Sidney Blaylock Jr.'s Blog, page 14
July 22, 2020
Retro Nostalgia Review: Elite for the Commodore 64
No joke–Elite is probably my most favorite game (retro) of my childhood-if it isn’t my favorite, then it is among my favorites. I can’t tell you how many hours I put into the game and how much I’ve learned from the game based on playing it. Now, there’s a game out right now, called Elite Dangerous for modern PCs and consoles that is the “spiritual successor” to Elite, but don’t be fooled. This isn’t the Elite I’m referring to–no, no, I’m actually referring to the one, the only, and the original game published in the 1980s.
It was so popular and well known that there is an entire wiki-site dedicated to it on C64: https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/Elite.
This gameplay video gives a pretty good representation of what the game is like and how it plays:
From: YouTube
Space Trading
Basically, you created a pilot and took control of a star ship that was docked at a space station. While I remember a “pack-in” novellette for the game, I can’t remember exactly what the story was about, although I think it set-up what would be called today as the game’s “lore” and “world-building.” This is one of the those games that I was able to buy because I “bent” the rules and was able to successfully demonstrate the educational value of the title. And it was actually educational–I learned how the “stock market” and “futures market” worked from the trading part of this simulation.
While you could engage in combat, either as a pirate or a mercenary, right from the game’s opening moments, this was actually the harder way to play as your beginning ship had minimal weapons, shields, and almost no accessories. While you might luck up and find a juicy and slow freighter, it was far more likely that you’d find some relatively good AI ship with decent armaments and would be space debris minutes after setting out on your vigilante (or criminal) career. Far safer was the option to trade and slowly build up your credit balance in order to afford new shields and weapons and to buy handy-dandy accessories like a fuel ram scoop (for harvesting fuel from suns) or a docking computer (docking in Elite was no joke and not for the faint of heart–get it wrong, and well, space debris).
Each station, however, listed a price for certain goods. These prices fluctuated depending on the station and the goods. Just like in real life, you were always looking to buy low and sell high. When done right, you could make a “killing” just by having bought large quantities of a product at a low price in one station and selling it for a substantial markup in another (side note: this is what most retailers do when they get products from their wholesalers/distributors. I don’t know what the mark-up is for every product, but for books and magazines, there’s about a 50% mark up in price–that’s where stores make their profit). And I learned about the concept of mark-up (& buy low/sell high), not from an econ. textbook, but from this game.
Space Combat
Okay, so now that you’ve got some money (& ship upgrades) under your belt, space combat actually begins to be feasible in the game. As mentioned before, you have two main paths open: hunt bounty targets and destroy them for their bounties (while scooping up any floating cargo now that they’re space debris) or go full pirate and destroy any ship that gets into your crosshairs–which will bring the game’s version of the police down on your head.
This is a “space sim,” meaning that inertia is a thing and the ship behaves like a real ship in space would. There are dogfights, but they are more along the lines of Battlestar Galactica (new) or The Expanse rather than Star Wars. At least that’s the way I remember them. Spoilers for a very old game, but there were even a “race” of evil aliens that would attack periodically and swarm you–you basically had to have the very best weapons and shields in the game to withstand them.
You could even go to other universes, although this took a lot of money and I was only able to do this once because the grind was insane.
“Open World” Game — Before the Modern Concept of Open World
I recently discovered that there were many more “universes” programmed into the game. The Universes were modeled on our galaxy and had a ton of systems, stars and stations to explore. However, there was no real visual variety–outside of the ships, which all had names of snacks for some reason–there wasn’t much of a distinction between one system or another, or even one universe or another, outside of the different names.
Still, this level of fidelity and openness was impressive at a time when consoles still couldn’t manage a one-to-one parity with their more glamorous arcade brethren. However, the ability to point your ship in a direction and fly there/hyperspace there was incredible and gave the game and the world and openness to it that I’d never really seen before.
