It's easy, working hard plugging away on your own projects, to start feeling like you live and work and exist entirely in a bubble. But the thing is, first off, living in a bubble is boring, second, if you never leave your bubble, who's going to see the cool stuff you're doing there?
I've been noticing recently how much is going on in the world that is actually, genuinely really cool. I've been struggling with what to do with this blog, now that I have the Black Hat Writing blog up and running. One of the things I think I would like to do is just use this to occasionally highlight awesome stuff other people are doing in my area of RPGs, gamebooks, and the like.
(If you're reading this and you have something cool going on which you'd like me to take a look at and share, by all means, drop me a link!)
This week, I'd like to talk about...
Octo
Sometimes someone does something that's just awesome. Octo, http://aterribleidea.com/octo/, is a collection of eight original RPGs, each created on one page. It is purely analog; there's no .pdf and only 200 copies will ever be created. What's more: you can only acquire it by donating to a charity.
How cool is that?
The upcoming issue of Octo is "Games of Spring" and will be released in March. You can donate now to get an issue if you're interested. My ass is broke, otherwise I'd be doing it.
Check out the full description here: http://aterribleidea.com/octo/, with totally original, one-of-a-kind games by Filamena Young, Tracy Barnett, Niki Hammond, Jackson Tegu, Renee Knipe, Hannah Vietmeier, Robert Bruce and Ross Cowman.
At least one of these games is called Fish Story. You do the math.
Did I mention you can't buy this, you can only get it by donating to charity?
Friday, March 8, 2013
Friday, March 1, 2013
Productivity Past Adrenaline
This time last year, I had just gotten my first break, and was bouncing up and down with excitement. I couldn't wait to get started, and dreamed of getting my foot in the door to really be involved in a career around writing and game design.
Now, at this time this year, I've got some fantastic products in the oven, which I think are really going to be game-changing, both in their fields and for my own life. But I'm in that awkward stage where I have all of the work but--not yet--any of the rewards. Once some of these things come out... well, I probably won't be able to quit my day job, but it should at least provide a little flexibility, something to invest in the next go round.
Yet I find myself in the unexpected situation of working on the most exciting projects of my life so far, but struggling with motivation. What's the cause? I ask myself.
In short, the adrenaline has worn off.
I'm not actually any less excited about any of the projects I'm doing. But projects like these are big. They're time consuming. They require sustained effort over time, and basically, you can't sprint a 100 K run.
Over the last few months, I've had to find creative ways to tackle this issue. Sometimes I haven't tackled it effectively, and let days, or even weeks, pass without getting much done. But I'm starting to put together a little bag of tricks to help me deal with this problem. Writing these out is a way for me to clarify it in my own mind. But also, hopefully, to give something useful to you.
1) Consistency, not Sprints: I've always had a tendency to work in bursts of high-octane energy. Consistency is a challenge for me. But what I'm finding is that one day of work, no matter how enthusiastic, can never match what can be done in a week. And a week's sprint, no matter how determined, can never match what can be done in a month, not if you keep a moderate, but steady pace over that whole time. Furthermore, if you run on maximum burn, you're going to burn out your fuel sooner or later. I'm a person with a lot of enthusiasm and determination. I've never been burned out before. It took me months of sprinting to get there, but it happened, and when it did, it shocked me. I didn't know what to do. Only over the last few months have I been tackling this problem and learning that I need to pace myself to accomplish something as big as what I'm building. It's not worth burning my energy out in one high-productivity week, if it then takes me two weeks to recover from it.
2) Plan Rest: According to an internet anectode*, a woman giving a speech at a conference lifted up a glass before her audience that was filled exactly to the halfway point. Quirking a smile, she asked, "how heavy is this glass?" The audience, expecting a different question, was taken aback for only a moment before they starting throwing out weights. After a moment she said, "Sure, it's not that heavy, right now. I can lift it easily. But if I hold it here for five minute? For an hour? All day? My arm would start shaking. Eventually I would drop it." IT'S SO TRUE. You have to put the weight down from time to time. No matter how excited you are to be carrying whatever it is you're carrying, you've still got to stop and rest from time to time. This doesn't mean you have free license to slack off whenever you want. That's why you plan the rest. Make time for you to set the burden down. My schedule for the moment: First, 10 minutes before bed each night, I stop work, take a deep breath, and consciously set it down. The temptation to just stay up working is strong, but I take that energy and remind myself to use it to stay focused the next day, rather than burning it out on not sleeping and then being exhausted the next day. Second: I've scheduled Sunday nights, past six, as a time for no work. A time for me to rest, to sit down, to watch a movie or play a game, or whatever I want that doesn't involve writing. What I find is that if I don't stick to this, then I find those activities creeping into my writing time when I get exhausted, and my overall productivity drops. If you take one thing away from this article, let it be this: Plan Rest.
