Star Legation Update (part 5)

Once the sound effects and music had really brought the alien forest to life on planet Yolwana, I needed one more thing—a little animation. Throughout the Star Legation, there are little cinematic moments involving some animation that enhance the overall immersion and help connect the story. This is the beauty of a visual novel, and in my opinion, this genre of game can be similar to filming a movie. Framing is important, camera movement can help create mood and focus, and cuts to and away from certain focal points can almost set the tone for what is going to happen next. The animation sequences take a lot of work, and often involve a lot of trial and error with the timing of certain effects, but once they are all synced up, it feels like you are really part of an interactive movie. I hope that the Star Legation will feel like that for you, because my goal is to tell a great story with memorable characters along with an immersive backdrop of great art, music, and animation. I really can’t wait for you to try the demo and hear what you think! Only a few more months until spring!

Star Legation Update (part 4)

The alien jungle sounds were almost enough by themselves, but I decided that there also needed to be some nice background music emerging at one point during the characters’ walk through the jungle. Composing this piece took longer than I anticipated, because I couldn’t quite capture the right feel of the situation. At least, not at first. After three false starts on compositions that just didn’t quite fit the right mood, I was finally able to design a theme that felt fitting. The next step was to find the right instrumentation, and that proved challenging as well. I thought about the kind of instruments that seemed fitting for a forest, and although my initial inclination was towards strings, I decided on more of an ethereal “winds” sound, with purer tones. I had struggled to write this composition at first because I thought a major key would best fit the beautiful environment, but this wasn’t going to work if I wanted the audience to feel the growing uncertainty and dread of the protagonist as he walked deeper into the alien forest. A minor key felt too dark, however, considering the beautiful colors of Aeghite’s artwork. In the end, I decided to write the composition in a mode, which felt just right for the occasion.

Star Legation Update (part 3)

An alien forest wouldn’t be complete without background sound and music, however, so I spent countless hours playing with my sound design programs. I finally designed what feels like a common forest soundscape, with a full orchestra of birds chirping and tweeting. However, I didn’t want to stop there. This is an alien planet, after all, so I used my digital audio workstation to play around with various sounds. By manipulating synthesized sounds, I was able to design the sounds of a few alien lifeforms. For instance, one synthesized instrument sounded like a series of fast blips, so I took this sound, arranged the pitches, adjusted the tempo, and played it backwards to achieve a somewhat “alien” bird chirp. In another instance, I took some metallic grating sounds coupled with a few mumbles and groans, producing the sound of an alien forest mammal somewhere in the distance. I then added in these alien animal sounds periodically in among the more natural forest sound effects, producing a very “alien jungle.”

Merry Christmas!

Star Legation Update (part 2)

One of the delays I experienced this fall was regarding planet surface artwork. I ended up re-commissioning the work to my talented CG artist, Aeghite, and she has done an absolutely fantastic job in a very short time. When the protagonist lands on the Erwani homeworld, Yolwana, we see a beautiful forest full of color, covered with a mixture of plant life that is both familiar and alien. I wanted the protagonist, Trey, and his Reln companion to walk through the forest together, but this took some doing. I spent many hours trying out different tests with my program to achieve the animation I wanted, using some cinematic trickery to keep it all connected. I was finally able to achieve my goal of having some sideways scrolling background art during their “walk,” and it really feels like you’re moving through the forest with them!

Star Legation Update (part 1)

A lot of progress has been made this last month on the Star Legation visual novel, and I can say that the demo is ahead of schedule. I suspect the demo will be completed before the end of January, which is well before the spring—the intended release date of the demo during the Kickstarter campaign. This will give me time to plan and prepare for the Kickstarter, putting together a short video, setting up backer rewards, etc. There are still a few details left that need refining in the demo, but this month has been all about visiting the homeworld of the sentient plant race, the Erwani. Our human protagonist, Trey, has never encountered the Erwani before, so it is exciting to see what happens when he lands and travels through their forests. A lot was involved with putting this altogether, though…

Writing Relatable Scifi (part 5)

Once you’ve imagined how future tech might develop, you need to ask what the societal implications would be. How would the world change with the new technology, and how would people change? Those of us who grew up in the 1980’s look at society today and worry about younger generations. The anonymity of the internet, the unrestricted and unfiltered expression of thought, and instant accessibility to information has affected who we are and has changed how we interact with each other. With access to all this through personal smartphones, our children are much different than we were, and the way they see the world has been influenced and shaped in ways that will alter society when they become our leaders someday. Personal privacy has become an archaic concept, judgment by internet “netizens” has become a severe influence upon some, and misinformation is harder to parse from legitimate facts. All of this sounds like a dystopian scifi novel conceived by Orwell himself, but it is our reality. What might our future look like a few decades from now? You only need to look at our technological advancements today, imagine what the next probable step will be, and then theorize how we would react to it if it became commonplace. This kind of scifi is grounded in relatable material, and your audience is very likely to keep reading when they find something familiar stretched into new territory. Or, you could take a gamble and throw your readers into a world they have no way to relate to. It has worked for a few, but if that's your intent, it’s best to try later--after you’ve built an audience that trusts your writing.

Writing Relatable Scifi (part 4)

Some of the best science fiction out there has most of its roots in a reality we can relate to. Writing scifi can be extremely tricky because it often ceases to be scifi if you give it a few years—most of the visions of scifi authors have actually become reality within a few decades, and people in different fields (medicine, aerospace, military, etc.) have admitted that their designs and inventions were often inspired by something from a scifi story. The magic of scifi, unlike fantasy, is that it often involves the possible or probable. If you are a scifi writer looking for inspiration, try not to look too far, because you might find your answer right in front of you. For example, take a look at your smartphone. Imagine how amazing and improbable this device would seem to someone in the 1950’s. It would be nearly impossible for people of that era to imagine such an amazing device. Someone from the 1980’s might consider it an eventual possibility, though, with the advent of home computers and video game consoles. In the 1990’s, it might even seem probable, when considering the tech explosion that was the internet. Of course, if you showed a smartphone to someone during medieval times, the obvious reaction would be shouts of witchcraft and sorcery. Considering all this, science fiction writers just need to look at every-day technologies and try to see how they would naturally develop in a decade or two. But what then?

