Progress.

Just an update on my schooling in general. It seems option X has been born from the flames of my other options collectively to give me Open Studies which will most likely lead me back into Computer Science. I have been told I should know by the end of next week. Also... I seem to be catching a bug of some kind involving the death cough and exhaustion. That explains why I've been sleeping almost uncontrollably (Within a 10 ft radius of my bed, floor included).

Now I have 2 weeks sans wife and 6 days sans best friend. I have one more class to be behind a whopping 7 classes, BUT! I shall triumph and spend every waking moment (which has been rare lately) catching up. I am glad it has been free, but my biggest fear is what about the possibility of when I reattend school in the fall? If I was going full time, there would be no temptation to work at all... but since I will only be allowed to take 2 courses (or six credit hours) the temptation is there, especially since student loans won't be there for me as much as if I was a full time student. Either way I need to make these two courses count and even before I have been accepted, even before I know what I am able to take... I charge myself with needing no less than a 3.5 in both classes. The challenge has been laid out... now to do all I can to get in!

Also with no one at home I am cleaning up a storm (Kitchen, Living Room, Dining Room, Main Entryway All Completed!) and I only have a few things (Bedroom, Bathroom 1, Bathroom 2, Mop, Vaccuum) left. Lucky for me, my schedule next week is super-awesome and I should have plenty of time to play catch up after I clean. Time to get things back on track!

A Future Uncertain.

As I sit amid the heat, I think back to fighting for my transcripts. Now after I failed to gain entry into Computer Engineering and Mathematics at my University of choice I am left one more option left. Sadly that school has just now requested official transcripts from my school, which is now in summer session, so no one is there. What's one more year? I ponder a moment and it doesn't seem like much in the grand scheme of things but to an employer I am at the age where people will be graduating with degrees. If I go back it will be four years minimum before I am back into the work force and I will be just that much closer to retirement. Some might laugh, yeah twenty eight is pretty close... but from the same graduating class, if they have the choice between some one four years younger, they have that much longer until that person retires.

I find myself always working harder for the job I currently have than the one I want. I technically work ten hours a day, due to travel time and an unpaid break. My problem is I can't be content at my current job. I love writing, creating worlds, characters, situations and stories. I also love game design, balancing, stories, mechanics, testing and of course playing. One of my ten year and beyond goals is to open my own industry approved Game School and teach others the skills required to land jobs in the industry. I've been told there's a wealth of information on the internet... but that is much like saying I'd love to try a red delicious and they send you to an orchard with every variety of apple. How are you supposed to find it, if you don't know what you're looking for? The apple you want is probably red... and delicious, but this green apple is also delicious.

Perhaps I complain too much, or waste too much time on this blog. I find time is exactly the same as money... the more you have, you raise your spending to match your increase. Anyway back to writing my story!

Tim

The Un-productive.

I could easily blame my slacking this week on everything... but at the end of the day this was a great week and has been a great month. I've started some new trends and forgotten some I started and NEED to get back.

Started:

• Playing Badminton Every Week (It's my second favorite sport after volleyball).
• Jogging (Maybe my lungs won't feel like they're on fire next time? Although I have improved from 1/2 km to 1 km in 2 runs!)
• Writing... (Just not consistantly).
• Playing new board games and breaking them down.

Forgotten:

• Writing... (I used to set a goal of 5 pages per night. I need to get back to that).
• Helping out around the house (I'm sure my roommates will agree I used to help more, but don't as much these days).
• Saying No (I cannot say no to board games, which is wierd because I haven't touched a game console in over 2 months now! Just won Fury of Dracula as Dracula, I need to pick up Arkham Horror next, so excited!)
• Keeping up with my game course (I fell behind one day, and now suddenly it's two days... need to catch up tomorrow!)

All in all I have noticed I haven't been setting down a plan. I used to blame this on an irregular schedule, which does have a lot to do with it... but how can one have time if he doesn't make it?