3) Hours, Hours, Hours: This doesn't necessarily bear repeating, but it's the flip side of the above. When you're not resting, stay focused. Usually, when I start to feel like a project is taking forever, if I look back over the way I've spent my time, not much of it is actually going in to that project. Make sure to schedule time to rest, but make sure to schedule time to work, also.
4) Write Down Your Goals: I find this especially useful right at the beginning of a chunk of time that I have available for work. For myself, and I'm probably not alone with this, I often find myself incredibly excited at times when I'm not free to work on the project, but when I do have time, my mind is on other things and it's an effort to even remember what I need to do. If I've got two hours available, I find that by taking five minutes at the start of that time to do a quick brainstorm/freewrite thing about what my goals are and what the next steps for me are, it helps me A) get focused, B) remember why I want to do whatever it is I'm sitting down to do, and C) Clarify exactly what my immediate tasks are. This way, I can get started after five minutes, instead of after 45 minutes on facebook.
5) Sleep: Seriously! It's important. See Steps 1 and 2, above. We each have our own limits, and you know yours best, but when you think about it, the extra hour that makes the difference between enough sleep and not enough sleep really isn't that much time. How much are you really going to get done in that hour? Is it worth being at half-power for all 16 hours of the following day? Beyond which, if you happen to be struggling emotionally at all, being rested really helps with morale.
6) Keep a few Projects Going: Keep a few pots on the fire. Keep your options open. This may be just me, but I find that if I have only one project that I'm focusing on, especially if I feel obligated to work on that to the exclusion of other things, it dramatically increases my sense of exhaustion and frustration. I *always* keep two to three projects spinning at once. It helps me a lot to be able to jump to something else when one thing starts getting old. When your creative muscles start getting tired, you can turn to something new to get a breath of fresh air and re-invigorate that excitement.
7) Exercise: This is one that I'm still struggling with in practice, but I've clearly identified it as a priority. Like it or not, we live in these bodies for the duration of our stay here on earth. All of the energy we have comes from our bodies. Though it may seem counter-intuitive, exercise actually increases your body's level of energy. Bodies are like the machines in that old sci-fi book The Practice Effect. They get better at whatever you use them for. If you don't use it for anything except staying awake late at night typing, it's going to start to break down, and that's no kind of platform to work from. Not to mention, not a pleasant way to live. I'm not surprised at all when I hear about famous authors who run every morning.
8) Harness your "Slack Off" Time: We're all going to slack off to some degree or another, despite the best laid plans of mice and men. It's just a fact of the internet. It sucks you in. But it doesn't have to be wasted time. If you get in the habit of zoning out by keeping up with social media and reading articles or blog posts related to your area of expertise, well, that's actually pretty important to keep up with to stay connected.
In conclusion, it's been my observation that you have two basic resources: time, and focus. And both of these need to be managed. I'm excited about all the things I'm doing, but doing so much runs a very real risk of exhaustion. Making time to work is important, but if you don't have the focus to use that time effectively, it doesn't do any good.
It's challenging, but the most fun and worthwhile things always are. Honestly, this is the most fun I've had in years, exhaustion and all. Happy creating!
*Sorry, I don't remember the source! If you recognize the story, let me know!
Now, at this time this year, I've got some fantastic products in the oven, which I think are really going to be game-changing, both in their fields and for my own life. But I'm in that awkward stage where I have all of the work but--not yet--any of the rewards. Once some of these things come out... well, I probably won't be able to quit my day job, but it should at least provide a little flexibility, something to invest in the next go round.
Yet I find myself in the unexpected situation of working on the most exciting projects of my life so far, but struggling with motivation. What's the cause? I ask myself.
In short, the adrenaline has worn off.
I'm not actually any less excited about any of the projects I'm doing. But projects like these are big. They're time consuming. They require sustained effort over time, and basically, you can't sprint a 100 K run.
Over the last few months, I've had to find creative ways to tackle this issue. Sometimes I haven't tackled it effectively, and let days, or even weeks, pass without getting much done. But I'm starting to put together a little bag of tricks to help me deal with this problem. Writing these out is a way for me to clarify it in my own mind. But also, hopefully, to give something useful to you.