Writing Relatable Scifi (part 3)

Don’t alienate your audience. If you’re a science fiction writer and you are debuting your work, you’re asking a lot from your potential audience. You are asking people who have never heard of you to sit down and spend time reading your work, and in these busy times, that is actually asking a lot. However impressive and extensive your world building, it is important to present your story at the beginning in a way that reaches out to your audience in a relatable way. One key to science fiction is that it is grounded in something from the real world—something relatable—even if it takes place in the far future. If you do not present some relatable aspects of your story at the beginning, it is likely that your audience will feel lost. As an example, fans of the award-winning scifi novelist, William Gibson, are familiar with his work and when they pick up one of his novels, they know what they are about to dive into. However, I have repeatedly seen readers new to Gibson give up on his work at the very beginning, and these people are avid, intelligent readers. Although I love William Gibson’s style of plunging you into his vision of the future without explanation, it can be a bit shocking for the uninitiated, despite his Hugo and Nebula award credentials. Yet Gibson’s approach works if you stay with it, because his world does become relatable if you just give it a little time.

Writing Relatable Scifi (part 2)

Right from the beginning, you need to grab your audience with something intriguing but relatable. Established writers have more luxury with their writing because they’ve established trust with their audience—previous popular works of these writers create enough familiarity and confidence in their writing that they can write with more flexibility. Established writers can take more time with the story in the beginning, and fans will stay with it, knowing that the author will deliver. However, new writers face a situation that might be contrary to their preferred writing style, because new audiences are likely to be less willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Instead, they may impatiently move on to something else if a new writer has failed to really grab their attention in the first few pages. When writing science fiction, this can be even more challenging, because the writer is inviting the reader into an imagined world that might require too much faith upfront.

Writing Relatable Scifi (part 1)

How do you relate to science fiction? Do you consider it as a far fetched, unlikely or impossible scenario conjured up in the feverish mind of some nerdy writer who is hopelessly enamored with technology, aliens, and outer space? Or do you consider science fiction as more of a solace for the dystopic, doomsday alarmist that believes the end of everything we know is just around the corner? The answer may be some, none, or all of the above, but for the science fiction writer, the challenge is to engage you, whatever your preference or bias might be, and that usually starts with setting the terms of reality. Deviate too far from something relatable, and your science fiction is on the fast-track to fantasy. Stay too grounded in reality, and your scifi might be classified as contemporary. This week, I'll cover a few steps that might help you write scifi in a way that appeals to a wider audience...

Composing for a Visual Novel (part 4)

In the early spring, I plan to launch a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for the completion of the Star Legation. I will be releasing a finished demo by this time, which will include music throughout. However, one of my intended stretch goals for the Kickstarter is voice acting! If I am able to raise the extra funding for that, I can shift my sound design into a more cinematic approach. Having audible voice parts for every line a character speaks would be amazing, and this would feel like a choose-your-own adventure movie. I would change the looping background music to fade in and out at certain moments for emphasis, but wouldn't keep it running throughout. However, voice acting is expensive and the script for the Star Legation is quite large (there are lots of branching paths), so it might be an unattainable goal. In the meantime, I'm designing the visual novel to have music throughout, and I'm doing my best to keep the music unobstrusive and atmospheric. Below is a link to a short youtube video showing screenshots with short music clips from the game. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5dUV1TZ7lQ&feature=youtu.be

In closing, I'd like to share a quote from the game's character artist, John Fell, who played the first 2 chapters of my demo. Note his comment about music...hopefully this means I'm on the right “track” with things! ;)

“The dialog is snappy and you've totally been able to keep the reading flow at a good pace. It never feels like a slog. The way you worked in the questions for Trey's profession/personality was clever.

I really like the main tunes that play as you read. They're distinct but not distracting.

The backgrounds and camera movements/animation look great.

I'm all around impressed as heck!”

Composing for a Visual Novel (part 3)

After sampling a number of different VN's, I realized that in most cases, the music loops after about 1:30 or 2 minutes. Though many of my guitar compositions are longer, I decided to try writing additional shorter pieces for specific scenes. Keeping in mind that the music would loop, the resolutions were usually the beginnings of the pieces, which in classical music is known as an “elision” (when the last note of a phrase is also the first note of a phrase.) I've managed to write several short compositions specifically for the Star Legation visual novel in just a couple months, and I'm happy with how things are turning out. Though it would be my preference to have music only set the tone during certain moments in the game, I do understand why visual novels keep it looping—it becomes less immersive when you play the game in silence, hearing only the occasional clicks of your mouse to advance the text or make a choice. There is a possibility that I will be able to design the VN more cinematically, however, if I can manage one thing...

Composing for a Visual Novel (part 2)

Up until this year, most of what I've composed has been for solo guitar. Once I began writing the Star Legation visual novel, I realized how many of my existing guitar compositions would be a good fit for a sci-fi atmosphere. I tend to prefer somewhat eerie, minor pieces of music and my compositions actually matched a number of scenes really well. The only concern I had was the instrumentation. Solo guitar didn't exactly fit for the kind of atmosphere I wanted to set, so I looked into getting a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW.) I tried out a lot of different DAW's, but finally settled on one I liked that enabled me to port in my .midi compositions directly. Once I had the composition imported, I began playing around with instrumentation, using a lot of synthesized sound to produce the sci-fi feel I was looking for. As I became comfortable with the process, I also began to write more compositions to import, specifically for the game...

Composing for a Visual Novel (part 1)

Visual novels are traditionally designed with looping background music that plays throughout the entirety of the game. The music usually changes with each new scene, but there is almost always something playing in the background. Sound effects add to the atmosphere and punctuate certain events in the game, but the music is usually something innocuous and atmospheric, designed to loop and never really resolve as most musical compositions do. It is not uncommon for small indie development studios to use royalty-free stock music for the background music in their VN's, and there are some excellent online resources for those that don't have the option to pursue an original soundtrack. Some of these resources are put together with extremely high production values, and they can be a very nice fit for an average VN, in addition to cutting out the serious cost of commissioning a composer for music. I decided not to pursue this route for my visual novel, however, because conveniently, I am a composer...

Paws and Effect Visual Novel Review

I met the programmer from Shimmersoft on the forums who is using the same visual-novel designer I am (Tyranobuilder), and he recently finished his visual novel, a short 3-4 hour game called Paws and Effect. He sent me a copy of the game, and so I decided to write a review after playing through it. I won't give away anything about the story other than what is available in his game description, but in short, this is a game about a dog owner's two dogs suddenly turning into humans. Paws and Effect is available online here, for only $5:

https://shimmersoft.itch.io/paws-effect

From the opening of Paws and Effect, the light-hearted mood of the game was clearly established, before the game itself had even begun. The company logo bounced onscreen with cartoony sound effects and was accompanied by cute dogs falling from above to stamp it into the company name, Shimmersoft. My mouse cursor became a dog paw, and somehow the menu felt of scrapbooks and sketches. I instantly knew this was going to be a fun game, and launched a “New Game” from the title page. Of course, you can experience all this with the demo, so I'll avoid a play-by-play description, but as I progressed through the first episode of the game, I really enjoyed the little details. When my character's smartphone rang, a little smartphone graphic slid onscreen with a playful blip. A scene transition looked like a distant grainy photo and then expanded to a beautiful art background that made me feel like I was there with my dogs, enjoying the sunset at the end of a stressful day. Short voice-acted phrases appropriately punctuated the dialogue and thoughts of the protagonist. A relaxing, atmospheric soundtrack gently reflected the overall mood. Yes, some of this is standard fare for a well-made visual novel, but a lot of tiny surprises really highlighted the experience for me.

