But there is PROGRESS!
I still stare longingly into the blank canvas of Photoshop, Wacom pen poised gently in hand. So much potential, limitless even. Yet I cannot seem to mark a shred of pixels to the page. I give up, and end up watching random Youtube videos about a bunch of kids with tin whistles.
However, I have been consistently waking up at approxamately 9:00am each morning. It's been rather consistent, and it feels good. I go to bed when I'm tired, and wake up at 9. This allows me to enjoy the wonderful summer morning air (It gets rather hot in the afternoon here.), and I don't lose any sleep. I get a solid 7-8 hours of sleep each night, and my time is spent during the day, when normal people conduct the business of their daily lives.
Man was not meant to be nocturnal. To try is going against the very grain of nature. It's tiring, and rather soul-sucking.
I'm also eating better. I used to eat 3, massive meals, and I would fill the times in between with bouts of binge-eating from whatever is in the cupboard. I now try and eat smaller portions with each meal, and I fill the cupboard with healthy, low calorie foods. I've nearly cut sugar out entirely, and when I get so hungry I need to eat SOMETHING, I simply go nuts on a bunch of baby carrots or some pico-de-gallo and hot sauce rolled up in a whole wheat tortilla, and wash it down with a no-calorie, sugar free glass of lemonade. My weight has been steadily dropping, which is good because I'm well into the overweight range right now. (But below obesity. Yay Wii Fit.)
The one scrap of creativity I churned out was kind of nice. It was a very quick series of character sketches. A rather large headed, simple character based roughly on myself. I'm not sure it's going anywhere, but it was something.
But so far, normal waking hours and Diet Mountain Dew have not kicked me from my creative limbo. Motivation is still in the crapper, and it seems the only thing I have achieved is that I feel better as a person. Livelier. Sharper.
It's a start, I guess.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
PIRACY! Here Be Controversy.
At the risk of being taken away by men in black helicopters, I will admit this:
I have pirated games. Recently too. I downloaded torrents and played them, and I liked it.
It was so easy too. In the amount of time, and for none of the cost that it would have taken me to drive to town, purchase a game, and drive back, I had a fully working copy of a AAA title with none of the DRM headache that the legit copy comes with. With it being this easy, it's no wonder piracy is so rampant on the PC.
Why did I do it? I'm married. I have a son. My cash flow gets diverted towards more important things, like food, baby formula, and gas. This leaves very little for games. What money I do spend on games is usually spent on the bargain bin. The 10$ PS2 games at Gamestop, for example. You can really find some gems in there.
Back when I was a carefree bachelor, I took the majority of each paycheck and went on a game spending spree. I would go home with a stack of PC games every two weeks. I bought games faster than I could play them, and I liked it. There was just too much good stuff coming out that I couldn't let slip past me.
Well, an awful lot of games slip past me these days. I still haven't played Bioshock. I don't have Unreal III. These are important games, and I haven't yet touched them.
What it boils down to is money. If I had more money, I would pirate games less, and purchase games more. I've even been known to purchase a game that I pirated because I liked it. No, I'm not the type who calls pirated games "Free Demos." But sometimes I play them as such, yes.
So yes, I've pirated games. But game piracy is no substitution for actually purchasing a game. I buy as many games as I can afford, but when that gap cannot be filled, piracy is an easy way to do so.
How can we combat piracy? Easy, don't. Remove the DRM devices from the games, they do more harm than good. A simple CD key implementation is sufficient. The pirates will get around even the most robust DRM in a matter of a few days anyway, so what's the point.
What we need to do is look at the economy. When people are making money, then they can afford games, and they WILL buy them. I believe that people do want to purchase games, but sometimes the situation makes it impossible to do so.
I have pirated games. Recently too. I downloaded torrents and played them, and I liked it.
It was so easy too. In the amount of time, and for none of the cost that it would have taken me to drive to town, purchase a game, and drive back, I had a fully working copy of a AAA title with none of the DRM headache that the legit copy comes with. With it being this easy, it's no wonder piracy is so rampant on the PC.
Why did I do it? I'm married. I have a son. My cash flow gets diverted towards more important things, like food, baby formula, and gas. This leaves very little for games. What money I do spend on games is usually spent on the bargain bin. The 10$ PS2 games at Gamestop, for example. You can really find some gems in there.
Back when I was a carefree bachelor, I took the majority of each paycheck and went on a game spending spree. I would go home with a stack of PC games every two weeks. I bought games faster than I could play them, and I liked it. There was just too much good stuff coming out that I couldn't let slip past me.
Well, an awful lot of games slip past me these days. I still haven't played Bioshock. I don't have Unreal III. These are important games, and I haven't yet touched them.
What it boils down to is money. If I had more money, I would pirate games less, and purchase games more. I've even been known to purchase a game that I pirated because I liked it. No, I'm not the type who calls pirated games "Free Demos." But sometimes I play them as such, yes.
So yes, I've pirated games. But game piracy is no substitution for actually purchasing a game. I buy as many games as I can afford, but when that gap cannot be filled, piracy is an easy way to do so.