1) Consistency, not Sprints: I've always had a tendency to work in bursts of high-octane energy. Consistency is a challenge for me. But what I'm finding is that one day of work, no matter how enthusiastic, can never match what can be done in a week. And a week's sprint, no matter how determined, can never match what can be done in a month, not if you keep a moderate, but steady pace over that whole time. Furthermore, if you run on maximum burn, you're going to burn out your fuel sooner or later. I'm a person with a lot of enthusiasm and determination. I've never been burned out before. It took me months of sprinting to get there, but it happened, and when it did, it shocked me. I didn't know what to do. Only over the last few months have I been tackling this problem and learning that I need to pace myself to accomplish something as big as what I'm building. It's not worth burning my energy out in one high-productivity week, if it then takes me two weeks to recover from it.
2) Plan Rest: According to an internet anectode*, a woman giving a speech at a conference lifted up a glass before her audience that was filled exactly to the halfway point. Quirking a smile, she asked, "how heavy is this glass?" The audience, expecting a different question, was taken aback for only a moment before they starting throwing out weights. After a moment she said, "Sure, it's not that heavy, right now. I can lift it easily. But if I hold it here for five minute? For an hour? All day? My arm would start shaking. Eventually I would drop it." IT'S SO TRUE. You have to put the weight down from time to time. No matter how excited you are to be carrying whatever it is you're carrying, you've still got to stop and rest from time to time. This doesn't mean you have free license to slack off whenever you want. That's why you plan the rest. Make time for you to set the burden down. My schedule for the moment: First, 10 minutes before bed each night, I stop work, take a deep breath, and consciously set it down. The temptation to just stay up working is strong, but I take that energy and remind myself to use it to stay focused the next day, rather than burning it out on not sleeping and then being exhausted the next day. Second: I've scheduled Sunday nights, past six, as a time for no work. A time for me to rest, to sit down, to watch a movie or play a game, or whatever I want that doesn't involve writing. What I find is that if I don't stick to this, then I find those activities creeping into my writing time when I get exhausted, and my overall productivity drops. If you take one thing away from this article, let it be this: Plan Rest.
3) Hours, Hours, Hours: This doesn't necessarily bear repeating, but it's the flip side of the above. When you're not resting, stay focused. Usually, when I start to feel like a project is taking forever, if I look back over the way I've spent my time, not much of it is actually going in to that project. Make sure to schedule time to rest, but make sure to schedule time to work, also.
4) Write Down Your Goals: I find this especially useful right at the beginning of a chunk of time that I have available for work. For myself, and I'm probably not alone with this, I often find myself incredibly excited at times when I'm not free to work on the project, but when I do have time, my mind is on other things and it's an effort to even remember what I need to do. If I've got two hours available, I find that by taking five minutes at the start of that time to do a quick brainstorm/freewrite thing about what my goals are and what the next steps for me are, it helps me A) get focused, B) remember why I want to do whatever it is I'm sitting down to do, and C) Clarify exactly what my immediate tasks are. This way, I can get started after five minutes, instead of after 45 minutes on facebook.
5) Sleep: Seriously! It's important. See Steps 1 and 2, above. We each have our own limits, and you know yours best, but when you think about it, the extra hour that makes the difference between enough sleep and not enough sleep really isn't that much time. How much are you really going to get done in that hour? Is it worth being at half-power for all 16 hours of the following day? Beyond which, if you happen to be struggling emotionally at all, being rested really helps with morale.
6) Keep a few Projects Going: Keep a few pots on the fire. Keep your options open. This may be just me, but I find that if I have only one project that I'm focusing on, especially if I feel obligated to work on that to the exclusion of other things, it dramatically increases my sense of exhaustion and frustration. I *always* keep two to three projects spinning at once. It helps me a lot to be able to jump to something else when one thing starts getting old. When your creative muscles start getting tired, you can turn to something new to get a breath of fresh air and re-invigorate that excitement.
7) Exercise: This is one that I'm still struggling with in practice, but I've clearly identified it as a priority. Like it or not, we live in these bodies for the duration of our stay here on earth. All of the energy we have comes from our bodies. Though it may seem counter-intuitive, exercise actually increases your body's level of energy. Bodies are like the machines in that old sci-fi book The Practice Effect. They get better at whatever you use them for. If you don't use it for anything except staying awake late at night typing, it's going to start to break down, and that's no kind of platform to work from. Not to mention, not a pleasant way to live. I'm not surprised at all when I hear about famous authors who run every morning.