As an example of the extra polish that went into the design of Paws and Effect, I particularly enjoyed the scene transitions. For example, instead of a typical fade or dissolve, the closure of a scene used an iris-type wipe that diminished into a little circle as another scene behind it took its place. Yet the little transition circle didn't fully disappear, lingering for a few brief extra moments as a black dot that pulsed playfully—as if to wave a final goodbye--before “popping” out of existence with a cartoony pop sound effect. There were many nice little touches like this that added up to the overall “cute” character of the game, and I was only just getting started on this playful visual novel!

But how is the story, you may ask? Instead of outlining the story for you—something I usually skip in game reviews because I hate any and all spoilers—I'll talk about things like pacing, character development, balance, and intrigue. The story develops along at a very natural pace without lingering and it moves along to establish who the protagonist is and what her daily life is like. As the game advertises, the main plot really begins when the protagonist's two pet dogs suddenly transform into human versions of themselves. I enjoyed the humor and perspective of the two dogs, observing the world in human form still from a dog-like perspective, though they are able to speak English reasonably well with a few comical errors here and there. I also liked the choices available to the protagonist during this event, with her mind running through a list of possible explanations while she wondered what the most responsible, sane reaction should be to such a supernatural occurrence. The prior set-up to this event alluded to several upcoming real-world situations that the protagonist was already stressing about, so I was intrigued to find out how she would handle real life while trying to navigate the sudden appearance of her dogs as real people in her life. Paws and Effect kept me reading and clicking through each scene.

The comedy of this visual novel was accented by the somewhat goofy expressions of the now-human dog characters, with character art and expressions that communicated the simple-minded, innocent, and literal minds of the dog people. Further enhancing the humor was the background music, which mirrored the light-hearted nature of the game. I enjoyed the writing because it was obvious the writer was having fun with the concept and knew it was funny without trying too hard to make it so. All of the characters were likeable in their own way, and it was fun spending time with them, seeing them interact with each other and reflect their character backgrounds through their personalities. Putting them in the same room together provided entertainment enough, especially when the dog-humans innocently quoted their owner and referred to her past behavior in ways that unintentionally shamed her—this reminded me of parents not realizing how much their own children are listening and observing.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of kinetic visual novels because I like having choices in a game and seeing those choices play out. I felt like there was a balance between choices that altered events and choices that had only a few different sentences ascribed to them. I played through different situations several times, picking different choices. Sometimes only a few references were made briefly to my choices, yet in other situations, an entire sequence with new characters occurred. However, despite this, things still cleverly looped back to the same point eventually and the story rejoined the original timeline. There are 5 possible endings, which each have their own separate outcome, and these endings are contingent upon a few of your previous choices. I particularly liked the episode system in the menu, where I could restart from a previous episode and toggle between different choices I'd made along the way, seeing which character routes would become available as a result of those decisions. It honestly surprised me to see that seemingly innocuous choices actually made a difference.

The only small criticism I have is that there were times when the dog people made statements that seemed a bit too advanced for their intellect as dogs. For instance, at one moment the male dog stated, “The universe is an inescapable vortex of chaos.” Even if he had picked up some words from human conversations, I felt a dog would have no concept of what a universe even was. Keeping with the dog's “voice” throughout would have enhanced the experience even more, because moments like this made me lose my suspension of disbelief (which I preferred to maintain during this fun, slightly absurd, comical story.) This was explained at the end of the game, so I guess I can give it a pass, but at the same time, those moments did make me feel that way during the game and pulled me out of the immersion. I don't see a way that the explanation could have come any earlier, however, and though it made sense as an explanation, it also felt suspiciously like a plot device to explain something away. Despite this, though, about 90% of the human dog comments felt natural.

Overall, I found the game very enjoyable and light-hearted, with an interesting contrast between the realism of every-day life and the supernatural. This made the game relatable and intriguing, because I wanted not only to see how the protagonist would handle the dog people and their antics, I also wanted to know why it all happened in the first place. I'm glad the answer didn't feel like an afterthought but was instead given some depth and presence throughout the game. Paws and Effect had great presentation, style, flow, and just the right amount of comedic seasoning to make it fun to play through on a lazy afternoon. Thanks, Shimmersoft! 

A New Era of Consumerism (part 4/4)

I think that a lack of ownership is indeed a concern for our society, and one of the big reasons is that we become subject to those we are paying for the services or products we want. How many times has your smartphone or computer program been “auto-updated” to a version you disliked? Have these updates changed or removed features that you liked, or have they required you to re-learn the way you operated things? I have a software program for composing music that I purchased in 2004, and I have intentionally kept it offline and avoided updating it because I like the way it works for me. At one point, I had upgraded from the 2000 version to the 2004 version and there were so many key command changes that I basically had to relearn the entire program. I want functionality, and don't want to waste my time learning a new program with each yearly update (believe me, this is a VERY complex program, so relearning it takes weeks.) I have the freedom to continue using the program the way I want because I own it, but if I wanted to purchase the latest version, I would be locked into a pay-to-use system and would be repeatedly subjected to forced changes in functionality through their auto-updates. This is an example of what we are headed towards in the future with all the digital products and services we use—we as consumers no longer have any rights, forfeiting choice and control as the products and services we use change at the whim of the corporations. We can't even “vote with our dollar” and go elsewhere because all competing corporations are following the same practices. Welcome into the new era of digital tyranny.

A New Era of Consumerism (part 3/4)

It's not just computer software that is following the pay-to-use model (which is essentially rental.) Entertainment services like Netflix and Disney require a monthly payment for access to their streamed content. I have a huge movie collection at home, with tons of DVD's and Blurays, but I suspect that there will be a day in the not-to-distant future where I'll no longer be able to purchase a device to play these discs. And honestly, let's admit it—it's a lot easier to cue up Amazon Prime, Netflix, or some other streaming service to watch a movie when we want to, rather than dig through our collection and load it into whatever player we have hooked up to our TV. We'd rather remain on the couch and push a few buttons than sort through our growing collection, which takes up a lot of physical space, anyway. I have bookshelves full of DVD's and Blurays, and my minimalist wife doesn't exactly encourage continued collecting. But doesn't all this reflect a general movement away from ownership? Why have we become so comfortable with this? Is it really a concern?

