So this week, I’ve got the last scenes of //020 for you. Quite a few of them, sort of a week-and-a-half sized update.
The reason for the weird timing lately? As mentioned before I attended PAX East. My peeps, my culture. Which is admittedly a bit odd since I’m not actually very good at video games and I don’t PLAY a wide variety of them. (I OWN a wide variety of them, but that’s because I have Steam installed. Anybody else who has Steam installed is acutely aware of this issue and it needs no further explanation.)
Even if I’m terrible at actual games where I get easily overwhelmed with too much information too quickly… I love the IDEA of games. I grew up with them and they’ll always be there. I love gaming culture, with its the humor and dry wit. I love the gaming industry, and read news blogs routinely. I love the spark of creativity that’s coming out of the indie scene.
I saw some amazing stuff at PAX, which has been consumed whole by the indie scene thanks to the Indie Megabooth and a wide variety of panels on all sorts of subjects. For instance, I highly encourage you to check out Let’s Quip, an indie game about arguing on the internet for points. (Plz install Unity3D Web Player before proceeding. Although a Facebook-free iOS version is forthcoming, too.)
Often, I’ve pondered somehow worming my way into that mess and making games my path in life. (Although “writer” is the least desired role for a game developer, it seems, with far more need for artists and programmers and even sound guys in comparison.) But I’ve done the one-man-band developer schtick before, back in the Neverwinter Nights days, and after five years of that I burned out hard; it’s tough going. On top of that I lost about 75% of the audience that I’d built up from successes with Sailor Nothing and Unreal Estate by ignoring my writing for so long. Ouch.
So, for now, I’m content to focus on my novels and simply enjoy gaming as a side hobby rather than an active participant.
Although…
Although I’ve pondered doing a visual novel or a Minecraft map or some sort of tie-in that supports my writing. It’d be a hell of a time commitment, and I’d need resources like art that I do not in fact have, but it could be an interesting experiment. So, I turn this over to you. Would you be interested? Before you blurt out “YES” because it’s an easy affirmation to make, consider it might slow down the writing process, or require you to install software, or any number of tradeoffs. Is it worth the price? Would you go with me on that journey? Or are you content and happy with what you have? Let me know.
Regardless, for those of you reading these words now — as I’ve said in the past — you’ve gone down the rabbit hole deep enough to get to this level of fandom. And for that, I thank you, and am hopeful for your continuing support. Remember, take a gander at //020 too, and let me know what you think there.
Strike & Co. says
I guess I’m one of that 75%; I originally found you from r.a.a.c (Slayers Demiurge is the first time I remember noticing your name, which means it wasn’t the first time I saw it) but lost track after Unreal Estate when you shifted to a game I wasn’t going to be able to get. I was sad about that because the NWN stuff looked interesting, I was just poor and couldn’t afford a machine to run it on.
I finally looked your site up again a couple months back for some reason, and quickly consumed Anachronauts and the first two books of City of Angles. I’m holding off on starting book 3 because I’m not sure I want to have to wait weeks between chapters ;)
IME, writing is easier/cheaper to consume. I don’t mind installing software, it’s just a matter of being able to afford & run said software… but I’m trying to use Linux instead of Windows these days so I’m an outlier more than a useful datapoint.
Still, I’ll be happy to vote for a VN, though I don’t know how easy it would be to get reasonable quality graphics for one–so I don’t know how worthwhile it would be for you to try doing a VN.
Oh wait, you’re making an RPG setting now? That is more on-topic for me these days, though I’ve not gotten to really look at FATE so I don’t know how useful it’d be for my gaming group.
Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne says
FATE’s really interesting. It’s a simple system overall, with more emphasis on character dynamics and storytelling than anything else, to the point where the main mechanic of the game is to give your players agency to reshape the circumstances of the story a bit to keep it flowing. It’s a perfect fit for City of Angles.
I figure an RPG setting is a good half-measure between Writer and Gamemaker. No extra resources needed, and it’s something that people who just read the books might also enjoy. A VN would also be suitable and it’s something I’m considering ‘baking in’ to my next project.
Jeremy Jinkerson says
I’m a holdover from the NWN days. That’s how I found you. After I realized you were a writer, I pretty read and played anything you created (except of the more questionable fanfic stuff). So yeah, whatever you do, I’m going to be there to consume and comment on it.
Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne says
Your ongoing support is appreciated. I did gain some readers through NWN; honestly I should’ve pushed harder and promoted my non-game work to the game crowd in general. I think I felt since my life had shifted gears that it was no longer relevant. Shortsighted.
Carlo says
Funny you comment on losing the writing crowd by doing the Neverwinter Nights game development, since it you pretty much did the reverse afterwards with regards to your large NWN community following. Your NWN mods were outstanding examples of both storytelling and game design and they were the reason I’ve kept up with your various blog incarnations.
I’ve always thought it a shame (and mentioned this before) that you don’t have any sort of link or even mention of the mods on your current site. Maybe the burnout led you to purge them from your mind? Too bad, because there’s still a NWN community out there and with the game on GOG.com, it’ll continue for some time.
Nowadays the “visual novel” is a more accepted genre of games, so no reason not to do one if you’re once again inspired. That’s really what your NWN mods were close to, in any case, with the emphasis on story. The difference is that the mods made the player the protagonist and offered up some decisionmaking on things like companions, which is far more impactful than simply watching the action. If you’re not up for true game design anymore, I’d at least suggest using NWN for the visual novel / machinima platform, since it has a large install base, is cheap to get, and the graphics are still reasonable. I’ve run a weekly campaign for over ten years on the platform and it’s aged well.
Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne says
I should probably link up the NWN mods. They still exist on the site, I just haven’t got them connected to the frontpage yet. The issue is ongoing support; I have no means of patching them to work with more modern versions of NWN, and hell, when people email me asking about puzzles I draw a blank.
I think if I do a VN, I’d probably go for a common platform like Renpy which has crossplatform support and the tools specially designed for it. I don’t even have NWN installed anymore, I think. But even a VN requires some art assets, which I don’t have.
My initial foray into crossover stuff is going to be a Fate Core campaign setting, actually; I bought a copy of the book at PAX and have been typing up a setting document. It’ll post next weekend. That’s a means of mixing ‘writing’ and ‘gaming’ without needing any additional resources I don’t have.
Jeff Keys says
I’m going to thoughtfully blurt out “yes.” Games have always been my preferred method of consuming fiction. I don’t know about Minecraft, though. I’m still holding out for Fist of Discomfort. :)
…JK. Which are actually my initials, and how I sign things about which I’m extra serious, and would never kid about. Meta-JK
Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne says
I actually did a lot of voice recording and design work on Fist of Discomfort before realizing it’d need waaaaay more time and resources than I could possibly wrangle. Plus, the NWN engine was never well suited to a Final Fight style brawler.
Jeff Keys says
I remember being pleasantly surprised at how you’d managed to contort the engine for the demo. I also remember looking through the scripts in the editor to read some of the dialog for characters who didn’t make it into the demo. And I sent you an overly-fanboyish email asking about what was going on with it. (I was 14.) Thanks for the response back then, by the way. Good times.