Thursday, April 30, 2009

Game update Questions?

Well,

This is a short blog update, space game has been edited some more. I'm writing a few short stories to add some flav. What types of sci-fi stories work best for gamers, do gamers prefer the personal stories of people moving through a gray, Dystopian society where they struggle and against all odds sometimes come out on top; E.G: Anarchistic stories about the struggle against big companies and big government.

Or do game players prefer a space opera which is more epic on scale with ships and particle cannons, black hole bombs and wide spread panic. Or do players like a focus on the ideas that make the setting work, the meta physics of a sci-fi setting sometimes lead to stories of their own.

You decide!

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Is it time for fiction to be fiction and life to be life...

This post is a little different... so if your offended don't read just kidding Fuk U.

Basically my friend Ad who works for a large games company that basically owns everything as far as pen an paper RPG's astutely pointed out that even if I were to publish this game and the related materials for free, the content of the setting is offensive to "Americans" however I have found humor in several political aspects of all countries, history, religion etc not strictly American.

I find that if your designing games and settings its best to have some themes and undertones through out the entire setting. My setting has themes of alienation, poverty, depression (we call them recessions now), corporate dominance, human failing, and religion. In the setting all religions are as real to the people as they are to people now, the texts are based on real events in the setting, that are known by the aliens, the demons are real, the exist and inhabit a different section of reality the religions are based on events or reinterpretation of events that occurred long ago. I used some of those ancient texts of the Bible, the Khabala, the Enuma Elesh, the Kybalion, the Qur'an along with the archaeological musings of Egyptology from all different eras. These texts have some great tales and are the basis for much of our literature, culture and world.
As far as countries I have made some jibes at Great Briton, France, The Middle East, China, Russia, South Africa, Nazi Germany, The Roman empire, etc all in what I thought were compelling story elements and I used them to tell stories like the "Votreckers" (thanks for the name Ad) who are South African and Australian colonists of the furthest reaches of space who stuck using 200 year old technology and have a very racist attitude to everything. Its not real its a setting, its funny! Now I know some people get offended, if they do don't read it but getting sued over jokes is not really very cool at all.

So to conclude, should I alter the setting to make it less offensive? Does anyone know any Christians or Jews that I can discuss my setting with so I don't get pwnd by some religious dudes?

PS, I'm still going to make fun of South Africa, New Zealand, America, China, Russia, India, Middle East, etc. Everyone else does.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Martian Sunrise

This is a section of text which I'm writing as background for Space Game. If you have suggestions or comments please leave them. I want to improve my writing skills.

Sunlight shone on the steel platform. Henry made his move. In a cascade of crimson dust he leaped to the impact zone. This time the experiment would be a success, the doors would open, and knowledge of untold histories and times would be unleashed into his mind.

Henry had prepared for this day; he had feed and purified his body and mind.
I wonder how different I will be? Will anyone recognize me after I return?

The virus was in him, nourishing his DNA with new information, rearranging his cellular structure and calling forth programming from long ago. Henry thought back to the time spent in the laboratory, the endless tests the endless injections taken from just one pure sample of the virus found in a speck of ice 400 million years old. How could human DNA have existed, back in the forgotten times? Was this the memories of a once proud and great race cast down by their oppressive enemies?

It took time for the virus to take hold; its work was much slower than standard RNA recombination and vectored based assertion. It worked more slowly deliberately every cell had to be perfect, prepared and ready to accept new instructions in the form of forgotten proteins and amino acids.

The Barkley scientists had assured Henry that he would retain himself he would remain in control during the experiment. He would become so much more than he is. No human hands had ever undone the knot of human DNA, stored and forgotten, labelled as junk in the early days of genetic research those memories now began to flood back into his mind.

A forlorn swampy land, foxfire in the sky, a lunar eclipse and a sunrise on a green and pleasant land. Yes long ago, we did indeed tread these ancient shores and built spires of glass to the heavens.

We found our new home in this moist and pleasant country. The stark beauty of the red sand, reminded us of our communion. We brought our slaves here, and we lay them to rest in stone beneath the earth.

What had happened, if only Henry could remember more about the past? His mind searched for reasons. Why did this place mean so much?

Falling, into darkness his mind swam with equations and formula he accessed places of the past, a swamp, a black wolf that padded through the turpentine. It howled at the moons and ate the crass and disgusting creatures of the swamp. The acrid stench and the stifling heat disturbed the beast not as it stalked its prey.

He saw the spires again, glass and shining in the sunlight, the faces pallid their lips damp with the feast they had had a day of celebration a victory against mighty Osiris. They would rule the universe; their light would be the light to behold. As the sunlight broke over Lucifer, a chill wind began to blow and a raw and bitter taste was there for all to behold. Others had come, unknown to them, immune to the powers of persuasion and trickery of space-time. They rearranged the universe around them, bringing an order locking of the doors and gates and keeping keys secret. Made of metal, they appeared striking first at the slaves with the one weapon that would hurt the masters the most, change.

The end came in a feeding frenzy, brother devoured brother, and father devoured son only the strongest would remain, and then they all were gone. The ancient empire of glass and light, had fallen to darkness and their god Lucifer had proved imperfect after all. They all became dust, and now they travel, in storms across a dry and desolate landscape.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

The Quantum Surgen

I have decided that I have to create some more fiction, not just for my games but to get better at writing in general. Sam Jensen is one of my friends and he has helped inspire me, he is a fifteen billion times better writer than I but I still want to give it a go.

This is an idea I have for a Sci-fi story, I'm not really sure what form it will take but the basic premise is that if we followed quantum theory or string theory or any of the modern unification theory we would get to a point of engineering, we could then alter lives, ignore space time, and completely shape reality.

This story is set at the cusp of the technology, a old professor has just perfected a technique of enhancing peoples lives by quantum manipulation and he is out seeking funding from a venture capitalist. The story is probably not hard Sci-fi but more comedic as this doctor gets involved the capitalist try's the machines out and gets richer and richer to the point that he is a dominating power in the world. He owes it all to the Quantum Surgeon but rather than reward the doctor he takes the machine and enhances his life and removes the Surgeon from reality, and the resulting paradox is is interesting to say the least.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Space Game edits and potential concept art

Space Game is getting an edit I have been working on the book in my spare time. I first edited the front pages that describe the universe that the game takes place in. Then I was thinking about balance, currently the humans are behind the eight ball along with the Brack, Drooge and Bastazi (Alien species in the setting).

I was even thinking of adding a 3rd powerful potential ally and enemy to the human race. Creatures who were born with beginning of the universe their, genetic material carried on the shock wave of the big bang. The radiation mutates certain creatures that live on dark matter worlds. These creatures are for all intents and purpose un-intractable with the light matter creatures of the Blood of Sol setting, however they can travel to this universe by transferring their information to other things. Its all a little vague at the moment but a third ancient power means that rather than two sides in the conflict we have three.

I want to start getting some other gamers into the game, and especially someone else to run it besides me.

I also spoke to a concept artist about creating all the races for the book, collecting all the existing concept art and getting it paid for. I don't know how much cash I am willing to throw into the project but I think that making the book look slick will be important for its success.

After seeing the D & D insider service, I see how awesome CharacterSheet online could be and I'm re-enthused to start work on it.