Rp8pkKX8s5qFaPe03gbFQ/s1600/hol01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt5lajOpndaqmE2boWbSXVc4P_kR1oc6TV3ZF7ki3A67-jBbSE9hzOUB2ETsswyq_xESaLCBUneP5p07XyoYy_5cyGrAPnhL2r_nhDPP_ivQRynJLE3Rp8pkKX8s5qFaPe03gbFQ/s320/hol01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I find myself branching a few different projects into an actual group as of late, and as such i've set up anotehr email to deal with it and all EC related work, etc. <br />
Echo's Corner Studios <a href="mailto:ecs.toronto@gmail.com">ecs.toronto@gmail.com</a><br />
That's all for teh momment, my current project is taking up a good slog of time. I'm working on part 6 of Awakening, other writing and Wonderland Complex, the game that's being built. all in all, busy days. hopefully some content put up again within the next week. I'll try to put a link up for the most recent build of Wonderland Complex, as more playtesting is always better than less.<br />
Also, Under the Desk, book review ala crude picture montage, is underway, after a long time stagnation. Many thanks to the three inspirations; The Spoony One, Yahtzee, and Daniel Floyd. That should be up in the next few weeks if i can get it done. So much on the horizon, so much fun. <br />
-aAtethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-12513031256879287852011-03-24T06:45:00.000-07:002011-03-24T06:45:39.881-07:00Thoughts On...Limitless<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPTEyrP_kK5n6ECHcWxQcO8fp76sYC7lIZRc9Y4j66KzbwasWRfkzvxIT5u6rQyuyzfRjbePQT7FCp7beNShiwUhN483U9jOZrohvKMdYhb4IEdQfmmw_sRvHYBJVUQ0ht03hIlw/s1600/Limitless-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPTEyrP_kK5n6ECHcWxQcO8fp76sYC7lIZRc9Y4j66KzbwasWRfkzvxIT5u6rQyuyzfRjbePQT7FCp7beNShiwUhN483U9jOZrohvKMdYhb4IEdQfmmw_sRvHYBJVUQ0ht03hIlw/s320/Limitless-Poster.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got a chance to see Limitless last Monday, and what a time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All I had heard before going in was that it was a remake of something back in the day, as so much is currently. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also caught the trailer sometime in the months preceding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This also marks the first time I’ve been out to a theatre in some time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It takes an intriguing movie or persuasive people to get me into a theatre, and it was the people this time, not so much the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Personally, I’ve been thinking of going to see Red Riding Hood, but that’s because it looks so delightfully camp, and I’d like to give the director a shot when she isn’t working with the Twilight series.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back to topic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, and I’ll be touching on mild <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">*SPOILERS*<o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bradley Cooper’s character explains himself as a muse-less writer, burnt out and in the gutter, so to speak, until a chance encounter with an estranged ex-brother-in-law provides him with a miracle drug.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>NZT, our deus-ex, acts as a jacked up, adult version of Ritalin, with no real downside or side effect, if used as directed (overdose causes memory lapses and psychosis).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As our protagonist pulls his life together, he starts moving up in the world, learning ad mastering skills, languages and perception in seconds rather than the requisite 10,000 hours it takes everyone else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He moves into the world of finance and business, gets in trouble with a loan shark, and meets DeNiro’s character at the top of the corporate ladder.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As for what didn’t sit well, the start up bugged me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I’m just getting burnt out on “Tarantino-ing” movies, starting with the end and then recapping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Limitless pushes it a bit though, which is a nice twist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The film starts with our suited protagonist on a ledge with pounding at the door behind him, ready to jump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then comes the first two acts as narrated flashback to bring the audience back to the ledge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It works, but it’s probably just me who’s getting to dislike the quick peek forward before being brought back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a good note, the film doesn’t end with a swan dive away from pursuers, but goes on to end the scene and then provide a fast forward epilogue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a good time, but outside of a handful of one-liners, isn’t that memorable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The acting is good, but nothing worthy of stunning praise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bradley Cooper’s transformation from a dishevelled writer to the sleek and suited business version of himself was that dramatic a moment as it should have been for me, but then I find makeover scenes a tad insulting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, the glimmer and gloss of Cooper’s blue eyes once he’s back on his wonder drug feels wonderfully simple and effective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The film was dynamic and constantly in motion, yet everything was visible and at no point was I unsure of what was happening on-screen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The stretched zoom-shots were dizzying at times, but were used to good effect for the time segues.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only thought that still stands out to me is something that I saw when coming out of the theatre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On ticket booth was a small poster which looked to be advertising the drug of the poster and my thought was this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>there aren’t many drug tie-ins with movies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve seen plenty of toys, books and games, but not many pharmaceutical’s marketed alongside movies, which is a pity, because if there was ever a drug to buy, NZT would be it, closely followed by some of the health care products provided by Umbrella Corp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I haven’t looked in to it, but what a fun concept.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The entire movie can be treated as an ad for a miracle drug with the profitable message, stick to the dose, don’t skip daily usage and your life will improve drastically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ll acquire fame, fortune and the illusive lifestyle of those who have it, along with all their toys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such build up for an enhanced concentration drug.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Overall impression was good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not the smartest movie out there by any margin, but it’s fast paced, good to look at and coherent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What complaints I level at it are drowned out by the good time I had; it was fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the trailer was a good time for you, give it a look.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-89346847702795963372011-03-15T08:57:00.001-07:002011-03-15T08:59:29.164-07:00Thoughts On...Heroes of Mana<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtY5l6kZZ1HiNTSOm-wh2Ef4CpEsOi5ygpBwxMvJKMObT-BjXXnJKCWNnVTISdNPssmQ4flCil2So2Upn4vTULcs5QPMk7B-yINnD76bZYnAR6ZUCKVm2ZcMRKuEq-SPtVf84ypw/s1600/2dbf573e6cc98cb89ef16266d5c39096-Heroes_of_Mana.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtY5l6kZZ1HiNTSOm-wh2Ef4CpEsOi5ygpBwxMvJKMObT-BjXXnJKCWNnVTISdNPssmQ4flCil2So2Upn4vTULcs5QPMk7B-yINnD76bZYnAR6ZUCKVm2ZcMRKuEq-SPtVf84ypw/s320/2dbf573e6cc98cb89ef16266d5c39096-Heroes_of_Mana.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Last night i spent an hour or so playing Heroes of Mana (NDS) and found it enjoyable. One of the main reasons i had a good time with it was that I've played far too much Warcraft III over the years. I've also sunk literally hundreds of hours into all three Final Fantasy Tactics games. both of these lend themselves well, as the art is done by the same guy as FFT:A2, Ryoma It<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">ō. It's nice Character style, but very easy to spot. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> One of the issues i found was that after the first twenty or so minutes, i was skipping through the dialogue and story, moving as quickly as i could to get to the combat, the plight of the people and why they were fighting as forgotten as most things that aren't shiny enough to hold my attention. The crazy thing was, I wasn't missing much. whenever i did slow down enough to grasp what was going on, the plot was so unbearably by the numbers that it might as well have used the stylus to connect the dots. does this sound familiar?</span></span><br />
<blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A small unit of soldiers featuring a rookie, a grizzled veteran, a a swordsman, a glass canon mage, a female thief, an archer. they are sent into enemy territory a a diversion while their armada invades the capital to seize a McGuffin. upon their arrival to the castle, they're turned on and have to fight against their own side. plot twist which is so overused it might as well be a light curve in the road. </span></span></blockquote><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-_gqclSUbwv9cqUwI6ciPvgvKTlhEioVTwaO7CaXpMcbOwH1bJnfLAaaKhFq1TVrkNCxcKofwPsVGBE6XHyS6yjbBauwpUtFT09wP5QoWlqPxisLBnpWBNdpFN1JxyU8-1dp8aA/s1600/tn_565_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-_gqclSUbwv9cqUwI6ciPvgvKTlhEioVTwaO7CaXpMcbOwH1bJnfLAaaKhFq1TVrkNCxcKofwPsVGBE6XHyS6yjbBauwpUtFT09wP5QoWlqPxisLBnpWBNdpFN1JxyU8-1dp8aA/s320/tn_565_4.jpg" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> I don't know, but the lack of originality on the plot side bugged me. still, it's a safe product, which is how i have it in my hands. WC3 is fun. Square RTS's are fun. throw in a standard plot that allows the player party to get in a lot of fights and we're off on a good time.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> It left me wanting something other than WC3 port skinned and codded by the FFT crew, glorious though they are. The mechanics work well. Units are selectable with more accuracy than a mouse would allow, something impressive for hardware, but it doesn't push the envelope far enough. a bit more freedom on the over world would be appreciated. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"> Maybe my issue with it is it's like many games i enjoy, but not enough like certain ones. Were it more free roaming like the first </span>FFT<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">, or dare i say it, Mount & Blade, one of the pinnacles of wide open sandbox games, i m</span>ight<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"> have enjoyed it a bit more. As it is I i might play it more, but </span>I'm<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"> pessimistic that it will surprise me.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"> Fun, but didn't do enough to distinguish itself on its own merits.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">//Images blatantly ripped off of Google.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span>Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-42070095106032235142011-03-09T19:49:00.000-08:002011-03-09T19:49:11.639-08:00The Awakening – Part V<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something which occurred to me after bouncing around a few sites was that I’m going about this process with a slight miscalculation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The elements of these games are more akin to myth arcs of heros than to the fairy tales that plague children with nightmares.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I mean by this is that they will always contain a level of action as well as exploration, rather than exploration and adventure which happens to have action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Survival horror overhaul not so much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Action</i> horror overhaul yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So what’s the difference?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, for one, the tropes that both rely on are different, to a certain degree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vulnerability in a protagonist isn’t mandatory, and indeed, Link is nothing if not an adaptable antagonist whose vulnerabilities are downplayed as game play progresses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vulnerability is still in place, but not at the forefront.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A parallel would be Dead Space as action horror against Silent Hill as survival horror.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The protagonists are both vulnerable and capable, but Dead Space’s lead is encased in armour and weilds a number of power tools while the lead’s of Silent Hill games are underpowered and mostly stay that way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The difference is the focus of frailty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This doesn’t deviate that far from my original intent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Survival horror would have Link negotiate Koholint with a shield and a limited supply of magic powder and that’s it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Action horror gives him a full complement of tools (see below) while still keeping his frailty (and fatality) a pressing concern by ramping up the difficulty of dungeons and the damage dealt by monsters. Genre change doen with, onwards!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Legend of Zelda has become, over its many iterations, formulaic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Link goes about the over world, exploring, uncovering minor treasures (pieces of heart, rupees, etc) and talking to the many inhabitants which he meets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is directed, after some story events, towards the first of several themed dungeons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He makes his to the dungeon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inside the dungeon he finds a new tool or weapon which he uses to negotiate the puzzles he encounters and to defeat the boss which guards the quest item.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Link’s new tool might then be used to open up new passages in the over world, allowing for more exploring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is something which sees some variety (Link finds his new toy before the dungeon, to gain access to it, the boss isn’t beaten using the newly acquired tool) but has, for the most part, become tradition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This game is no different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of the tools and weapons link acquires fit into or overlap between three categories: offense, defence, environmental/ease of access.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What follows is the item placement and the flow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll go into detail of specific items afterwards.</div><blockquote>Wake up/On the Way (OtW) – sword.1, shield.1, magic powder (from mushroom)<br />
Level 1: Tail Cave – Roc’s Feather<br />
OtW – Bombs<br />
Level 2: Bottle Grotto – Power Bracelet<br />
OtW – Shovel, Ocarina<br />
Level 3: Key Cavern – Pegasus Boots<br />
OtW – song, (date with Marin), sword.2<br />
Level 4: Angler’s Tunnel – Flippers<br />
OtW –song<br />
Level 5: Catfish’s Maw – shield.2<br />
OtW – bow, (reveal, life boost)<br />
Level 6: Face Shrine – daydream cloak<br />
OtW – rooster, shield.3<br />
Level 7: Eagle’s Tower – Rope (hookshot replacement)<br />
OtW – sword.3 (seashells)<br />
Level 8: Turtle Rock – fire rod/lamp<br />
OtW – boomerang<br />
Wing Fish/End Game</blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the most part Link’s tools fall under multiple categories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sword itself is both ease of access as well as the primary offensive tool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bushes that block Link’s way are cut down (ignoring the logic of just jumping over bush, of climbing about it, but that’s game logic so we’ll move past it), opening new paths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Come to think of it, most all the tools that Link acquires are used to get past broken bridges at one point or another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><ul><li>The Sword – The battered sword (fist level) does one quarter damage and is found on the beach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The steel sword (second level) does regular damage and is found in caves on the way to Anglers tunnel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Seashell Sword (level three) is found in the seashell cottage and does double damage as well as sending out sword beams at full life.</li>
<li>The Shield – Link gets a wooden shield (first level) from Marin before he explores the beach at the beginning of the game, which last fifteen to twenty hits before breaking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The solid bone shield (level two) is found in Catfish’s Maw and doesn’t break, but can still be stolen by like-likes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Link finds the mirror shield (level three) before Eagle’s Tower.</li>
<li>Magic Powder – Made from a mushroom found in the Mysterious Wood, this changes a few enemies but is mostly used to set things of fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sources of light are valuable and finding refills are important.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fire and light plays a larger part when night comes and shadows need to be kept at bay.</li>
<li>Roc’s Feather – Let’s Link jump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No change.</li>
<li>Bombs – Bought from the Mabe shop, these now cause far more damage, doing a full seven hearts of damage to Link.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Link is warned about their damage when he buys them from the shop.</li>
<li>Power Bracelet – Pick up pots rocks and other things. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No change.</li>
<li>Shovel – Allows Link dig in the ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bought from the shop in Mabe Village. No change.</li>
<li>Ocarina – Plays songs and is found in the dream shrine in Mabe Village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Link learns a few more songs, the Ballad of the Wind Fish, Frog’s Song of Soul (resurrects the dead or asleep), Manbo’s Mambo (teleports Link to different ponds on the island), Muse’s Melody (progress the time of day to dawn), Hero’s Anthem (repels monster’s), and Richard’s Requiem (learned upon Richard’s death near the end of the game, this restocks inventory items (bombs, bow, powder, etc).</li>
<li>Pegasus Boots – Using the boots allows Link to dash as well as charge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Holding down the button makes Link run on the spot before charging forward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tapping a direction without holding down to charged makes link dash in a direction, acting as a dodge backward and a strafe to each side.</li>
<li>Flippers – Allows Link to swim and dive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No change.</li>
<li>Bow – Buy from the shop for a very large sum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No change.</li>
<li>Daydream Cloak – similar effect to the Cane of Somaria from A Link to the Past, this turns link intangible and invisible, visible only by his shadow, allowing him to bypass traps and the gaze of monsters, but not holes, or damage by contact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is one of the items that is heavily influenced by the reveal of just before Face Shrine, where Link finds it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </li>
<li>Rope – The rope is found in Eagle’s tower and, if used with the bow, acts as a makeshift hookshot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Used alone it immobilizes enemies, tethering them for a short period of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sword and rope makes a wide spin attack, while equipped with the power bracelet it can be used to pull, lift and throw things from a distance.</li>
<li>Fire rod/lamp – The last tool Link finds in a dungeon, and the last mandatory weapon to equip before Link heads off to wake the Wind Fish, this lantern sends out a stream of fire (link the fire rod) which burns things alive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When equipped, it also produces a radius of light which repels shadows and nightmarish creatures that thrive on the dark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This makes traveling the over world far less threatening, as Link now has a constant source of light during the night periods which keep monsters away.</li>