8) Harness your "Slack Off" Time: We're all going to slack off to some degree or another, despite the best laid plans of mice and men. It's just a fact of the internet. It sucks you in. But it doesn't have to be wasted time. If you get in the habit of zoning out by keeping up with social media and reading articles or blog posts related to your area of expertise, well, that's actually pretty important to keep up with to stay connected.
In conclusion, it's been my observation that you have two basic resources: time, and focus. And both of these need to be managed. I'm excited about all the things I'm doing, but doing so much runs a very real risk of exhaustion. Making time to work is important, but if you don't have the focus to use that time effectively, it doesn't do any good.
It's challenging, but the most fun and worthwhile things always are. Honestly, this is the most fun I've had in years, exhaustion and all. Happy creating!
*Sorry, I don't remember the source! If you recognize the story, let me know!
Friday, February 1, 2013
Next Big Thing Part 1: Dwarf King
I've been tagged by Stuart to participate in the "Next Big Thing" round robin, so I guess it's my turn to talk about what I'm up to. Since there are several projects, and I would rather give each one full attention, I'll do this as a series of posts, focusing on one project with each post.
To start with, I'd like to talk about a project that I've been working on for about six months already, but has actually only just been announced, as of yesterday: the android game Dwarf King.
Dwarf King happened when Michael of Micabyte Systems contacted me regarding my Windhammer Merit-Award-winning gamebook Peledgathol: The Last Fortress. He approached me about using his engine for Pirates and Traders to turn Peledgathol into a full RPG Strategy game. It took me about 0.37 seconds to reply with a resounding "Hell yes!"
* Expanded RPG Story: Dwarf King is based on the award winning story of Peledgathol: The Last Fortress, and uses a gamebook-style interface to give the player an immersive, interactive fiction experience. The story is massively expanded, with the introductory storyline alone reaching the entire wordcount of the original.
* Over 30 Characters: The story will have over thirty characters, each of whom has character art, names and backstories. Many of these characters can be recruited into your party. Furthermore, in the Gold Edition (paid version) you as the player can also create your own characters.
* Party-Based Adventures: Gather a small party of dwarf adventurers, or recruit allies from neighboring factions and go on adventures into the dangerous wilderness around your fortress. Uses Micabyte System's original "Small Battles" combat system to handle party combat.
* Strategic Kingdom-Building Simulation: Manage your resources, explore the surrounding countryside, defeat threats and expand your influence in order to guide your fledgling Dwarf Hall to glory and renown--or watch it all come crumbling down around your ears with a wholly original civilization development gameplay system.
* Massive Battles: Bring your armies to bear against the forces of darkness, or against those pointy-eared elven fops across the river, or really against whoever you happen to not like today, using a modified version of Micabyte System's "Small Battles" combat system. Prepare to defend your fortress against an epic siege before the game is done.
* Faction Relationships: Negotiate, trade and war with your neighbors, or play them off against each other--but always keep an eye to the north, because sooner or later Goza the Goblin will find you and try to finish the job he started when he killed the rest of your family.
* Item Creation and Crafting: True to the roots of your good dwarven ancestors, take advantage of a rich crafting system to create arms and equipment for yourself and your loyal followers.
* Stunning Artwork: No expense has been, or will be, spared to bring you the most beautiful artwork that money can buy--and lots of it. Our team of talented artists will bring this world to life.
* Play it on your Android: An adventure in the palm of your hand, unlike anything else on the market for Android today.
Stay tuned by following Micabyte's blog, or the Dwarf King Facebook Page. We will regularly post teaser artwork and bits of world lore to feed your growing curiousity. Expect release sometime in 2013.
To start with, I'd like to talk about a project that I've been working on for about six months already, but has actually only just been announced, as of yesterday: the android game Dwarf King.
Dwarf King happened when Michael of Micabyte Systems contacted me regarding my Windhammer Merit-Award-winning gamebook Peledgathol: The Last Fortress. He approached me about using his engine for Pirates and Traders to turn Peledgathol into a full RPG Strategy game. It took me about 0.37 seconds to reply with a resounding "Hell yes!"
Why will Dwarf King be awesome?