How can we combat piracy? Easy, don't. Remove the DRM devices from the games, they do more harm than good. A simple CD key implementation is sufficient. The pirates will get around even the most robust DRM in a matter of a few days anyway, so what's the point.
What we need to do is look at the economy. When people are making money, then they can afford games, and they WILL buy them. I believe that people do want to purchase games, but sometimes the situation makes it impossible to do so.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Increasing Disinterest Disheartens Direly
There was once a time when I felt I had limitless energy and ambition to do the things I loved. I took pride and joy in doing these things, and I made progress, consistently having something to show my friends and family. I would create art, computer games, and music. I would write stories and share them with everyone who would read them. I did these things simply for the love of them, and I asked for no compensation.
But then, I graduated high school. I never did well in school, preferring to work on projects of my own instead of doing school work. I would often bring my projects to class and work on them, as it looked like I was studiously scribbling notes. After high school, I thought it would be a good idea to go directly to college and get one of those new-fangled Game Design degrees. I somehow felt that such a school would be different, and would hold my attention. This was back when such a degree was almost unheard of, and every backwater school wasn't trying to shove them down the throats of the gullible.
Neither me, nor my family had a lot of money, but that was OK, because the economy was good, and loan giants like Sallie Mae were handing out loans to anyone who asked. My student loans not only paid for my tuition, but also my housing and supplies. I lived a ways away from the classrooms, so I had to take a train every day. Well, without much cash flow, I soon found myself often unable to pay for my train fare. I was hungry, sleep deprived, and I was missing classes. So one day I went home to see my parents one summer, and didn't go back. The loan sharks latched on to me and began to drain me dry. The economy was taking a turn for the worst, and they wanted their money back. Well, I didn't have it, and no entry-level Wal-Mart position could cover the cost.
I was a little depressed at this point, but not clinically or anything. I slipped into a routine. Work, eat, sit in front of the computer, sleep, repeat. Every other day or so I would go to a friends house and BS about everything. I wasn't long until I got the desire to create stuff again, but something was different.
I would sit in front of the computer, or sit with a sketchbook in my lap. I would sit, and stare, and not create anything. I had the desire to create, but it seemed that I had lost the will. My creative juices had successfully stopped flowing.
I was not happy. Instead of creating, I would just waste time on a slow dial-up connection or talk about nothing with my friends. I would waste my money on new things, including stuff that I thought would help me to create again, but nothing worked. I would try and force myself, but I would get disgusted at the result and throw it away. This was a situation I never fully recovered from.
My lack of creative desire wasn't the only thing that seemed to be broken. I couldn't even enjoy videogames as much as I used to. I was still able to play a few remarkable titles that hit me a certain way, but I could no longer sit and just play any game all the way through.
Today, it's six years later and while I've had some improvement, I'm still suffering the effects. I cannot bring myself to make a game for the life of me, no matter how hard I try. Every game I start creating I destroy in disgust. It's a stretch to get me to draw, though I keep a sketchbook in case I feel the need, the need hits infrequently and I'm quite rusty now. I've turned to other mediums like sculpture or papercraft to try and ingite the creative flame again, but nothing seems to affect me like it used to. What I can make shows that I still have some talent left, but I never feel like using it, so it goes to waste.
Today, I'm married with a son, and I work full time so my time is occupied more than it used to be. I have priorities to be sure. But those idle moments. Those moments I would ordinarily fill with a whirlwind of creation have gone stagnant. I find myself stumbling randomly around the internet in search of something that doesn't exist. My bookmarks folder is filled with sites about graphic design, game creation and gaming, but I spend more time reading about this stuff than actually doing it. I still have less desire to play games than I used to, and I find it's a stretch to even finish a first person shooter.
I still want to do these things. They constantly fill my mind and conversation daily, but my desire to do them has been crippled.
I want to change this sad fate. I want to get up and do something about it. I don't want to let it consume me any longer.
First, let's examine my lifestyle. It's rather sedintary, to be sure. I get up, but only when I have to. I get up for work, family, or any errands that need to be ran, but I procrastinate until the last minute on all fronts. I am somewhat overweight, and I don't get enough sleep. I often sleep well into the afternoon, but only because I stay up until the wee hours of the morning searching for nothing on the internet. I am usually disorganized, scatterbrained, but in good spirits nonetheless.
I cannot rely on my own power of will to change this habitual cycle, so I'll create an ideal system and force myself into it to the best I can. I'm using my cellphone's datebook to create a schedule which has alarms that go off and inform me of when it's time to do something.
The first thing I shall change is my sleeping habits. I've set an alarm to go off at 9am every morning, and this is what time I shall wake up, whether I need to or not. This should force me to need to sleep earlier, and should balance itself out. The reason I'm not setting a bedtime is because I would most likely lie awake in bed for hours. Instead, I'll wake up at the same time every morning and go to sleep when I'm tired. I should fall asleep faster this way as well, and break the cycle of sleeping in until mid-afternoon.
I've also input when to get ready for work. An alarm will go off an hour, and a half hour before work, signalling when I should get ready, and when I should go. This will consistently get me there 10-15 minutes early each time if I follow it correctly.