I know I leave a maximum of 45 minutes early for work. If traffic is good I get there early. I generally work 8.5 hours and then leave approximately 15 minutes after the official end of my shift. The drive home is normally 30 minutes due to a lack of traffic. So I devote 10 hours a day to working for someone else.

I never sleep for 8 hours, but I think I should start. So I schedule 8 hours of sleep and 10 hours for work I am left with 6 hours a day for everything else. Showering etc gets a devoted hour. Eating will also take 30 minutes (Prepare, Cook & Eat). So I am left with 4.5 hours a day that I should be being productive. Also I should write off the 1/2 hour I spend waking up and breakfast or brunch.

Time management has taught me to break things down into smaller time blocks and stick firmly to them. The irony in this is I just wasted 5 minutes typing this up instead of sleeping, which I will get 5 hours of sleep for work tomorrow. Oh irony, how I adore thee!

Anyway on that note the heat is getting to me and my eye lids suddenly weigh millions of pounds, thanks for listening!

Tim

Tim Edwards: Still Alive.

Some quick updates!

I finally got my text book for the free game design course I'm taking and for thirty dollars it was well worth it! Some of the challenges you can feel how much you've learned from start to finish.

Writing a story a week has been a challenge, but I will be posting them as I finish them!

Needing a break I'll be going to see Public Enemies tonight (hopefully) or at least spending the night playing the Fury of Dracula board game (which is super awesome and highly recommended).

Also the Green Lantern story that is coming out, Blackest Night, sounds better and better every time I read about it. The whole Sinestro Corps background, the different Lanterns and now the revival of former superheroes as the Black Lanterns has got me thinking... why is Marvel popular? I mean DC crossed all their worlds in Crisis on Infinte Earths, but they just keep revisiting and cross referencing and it is that attention to detail that just keeps me coming back for more. Yeah, Wolverine is pretty intense... but The Flash running and pushing a villian through time... what does Wolverine have on that?

Anyway better (more productive) update to come!
Tim Edwards

The Tim and the Eight Day Stretch.

So, I am warning everyone... I may be on media blackout for the next eight days. I work straight from July ninth, to July Sixteenth and all my spare time will be spent on my course and my writing.

One thing I have learned thus far is playtesting board games is so rediculously fun! I am currently working on the deck for Propaganda!!! which I am confident enough with that once I get the playtesting done I may submit it to be published. (If I can find a publisher of board games that is...).

Oh! Also everyone keep their fingers crossed for me, I just applied to every position at Bioware that is available to me and my current level of experience with games. Soon I might indeed get a call back... but it will be a restraining order! Although with every story, and every game design I see through to completion... I feel that much more confident and even closer to achieving my goal, despite the UofA not accepting me this year (Thanks goes out to my old high school for sending out my transcripts almost five months after I applied).

No new creative items to post here, just news. Keep following though and they shall come like the rains... in Edmonton.

Thanks Again,
Tim

Propaganda!!!

No sleep for the wicked... or the creative!

For the WW1 assignment I went and researched the effect of propaganda on the Americans to get them to agree to help their Allies and join in the war! I wrote this up but have yet to playtest it, but Hey! That's what days off are for!

Propaganda!!!

Enjoy!!

Tim

Old Short Story!

Quick update while I evade the Sandman for yet another night. I have a Game Design Assignment that is actually quite challenging for this week and I'm doing my best to multitask and manage my time, but work enjoys getting in the way. Also, I've begun to feel like a narcaleptic as I sit down to do the research on World War 1 for the board game assignment and fall instantly asleep. I'm sure somewhere, a veteran rolled over in his grave.

The assignment has been posted here, and I'm working on the highest difficulty. My initial thought instantly turned to a board game based around technology, industry and espionage but after doing research it has actually not helped as much as I'd initally hoped. I feel more stumped than before (Thanks Wikipedia!), but I do have tomorrow off to focus solely on that idea and writing!

Also, it seems I'll be working on a board game with my room mates which is actually exciting! (I kept telling them we should start small, or with something you can SEE the progress we're making. Millions of lines of code are lost on us artistic types!) But it seems I may have inspired them with the inital assignment board game they tested! It looks like we'll be doing a Fantasy Based Player VS Multiple Players type board game! I'm totally excited for the challenge as the scope is a bit bigger than my Snakes & Ladders wannabe as well as I'll get some team experience. I think even if they don't follow through to completion, I very well might!