To say I put hundreds of hours into this game would be accurate. Unlike Starflight, which had many of the same ideas and gameplay elements (although if I remember, combat was more along the lines of Star Trek, but I could be misremembering as I did not play it much), this game really captured my imagination and I pretended that I was a starship captain and even though I have played and own Elite Dangerous, nothing has ever come as close to fulfilling my desire of being my own starship captain as much as Elite has (Star Citizen has the potential whenever it is “officially” finished and released, but right now it is really only a “promise”). Elite is easily in my Top 10 games of all time and I think it was an absolute masterpiece and I’m glad I got to play it (it was a British import to America, after all).
Sidney
Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Purchase HawkeMoon on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase Dragonhawk on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase WarLight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Ship of Shadows on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Faerie Knight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle
Currently Working On (7/2020):
“Project Wall” (Science Fiction Story)
Drafting: First Draft
Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
Drafting: 2nd Draft (Working Draft)
Childe Roland Graphic Novel
Up Next: Rough Draft (Story)
I, Mage (Urban Fantasy Story)
Drafting: 1st Revision
July 21, 2020
Featured Artist: Michel Krasnodebski
A couple of months ago, I mentioned in a blog post about the difficulty of trying to determine who the artist was for one my stories if the internet wasn’t going to actually “never forget.” If your page is up and it doesn’t fall under the range in which a spider from an indexing/archiving site like Google or The Wayback Machine doesn’t actually “capture” your site’s existence, then its like you were never there–things become almost impossible to find.
Well, I did find that artist’s name and while I will be featuring her at some point in the near future (as well as others), I wanted to briefly talk start by showcasing another artist, the one who did my first “cover” for my story HawkeMoon, published last year by Storyhack. The cover was done by Michel Krasnodebski.
The Artist
Now, I don’t know how it is for novelist–either traditionally published or self-published, but for short-story writers like myself, it is always a treat when there’s artwork that accompanies your story as you never know when it’s going to happen and in what form it will take. In some cases, depending on the work, there’s no artwork at all for the individual stories, but only for the cover. The editor is the one who decides (and that’s pretty much true in all cases that I’m talking about–and this is from experience–other writers may have other experiences). Artwork for stories usually consists of one-to-two images (interior) for the story and are usually black and white. And for my stories, have usually been at the beginning of the story to sort of set the tone for the story. Again, editor finds the artist and the artist comes up with an accompanying image. The editor usually picks one of the stories in the magazine, and commissions an artist to come up with an image based on that story (usually in full color) and that’s the “cover story.”
Michel Krasnodebski
The last one is what Storyhack asked Michel Krasnodebski to do for my story, HawkeMoon. Now, I wish I could tell you all about my Krasnodebski, but, unfortunately, I’ve never worked with, nor met, this artist before. I can say that, based on his Facebook page and his Artstation page, he is someone I would like to work with in the future on other projects (such as graphic novels). Two of his illustrations, “Swamp Monster” and “Elf” are both really well done pencil sketches that I admire.
“Elf”
by Michel Krasnobeski
While fantasy art seems to be a love of his, his realistic artwork, especially when colors are applied, are really pretty special. I love the “cool” tones to his coloring, and while a few illustrations are pretty bright, the others have a much more muted tone that I think really makes the line work and the inking pop.
Again, I’ve not yet interacted with him on a one-to-one basis, so I have no idea how expensive a commission for him might be, but I definitely will keep him in mind in the hopes that one day I’ll have a project that he might be willing to work on (and have the money available to afford to be able to commission his artwork as well).
If nothing else, writing short-stories and submitting to markets where the editors commission artwork to accompany stories is helpful for young writers (esp. those who are wanting to be comic book/graphic novelists) a way to discover new artists who they might one day want to work with.
I know Michel Krasnodebski will probably never see this blog post, so this is just my way of saying thank you to such a wonderful and talented artist, and a way to show my appreciation for him coming up with such a vibrant cover to illustrate my story! Hopefully, one day we’ll get to work together on a longer form project!