All other things I don't plan to schedule, but I do plan to create a daily to-do list, in order of importance. In these lists, I will not only list things that need to be done, but also things I want to do. When it's time to sit down and draw something, I will sit down and force myself to draw something, anything. I will do this every day until it becomes more natural and I get back into it.
I also plan to add deadlines. If I start a project, I will add deadlines for getting along in the project. This should add a sense of urgency, thus giving me the drive to do it.
I don't expect this to be a miracle cure, but it's worth a shot. I figure imposing militaristic discipline techniques upon myself has to kick me in the rear at least somewhat. Here's hoping.
But then, I graduated high school. I never did well in school, preferring to work on projects of my own instead of doing school work. I would often bring my projects to class and work on them, as it looked like I was studiously scribbling notes. After high school, I thought it would be a good idea to go directly to college and get one of those new-fangled Game Design degrees. I somehow felt that such a school would be different, and would hold my attention. This was back when such a degree was almost unheard of, and every backwater school wasn't trying to shove them down the throats of the gullible.
Neither me, nor my family had a lot of money, but that was OK, because the economy was good, and loan giants like Sallie Mae were handing out loans to anyone who asked. My student loans not only paid for my tuition, but also my housing and supplies. I lived a ways away from the classrooms, so I had to take a train every day. Well, without much cash flow, I soon found myself often unable to pay for my train fare. I was hungry, sleep deprived, and I was missing classes. So one day I went home to see my parents one summer, and didn't go back. The loan sharks latched on to me and began to drain me dry. The economy was taking a turn for the worst, and they wanted their money back. Well, I didn't have it, and no entry-level Wal-Mart position could cover the cost.
I was a little depressed at this point, but not clinically or anything. I slipped into a routine. Work, eat, sit in front of the computer, sleep, repeat. Every other day or so I would go to a friends house and BS about everything. I wasn't long until I got the desire to create stuff again, but something was different.
I would sit in front of the computer, or sit with a sketchbook in my lap. I would sit, and stare, and not create anything. I had the desire to create, but it seemed that I had lost the will. My creative juices had successfully stopped flowing.
I was not happy. Instead of creating, I would just waste time on a slow dial-up connection or talk about nothing with my friends. I would waste my money on new things, including stuff that I thought would help me to create again, but nothing worked. I would try and force myself, but I would get disgusted at the result and throw it away. This was a situation I never fully recovered from.
My lack of creative desire wasn't the only thing that seemed to be broken. I couldn't even enjoy videogames as much as I used to. I was still able to play a few remarkable titles that hit me a certain way, but I could no longer sit and just play any game all the way through.
Today, it's six years later and while I've had some improvement, I'm still suffering the effects. I cannot bring myself to make a game for the life of me, no matter how hard I try. Every game I start creating I destroy in disgust. It's a stretch to get me to draw, though I keep a sketchbook in case I feel the need, the need hits infrequently and I'm quite rusty now. I've turned to other mediums like sculpture or papercraft to try and ingite the creative flame again, but nothing seems to affect me like it used to. What I can make shows that I still have some talent left, but I never feel like using it, so it goes to waste.
Today, I'm married with a son, and I work full time so my time is occupied more than it used to be. I have priorities to be sure. But those idle moments. Those moments I would ordinarily fill with a whirlwind of creation have gone stagnant. I find myself stumbling randomly around the internet in search of something that doesn't exist. My bookmarks folder is filled with sites about graphic design, game creation and gaming, but I spend more time reading about this stuff than actually doing it. I still have less desire to play games than I used to, and I find it's a stretch to even finish a first person shooter.
I still want to do these things. They constantly fill my mind and conversation daily, but my desire to do them has been crippled.
I want to change this sad fate. I want to get up and do something about it. I don't want to let it consume me any longer.
First, let's examine my lifestyle. It's rather sedintary, to be sure. I get up, but only when I have to. I get up for work, family, or any errands that need to be ran, but I procrastinate until the last minute on all fronts. I am somewhat overweight, and I don't get enough sleep. I often sleep well into the afternoon, but only because I stay up until the wee hours of the morning searching for nothing on the internet. I am usually disorganized, scatterbrained, but in good spirits nonetheless.
I cannot rely on my own power of will to change this habitual cycle, so I'll create an ideal system and force myself into it to the best I can. I'm using my cellphone's datebook to create a schedule which has alarms that go off and inform me of when it's time to do something.
The first thing I shall change is my sleeping habits. I've set an alarm to go off at 9am every morning, and this is what time I shall wake up, whether I need to or not. This should force me to need to sleep earlier, and should balance itself out. The reason I'm not setting a bedtime is because I would most likely lie awake in bed for hours. Instead, I'll wake up at the same time every morning and go to sleep when I'm tired. I should fall asleep faster this way as well, and break the cycle of sleeping in until mid-afternoon.
I've also input when to get ready for work. An alarm will go off an hour, and a half hour before work, signalling when I should get ready, and when I should go. This will consistently get me there 10-15 minutes early each time if I follow it correctly.