* Expanded RPG Story: Dwarf King is based on the award winning story of Peledgathol: The Last Fortress, and uses a gamebook-style interface to give the player an immersive, interactive fiction experience. The story is massively expanded, with the introductory storyline alone reaching the entire wordcount of the original.
* Over 30 Characters: The story will have over thirty characters, each of whom has character art, names and backstories. Many of these characters can be recruited into your party. Furthermore, in the Gold Edition (paid version) you as the player can also create your own characters.
* Party-Based Adventures: Gather a small party of dwarf adventurers, or recruit allies from neighboring factions and go on adventures into the dangerous wilderness around your fortress. Uses Micabyte System's original "Small Battles" combat system to handle party combat.
* Strategic Kingdom-Building Simulation: Manage your resources, explore the surrounding countryside, defeat threats and expand your influence in order to guide your fledgling Dwarf Hall to glory and renown--or watch it all come crumbling down around your ears with a wholly original civilization development gameplay system.
* Massive Battles: Bring your armies to bear against the forces of darkness, or against those pointy-eared elven fops across the river, or really against whoever you happen to not like today, using a modified version of Micabyte System's "Small Battles" combat system. Prepare to defend your fortress against an epic siege before the game is done.
* Faction Relationships: Negotiate, trade and war with your neighbors, or play them off against each other--but always keep an eye to the north, because sooner or later Goza the Goblin will find you and try to finish the job he started when he killed the rest of your family.
* Item Creation and Crafting: True to the roots of your good dwarven ancestors, take advantage of a rich crafting system to create arms and equipment for yourself and your loyal followers.
* Stunning Artwork: No expense has been, or will be, spared to bring you the most beautiful artwork that money can buy--and lots of it. Our team of talented artists will bring this world to life.
* Play it on your Android: An adventure in the palm of your hand, unlike anything else on the market for Android today.
Stay tuned by following Micabyte's blog, or the Dwarf King Facebook Page. We will regularly post teaser artwork and bits of world lore to feed your growing curiousity. Expect release sometime in 2013.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Combat in Gamebooks
I've mentioned a couple times a combat-related post that I was working on. Well, without further ado, here you go:
This year in Windhammer, the authors as a whole presented some amazing innovations in combat systems, rules, and styles. It's given me a tremendous amount of food for thought, and I've tried to wrap up and present here some of the ideas all this experimentation has led me to.
The big question seems to be: How to make a gamebook combat system dynamic, within the limitations of the genre? You can't present a system that's too involved, or it simply won't be manageable. Most gamebook systems are incredibly straightforward (i.e. one or two stats, very few rolls, etc.) But those don't have enough moving parts to create any real dynamism. That said, one thing I've learned is how far you can push it. Several gamebooks, such as Brewin's Trial of the Battle God, had very full systems. It was a lot, but if you're spending a lot of time in the game, it might be worth it.
To get down to the root of the issue, we need to think about what kind of decisions are possible within a combat situation, in a game. Let's do a quick brainstorm. In a fighting game, player speed and skill becomes very important, but you're still choosing which maneuver to do when. This has a lot to do with guessing what the other guy is going to do. You've got to try to fake the other guy out, make him think you're doing one thing, then do another. This is reminiscent of my (short-lived) fencing days. Our teacher's mantra was "make noise in the east, attack in the west."
For this to be meaningful, the different choices each participant makes have to interact with each other in interesting ways. If I block in the west, but you attack in the east, then I'm in trouble. But if I block in the east, I might be able to get a quick riposte in. This often comes down to a sort of rock paper scissors effect. If the first player does action A, and the second player does action B, then second player has the advantage. But if second player did action C, then first player has the advantage.
This sort of model also relies on a multiplicity of options. If you only have one option "attack" and you do that again and again until the battle is over, then there's not this kind of model in action. Arguably, the more options there are, and the more relationships there are between the options, the deeper the strategy in this case.
So what we're seeing come together here is a few requirements:
* The player has to have options in combat. Not just "Attack," or "Defend," but what kind of attack?
* The options each combatant makes have to interact with each other in interesting and meaningful ways.
So the question then becomes, can you include that in a gamebook?
Not only do I think you can, I think I have. I've written up a system (which isn't ready to expose to the public yet, but is in progress) which includes both of those elements, and while it is heavier than most gamebooks, the feedback I've gotten so far is that it is still manageable.
Over the next month or so, I'll be working on writing up a short, sample gamebook which demonstrates these rules. When it's ready, I would love to hear all of your feedback.