If you have a chance (and opportunity), give him a look, and be sure to support him
Sidney
Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Purchase HawkeMoon on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase Dragonhawk on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase WarLight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Ship of Shadows on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Faerie Knight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle
Currently Working On (7/2020):
“Project Wall” (Science Fiction Story)
Drafting: First Draft
Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
Drafting: 2nd Draft (Working Draft)
Childe Roland Graphic Novel
Up Next: Rough Draft (Story)
I, Mage (Urban Fantasy Story)
Drafting: 1st Revision
July 20, 2020
Mini-Movie Review: Greyhound (AppleTV+)
Over the past weekend, I was looking for a movie to watch. I decided that I should probably just try to watch a movie each week from the different streaming services that I subscribe to in order to maximize their value–as you’ll see, there are services that I subscribe to that I rarely watch or use, even though they have excellent content. Most of the time, it is because I pretty much focus on the “Big 2″ (which, for me, are Netflix and Amazon Prime Video). Hulu and Tubi are distant (way distant) third and fourth places.
However, one service that I alsways forget that I have (thanks to a promotion for when I got my iPhone, is AppleTV+. They have a couple of shows that I’m interested in, but haven’t yet seen (For All Mankind and See). I thought I’d watch them during the pandemic after school was over, but then there were the high profile cases of police brutality and resulting protests in the US that captivated me and so, I still haven’t seen them yet. However, after visiting each service and not really finding anything that jumped out to me, I actually remembered AppleTV+, and when I went on, I remembered that they had a movie from Sony that I’d seen the previews on and thought might be pretty good so, I decided to give it a watch.
Greyhound Movie Trailer
Greyhound
The screenplay was written by Tom Hanks, who also stars as the captain of the destroyer tasked with protecting a convoy of merchant marine ships during WWII from the predations of German U-Boats in the Atlantic Sea. There are two other destroyers to help in the task, but the story focuses around his ship and his crew.
After a brief set-up, the story gets started in earnest, and we see his motivation for wanting to do everything he can to survive and come back home safely. The movie is short, a little over 90 minutes, but it is an intense 90 minutes. You feel for the safety of the crew, the ship, and the convoy. This movie did, in 90 minutes, what Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight wasn’t able to do, for me, in 2 hours and 32 minutes.
This shows that the power of traditional storytelling–exposition, complications leading to rising, action, a climax, a resolution, a denouement (falling action) along with a character epiphany. This movie has all of these traits, and while short, is still one of the most intense movies that I’ve seen this year. I have to say that I really enjoyed it. It is a war movie, so keep that in mind going in–if military stories bore you, then chances are good that you won’t like this unless you get swept up in the tension of what happens in the story.
Other Elements
This movie isn’t only a war story, however. It also makes a statement about faith and religion. Unlike many “faith-based” movies that have come out over the past few years, it doesn’t put faith over the story, nor does it set out to tell the audience how to think. It just allows its main character to show his expressions of faith in both the context of the story and his outlook on the events of the story and then leaves it up to the audience to judge. Some might argue that the inclusion of those elements are actually pushing it on the audience–and that’s their right to argue that point, but for me, I saw it as simply showing how one man’s faith was put into practice (and tested) over the course of the story in which he tries to keep himself, his crew, and the ships he’s charged to protect alive.
Another element that I noticed was role of African Americans. I think the African American actors did an excellent job portraying the characters in the movie, but they were the typical “subservient” cooks roles. Now, again that’s going to be because of the time-period, and the screenplay takes pains to show how integral one of the cooks was to the ship in a poignant and affecting scene, so I can’t fault the movie–even though I do fault the time-period. Still, the movie handled the race issue as sensitively as I felt it could–it was just disappointing not to see more of those actors in relation to the overall story as they were pretty good actors in their own sense of pathos and duty.
Overall Rating: A (95-98)
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Is this a perfect movie. No, not by a long-shot. There are things that I wish were a little better. The ending felt a bit rushed, there was the limited on-screen time for the African American actors/characters, and there were a couple of smaller issues that could have been ironed out, but overall, I had a tense, but enjoyable time watching the movie.