All other things I don't plan to schedule, but I do plan to create a daily to-do list, in order of importance. In these lists, I will not only list things that need to be done, but also things I want to do. When it's time to sit down and draw something, I will sit down and force myself to draw something, anything. I will do this every day until it becomes more natural and I get back into it.
I also plan to add deadlines. If I start a project, I will add deadlines for getting along in the project. This should add a sense of urgency, thus giving me the drive to do it.
I don't expect this to be a miracle cure, but it's worth a shot. I figure imposing militaristic discipline techniques upon myself has to kick me in the rear at least somewhat. Here's hoping.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Bondo has become a father. He immediately begins training him in the ways of the Force.
There are moments in every man's life that are marked as defining moments. Landmarks if you will.
A child's first game console.
A child's first use of the "potty."
Going to school.
Falling in love.
Getting married.
And of course, having a child.
Guess which one I have achieved.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to introduce to you, Lucas Dee:
The fruit of my loins. The apple of my eye. I am as proud a father as anyone can ever be, seriously.
My wife, Debra, did the brunt work of this little miracle, and I must say her handiwork really paid off. She squeezed this kid out like she meant it. She gave birth not unlike a Viking, complete with horned helmet and steely reserve. This child is the direct result of her toils, and for this, she rocks.
It wasn't until after the name was selected that I discovered geeky parallels with the name Lucas. Lucas, can be shortened to Luke, or just Luc, which of course corresponds with the likes of George Lucas, Luke Skywalker, and Jean Luc Picard. When I held him for the first time, I couldn't help but say "Luke, I am your father." Which is an innacurate quote (He never said "Luke." just "I am your father.") But seriously, who cares. It's still awesome.
As you can see, I've got him started on my favorite pasttime early. Yes, that is an 8-bit Link adorning his attire. I got handy with a printer and some iron-on transfers before he was born. I also created jumpers featuring each of the job classes from Final Fantasy, and I Paper Marioed up his diaper bag. Near his crib is a Mario plushie, a Yoda plushie, and a Sonic plushie, and that's just the beginning. I expect to hand him a DS and a controller as soon as he has the muscle coordination to grasp them.
The first time he kicked, I believe I was humming the Zelda theme song to him. If this is any indication of his future as a gamer, I believe we have something to look foward to. I would love to have my son consistently defeat me at Super Smash Bros, or something. I would be one proud papa.
A child's first game console.
A child's first use of the "potty."
Going to school.
Falling in love.
Getting married.
And of course, having a child.
Guess which one I have achieved.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to introduce to you, Lucas Dee:
The fruit of my loins. The apple of my eye. I am as proud a father as anyone can ever be, seriously.
My wife, Debra, did the brunt work of this little miracle, and I must say her handiwork really paid off. She squeezed this kid out like she meant it. She gave birth not unlike a Viking, complete with horned helmet and steely reserve. This child is the direct result of her toils, and for this, she rocks.
It wasn't until after the name was selected that I discovered geeky parallels with the name Lucas. Lucas, can be shortened to Luke, or just Luc, which of course corresponds with the likes of George Lucas, Luke Skywalker, and Jean Luc Picard. When I held him for the first time, I couldn't help but say "Luke, I am your father." Which is an innacurate quote (He never said "Luke." just "I am your father.") But seriously, who cares. It's still awesome.
As you can see, I've got him started on my favorite pasttime early. Yes, that is an 8-bit Link adorning his attire. I got handy with a printer and some iron-on transfers before he was born. I also created jumpers featuring each of the job classes from Final Fantasy, and I Paper Marioed up his diaper bag. Near his crib is a Mario plushie, a Yoda plushie, and a Sonic plushie, and that's just the beginning. I expect to hand him a DS and a controller as soon as he has the muscle coordination to grasp them.
The first time he kicked, I believe I was humming the Zelda theme song to him. If this is any indication of his future as a gamer, I believe we have something to look foward to. I would love to have my son consistently defeat me at Super Smash Bros, or something. I would be one proud papa.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Where Does the Future of Video Gaming Lie?
Here, I will post some personal predictions I have on the future of video gaming in general, primarily PC gaming. This isn't one of those "What will happen in the next couple of years." prediction articles, but rather what lies in the distant future of our favorite pastime. Ladies, gentlemen... the FUTURE.
Consoles and PCs Become ONE
With more powerful console hardware, people are ever-turning towards their television sets to fill their gaming appetites. It seems that only the hardcore are weathering the storm of system requirements, installations, and office-chair gaming sessions. These people wield a mouse and a keyboard, and they will not peel their hands, ridden with carpal tunnel syndrome, away and grasp a controller for they are better than that. They are the PC Gamer.
Yet the lure of the console may yet sway even the most hardcore of PC gamers. Better still, I predict a merging of the console and PC gaming world. More and more people are setting up media center PCs, utilizing a computer, a remote, and a high def television set as the center of their family entertainment. Also, more and more games are being delivered via download, as broadband becomes ever present in the typical household. To top things off, while the PC doesn't sway from the gaming mecca it was in the mid nineties, consoles are ever becoming more and more PC like. I forsee a future when it's nigh impossible to tell the difference between a gaming PC, and a gaming console. All games may be played remotely on the same system wirelessly, whether that be from the couch or the desk. Sofa gamers and desk gamers will unite and frag each other into oblivion with no boundaries. This is the future.
