It's rather underwhelming. I was expecting better, but maybe it's good that it didn't end considering the weekend just started. Would be a cruel joke for the world to end at the end of a work week. Oh wait, I work on the weekends too...
Flocks come and go a lot this time of year, so not many up close bird moments have occured lately. There was one that was nifty the other day though. I passed out some food to a random bird and out from around the corner comes another. She looked over to me and curiously tilted her head. From that distance, I wasn't sure if it was a bird I had seen before. She took a step forward and did another curious head tilt, then tilted the other way. She then repeated the process. I spoke (can't remember what I said) and suddenly she comes running over to me. At that distance, I saw that it was the bird that I had hand fed a few weeks back. I hadn't seen the bird for quite some time, so I figured her flock had moved on. It was interesting seeing her look at me knowing she knew who I was, but just couldn't quite remember. It could have also been that I had a big jacket on, some gloves, and part of my face was concealed.
MLP Hate
Don't let the section title fool you. There's something I noticed after watching the season 3 premiere. In every episode that Cadence shows up in, (only 2, technically 4) she is always beaten and battered, or tired and overworked. The first shot is from the season 2 finale, the next is from the season 3 premiere. In almost every moment she's around, she's overwhelmed and just feels so pathetic and sad. I've decided the writers must hate her.
Borderlands Thing
In both Borderlands games, I noticed a nifty thing. Every human character that you can shoot; Their face is concealed or partially so. The bandits have hockey masks, (or that's what I call them) the Crimson Lance had full on helmets that hid all of their facial features. This is consistent throughout the series thus far except for very specific characters, who I won't name for spoiler purposes. To me, I feel like it's a way to disconnect the player from what they're shooting at. We have tons of war games and other violent massacre games that don't do this and mowing down dude after dude is ingrained in our mind that a disconnect wouldn't be necessary, but the design choice is an interesting one to me. It was definitely something that didn't happen in the series by accident seeing how consistent it always is with it. Considering the subject matter and how the game goes about making death and killing comical, it's a good choice I feel. While the second game's plot got a bit more on the dramatic side at times, the face covering of humanoid enemies can keep that sense of "wtf am I doing" at bay and help keep things on a light-hearted comical scale. Just an observation and opinion.
DT3 Progress
Holy dang is it slow lately. I have a schedule of when I wanted content playable. Even with the content cut a few months back, I'm about 1 1/2 months behind my projected schedule. I'm in the middle of fleshing out chapter 10 content right now and I was supposed to be finishing up chapter 11. I'll be remaking that schedule sometime, especially now that plans have changed. As said in the previous post, the full release date will probably be early 2014. We're currently in chapter 10 out of 19. Two of those chapters are fairly short and one being kinda lengthy. I'm thinking I'll be done with the content by earl 2014, but a lot of work will still need to be done. That's when all the polish and minor details will make their way in as well as squashing all the bugs. The last 10% can take awhile. Of course, if I had tons of time to work on the game and never ever played other games, I'd be easily done by summer's end... that's not gonna happen. I just need to win the lottery that I don't play so I can do away with my day job. Luckily working on DT is fun and enjoyable and full of zany learning experiences.
6 comments:
"Days Till End of the World: -1"
If DT stuck strictly to schedule instead of being a hobby game series for you to unwind, It wouldn't turn out the same way anyway. No one's being impatient, at least not that I've seen.
I just got done watching a playthrough of Tomb Raider: Unfinished Business, and the last two levels look as if they were meant to be in the original game, but weren't, because the devs ran out of time. It's a shame, because those two levels were pretty awesome. The previous two levels just looked like they were made to excuse Lara suddenly being in Atlantis again.
One advantage to game design as a hobby is that cutting content doesn't have to happen necessarily, making parts of the game (usually the end) feel rushed. One thing I've wondered about game design in general is how working conditions affect difficulty, or perhaps the design. If the designers are intermittently put in a bad mood, does that result in a schizophrenic difficulty curve? Does a rushed atmosphere, for example, produce bite-sized, fast-paced action like Ninja Gaiden? If it's a game about ninjas, it could have just as easily involved stealth in some way, but they went with the fast-paced action instead.
How about you? Did you have a bad day when making Dusty Ruins, or Distortion WTF? =P
I like to have a schedule for milestones to see if I can create content as fast as I think I can, but if I can't make it, then I won't rush. I've been behind the original schedule for months, it's not a big deal overall. Some people get eager, I know some of the testers do, but that's really more encouragement for me. Content isn't cut for time saving purposes.
Working conditions can definitely affect a game. I can't remember for DT if a bad mood altered difficulty, but in a previous game, I know I had "Fuck the players!" mood. I don't like that though. If I get in moments like that, DT isn't the way to go. I'd probably go for something that doesn't require me to think all that much, like playing Elder Scrolls. (That's a half zing.)
P.S. Distortion WTF says it all in the name.
Just dropping by to say Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Holidays/Winter Solstice/Whatever Seasonal Occasion You Happen to Recognize This Time of Year. Hope you have a good time.
Thanks, it was a relaxing day for me.
Yo, I voted for you here.
http://talkhaus.raocow.com/viewforum.php?f=30
It's a festival we have each year so come vote.
Play games free online:
Classic solitaire
Coolified games
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