I’ve not felt this excited about seeing naval battle sense Master and Commander: Far Side of the World. I really liked it and felt that both Sony and Apple scored a win with this one.
Sidney
Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Purchase HawkeMoon on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase Dragonhawk on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase WarLight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Ship of Shadows on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Faerie Knight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle
Currently Working On (7/2020):
“Project Wall” (Science Fiction Story)
Drafting: First Draft
Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
Drafting: 2nd Draft (Working Draft)
Childe Roland Graphic Novel
Up Next: Rough Draft (Story)
I, Mage (Urban Fantasy Story)
Drafting: 1st Revision
July 17, 2020
Reading Log: July 2020
So, this one is going to be a short blog today. I’ve not been reading a whole lot personally over this past month and I’ll explain why that is in just a moment. Basically, over the past month, I’ve done 3 things since the last time I wrote a “Reading Log” entry:
Inspired by the Black Lives Matter protests, I read for & wrote my Prospectus and sent it to my Dissertation Director. My research focus is in what ways can Afrofuturism (specifically, film and other related media) be used to increase empathy and mitigate the affects of racism.Remembering my childhood summer days, I started writing consistently at night and using the fading summer sun at nighttime to work drafts and drafting–was able to finish 2 drafts (The Independent & Unhallowed) by doing this.Having gotten away from reading because of #1 & #2 above, I recently stopped writing so much at night, and trying to make sure I take time to read again.
Essentially, days were taken up with reading and writing for school (when not working) and nights were taken up with creative writing. This left little time for reading, but I could tell my stress level was going up. I’ve now cut down on the creative writing a bit and I’m making sure that I set a stopping time of sundown (when the sun actually goes down and I can no longer see well enough without turning on lights in the house) as my reading time. I’ve been doing that for the past week and a half, and so far its worked great.
The Eye of the World
I’ve not checked the sidebar to see if it is still grabbing the information from Goodreads correctly, but I went in and cleared all books from my currently reading list except the one(s) that I’m actually reading at my (own) designated reading time. For this month, that should be The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan.
Like Tad Williams’ works mentioned in a previous post, this book is an Epic Fantasy novel (I liked the ones from the 1970s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s. It was just when Game of Thrones took over the landscape and got “discovered,” the epic fantasy landscape shifted and morphed into this pastiche of writers, each trying to be the next “GoT” that has really soured me on the genre lately.) I’m hoping the success of Brandon Sanderson, who himself was inspired by Jordan, will shift the genre back to a more palatable (and stable) stance–but that remains to be seen. This is the first in a 14 book series. Unfortunately, he died before completing the series–and Sanderson was asked to complete the series from Jordan’s detailed notes. I’m glad he was able to–there are several series that I’ve read over the years that were not resolved due to untimely deaths from authors.
When The Eye of the World debuted in the 1990s, it was “hot stuff,” the GoT of its time (without all the sex & violence). It captured the hearts and minds of the fantasy community at the time (and made a sizable impact to those outside of the fantasy landscape). Like GoT, it inspired a whole cadre of writers to write in Jordan’s style and genre. I’ve read the entire series and I’ve owned them all in paperback. Before I started school and began to have to deal with the “poor graduate student” conundrum, I was slowly working my way through and converting my Jordan collection into premium paperbacks (new) and hardcovers (from the local used bookstore). I’m only half-way through, but one of these days, if the money situation eases, I’ll try to complete the set.
As I only started a week and a half ago, and I’m not really in any hurry, I’m only a little over half-way through (this will be probably my 5th complete read through). I’m wanting to get to my favorite part–which is where Rand comes to a fairly large city and interacts with some important people–that’s all I can say without spoilers, but anyone who’s read the book knows exactly what scene I’m describing–and for it to be a serious, epic fantasy book, where the world is constantly on the line, Jordan displays some masterful comic timing and delivery along with wonderful world-building and characterization in that one fairly brief encounter. I love it and hope one day to write scenes of that caliber!