Until then, stay tuned for more blog posts on this general topic. Also a couple more reviews upcoming. Next week, I'll go over a lot of the specific mechanics which various authors introduced in Windhammer this year, with an analysis of each one.
Merry Christmas!
To those of you who celebrate it. To those of you who don't, have a cookie on me you heathens.
* The player has to have options in combat. Not just "Attack," or "Defend," but what kind of attack?
* The options each combatant makes have to interact with each other in interesting and meaningful ways.
So the question then becomes, can you include that in a gamebook?
Not only do I think you can, I think I have. I've written up a system (which isn't ready to expose to the public yet, but is in progress) which includes both of those elements, and while it is heavier than most gamebooks, the feedback I've gotten so far is that it is still manageable.
Over the next month or so, I'll be working on writing up a short, sample gamebook which demonstrates these rules. When it's ready, I would love to hear all of your feedback.
Until then, stay tuned for more blog posts on this general topic. Also a couple more reviews upcoming. Next week, I'll go over a lot of the specific mechanics which various authors introduced in Windhammer this year, with an analysis of each one.
Merry Christmas!
To those of you who celebrate it. To those of you who don't, have a cookie on me you heathens.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Review of FTL
I haven't gotten to finish my full treatment of combat systems in gamebooks yet, considering a lot of the experimentation done this year in Windhammer. So instead I'll post a review I wrote up recently.
As a gamebook author, I bridge a gap between writing and game design, often filling roles of both. To that end, my reviews will often be gamebooks, but at other times will be of straight novels or of pure games.
This review is for the indie game FTL. Please enjoy :)
FTL is a great little game. It was strongly recommended to me by a friend a little while back, but I don't play many video games, so I back-shelved the suggestion at the time. Well, this weekend, when I finally budgeted a little time to zone out with a game, I saw the 40% off sale on Steam and remembered the suggestion, so I went ahead and downloaded it to give it a try.
The game is simple, yet elegant. If you aren't familiar with it, the premise is that you are the captain of a Federation starship, carrying data vital to putting down the Rebellion. You must traverse known space in your little vessel, carrying this information to the Federation High Command without getting shot, blown up, burnt to death, or asphyxiated along the way. Yes, all of those are possible ways you can die. Meanwhile, the rebel fleet is chasing you, so you've got to stay one step ahead of them.
The place the game shines is in the direct management of your ship. You control each of your crew members individually, directing them to this or that task on the ship, or to repair damages. You control each of the weapons and sub-systems, including where you direct the reactor's power to keep different systems powered up and active. Damage to the ship can damage systems (you then direct your little guys to repair the damage) or start fires (hurts the little guys.) But you can open the doors to vent the oxygen from the rooms into space, putting out fires (assuming your automatic door-opening system hasn't been damaged.) Of course, then your little guys can't use that room until the oxygen replenishes, which, of course, requires your Oxygen system to be powered up and undamaged.
The user interface is fantastic. You're managing a lot of systems, but after 5 minutes of practice it feels as natural as breathing. The tactics are interesting, with good choices in combat (what weapon loadout you bring, which systems of your own you direct power to, which systems of theirs you try to target, or if you want to just go for the hull and try to destroy them). It's because the interface is so easy that the combat is so fun.
On the other hand, the place where it does not succeed as well is in the broader picture. The minigame of ship combat is excellent, but the rest of the game is little except a platform to take you from one fight to the next. You explore as you go, but most encounters are either a fight, or not a fight, with only slight differences in flavor text, challenge, and loot. It gets predictable pretty quickly.
There are a few things to heat it up. The pressure of the Rebel Fleet behind you adds a nice bit of tension to keep you on your toes. And there are a few quests. But there's no real story, not even in the quests.
The game could have been much more powerful if they'd brought a writer on board, not just to write flavor text and simple, one-step quests, but... well, honestly, to do the kind of writing you see in gamebooks. I would like to see another version of this game done in an open ended world, with a metaplot, but freedom to explore as you will. The ability to bring cargo aboard your ship and make money trading would be a very nice touch. But mostly, I'd like to see more story. Both in the main plot, and in the side plots. I'd like to see chained quests coming together to form whole plotlines.
FTL, sadly, delivers none of that. Don't look for much by way of story; you'll be disappointed. Otherwise, it's one of the most fun space combat simulations I've ever come across.
As a gamebook author, I bridge a gap between writing and game design, often filling roles of both. To that end, my reviews will often be gamebooks, but at other times will be of straight novels or of pure games.