A New Era of Consumerism (part 2/4)

Even if it's been a while since you've tried to purchase new computer software, it's difficult not to notice the business model that has been spreading across most software companies. No longer can you go online and purchase a program, download it to your PC, and own it. Instead, you must pay monthly fees to use the software, or a yearly license fee to have it installed. Companies control this through various methods, such as the entry of a user key (which changes or expires after a certain date) or simply through an internet connection—they check your software use and monitor if your term of usage has elapsed; then they shut it down. As an example, years ago I purchased a version of Photoshop from Adobe that allows me to keep the program on my hard drive and use it without monthly fees. However, if you go to Adobe's website, you'll find no such option for any version of their software—everything is pay-to-use. When setting up my new PC, I had to dig up my old email with a link to an Adobe page that allowed me to access previous downloads, and I was thankfully able to download my old purchase. Finding this page without that link in the email, though, would have been utterly impossible with their new webpage design. I expect that by the next time I purchase a new PC, I may not have this option any longer.

A New Era of Consumerism (part 1/4)

Gone are the days of ownership. Some of you may not even remember a time where you could purchase a software program at a physical store such as CompUSA and CircuitCity. I'm not talking about games—we can still buy physical games through Amazon or at Gamestop, though Gamestop may be heading the way of Blockbuster someday now that digital game purchases and streaming services are quickly pushing them out of the market. No, I'm talking about software programs used for work and development. This was recently brought to my attention again as I set up my new PC. My father, who turned 80 this year, was very concerned that my new PC didn't have an optical drive—he couldn't conceive of functionality without one. As I explained to him how unnecessary it was now, I realized how we are all being edged towards a future where we lack true ownership. I may have found a few ways to hold on a little longer, but it won't be long before we are completely at the mercy of a growing digital empire...

Star Legation Update!

On Friday last week (“Black Friday”) I sent out the 6^th “Insider Update” for the Star Legation visual novel. If you haven't subscribed with your name and email, and you'd like access to insider details on the development process of the game, please subscribe on the StarLegation.com website, or just click the link below. Insiders even received access to a special unlisted youtube video including screenshots from the game and clips of the sci-fi music compositions I've been writing for it. Things are really moving along and the game demo is well underway. I'd like to share a quote about the demo so far from one of my internal beta testers, artist John Fell, who is the talent behind the character graphics I'll be using in the game. John wrote:

“The dialog is snappy and you've totally been able to keep the reading flow at a good pace. It never feels like a slog. The way you worked in the questions for Trey's profession/personality was clever.

I really like the main tunes that play as you read. They're distinct but not distracting.

The backgrounds and camera movements/animation look great.

I'm all around impressed as heck!”

SUBSCRIBE TO MONTHLY INSIDER UPDATES:

https://solarechoes.us20.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=36f440be31987966418d0387b&id=75f74ec003

RPG's and Visual Novels on the PSVita (3/5)

Despite being able to pick up right where you left off with the PSVita's standby mode, there is a problem that emerges from this situation--you may not be able to get back to it for a while, and thus forget where you left off. In my situation, sometimes I fall asleep while playing in bed, and can't remember what happened the night before as I tried to fight off my sleep. Although these are problems with console games as well, the randomness of portable gaming tends to worsen this situation a bit more often for me. Some games I've played (such as RPG's) provide no information about what I should do next, so I then end up wasting the moments I have with my PSVita searching around trying to figure out where I was and what I was doing, only to have to put it down again because of other distractions and demands. Without an objective tracker of some sort in a game, playing some games on the PSVita can feel like an exercise in Attention Deficit Disorder. I'm always very thankful when game developers design their games with quest logs and map goals, so that when I'm able to pick up where I left off again, I know what my previous objectives were. Thankfully, a lot of game developers anticipate this and even have catch-up summaries provided whenever you load a game, which is a huge plus in visual novels and RPG's!

RPG's and Visual Novels on the PSVita (2/5)

I'm speaking more from my experience as a gamer than as a game developer when I say that games on a portable device like the PSVita should be a little different. What I mean is that the very nature of a portable gaming device means that you will be playing your game with more potential interruptions. When you sit down to play a game on your home console or PC, you can become very dedicated and immersed in the experience. There are fewer urgent demands that will require you to suddenly drop what you're doing and leave your game in that environment, but with a portable device the number of distractions and interruptions increases significantly, depending on where you are. If you're at work, a client showing up or a boss walking into your office is not an uncommon situation, and unless you don't care about keeping your job, you'll probably put that device down immediately. If you're at school, a teacher or a class bell might put a pause on your gaming. If you're on a subway, that next stop might be yours. Thankfully, though, the PSVita has a standby mode that can be initiated at the quick press of a button, pausing the game until you initiate it again. You can pick up right where you left off, which is an excellent feature for RPG games, since this genre often requires “save points” be found in the game to save progress.

RPG's and Visual Novels on the PSVita (1/5)

Sony's handheld gaming device, the PSVita, is extremely loved by those who own one. A portable gaming console of unparalleled quality, the PSVita is one of my favorite possessions--I still use it several times a week and have been since its release in 2012. I'd rather not focus on the sad news we received almost a year ago that Sony is no longer selling this device and that support for new games is supposedly ending in 2020. Instead, I'd like to talk about RPG's and visual novels on this fantastic device, and some other positive aspects of the system. Sony's Playstation store is full of digital offerings for the PSVita, so many that we can probably go for years before we run out of things to play. One of the highlights of the PSVita for me is that it is also one of the best places for RPG and visual novel gamers, with a massive offering of games in these genres. There are some differences, however, between playing these types of games on a console and on the portable PSVita...

Flashbacks and Headhopping in Writing (part 5)

There are circumstances where head hopping can really work well, but there are a few things to keep in mind if you choose to do it. Sometimes a scenario doesn't involve conversation between characters, yet it is crucial for the audience to know what the characters are thinking. Head hopping can help develop characters beyond the limits of dialogue, description, and action. However, head hopping can be confusing to an audience—especially if done frequently--so each character should have a distinct voice, with a way of thinking and speaking that sets them apart from other characters clearly enough that the audience quickly knows who that character is. One common complaint about this technique is that when characters are separated, jumping between therm disrupts the linear flow of the story's timeline. This can still work if you leave off from one character with a cliffhanger, then start the next character with strong intrigue. This creates a sense of longing for that storyline to return, but also an eagerness to move forward with the new character to find out what is happening in that timeline. Whatever writing techniques you choose, always be sure that you have a solid story and interesting characters first. Carefully consider using flashbacks and head hopping only after you've done proper development work.