Alright, so for any who haven't seen this already it's a short story I wrote not that long ago but it's just an idea for a character I've had for awhile. Feel free to leave any comments or if you'd like to give me any editing advice just feel free to leave your email address in the comments section and I'll get back to you.

For now enjoy this 25 page Action-Comedy about an excellent assassin who can't seem to move up past number 11 of the top 10 in the world. He has many moments of very poor luck and when you seem to be constantly strapped for cash, gear isn't always performing up to task! Also stay tuned... depending on how feedback goes on the story, I may actually post some Podcast clips from when I was considering turning this character into a weekly podcast show!

Mediocre Assassin

Thanks for reading along!

Tim

Latest Updates!

Alright, since I'm in "update the blog" mode, I've updated the sidebar to also include awesome pieces of my work as time goes on. Thus far I've updated with a link to the final project of my 3D Animation Course.

NES Magic - A Rube Goldberg Machine based off the idea of what really happens when you push Power on your old NES Machine. Powered by the Triforce? Who really knows?

My other update is a project from the free game design class I am currently working on. I designed and implemented the game in less than 15 minutes and spent 45 minutes playing. Oh good times!

My final update from today will be a short story I've entitled "The Runner", which is an effort to help me manage a sense of urgency in an action story. I am weak in action sequences and I wanted to try something new. Hope you enjoy!

Feel free to leave me any comments about my work and any advice to get into the game industry is always appreciated!

Tim

Really? October?

WHOA, It's been a bit of awhile. I apparently need to work on my blogging skills. Or at least schedule myself some time to blog! Seriously... October feels like last week considering I thought about writing to this blog not too long ago, but it seems the time has passed.

Well... now that the shock is out of my system, I'm sure everyone is wondering what I've been up to, and how exciting it must have been. The sad part is, working and sleeping are the majority of my time and the rest is divided up between playing board games, writing and designing my own board games. Christmas came and went... Oh yeah, and then I moved. Then... here we are?

Alright, in more detail Christmas was intense and I pulled ahead as a supervisor. My title went from being Audio Supervisor (One Floor) to Store Supervisor (Both Floors) and then to Operations/Customer Service Supervisor (Both Floors, Schedules for the Visual Floor + Sales and Conversion Goals for the store). No pay raises though, but no pay cuts either! I recently had a job interview within HMV to see if I was ready for the next level. I want it for the challenge, the control over my schedule and for the old resume... but at the same time I really want to just work at Bioware... latest developments coming soon...

I also applied to attend school at the University of Alberta, which they gladly took my $100 and let me know I was unable to attend because of previous marks (Which is a whole other story to do with Dal-lousy back in Halifax). So I have no school plans for the fall unless Grant MacEwan comes through. Although my best friend seemed like he was trying to talk me out of Computer Engineering... but I want a job that is NOT retail. Retail feels like permanent high school, and that my friends is B.S.

So no school... but google found me a twitter for Bioware, which linked to a blog, which lead to an article, where I found...

The Holy Grail!

...Alright, all B.S. aside, I found an article that really just made sense about how to become a writer at Bioware. So henceforth I claim my laptop in the name of furthering my writing abilities as well as game design abilities. So as of next week I will begin writing one 25 page short story per week, until I get hired on. I will also be continuing my participation in Ian Schreiber's Game Design Course (Link at the top right). So far it has been an awesome journey as I created a 15 minute game: Space Disruption. It's been fun, I recommend any and all who follow my blog should read that blog and feel free to look over my game design and testing. Feel free to leave comments but I have to go write! Later!

Tim (Apparent Blogger @ Large)

Life: Upgrades.

