Well, let's summarize.
I completed the seven-day roguelike
I did not even attempt the 24 hour comic
I did completed less than 1% of NaNoWriMo
I gave up training for the half marathon.
I have really good excuses for all that I did not do. But I don't want to be a man of excuses.
On the upside, I did do a 5K run today, to benefit the Arthritis Foundation, which has lately become near and dear to my heart. I had no team to run with, no friends to share the experience with, but I had my wife cheering me on.
We arrived at Reid Park at 10 minutes until 9:00 a.m. It was pouring rain. Registration began at 9. I slogged through the rain to register, got my bib, tried to decide, do I pin it on my T-shirt or my sweatshirt? Just how miserable is this run going to be? The run was scheduled to begin at 10.
It continued to rain, heavier and lighter, over the next hour. At about 5 minutes before 10, suddenly the clouds dispersed and there was blue sky and sunlight over all of Reid Park. Nina set up her chair near the start/finish line, and I pinned my number on my T-shirt.
The run was beautiful, clear sky, no rain, sunlight but not hot. My goal was just to run the whole course without stopping to walk (I was unable to do this on my first attempt at a 5K). I was one of the last to run across the finish line, my time somewhere around 35 minutes, but I did achieve my goal. I was cheered to the finish by my wife and by some new friends she had made while I was running.
I got my shirt for finishing the race, and we went to Crave to celebrate with a Latté. As our coffees arrived, the rain began to pour down once again.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Friday, November 2, 2007
NaNoWriMo
Well, we are two days into NaNoWriMo.
My wife is home from the hospital after a successful surgery.
My product is in open beta after a successful release.
There is zero chance that I will be writing 50,000 words in November. I should have over 3,000 already.
I have 295. Here they are:
“Rock stars aren’t supposed to be awake at 6:30 in the morning, unless they haven‘t gone to bed yet.”
It’s a misty morning in Nashville in late August of the year 2000, and Mitchy’s sounding bitchy. But really, if they’d just let her sleep in until eleven or so, she’d be looking forward to the tour. When Dave gets back from the Starbucks run, things will pick right up.
This is a Paradigm Stickshift 20 years past their prime as measured by what matters in the music biz -- 20 years after their biggest hit, and long past the days of playing stadiums. They are the original members, and they are not tired of the music, each other, or the road. They haven’t stopped writing songs, making albums or touring. Not a lot of people are aware of that. But there are enough to sustain them. Financially and emotionally.
Paradigm Stickshift is Darcy Lane Schultz - guitars, backing vocals, and rainbow vests; Dave Schultz - bass, roadie, emotional stability and driver of the Dodge Caravan; Bob Nordskog - drums, roadie, webmaster and babysitter; Ted Sanders - sound engineer, driver of the Winnebago and rememberer of the good old days; and Michelle “Mitchy” Marks Nordskog - keyboards, lead vocals, writer of the songs, keeper of the flame, and in dire need of a latté.
Oh, and Paradigm stick shift is also April and Dylan Schultz and Mickey and Donny Nordskog, ten, seven, seven and three years respectively. Homeschooled and in the way and along for the ride on a tour of the Midwest college towns that provide the most loyal of Stickshift’s fans. Four angelic faces fast asleep in the Winnebago; oblivious to the commotion going on around them as instruments and equipment are loaded in.
My wife is home from the hospital after a successful surgery.
My product is in open beta after a successful release.
There is zero chance that I will be writing 50,000 words in November. I should have over 3,000 already.
I have 295. Here they are:
“Rock stars aren’t supposed to be awake at 6:30 in the morning, unless they haven‘t gone to bed yet.”
It’s a misty morning in Nashville in late August of the year 2000, and Mitchy’s sounding bitchy. But really, if they’d just let her sleep in until eleven or so, she’d be looking forward to the tour. When Dave gets back from the Starbucks run, things will pick right up.
This is a Paradigm Stickshift 20 years past their prime as measured by what matters in the music biz -- 20 years after their biggest hit, and long past the days of playing stadiums. They are the original members, and they are not tired of the music, each other, or the road. They haven’t stopped writing songs, making albums or touring. Not a lot of people are aware of that. But there are enough to sustain them. Financially and emotionally.
Paradigm Stickshift is Darcy Lane Schultz - guitars, backing vocals, and rainbow vests; Dave Schultz - bass, roadie, emotional stability and driver of the Dodge Caravan; Bob Nordskog - drums, roadie, webmaster and babysitter; Ted Sanders - sound engineer, driver of the Winnebago and rememberer of the good old days; and Michelle “Mitchy” Marks Nordskog - keyboards, lead vocals, writer of the songs, keeper of the flame, and in dire need of a latté.
Oh, and Paradigm stick shift is also April and Dylan Schultz and Mickey and Donny Nordskog, ten, seven, seven and three years respectively. Homeschooled and in the way and along for the ride on a tour of the Midwest college towns that provide the most loyal of Stickshift’s fans. Four angelic faces fast asleep in the Winnebago; oblivious to the commotion going on around them as instruments and equipment are loaded in.
Friday, October 19, 2007
24 - hour comic: not happening.
Well, this is a setback. I must adjust my plans down a bit -- at least remove the "within a calendar year" part from my goal. I need to look into whether I can do the comic "off-schedule", but I won't be able to do one on October 20th.
When I set myself upon this adventure, I was at a low point in my life, working at a job I hated, and not particularly happy. Now I'm in a job I really love, but it is a startup and we are in a big push to hit a major milestone. Also, my wife has another surgery coming up and there is much to do around the house to set it up for her recovery. Bottom line: even if I did the comic here at home, I could not spare the time.
I will do a 24 comic someday, inshalla.
Nanowrimo also seems pretty unlikely this year given my workload. I don't think I'll try to write 50K words in November, but maybe I'll start writing again.
I dunno whether there will be any reason to add to this blog, maybe there will be. But I'd like to thank my loyal reader :)
When I set myself upon this adventure, I was at a low point in my life, working at a job I hated, and not particularly happy. Now I'm in a job I really love, but it is a startup and we are in a big push to hit a major milestone. Also, my wife has another surgery coming up and there is much to do around the house to set it up for her recovery. Bottom line: even if I did the comic here at home, I could not spare the time.
I will do a 24 comic someday, inshalla.
Nanowrimo also seems pretty unlikely this year given my workload. I don't think I'll try to write 50K words in November, but maybe I'll start writing again.
I dunno whether there will be any reason to add to this blog, maybe there will be. But I'd like to thank my loyal reader :)
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Ooh! Ooh! A review!
The Seven Day Quest (the game, not the blog) was reviewed in the @Play column of GameSetWatch! This is a major online game magazine. I'm very pleased. Okay, the review wasn't all that positive (at least he didn't call the game somewhat damp...), but I'm pleased that the game got noticed at all.
I'm tempted to make excuses -- many of the other challengers started with existing game engines (handling movement, line of sight, map drawing, etc), and I started from scratch. I didn't take the week off from work, so that's a 40 hour penalty right there...
But, it is what it is. I'm pleased with what I accomplished.
I'm tempted to make excuses -- many of the other challengers started with existing game engines (handling movement, line of sight, map drawing, etc), and I started from scratch. I didn't take the week off from work, so that's a 40 hour penalty right there...
But, it is what it is. I'm pleased with what I accomplished.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Fun
So what got lost completely in yesterday's post is this: Doing the seven day roguelike was a blast. I enjoyed every minute of it. Yeah, I wish more people had seen the final result. But a great game takes more than 168 hours, so I can hardly blame anyone for wanting to spend their game-playing hours interacting with something better.
I expect that the 24 hour comic will also be a fun experience. Even the half-marathon will be fun. I expect NaNoWriMo will just be excruciating.
It's not that I feel like I haven't accomplished anything worthwhile in my life, either. I know I've made my share of worthwhile contributions.
And I know, I know, I know that it is not what I do that gives me value -- it's who I am. I know that even when I don't behave like I know that.
I expect that the 24 hour comic will also be a fun experience. Even the half-marathon will be fun. I expect NaNoWriMo will just be excruciating.
It's not that I feel like I haven't accomplished anything worthwhile in my life, either. I know I've made my share of worthwhile contributions.
And I know, I know, I know that it is not what I do that gives me value -- it's who I am. I know that even when I don't behave like I know that.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
As October Looms
I thought I had given up on this quest.
I realized that what I am up to is not nearly as cool as I thought it was.
I am trying to do something impressive.
I don't know how impressive a 24 hour comic is, and I don't know how impressive NaNoWriMo is. I have discovered that a seven day roguelike is not considered to be any big deal.
