Category: Z Blah Blah

[Book Review] Blood, Sweat, and Pixels

Blood, Sweat, and Pixels by Jason Schreier externalized my experiences with the videogame development industry. Though I wasn’t in it for long, and although I was only scraping by as an independent developer, I tasted just enough of it to wholeheartedly say this book will give you the ugly truth behind beautiful videogames. The work is arduous. If you’re not fully invested, it’s not worth trying, because you must commit yourself entirely. Isn’t that life?

Rating: ★★★★☆ [4/5]
WANNA READ SOME EXPERIENCES ABOUT HARD-WORKING INDIVIDUALS THAT SUCCEEDED? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Downsizing Zeal] Props Twice-Yearly Used

What do you do with things you only use twice a year? What if, twice a year, they really impress people, but they’re irrelevant for the rest of the year? It’s easy to just put them away. Like holiday decorations, they don’t fit anywhere aesthetically – even if you found a way to display them, so should they be hidden away? I almost wonder if it could be potentially valuable to keep them visibly around, year-round?

WANNA CONSIDER HOW WHAT YOU KEEP CAN HELP DEFINE YOUR SPACE? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Downsizing Zeal] No Story Mode

Shield Hero is an anime/manga about a guy that’s found himself an unlucky participant in a fantasy world or is about getting over romantic scorn. Every encounter you experience in life can be looked at from multiple perspectives. We try to focus on the empirical facts and indisputable evidence to guide us through the undulating half-truths of subjective reality, yet ultimately our internal storytellers guide us, as protagonists, through life. What happens when everything’s wrong?

WANNA READ ABOUT AN END AND A BEGINNING? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Blah Blah] The Apokeylypse Pitch

In October 2018, I wrote a pitch for Blah Blah’s Story Mode. I thought about how the story might begin and this spelling bee disaster story was what came to mind. This short story, along with all of my previous fiction drafts, will eventually see themselves realized within the game, although perhaps not exactly as the fully-realized narrative. Maybe more as unlockable content that can be read after winning certain conditions through playing the game?
WANNA CONSIDER A DRAFT OF THE APOKEYLYPSE? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Blah Blah] Learning to Develop

I haven’t written much about Blah Blah here, but I wanted to capture the excitement of our work during the moment. I am learning about Git/GitHub, Unity, Visual Studio, and have actively contributed to the game with mainly customized dictionaries so the typing will actually be narratively relevant and interesting. We have a tight-knit team that believes in the game. We are ramping up to demo the game and it seems like it’s all …klicking.

WANNA READY ABOUT HOW I’VE DEVELOPED BROAD AND SPECIFIC CAREER AND HOBBY SKILLS? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Applied Self-Confidence] Bettering Better Zombie #8

Oops! Forgot about publishing this. Well, plenty has changed over the past 13 weeks and 92 publications. I originally made these “Betzom check-ins” primarily to comment on how I’ve evolved as a writer, with a slight convenience being something easy to write about. These past 92 days have seen my biggest launching in success yet, and I’m only poised to go succeed more from here… so much so that I didn’t even need the crutch of this essay.

WANNA READ ALL ABOUT THE HUMBLE BRAGS? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Blah Blah] October Build, Beyond

It’s alive! After months of preparation for our booth at the PAX Seattle Indies Expo 2018, and receiving klamorously positive feedback from game-likers and educators alike, the team took a well-deserved break. We returned with an October build that focused on cleaning up code, but I focused on building a website for the team. That website was the central communication hub for news, updates on various aspects of development, including, the story mode plans that disintegrated…

WANNA READ SOME JUICY INFORMATION ABOUT FUTURE STORY IDEAS? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Rowing Machine] 2018: Week 39 {227.5}

Fitness is a scholarly activity. You don’t start off your career with a senior-level title, the ability to effectively convey emotion or information, or the psychological wherewithal to cut issues “off at the pass” before they become bigger in any career. Why, then, do we assume we can magically become fit? Maybe it’s because we assume studying for months and years is only for college and careers? What if we, similarly, studied our physical health?

WANNA READ ANOTHER ESSAY, INSTEAD OF THE USUAL STATISTICS-DRIVEN COLUMN ENTRY? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Blah Blah] PAX SIX 2018

Hello once again from the PAX Seattle Indies Expo 2018! When we six – led by someone I once knew, programmers Chris and Steven, marketer/writer Mike, sound/composer Dennis, and myself – weren’t talking to all you great folks out there from noon to 9 PM, we were out on the floors checking out some of the other cool new games from our peers! Click below to read about some hotly-anticipated new games and my first-time experiencing in booth management!

WANNA READ THIS EVENT REVIEW, GAMES HYPE ESSAY, AND MY EXPERIENCES WITH THE BOOTH? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!

[Blah Blah] Story Mode Plan

Hello from the Seattle Indies Expo 2018! If you weren’t there, we showcased Blah Blah, “a fast-paced action-packed typing game in which the player must fight off a horde of post-apocalyptic Zombies and Mutants in order to defend his or her fort.[1]” There’s a visceral physicality that I enjoy, and props to the person that made the game for constantly implementing improvements, including plans for a Story Mode. Here’s my strategy for making that plan possible.

WANNA CONSIDER HOW I’LL BE STRUCTURING A LONG-FORM STORY? CLICK HERE TO KEEP ON READING!