So it's been a long time since I last posted. I feel I should get back in the habit of posting my challenges, reviews and progress in getting a game career. Lately it's been getting hectic as I get trained to be a floor supervisor at HMV for christmas. I've only been at HMV since June, so this might be the fastest I've moved up at any of my jobs. I'm also realizing just because I've moved up at every job I've worked at, it literally means nothing. It's great for if I want to work retail for the rest of eternity, however it gives me no edge in any other aspect.

I can manage teams of up to forty people, I can delegate, manage tasks, work with deadlines... yet my resume apparently does not commnicate this, or these aren't worthwhile skills. I believe they are, but I'm also outside the industry staring in. I feel like I'm at the zoo, but I have been feeding the lions, now I want to be one. I said once I would literally kill a man to work at Bioware and then my friend stabbed back with "Well, they're only asking for a module... much easier." Sadly a module requires a lot of time and focus. I have focus, but very little time. I also find myself getting stuck on the most rediculous things (I just want this guy to automatically talk to the player when the module loads, why is this script not working?! ARG!) and it just taking forever. The last module I made was deep, intricate and well layed out, but for some strange reason I didn't have the problems with that one that I am currently plagued with! Perhaps it might have been because I was fresh out of my Computer Science stint and programming was still fresh. Now, I'm rusty at coding and frustrated by the little things. It only makes me more determined to finish it, but I feel like I've become limited because of my rusty coding skills.

Anyway, I just thought I'd post on here to perhaps get back into the habit and give an update to the family and friends who are curious! Thanks for the support!

Update of 12.

Well my updates come further apart, although they seem to be feeling close together. I find myself consistantly looking for a new position so I can get the money worries out of my face so I can worry about the things that really matter. I've been feeling unproductive as of late mostly because of the bills rolling in and me having just enough to cover expenses.

The module has sadly taken a backseat as I reprioritize and try and get some extra sleep and hopefully an interview. 12 days have passed since I last updated here and I just feel like I'm lost in the shuffle of my own life. I have even begun taking less of a role in the Game Design Challenges where I found myself weekly. I leave every day at 7:30 and get home around 6:00. That's almost 12 hours gone to work alone, leaving me with 8 hours to sleep and 4 hours to get things done. It almost seems like my entire week is about to be come scheduled from waking moment to pillow time. We shall see, maybe that will make me more productive... also, should I schedule free time?

Branching Out...

I have been busy as of late thinking about a new job and currently working at HMV. Sadly I love the people I work with, but it's not paying the bills. I am currently looking into a tech support job at Telus, while I work on my module, portfolio and my resume. I've also taken up jogging, because I am apparently in good shape on the outside, but rotten on the inside.

I just got my Module Making book in the mail and hopefully this will give me a bit better of an understanding of scripting. The part of my module I'm at right now involves creating the city layout in the toolset, but there are certain triggers and things I need to understand before I go further. Also, as much as I want this to be my career I still want to enjoy Edmonton a bit more anyway before getting into it. I mean don't get me wrong, if they called tomorrow and asked I'd sprint right over for the interview. But I know that once I get a position in there I'll pretty much move in and learn from as many people as will allow me. I plan to learn as much as I can about every aspect of game design once I'm in a company. I want to especially know testing, marketing, design, and the whole implementation phase. But for now I will deal with the jobs I do have and work towards my goal of working at Bioware... some time soon hopefully.

Burnout.

So I've been working, busing, sleeping and generally in that order for the past few weeks. I kept coming up with story ideas, discussing them with my friends and coworkers and they've been a great help. Sure at the time a comment like "That sounds like Lord of the Rings" doesn't seem helpful, but it was very helpful and made me change the scope of my project. The project has been revised many times already and in each revision I have learned something new. Revision 1 was I knew nothing about the module editor, 2 was understanding the conversation editor, 3 was to cut the scope of my story down, 4 was what order I should do things in and now I'm on to the 5th chapter.

Currently my story is about your character who is charged by the fates to help overthrow a crazed king. You meet 3 others along the way and they will all help in your battles. The only thing I want scripting wise is to figure out a way to enable automatic healing. For example, instead of having to rest between battles when it's safe, I want it to assume you would and just heal you back to full mostly to keep the story going between battles instead of stopping and wasting a minute or two per battle.

