Happy New Year's Eve!

2018 Ends Today! I hope everyone has had a great year this year, and that you can look ahead with excitement to an exciting 2019! I'll finish up my superhero posts soon and then discuss what 2019 holds for Solar Echoes, but I wanted to take a moment and wish you all a Happy New Year! Have a great celebration tonight, and I'll see you "next year!"

For 2019, I hope everyone finds more time to spend with friends and family!

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art...It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival."
- C. S. Lewis

Superheroes: Are you a fan? (part 2)

I had a discussion with a friend about superheroes recently, and I found myself explaining why I don't like powers in the superhero genre. To me, the heroes have a huge advantage with their superpower, and the writers always have to create a villain with a different superpower so that the hero has a challenge. Otherwise, what would the hero do with his power if he didn't have anyone to oppose him? Everyone else is just caught in the middle, and are helpless without the superhero fighting for them. This is a very old formula for story-telling, if you consider Greek mythology. In my opinion, superheroes and supervillains are just modern-day Greek gods fighting it out while humanity cheers on the good guys.

Superheroes: Are you a fan? (part 1)

Are you into superheroes? With all the high-quality superhero movies out there, it's hard not to be at least a little interested--even people not excited about superheroes have probably seen at least a Batman or Spiderman movie in their lifetime. I was just thinking about the genre recently since my daughter is seeing the new Spiderman movie today. I enjoy superhero movies and will usually pay to watch them at home, but I have to admit, I'm not really a fan of superheroes. However, I do find some of them more interesting than others, and I wondered what it was that I disliked about them. If I had to pick my favorite, I'd say Batman. My least favorite? Superman. Each superhero follows that pattern in my preferences, and I realized what it is that I don't like about superheroes—their powers!

Holiday Gaming (part 2)

A friend of mine who is an avid table top gamer visits his family over the holidays and always takes with him a number of board games to play. His entire family loves sitting around a table and playing games together during the holidays. I must admit that I'm a little jealous, because I would love it if my wife and daughter enjoyed gaming. My wife has zero interest in games and my daughter (with the exception of Minecraft) is very uninterested in gaming. Regardless of shared interests, though, it's likely you'll be spending a lot of time over the holidays with family. Games are a great way to pass the time and interact, and I think my friend with the board games really has the right idea. There are few things that draw people together for a fun time as much as games do. When gaming together, it's easy to forget about the stresses of a job, politics, finances, illnesses, losses, and other weighty concerns. Whether you are a competitive or cooperative gamer, playing games with family and friends will bring you together with common goals, laughter, and a shared experience that often builds lasting memories.

Merry Christmas!

Holiday Gaming (part 1)

As we enjoy the Christmas holiday this week and prepare for a New Year's celebration next week, many of us are able to take a break from our usual stressful and busy lives. It's a time to see family and friends, to enjoy good food and company, and is even an opportunity to reflect on our lives. How have we been spending our time, and how would we like to spend it? Some of us will finally have the time to enjoy our favorite hobbies, and if we're spending time with family and friends, maybe even get them involved. My daughter, for instance, has gone through my movie collection and has made a stack of 8 movies she'd like to watch together over the vacation--we watched Equilibrium together Saturday night. She's also been spending time online with friends playing Minecraft. My wife and I have been enjoying a scifi Korean tv series on Netflix about AR. And on my own, I've been putting some time into a few video games, especially the new VR version of Borderlands 2. With all this free time over the holidays, what are you doing for fun?

Character Dynamics (part 5)

As you write out your plot and even as you conclude your first draft, you should ask yourself whether you are still excited about the characters you've written. If, by the end of your writing, you realize that you are a little bored of your characters, then it is a good idea to go back into your story and add in a new character or two to bring more out of your existing characters. Or, if you're still flexible with your plot, you might also want to create a few situations that will challenge your characters internally, forcing them to deal with their fears, morality, personal pride, or other aspects of their personality that you have yet to explore.