Fewer than 50 people are aware I created one. Fewer than 5 have played it. There will not be an article about it in Newsweek.
I am aware that it's pretty immature of me to be going about this for the glory. But there it is.
Anyway, I think now that there's not going to be any glory. So I wasn't going to bother with the rest of it. Except now maybe I am.
For some other reason.
But I don't know what it is. But maybe it's a better reason.
I've done a little writing. It's something that could end up being the preface of my NaNoWriMo. You can read it here. As usual, I crave feedback.
Also I've chosen a prospective venue for my 24 hour comic. This could change. There are no events in Arizona. There are a half a dozen in California, and the one that appeals most to me is the one in Manhattan Beach. Just because I've been to Manhattan Beach before and I liked it. I know nothing about the comic shop.
Oh look, I said it could change, and it already has. Reading more closely, I have discovered that they hosted 24 hour comic last year. No indication they will again this year. So, now I'm thinking of taking my pen and paper to True Believers comics in Santa Fe, NM instead.
I haven't done any drawing. I desperately need to get my skills back up.
Oh, also, I'm planning to run a half-marathon in December. Not sure why I bring that up. Now, if I were running a whole marathon, that would be impressive.
I realized that what I am up to is not nearly as cool as I thought it was.
I am trying to do something impressive.
I don't know how impressive a 24 hour comic is, and I don't know how impressive NaNoWriMo is. I have discovered that a seven day roguelike is not considered to be any big deal.
Fewer than 50 people are aware I created one. Fewer than 5 have played it. There will not be an article about it in Newsweek.
I am aware that it's pretty immature of me to be going about this for the glory. But there it is.
Anyway, I think now that there's not going to be any glory. So I wasn't going to bother with the rest of it. Except now maybe I am.
For some other reason.
But I don't know what it is. But maybe it's a better reason.
I've done a little writing. It's something that could end up being the preface of my NaNoWriMo. You can read it here. As usual, I crave feedback.
Also I've chosen a prospective venue for my 24 hour comic. This could change. There are no events in Arizona. There are a half a dozen in California, and the one that appeals most to me is the one in Manhattan Beach. Just because I've been to Manhattan Beach before and I liked it. I know nothing about the comic shop.
Oh look, I said it could change, and it already has. Reading more closely, I have discovered that they hosted 24 hour comic last year. No indication they will again this year. So, now I'm thinking of taking my pen and paper to True Believers comics in Santa Fe, NM instead.
I haven't done any drawing. I desperately need to get my skills back up.
Oh, also, I'm planning to run a half-marathon in December. Not sure why I bring that up. Now, if I were running a whole marathon, that would be impressive.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Meanwhile, in my other blog...
For those of you who've wondered what's become of me, I've been focusing on my other blog the last month or so. It does relate to this blog, in that it is writing. I know I need to be getting back to my drawing table, but it is just sitting there. I've been spending all my time either trying to deal with my topsy-turvy career turns or dreaming about my big summer road trip (probably my biggest yet!). Have a look, and make some comments, at myhomeistheroad.blogspot.com.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Inspiration - Fiction
Well, it's been over a month now since I posted my short story. Time to come to terms with the fact that no one is going to read it. I don't think that even my immediate family is reading my blog. But, enough self-pity (though self-pity is a good writerly trait, don't you think? Some of our best writers were self-pitiful).
On to what inspires me as a fiction writer. I do actually know one published novelist. My former boss, Keith Raffel, has one novel published and one in the pipeline. Keith is nine years older than me, and just got his first novel published, so that gives us all hope. His book, dot.dead, is a straightforward contemporary murder mystery, set in Silicon Valley. It's a fun read, with an engaging protagonist and a good mysterious plot. Also, a lot of nice local color. I lived in the Palo Alto area for 12 years before moving to Tucson, so it was a lot of fun to read about my old haunts.
But murder mysteries aren't really my thing, in general. I can't see myself writing one.
So what fiction do I like to read? You'll find it odd. I like little stories about small town American life. I like Garrison Keillor, Fanny Flagg, Adriana Trigliani. These are stories where generally nothing really big happens -- no murders, car chases, sinister forces of evil, possessed saint bernards, savage bio-engineered killer gorillas, etc.
All the good stories I've written are like that. I write about road trips. I write stories that, if they were made into movies, would be made into little indie films, shot by a first-time director and featuring one big star who decided to work for scale just because he/she really believed in the story.
Now, like all good nerds, I went through the fantasy/sci-fi thing. I loved the Chronicles of Narnia. I actually read the Lord of the Rings in its entirety when I was in High School. I read just about everything Zalazney wrote. I read all those strange Fritz Leiber short stories. I read the requisite amount of Azimov and Heinlein and Crichton.
But my attempts to write fantasy have always fallen flat. It always feels forced. Because it is forced.
What I really like these days in that sort of realm are the things that Douglas Adams wrote. And I like the stuff by his variouis imitators, like Terry Pratchett and Robert Rankin. I've been trying to slog through a theoretically hilarious book by Tom Holt, called Who's Afraid of Beowulf. The book has all the right ingredients but it's undercooked or overcooked or something.
If I could just decide to write a readable fantasy novel, I would love to write something like The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocolypse. Something imaginative and off-the-wall, and that makes the reader laugh out loud every couple of pages or so. I might even be capable of something like that. I don't think I'm capable of writing a great sword-and-sorcery epic.
You're still reading? That's impressive. I'd have wandered off to something more interesting by now. You must really like me. But I'm sure you're also wondering where I'm going with all of this...
On to what inspires me as a fiction writer. I do actually know one published novelist. My former boss, Keith Raffel, has one novel published and one in the pipeline. Keith is nine years older than me, and just got his first novel published, so that gives us all hope. His book, dot.dead, is a straightforward contemporary murder mystery, set in Silicon Valley. It's a fun read, with an engaging protagonist and a good mysterious plot. Also, a lot of nice local color. I lived in the Palo Alto area for 12 years before moving to Tucson, so it was a lot of fun to read about my old haunts.
But murder mysteries aren't really my thing, in general. I can't see myself writing one.
So what fiction do I like to read? You'll find it odd. I like little stories about small town American life. I like Garrison Keillor, Fanny Flagg, Adriana Trigliani. These are stories where generally nothing really big happens -- no murders, car chases, sinister forces of evil, possessed saint bernards, savage bio-engineered killer gorillas, etc.
All the good stories I've written are like that. I write about road trips. I write stories that, if they were made into movies, would be made into little indie films, shot by a first-time director and featuring one big star who decided to work for scale just because he/she really believed in the story.
Now, like all good nerds, I went through the fantasy/sci-fi thing. I loved the Chronicles of Narnia. I actually read the Lord of the Rings in its entirety when I was in High School. I read just about everything Zalazney wrote. I read all those strange Fritz Leiber short stories. I read the requisite amount of Azimov and Heinlein and Crichton.
But my attempts to write fantasy have always fallen flat. It always feels forced. Because it is forced.
What I really like these days in that sort of realm are the things that Douglas Adams wrote. And I like the stuff by his variouis imitators, like Terry Pratchett and Robert Rankin. I've been trying to slog through a theoretically hilarious book by Tom Holt, called Who's Afraid of Beowulf. The book has all the right ingredients but it's undercooked or overcooked or something.
If I could just decide to write a readable fantasy novel, I would love to write something like The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocolypse. Something imaginative and off-the-wall, and that makes the reader laugh out loud every couple of pages or so. I might even be capable of something like that. I don't think I'm capable of writing a great sword-and-sorcery epic.
You're still reading? That's impressive. I'd have wandered off to something more interesting by now. You must really like me. But I'm sure you're also wondering where I'm going with all of this...
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Inspiration - Comics
First of two posts on inspiration -- this one for the 24 hour comic. Then a post on NaNoWriMo, and maybe another post on reconciling it all???? Well, one word at a time:
I just got, and read, the 2006 24 hour comic highlight book. This is a "highlights", in contrast to a "best of" collection. The intention is to show a nice cross-section of what is produced on 24 hour comics day. I found it pretty encouraging. Plenty of cool stuff in different styles; different levels of detail.
Of course part of the idea of 24 hour comics is to come in with no set agenda -- no pre-made plot or script. Nevertheless, from page 3 of the book, the familiar visages of Mayberry Melonpool and Ralph Zinobopp looked back at me. In other words, it's okay to come in with existing characters and situations.
Not that I necessarily have a stable of existing characters and situations to draw from these days. Maybe I'll do a post of all the sets of characters I've created over the years.