Casual Games Abound, But Still The Hardcore Remains
The continuing trend of casual games brings thoughts to gamers everywhere that their precious media platform is being taken over by their grandmothers. The sight of a million variations of Bejeweled and Brain Age on shelves can make any gamer feel like their shooters and other more serious games are losing ground to these cash cows.
Gamer, breathe a sigh of relief. Grandma will not take over. Your serious gaming habit will continue to be supported in a big way.
The line between casual and hard core will dissolve entirely, much as there is no such thing as a casual movie. While grandma may still prefer Pride and Prejudice, you can still kick back and enjoy 300 can you not? The same will ring true for gaming.
Anti-Game Activists Finally Give Up
All of the attention that gaming receives by the media, claiming that they are "corrupting our nations youth" will disappear entirely. As the gamers of today mature and become the old fogies of tomorrow, The misconception that gaming is evil will die with the people who believe it. The industry will discover that it CAN rate and regulate itself, and parents everywhere who have been gaming since THEY were children will understand and know what it is that their children are playing, and whether or not they should be playing it.
Gamers Everywhere Add Their Own Content
Modding, content creation, level design, all these things will become easier and more accessible to all gamers. Games will have content creation tools built right into the game itself, allowing the player to add content and share it with everyone.
In light of the fact that production costs have made games shorter and shorter, player made content will make up for the lack of content by the developer, producing an almost endless amount of content for the gamer to enjoy.
Consoles and PCs Become ONE
With more powerful console hardware, people are ever-turning towards their television sets to fill their gaming appetites. It seems that only the hardcore are weathering the storm of system requirements, installations, and office-chair gaming sessions. These people wield a mouse and a keyboard, and they will not peel their hands, ridden with carpal tunnel syndrome, away and grasp a controller for they are better than that. They are the PC Gamer.
Yet the lure of the console may yet sway even the most hardcore of PC gamers. Better still, I predict a merging of the console and PC gaming world. More and more people are setting up media center PCs, utilizing a computer, a remote, and a high def television set as the center of their family entertainment. Also, more and more games are being delivered via download, as broadband becomes ever present in the typical household. To top things off, while the PC doesn't sway from the gaming mecca it was in the mid nineties, consoles are ever becoming more and more PC like. I forsee a future when it's nigh impossible to tell the difference between a gaming PC, and a gaming console. All games may be played remotely on the same system wirelessly, whether that be from the couch or the desk. Sofa gamers and desk gamers will unite and frag each other into oblivion with no boundaries. This is the future.
Casual Games Abound, But Still The Hardcore Remains
The continuing trend of casual games brings thoughts to gamers everywhere that their precious media platform is being taken over by their grandmothers. The sight of a million variations of Bejeweled and Brain Age on shelves can make any gamer feel like their shooters and other more serious games are losing ground to these cash cows.
Gamer, breathe a sigh of relief. Grandma will not take over. Your serious gaming habit will continue to be supported in a big way.
The line between casual and hard core will dissolve entirely, much as there is no such thing as a casual movie. While grandma may still prefer Pride and Prejudice, you can still kick back and enjoy 300 can you not? The same will ring true for gaming.
Anti-Game Activists Finally Give Up
All of the attention that gaming receives by the media, claiming that they are "corrupting our nations youth" will disappear entirely. As the gamers of today mature and become the old fogies of tomorrow, The misconception that gaming is evil will die with the people who believe it. The industry will discover that it CAN rate and regulate itself, and parents everywhere who have been gaming since THEY were children will understand and know what it is that their children are playing, and whether or not they should be playing it.
Gamers Everywhere Add Their Own Content
Modding, content creation, level design, all these things will become easier and more accessible to all gamers. Games will have content creation tools built right into the game itself, allowing the player to add content and share it with everyone.
In light of the fact that production costs have made games shorter and shorter, player made content will make up for the lack of content by the developer, producing an almost endless amount of content for the gamer to enjoy.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
The Elder Scrolls is Awesome
And you know it.
I love The Elder Scrolls games. I've been playing them since The Elderscrolls II, Daggerfall, and I've eagerly awaited each installment. They come in four year intervals, so I eagerly await them for quite a while each time. Luckily, these games are HUGE, so I usually have no problem filling those four years with hours upon hours of questing across Tamriel, and thanks to the post-Morrowind advent of modding, I never run out of content to explore.
Just like Morrowind, I've been playing the crap out of Oblivion. I have the game so heavily laden with mods, you can barely recognize it as the original game anymore. Looking ahead, TES V looks to be about two years away, and in the meantime we get to play Fallout 3 in Fall of this year (probably.) It's only natural to wonder what awaits us in the next Elderscrolls installment.
The original Oblivion team has split into two groups since the release of Oblivion. Half of them went off to work on Fallout, while the other half moved on to the preproduction of TES V. Fallout 3 has, however, been given priority until it's release, leaving TES with a barebones development team until Bethesda puts their full force behind it's flagship series once again.