<li>Boomerang – Traded in a cave on the beach for one of the items in your inventory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No change</li>
</ul><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those are the items Link comes across.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few changes, but for the most part, tinged towards a more defensive and reactionary style of game play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Part VI </b>looks at the dungeons of Koholint, more story and more ways to shift the game towards action horror.Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-51612731661163642272011-02-26T10:24:00.000-08:002011-02-26T10:24:51.333-08:00The Awakening - Part IV<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:RelyOnVML/> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-CA</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>Right into objectives, Zelda games have always been fairly simple as far as the types of goals they present their players and this is no different, nor should it be changed.<span> </span>There are game arc goals (escape the island) and the host of objectives necessary to complete them.<span> </span>To give a rambling explanation of the breakdown:</div><blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><i><span> </span>Link is told that to escape the island he must wake the Wind Fish.<span> </span>To do that he needs to find eight mystical instruments, each buried in a dungeon and guarded by a boss. <span> </span>To defeat each boss he has to negotiate the dungeon, more often than not themed around the item, tool or weapon that link finds within said dungeon.<span> </span>To compound issues, each dungeon is placed in areas that are barricaded, blocked, guarded or generally difficult to get to, making the journey to, and entrance into, each dungeon a leg of the journey.<span> </span>Once Link has all eight instruments, he had better have found the ocarina (first instance of music involvement in the games, huzzah! Outside of the whistle in link to the past which was more a teleport than a narrative tool), so that he can play the melody to wake the Wind Fish outside of it’s egg, after he’s learned the melody of course.<span> </span>Playing the melody doesn’t wake the Wind Fish immediately though, as the nightmares that are plaguing the dream that Link has found himself in make a final stand, only after Link makes his way through the featureless maze that is the Wind Fish.<span> </span>Then Link has to beat THE Nightmare, an amalgamation of many serious enemies, and only after that can Link meet the Wind Fish and then wake up, escaping the island.<span> </span>Of course Link is still stranded on a plank of wood in the middle of a large body of water, but that’s outside of game play, at the end of the game.<span> </span></i></div></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>Each step breaks down into large goals, which then break down into mid level and immediate goals, providing direction behind the ever looming goal of survival. This is a way with storytelling in most games, and not a bad way to go about it.<span> </span>Survival Horror tries to veer towards a more expanded story, residing comfortably in act two and three, while feeding act one back to players, usually through logs or narrative that gives exposition.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>Link’s Awakening has little to no act one.<span> </span>It doesn’t really need it.<span> </span>Even to those who have a cursory glance of gaming know Link.<span> </span>He’s the generic hero, the green glad lad who journey’s forth to save the land by beating up the big bad, whoever that may be in whichever landscape he finds himself in.<span> </span>Lots of the Zelda games have featured three act plots, and they’ve been the better for it.<span> </span>The plot that Link finds himself in gives a fraction of a first act in the games intro cinematic.<span> </span>Link’s at sea, struck down by lightning, washed ashore, go.<span> </span>It doesn’t NEED a complex story, In Medias Res works with such a long running franchise, if the continuity is muddled.<span> </span>But it can still be fleshed out.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>The Wind Fish is the element that the game revolves around.<span> </span>Waking it from its slumber brings link back to consciousness.<span> </span>The entire game is the dreaded dream sequence, loathed and abused by so many TV shows. <span> </span>It doesn’t need to make use of exposition, because in the broad view of the game, there is no exposition.<span> </span>The game’s a dream.<span> </span>Link triggered a dream apocalypse, destroying any exposition revealed about the game.<span> </span>But it didn’t have to be this way.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>So the climax hits, Link goes to the egg to wake the Wind Fish.<span> </span>At this point the player knows, for at least a dungeon or two, that the world they’ve been exploring is a dream.<span> </span>So why not enforce this destruction?<span> </span>After Link takes out the last nightmare in Turtle Rock (last dungeon) the world could undergo a massive shift.<span> </span>Nothing overtly menacing, but desperate.<span> </span>Every NPC Link runs into could act sickeningly sweet, all the time begging Link not to destroy their home. Once the world is on the precipice of destruction, it’s changed.<span> </span>The monsters of the land are no longer the enemy, Link is.<span> </span>Monsters do their part to destroy Link, Townsfolk do their part to try to keep themselves alive by keeping Link with them.<span> </span><span> </span>She might want to leave the island, but her island is her home, and now that all the NPCs feel the island quake and twist under the pressure of the force trying to end the dream (aka Link) they try to hold on. Marin might actually stand in front of the Wind Fish’s egg, protecting it with herself.<span> </span>Link might be continually called into question with his actions.<span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>And what if, here’s a fun thought, Link has to break his character of “the hero” to do so?<span> </span>His goal is a very selfish one in this game; escape the island at all costs, even if it means destroying the island full of people you’ve interacted with, people who nursed you back to health.<span> </span>What if Marin stands opposed on the hills of Tamaranch Mountain?<span> </span>Link might brush past her and into the Egg, ignoring her pleas for her island. What if the second last form of the nightmare that haunts the Wind Fish isn’t that quick sliding speck of darkness, but in Marin’s form, begging one last time?<span> </span>Forcing the player to cut down a woman he’s saved, who’s nursed him back to health, who’s gone out on a date with him? <span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>The Nightmare takes the form of Marin, who begs him to stand down, to let the world live?<span> </span>If the player cuts her down where she stands, she transforms into the final form, wailing in agony.<span> </span>If the player talks to her, she gives them a chilling choice:<span> </span>Link closes his eyes and wakes up, happy and well in Mabe village, with Marin by his side, or cut down the woman who so resembles the Zelda of his mind, the woman who pulled him from the shores.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>The possibility for a more twisted narrative is there, but it requires tough decisions, ones that can be easily glossed over, but questions which the Zelda games have never asked.<span> </span>This is that chance.<span> </span><b>Part V</b> is going to take a look at the items and the dungeons they deal with, sticking to the thematic formula, but breaking the way they go about it.</div>Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-68852014446820503712011-02-24T22:21:00.002-08:002011-02-24T23:38:40.156-08:00The Awakening - Part III<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Welcome to Mabe</b></span><br />
<blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Link walks about in the morning sun. The village looks quaint and friendly, if not a bit secluded. The atmosphere is upbeat. He finds a field of grass, a store, a crane game store, an odd shaped weather vane statue, a few houses, all lined by forest edge. To the east the path out of the town is blocked by dense trees and a weighty boulder. To the north he finds the entrance to a forest blocked by tall grass. It looks shadowy and ominous even during the day.</span></blockquote><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As he walks about the village, he finds the sun moving over head. He makes his way past the town library to the path that leads to the beach he washed ashore on. He finds a small group of children playing ball. Past them, Marin stands near the gate. </span></blockquote><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Marin informs him that the monsters of the island have a keen nose and that if he’s been wounded, they’ll zero in on him and continuously attack [bleeding tutorial]. To protect him, she gives him a wooden shield, telling he that he can use it to block enemies and turn aside their attacks. Unfortunately, it’s only a flimsy wooden shield [lvl. 1 shield get!] that she bought at the town store some time ago, so it will break after enough abuse. Marin warns Link to be careful, asking again if he really must leave the safety of the village. She closes the gate behind him, telling him that he’ll be able to pass through if he knocks with his shield nearby. </span></blockquote><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Link makes his way through the octoroks and pushes his way through to find a battered sword lying amidst what’s left of the ruins of his ship. As soon as he goes to claim his sword, an owl flaps down and starts talking.</span></blockquote><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The monsters of the islands are acting up and Link is to blame. The owl claims that link has come to wake the Wind Fish, for that is the only way Link can escape the island. It then directs link north, to the mysterious woods. After exploring the beach, link notices the sun dropping and heads back to Mabe village, through which he’ll find the entrance to the next step in his journey.</span></blockquote><span style="font-size: small;"> So much happens in so little time! The bleeding tutorial requires few lines of dialogue and then the player is left to figure it out on their own once they get in a tangle with some enemies. At this point Link can engage enemies and get a feel for the inventory system. The player can swap both items between the buttons, setting up their control scheme for the problems they have to face. The shield Link is given breaks after about twenty hits, which gives the player a vulnerable defence. The sword Link finds, chipped and battered but functional, deals a quarter damage of what a new sword would.