I have my drawing table set back up. I have sketch pads and pencils and art books setting out -- if I turn 180 degrees from my computer desk I'll be at my drawing desk.
And I have lots and lots of books of comic strips. Of course, superhero comics have also inspired me, but my drafting skills aren't at the level they would need to be for something that realistic. So, my comic strip heros, in terms of both writing and drawing....
Have to give a shout-out to the late, great Johnny Hart, who just passed away.
Jim Toomey, creator of the hilariously twisted Sherman's Lagoon (hey, anybody besides me think that Thornton was the real inspiration for the tropical polar bear on Lost?)
Frank Cho, amazing draftsman and author of the truly unique Liberty Meadows. Frank is the world champion at drawing women whose breasts are bigger than their heads.
Corey Pandolph, creator of the sublime Barkeater Lake. I recently purchased an original Barkeater Lake drawing.
Walt Kelly, who managed to sometimes fit a dozen or more jokes into a 4-panel strip. Walt was a master of dialogue right up there with Shakespeare and the Coen brothers, and also an incredible social satirist. And he draws the world's sexiest skunk.
Gary Trudeau, creator of characters that you come to know and love, characters who can exist for years and still be interesting, even though they don't have any super powers (well, maybe Zonker and Duke have some super powers...)
Well, that'll do for now. I have those books in front of me. When I get some time to spare (won't be real soon), I will start sketching. Watch this space for the results.
I just got, and read, the 2006 24 hour comic highlight book. This is a "highlights", in contrast to a "best of" collection. The intention is to show a nice cross-section of what is produced on 24 hour comics day. I found it pretty encouraging. Plenty of cool stuff in different styles; different levels of detail.
Of course part of the idea of 24 hour comics is to come in with no set agenda -- no pre-made plot or script. Nevertheless, from page 3 of the book, the familiar visages of Mayberry Melonpool and Ralph Zinobopp looked back at me. In other words, it's okay to come in with existing characters and situations.
Not that I necessarily have a stable of existing characters and situations to draw from these days. Maybe I'll do a post of all the sets of characters I've created over the years.
I have my drawing table set back up. I have sketch pads and pencils and art books setting out -- if I turn 180 degrees from my computer desk I'll be at my drawing desk.
And I have lots and lots of books of comic strips. Of course, superhero comics have also inspired me, but my drafting skills aren't at the level they would need to be for something that realistic. So, my comic strip heros, in terms of both writing and drawing....
Have to give a shout-out to the late, great Johnny Hart, who just passed away.
Jim Toomey, creator of the hilariously twisted Sherman's Lagoon (hey, anybody besides me think that Thornton was the real inspiration for the tropical polar bear on Lost?)
Frank Cho, amazing draftsman and author of the truly unique Liberty Meadows. Frank is the world champion at drawing women whose breasts are bigger than their heads.
Corey Pandolph, creator of the sublime Barkeater Lake. I recently purchased an original Barkeater Lake drawing.
Walt Kelly, who managed to sometimes fit a dozen or more jokes into a 4-panel strip. Walt was a master of dialogue right up there with Shakespeare and the Coen brothers, and also an incredible social satirist. And he draws the world's sexiest skunk.
Gary Trudeau, creator of characters that you come to know and love, characters who can exist for years and still be interesting, even though they don't have any super powers (well, maybe Zonker and Duke have some super powers...)
Well, that'll do for now. I have those books in front of me. When I get some time to spare (won't be real soon), I will start sketching. Watch this space for the results.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Quoted
Just for grins, I searched for my name on Amazon.com, and it turns out I show up in the index of two books. So I bought them. One of them just mentions me along with the other Rogue creators, but the other, Twisty Little Passages by Nick Montfort, actually has a paragraph quoted from my Brief History of Rogue. The book looks pretty interesting, and I'm looking forward to reading it.
But wow, this Nick Montfort guy. In 2002, he wrote a tale, called 2002, which contains 2002 words exactly. And the whole story is a palindrome. I'm just in awe. Given the incredible constraints he laid out for himself, the story is remarkably coherent.
I mean, okay, it doesn't seem all that coherent at first blush. You have to twist your brain around to accept the awkward syntax. But, there's an actual story with characters and things that happen, and there's an introduction and a conclusion. The story is about how the year 2002 played out for our hero, Bob. If I pull this creative triathlon off completely, it still will not be as cool as Nick's story.
Go look at it!
But wow, this Nick Montfort guy. In 2002, he wrote a tale, called 2002, which contains 2002 words exactly. And the whole story is a palindrome. I'm just in awe. Given the incredible constraints he laid out for himself, the story is remarkably coherent.
I mean, okay, it doesn't seem all that coherent at first blush. You have to twist your brain around to accept the awkward syntax. But, there's an actual story with characters and things that happen, and there's an introduction and a conclusion. The story is about how the year 2002 played out for our hero, Bob. If I pull this creative triathlon off completely, it still will not be as cool as Nick's story.
Go look at it!
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Published
Once again I am a published author (I had an article published in SunWorld magazine back in the '80s). Now I am published on a webzine! The latest issue of Roguelike the Magazine is out, and it has an article by me about Roguelikes and Javascript. At last, my writing will be accessable to literally dozens of readers!
Monday, April 9, 2007
Maybe сыровата is a compliment?
Just discovered a post from a russian blogger named Arvi the Hacker, which contains a mention of the Seven Day Quest.
According to the computer translation of his post, to his taste, my game is somewhat damp.
What do you suppose the odds are that this amounts to high praise in the Russian culture?
Yeah, that's what I thought.
Still, at least it's only somewhat damp, right?
According to the computer translation of his post, to his taste, my game is somewhat damp.
What do you suppose the odds are that this amounts to high praise in the Russian culture?
Yeah, that's what I thought.
Still, at least it's only somewhat damp, right?
Saturday, April 7, 2007
The Name The Short Story Contest
Okay, for the two of you reading my blog... :)
As promised, I have uploaded a short story I wrote back in aught-four. It's not my best story, but that's what you get for free.
It's about 2600 words, which is just a bit more than I will need to write every single day in November for NaNoWriMo (gack!)
I realized as I dug up the file (off the hard drive of my old computer), that I never gave this story a name.
So, read it, comment on it, and help me come up with a name for it!
Here is the link: http://www.babelsphere.com/7dayquest/story/ThunderBay.html
As promised, I have uploaded a short story I wrote back in aught-four. It's not my best story, but that's what you get for free.
It's about 2600 words, which is just a bit more than I will need to write every single day in November for NaNoWriMo (gack!)
I realized as I dug up the file (off the hard drive of my old computer), that I never gave this story a name.
So, read it, comment on it, and help me come up with a name for it!
Here is the link: http://www.babelsphere.com/7dayquest/story/ThunderBay.html
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Writing
I could write 50,000 words.
No I couldn't
Yes I could.
If you put together all the fiction I've written in the last five years, it wouldn't amount to 50,000 words. 10,000 words for "One Bad Thing". 5,000 words for "The Road Song", and two or three shorter stories of 2,000 words or so.
They're good words, though. High quality words. Each one lovingly prepared and simmered to perfection.
I haven't written any fiction since 2004. But, I have done some writing... an account of our time in New Orleans... a blurb about our home group for the church newsletter... just this evening I wrote a techie article about using javascript to write roguelikes (a subject about which, you'll have to admit, I am a relative expert).
And there's this blog. If blogging is writing. Blogging might just be blogging. I dunno.
Hmm. I take that back -- I have written some fiction recently -- the backstory to the Seven Day Quest.
Clearly I need to exercise my fiction muscles! Time for a new story. Maybe about the Natchez Trace.
If anyone adds a comment to this post asking for it, then I'll put one of my short stories up on the web, so you can see what I'm talking about.
No point in doing that if I'm just talking to myself, though.
No I couldn't
Yes I could.
If you put together all the fiction I've written in the last five years, it wouldn't amount to 50,000 words. 10,000 words for "One Bad Thing". 5,000 words for "The Road Song", and two or three shorter stories of 2,000 words or so.
They're good words, though. High quality words. Each one lovingly prepared and simmered to perfection.
I haven't written any fiction since 2004. But, I have done some writing... an account of our time in New Orleans... a blurb about our home group for the church newsletter... just this evening I wrote a techie article about using javascript to write roguelikes (a subject about which, you'll have to admit, I am a relative expert).
And there's this blog. If blogging is writing. Blogging might just be blogging. I dunno.
Hmm. I take that back -- I have written some fiction recently -- the backstory to the Seven Day Quest.
Clearly I need to exercise my fiction muscles! Time for a new story. Maybe about the Natchez Trace.