Flashbacks and Headhopping in Writing (part 4)

Head hopping is another writing technique that you should be careful with, but if used well, it can give insight into the different characters you are jumping between in ways that you might not otherwise be able to reveal through your story. However, it is not advisable to use head hopping as a way around good writing—if one character loathes a second character, it’s often far more interesting to a reader to learn this through that character's actions and expressions than to be given that information directly. Jumping into the mind of the character and simply spelling it out to the audience can often be an easy thing to resort to. However, if you’re head hopping because you didn’t make the effort to create a more complex antagonist, allowing your audience to witness the thoughts of your antagonist may end up proving that you didn't spend the necessary time developing the villain. Head hopping can expose bad writing and bad planning, so use it carefully!

Flashbacks and Headhopping in Writing (part 3)

The best time for a flashback (or a big time-jump forward) are during a prologue or epilogue. We are almost wired to accept those as being natural flashbacks and flash-forwards, because it sets up or concludes something without having to wade through the time gap in between. Yet using time jumps in a story can really break up momentum, which is the single biggest complaint audiences have about this technique. Writers often try their best to mitigate this problem by carrying questions over from one time period to the other. Despite this strand of continuity, audiences are usually going to resent the shift in momentum and the leap away from the former linear progression of the story. If you intend to use a flashback or a time jump forward, it is advisable to make sure that you’ve wrapped up events in the former timeline enough that your audience won’t resent you for leaving things unfinished. Forcing your audience to wait on unresolved material is sometimes asking for too much patience.

Flashbacks and Headhopping in Writing (part 2)

Recently, I watched an episode of a TV series that involved excessive flashbacks. Most people that I’ve talked with do not enjoy having a linear story progression disrupted by a jump to the past, because they feel the forward momentum and want to see what happens next. However, flashbacks are sometimes a necessary plot device that writers use to deal with unanswered questions and fill in necessary backstory without having to actually fully divulge the entirety of the backstory. It’s often more interesting to learn information through a flashback instead of suffering a character’s long expository discourse about why things are now the way they are. Showing is usually better than simply telling, and by that I mean that going through the events instead of having a character describe them is usually a more effective and meaningful way to deliver the information.

Flashbacks and Headhopping in Writing (part 1)

Creative Writing professors, editors, and literary critics rarely suggest that flashbacks and head hopping in writing are a good thing, yet we still see these approaches used fairly often today. Head hopping and flashbacks can even be considered plot devices and are used in movies, TV shows, video games, and books, but often, they are not used well. There isn’t a perfect way to employ these techniques, but they can be effective tools for helping put together an intriguing and engrossing story. This week, I’ll be examining these writing techniques and sharing a few tips and suggestions about how to employ them in your writing, if you should find yourself in need of them. When and how to use these approaches might make the difference for your story!

Significance in Gaming (part 4)

Many games allow you to design your own character, so game designers and GM's should prepare challenges that specifically tap into those details. Players will feel like the choices they made for their character have meaning, which adds to feeling more significant throughout the gaming experience. If a player was able to select engineering as one of their character's skills, for instance, then there should at some point be an instance where that skill will have an effect upon the game world. When a player is able to leave their mark through a choice they made in character design, the game experience is enhanced and the player will feel a sense of pride and ownership over the experience. Gamers often proudly talk about a game where their own choices made a significant impact, so when initially designing the game, be sure to provide players the opportunity to affect the game's direction.

Significance in Gaming (part 3)

Game Designers and GM's need to also consider a very important factor when creating challenges: players need to feel like they did something to earn the feeling of significance and accomplishment. If the challenges weren't challenging at all, players will resent it. Underserved rewards or developments in games not only feel "too easy," but they remind gamers that real life is much harder. As a result, playing the game starts to feel pathetic and the gamer will become embarrassed to even play it at that point to earn empty achievements. Often, gamers play games as an escape and to feel like they are actually good at something, as a contrast to how they might be feeling about the cutthroat competition at school or a job in real life. Earning something through hard work and endurance in a game can actually be an encouraging experience that instills resilience and a stronger work ethic for facing the challenges of real life.

Significance in Gaming (part 2)

If you're an RPG game designer or a Game Master (GM) for a tabletop RPG, it's important to keep in mind that your players are hoping to find opportunities where their characters--and by extension, themselves--are able to be significant in the game. Games are often an escape from real life because they provide something we may not feel we've achieved in reality: accomplishment. Games present us with goals that are usually designed to be difficult yet achievable. With enough patience and skill development, gamers can advance in a game and earn rewards for this advancement. In real life, although this is possible, it is far less certain. Game designers and GM's should remember that this is fundamentally why many people are playing games, and should design and present challenges that will allow players to feel accomplished if they overcome the difficulties.

Significance in Gaming (part 1)

The search for significance in an RPG is often what influences a player's experience with the game the most. Players want to feel like their character impacted the game world and other characters--that they were able to change something and make a difference. Just ask an RPG player to tell you something about their character, and they will immediately launch into an involved story about a time when their character made a huge impact in the game. It's almost the same reaction a proud parent heard when given the chance to talk about their kid. Finding significance in a game often brings about a strong sense of accomplishment. Maybe that's partly what attracts so many people to RPG's in the real world, because many of us seek significance and struggle to find it in our jobs, our schools, and even on social media. But how do game designers and GM's ensure that players feel this way about their games?

Recycling Ideas (part 5)

Sequels wouldn’t exist if we disliked them. Often, we like the original material so much that we can’t wait to see it further expanded. As a game developer myself, I have already written many stories in the Solar Echoes universe to tell the massive story I have in mind—I know that the game has lots of growth opportunity, too, and I'm excited to see this happen. Someone like George Lucas conceived a huge story that needed many movies to tell, and the universe is still growing with multiple character stories, backstories, mid-stories, etc. Tolkien wrote the Lord of the Rings as such a massive tale that it was broken into three books. But sequels that are a forced afterthought because the first story was an unexpected success? Well, these are often less engaging and sometimes very disappointing, with fans shouting in anguish that the sequels should have never been made. Every once in a while something really special and unique is discovered among all the sequels and derivatives out there, and it's great that those creators are rewarded with success. However, we shouldn't begrudge them for eventually trying to enterprise on that success with a few sequels. Sometimes, sequels can be a true measure of whether a great idea will stand the test of time...or not.