Character Dynamics (part 4)

If you're at a loss as to how to effectively implement dynamic changes through new characters, consider the following scenarios. How would a team of characters that work well together be affected by a new teammate that was entirely self-serving and independent? Or someone that was overly critical and disassatisfied with anything but their idea of perfection? What about a character that is fiercely competitive, incredibly negative, or extremely positive? These are just a few suggestions, but all of these types of characters produce a wide range of dynamic interaction, and can add “spice” to the story you are writing.

Character Dynamics (part 3)

Another way to change character dynamics in a story is by the introduction of a new character. Group dynamics can be drastically altered by the presence of a new character, and this alone can sometimes produce interesting plot twists and story development. Like a musical composition that suddenly changes key, the arrival of a new character in a story can be refreshing and exciting. It can also cause an audience to long for a return to the original situation with the former group of characters. Through a new character, it is possible to create tension or provide release from tension, which will move the story forward and keep the audience engaged.

Character Dynamics (part 2)

One way to create a dynamic change among characters is to use story events or the environment to trigger a sudden change. Sometimes a character you thought you knew will drastically change his or her demeanor in reaction to a new circumstance. This sudden change could open up an opportunity later for a reveal of the character's background--what happened in their past that might have caused them to have such an unexpected reaction? It's usually more interesting to discover character backgrounds along the way than to know what drives them from the very beginning.

Character Dynamics (part 1)

Whether you're writing a novel, a movie script, or a video game, the complexity of character interaction can heavily influence the audience reception of a work. It can be difficult to write characters that are interesting, and even more difficult to keep interesting characters from beginning predictable. Even if you manage to write compelling characters, your audience will eventually acclimate to those characters and begin to anticipate their reactions. Predictability in writing can quickly lead to boredom, so it's important to know when to shake things up a little...

Video Game Review: Fallout 76 (part 5)

Another element of Fallout 76 that increased the survival aspect of the game was the need to drink water and eat food. Over time, your thirst and hunger can reach the point that it affects your energy levels, so you'll have to cook the irradiated meat from animals you kill and boil the irradiated water that is widely available around you. You'll also need to manage your rad level, and as you become increasingly radiated, the radiation bar shortens your overall hit point bar. Radaway meds aren't very plentiful, so managing this can be challenging early game until you learn how to construct your own water purifier. I unexpectedly discovered that staying irradiated for too long can lead to a mutation, and suddenly I could jump super high, though my intelligence dropped like a rock by 4 points. I actually liked this mutation and intended to keep it, until I accidentally cleansed myself of it with a Radaway med...perhaps I was roleplaying my low Intelligence score too well? I miss the ability to leap up onto a high roof or rock to use as a sniper perch! Other features in the game include the ability to construct a camp, which can be built as simple as a shack or as complex as a turret-guarded fortress—if you can gather the materials you need. The camp can be moved to other locations on the map and fast-traveled to as a base of operations. Weapons can be modified, armor can be upgraded, ammo can be crafted, food cooked, in addition to other fun survivalist options throughout the game. True to the RPG genre, you can upgrade your skills (Perks) and shift them around if you like, with skills that rely on your attribute point investments. In conclusion, I'm really enjoying uncovering the stories hidden through the notes and recordings scattered around the wasteland while trying to survive the mutated creatures and humans that sometimes break the comfortable silence of exploring the beautiful West Virginian landscape. Maybe I'll see you there?

Video Game Review: Fallout 76 (part 4)

If another player decides to attack you, you will notice a tiny sliver of damage was caused. It won't significantly hurt your player, and the damage is so minimal, you can easily walk away. Or, you can turn and attack the player back. As soon as this happens, you have entered PvP, and the loser of the duel will drop his “junk,” which are the crafting materials he collected. You will not lose your weapons or armor, or any other items, however. The winner of the duel can collect your junk, but that's all he gets out of the experience. If a player attacks you and you don't attack back, and if that player is peristent and eventually kills you, he gets nothing at all except the satisfaction that he beat somebody who refused to fight back. However, the aggressive player is suddenly labeled red on the map as a murderer, and all players can see him, though all other players will disappear from the murderer's own map so he won't know where they are as they hunt him down. Players can hunt down the murderer together and kill him for his money and junk. Personally, I love this system, because it basically protects those who aren't interested in playing Fallout 76 as a PvP game, but those who are interested can do so freely as well. Bethesda has also hinted at plans to include a PvP faction system in a future patch.