Bethesda has always gone with the idea of total reinvention when making TES games. With each installment, they scrap everything but the lore and the concept, and they begin working from scratch, using licensed middleware to ease the transition. Personally, I hope they go to less extremes this time around when "reinventing." I'd like to see them build from the foundation they've already established with Oblivion, allowing them to make an even better game, while decreasing development problems, as many of them have already been solved with the design of Oblivion.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see yet another Oblivion. Much of the game should still be reinvented. But if they didn't scrap everything, then they could spend more time on content and actually making the game more fun.
I would like to see them bring in some outside animation talent. Animation has never been Bethesda's strong point. It was terrible in Morrowind. A little better, but still pretty bad in Oblivion. The animation of these games still doesn't hold a candle to other games, and could stand some serious improvement.
I would like to see them make an honest effort to include the features that were the most asked for by the fans after the release of Oblivion. On the top of the list, obviously, is mounted combat. People have seen mounted combat done right in the indie game Mount & Blade, and mods have added mounted combat to the game (albeit messily.), but we need some REAL mounted combat in a TES game.
One of the most irritating aspects of Oblivion to roleplaying game aficionados is the scaling of enemies. The enemies you see are scaled to the level of the player, so you never see a challenge worthy of worrying about. It's impossible to stumble into a situation that presents any serious danger. To top it off, at very high levels, low level enemies simply don't exist. This ruins immersion for many of us who play the game as a roleplaying game, and not an action hack n' slash. I would like to see them remove enemy and item scaling, and instead place enemies and items in an intelligent manner.
Oblivion featured voice for every spoken word of text in the game. This voice was accompanied with subtitles, but they could be turned off, allowing you to play the game without so much as reading a word of English. Modders had to either include voice acting in their mods, or trick the system by putting in blank audio files so the player had enough time to read the text. While this worked, having a non-voice acted character in a fully voice acted world was silly. To top it off, the voice amounts for a HUGE amount of data on the game DVD. If Bethesda scaled back the voice acting a little and used it just for greetings, idle chatter, key phrases, and probably key moments, using text for the majority of the spoken text, development time would become easier, and the game would suddenly become easier on modders, as the included voice acting could be recycled and text could be used for the meat of the mod. Of course, the canned voices would have to be diverse enough so as not to get repetitive.
Morrowind had very open environments. The outside world was one environment, and indoor places were another. The only transitions you experienced were when you went inside or out. In Oblivion, every city has a gate. Entering this gate presents a loading screen where the player transitions to the interior of the city. Indoor places present yet another transition. To prevent problems with the player hopping over city walls with no city behind them, Bethesda removed all flying and jumping spells. Bethesda should open the world back up, and if they can, open up interior environments too, much like the Gothic series. There are tricks they can use to prevent lag, such as "fading in" interior environments as you approach them. It's all a matter of optimization. Opening up the world in the manner would allow players to see out the window of every building in the game. Of course, something would need to be figured out to prevent rain and other weather from entering the buildings. Something as simple as switching off the rain when you cross a threshold would suffice.
In Morrowind, armor was pieced in a manner which allowed some pretty extensive customization. The player could equip just one pauldron for a unique look, or different gauntlets per hand. In Oblivion, this was reduced dramatically, grouping gauntlets into both hands, and lumping all upper and lower body armor into three groups (cuirass, greaves, boots, helmet.) Split the armor back up. Let the player wear only one boot if he so desires. Character customization is half the fun!
Oblivion's locations seemed pretty random. Dungeons and such didn't really seem to have a purpose other than to be a location for you to loot. All forts are ruined and ruins seem to be haphazardly scattered across the landscape. Give locations some purpose. If something is in ruins, there should be a story behind it's demise. Some fortresses should still be functional.
Modding Oblivion is similar to modding Morrowind, but the modular pieces of Morrowind was gimped in Oblivion. Most houses are one big piece, reducing the ability to create your own house using the toolkit. The lego mentality should be brought back in TES V. Houses should be composed of several pieces instead of just one big one.
Valar Morghulis
I love The Elder Scrolls games. I've been playing them since The Elderscrolls II, Daggerfall, and I've eagerly awaited each installment. They come in four year intervals, so I eagerly await them for quite a while each time. Luckily, these games are HUGE, so I usually have no problem filling those four years with hours upon hours of questing across Tamriel, and thanks to the post-Morrowind advent of modding, I never run out of content to explore.
Just like Morrowind, I've been playing the crap out of Oblivion. I have the game so heavily laden with mods, you can barely recognize it as the original game anymore. Looking ahead, TES V looks to be about two years away, and in the meantime we get to play Fallout 3 in Fall of this year (probably.) It's only natural to wonder what awaits us in the next Elderscrolls installment.
The original Oblivion team has split into two groups since the release of Oblivion. Half of them went off to work on Fallout, while the other half moved on to the preproduction of TES V. Fallout 3 has, however, been given priority until it's release, leaving TES with a barebones development team until Bethesda puts their full force behind it's flagship series once again.