Either way the newest story is short, to the point and action packed. I just need to figure out how to actually start it off once all the characters have been completed and the areas finished. Anyway that's it for now, back to work for me!

The Sacrifice.

After passing up many hours of gaming today, I have become active once again in my moderator duties on Game Career Guide's forums. I also wrote out my revamped idea for a Neverwinter Nights module and ordered a book on NWN Scripting. For the moment I know exactly how I want things to go, it's just a matter of transferring it into Neverwinter Nights. Also, I'm trying to figure out a way to make a script that will allow for more freedom during play.

The concept? I want a list of people for you to kill and you get to choose the order, but it will have to increase in difficulty as you progress through the game. Hopefully the forums will help me out and if not, maybe my engineer friend can lend a few ideas. Also, I want a random event that can alter who you're targeting almost like confusing, but messing with the view so that you the player chooses to attack the wrong person! I'll let you know how that goes... Back to the module making, oh and my musical choices this week consist of three things: Stratovarius, Richard Cheese and Powerglove. Look them all up if you've never heard of them!

Till next time!

A Rock and a Hard Place.

I am currently on the fence with where I am currently in life. I received a 3D Animation degree which right now feels like an $8600 piece of paper. I am considering returning to school, but this time at the University of Alberta for a Computer Science degree. I keep hearing it's easier to break into the games industry and right now that is my largest hurdle. I can see the rest of the hurdles and by comparison, they're only lines on the road ahead.

Everyone keeps telling me how much work it is, and I don't think they understand that I am up for the challenge and have a better grasp of what the industry has to offer than most applicants.

Anyway I just thought I'd post here since I've been neglecting it since I started learning scripting in Neverwinter Nights. I don't have much free time, my schedule most days consists of waking up at 7:30 am, busing to work, working 8:30 am to 5 pm, busing home, arriving at 6 and then eating, showering and trying to fit as much learning and module making as possible into the few hours I have left. It's rough, but as my best friend put it, "That's Life". He's right, and that's what makes it all the more frustrating. I have almost no time to spit and polish my module but refuse to submit something I can't enjoy. Also, there's still so many little things I want to do that I need more scripting for. Ah well, hopefully this weekend I will have all the scripting tutorials read and tested so I can start into the meat and potatoes of the actual story and module.

Anyway, until next time... wish me luck!

Insanity.

Bioware has posted the Quality Assurance position once again to their glorious website. It is unfortunately routed through the EA job bank, which makes me wonder who is hiring for this position. I am considering walking a resume in just to set myself apart from all these other submissions. I have already applied through the internet, but can you apply too many times? I mean after all, I moved 3000 kms to be closer to them because I want to start my career there. I definitely don't want to harass them, but I do want to maximize my chances.

Also, on top of that I have a multitude of projects I am working on at various stages of completion. It's kind of terrible because I find myself torn between multiple projects like this all the time. I am reading two different books as well, one on storyboarding and one on scriptwriting. Perhaps I should focus on one thing at a time but I feel like time is disappearing into oblivion. Also this way it keeps everything fresh, exciting and I never feel like I have to work on them, I just feel like I want to work on them all at once. Too much passion might be getting me in trouble! My XNA subscription ends next month and I have done nothing with the previous year. I might indeed leave it for the coming year, so I at least have the option of going to it whenever I want. Living with a computer engineer helps in this respect, although we're toying around with many ideas at the moment.

Anyway I am heading off this is just a quick update, but I'll write again soon.

Juggling Chainsaws: The Beginning

I've been overwhelmed with ideas as of late and it's definitely going to take some time to get my bearings again. I may have said it before, but if not, here it is: I am inspired by anything and everything.

I might be sitting at home watching the rain fall, and imagine up some tornado ripping across the city and mowing homes down like hay piles or I might be just listening to some music that inspires a character, or emotional scene. No matter what though I sometimes get inspiration from inspiration. Many people find themselves unable to finish things because they lack self motivation or just the devotion to one thing for a long time. Unfortunately I could be grouped with these inidividuals, but I am of a different mindset.