Video Game Review: Fallout 76 (part 3)

Some of you are probably saying, “Wait, isn't this a multiplayer game?” Yes, it is, and it is the first online multiplayer game in the Fallout series. I have the option to join up with friends and explore together, or I can go it alone. I can pull up a map and see a white dot representing where another player is, but I can choose to avoid encounters with them if I'm feeling introverted. Sometimes I'll be surprised to see another player, and I really like the trepidation that is attached to that first meeting—will they be friend, or foe? Everyone has their own agenda, and sometimes, you don't fit into it. Other times, a player will walk up to you and make a request to trade. You can set a price or trade items you think fairly compensate for the exchange. One time, I met two players and one made a trade request. He offered me something I didn't really want or need, so I made an offer back with something I didn't want, with a price attached. He apparently felt this was an unfair deal or that I should be grateful for what he was offering me, so he canceled the trade and started attacking me. So did his friend. In other Massive Multiplayer Online games (MMO's), Player vs. Player (PvP) is a big part of the game, but it can also really spoil the game for solo players like me, which is why I usually stay away from MMO's. Bethesda has a brilliant design for handling “griefers” in the game, which are players who enjoy bullying and killing other players...

Video Game Review: Fallout 76 (part 2)

I've always really liked the Fallout game universe, and even platinumed (earned all trophies for) Fallout 3, when it was released in 2008. The post-apocalyptic setting and the survivalist style of gameplay really drew me into the world, along with the 1950's style of scifi. In Fallout 76—which takes place in beautiful West Virginia (there's a lot more color in this Fallout game!), the same survivalist feeling returns, but in my opinion, it's even better. No longer are NPC's standing around in certain areas, ready to give you quests and pre-programmed responses to your questions. Instead, the story is told through what you uncover on your own. Handwritten notes, holotapes, robots, and computer terminals now deliver your quests, and they do so in a fashion that feels like they were left behind long after the bombs fell...until you came along and discovered them. The unrealistic situation in other games where NPC's wait around to give their quests to you is entirely circumvented by the design in Fallout 76, and for me, it created more realism and immersion. I felt like I was discovering these quests myself, rather than being given them by NPC's that had decided I was their designated hero. This design decision also made me feel more alone—without NPC's around to chat with, I truly felt like I was one of the last few survivors of the apocalypse. Even the friendliness of some of the robots I encountered felt hollow and insincere, for I knew that they were only programmed to interact that way with anyone that came along. The feeling of loneliness was amplified in Fallout 76, and I loved it!

Video Game Review: Fallout 76 (part 1)

If you've been paying attention to the online reaction to Fallout 76, you've probably heard a lot of negative comments, and have maybe even seen that infamous video on Youtube about the disgruntled customer with anger issues at Gamestop who flipped out when he couldn't return the game. If any of this has deterred you from considering Fallout 76, I'm here to share my experience with the game so you can make a decision about whether or not it's right for you. One of the reasons I suspect there has been such a loud outcry of condemnation about the game is because people had very high expectations, and some were disappointed. In today's culture, disappointment often results in unncessarily toxic and overblown reactions. Upfront, I'll say this: Fallout 76 has a few bugs, or at least it did for the first two weeks—my game crashed 5 separate times. Last week, Bethesda released a patch, and so far, I've not experienced any more game crashes on my PS4. Many games are released by their deadlines and patched several days or weeks after as bug reports roll in, so this is not unusual. Early adopters are sometimes playing a new game that is fresh out of beta, so not everything was caught in time before release. A little patience with the developers can really go a long way towards enjoying a fantastic game...