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> This presents a chance that some players won’t notice. The store in Mabe village sells shields, a new sword, a shovel, and three hearts to heal what ails Link. One of the easter eggs of Link’s Awakening was the ability to steal from the store, dashing out the door while the clerk is facing away. Once outside, the game says “Guess what? You got it for free. Are you proud of yourself?” This does save time on some of the high ticket items (bow and arrows especially) but upon entering next time, the clerk electrocutes Link to death, and from then on all the NPCs call Link , not by his name, but Thief. The Awakening keeps the same thing, only adds a bit more injury. Players who steal the level 2 sword (does regular damage, four times what the lvl.1 does) are no longer allowed to buy shields. The clerks recognize Link and tell him to put them back. This gives thieving players the opportunity to increase their attack at the cost of never being able to buy a shield again, as well as the name change and the death once Link walks back into the store.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> One departure from the original that might rely on higher tech would be a day/night system. This wouldn’t be a real time system (like the Game Boy Colour Pokemon games used) but would alter depending on screen navigation. Every dozen or so screen shifts advances the time.Morning shifts into Day, which shifts into Evening, which shifts into Night, which shifts into Dawn, which shifts back into Morning.</span><br />
<blockquote style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Once back in Mabe, Link notices that the sun has set. The kids playing ball are gone, as are the chickens that roamed about the village. Putting it out of his mind, he goes north, towards the entrance to the Mysterious Wood.</span></blockquote><span style="font-size: small;"> A full day cycle would take between 70 and 80 screen shifts, the average change being between twelve and fifteen screen changes. The cycle is also skewed towards darkness, with three of the five parts presenting worse visibility. The difference and point is to change the types of enemies, give the game a bit more depth and to limit visibility, making light an essential point.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> On the NPCs, it’s good to note that those that Link does encounter already have a bit of the uncanny floating about them. This is lost on the player game logic breeds players who exept the eccentricities of the game world. People who stand in a single spot, quest givers that require specific items with no practical alternative, NPCs who trade meaningless items which work in a linear fashion towards an end prize. Games are littered with these tropes, and Zelda games are no different, creating its fair share. The trading game (which was first featured in this game) is another example of bizarre behaviour we now take for granted. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> The day/night cycle and the dreamscape motif provide for creativity which the game misses, as well as plenty of opportunity to provide dread. New among the wandering monsters of Koholint are:</span><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-size: small;">Veils – these appear during the three night cycles. They spawn as small shadows from the scenery, stretching out and pulling Link in (eye pulse pull mechanic), damaging Link upon contact. They often aren’t clearly visible, only drawing Link in when he’s within a certain range, as opposed to an event triggered by entry into its screen. They can’t be killed. If Link equips a light source, he isn’t affected.</span></li>
</ul><ul><li><span style="font-size: small;">Morphs – morphing shadows, blobs of inky blackness that cycle through enemies depending on proximity, bleeding effect. Morphs aren’t a cycle of enemies, but a black cloud that shifts between enemies attacks and vague forms. And octorok bullet requires an octorock head, which may sprout if Link passes by within given conditions. These resemble the final nightmare, to a far lesser degree. They run from light, can only be damaged by fire (powder, fire rod, best sword beam, fire/light source). </span></li>
</ul><ul><li><span style="font-size: small;">Lesser Nightmares – these are periphery monsters, creatures who act intelligently, provide dread and speak in the same style as the bosses. They’re akin to dungeon-less bosses who lurk behind the scenes, slipping off screen whenever Link gets close by. The first one Link encounters is responsible for stealing Bow-Wow, who Link has to go retrieve in order to gain access to Bottle Grotto, the second dungeon.</span></li>
</ul><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> This makes me think that I need to spend some time talking about the Zelda dungeon formula and the new complement of weapons and items Link finds through his journey. Also, the many tiered objectives I haven’t gotten too yet, as well as Link’s journey through the Mysterious Wood to find the Tail Key and make his way to the first dungeon. <b>Part IV</b> coming up.</span>Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-29740298203287056712011-02-18T12:24:00.003-08:002011-02-24T23:38:40.157-08:00The Awakening - Part II<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Morning Comes</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 5.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Link wakes to find Marin and Tarin's house empty. Moving about he gets access to the game mechanics, movement via D-pad, inventory (start) and map (select) which is blacked out. Link also has the A and B buttons unassigned. A glance at the inventory screen shows a blank page, three hearts, and no money. Wandering outside, he gets his first look at Mabe Village.</span></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Here's a good point to break narrative for a bit to talk about hardware. Link's Awakening was one of the first game's to push the then-new handheld system. It was released in 1993, four short years after the system's premier. Considering this is a reboot more than a decade after the fact, I’m ignoring much of the technological progress that's been made, the most relevant being colour, resolution, memory limitations and layer limitations. Interestingly enough, some of these hardware issues aren't necessarily a bad thing. The monochrome nature of the game was re-hauled in the colourful DX remake (Game Boy Colour, 1998), and while it livens up a Zelda game into a bright and diverse experience, the monochrome forces the player to distinguish between the shades of grey. This, in its own small way, pushes the player to use their imagination, which can create far better atmosphere then the handheld could alone. The modern drive for a sharpened reality look is often to the detriment of horror, which realize heavily on the unknown. That being said, I’m working under the assumption of an altered state, be it a recoded ROM or a remake from the ground up using modern tech to deliver the same style and end result.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> With this in mind, the resolution wouldn’t change. Each screen would still have 10 by 8 tile set map, below which is the 10 by 2 heads-up display (HUD). I have some reservation about keeping the HUD, but it does serve its purpose rather well. I find that for games that try to keep an atmosphere, the less HUD, the better. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> The example I have of this isn’t a survival horror, but implements it’s HUD with an ear to the player. Assassin’s Creed 2 ( I’m going by Xbox360 play) starts with a full HUD featuring life, weapons, button functions, mini-map, hints, info, a veritable cornucopia of user information. The novel thing is that every single one can be turned off. Within the pause menu options, the player can toggle every independent piece of HUD on or off, depending on their desired way of play. While this might show uncertainty on part of the dev team who weren’t sure what to keep as a HUD, the option lets players tailor their experience. Veterans who don’t need the button configuration, or who know how to take their HP cues from audio signals can clear those features out of the way, giving even more of the screen over to scenery. What’s more, if the PC is damaged, the life bar may (toggle switch) flash up on the HUD to alert the player, before fading away, leaving the screen uncluttered.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Back to Awakening. Would removing the HUD be a bad thing? Yes and no. The map system was built around the HUD, rather than the HUD being layered on top of the map system. That being the case, giving the 10x2 tiles of movement and action would add more hassle than atmosphere, as the HUD never gets in the way of the action. It may be a bit of a strain on immersion, but on a handheld game, unless you’re playing in the dark (a very, VERY painful process on the original Game boy, which did not feature a backlit screen) the HUD won’t be touched. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> While I’m still harping on about the HUD, it bears mention that the right side, devoted to heart containers, won’t be filling up the same way. Heart container’s provide additional life, and provided rewards for both boss completion as well as exploration. The problem is, more life diminishes the weight and damage posed by enemies, as well as the threat that they pose. The player starts with three heart containers, gains eight from boss drops, collects 3 from scattered ¼ heart containers, giving them a max life of 14 heart containers. An easy way to get around this is to ramp up the damage done by late game creatures. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Something else is to eliminate the collection of heart pieces. The logic of finding random containers of life about the island doesn’t make much sense, despite it being a Zelda trope. However, within the game’s narrative, it might be justified. Exploration of the dreamscape that Link explores rewards him with further understanding of the area he’s found himself in, characterized by heart containers. Still, I’d rather explore the land for a reason more thematic then arbitrary boosts. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Instead of having the heart containers be boss drops, have them tied to narrative a bit more. Before going to the sixth dungeon, Face Shrine, Link learns that not only is he within a dream, but waking the Wind Fish (overarching objective) to escape means waking up, causing a dream apocalypse. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> This one plot point can be given so much more weight than it already had. From this point on, Link understands why bosses drop lie, their death results in Link achieving a more lucid state. Any heart containers picked up before this reveal won’t be active, but will be held as a story item, next to the trading game item. Once Link learns that he’s in a dream, the heart container’s he’s found become active, life, power to survive within the dream, flows through him. Link get’s a mid game power up with narrative worth, making the early game more challenging while also providing a bit more context to the powers that are being earned.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Euch, okay, I haven’t gotten to the layers of objectives or even out of the house. <b>Part III</b> picks those up as well as some thoughts on monster design, some items and plot.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div></div>Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-75855375372758999242011-02-10T21:49:00.001-08:002011-02-24T23:38:40.158-08:00The Awakening - LOZ:LA reboot into survival horror. Part I<div class="MsoNormal"> For today’s exorcise, i’m going to take a look at one of my favourite games, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening for the Gameboy, and see how i can spin it into darker territories. This is a game very close to my heart and one i’ve clocked truly obscene amounts of hours playing, replaying, toying with to understand its secrets. I even wrote a guide for it that was on gamefaqs for a while, that’s how into this game i was. As i lay in hot water my mind went drifting through survival horror mechanics and i found that the genre would suit the game rather well, or at least adapt itself to the different tone well. Sure it isn’t usual Zelda fare, but the series could do with some diversity in the way it goes about reusing the IP. They can’t all be green tunic'ed and happy. Bring on the darkness.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Awakening</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"> To start out I'm going to be gutting a lot of conventions of the series, starting with the notion that Link can take on everything on the island, so long as he visits all the dungeons and has the specific items. there are going to be enemies that can't be killed, a series no-no (outside of plot and NPCs). The tools and weapons that link collects won't be the standard fare. there will be a sword, but it won't be until after a dungeon or two. there'll be a starting knife, but I'll get to that. combat, one of the staples of the Zelda franchise, is going to be present, but not until Link learns how to survive. run and live, <i>then</i> learn how to fight.</div><div class="MsoNormal"> For those who haven't yet Wiki'd the game, or who don't know what I'm talking about, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Link's_Awakening">here</a> and <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Ptitlewuich34p?from=Main.TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening">here</a>. with that stated, not that it matters with such an old game, but <b><i>spoilers</i></b> and plot and all that will be rent asunder. you are duly warned. moving on.</div><div class="MsoNormal"> the real kicker is that the basic premise of the game would remain largely unchanged. Link is on sea in his little dingy of a vessel, a storm hits, his boat gets struck by lighting, and he's tossed into the ocean. he drifts ashore onto a beach of Koholint and a young girl named Marin takes him home to the local village and nurses him back to health. upon his waking, he embarks on a quest to escape the island. Adventure Ho!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Flicking the switch On</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"> so right off the bat a few things happen which bear mentioning. the intro cinema takes about 50 seconds to get get to the title splash and pretty much tells us all we need to know. boat on the ocean, storm, glimpse of a rendered character (oh yeah that'd change, definitely), wreck, sprite lying unconscious on beach, Marin walks up, prods him, the shot pans up to the egg on the mountain which is the title backdrop, bang title splash and the musics been following the pan up, jumping into the melody when the title splash hits. I'll keep it all save the rendered Link. less is more and the picture never really was close to the Link i pictured. a silhouette would get the job done and keep that mystique. i think it was the round nose that i disliked. Euch. the palm beach might be darkened some, but it's not a big deal.</div><div class="MsoNormal"> the music though, would have to change. i love the music for this game, but it's very catchy, upbeat and hopeful, which isn't the mood to convey. keep the Zelda melody, but play it down something fierce. somber lead in, not optimistic. this isn't a story with a happy ending, but it's an ending that Link has to work towards regardless. what that ending is though, I'll get to at a later time. suffice to say that the entire score would be calmed down, and depressed: darker moods and sombre renditions.</div><div class="MsoNormal"> the requisite stripping of all items, health, spells, abilities, etc from previous titles happens during the storm, and this works well from both the standpoint of a weaker Link, a good element of horror, as well as providing him a chance to find new items (which of course goes mostly unused 'cause this is a Zelda game, and too much change frightens off the fan base). next, Link wakes up in a house with a young woman standing over him and her uncle barring the way outside until you say hi and get your shield from him. this set up's going to change a bit:</div><blockquote>Link wakes up and sees the meager shack around him. near above him a young lady looks eagerly on as he stirs. outside, dusk is setting on. pulling himself up, the young lady startles at his movement and rushes to introduce herself and his current situation. he was found washed ashore and was hurriedly dragged back to the village. it was a miracle that he was alive when she found him because... Link doesn't find out as Marin's introduction is interrupted by her uncle, sitting near the table on the other side of the room. pulling himself to his feet, link goes and introduces himself to Tarin, Marin's uncle, who tells him to rest up, and that he shouldn't be going out at night, especially with injuries. Link crawls back into bed and the night wears on. he sleeps to rise the next morning.</blockquote> the tone is darker and the dread that Link was a lucky find and could just have easily died lying on the sandy beach adds more dread still. something else to notice is the distinct lack of shield. Tarin<br />
Something that I'm adding to the mechanics that isn't really necessary is a day/night cycle. this will allow for a light mechanic to be implemented at various points and will make all the safe havens that much safer. every town and gathering of NPCs will be bathed in light, regardless of time. during the day the island will keep it's usual colouring (or lack there of, this being a game <i>before</i> colours, when the pixel mix was what gave shading), while during the night, darkness is prevalent, holes are that much more easier to fall into, and navigating the island will be that much more treacherous. <br />
This set up also introduces another mechanic: monster attraction when damaged, more commonly thought of as 'blood in the water.' when Link is below full health (2.5/3 - .5/3), <i>bleeding</i> for reference sake, monsters are drawn to him. they can smell him out (as dialogue with townsfolk will tell him). when he is full health he an stealth by monsters, unless he bumps into them, but otherwise, he's going to have to run, negotiating new terrain and level s quickly, with monsters on his heals. this makes finding a weapon or a defense that much more important and adds the not often used Zelda stealth mechanic (run by, run by when distracted or turned away, distract, then run by, hide wait then run by) without much more added coding. upon shifting into a screen containing a foe, if Link is bleeding, monsters sniff once, maybe twice, then come after him, switching their coded paths from default to pursuit, as they do when Link starts to attack them.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Part II</b> kicks off with link actually getting up and about, players getting a feel for the game play and the beginning of tiers upon tiers of objectives. all that and more, coming up.</div>Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-26913258359090664042011-02-03T19:39:00.000-08:002011-04-17T14:19:40.201-07:00The first three daysa month of writing is a smaller goal then my last, being a year. still, i'll go month to month and keep it as i come. the first three days below. of onto trip. should be fun. hobbie-ho.<div>--</div><div><div class="MsoNormal">The first february </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">“You have seven days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that you won’t remember anything but those days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each day you will be reborn into a new vessel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each vessel will have remnants of the days past, and yet be something different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you should die during any day, you will begin the next day as if you had finished the previous regularly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end of those seven days, should you fail, you will be reset, as if the loop never occurred. You will remember no details, only that the cycle will have repeated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you continue to fail, your will inevitably drive yourself mad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Succeed, break the cycle, and you will move on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You won’t remember anything of those days, you will be free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do not fail again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your strain only increases as the loop repeats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You are getting closer and closer to madness each time you return here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Break the loop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have seven days.”</div><div class="MsoNormal">--</div><div class="MsoNormal">The second february.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The caravan pulled to a halt, its pieces bounding along behind it, each piece coming still at last.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The escort for the caravan was a fleet of blimps requisitioned out of Timfix.