Monday Story Post

God, did I have a pathetic amount of postings last week. My excuse is just as pathetic, so I don't think I'll even bother talking about it, and just ask for your forgiveness. Also, without further ado, here is the next installment of Camaboise.

Now, to solve the problem. One of the reasons I have been having so much trouble getting out new stories every week is that I'm starting not to like writing Camaboise stuff. I could go on and on and on, but I would like to know this: do you actually like it? If you do, or don't care either way, I will put all my effort into finishing it. If you don't, please respond in the comments section. Either way, I plan one more installment while you decide. Voting closes Friday.

The Dark Knight Questions Monday

So, who here has seen all three of Christopher Nolan's Batman Movies? As of Firday, July 20th, I have. And now, since I am a person who posts things on the internet, I will tell the entire world what I think of the most recent one, regardless of whether or not they give two cents about my two cents.

Honestly, The Dark Knight Rises was... okay. I am reasonably sure that Chris Nolan wanted the series to end so he could move with Superman and his own personal projects. Overall, the characters are all mostly bad ass. Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle/Catwoman was bad ass. Tom Hardy as Bane was bad ass (when you could understand what he was saying.) Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon was more than bad ass. And Joeseph Gordon-Levitt was bad ass as that-cool-detective-who-definitely-wasn't-Dick-Grayson.

However, there are some problems with this movie. For example: Bane. Next to The Joker, Bane is one of my all-time favorite Batman villains. And while Bane was certainly amazing, his dialogue was just weird at times, like the writer occasionally forgot he was writing Bane and not The Joker. Also, his voice was incredibly hard to understand. You can either make him talk like Sean Connery or you can make him talk like Darth Vader. Combine the two, and every other sentence is impossible to understand. And no, I'm not going to whine about Bale's Batman voice. Wait, change that: this was the only film where I started to get annoyed by the growl.


Also, only watch this movie if you can deal with plot holes and the fact it's less about Batman and more about his supporting cast. And if you don't know about al Ghul's family from the comics, the ending won't make that much sense. And don't spend the entire time comparing it to the other two, because it's just going to kill your enjoyment of the movie.

So, now for the Question part of this Monday Question. What did you think of this new Batman movie? What did you think of my review? Don't delay, post away!

State of The Blog #14

So, since I have finished with Game Design Camp, I guess this means I have no excuse for not continuing writing. However, it was nice to take a break for two weeks. Until further notice, my regular schedule will resume. I also just noticed there are two State of the Blog #12s. Sorry about that.

Quick Update

So, despite a ridiculous amount of things going wrong right before we needed to build the game, UDK decided to stab us in the face. At one in the morning, our deadline an hour away, we realized the audio didn't work, we couldn't transition from level to level, and objects in said levels weren't appearing. Joy.

So, we are compiling even as we speak. Thank God. I'm not allowed to actually give you the game (due to legal reasons) and even if I was, I'm not sure how. But I can show you the box art I made and my room's door sign. Gaze upon them and be amazed!

Quick update: do you remember me mentioning the counselor who looked like a certain hobbit? He has a Skyrim mod. If you have bought Skyrim on Steam, go to the Steam Workshop and look up Thir's Tomb. If it's by seanyp, then you've got the right one. Go and subscribe right now. 

Wednesday at EGD

I learn so much at nerd camp. A good chunk of it is useless, I admit, and some of it is due to the amount of time I spend on the internet. For instance, you should see this site with all these cool drawings of superheroes on it.

Also, the camp I go to is divided up into two sections. There are the eMagination Computer Campers (eight to sixteen years old, they do all sorts of stuff, commonly known as ECC) and then there's the camp I go to, called eMagination Game Design, or EGD. As (I think) you know, we are divided up into teams and make a game. What we EGD campers didn't know was what the ECC campers call us.

You see, ECC has less lab time than EGD. For an hour a day, they have to go outside. They also have no lab time after dinner, when at the dorms, we almost never venture below the fourth floor, and (if things haven't changed from when I was in ECC) they have to do this stupid ritual called "meal pass" in order to get food. Meal pass involves doing really dumb games, and the winner gets to eat first. Second goes second, and so on. Anyway, ECC almost never sees EGD in broad daylight. So, they think of us as vampires. The reason we're never seen by ECC is because "vampires have a high sneak ability."

I ****ing love nerd camp.

Oh, and I also now know the face of the enemy. I know someone who trolls the internet and Call of Duty for fun. The key to getting along with them is knowing when they are actively trolling you and keeping your mouth shut. Apart from that, he's actually reasonable.

EGD: it teaches social skills.

How do you deal with this?

So, at Game Design camp, my roomate has an Xbox 360. Awesome, right? I thought so until I realized I go to bed three hours earlier before everyone else. And every night, six exceedingly loud people come in and take over the entire room.

At camp, I can deal with it. However, how do I deal with something like this in college?

In other news, one of my counselors looks exactly like Elijah Wood.