What you don't know about the Voidsea can kill you! (part 5)

It was no surprise that the Reln withheld much of what they had learned about the Voidsea, and even related university programs in Reln-space yielded little more than had been revealed to the public. The Reln kept their methods and technology classified, shrouded in secret from the rest of the alien nations. However, the Reln did reveal some conclusive findings to validate their claims, and that information alone changed what we all had believed we understood about the Voidsea. About the only fact that stayed constant was an understanding that the great void was an extra-dimensional tear in reality. Fragments of information from the Reln indicated it was an ever-changing, active distortion of the universe, phasing time and other dimensions into chaotic waves and bubbles of altered reality. The Reln also claimed they had been gathering dangerously powerful alien artifacts from the region, and through their research, determined something none of us could have imagined. The Voidsea was the devastation left behind from an ancient war between two incredibly advanced alien races. The war had evidently destroyed them both. At least, that's what all of us still hope, but the Reln seem to know a lot more than they're telling us.

www.voidsea.com

 

What you don't know about the Voidsea can kill you! (part 4)

Unknown to the public for quite some time, the governments of different alien nations were conducting their own studies of the void. When the true expanse of the void was finally determined by exploratory probes and data was eventually shared, the massive region was compared with a giant ocean, and the name “Voidsea” caught on. Data gathered at the edge of the Voidsea was consistently accurate, but data was inconclusive from the few probes that entered the region and existed long enough to transmit. This drew many scientists, astrophysicists, astronomers, and others to intensify their studies of the region, and it wasn't long before degree programs were offered based on the Voidsea itself. Countless efforts were made to send probes deeper into the region to produce data, but no one was successful in penetrating the mysteries of the void, an area many had begun to classify as an “extra-dimensional rift, out of phase with this universe.” Analysis seemed hopeless, until the day that the Reln proudly announced that they had been visiting the Voidsea regularly for years, and knew how to successfully return!

What you don't know about the Voidsea can kill you! (part 3)

Today, few talk about the last transmission of the infamous rescue expedition, and those that remember the now-banned recording still speak in whispers of traumatic nightmares. If it had not been a live broadcast, rumors of intentional edits and grisly special effects might have had more credence. Those that believed the hellish images were real usually ended up admitted to mental institutions for treatment of PTSD. In several cases, people that witnessed the original transmissions often sought out and aggressively attacked any "deniers." Eventually, mention of the dark realm of space at the edge of Reln territory became taboo. For decades, no new information emerged and the rumors and stories began to fade with time. Yet despite all this, there was a constant reminder on starmaps that certain borders existed upspin and outward in the Gamma 1 and Beta 1-2 quadrants.

What you don't know about the Voidsea can kill you! (part 2)

For years, the unusual frequency of vanished explorers in this region wasn't associated with a particular cause. Word gets around, however, and eventually there were enough reports of missing starships to prompt a more thorough investigation. Widespread public awareness began when a pop singer attempted a publicity stunt and disappeared shortly after, his last transmission being the famous, "What happened to all the stars?" recording. The transmission itself was frequently replayed by media channels and soon became a popular meme among the younger generation, spawning a number of hit songs recorded in honor of the missing singer. A high profile rescue operation was organized and sent to search for the singer, but the closely monitored expedition was about to end with a horrific and sobering finish...

What you don't know about the Voidsea can kill you! (part 1)

If you're asking the question, "What is the Voidsea?", you're already in trouble. Many early explorers weren't even aware that this region of space was any different than other reaches of the galaxy. Once explorers realized something was wrong, it was too late to escape, and often too late to even send out a distress call or warning message; the Voidsea is notorious for warping and blocking signals. The few messages that were received were often indecipherable and made little sense, seldom conveying anything that would suggest the true horrors of the dark expanse. But scrambled signals are not all there is to fear...