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The procession was heading through the last mountain range and within a day’s travel, before nightfall if they were fortunate, the escorting blimps would see their home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Aboard the second blimp, tending the middle and front of the caravan procession, Seline leaned on a railing, watching the halt below.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The wind of the mountains whipped around her, her muffled hat trailing around her, the fur soft and warm wherever it touched.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Against her leg, at her side, her crossbow rested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her eyes had perked up and she scanned the space around her and then the space below, searching for airborne threats to her charges, before moving on to the ground based threats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was movement, people wondering after the cause for the sudden halt, but no threat was revealing itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">She was tense as her blimp circled about, rising high out between the mountains that shielded the path from the harsher winds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The trail cut through the mountains and made blimp escort tricky, but not impossible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seline held tight to the hand rail and her crossbow as the blimp climbed for the early morning sunlight, to clear the tightest passage of the mountain pass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If there was to be an attack on the caravan, it would be after the pass, when the trail led through a small valley where the remnants of a town still stood desecrated and abandoned, home only to the thieves and bandits that hose it a poaching hideout.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Seline breathed in the sharp cold air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her job became far more serious in a matter of minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was when she earned her pay, when she protected her charges, still, she thought only of her home in the city, and her small house, stacked among so many others, which await her return home.</div><div class="MsoNormal">--</div><div class="MsoNormal">The third february</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">She sits above me, her face remembered out of a dream.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was it a dream where I saw her?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where I became so enamoured by hr features?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It passed by so quickly and now it’s gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps it was a dream, and she was nothing more than a fleeting rush, grasped for in desperation, held tight in passion and then faded away to nothing but a memory moments later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t look at her face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t see the contour or outline of her body as she lay next to me, smiling quietly, her eyes half closed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t smell the scent that filled the room I was keeping, whenever she came by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can only remember her from a half forgotten dream.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I feel where she laid, the indent that should be filled next to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The comfort and solace I try to remember escapes me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I keep asking myself it she was real.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was the time we had together real?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It came and went so fast, and yet at the time it felt like years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had so little else save the ritual.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our ritual.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then I didn’t do, didn’t play my part and the world folded upon itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The walls crumbled and melted to grass and pavement, my bed rising through the ceiling to fall through another floor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The light blazed around me and then shrunk back into place.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I find myself lying in my bed, alone with a shape of what could have been a memory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish I could hold on to you for longer, but it so rarely happens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t seem to get a good enough hold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too often I hope to see you before I fall asleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Were you my dream, or were you real, gone further than any half remembered dream could?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p> --</o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p><br />
</o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p>yeah...it'll be a fuuun month...</o:p></div></div>Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-48648074790366129772011-01-19T09:22:00.000-08:002011-01-19T09:22:31.391-08:00The Bridge Wars and RPG VXOnce again i find myself reinstalling the program, building a world i already built which somehow got lost. a few years ago i put in a few months of free summer time into RPGVX in efforts to build the island of Jaren, bordering Lilon within the Nonaverse. that being done i moved onto characters plot, event mapping etc. i don't know where it went but my files of the project disappeared over the spanning years so that all i'm left with is my long hand notes and a theme song Enigmachina made for the project. <br />
So here i am playing around in the program again, a different story lingering in mind, fully aware that whatever time i sink into this will most likely be for not as the story's still to expansive. The Bridge Wars spans three countries/continents and came out of the domain class'e that i randomly designs skill tiers for. i'd proly have far better luck writing out snippets of the story. perhaps i'll do that.<br />
Then again, just mapping out the islands is a good feeling. i think its the catharsis of pulling unfinished projects back into the foreground. <br />
we shall see how things go...Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-82041719933532669112011-01-02T21:44:00.002-08:002011-01-02T21:46:39.164-08:00A handful of game ideas<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">Going through some old notes and docs in my files i came across some quick ideas of what could have once become games. the treatments were sometimes scrappy at best, mere bylines, but they're ideas non the less. and they do no good floating my archives if they could be floating around the undermind, so out into the spheres they go.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: white;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><b>Treatment </b>A</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> PC start the game with a past he/ she's trying to forget, the goal of the game to reach the marine recruiting centre that wipes your memory and name, turning you into one of the many ubiquitous amnesiac third person shooter space marines. Who then try to discover their past. Funny how that works.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: white;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><b>Treatment </b>Survival horror inversion. PC is a monster, or something similar. Light hurts you, enemies are trying to fend you off as you poke around. Upon reflection this bears shocking similarity to the 'i am legend' premise, but maybe that's a good thing. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><b>Treatment </b>Instead of trapping the hero in a remote, monster filled location they must escape, place them in a densely populated environment where <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SomebodyElsesProblem">no one will help them.</a> bittersweet ending of the hero going insane and only then people see them and helping, once all hope was lost.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><b>Treatment </b>Have a premise where that the PC is a pacifist and is confronted by shambling body horrors and they try to escape through surreal horror (Undermind methinks) the player “loses” whenever they decide to fight. If they take a stand against a monster (decidedly out of character) then the monsters realize that the opponent is now “active” and respond in kind. A lot. Hard. Non standard game over. Games Aesop about losing the virginity of violence.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><b>Treatment </b>Simple platformer ala braid and limbo. Sword dude, long thing double edged rounded tip ninjato mod. Revolver long reload, inf ammo, but long range. Characters burst from each other s chest when switching between each other. Trade off in a literal killer 7 or lost Viking style.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><b>Treatment </b>Character has only one superpower (similar to braid only not as developed) which is to freeze frame the game reality. The plays function button act as the simple save, load. The way that this could be useful would be a knowledge driven story over a materialistic key or quest item driven story. The PC has to learn things, which stay with him/her and then when the freeze frame loads he/’she keeps all memory and knowledge gains, loses all material gain. This could work on a similar pared down version of the engine, where the character sheet wouldn’t be as necessary. A log of all information, conversation gains (which the game registers as coded triggers anyway) are logged and at any point the game can be captured/loaded. Of course, because I love the mindscrew too much that I would make it far more common, the more the load and save is used, the worse effect it has on your character. The character has to use it to progress through the game, but the more its used, the more unhinged the player becomes. the data that is loaded becomes corrupted. the character starts to remember events that others allude to, but they never experienced and they aren't complete memories by any margin.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><b>Treatment </b>A game that focuses on time controls and manipulation. Not only would it have a physics engine but a time engine as well, which would create possible parallels that the player could switch between randomly while learning and consciously after becoming comfortable with their powers. Automatic time shifting.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><b>Treatment</b> A game of hitmen in an active 3d world, mmorpg perhaps, only it wouldn’t be so much of an rpg. I'm thinking Sid Meyers Pirates only using a glacier engine (Assassin's Creed) in a mmo setting that has interactivity. The few people in the city who kill, a variety of missions, when other players enter into your city/world.