If anyone adds a comment to this post asking for it, then I'll put one of my short stories up on the web, so you can see what I'm talking about.
No point in doing that if I'm just talking to myself, though.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Next Up
Well, next week I will participate in the Seven Day Roguelike Playing Week.
The date has been set for the 2007 24 Hour Comics Day: October 20th. A long ways from now and frighteningly close to the beginning of NaNoWriMo.
Of course, by the rules of 24 hour comics, I don't have to do it on the day. But I want to. Also, I don't have to go to any particular location, but I want the complete experience. Last year there were 89 locations where folks got together to do their 24 hour comic. None of them were in Arizona. I'm all for doing a bit of traveling as part of the whole adventure.
As far as what the comic is going to be about, the spirit of the 24 hour comics challenge is that you don't put a lot of thought into that -- no preliminary sketches, no story outlines. Sit down and start drawing. So, in that spirit, I'm going to try not to think about what my comic will be about. I will try to not think of that for seven months. Good luck to me. I will, however, start spending more time sketching. My sketching muscles are a bit atrophied.
NaNoWriMo follows shortly thereafter. The spirit of that contest is that you don't have copy written before November 1, but you can have notes, characters, plot outline figured out in advance.
The date has been set for the 2007 24 Hour Comics Day: October 20th. A long ways from now and frighteningly close to the beginning of NaNoWriMo.
Of course, by the rules of 24 hour comics, I don't have to do it on the day. But I want to. Also, I don't have to go to any particular location, but I want the complete experience. Last year there were 89 locations where folks got together to do their 24 hour comic. None of them were in Arizona. I'm all for doing a bit of traveling as part of the whole adventure.
As far as what the comic is going to be about, the spirit of the 24 hour comics challenge is that you don't put a lot of thought into that -- no preliminary sketches, no story outlines. Sit down and start drawing. So, in that spirit, I'm going to try not to think about what my comic will be about. I will try to not think of that for seven months. Good luck to me. I will, however, start spending more time sketching. My sketching muscles are a bit atrophied.
NaNoWriMo follows shortly thereafter. The spirit of that contest is that you don't have copy written before November 1, but you can have notes, characters, plot outline figured out in advance.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
One Down, Two To Go?
Well, the challenge is over. According to the official report, twenty-two developers accepted the challenge, and eight of us succeeded.
Looking at other 7DRLs in general, it appears that minor bug fixes after the deadline are considered okay, so that's good.
And I was pleased to see an overall-positive review of my game in Roguelike. The Magazine. So I feel good about the seven day quest and The Seven Day Quest. I hope to hear feedback from my friends about it at some point.
But the experience was also sobering as I look forward to the rest of the grand plan, i.e. the 24hour comic and NaNoWriMo.
Actually, the 24 hour comic doesn't have me too worried, except I don't know if I can really stay awake for 24 hours anymore. I have plenty of time to polish up my drawing skills, etc. and I don't expect to have trouble coming up with enough material for 24 pages.
But NaNoWriMo may be biting off more than I can chew. A 175 page novel in 30 days. I found the 7DRL experience exhausting -- working 5 hours on the Roguelike after 8 hours of my regular job left me completely wasted after just a few days.
And writing code is a heck of a lot easier than writing fiction (at least for me). The longest piece I've written to date is 30 page short story. Unless I take at least most of November off, it's hard to imagine even coming close to success.
Looking at other 7DRLs in general, it appears that minor bug fixes after the deadline are considered okay, so that's good.
And I was pleased to see an overall-positive review of my game in Roguelike. The Magazine. So I feel good about the seven day quest and The Seven Day Quest. I hope to hear feedback from my friends about it at some point.
But the experience was also sobering as I look forward to the rest of the grand plan, i.e. the 24hour comic and NaNoWriMo.
Actually, the 24 hour comic doesn't have me too worried, except I don't know if I can really stay awake for 24 hours anymore. I have plenty of time to polish up my drawing skills, etc. and I don't expect to have trouble coming up with enough material for 24 pages.
But NaNoWriMo may be biting off more than I can chew. A 175 page novel in 30 days. I found the 7DRL experience exhausting -- working 5 hours on the Roguelike after 8 hours of my regular job left me completely wasted after just a few days.
And writing code is a heck of a lot easier than writing fiction (at least for me). The longest piece I've written to date is 30 page short story. Unless I take at least most of November off, it's hard to imagine even coming close to success.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Freakin Off-By-One Error
Writing software for 27 years, and done in by the classic newbie mistake. Can't even claim bleariness, it was code I wrote when I was awake.
For potions or scrolls, there's about a 1 in 100 chance it will create a treasure with undefined stats. If you pick this treasure up, the game breaks.
-sigh-
I'm going to upload the fix; not sure what that means in regards to whether I can still call this a clean victory.
Okay, so maybe I'm rationalizing here, but... I did finish the game with seven hours to spare. And I found, fixed, and uploaded the fix in only about 90 minutes... and the challenge is still going on; the weekend isn't over. And a bug fix is different from adding features.
-sigh-
For potions or scrolls, there's about a 1 in 100 chance it will create a treasure with undefined stats. If you pick this treasure up, the game breaks.
-sigh-
I'm going to upload the fix; not sure what that means in regards to whether I can still call this a clean victory.
Okay, so maybe I'm rationalizing here, but... I did finish the game with seven hours to spare. And I found, fixed, and uploaded the fix in only about 90 minutes... and the challenge is still going on; the weekend isn't over. And a bug fix is different from adding features.
-sigh-
Friday, March 16, 2007
Breaking The Tape
It is done!
Here is a link to the new intro page: http://www.babelsphere.com/7dayquest/game/
The game is uploaded. It's playable. It meets the criteria. My next step is to post to rec.games.roguelike.announce and declare victory! With seven hours to spare.
And I'm happy with the outcome. The game is fun to play. I like the graphics. There's enough there for sure.
I'm happy with the code overall, considering how quickly it was written. The javascript is pretty clean, and there are no funky things like code branching based on what browser you are using. The game works in IE on windows and Firefox on windows and Mac. I know why it doesn't work on Safari (Safari just doesn't like using a div for input, it's an HTML problem, not a js one). I could work on fixing that, but it's not necessary for declaring victory.
Of course, there are a few shortcomings. The chase algorithm has a weird anomaly -- I know what it is and how to fix it, but it's actually kind of fun the way monsters behave unpredictably, and it keeps the hero on his toes, so I'm leaving that as is.
The balance interface is kind of klunky, and you have to rebalance each time you start a new game.
The winning and losing screens have been improved, but not much.
Never implemented traps, or blessed weapons.
I could spend the next seven hours trying to accomplish that, but it would be really irresponsible. I have to get back to my regular life now.
Of course, I do want to put those things in at some point.
Oh, and I didn't do a thing to support small screens. If you don't have at least 1150x800 resolution, it will be a real drag to play the game.
And, I'm already thinking about next years 7DRL: take the Seven Day Quest, use Ajax to hook it up to a j2ee servlet, and create a multiplayer online rogue... It's defnitely doable in a week's time...
Here is a link to the new intro page: http://www.babelsphere.com/7dayquest/game/
The game is uploaded. It's playable. It meets the criteria. My next step is to post to rec.games.roguelike.announce and declare victory! With seven hours to spare.
And I'm happy with the outcome. The game is fun to play. I like the graphics. There's enough there for sure.
I'm happy with the code overall, considering how quickly it was written. The javascript is pretty clean, and there are no funky things like code branching based on what browser you are using. The game works in IE on windows and Firefox on windows and Mac. I know why it doesn't work on Safari (Safari just doesn't like using a div for input, it's an HTML problem, not a js one). I could work on fixing that, but it's not necessary for declaring victory.
Of course, there are a few shortcomings. The chase algorithm has a weird anomaly -- I know what it is and how to fix it, but it's actually kind of fun the way monsters behave unpredictably, and it keeps the hero on his toes, so I'm leaving that as is.
The balance interface is kind of klunky, and you have to rebalance each time you start a new game.
The winning and losing screens have been improved, but not much.
Never implemented traps, or blessed weapons.
I could spend the next seven hours trying to accomplish that, but it would be really irresponsible. I have to get back to my regular life now.
Of course, I do want to put those things in at some point.
Oh, and I didn't do a thing to support small screens. If you don't have at least 1150x800 resolution, it will be a real drag to play the game.
And, I'm already thinking about next years 7DRL: take the Seven Day Quest, use Ajax to hook it up to a j2ee servlet, and create a multiplayer online rogue... It's defnitely doable in a week's time...