I once listened to a slow orchestrated song that rose up to a dramatic climax and maintained the speed until the dramatic finish. This sparked an image of a group of knights marching through volcanic caves and stopping at the sight of a bridge over lava. To the other side was a single warrior, clad in the darkest of metals, only runes shown through a bright red, almost as if they'd just been branded in. Fearing his own demise the leader of the group of knights sent his men to the bridge to fight the single warrior. They marched simultaneously onward, (then the music began to pick up) suddenly the warrior begins trotting, then matching tempo to a full on run (the music at this point is in full tempo). He bursts through the first rank as if they were made of wet paper, (much to the crashing of percussion) and meets the second rank with a few quick parries and pushes into the lava. The idea continues until there are only two left on the bridge: A Warrior and a Knight, staring each other down over the licking flames of the lava. Suddenly, this sparked more ideas. Where did these knights come from? Where were they going? Who was this mysterious warrior? What did he represent? So suddenly I had two back stories to write and no time to do either one. But, I did indeed begin! Then... As I was discussing the knights being sent to defeat the Queen of the Flames, I suddenly thought man... she needs a guardian, that warrior is already set up, but that would be too easy!

So now I had the fight scene between Warrior and Knight, I had a story as to where the Knights had been and where they were headed and now I was creating another character who we hadn't even met yet but would meet the best of the two locked in epic battle over a lake of heated, liquid earth. Not only that, but what of the Warrior? What was he doing there? His quest was far simpler, but he thought he was being followed by a terrible group of assassins. His quest simply lie in the fact he had to summon the Great Fire Wyrm, Veloki, and be blessed by his breath of fire. Upon receiving the blessing, the Warrior would become a Dragoon or Defender of the Dragon Race. These were like Paladins but for Dragons. So if you've been following, you've already probably been overwhelmed by my jumping between ideas. Worst part is, I can recall any idea I've had and begin or continue again.

So imagine having to deal with that, constantly, especially being in a new city where everyday is an adventure. I get lost, experience new types of music at work, and occassionally just daydream where i should be more productive. But to give myself some explanation, I'm enjoying imagining again because for so long I had been so concerned and cornered by everything. Somedays I wonder if there is really a position for guys like me... some sort of "Locked in a room, chained to a desk thinking up new ideas, stories, backgrounds, worlds and puzzles" kind of guy. I almost need to find some sort of way to channel out every idea I can at once. Some kind of multidata stream where my thoughts funnel right into text files which can then be printed into money. I'll need to focus if I want a job writing professionally, but I figure I've got at least 5 years in Edmonton, so enjoy a little bit while I can. It's been awhile since I have just hung out and played some games with my best friend and that has been my biggest lure from focusing. Also, three of us read comics here, and two (not me, as the third) of us make the money to afford comics like every week. I've been reading up a storm and just finished Supreme Power 1-3 published by Marvel. So far? I love every page. Art, story and 100% pure unadultered "awesomeness" seeing these heroes cast in a different light. I definitely recommend them. Anyway, I've done my typing flood again, so I hope you got something out of this.

Exhaustion.

So, as usual work an a bus take a lot more our of a day then I'm used to. Work is 8.5 hours long including my unpaid break. Also, I leave 1 hour before my shift to ensure I arrive early at the very latest. Coming home generally only takes 30 minutes. So after some simple math, I spend 8 hours (or less, mostly less) sleeping, and 10 hours out due to work. So 18 of my 24 hours is already spoken for leaving me with 6 hours left to do what I want. However, living with other people I have to also help cook, clean, mow, labour, etc... So, the average time I have to do things per day is probably closer to 4-5 hours. Not bad, but not great either. Despite my powerful motiviation to try and get on at Bioware, I feel myself slipping with exhaustion.

Trying to learn and focus on making a module is frustrating at the best of times, but being tired is a whole other story. Perhaps once my body gets used to all the exercise it's been getting, maybe I'll be more aware. Anyway I am a little frustrated for the moment but still have my eye on the prize, I will design games at some point... right after these "Zzz" messages... zzz...