This review is for the indie game FTL. Please enjoy :)
FTL is a great little game. It was strongly recommended to me by a friend a little while back, but I don't play many video games, so I back-shelved the suggestion at the time. Well, this weekend, when I finally budgeted a little time to zone out with a game, I saw the 40% off sale on Steam and remembered the suggestion, so I went ahead and downloaded it to give it a try.
The game is simple, yet elegant. If you aren't familiar with it, the premise is that you are the captain of a Federation starship, carrying data vital to putting down the Rebellion. You must traverse known space in your little vessel, carrying this information to the Federation High Command without getting shot, blown up, burnt to death, or asphyxiated along the way. Yes, all of those are possible ways you can die. Meanwhile, the rebel fleet is chasing you, so you've got to stay one step ahead of them.
The place the game shines is in the direct management of your ship. You control each of your crew members individually, directing them to this or that task on the ship, or to repair damages. You control each of the weapons and sub-systems, including where you direct the reactor's power to keep different systems powered up and active. Damage to the ship can damage systems (you then direct your little guys to repair the damage) or start fires (hurts the little guys.) But you can open the doors to vent the oxygen from the rooms into space, putting out fires (assuming your automatic door-opening system hasn't been damaged.) Of course, then your little guys can't use that room until the oxygen replenishes, which, of course, requires your Oxygen system to be powered up and undamaged.
The user interface is fantastic. You're managing a lot of systems, but after 5 minutes of practice it feels as natural as breathing. The tactics are interesting, with good choices in combat (what weapon loadout you bring, which systems of your own you direct power to, which systems of theirs you try to target, or if you want to just go for the hull and try to destroy them). It's because the interface is so easy that the combat is so fun.
On the other hand, the place where it does not succeed as well is in the broader picture. The minigame of ship combat is excellent, but the rest of the game is little except a platform to take you from one fight to the next. You explore as you go, but most encounters are either a fight, or not a fight, with only slight differences in flavor text, challenge, and loot. It gets predictable pretty quickly.
There are a few things to heat it up. The pressure of the Rebel Fleet behind you adds a nice bit of tension to keep you on your toes. And there are a few quests. But there's no real story, not even in the quests.
The game could have been much more powerful if they'd brought a writer on board, not just to write flavor text and simple, one-step quests, but... well, honestly, to do the kind of writing you see in gamebooks. I would like to see another version of this game done in an open ended world, with a metaplot, but freedom to explore as you will. The ability to bring cargo aboard your ship and make money trading would be a very nice touch. But mostly, I'd like to see more story. Both in the main plot, and in the side plots. I'd like to see chained quests coming together to form whole plotlines.
FTL, sadly, delivers none of that. Don't look for much by way of story; you'll be disappointed. Otherwise, it's one of the most fun space combat simulations I've ever come across.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Back to Lone Wolf?
Hello all!
My blog has been overwhelmingly dominated by Windhammer reviews for the last month-ish, and was kind of silent before that for a while as I was trying to write my Windhammer entry and work on a couple other things. But I'm getting back into the swing of it, shooting for a solid entry every Friday (hopefully!)
So, my question to you all is, should I pick up the Lone Wolf playthrough again? Are you guys having fun with it? I enjoy it, but I tend to get distracted when something else urgent comes up. I'll try to be more reliable, but it's a constant process.
Just figured I'd check in and see where folks are at, since it's been a while, rather than just jumping right in.
If I do proceed with Lone Wolf, I'll try to keep to the schedule of posting updates on Monday and Wednesday.
What do you all think? If not, is there anything else you would prefer to see more of?
My blog has been overwhelmingly dominated by Windhammer reviews for the last month-ish, and was kind of silent before that for a while as I was trying to write my Windhammer entry and work on a couple other things. But I'm getting back into the swing of it, shooting for a solid entry every Friday (hopefully!)
So, my question to you all is, should I pick up the Lone Wolf playthrough again? Are you guys having fun with it? I enjoy it, but I tend to get distracted when something else urgent comes up. I'll try to be more reliable, but it's a constant process.
Just figured I'd check in and see where folks are at, since it's been a while, rather than just jumping right in.
If I do proceed with Lone Wolf, I'll try to keep to the schedule of posting updates on Monday and Wednesday.
What do you all think? If not, is there anything else you would prefer to see more of?