Back Story
The town of Wentora has long been a prime tourist destination. Folks from all over Thorphilia would come to Wentora during tourist season to see the famed Amulets of the Seven Planets (or, as they later came to be known, the Amulets of the Six Real Planets and One Dwarf Planet).
But, tragically, during the bleak midwinter, a mysterious cataclysm caused the seven amulets to be dispersed throughout the Dangerous Realms -- seven magical areas that can only be reached through mysterious magical portals.
These magical portals have been reopened, but there is only one week to go until Tourist Season begins! The economic consequences for Wentora will be dire if the amulets cannot be recovered in time.
So the townspeople of Wentora have offered a substantial reward to any rogue who is willing to brave the Dangerous Realms, find the seven amulets, and return them before tourist season begins.
But (having been burned by rogues before), the townspeople want results. The Rogue who takes on the task must have one amulet back within 24 hours, or the townspeople will give the task to someone else.
As a matter of fact, the Rogue is told, if you can't come back with an amulet at the end of each day, don't bother coming back at all.
You are that Rogue, and this is your Seven Day Quest!
But, tragically, during the bleak midwinter, a mysterious cataclysm caused the seven amulets to be dispersed throughout the Dangerous Realms -- seven magical areas that can only be reached through mysterious magical portals.
These magical portals have been reopened, but there is only one week to go until Tourist Season begins! The economic consequences for Wentora will be dire if the amulets cannot be recovered in time.
So the townspeople of Wentora have offered a substantial reward to any rogue who is willing to brave the Dangerous Realms, find the seven amulets, and return them before tourist season begins.
But (having been burned by rogues before), the townspeople want results. The Rogue who takes on the task must have one amulet back within 24 hours, or the townspeople will give the task to someone else.
As a matter of fact, the Rogue is told, if you can't come back with an amulet at the end of each day, don't bother coming back at all.
You are that Rogue, and this is your Seven Day Quest!
Give it a Try!
I uploaded the latest this morning before I left for work. I just tried it out (from work), and noticed that healing does not seem to be happening.
But you can definitely get a feeling for the game if you go there. Try out a level or two. See if you can find an amulet! If you give me feedback this afternoon, I might be able to incorporate it tonight.
I talked about pulling an all-nighter tonight, but that really isn't realistic. The game needs to be done by 7 am saturday, but I have a church board meeting at 9 am Saturday, so I really need to be able to sleep Friday night. I figure my effective deadline is midnight tonight. I may not get back to the computer before 8pm, but 4 hours should be plenty to finish what absolutely needs to be done.
Again, if you read this post, try the game here.
One more caveat: for certain realms, the very first time it draws a level, especially on IE, it will be very, very slow (like 20 seconds until the level fully shows up). This will be fixed by morning; it' s just a matter of preloading the .png's, but for now be patient. And remember that right now, balance doesn't actually work. The UI is there (although it doesn't go away once you bring it up, unless you refresh the screen), but it's not hooked up to anything.
But you can definitely get a feeling for the game if you go there. Try out a level or two. See if you can find an amulet! If you give me feedback this afternoon, I might be able to incorporate it tonight.
I talked about pulling an all-nighter tonight, but that really isn't realistic. The game needs to be done by 7 am saturday, but I have a church board meeting at 9 am Saturday, so I really need to be able to sleep Friday night. I figure my effective deadline is midnight tonight. I may not get back to the computer before 8pm, but 4 hours should be plenty to finish what absolutely needs to be done.
Again, if you read this post, try the game here.
One more caveat: for certain realms, the very first time it draws a level, especially on IE, it will be very, very slow (like 20 seconds until the level fully shows up). This will be fixed by morning; it' s just a matter of preloading the .png's, but for now be patient. And remember that right now, balance doesn't actually work. The UI is there (although it doesn't go away once you bring it up, unless you refresh the screen), but it's not hooked up to anything.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
The Light at the End of the Tunnel
Quarter to 11 on Thursday. I was going to upload the latest, which is coming together nicely, but I think sleep is the most important thing right now. Tomorrow I have to go back to work. Tomorrow night I can pull an all nighter if necessary.
The only task that's absolutely necessary before declaring victory is finishing the monsters; I've got about 40 done and 10 to go. So I feel confident I'll meet the challenge.
Other things I'd like to accomplish:
- usable fully from keyboard or fully from mouse. Right now you have to use keyboard for everything except using objects in your pack, and you have to use mouse for using objects in your pack.
- traps. Haven't done those at all
- more special abilities for monsters. Only one right now (scorpion sting)
- nicer "you win" screen
- nicer "you lose" screen
- complete instructions
- way to clear a saved game
- hook up the UI to the game balancer
okay, this needs some explaining. I knew I wouldn't have time to balance the game, so I have put game balancers into the hands of the player. You will be able to adjust your vorpalness, monster vorpalness, monster frequency, treasure frequency, and time scale. Once it's been playtested a bunch we can freeze these values.
Okay, a line count before I go to bed:
Looks like on the order of 3500 lines.
The only task that's absolutely necessary before declaring victory is finishing the monsters; I've got about 40 done and 10 to go. So I feel confident I'll meet the challenge.
Other things I'd like to accomplish:
- usable fully from keyboard or fully from mouse. Right now you have to use keyboard for everything except using objects in your pack, and you have to use mouse for using objects in your pack.
- traps. Haven't done those at all
- more special abilities for monsters. Only one right now (scorpion sting)
- nicer "you win" screen
- nicer "you lose" screen
- complete instructions
- way to clear a saved game
- hook up the UI to the game balancer
okay, this needs some explaining. I knew I wouldn't have time to balance the game, so I have put game balancers into the hands of the player. You will be able to adjust your vorpalness, monster vorpalness, monster frequency, treasure frequency, and time scale. Once it's been playtested a bunch we can freeze these values.
Okay, a line count before I go to bed:
Looks like on the order of 3500 lines.
Starting to look like a game...
One feature that is kind of cool is that the game autosaves if you leave the page and autorestores if you come back.
I have artwork "mostly done" for all but the final environment.
I have a lot of monsters but I need a lot more.
I have a couple scrolls and one potion. No traps yet.
Weapons are all in and working nicely.
Amulets are in. Total winner detection is in (but it's hard to be a total winner with no graphics in the final environment -- the amulet, and everything else -- just looks like a broken document).
Those curious can view the work in progress at
http://www.babelsphere.com/7dayquest/game/7dayquest.html
I have artwork "mostly done" for all but the final environment.
I have a lot of monsters but I need a lot more.
I have a couple scrolls and one potion. No traps yet.
Weapons are all in and working nicely.
Amulets are in. Total winner detection is in (but it's hard to be a total winner with no graphics in the final environment -- the amulet, and everything else -- just looks like a broken document).
Those curious can view the work in progress at
http://www.babelsphere.com/7dayquest/game/7dayquest.html
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Alpha Discoveries
Well, I put what I have so far on the web. It works okay on firefox, but it's unacceptably slow on IE the first time you enter a particular realm -- like 25 seconds to draw a level. I think I can work on that. And keyboard input is not working on Safari at all. I think safari just doesn't like taking input from a div. I can probably fix both those things, if I can find the time.
I'm Getting Too Old For This
Okay, if I do this next year, I'm going to take the week off of work. Let's face it, I'm not as young as I used to be. I was next to useless at work today after staying up hacking until midnight 4 nights in a row.
Sigh.
I remember once Michael stayed awake from Monday morning until Friday evening. Back in the day.
Anyhoo, finished debugging weapons. Added a couple monsters. Started graphics for island & underwater levels.
I had hoped to have something to upload for select folks to have a look at before I left for this church thing, but not going to have time to upload it. Have to do it after I get back.
Sigh.
I remember once Michael stayed awake from Monday morning until Friday evening. Back in the day.
Anyhoo, finished debugging weapons. Added a couple monsters. Started graphics for island & underwater levels.
I had hoped to have something to upload for select folks to have a look at before I left for this church thing, but not going to have time to upload it. Have to do it after I get back.
Hump Day
I have obligations this evening that will probably take a couple hours out of my precious coding time. sigh.
Fortunately, I was able to put in almost 2 hours this morning before work; got weapons fully coded up but not debugged or tested.
Also redid the graphics for the base environment. Looks much better, although graphics is one of the things I'm being sloppy with in order to finish in time.
Other sloppy parts:
- Battle system made up on the fly. No idea if it makes for balanced play
- Really lame monster chase algorithm (just move-towards-Rodney)
- Really lame sight system (whole map always visible, object visible if they are nearby, no checking for line-of-sight or even in-same-room -- might try to improve this if time permits)
And lots of things intentionally left out for time's sake ---
food, rings, wands & staffs, mazes, gold, party rooms (hey, maybe I can put that in...)