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><b>Treatment</b> A game where you play as a shape shifter, morphing between different powers and controls. Devil may cry meets Pendragon’s Saint Dane meets the powers that Marvel vs Capcom put on display, all in a single character, swappable at will with minor control scheme variation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><b>Treatment</b> Rpg where you start the game with Hollywood amnesia caused by trauma at a certain level mid game would usually be reserved too. The narrative switches from the past to the present, where after the intro scenes, you switch control to the past and start to build the characters, the thing here would be a time travel plot of some nature, where the player builds the character that has already been built, only there choices are reflected in the past versions they’ve already played. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">This could also be lampshaded in a way that the player describes in conversation what he/she would want in a companions ability innocuously and that is created with the characters sheet being rolled up later on in the plot and one of the characters saying something to the effect of “ funny, thats so close what you were describing. Some of the traits described would be opposed or randomized, and would indeed be different on a separate play through following the same path.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white;">I'm thinking this for a modern rpg. I’d kick it earthbound style with modern-ish weapons or maybe Cthulhu era weaponry, with similar devastating effects. In fact, I wouldn’t even have a level system inside of it I would have something much more akin to coc’s system where you don’t level up but your skills do. I love the hit detection that Dark Corners had but I’d have to say atmosphere wise I would like to stick third person. Something about the movement scheme of first person games never sat well with me, but given the possibilities, it could also be something that lets you switch from first to third person.</span></div>Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-38830745394669569322010-12-30T21:53:00.000-08:002010-12-30T21:53:33.675-08:00The Straw Hat Samurai Analysis//two days ago i was on a samurai kick and went through some flash games before i stumbled onto this (being the first). after losing...some time to it, i started toying with thought and then started writing. yes there will be rambling repetition and horrible grammar, but these are just ideas as they come. this is going to tagged as game design, though a more apt description would be ramblings towards a design reboot or modification/evolution. something like that.//<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">As a flash game, it's pretty tight, survival mode with a simple campaign, move the guy by clicking, any held down trace is a cut that he performs, cancel cuts by clicking before or during the start, bow to draw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Move guy from place to place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All in all fairly simple, but that’s what makes flash games so convincing and so enthralling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simple mechanics boiled into simple context for quick fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t broke fixed etc etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">So how to change it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Assumption of k/l and lets see what I an do to alter and create.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Story:</div><div class="MsoNormal">Basic story mode consists of a retainer to a lord going through territory and wiping out legions of guards, upon slaughtering a final encampment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First thing to do is to make that longer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pull back and look at the war OR go even closer, ignore the war, go where your lord directs and do as you’re told.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For something like this I want to go with a traditional idealistic samurai, true to bushido rather than a noble ronin who does as they please.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latter provides an open ended world, but hey, linear means more emphasis of the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">That being the case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Id like the story to be wider arching or close.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If closer than it can span he (dreaded) follow-ups and sequels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first games can have flashbacks which may or may not be expanded into a full game OR have the fable path (really traditional RPG path) of the samurai raised from birth, rained (combat tutorial) teach the lessons and code of the samurai.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Ooh!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Non standard game over of seppeku!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Player has to actually cut themselves with a strike to proceed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If that’s not gravity for actions...then its proly an emo wet dream mixed with samurai tones, but whatever, I’m moving on</div><div class="MsoNormal">I like the idea of giving free action to the player (yes they can kill anything they want, do anything they want in a cut scene, as well as action) however that has to be restricted within boundaries to keep it linear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In such a tight game, those questions aren’t really asked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have a 2d side scrolling stage and that’s it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You never go into a village or anything like that because it’s not necessary.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Story being what it is I’m going to skip the growth of youth and keep it on grown up level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>20s, 30s indiscriminate age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Serves a lord properly and tries to be the example of a samurai.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">The twist?:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>instead of the pc (samurai) fucking shit up and needing to atone, its the lord who fucks shit up (not all that unusual in and of itself) the samurai, ever faithful retainer, serves and tries to do right by the code as the lord deals with the fallout, more often than not relying on the retainer to save him.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Keep the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lord commits to a campaign and rather than offer his life (he’s a not so honourable lord) goes to battle and mobilizes troops over it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over time the troops fall short and while they carve a good path, they eventually are brought to a head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">I like the idea of death being a permanent ish endeavour, so every “death” advances the plot to the next arc of the story, with the outcome being realized without the help of the samurai, in a mostly negative light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The retainer is very much superfluous and yet has so many dependants on him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">At every stage there is possibility of death which advances the story to the next arc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If live then the retainer advances the plot in a more positive light, eventually winning the campaign...ish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The army falls but the retainer keeps going to the final lord, which should be epic pain to get to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the retainer makes it, then the duel between the lords takes place, the retainers standing in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This should be an unwinnable fight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any death of this gives an “honourable” death game over and the cannon ending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Bittersweet ending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The loophole is to cut down the opposing retainer before the duel starts, like the end fight of bushido blade, which gives a dishonourable game over in which you can then kill the opposing lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you try to kill the opposing lord in scene then you’re blocked by himself or more to it his retainer.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Mechanics and ideas:</div><div class="MsoNormal">Apparently there’s a second of these games which I’ll look at shortly, but first ideas and what not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being ever in love with RPG mechanics, I like the idea of money/honour system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Honour should always be high and if it drops, your money to resupply weapons, upgrade weapons) (longer range, differing brush styles) drops as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you die a good chunk of your “lord’s retainer fund” is cut down to pay for your medical fees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or and your weapons might be lost, dropped down to weapons you previously owned, but not those you died with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pretty much you get looted when you die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">I’d like more environmental interactions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walls and passages, though keeping to the 2d plane does condense this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More controls would be nice, giving camera pan to the wasd or arrow keys as well the direction scroll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Most mechanics should have the options to change them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you want to enable directional camera, toggle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you want to enable arrow movement, toggle over the click to move.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Slicing draw mechanic takes priority in the stack, with clicking to move or arrow key move still cancelling attack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d like a run toggle key, also enable-able.