Characters and Sprites (Part 2)

I've made a list of work that I need to do to prepare my character sprites for use. My character artist, John Fell, can focus on the new character art I need him to do, since I plan to use several of the sprites from last year's Solar Echoes video comic on YouTube. In the meantime, I've been prepping this existing art for use in the game, because these characters are not part of the elite special agents of the Union Guard. In fact, the story of the visual novel takes place before the Union Guard even existed. As a result, I'm using Photoshop to remove the weapons and grenade belts from the sprites, because the characters in the visual novel are a crew of alien diplomats.

Characters and Sprites (Part 1)

Things are moving along with the development of the visual novel based on Solar Echoes, but there is still a lot left to do. In addition to finishing the writing, programming, music, and sound effects, I also need more artwork to be competed. I'm still waiting for a few more pieces of background art that I need for some scenes, some more space art, a few more CG's, and one more character sprite. Although I've put together some experimental scenes and even sent out a beta of one scene for friends and family to try, I don't have my sprites finalized yet. "Sprite" is the term used for character art in visual novels. Having good-looking sprites is an integral part of any visual novel game...

Designing dynamic characters (Part 5)

Thinking outside your own situation and experience is certainly a crucial element in character design, but it's also a good idea to consider yourself as a template for at least one of your characters. Often, this can even be the protagonist, because who do you know better than yourself? Your own experiences often shape your responses and goals in life. It might be interesting to design a character you most identify with. Just keep in mind that your audience might respond differently to your character than you, so remember to consider what elements can be altered to speak to a wider range of people. Maybe your character is an imagining of what you'd like to be like--the best version of yourself. Or maybe your character is the worst version of yourself? However you decide to design characters, remember to keep them different from each other so that when they interact, you'll have captured the attention of your audience.

Designing dynamic characters (Part 4)

Consider people for your characters that are not under similar circumstances, who may have grown up with a financial situation different from yours, living in either a poorer or more affluent area than you. Analyze people that have experienced a traumatic event in their life and think about how that may have shaped their outlook. Did they grow up with only one parent, live in a foster home or an orphanage, see a family member or friend die young, or have someone in their life with an addiction problem? Did they grow up with a physical or mental disability? Were their parents extremely rich or horrible with money, living in constant debt? What if they grew up in a place where it was dangerous to go outside because of local gangs, dangerous wildlife, or even suffered under attacks from foreign fighters? These are just a few examples of life situations that might shape someone's motivations differently than yours. Developing a character should involve thinking being your own circumstances.

Designing dynamic characters (Part 3)

Imagining friends and family as character templates is a decent technique for creating characters different from yourself. These people may have several different life experiences and goals from you, so they might react differently to the circumstances in your story than you would. It's a good place to start, but keep in mind that we tend to surround ourselves with like-minded people in life. If you have too many characters in your story based on friends and family, your scope for developing more dynamic characters will be limited. Yes, your best friend or sister might be "totally different" from you, but they probably grew up in the same country with you, maybe in the same city, possibly attending the same schools. These people live in "your world" and will likely have similar concerns and motivations in life. Variety in your characters is more difficult to attain if you don't branch out beyond your own life experience.

Designing dynamic characters (Part 2)

It is easy to become too focused on story development and allow your characters to become paper-thin cliches that mirror common stereotypes. It is also easy to try so hard to avoid this that you swing too far the other direction and end up with characters so extreme and unrealistic that they are unbelievable, ruining your audience's suspension of disbelief. There are some techniques that can help you create interesting and believable characters, however. A simple starting approach involves imagining a friend or family member--someone different in personality from yourself that you know well--and thinking about what that person would do in the circumstances you created.

Designing dynamic characters (Part 1)

Whether you are writing a novel, a movie script, a video game, or are the GM of a tabletop RPG, it is important for your characters to have reasons behind the choices they make and the actions they take. As a writer, it is easy to fall into the trap of letting your story drive your characters, rather than the other way around. Although this is not always a bad thing, character-driven stories tend to resonate more with audiences because of the development characters go through over the course of the story. How can a writer design interesting characters with believable motivations? This week, I'll discuss a few things to consider...

Table Top Tales VR Review (part 2)

Playing Table Top Tales VR is similar to a lot of other turn-based RPG's in that you have a certain number of action points and movement. You can move, use some action points to pay for ability card actions, and move some more, or whatever order you prefer until they are all used up, and you can also activate your other characters and go back to previously used characters if their movement and actions aren't fully exhausted. After you've used up everything you have (you must) then it's the enemy NPCs' turns. Every time you level up, you have to pick between 3 ability cards or 3 ways to boost your character, depending on which level you're at. I can see tremendous replay value with this, trying out different skills. They were all interesting and it was very hard to decide! I really enjoy the tactical options in this game, there is a lot of variety. There's really something to playing this in VR--reaching out and picking up your character to move it around on the map, leaning over to get a better look or angle at the battlefield--it's all like I'm playing a table-top RPG. Plus, that GM crow always keeps the game interesting with her story-telling, comments, and the different voices she uses for the NPC's.