D&D - The Campaign

The idea for the moment. I am currently creating a D&D campaign for people to play together, seperately or completely one on one with the DM. The rules!

Each player will create a detailed backstory as well as help complete the map of their hometown. This will give them a feeling of already being very much involved in the campaign. Also, this allows for them to know the complete ins and outs of their hometown such as shortcuts, good bars, great inns, a free place to stay, and contacts. I've also decided if indeed they want to start off seperately I'll be roleplaying an NPC to accompany them if they so choose. This will be a character type opposite to their main class, or even of their choosing. The character is run by me, and I make their choices so it's not just two characters for the one player.

The world will be most likely small thinking in terms of the length of Balder's Gate or Neverwinter Nights sans expansion packs. As always any world can be altered to fit the demands of its players. The best part of this whole experience will be seeing how easily the players punch holes in my world. I hope they decide to go with not starting off grouped up and choose characters and support characters that complement each other. Of course, not all parties probably worked like that. I am hoping for chaos and luck and an enjoyable experience for all. I'll keep you posted.

Also, the newer design challenges seem a bit off the mark so I haven't been bothering to post them on here or take part. I check them out, occasionally post in the forums but they don't have the same punch as when James Portnow was reigning over them. Also, the Nextgen forums didn't seem to care about the design challenges, so I avoid a place where I cannot get constructive criticism.

Also, does anyone know any Swing Metal bands? I know of none, but the Diablo Swing Orchestra is as close to the medium as I have found. I think I was expecting more metal... perhaps Metal Swing would be better? Let me know! Till next update!

The Infiltration...

I return once again to update the world on my quest to become the greatest pokemon master... wait, wrong blog... the greatest game designer in the world. Anyway, today's developments include a tour of Bioware, offered up from some extended, extended family.

My current tour of duty, includes working the stockroom at HMV, playing Neverwinter Nights and Diablo 2 (in the little spare time I have) and working on a module for the writer position at Bioware. I have much more experience with writing than I do animating, and thus feel more comfortable and confident in my work. Sadly, I have limited experience with the NWN Toolset and playing the game is helping me out a bit in understanding how they do things. I wish there was a toolset class, but I'm sure the world wide web won't let me down... as it does so often.

My character in NWN is probably my favorite persona I've taken up in a role playing setting. He is a kleptomaniac who must steal first, ask questions later. Yeah, I've received some ray of frost discipline from the party mage, but I'm innocent. It's my hands that are guilty! My bag of holding is being put to wonderful use although I've always wondered why you couldn't put a bag of holding into another bag of holding. Would that create some sort of dimensional warp? Anyway I am pretty much earning the party money by pickpocketing during battles and slinking around cracking open chests. It's a great life all in all, but I wish we had more time to play together. Also this is inspiring me to create a 4th Edition D&D campaign, but at the same time I'm afraid of 4th edition. Might have to get over that.

Oh the new Game Design Challenge is about crates... make something to replace them. Sure thing, anyway here are a few of my ideas.

Blobs - Plain and simple, you're on a world and there is experimental goo everywhere. Use it to make stairs, ladders, slides, supports, etc. The goo is also highly flammable and withers away after flames touch it. It also sticks to walls, itself, other characters etc. Not bad for some goo eh?

Trees - Where do crates come from? Trees! And there are trees generally in any environment so why not use them? Maybe not big trees, but they can also be propped up to make walkways, ladders, traps etc.

Psychic Energy - Sci Fi always needs something to do with enhanced mental capabilities. So why not have just concentrations of energy your character can see that can be pushed and altered into shapes your character might have seen allowing for unique puzzles (ex: transform the energy into a sphere, and get it into an air duct and then turn it into a box to clog the air duct or just to stack. )

Magnets! - Everyone loves magnets, just imagine a factory of magnets. Kind of similar properties to the goo, but imagine throwing an intense magnet at an enemy and watching their armor or weapons attach to it.

Anyway until next time, wish me luck!