Recycling Ideas (part 4)

The faith of a fan base can be lost very quickly if a designer does not recognize what it is that the fans like about the product. Sequels need to enterprise upon the themes that the fans enjoy. These themes might be story or character related, but in video-games, they can also be related to gameplay elements. Gamers constantly hold games to the standards established by other popular games, so innovating with something too drastically different might set potential fans against a product. Even something as simple as an unusual controller scheme for interfacing with the game can throw people used to a traditional button configuration for a similar type of game. It only takes a few bad reviews to start a firestorm and for the gaming community to totally turn their back on a game. In movies, reviews are more subjective, and movie-goers often ignore “professional” reviewers in favor of reviews posted by random movei-goers. But sequels that abandon previously established material are more likely to receive a negative response. What is a designer to do, then? Though it sounds like sequels can be a positive, they are also more precarious because of audience expectations—a careful balance needs to be achieved between established ideas and entirely new ideas.

Recycling Ideas (part 3)

Sequels and spin-offs exist because of a built-in fan-base. If your entertainment product—whether it’s a game, movie, or book—has generated a profit and has an established following, it is much less of a gamble to create a sequel than to ask your fans to follow you on an entirely new endeavor. The time, money, and effort required to build a new fan base is quite an effort, so restarting with a new product is rarely desirable when there is already something that has an audience. When there is a lot of money behind a product, designers are much less willing to risk something new when they’ve found a formula that seems to be working. A benefit to sequels is that designers can often improve upon the original, especially if they pay attention to what their fans are saying. But at what point do fans start to move on when something has been recycled a number of times? In most cases, fans will lose interest when innovations, story lines, and characters become predictable. Yet changing course too much can also alienate fans…

Recycling Ideas (part 2)

Creating something that gains a following of fans is extremely difficult to do. There isn’t a surefire method for doing this, unfortunately, because if there was, everyone would be using it. What becomes popular and goes “viral” is often impossible to predict, but one element that does seem present in most successful creations is that there is something unique enough about it that it won’t be considered derivative. Yet even if such an element exists in a creation, there is no way to be sure that it will ever catch on, or even be noticed. Groups of enthusiastic netizens might help push awareness of the product, but often an expensive ad campaign is necessary to really get the word out. If you reach 1000 people, only 10 of them might care at all, because about 1% of the people that hear about your product are going to engage with it. It's understandable why enormous ad campaigns are required to canvas the public so that 1% actually adds up to something significant. If you’ve ever paid for banner ads on a website and monitored the actual number of clicks you’re getting and the follow-through to purchase your product, it quickly becomes obvious that building an audience is extremely challenging.

Recycling Ideas (part 1)

A sequel is a work that continues the narrative of a previous work in some way, usually along a progressive timeline. Related works within the same general narrative that are not necessarily sequential could be called off-shoots, spin-offs, or even prequels if part of the original timeline but precede existing material. Reboots exist within the general narrative but retell the story entirely. For lack of a better word, I'll use “sequel” to refer to works related to a pre-existing work. Have you ever been frustrated with the re-appearance of old titles being recycled and rebooted, over and over again? How many Spiderman movies are there now? Is anyone tired of the God of War series? Do we really need another Rambo or Terminator movie? Is Star Wars ever going to end, and do we want it to? Great themes that are well-liked are destined to be re-used and developed, as long as there is a fan base willing and excited enough to pay money to experience yet another iteration. We can’t blame Hollywood or a game studio for doubling down on something that has been successful. After all, there is great risk involved in innovating, and we live in an entertainment climate that honestly thrives on familiarity. This week, I’ll be examining this trend and looking at it from the perspective of a game developer. What does it take to make something worthy of a sequel, and why do the sequels keep coming?

RPG Building, Behind the Scenes (part 4)

Tension in your RPG story doesn’t necessarily mean that you need a clear villain. There are villains in the Solar Echoes universe, but they are not as immediately involved in the story as the interactions of the 7 different alien races are. Creating various cultures or factions in your game universe—each with their own motivations and abilities—can appeal to different players on many different levels. You want players to be excited about at least one of your character races, and so you need to think about the different types of mindsets that exist in the real world. Try to design your character races around these different viewpoints, and you will find that the story almost writes itself when these people are put within proximity of each other. Yet it is also important to keep in mind the necessity of commonality. If you make your character races too drastically different from each other, you’ll end up with everyone at war and that will create all kinds of boundaries within your larger story. Make sure that there is something that is shared among several different groups—a common ground of some kind. This can serve to bridge the gap between the differences, and will allow for groups of the different characters to form and work towards this common goal. You may still have conflict within the group, but a shared purpose will provide an excuse to bring them all together. As a result, your players will feel free to choose any character race that they identify with and yet still have a reason to partner with the diverse characters other players have chosen to use.

Insider Update Reveals Developer Trick

The next insider update goes out tonight!

Sign up so you won't miss insider info and game developer tricks towards saving some $ and generating tons of character expressions!


Discover the method I used to enable the creation of 100's of expressions without having to commission each one individually!

SUBSCRIBE HERE

RPG Building, Behind the Scenes (part 3)

It’s easy to become enamored with your own rules system so much that you forget the importance of the story and the types of characters that are involved. Although Solar Echoes has a great story and interesting characters, my initial approach to advertising the game was more focused on the innovative game system. It didn’t take me long to realize that people are initially much more interested in the story and the characters—the game system is a bit of an afterthought. Once you’ve captured their attention with the story setting and the characters that are involved, then you can highlight the various ways that your rules system is different from other games out there. Remember, though, that it doesn’t matter how amazing your game system is—if you don’t have a unique, compelling, exciting setting with intriguing characters to play, people aren’t going to give your game a chance. Thankfully, the story of Solar Echoes developed rather easily, emerging from the personalities of the different alien races that were designed. Thinking about how they would affect each other and the universe around them created an interesting dynamic that would ripple across other alien cultures that were making their own particular imprint. In order for a story to have momentum, though, you need tension…

RPG Building, Behind the Scenes (part 2)

I started building Solar Echoes with a very clear idea of some core concepts: I knew exactly what it was that I wanted and didn’t want in my RPG. A few of my ideas were very anti-traditional, so it was very easy to wonder if going against tradition was even going to work. You need to be very tenacious and be willing to go through a long process or trial-and-error to work out the problems. One thing that is extremely important to remember is that you can’t get too attached to anything—be ready to throw something out if it is simply not working. On the other hand, don’t give up on something too quickly, either. It takes the right combination of elements to make something work, so be ready to adjust and try countless permutations until you can get your concept to work. A common mistake in game design is “throwing the baby out with the bathwater.” It is very easy to get frustrated when something isn’t working and assume that you need to start everything over entirely, rebooting the entire process. I think this is the biggest reason many good ideas never see completion, because after several complete reboots, people give up entirely. Be ready to sacrifice something and remove it if it just doesn’t fit, but recognize what is working, and try to adapt your ideas to that. It’s best to have a dreamer on your development team and a pragmatic, experienced person in the game genre—they will balance each other out and keep each other in check.