VR Tabletop Game Review

On the topic of tabletop RPG's, I purchased a new VR game yesterday called “Table of Tales: The Crooked Crown” for PSVR. I've been having a lot of fun playing this with the few hours I've been able to put in so far. This is both single player and multiplayer if you want to adventure with friends, but I haven't tried it with anyone else yet. The game involves you sitting in front of a magical table with an animated crow that is your GM. The table itself transforms in front of you, building cities, desert islands, castles, caves, pirate ships, and more, right before your eyes. You manage a party of 3 characters, which are like little painted miniatures that have small animations. You can pick them up with a little wand-grappling device that you hold and look at them up close to see their detail. The game involves a story that the GM-crow narrates, and she (the GM) uses her voice to act out the various NPC's you encounter. Just like a normal TTRPG, the GM presents you with situations and choices, prompting you to act. You then get to move your characters around on the board tactically, using their action cards to perform various abilities, which you choose on leveling up. It's all quite strategic, with a very fun and immersive story, and the challenge varies comfortably. More details soon!

Solar Echoes streamed game soon!

My posts this week are somewhat unplanned and spontaneous, but there is still hopefully content that will interest you. An exciting piece of news is that a table-top game of Solar Echoes will be streamed soon online, where new players and a new GM will be playing through the Operation: Flash Strike demo. However, there is a bigger surprise behind that, which I'm waiting to reveal the details of when I'm told of the exact streaming date and time. I'll give you a big hint, though--the Solar Echoes game is going to be run on a new online system that is seeking crowdfunding soon. The Kickstarter campaign for this system will go live on Kickstarter next week, so I will definitely have more information for you by then. Suffice it to say, in my opinion, this system is far better than Roll20.net, Tabletopia, etc! More details very soon, plus, I already have an interview with the system's creator, ready to post here!

Spring Break Update

I'm a little behind on planning for this week, since it's Spring Break, but there are a lot of exciting things happening for Solar Echoes and the Visual Novel. I'm hoping to have a simple webpage for the VN game up and running by the end of the week, so I'll definitely post a link here when it's ready--including the title of the game which I haven't revealed yet! Also, I have a few other exciting things brewing with the Solar Echoes RPG, which I'll let you know about as soon as the timing is right--probably in the next week or two. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a small hint/teaser of something related to the VN game...

Genre Popularity and Sci-fi (Part 5)

One last point to note, aside from gender preferences for sci-fi and box office trends, is the age of sci-fi viewers. The age breakdown is interesting in that it doesn't seem very disparate despite the range. In 2018, sci-fi was watched by almost 29% of people aged 18-29, 35% of people aged 30-49 years old, and 36% by 50-64 year-olds. What does all this data mean for sci-fi in the end, though? My interpretation is that it demonstrates sci-fi is a genre that is here to stay, and though it has some peaks and valleys in terms of its popularity over the last few decades, it has overall seen steady growth with fairly strong support. Sci-fi has become much more popular and easily accessible over recent years, and it does not seem to be showing signs of fading back into an obscure niche like some other genres have, such as westerns. If you're in a creative entertainment field and are considering a genre to focus on, sci-fi looks like a safe bet. But if you're trying to please your date with an exciting choice on movie night, you may need to confirm her preferences, or play it safe and avoid sci-fi altogether.

Genre Popularity and Sci-fi (Part 4)

How is science fiction doing, as a genre? Sci-fi severely dwindled in popularity several decades ago, with Hollywood studios being very unlikely to produce films in the genre because of low returns. However, there has been a steady resurgence in public interest lately. As a comparison, in 2008, 41.4 million people watched sci-fi TV shows. In 2013, 47.58 million people were watching sci-fi. When considering total market share among movie genres each year, there has been a general upward trend with sci-fi. For example, in 1995, only 14 sci-fi movies were released and grossed only 6.45% of total market share. However, in 2015, 40 different sci-fi movies were released and grossed 25.95% of total market share. In the last 3 years, from 2016 through 2018, an average of 37.6 movies released each year, but market share has dropped to an average of 13%. Perhaps the dwindling enthusiasm for recent Star Wars movies has had some effect, but sci-fi as a genre still seems to be holding fairly strong among other genres.

