Monday — Working on “big reveal” scene, aka the “Dream Market”.

Tuesday — “Dream Market” scene some more. Still a lot more to do on this scene. I notice I get more excited to write dialog after spending time reading well written fiction. Been reading Mists of Avalon, it puts me in a perfect mood for BYCYE. Changed an oversight from the other night — the women in Thlanviviak should not be able to nurse! So much for my “pro-nursing in public” sentiment that I was not so subtly adding to this scene!

Weds — Got back in touch with an artist that was interested in doing some work. Gave her some guidance about the type of things we would need. We’ll see what happens. Its hard to get people who, you know, have their own whole lives to deal with to do volunteer work. Shocking. But hopefully something good will come of it. Did some other maintenance stuff on Wreckamovie, also got back in touch with Robert and we will be talking next week.

Thursday — More on “Dream Market” scene. Considering tracking how much the player tips their hand and then getting them kicked out. There are easier ways to do this of course, but I wonder if they would be as satisfying? Again torn between doing things the “right” way and the “Let’s eventually finish this game” way. Wondering how much it would improve the player experience vs. how much work it would actually be. Want to finish this scene by the end of the month so I guess I’ll see if there’s time.

Friday — Spent some time planning things out, trying to guess when I might have my next big chunk of the game done. Mid October?

Saturday — Dream Market some more. I’ve been producing this scene by using the bare minimum of scripting, and just putting in comments in places to remind me to go back and put in some code. I don’t know if this is more efficient than just scripting as I go along, but it feels like a struggle in my brain to jump back and forth between coding and writing. I just hope I’m not creating a huge mess to figure out later. Up way too late. Celia will probably wake me up in 5 hours. Ugh.

Sunday — Dream Market. Almost done with this one conversation. The people in the game have come a long way from the weird accent I experimented with in the beginning. The woman I am writing now is much more formal sounding. I guess originally the weird accent (which, honestly, just didn’t work) was inspired by Jeff Smith’s Bone. I admire the way he is able to write specific accents for specific characters and they remain believable, colorful, and consistent. But since I eventually want to publish this game, I think the route for me is to just not spend lots of time experimenting in that way and just write what I already know how to write. Maybe the next chapter will go to another part of the Dreamlands and I can save my goofy accents for that.

Not ready for Monday to come…

Hi all. Things are insane in my life, but I guess that must be how I like it. I am about 75% moved in at our new house at UC Santa Cruz. All of us love it here. Its especially great for my daughter, who gets to run around with tons of kids and also [...]

Hey folks. Its time for me to get packing for that cruise I mentioned in the last post. Yay water! And whales!! Things will be pretty quiet ’round these parts for the next couple weeks I’m afraid. But I am leaving you a bon voyage gift. Its the second of Robert’s Making of Before You [...]

Hi there Before You Close Your Eyes-ers. I hope all is well in your worlds. Mine is tumultuous as always, but I am excited about the near future! Here’s what’s up:

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We had a great chat Wednesday, so I’ve decided to put up the highlights. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Regarding Women, Indie Games, and Game Education: Julzerator: The feedback about the last one [panel on women who make games] I moderated was that we talked too much about working in the industry and not enough about what drives girls [...]

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Hi all! I feel really bad that I missed last week’s blog. Last week was a contracting nightmare, and I’m really glad its over. I worked so many hours, and at weird times, that it was almost like a studio job! Except that when it was lunch time I got to hang out with my [...]

So another week gone. I actually got a goodly amount done on the game this week. I feel like I’m paddling upstream through a river of mud but I am nonetheless making headway. Still in the bar, but I’ve completed the talk with the bartender, a chance to swap stories, and a small bit of [...]