The main thing "added" (added compared to original rogue that is, I assume there are other roguelikes out there that do this) is the time constraint. You have to find 7 amulets, and you have 24 hours to find the first one. Each one you find gives you another 24 hours to find the next one.
That plus the seven different environments -- final list: Cave, Forest, Desert, Castle, Islands, Under Water, Dream World.
Everything else is minor variations on the classic theme.
Fortunately, I was able to put in almost 2 hours this morning before work; got weapons fully coded up but not debugged or tested.
Also redid the graphics for the base environment. Looks much better, although graphics is one of the things I'm being sloppy with in order to finish in time.
Other sloppy parts:
- Battle system made up on the fly. No idea if it makes for balanced play
- Really lame monster chase algorithm (just move-towards-Rodney)
- Really lame sight system (whole map always visible, object visible if they are nearby, no checking for line-of-sight or even in-same-room -- might try to improve this if time permits)
And lots of things intentionally left out for time's sake ---
food, rings, wands & staffs, mazes, gold, party rooms (hey, maybe I can put that in...)
The main thing "added" (added compared to original rogue that is, I assume there are other roguelikes out there that do this) is the time constraint. You have to find 7 amulets, and you have 24 hours to find the first one. Each one you find gives you another 24 hours to find the next one.
That plus the seven different environments -- final list: Cave, Forest, Desert, Castle, Islands, Under Water, Dream World.
Everything else is minor variations on the classic theme.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Progress Report
Eleven pm Tuesday evening. The good news is that save/restore is working well. The bad news is that I've spent the whole evening so far just on that. Still, I'm glad I have it.
No protection against save scumming. The battle randomnumgen is reseeded where you left off, though, so if you save in midbattle you can't keep restoring and hope for a different outcome.
This being written in javascript, the game is saved to browser cookies. My tests had total save sizes of ~1K, but I figure that will grow as I add more to the game; since there is a 4K limit to browser cookie size I broke it up into 4 cookies, which should be safe.
No protection against save scumming. The battle randomnumgen is reseeded where you left off, though, so if you save in midbattle you can't keep restoring and hope for a different outcome.
This being written in javascript, the game is saved to browser cookies. My tests had total save sizes of ~1K, but I figure that will grow as I add more to the game; since there is a 4K limit to browser cookie size I broke it up into 4 cookies, which should be safe.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Plan B
It's closing in on eleven pm...
Didn't do anything about creating a view object. It would make for better code, but it won't get me complete any faster.
Instead, added the transition code -- a central level that leads to all seven different provinces. And got some stuff necessary for save/restore -- making sure I can recreate any level based on the root random seed, etc.
Changed stairways to portals, since the levels aren't necessarily "down" anymore, just elsewhere.
Got 4 of the 7 scroll types working.
Created a lot of the graphics for the forest province (Cave & Desert graphics already mostly done; haven't started on castle, island, water or sky)
I'm going to try to put in one more hour tonight.
Didn't do anything about creating a view object. It would make for better code, but it won't get me complete any faster.
Instead, added the transition code -- a central level that leads to all seven different provinces. And got some stuff necessary for save/restore -- making sure I can recreate any level based on the root random seed, etc.
Changed stairways to portals, since the levels aren't necessarily "down" anymore, just elsewhere.
Got 4 of the 7 scroll types working.
Created a lot of the graphics for the forest province (Cave & Desert graphics already mostly done; haven't started on castle, island, water or sky)
I'm going to try to put in one more hour tonight.
But what if I don't want to write code?
Okay, my first evening of coding after a full day of -- well -- sitting in my office thinking about spending the evening coding.
The plan - ish - for tonight: rearrange the code a bit to pull out all the view code into a view object
Put in some of the save/restore infrastructure
Add the scrolls, potions, traps, and maybe weapons.
Or as much of that as I can manage.
But first some coffee. Chickory coffee from Café du Monde. Heh.
The plan - ish - for tonight: rearrange the code a bit to pull out all the view code into a view object
Put in some of the save/restore infrastructure
Add the scrolls, potions, traps, and maybe weapons.
Or as much of that as I can manage.
But first some coffee. Chickory coffee from Café du Monde. Heh.
Mondays are Still Mondays
No time to code this morning. Just a quick note before I head off to my actual job. From here on in, it is evenings only.
By my count, there are now 16 coders accepting the challenge.
I have discovered there are other Javascript roguelikes out there. Mine may still be the first 7DRL in js.
I'm in an interesting position, I think, because the only roguelike I've ever played (or even seen in any detail) is Rogue. And I haven't participated in discussions in the roguelike development group until now. So my 7drl will probably look like a throwback (or hopefully a Classic) to the other participants.
By my count, there are now 16 coders accepting the challenge.
I have discovered there are other Javascript roguelikes out there. Mine may still be the first 7DRL in js.
I'm in an interesting position, I think, because the only roguelike I've ever played (or even seen in any detail) is Rogue. And I haven't participated in discussions in the roguelike development group until now. So my 7drl will probably look like a throwback (or hopefully a Classic) to the other participants.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Arg wu Sentifinticate Nar Dunderford
11:30 pm sunday. I have had it for today. Can't decide if I'm making enough progress or not. Starting tomorrow this is spare time only.
The fighting system is done and working, hit points, experience points, going up levels, etc. But I only have a few monsters and I haven't implemented any special abilities yet (infrastructure is there, though).
Also, treasures are created and placed about the dungeon. You can pick them up and they go in your pack; you can drop them and they go back on the floor. That's about all you can do with them, but it's progress.
I'm up to 1700 lines of code in 17 files now.
But I'm getting bleary -- near that point where I'm likely to do more harm than good if I keep going. So, it's update the blog and get some sleep.
The fighting system is done and working, hit points, experience points, going up levels, etc. But I only have a few monsters and I haven't implemented any special abilities yet (infrastructure is there, though).
Also, treasures are created and placed about the dungeon. You can pick them up and they go in your pack; you can drop them and they go back on the floor. That's about all you can do with them, but it's progress.
I'm up to 1700 lines of code in 17 files now.
But I'm getting bleary -- near that point where I'm likely to do more harm than good if I keep going. So, it's update the blog and get some sleep.
The Battle Rages
Five O'clock on Sunday. Still a long way to go today, but monsters chase you and fight you and you kill them or they kill you.
Thought I'd need an involved chase algorithm, but a dumb one seems to be working fine. So there's some infrastructure in there that I won't be using for now.
I've only put in stats for about 8 of the 49 total monsters. And of course, those stats will probably need adjusting.
Trying to balance the game is my biggest worry; I won't have time to play even one full game before I have to publish, so I could end up with something impossible to win and I'll never know it. I wonder how others have handled it?
I'm basing a lot on a few key numbers that I can adjust. I may make it so that players can adjust it and balance the game for themselves.
Thought I'd need an involved chase algorithm, but a dumb one seems to be working fine. So there's some infrastructure in there that I won't be using for now.
I've only put in stats for about 8 of the 49 total monsters. And of course, those stats will probably need adjusting.
Trying to balance the game is my biggest worry; I won't have time to play even one full game before I have to publish, so I could end up with something impossible to win and I'll never know it. I wonder how others have handled it?
I'm basing a lot on a few key numbers that I can adjust. I may make it so that players can adjust it and balance the game for themselves.
Reliving My Misspent Youth
In the spirit of the contest, I ordered a large pepperoni, sausage and bacon pizza and drank several cans of coke last night; the empties are piled on my desk. Donuts and strong coffee for breakfast this morning. I can probably survive one week of hacker food.
I was putting together a playlist of songs to code by ... I went with songs about adventerous things, but I'm thinking maybe I should do a playlist of songs from the early '80s, the stuff we were listening to when we were writing Rogue long ago. I have very strong memories of freezing in a cabin in Lake Tahoe, designing the characters for the Mac version while Michael wrote the code, listening to Phil Keaggy's "Play Through Me" over and over. Unfortunately, Play Through Me is out of print and not available on iTunes. We also listened to a lot of early Steve Taylor and Daniel Amos. (Well, we didn't think it was early when we were listening to it, but it is now)
***
Looks like we have seven contestants this year in addition to myself. Read all about it at http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.roguelike.development/topics.
***
So I'll be able to start coding this morning by 10 a.m., not too bad. The crucial things for today are monster movement, fighting, and save & restore game. I was going to leave save & restore for late in teh week, figuring that I could declare success even without that functionality, but now I'm thinking that it's better to have the infrastructure for it earlier than later.