Genre Popularity and Sci-fi (Part 3)

However, if you and your movie date are both sci-fi fans, the dilemma doesn't end there. Though my wife is a big fan of sci-fi, she once said, “There's nothing better than good sci-fi, but nothing worse than bad sci-fi!” There are over 36 categories of science fiction, and these subgenres might further divide those that would consider themselves sci-fi fans. Some subgenres are even somewhat mutually exclusive of each-other. For instance, space operas involve concepts such as faster-than-light travel, starship dogfights, and aliens, while another sci-fi genre known as “hard sci-fi” has fans that absolutely detest any science fiction that isn't based on current scientific facts. Then there are more niche subgenres of sci-fi such as steampunk, space Westerns, cyberpunk, nano-punk, slipstream, and pulp sci-fi. Not to mention some more popular genres such as alien or robot invasion, superhero, post-apocalyptic, time travel, and even zombie sci-fi. With all of these choices making it difficult to navigate preferences, maybe it's best just sticking with a comedy film for the evening?

Genre Popularity and Sci-fi (Part 2)

Horror was also low in favorability among men at 57%, only 10% more than women. The second least popular genre among men was romance, ranking at 55% favorability, with musicals coming in dead last at 48%. Women statistically enjoy romance much more than sci-fi and horror, ranking at 77% favorability for the genre and 64% for musicals. With all of these diverse preferences, what genre ranked highest for both men and women? Comedy, with a 90% favorability rating from men and 91% among women. In a very close second, adventure received 90% from men and 89% from women. Suprisingly, action movies weren't far behind, with 90% from men and 86% from women. If you're planning a movie date, comedy, adventure, or action flims are the most likely genres to please you and your date!

Genre Popularity and Sci-fi (Part 1)

Have you often struggled finding the right movie or TV series to watch with your wife or girlfriend? I've heard this complaint many times from friends, and even from my own daughter regarding the movies she's had to see that some of her dates have chosen. Thankfully, I've been blessed with a wife that loves science fiction--my favorite genre--but she's an outlier when considering the statistics of male and female genre preferences. According to statistics, sci-fi ranks next to the bottom of female genre preferences, with 62% favorability among women. Men seem to enjoy sci-fi more than women, statistically, with 75% favorability. Women seem to prefer fantasy to sci-fi, with 70% favorability alongside 71% of men. The only genre women dislike more than sci-fi is horror, which ranks at 47%.

The Social Credit App (part 5)

Though assertions have been made that the app doesn't discriminate, one private credit system using the data rates people not only on their financial data, but on their choices as consumers and their activities. Friends can also rate each other on the app, and some have even reported others through the app regarding negative comments made about the government. Those that have been labeled as society's losers have found it very difficult to recover from the label, and their social credit score has severely influenced and limited their options in society. This all sounds eerily similar to the British scifi series “Black Mirror,” and the first episode of its third season called “Nosedive.” But it's not science-fiction. All of this is actually happening, right now. And the groundwork for something similar has already been laid in American smartphones and social media. Perhaps it's time to abandon our smartphones, while we still can?

The Social Credit App (part 4)

The app will lower a user's credit score based on things like delayed payments on bills and credit cards. If a user falls into a lower status level, the app will also display information publicly about the users current live locations (based on their smartphones,) their personal information, court case numbers, identity numbers, home addresses, and the reason they have been labeled as untrustworthy, deadbeat losers. The phone will also be forced to use a special ringtone that will ring when called, alerting everyone nearby that the owner has fallen to the lower status level and should be careful about their business dealings with that person. People with the lower social-credit scores are denied the use of some public transit systems or the option to book a hotel room. These “untouchables” become stigmatized in society and—until they've cleared their debts—might find it difficult to even be considered for a job because of their status.

The Social Credit App (part 3)

The dystopian app is now becoming a national ID system through a country-wide program launched in January. Banks, government departments, and police already recognize these digital ID's and it is likely they will be embraced by many others in the near future. The app also creates a type of credit score for the user, based on their spending habits and other financial activity. This score is meant to show how credit-worthy someone is, and there are even small perks and awards gained from having a good score, like small bonuses when renting a hotel room or not having to put down a deposit for a car rental. However, what does a low score entail for a user...?

The Social Credit App (part 2)

There is a social media messaging app that has become immensely popular in one particular country, and that government has not only taken notice of its popularity, but has made sure there isn't any choice but to use this app if you have a smartphone. This has been accomplished by banning competitor apps from the country, making them unavailable to citizens. How much does this app monitor its users, and where does that information go? In an Amnesty International study conducted in 2016, the security of user information on this app was rated 0 out of 100, measuring both user freedom of speech protection and end-to-end protection.

The Social Credit App (part 1)

What if your smartphone, smart TV, and computer were monitoring your activities to the point that it affected your social standing, your ability to get a job, and even which transportation you were allowed to use? What if you were essentially labeled a loser through this system because you spent too many hours during the week playing video games, or had accrued too much credit card debt? What if having the "loser" label meant that your phone would ring with a ringtone that shamed you publicly and alerted others around you to your lower status. This might sound like an Orwellian, dystopian sci-fi movie, but it is reality in one country, and could eventually be coming to a theater near you...