Well, you’re all caught up–sorry there’s not more. Have a great weekend!
Sidney
Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Purchase HawkeMoon on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase Dragonhawk on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase WarLight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Ship of Shadows on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Faerie Knight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle
Currently Working On (7/2020):
“Project Wall” (Science Fiction Story)
Drafting: First Draft
Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
Drafting: 2nd Draft (Working Draft)
Childe Roland Graphic Novel
Up Next: Rough Draft (Story)
I, Mage (Urban Fantasy Story)
Drafting: 1st Revision
July 16, 2020
A Little Book by the Name of The Dragonbone Chair
So, a word of warning: this blog post will be a little maudlin. 2020 has been a rough year. Not just for me, but for everyone. You can see it in the memes and in the news stories–this year has been one for the ages (in recent history obviously), and its only a little over half over. Usually we get days like this throughout the year. Sometimes we get months (I remember that Desert Shield had occurred only days after I had moved into my dorm room and it felt as if the world had upended itself — I was enrolled in college, but I was painfully aware that I had recently signed my required Selective Service form–for those outside America, its a required form for the military in case they need to draft you into military service), but rarely has there been a year so consistently full of challenges. It has been hard to do anything, including academics: either being a student, or being a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA), or being graduate student (which is, surprisingly, different from just being a student in that you have other responsibilities to attend to such as conferences, prospectus/dissertation, trying to find publication opportunities, financial aid and grant applications, and on and on and on). All this to say: that this year has been quite stressful.
Doctor’s Orders: Read
Luckily, about a year and half ago (Dec. 2018), I asked my Primary Care Physician for ways of dealing with stress. While exercise was something that he talked about, I felt that I was already doing that with my GTA position (something that I’ve missed due to not having classes), so he also suggested that I might want to read at the end of the day. As that was something that I’d done as a child. For those who don’t know, from my earliest days in school until I graduated from high school at the age of 18, I had a curfew, and it was fairly early (10:00 pm on school nights). Even in the summer, when school was out, my family had a fairly routine curfew of 11:30 pm. We never stayed up much past that time, and if any member of my family was still awake at 12:00 am, that was something so rare as to be memorable. Now, this changed slightly in the 1990s when talk shows really came into their own and ran longer formats, but even then, 12:00 am/12:30 am were pretty much the latest anyone (usually my uncle, who was the only one of us who watched the late night talk shows) stayed up. So, as a child, I would be in bed by 10:00 am, but I’d never really be sleepy. Since TV was out of the question (I’d get in trouble as curfew technically meant “lights out”), I’d read until I was sleepy. I had a bed night light that technically meant that I was “bending” the rules, but for the most part, my parents turned a blind eye to it as I was reading. I did get into trouble one time when I read too long (over an hour because the book was so good), but for the most part: 10 pm – 11 pm was my reading time. Last year at about this time, I began to do the same. I’d only read a chapter or two, usually no more than 20 minutes before I’d be too sleepy to continue, but I credit this reading with helping to successfully mediate the stress in my life. No, it wasn’t a perfect solution, but it at least helped.