As I go, I'm testing the code on Windows usng firefox & IE 6, and I will probably do a little testing on Safari Mac. Hopefully it will work fine in other browsers as well, but I won't have any time to make sure of that.
I was putting together a playlist of songs to code by ... I went with songs about adventerous things, but I'm thinking maybe I should do a playlist of songs from the early '80s, the stuff we were listening to when we were writing Rogue long ago. I have very strong memories of freezing in a cabin in Lake Tahoe, designing the characters for the Mac version while Michael wrote the code, listening to Phil Keaggy's "Play Through Me" over and over. Unfortunately, Play Through Me is out of print and not available on iTunes. We also listened to a lot of early Steve Taylor and Daniel Amos. (Well, we didn't think it was early when we were listening to it, but it is now)
***
Looks like we have seven contestants this year in addition to myself. Read all about it at http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.roguelike.development/topics.
***
So I'll be able to start coding this morning by 10 a.m., not too bad. The crucial things for today are monster movement, fighting, and save & restore game. I was going to leave save & restore for late in teh week, figuring that I could declare success even without that functionality, but now I'm thinking that it's better to have the infrastructure for it earlier than later.
As I go, I'm testing the code on Windows usng firefox & IE 6, and I will probably do a little testing on Safari Mac. Hopefully it will work fine in other browsers as well, but I won't have any time to make sure of that.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
So Ends Day One
Well, it is midnight. I have added wandering monsters -- sort of. They don't actually wander, they just stand there. And you can walk right through them. I need to get battle working tomorrow; that wasn't even on my list, but of course it's vitally important.
I have to go to church in the morning, so I have to get to sleep now. I'll get back to this as soon as I can tomorrow.
Oh, and my son's car won't start, so I have to get that dealt with tomorrow, too.
Still, I think I'm doing okay.
I have to go to church in the morning, so I have to get to sleep now. I'll get back to this as soon as I can tomorrow.
Oh, and my son's car won't start, so I have to get that dealt with tomorrow, too.
Still, I think I'm doing okay.
Nine Forty Five
15 hours in, but only about 10-12 spent actually coding. About a dozen files created, about a thousand lines of code written, and all working nicely. Lots of infrastructure; builds levels, Rodney can move around in them and go down stairs. Everything I planned for day one is in, but I want to get a little more progress, maybe just some work on the screen layout and stuff, before sleep.
Already I can see it needs some refactoring, though. I need to share more code between monsters and treasure. That's what I get for working without a spec.
Already I can see it needs some refactoring, though. I need to share more code between monsters and treasure. That's what I get for working without a spec.
Four p.m.
I'd say at the moment I appear to be ahead of schedule, which is good because today is really my only full day to work on this.
I've got the program drawing levels, creating rodney, interpreting keystrokes, and letting Rodney run around the level.
Have not done stairs or messages yet, those need to get done today, but I've got lots of time left.
I've got the program drawing levels, creating rodney, interpreting keystrokes, and letting Rodney run around the level.
Have not done stairs or messages yet, those need to get done today, but I've got lots of time left.
Three Hours In
Looks like so far there are 6 participants in this years 7DRL, incuding myself. Seems like a smallish number. Maybe more are yet to join.
Coding is going well so far. I've put in about 3 hours of work, and I have a bunch of the infrastructure, and I am successfully drawing levels. Of course, those levels are empty. The next step is to create Rodney and make it so he can walk around those levels.
Coding is going well so far. I've put in about 3 hours of work, and I have a bunch of the infrastructure, and I am successfully drawing levels. Of course, those levels are empty. The next step is to create Rodney and make it so he can walk around those levels.
Gentlemen, Start Your IDEs!
6:30 a.m. on Saturday, and I'm awake. It's not a kayak trip, so it must be a 7 day roguelike. Oh, maybe I'm not all that awake after all. In a few minutes, I will post my starting message and I will create my first file.
Last night I figured out what all the monsters would be. I'm not going to post it here because I don't want to spoil it for you.
Last night I figured out what all the monsters would be. I'm not going to post it here because I don't want to spoil it for you.
Friday, March 9, 2007
Oh, a Design Would be Nice
Forty-Five minutes until I can start coding. But I don't have to start at midnight; as I understand the rules, I can start any time on the tenth, and I have 168 hours from whenever I start.
Maybe I should use this evening to really spec out the game I'm going to write. I have it pretty well set in my head, but it's a hodgepodge of ideas.
I want to capture the essence of Rogue, but also be minimalist enough to be sure I can finish (let's face it, I probably have less than 60 hours in which to actually get work done).
I'm going to make the whole level map visible all the time; no dark rooms, no secret doors. The "stairway" won't show up until you are next to it, though.
Distance weapons and wands are kind of complex, but I don't think I can leave those out.
I could leave out armor. The original Rogue didn't have armor for a long time; folks at UCSC still loved playing it. Maybe I'll just push that out to the end, so I can skip it if I get behind.
I don't know if it's cheating to create the graphics files outside the 168 hour window. The rules are a bit vague. I think other 7drl's have used existing graphics, so it seems reasonable.
Still, I haven't created any, so I better get on it.
Maybe I should use this evening to really spec out the game I'm going to write. I have it pretty well set in my head, but it's a hodgepodge of ideas.
I want to capture the essence of Rogue, but also be minimalist enough to be sure I can finish (let's face it, I probably have less than 60 hours in which to actually get work done).
I'm going to make the whole level map visible all the time; no dark rooms, no secret doors. The "stairway" won't show up until you are next to it, though.
Distance weapons and wands are kind of complex, but I don't think I can leave those out.
I could leave out armor. The original Rogue didn't have armor for a long time; folks at UCSC still loved playing it. Maybe I'll just push that out to the end, so I can skip it if I get behind.
I don't know if it's cheating to create the graphics files outside the 168 hour window. The rules are a bit vague. I think other 7drl's have used existing graphics, so it seems reasonable.
Still, I haven't created any, so I better get on it.
The Antepenultimate Hour
Holy Shamoley.
The contest begins in less than four hours.
There's still tons of stuff I haven't even started to figure out -- like what the monsters are going to be!
But I'm feeling good; ready to get started. It was an excellent day at work today. Managed to pump out an 18 page design spec in one day, and it's pretty darn good if I do say so myself. First day since sometime in November where I feel like I actually earned my pay.
I'm going to spend a little time this evening just getting all my ducks in a row -- making sure I've got the libraries I need, getting some graphics files, etc, and figuring out where I'm going to upload this to (probably babelsphere.com, since I let mindcountry.com lapse....)
Just want to make sure all my ducks are in a row so I can hit the ground coding at midnight (or in the morning if I'm too tired to code at midnght).
The contest begins in less than four hours.
There's still tons of stuff I haven't even started to figure out -- like what the monsters are going to be!
But I'm feeling good; ready to get started. It was an excellent day at work today. Managed to pump out an 18 page design spec in one day, and it's pretty darn good if I do say so myself. First day since sometime in November where I feel like I actually earned my pay.
I'm going to spend a little time this evening just getting all my ducks in a row -- making sure I've got the libraries I need, getting some graphics files, etc, and figuring out where I'm going to upload this to (probably babelsphere.com, since I let mindcountry.com lapse....)
Just want to make sure all my ducks are in a row so I can hit the ground coding at midnight (or in the morning if I'm too tired to code at midnght).
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Seven Days Until...
Okay, the first stage in my trilogy/triathalon begins one week from today. I'll have the full day to work on this on Saturday, and most of Sunday (might see if I can get out of going to church). The rest of the week I'll only have spare time.
I may set some stuff up today -- no actual rogue programming of course, that would be cheating, but get together all the javascript libraries and exising non-rogue-specific code that I'm going to use. Also map out a timeline for the development. Saturday will be the most important day.
For the game, I think I want to go with the different-evironment-each-day plan, though I don't think I'll have enough time to really represent it graphically. Here's a proposal for each quest's environment and magic item
Day 1: Cave -- wand of mercury
Day 2: Forest -- potion of venus
Day 3: Desert -- key of mars
Day 4: Castle -- boots of jupiter
Day 5: Islands -- amulet of neptune
Day 6: Under water -- dog tags of pluto
Day 7: dream world/sky -- mirror of saturn
or something. Needs work. Well, I've got a week....
I think I will leave out rings, food, and gold, just to reduce the scope of the effort...
Here's a straw man development plan:
Saturday: map, levels, rodney, keyboard input, movement, stairs, messages
Sunday: pack/inventory, basic monsters
Monday: hand-to-hand weapons, armor, more monsters
Tuesday: wands & staves. more monsters
Wednesday: potions and scrolls, save & restore game
Thursday: distance weapons, amulets
Friday: transitions, intro, clean-up, testing
Maybe I should download and play some other seven day roguelikes to have a look at what is out there, huh?