Friday, December 7, 2012
Gender and Feminism (or the lack thereof) in Legacy of the Zendari
Thank you to everyone for all the comments on all of the reviews, and especially on my own post-mortem for Legacy of the Zendari. Much appreciated! (I can't believe I've finished all the reviews!)
When I tried to express these thoughts to this reader (someone I do know in person), I was advised to seek a "more enlightened male" who could explain it to me. So, here I am, asking for help. What do you all think?
Anyway, while it's still fresh in my readers' minds, I'd like to bring up one response I got to Legacy of the Zendari which I did not include in my previous post about it: an accusation of sexism.
I was a bit taken aback by this. I consider myself a feminist, to the extent that I firmly believe all people are fundamentally equal. Do I think anybody should get special rights? No, on either side of that equation. That said, if there is an imbalance, effort must be exerted to correct that imbalance. It won't happen on it's own.
While this principle of equality is one that I firmly believe, and want to layer into all of my writing, my goal is not to hit the reader over the head with it every time. Nor do I even think that would be effective.
So I wrote Legacy of the Zendari like I write any piece, by coming up with some characters that seemed both natural and to fit the story and throwing them in.
It never even occurred to me that these characters might add together to create a world view that seemed sexist. Maybe that's my bad for not looking out for it?
I mean, ignorance is not an excuse, but at the same time... you take a character like the Geo-Cure girl (who I believe I named Jenny...). She's not a strong woman--but she's not a strong character. She's existed as a conscious being for like, two and a half hours, tops, by the end of the story. She was born (effectively) fully fledged, a brand new consciousness in the body of a young adult, with all the experiences and feelings that come with that body. Totally unprepared to be rescued by a dashing, heroic RADF agent of the gender she is sexually attracted to.
Is this an adolescent fantasy? Sure, to some extent. You open the case to find a beautiful, naked girl, who immediately latches on to you. But part of my message there was not just to say, "hey dude, hot times on the horizon!" It's to, hopefully, if I did my job right, raise some very valid moral questions about whether doing anything with her would be morally acceptable. Though she has the body of an adult, she's in spirit more like a child. And you're her only guardian.
Though in the story, one route is to embrace your relationship with her, and there's definitely an implication of where that relationship is going, that's not the only route, nor (do I think), there's any moral implication that that's the correct route.
From my perspective, I certainly wasn't intending that to be "degrading to women." The premise is, well, science fiction, and maybe a little bit of wish-fulfillment, but everything after that, though perhaps a bit cliche, is both realistic within the terms of the world, and consistent to the characters themselves. It seems natural to me that someone who just woke up would latch on to the nearest strong personality.
The other complaint this reader lodged was that every woman in the show was "there to be a romantic interest for a male."
Well, every character is there for a reason. For the Rick and Lisa romance, for example, it's true that Lisa is there "just" to be a romantic interest for Rick--but it's equally true that Rick is there "just" to be a romantic interest for Lisa. I don't see either statement as being relevant. (In fact, neither is there "just" for their relationship with the other, they also flesh out the roles of some of the minor characters in the base, serving functions on the base and presenting minor interactions with the main character.)
The main characters has two potential love interests, but love triangles and the difficult choices those create are a common literary theme, both in high literature and pulp fiction. Any dating game takes this to extremes--are those sexist?
There are only a couple of characters that *aren't* involved in any romance. None of them happen to be women, but that's just because I happened to choose male for the gender of those characters. There was no social statement intended by that decision. It's a military setting, and most military settings today are dominated by men. If anything, I personally am impressed by Minna for being intelligent, successful, and unintimidated by her gruff coworkers and commanding officer.
So, those are my thoughts, but maybe I missed something.
Here's the question I put to you, is this work degrading to women? Does it represent women in a degrading or insensitive light, or relegate them to an inferior position with relation to men, in any way?
Though a feminist, it is not my goal to wave the feminist flag high and proud with every single piece I write--any more than it's my goal to wave the atheist or gay rights flag high and proud with every single piece I write, even though those are also beliefs I happen to hold. I don't think shoving your morals down the reader's throat does anybody any good. If you want to share your opinions, do it subtly; just raise the question and let the reader decide for him- or herself.
That said, I also don't want to accidentally wave a sexist flag!
When I tried to express these thoughts to this reader (someone I do know in person), I was advised to seek a "more enlightened male" who could explain it to me. So, here I am, asking for help. What do you all think?
(Though responses from male readers are highly valued, given the subject matter, I would be especially interested to hear responses from any female readers out there!)
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