Bethesda has always gone with the idea of total reinvention when making TES games. With each installment, they scrap everything but the lore and the concept, and they begin working from scratch, using licensed middleware to ease the transition. Personally, I hope they go to less extremes this time around when "reinventing." I'd like to see them build from the foundation they've already established with Oblivion, allowing them to make an even better game, while decreasing development problems, as many of them have already been solved with the design of Oblivion.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see yet another Oblivion. Much of the game should still be reinvented. But if they didn't scrap everything, then they could spend more time on content and actually making the game more fun.
I would like to see them bring in some outside animation talent. Animation has never been Bethesda's strong point. It was terrible in Morrowind. A little better, but still pretty bad in Oblivion. The animation of these games still doesn't hold a candle to other games, and could stand some serious improvement.
I would like to see them make an honest effort to include the features that were the most asked for by the fans after the release of Oblivion. On the top of the list, obviously, is mounted combat. People have seen mounted combat done right in the indie game Mount & Blade, and mods have added mounted combat to the game (albeit messily.), but we need some REAL mounted combat in a TES game.
One of the most irritating aspects of Oblivion to roleplaying game aficionados is the scaling of enemies. The enemies you see are scaled to the level of the player, so you never see a challenge worthy of worrying about. It's impossible to stumble into a situation that presents any serious danger. To top it off, at very high levels, low level enemies simply don't exist. This ruins immersion for many of us who play the game as a roleplaying game, and not an action hack n' slash. I would like to see them remove enemy and item scaling, and instead place enemies and items in an intelligent manner.
Oblivion featured voice for every spoken word of text in the game. This voice was accompanied with subtitles, but they could be turned off, allowing you to play the game without so much as reading a word of English. Modders had to either include voice acting in their mods, or trick the system by putting in blank audio files so the player had enough time to read the text. While this worked, having a non-voice acted character in a fully voice acted world was silly. To top it off, the voice amounts for a HUGE amount of data on the game DVD. If Bethesda scaled back the voice acting a little and used it just for greetings, idle chatter, key phrases, and probably key moments, using text for the majority of the spoken text, development time would become easier, and the game would suddenly become easier on modders, as the included voice acting could be recycled and text could be used for the meat of the mod. Of course, the canned voices would have to be diverse enough so as not to get repetitive.
Morrowind had very open environments. The outside world was one environment, and indoor places were another. The only transitions you experienced were when you went inside or out. In Oblivion, every city has a gate. Entering this gate presents a loading screen where the player transitions to the interior of the city. Indoor places present yet another transition. To prevent problems with the player hopping over city walls with no city behind them, Bethesda removed all flying and jumping spells. Bethesda should open the world back up, and if they can, open up interior environments too, much like the Gothic series. There are tricks they can use to prevent lag, such as "fading in" interior environments as you approach them. It's all a matter of optimization. Opening up the world in the manner would allow players to see out the window of every building in the game. Of course, something would need to be figured out to prevent rain and other weather from entering the buildings. Something as simple as switching off the rain when you cross a threshold would suffice.
In Morrowind, armor was pieced in a manner which allowed some pretty extensive customization. The player could equip just one pauldron for a unique look, or different gauntlets per hand. In Oblivion, this was reduced dramatically, grouping gauntlets into both hands, and lumping all upper and lower body armor into three groups (cuirass, greaves, boots, helmet.) Split the armor back up. Let the player wear only one boot if he so desires. Character customization is half the fun!
Oblivion's locations seemed pretty random. Dungeons and such didn't really seem to have a purpose other than to be a location for you to loot. All forts are ruined and ruins seem to be haphazardly scattered across the landscape. Give locations some purpose. If something is in ruins, there should be a story behind it's demise. Some fortresses should still be functional.
Modding Oblivion is similar to modding Morrowind, but the modular pieces of Morrowind was gimped in Oblivion. Most houses are one big piece, reducing the ability to create your own house using the toolkit. The lego mentality should be brought back in TES V. Houses should be composed of several pieces instead of just one big one.
Valar Morghulis
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
The Joker has Died, Batman Takes a Vacation
I'm sure by now that you've heard the news about Heath Ledger. I'm just glad the filming for Dark Knight was finished before he died. He was human entertainment, and he will be missed.
No luck on cleaning up yet. In fact, I'm typing this right now, when in fact I should be cleaning instead. I'm surrounded by clutter. I'll tackle it after this. I think.
I love my Nintendo DS. I really do. It's not until I got into homebrew that I started to see it's limitations, and those fall squarely within the CPU/memory spectrum. It could use slightly better screens too.
Technically, the little system is about as powerful as a Nintendo 64 running with the expansion pack. While this is great for a handheld, looking at the PSP just kind of makes you want more. More power, better graphics, more content capacity on the cartridges, more features. It's the never-ending consumer cycle of wanting more.
As I am a slave to the mindless, corporate machine, I can't help but dream about the next Nintendo handheld. We're about due for one within the next year or two (According to past history of Nintendo handheld releases.), so it's exciting to think about what could already be in development.
I imagine that the next Nintendo handheld would look something like this.