RPG Building, Behind the Scenes (part 1)

This Thursday, October 31st, marks the 7th anniversary of the scifi tabletop RPG, Solar Echoes. The game was released in 2012 on DriveThruRPG and RPGNow (which has since merged with DriveThruRPG) as downloadable pdf files, but physical copies of the books were also printed and sold at several game stores on the East Coast. The game took two entire years to develop, from original concept to extensive internal and external play testing. I look back and realize that I might not have finished the project if I’d had any idea of what I was getting into—designing a tabletop RPG is a very involved, lengthy, and expensive endeavor. I love quoting my wife from when we decided to paint our entire basement together, and I think her words can be directly applied to designing and finishing Solar Echoes: “It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you have no idea what you’re getting into.” This week, I’ll discuss some of the things that are involved with the process of building your own tabletop RPG, if you’d like to know what you are getting into...

Solar Echoes RPG webpage 

The Gamer Connection (part 4)

One thing I particularly enjoy about discovering another gamer is that we usually aren't interested in discussing much else. This can be quite a relief in a society that has grown extremely polarized in political and ideological views. It is true that there are certain factions of gamers that have become aggressively intolerant of other viewpoints, but for the most part, I have found that the comradery that exists among gamers carries with it almost a tacit agreement that “we're all friends here, regardless of anything else.” That kind of acceptance is a joy and a relief, and instantly allows for strong friendships to be built. I've noted that at many gaming conventions where I've run game demos, players of all ages, races, and backgrounds quickly come together and enjoy the game as friends. If you didn't know better, you'd suspect that every disparate group that forms must somehow know eachother well from many previous encounters. Being a gamer is a great thing, and it's sad that society still attaches negative stigma to this interest. However, that is definitely beginning to change. When it comes to gamers, the usual judgments and comparisons people make when sizing each other up instantly vanish--gamers can simply relate as people with a powerful shared interest.

The Gamer Connection (part 3)

Gamers have been traditionally viewed as people who are introverts that lack social ability. We've been thought of as jobless, nerdy, socially inept dorks that live in our parents' basement, spending insane numbers of hours camped out in front of a monitor playing games. Sometimes we're viewed as malnourished, unwashed, sickly, and pale, clinging to a game controller with an unhealthy obsession that has overtaken our lives so much that we could be a serious risk to ourselves. Other times we're viewed as aimless, lazy losers that mooch off our parents and can't pay our own rent or mortgage. In Japan, there are even very specific terms used to describe people that fit this stereotype: otakus or NEET's (Not in Education, Employment, or Training.) Just watch a few TV shows or movies and you'll find a stereotypical gamer, often the source of comic relief in these productions. It's no wonder that gamers are still a little hesitant to reveal their gaming interest to others, because these stereotypes seem to be openly perpetuated. Discovering another gamer in today's society is almost like meeting someone in an underground resistance that holds to your same core values. Yet when one gamer discovers another, it is a relief to finally let down that guard and talk openly.

The Gamer Connection (part 2)

What is it exactly about relating to gamers that is different from other shared interests? My theory is that being a gamer—whether that entails tabletop gaming or videogaming—is something that has long been stigmatized in society. It was considered a childish, time-wasting addiction back in the 1980's and 90's, but in recent years, gaming has become more accepted as an adult activity. Some of this acceptance has been attributed to mobile gaming, which has enabled an accessibility to games through smartphones that has likely popularized the hobby. Another reason for the growing acceptance is that all of those 80's and 90's gaming children are now adults, many of them maintaining their interest in gaming into adulthood. Perhaps yet another reason for the diminishing stigmatization is the incredible success of the videogaming industry, which has exceeded the movie industry in annual revenue since 2005. As a result of all these factors, gamers are starting to gain confidence in sharing their hobby openly with others, yet we still navigate conversations carefully and are selective about who we reveal our interest to. Why?

The Gamer Connection (part 1)

This last weekend I met someone at a party, and initially I thought I had nothing in common with him. He was a single, twenty-something, put-together guy who I learned was a lawyer in Seattle. I live on the East Coast, I'm involved in the arts, and I'm married with a teenage daughter. The small talk spun along the usual routes and began to traverse the familiar, awkward path where we both realized we couldn't relate to each other and were struggling to keep the conversation going. Yet unexpectedly, he mentioned that he was interested in the video game industry, and was a gamer himself. Suddenly, we were talking like we were old college buddies, mentioning our favorite video games and gaming consoles, talking about the trials of building our own gaming PC rigs, and discussing our longings to find work in the video game industry at big companies such as Bethesda Softworks and even Nintendo. All of this could have happened over a shared interest in football instead of video games, but I've experienced it before with a wide range of people. There's just something different about connecting with someone over an interest in gaming...

Video Game Completionism (part 5)

You may not have thought that finishing a game matters to anyone, but it does. Developers are looking at time spent on their game and at completion statistics, easily seen through achievements and other online tracking methods. As a developer, if your team spent 4 years designing your game and then noticed nobody was playing more than 50% of it, you would question your design decisions. People might wonder why developers would care--they made their sale, after all, so who cares if the buyer plays it at all? Other than the more obvious repercussions of receiving bad reviews from players that chose not to finish the game, developers are also concerned because they wasted years and money making that other 50% that nobody is playing. An obvious decision from the producers of such a game would be to not invest and waste so many resources on the next game. Adjustments will follow to game design over the coming years, and I suspect that if fewer and fewer of us are accesssing all the content included in a game, developers will be forced to include less of it.

Video Game Completionism (part 4)

Considering the current state of the video gaming industry, it's easy to understand the concerns game developers are having. They have much more sophisticated ways of tracking the use of their products now than they ever have before. For instance, game achievements are unlocked by players at certain milestones in a game, which are then automatically posted online. Developers have a clear view of how many people bought their game, how often it's being played, and how far people are progressing in the game. When they see that their game was bought but then only played for a week--abandoned for something new the next week--the years of time and financial investment may not have paid off as gamers stop talking about it. After the first week, a particular game's sales drop sharply, so developers put their hope in that first week the most. Some even try to secure more sales through pre-orders before the game releases, offering bonus material to gamers that commit to a purchase early. It's a tough battle in the industry, but there are ripples that are beginning to affect how games are designed...