State of the Blog #12

So, sorry about this post being so late. I am going to (hopefully) be interviewing/debriefing beta testers for the game I'm working on. Also, I've been doing some research on various Audacity effects which you can view below. It's cheap, it's cool, and very useful in games.

 

Also, being at camp is a perfect place to catch up on the latest internet memes. Like The Lonely Island. You probably knew of them before I did.

Also, if you care about video games, google Ten Cent Studios. They've bought the creators of League of Legends, have invested in Epic (the good people behind the Unreal Engine, Unreal Tournament, and Gears of War) and are current the biggest publisher/developer in China. Their buisness plan seems to go something along the lines of "First China, Then America, Then The World! Muahahahahaaaaaaaaaa!"

On Writing for Video Games

Sorry, no new Camaboise this week, due to . But you can check out The Camaboise Encyclopedia to catch up on the characters.

However, I still have things to talk about (shocker). The thing about writing for video games in this camp is that almost every team has the story YOU IS AMNESIAC ROBOT NOW FIGHT OTHER ROBOTS BECAUSE WE ONLY HAVE UDK! So, yeah, it's really easy to innovate there. However, there is a reason everyone goes with that story: the default character in UDK is a robot. And you can't even hope to change it until your third year here. And that is if you are a genius with code. Weapons are also a pain, too, but that isn't the point.

The point is, you have to write within the constraints of what the engine, and that can be very frustrating. Especially towards the end, when you realize you don't have enough time, or the boss can't be the size you want it to be, or you can't add in a weapon. When you're just writing, it's easy. Words in your head, words on your paper (or, in this case, words on the wonderful, terrible thing we call "The Internet.") Anyway, it is surprisingly annoying.

Are you a Spike, Timmy or Johnny?

Today in game design camp, I learned something really cool. Apparently, Wizards of The Coast, the company that makes D&D and Magic The Gathering has spent millions doing Psychographics on its fan base. (Psychographics is the study of the mentality of people who buy your product.) It turns out that there are four kinds (first three making up 90% of their demographic) of players.

1. Timmy wants to have the cool stuff. Double-headed dragon? Hell yeah! In a game like Modern Warfare, Timmy spends more time making a cool-looking gun then finding the best weapon. In fact, if you can make his (many) deaths awesome, he won't mind as much.
2. Spike, on the other hand, wants to win. He doesn't care if the gun is the ugliest thing, as long as Kill:Death ratio rises from 1:10 to 50000:0 he's happy. Oh, and if there is a build that will result in said stat change, he will find it. Or his buddies.
3. Johnny wants to explore, to find new ways of doing things. He probably was sucked into Skyrim longer than all his friends. A week longer.
4. Vorhese is that guy at the convention cosplaying as his favorite character. Or memorizing a fictional code of honor. Or learning a fictional language. He will get into character and sometimes has a hard time coming out.

So, which one are you?

State of the Blog #12

So, I am now settled in at Computer Game Design Camp at lovely Bentley College. Now, as I will probably be very busy for the next two weeks, I will not be doing a lot of writing. (Note: I held off on writing this post until I was actually was at computer camp.)

So, by  July 21st, I should be done with the game, and ready to resume my normal schedule. I thank you for your patience and hope to write to you all soon. Oh, and here is my door poster for this year.

Also, did I share this with you?

New Camaboise

Happy 4th of July, people! More Camaboise, as usual. Now, for the next two weeks, I'm going to be updating the Camaboise Encyclopedia. And now that I'm done with this week's story, I will think about how good it feels to be an American. To all my foreign readers, please think nice thoughts about America today, and I will think nice thoughts about your countries whenever I see that I have a hit from there. Now, let's see some fireworks!

Fall Out Boy on Monday

To all you aspiring writers (young and old) here's a few tips. With them and a little more luck (trust me, it wouldn't take a lot) you could be a better writer than me!

1. FIND SOMETHING YOU CAN ACTUALLY WRITE ABOUT. This is one of the ones I have the most trouble with. Sometimes (okay, every time,) my idea seems cool, but then I can't get it from point A to point B.
2. KEEP IT SIMPLE. For an example on how to mess #2 up, read every installment of Camaboise. Yeah, I know. The first two rules, and I've broke every one.
3. IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANY IDEAS FOR CHARACTERS, CAST FAMOUS PEOPLE. Got a cool concept and need a character, but those are a problem? Need a secondary character? Watch a few movies, and think of actors you like. Then, build the character to act like the actor typically acts. For example: your science fiction manuscript that needed a plucky main character character? That main character now has a thick Austrian accent, a gift for one-liners, and is abusing an experimental steroid.
4. FIND SOMEONE WHO WON'T LET YOU GIVE UP. Then have them read your story. For me, that "person" is everyone who reads this blog.
5. MAKE A PLAYLIST. Seriously. If the songs match the mood of what you're writing, then you get more inspired.

Now, for the actual Monday Question: Any tips for me?