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Scratch strategy mode, didn’t really like it and it kind of removes from the flow in my mind. It does provide variety of game play but it wasn’t necessary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">I like having a variety of enemies and areas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like having smaller retainers standing in your way cutting down your troops and then eventually being overwhelmed should you fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like the idea that if you alone plough through all the enemies, you become a legend and a retainer to be trifled with, the difficulty curve rising to meet you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you die before the conclusion of every acc then the difficulty ramps up a bit but never past 1/3 or ½ of what it would be if you never die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this way there is an implicit difficulty setting.</div><div class="MsoNormal">And on the subject of difficulty settings, there should definitely be them at main arcs. Or within the arcs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lord may give the retainer the choice between paths, and their difficulty may vary, as may there objectives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This story splitting also allows for some variety in game play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not always hacking through legions, but killing specifics or besting specifics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Oh, weapon variance for Sinai as additional weapon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No kill but unconscious, if remain on map for too long then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Weapons should be available, each with their benefits. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each uses the same slice mechanic, but the brush of the slice can very as can the slice speed after the slice is finished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A weapon might include a teleport or a distance before the slice can commence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">In 2 – shunpo, multiple strokes, finishing moves on downed enemies, launching strikes, more linear stage movements, within stage longevity in a more old style kill on move further via cut scene continue to the end of stage, proper boss fights!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Well right there that’s some stuff better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">--</div><div class="MsoNormal">Preset combo moves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every city has a dojo or two which can set a key strike move, starting with the samurai in place and ending in the same place, a set kata available at a keystroke as opposed to a slash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While this would cut down on challenge a lot, it would have downsides, specifically a chiburi that leaves you open to attack, as well as a shorter spline length (maybe) or a thinner edge (maybe) depending on weapon and grade of dojo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In cities or in temples along mountain paths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dojos let you practice your kata (redefine moves for a cost, unless the temple is already under your domain. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not a conqueror/occupied temple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each new dojo offers another kata (assigned key) available to be learned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another kata option is by learning the specific strokes, a larger combo is preformed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All kata, pc made or pre coded end with chiburi, which is the major downside, keeping them as finishing moves or moves with high cost of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">--</div><div class="MsoNormal">My main concerns with the second game are the lack of story once again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mechanic upgrades, but in comparison, there’s a fraction of story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A handful of stages and then it kicks you to the To Be Continued, which I can understand as it’s a solo project, yet at the same time, it makes the game feel unfinished, like the author grew weary, gave it a cut and moved on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like the added shunpo and finish move, though I can’t get the hang of the launches, though the air juggling is mandatory for the mountain stage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bosses were challenging, though not terribly innovative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found myself liking the robot samurai duel far better than any of the larger scale fights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The downside is while the shunpo is a fun feature, it is an incredible game breaker, especially if you walk into boss fights with a full gauge and knowledge of when to exploit it, but hey, that’s have the fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Multi beheading a screen full of standing and flying guards and then turning time back on to see all the heads fly off is something that hasn’t lost its charm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Oh, and I'm not fond of the fact that he has a mostly revealed face. Less is more especially with the title being what it is. Projection on an unknown warrior is far easier with a hidden face.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>A good step in the right direction, but not enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The concept could benefit a team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m surprised it isn’t on a short list of easy ports to NDS as the slice mechanic seems perfect for the touch screen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe there’s a clone/port for ipod/phone, though I’ve no clue if there’s a relation beyond the slice mechanic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><br />
<br />
//the <a href="http://www.kongregate.com/games/Lutgames/straw-hat-samurai?acomplete=samurai">first game</a>, the <a href="http://www.kongregate.com/games/Lutgames/straw-hat-samurai-2?acomplete=samu">second game</a>. I'll be posting more game design ramblings. happy holidays and new year on this, the ultimate day of the year. - a//Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-12810181475997809672010-12-04T20:18:00.004-08:002011-04-17T14:19:40.202-07:00365 days done, nostalgia and updates<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span">It's been ages since I've been to here. one of my friends asked me a question about a store i had at cafe press (the link should still be some where to the right) and i headed off their to answer his question. while wandering through the crap that was the store (it is...i understand how old i was and how lazy i was and still partly am, but it was still just...yeah...), i found myself thinking of the other places that i frequented and installed back in the day five or so years.</span><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Around then i also signed up for Deviant Art/ and while I've used the site many times over the past half decade, didn't upload much. I've started too now, and after this post I'm going to work on uploading EC to a folder their. // <a href="http://echo-mlb.deviantart.com/">http://echo-mlb.deviantart.com</a><a href="http://echo-mlb.deviantart.com/">/</a> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I might get around to making some logos and things for the store, if for no other reason then for giggles. my last epic project is finished so...</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Wait a second, that's right! 365 days of writing are done! huzzah! for all the many, many projects that get filed under the "not completed and most likely never will" list, that one gets put under the "DONE! AHAHAHHAHA" list. the second last line:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>92,929 words, 92 Black Book entries, 176 pages, 365 days.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"> i am pleased as punch. and while on the subject of writing, last summer i finished a manuscript for my first book, Volumes of Tea, which I'm passing round for editing and will hopefully see in self -print, as the hunting down an agent and shopping to a house is...unlikely. but hey! things have been done.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A few nights ago i was awake too early and decided to pull the web cam towards me. what followed was three ~30 min long tangent heavy reviews for House of Leaves, Let Me In, and In Defense of Food, all good books that i felt like talking about. i proly would have looked into a place to throw them online, if the audio hadn't been horribly corrupted somehow. I'd never heard a 30 min sound clip compressed into a minute. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I have now. it is unfortunate.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">If i can find a way to realigned the audio i might post them somewhere. i like the idea of talking about books. they don't get enough press, at least not in the circles i frequent, which may have More to do with my circles then those at large.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I'll try to make use of this more, now that i don't have a doc on my desktop i feel compelled to write in every day. i definitely want to finish the big 4 stories on my desktop, so maybe i can crowbar myself into doing those.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In the mean time, i have to pack and finish my finals. assuming i pass my exams, i get the lovely christmas gift of graduating. then i have to sit down and ask that wonderful and frightening question.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What's next?</span></div>Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18629700.post-48832948030094043312010-11-14T09:20:00.001-08:002011-04-17T14:19:40.203-07:00Day 318<div class="MsoNormal">Still writing essay and procrastinating as all hells. Found myself wandering around the nets and got to deviant art, someplace i haven’t been active on in a long time. Which led me back to this blog, which i used to use until i don’t remember why. I’m still writing. Todays 318 and 337 was my start. A full year, with writing every day. Alot has happened. Maybe i’ll make use of this space yet and post some of the things i’ve been doing. Maybe not. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Yesterday i spent time working on a language and wrapping my head around phonemic structures and characters, annoying though they are, still, useful i think they may be. <o:p></o:p></div>Atethriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02149259117376430377noreply@blogger.com0