Video Game Completionism (part 3)

A lot had changed in gaming demographics. Unlike the 1980's, when gamers were primarily kids, those same kids have now grown to adults that are still gaming. A significant portion of the gaming audience is now comprised of middle aged gamers who have full time jobs and can easily afford to purchase several games a month. However, these same people have much less time to spend gaming because of their jobs, family, and other adult responsibilities. Another factor that has significantly changed the industry landscape is the internet. No longer do gamers need to travel to a video game store to purchase a new game release, or worry that it might be sold out. Now, at the push of a button, we can download a game within minutes and start playing right away. With large numbers of new games releasing every week, it's a lot easier to get tempted and distracted away from a current game with a new arrival. How is all this affecting game developers and the future of the industry?

Video Game Completionism (part 2)

It's not the 1980's anymore, where kids alone were the primary audience for gaming and home consoles. Yet today, kids still fuel a large portion of the gaming industry. I remember my early teenage days when I used to save up for months to be able to afford a new game, and once I bought it, I'd play it for months before I could afford a new one again. I would play that game all the way through, unlock everything possible, and still play it even after I'd done everything that could be done with it. Today, however, my gaming habits have changed a lot. I buy a new game several times a month, I'll play it for a few hours a week, but often move on to something new after a few weeks unless it's something really special. It's rare that I stick with a game to the end, but once in a while I will finish it. Still, though, even if that happens, I usually don't bother with unlocking every other possible detail in the game. I'm not alone in this, and there are many contributing factors. Before examining the repercussions upon the gaming industry for this trend among gamers, let's first examine why it's happening with gamers like me...

Video Game Completionism (part 1)

Do you complete all the games that you buy? If not, have you ever thought about what that means about you, and about the game itself? Perhaps you remember a time when you were younger and ravenously played a game over and over until you had not only solved it, but unlocked every possible route and detail available, fully experiencing everything the developers had programmed. But if that's not you anymore today, what changed? Is it just you that's changed, or is there more to it? And honestly, why should you care, it's just a game for your entertainment, why does it matter? This week, I'm going to examine these questions from the perspective of both a gamer and a game developer. The industry is adjusting and changing, and these questions are playing a role in the future of one of our favorite forms of entertainment.

Visual Novel Update:

This last week I have been busy preparing the character art (called sprites) for the visual novel. During the game, when each character speaks, they will have some kind of facial animation that corresponds with what they are saying. Although it's not as good as live animation, this is how the majority of visual novels are presented, and it adds a more immersive quality to the dialogue in the game. Typically, most developers have around 6 to 12 expressions possible for each character, and they pay an artist for each separate expression. I worked with my artist, John Fell, to go far beyond that for the characters in the Star Legation. If you're interested in some insider details about how I did this, as well as some more detailed updates on the game, please subscribe to my monthly mailing list here:

Subscribe to Mailchimp (Provide Name and Email) for Updates

The importance of canon (part 4)

Personally, I understand the difficulties associated with maintaining IP and keeping all related material within the established canon. Others have written additional material--such as missions--for the Solar Echoes game that, in some cases, I felt violated the original lore. Thankfully, because I own the Solar Echoes IP through Corefun Studios, I've been able to oversee and advise changes to keep with the original material. Some may consider this controlling or overreach, but to preserve a vision, sometimes changes must be made when things begin to step outside of or move in a direction that seems counter to the original themes. Though I've not encountered this particular situation, imagine if someone wanted to write for Solar Echoes and presented something with a particular social agenda behind it. I've designed Solar Echoes to be neutral or silent in those areas so people of all ages and views might be able to enjoy it. Allowing a specific social agenda to manifest in Solar Echoes would tacitly suggest that I support that agenda, and it would alienate a group of people that might disagree, preventing them from being able to enjoy the Solar Echoes universe. One reason we play games and read stories is as an escape from the conflicts in the real world, and unless something is clearly advertised as having a particular social agenda, I think it is dishonest and subversive to try to covertly insert that agenda in the writing. Protecting IP requires a partnership in vision and enough oversight to preserve it.

The importance of canon (part 3)

If you've ever brainstormed in a group and played the game where you write a sentence or paragraph, then hand it to someone else in the group to continue before they pass it on again, you've seen how good concepts quickly disintegrate as each person asserts their own influence on the direction of story. Although teams of writers are often involved with TV and movie productions, they try to operate together to adhere to the themes that have been established. Usually a leader presides over the writing team, just as a conductor over an orchestra, because that leader will exert control over the development of the story to preserve continuity. But when writers are writing material related to an already established IP, such as a sequel, the team leader needs to help preserve the original vision and ensure that the writers don't contradict or otherwise violate the material fans are already familiar with. What if someone wanted to take a kid-friendly series and inject an unrelated social agenda into it? Fans of the series would be upset, possibly even offended, feeling like they've been hijacked. If you visited a McDonald's expecting to eat burgers but instead arrived to find only a variety of asian soups on the menu, you might be be upset that your burger cravings were denied. Controlling IP is important towards maintaining a vision, and total rewrites should be carefully considered and discouraged if the IP already has a strong, dedicated fanbase.

The importance of canon (part 2)

IP, or intellectual property, can include artistic concepts such as George Lucas's Star Wars. Until he sold the rights to Disney, Lucas exercised creative control over the Star Wars universe, making sure all movies, games, and other iterations of the IP all maintained a consistency within his established lore. Fans stayed true to the series and have consumed related products and movies with a dedication that has lasted for several decades. However, with Disney's acquisition of the Star Wars IP, things have begun to change. Disney has taken many liberties with the IP and has made so many changes with the story that George Lucas himself has indicated he was displeased with the recent Last Jedi film. Regardless of whether you are a Star Wars fan or not, drastic changes to an established IP are often a losing move. User reviews of the movie were incredibly negative, and though critics praised the film, some have concocted the story that the outpouring of negative user reviews was orchestrated through hardcore fans using “bots” to post so many bad reviews, rather than considering the possibility that Star Wars was heading down the wrong path and that fans really were upset.

The importance of canon (part 1)

How do you feel when an established story is given a sequel but the thematic material is entirely reimagined, producing a story that does not follow your expectations? You have probably seen reports about how fans have become angry when one of their favorite shows or movies is given a sequel that drastically and uncharacteristically changes the details and direction of the original story line. Many Star Wars fans, for example, have been very upset with "The Last Jedi," because director Rian Johnson did little to work within the established lore of the universe. As an example, Rian rewrote the iconic, heroic character of Luke Skywalker as what some would describe as a brooding, ineffectual loser. The recent Joker movie is another example of writing that many have said totally ignores the established background of a character that has been known by fans for decades. Though creative license can sometimes improve upon a cultural legacy like Star Wars, it can also have a result reflecting the "too many cooks in the kitchen" idiom as the overall quality begins to suffer.