The Dragonbone Chair and The (former) Underground in Atlanta
Why am I telling you all this? Because I’m a reader–given a choice, it is what I prefer to do. In fact, it is so ingrained in me, that in high school, we were given the opportunity to go on “college trips,” where we were given the choice to tour colleges in an “area” and teachers chaperoned us to those universities. I figured that I wouldn’t have the money to go far away, so I just chose the “southeastern area” trip, which was essentially the colleges in the same basic geographic area where I live (the states of Tennessee and Georgia). On the way down, I read–fantasy books by Raymond Feist, if I’m not mistaken (Magician: Apprentice, Magician: Master, Silverthorn, and A Darkness at Sethanon.) We visited several schools in the area (I remember it being a 2-3 day trip) and we also visited some malls in the Atlanta, Georgia area. One of the malls, The Underground (which sadly is no longer active the last I checked and is now pretty much defunct and a bad part of town to visit) was a mall built “underground.” I remember finding a cool bookstore (independent), but the back wall was rock tiles all stacked on each other). This was, unfortunately, in the era before cell phones, but I still have the image indelibly marked in my mind. I cruised the Sci-Fi and Fantasy sections and found a copy of an intriguing book: The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams. While I bought a copy and admired it on the trip home, I didn’t actually read it as I was still in the midst of the books by Feist. However, later that month, when I did get a chance to read it, I was hooked and I’ve been a reader of Tad Williams every since. This book is fairly typical by today’s standards, but remarkable by the standards of the day. It features a young boy protagonist, who becomes a warrior–sounds cliche’ right–but Simon never becomes the best at anything he does–he is more like an “everyman” character. He more or less “bumbles” his way through the story–more towards the beginning in Dragonbone Chair and less toward the end in To Green Angel Tower, but he is never the most powerful or the best at anything he does, although he does manage several incredible and impressive feats just by being who he is as a person. Make no mistake, Simon is not an “incompetent” hero and this is no Fantasy comedy story–it is Epic Fantasy at its finest. However, Simon is given the nickname Simon “Mooncalf” early in the story for his propensity to daydream when he should be doing his work and it takes him a while to lose that trait.
The Witchwood Crown
And now to the maudlin part: Tad Williams made this book into a trilogy (The Osten Ard Trilogy) and it was my favorite series of my late teens and early twenties. Well, he has a new trilogy set in the same universe, and I was fully on-board. I read the story The Heart of What Was Lost, what is being called a “bridge novel” in that it bridges the two trilogies together. I thought it was well done and back to form, so I picked up a copy of The Witchwood Crown, the first book in the new trilogy.
And I didn’t like it–and I didn’t get very far. It had aged up our heroes and they are bitter (due to life circumstances that could be considered spoilers). He did the thing that Star Wars did–age the protagonists out of relevance to focus on the younger characters, and I rebelled. I stopped reading, pretty much 6 months ago, and I’ve yet to pick up the book again.
I probably will finish the book, and who knows, maybe I’ll be surprised by the resolution and discover that Simon and Miriamele have relevant roles in the story (I doubt it, but maybe). Look, these are fictional character (not real ones) and writers want to reflect reality–but I can’t but help but feeling cheated. I got to miss out on the best bits of their lives (a la Star Wars) and I’m being asked to accept that their stories no longer matter–no, it the new generation that matters now, and these battered, bitter old grumps need to be put out to pasture so we can move on to these new and better characters (a la Star Wars), and as a writer and reader, I just rebel. There are so many times in which, by the logic presented with “out with the old, in with the new,” that Simon would not have made it in the original trilogy. There are so many times that Simon is either saved by someone older and wiser than himself, or the actions of someone who is older and wiser saves him incidentally than I can count in Dragonbone Chair, let alone the times in which older and wiser characters actively take part in the narrative — Isgrimmnur and Jiriki alone either directly or indirectly save Simon (and the ones he loves), so many times that one could almost make memes from it, and yet the author can’t do that for his protagonists: Simon and Miriamele. No, they have to become old and bitter due to tragedies that have befallen them in life (a la Star Wars), and we, the audience are supposed to then just accept their fate without because, hey, “life isn’t fair” (a la Star Wars).
This bugs me in so many ways because if life wasn’t truly fair, then there’s no way Simon (or Miriamele) would have survived their original adventures. To invoke it in their old age (after not letting the readers see their prime years) seems churlish at best. No, this isn’t an attack on Tad Williams, who remains one of my favorite authors, rather it is an attack on both ageism which states that anything good can only be done by the young/or come from someone who’s young, and an attack on this idea that protagonists are only special in their first/early adventures. That “specialness” always, somehow, seems to rub off the moment we need “new” protagonists. As a writer (and a reader), I have to object: if the characters were special before, then they should be special after–to do anything less is to do a disservice to the characters themselves and the story that was told before with those characters. And Star Wars–you really should be listening in to this conversation.