All right, I'll do that, and let you know how it goes.
I may set some stuff up today -- no actual rogue programming of course, that would be cheating, but get together all the javascript libraries and exising non-rogue-specific code that I'm going to use. Also map out a timeline for the development. Saturday will be the most important day.
For the game, I think I want to go with the different-evironment-each-day plan, though I don't think I'll have enough time to really represent it graphically. Here's a proposal for each quest's environment and magic item
Day 1: Cave -- wand of mercury
Day 2: Forest -- potion of venus
Day 3: Desert -- key of mars
Day 4: Castle -- boots of jupiter
Day 5: Islands -- amulet of neptune
Day 6: Under water -- dog tags of pluto
Day 7: dream world/sky -- mirror of saturn
or something. Needs work. Well, I've got a week....
I think I will leave out rings, food, and gold, just to reduce the scope of the effort...
Here's a straw man development plan:
Saturday: map, levels, rodney, keyboard input, movement, stairs, messages
Sunday: pack/inventory, basic monsters
Monday: hand-to-hand weapons, armor, more monsters
Tuesday: wands & staves. more monsters
Wednesday: potions and scrolls, save & restore game
Thursday: distance weapons, amulets
Friday: transitions, intro, clean-up, testing
Maybe I should download and play some other seven day roguelikes to have a look at what is out there, huh?
All right, I'll do that, and let you know how it goes.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Thoughts on Three
So I had been thinking that I would tell the same story in three different media -- the Seven Day Quest as a game, a comic, and a novel.
But now I'm thinking maybe a trilogy -- three separate adventures for Rodney: a seven day quest, a one day quest, and a thirty day quest. Something of course tying them together.
I think it will work better. The nature of the game is that Rodney is going to be on his own. But a novel where it's just Rodney fighting monster after monster would just be incredibly dull. By creating three separate stories, I can optimize each story to its especial medium.
But I will keep the progression in place -- the end of the game will bridge to the comic, the end of the comic will bridge to the book.
But now I'm thinking maybe a trilogy -- three separate adventures for Rodney: a seven day quest, a one day quest, and a thirty day quest. Something of course tying them together.
I think it will work better. The nature of the game is that Rodney is going to be on his own. But a novel where it's just Rodney fighting monster after monster would just be incredibly dull. By creating three separate stories, I can optimize each story to its especial medium.
But I will keep the progression in place -- the end of the game will bridge to the comic, the end of the comic will bridge to the book.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Yendor
As far as I can recall, the Rogue backstory has never been documented.
I always had at least a foggy idea of what it was in the back of my head. I dunno if it matches with Michael's or Jon's, or if they ever really thought about it.
So here it is in bits and pieces -- probably I'll flesh this out somehow in the novel.
Yendor was a wizard, who once ruled all known lands -- all the Chronicles agree on this. Well, most of the chronicles. There's actually nothing that all the Chronicles agree on, and there's precious little that hangs together even in a majority of them, so really, most of them agreeing on Yendor is pretty impressive. If you think about it.
Yendor's power to rule was insured by his fabled Amulet. Growing weary of constantly having to vaporize beings who tried to hork it, he determined to hide it deep within a vast series of dungeons. He summoned many ferocious beasts to guard his dungeon, and put a number of spells on the dungeon itself as well.
But all of this was thousands of years before Rodney began his quest. Long ago (the Chronicles disagree on exactly how long, but none of them think it was recently), Yendor mysteriously disappeared. The beasts within his dungeon remained, reproduced, went wild. Legend maintains that Yendor's Amulet remains there, deep within the dungeon, and whoever can brave the dungeon and find that amulet will have the same power that Yendor once had -- the power to rule the whole earth.
Which is a lot more power than Rodney wants. Rodney just wants a nice castle with a big hearth. And maybe a princess. But he figures he could sell the amulet to someone for whom ruling the entire world had some appeal.
I always had at least a foggy idea of what it was in the back of my head. I dunno if it matches with Michael's or Jon's, or if they ever really thought about it.
So here it is in bits and pieces -- probably I'll flesh this out somehow in the novel.
Yendor was a wizard, who once ruled all known lands -- all the Chronicles agree on this. Well, most of the chronicles. There's actually nothing that all the Chronicles agree on, and there's precious little that hangs together even in a majority of them, so really, most of them agreeing on Yendor is pretty impressive. If you think about it.
Yendor's power to rule was insured by his fabled Amulet. Growing weary of constantly having to vaporize beings who tried to hork it, he determined to hide it deep within a vast series of dungeons. He summoned many ferocious beasts to guard his dungeon, and put a number of spells on the dungeon itself as well.
But all of this was thousands of years before Rodney began his quest. Long ago (the Chronicles disagree on exactly how long, but none of them think it was recently), Yendor mysteriously disappeared. The beasts within his dungeon remained, reproduced, went wild. Legend maintains that Yendor's Amulet remains there, deep within the dungeon, and whoever can brave the dungeon and find that amulet will have the same power that Yendor once had -- the power to rule the whole earth.
Which is a lot more power than Rodney wants. Rodney just wants a nice castle with a big hearth. And maybe a princess. But he figures he could sell the amulet to someone for whom ruling the entire world had some appeal.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Preparing for whatever this is
I'm at a low point in my life.
Struggling at work to even do a mediocre job.
Realizing that I'm just not really nearly as good a person as I always thought of myself.
But I got this idea in my brain a couple months back, and I've decided to pursue it. I don't know what to call it, maybe the Creative Endurance Triathalon or something. Suggestions welcome.
I don't think anyone has done this before: Completed a Seven-Day Roguelike, a 24-hour comic, and a NaNoWriMo (one month novel). I'm going to try to do all 3 this year.
I plan to tie all of them together thematically. In fact, I'm considering this blog plus the game, comic and novel (assuming I succeed at all three) to constitute a single, multimedia work of art.
First up is the seven-day roguelike. This year's contest begins March 10th. I will be at somewhat of a disadvantage because I work full time and most of the rest of my time is owed to family, church and sleep.
I can't start writing code until March 10th, but I think I'm allowed to start thinking at any time.
The theme (and name) of my adventure game is The Seven Day Quest, a parallel of course to my own seven day quest.
Classic Rogue consisted of a single dungeon of 26 levels, a single quest to find a single magic item, the Amulet of Yendor. 7DayQuest will consist of seven, sevel-level quests. Each successful quest will result in finding a magic item, and that item will be necessary to succeed in the next day's quest.
I'm working on the backstory of the game.
I'm figuring that that will be the novel.
I need to make sure I don't get overambitious with the thoughts of the game, because I have to have it completely finished in one week of spare time, and I am starting from zero.
7DayQuest will be written completely in Javascript (and DHTML). To my knowledge, it will be the first Roguelike to be written that way.
Next step: Overall design, and an implementation plan with daily milestones.
Struggling at work to even do a mediocre job.
Realizing that I'm just not really nearly as good a person as I always thought of myself.
But I got this idea in my brain a couple months back, and I've decided to pursue it. I don't know what to call it, maybe the Creative Endurance Triathalon or something. Suggestions welcome.
I don't think anyone has done this before: Completed a Seven-Day Roguelike, a 24-hour comic, and a NaNoWriMo (one month novel). I'm going to try to do all 3 this year.
I plan to tie all of them together thematically. In fact, I'm considering this blog plus the game, comic and novel (assuming I succeed at all three) to constitute a single, multimedia work of art.
First up is the seven-day roguelike. This year's contest begins March 10th. I will be at somewhat of a disadvantage because I work full time and most of the rest of my time is owed to family, church and sleep.
I can't start writing code until March 10th, but I think I'm allowed to start thinking at any time.
The theme (and name) of my adventure game is The Seven Day Quest, a parallel of course to my own seven day quest.
Classic Rogue consisted of a single dungeon of 26 levels, a single quest to find a single magic item, the Amulet of Yendor. 7DayQuest will consist of seven, sevel-level quests. Each successful quest will result in finding a magic item, and that item will be necessary to succeed in the next day's quest.
I'm working on the backstory of the game.
I'm figuring that that will be the novel.
I need to make sure I don't get overambitious with the thoughts of the game, because I have to have it completely finished in one week of spare time, and I am starting from zero.
7DayQuest will be written completely in Javascript (and DHTML). To my knowledge, it will be the first Roguelike to be written that way.
Next step: Overall design, and an implementation plan with daily milestones.
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