I imagine a system with very few buttons at all, where the majority of the controls lie in the touchscreen functionality. However, this system would allow for multiple touch-points, thus allowing developers to create their own button scheme directly on the screen itself.
The power of the machine would be greater than that of the PSP, but probably less than that of the Gamecube. It would feature internet functionality, including a built-in web browser, chat, and a friends list. Bluetooth would allow the system to interface directly with the Wii, as well as other bluetooth devices, like a wireless headset. The system would feature a slot for SD cards, which would allow for images and video to be viewed on the system. The SD card would hold saved games, and downloadable content, like demos or virtual console games.
There would most likely be no backwards compatibility with previous systems, except through virtual console functionality.
Valar Morghulis
No luck on cleaning up yet. In fact, I'm typing this right now, when in fact I should be cleaning instead. I'm surrounded by clutter. I'll tackle it after this. I think.
I love my Nintendo DS. I really do. It's not until I got into homebrew that I started to see it's limitations, and those fall squarely within the CPU/memory spectrum. It could use slightly better screens too.
Technically, the little system is about as powerful as a Nintendo 64 running with the expansion pack. While this is great for a handheld, looking at the PSP just kind of makes you want more. More power, better graphics, more content capacity on the cartridges, more features. It's the never-ending consumer cycle of wanting more.
As I am a slave to the mindless, corporate machine, I can't help but dream about the next Nintendo handheld. We're about due for one within the next year or two (According to past history of Nintendo handheld releases.), so it's exciting to think about what could already be in development.
I imagine that the next Nintendo handheld would look something like this.
I imagine a system with very few buttons at all, where the majority of the controls lie in the touchscreen functionality. However, this system would allow for multiple touch-points, thus allowing developers to create their own button scheme directly on the screen itself.
The power of the machine would be greater than that of the PSP, but probably less than that of the Gamecube. It would feature internet functionality, including a built-in web browser, chat, and a friends list. Bluetooth would allow the system to interface directly with the Wii, as well as other bluetooth devices, like a wireless headset. The system would feature a slot for SD cards, which would allow for images and video to be viewed on the system. The SD card would hold saved games, and downloadable content, like demos or virtual console games.
There would most likely be no backwards compatibility with previous systems, except through virtual console functionality.
Valar Morghulis
This is a blog, and I am a hippopotamus.
Though, I must admit. I am not actually a hippopotamus. I lied. Sue me.
I've never really done the blogging thing before, but I recently noticed that I spend a great deal of time staring at the computer monitor, wonder what it is that I could be doing. Could I be playing some game right now? Could I be watching some movie? Could I get off the computer and go spend time with my wife?
Well now, I can spend those idle moments here, posting nothing for nobody to read. I apologize if there is actually somebody reading this, however. You are not a nobody. You are special, in your own way, and I'm sure you'll be very successful in life. Put the razor down.
I recently completed the Call of Duty 4 single player campaign, and I must say that I was quite satisfied with the experience. The game really makes you feel like you're in the action. I actually caught myself leaning around corners to see the bad guy. Physically leaning, from my keyboard, as though simply holding the E key was insufficient. Nearby shells made me jump, and I actually grimaced with pain as I hauled my bullet-ridden body to cover before I died. I actually have shellshock now. I have flashbacks and everything. It's ridiculous.
If you haven't had a chance to play COD4 yet, do so, in whatever platform you choose. If you enjoy shooters, you will not be disappointed. The game even mixes it up a little by adding really unique missions. I once found myself blasting tangos from a massive flying fortress, utilizing infrared technology and watching for IR beacons so I don't blast friendlies.
Our living quarters are disgraceful. My wife is pregnant, as so she has no energy to clean up, which means I get to do it. Hurrah.
Valar Morghulis
I've never really done the blogging thing before, but I recently noticed that I spend a great deal of time staring at the computer monitor, wonder what it is that I could be doing. Could I be playing some game right now? Could I be watching some movie? Could I get off the computer and go spend time with my wife?
Well now, I can spend those idle moments here, posting nothing for nobody to read. I apologize if there is actually somebody reading this, however. You are not a nobody. You are special, in your own way, and I'm sure you'll be very successful in life. Put the razor down.
I recently completed the Call of Duty 4 single player campaign, and I must say that I was quite satisfied with the experience. The game really makes you feel like you're in the action. I actually caught myself leaning around corners to see the bad guy. Physically leaning, from my keyboard, as though simply holding the E key was insufficient. Nearby shells made me jump, and I actually grimaced with pain as I hauled my bullet-ridden body to cover before I died. I actually have shellshock now. I have flashbacks and everything. It's ridiculous.
If you haven't had a chance to play COD4 yet, do so, in whatever platform you choose. If you enjoy shooters, you will not be disappointed. The game even mixes it up a little by adding really unique missions. I once found myself blasting tangos from a massive flying fortress, utilizing infrared technology and watching for IR beacons so I don't blast friendlies.
Our living quarters are disgraceful. My wife is pregnant, as so she has no energy to clean up, which means I get to do it. Hurrah.
Valar Morghulis
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