See, I told you it was going to be maudlin. 
July 15, 2020
Missing Days
So, on Monday I missed blogging, and while I’ve been doing better for most of the summer, April and May were very sporadic for me. Most of the time (I’d estimate about 75%-80% of the time), I actually do have a draft in progress, but for various reasons, it just doesn’t get posted. Often times, it is time–there’s not enough time to finish it before the day is over.
However, sometimes there’s something that goes wrong with the draft. I then change my mind and I usually don’t have time to switch and write a different post, so the day usually gets missed.
Drafts that I Don’t Publish: The Zuckerberg Example
So, I actually still have this draft, but it will probably never see the light of day. I took issue with Zuckerberg’s alleged resistance to the boycotts happening against Facebook, especially in light of allegations by former staffers about the company’s lack of diversity. However, I didn’t want to be another “angry” voice on the internet. And boycotts don’t work well unless they are 1) sustained and 2) large numbers have to come together, so the boycotts aren’t going to work anyway–Facebook is too ingrained in keeping up with family and friends. So, after nearly 1200 -1500 words, I decided to just not publish this post.
Movies Reviews
I sometimes watch movies that I try to write movie reviews for as they are strong story telling narrative. The problem is, not every movie is interesting enough to spend 800-1200 words on. However, I never know that until I sit down and start writing it. Sometimes the writing goes great, but sometimes I sit down and it doesn’t flow. Sometimes it does flow and it just is too long to do justice to in a short amount of words/time. The movie review for The Dark Knight was written in 3 long bursts–so three writing sessions for one blog post.
If I’ve missed a blog post, especially on Mondays (or pro tip: if the movie review pops up on Tuesday or Wednesday), the writing either didn’t go well, (or also a pro tip: it went very well and it took longer than I anticipated to get it all down).
Time
And sometimes, time just gets a way. I’ve complained about time before, and it isn’t that I have poor time management skills, but because I’m a perfectionist, time just gets away (I could have, and probably should have, stopped this entry at movies, but because I like the power of “3,” I’m writing this 3rd topic now–and this blog entry is already 4-5 hours late). See, that previous sentence hints at what happens. I have level of quality in mind and I (mostly/most of the time) refuse to drop the level of quality to match the time required to do a good job. As such, I tend to run out of time or roar past deadlines, even when something is “good enough.”
So, like today, I almost missed posting because of time. I got up late, I had to work, and I’m only now getting a chance to write (finish) the blog that I’d intended on finishing when I got up this morning. So missing days to blog, while not fun, is an unfortunate side effect of not having enough entries already “banked” and ready to go on days where the writing doesn’t go correctly, or where it takes me longer than usual to get the words down.
Editing could be its own subheading. It generally takes me 15 minutes to edit (get images, tags, alt text, etc.) the blog entry ready to go. I try to one last pass where I look for grammatical errors in the text before I post it, but sometimes errors slip through, especially when I’m in a rush to post. So, any grammatical errors you might read are also attributable to a lack of time.
Well, that’s all I have time for today–have a good one!
Sidney
Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Purchase HawkeMoon on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase Dragonhawk on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase WarLight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Ship of Shadows on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Faerie Knight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle
Currently Working On (7/2020):
“Project Wall” (Science Fiction Story)
Drafting: First Draft
Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
Drafting: 2nd Draft (Working Draft)
Childe Roland Graphic Novel
Up Next: Rough Draft (Story)
I, Mage (Urban Fantasy Story)
Drafting: 1st Revision
July 14, 2020
Rewatching: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Netflix is currently showing Avatar: The Last Airbender (as of July 2020). I’ve seen many episodes of the show, but I’ve never seen all of the episodes that have aired, so I’m hoping to rewatch this series with an eye to seeing the complete series.
The Ending
So, there won’t be any spoilers here. I just want to talk this in general. I’m watching it again, and I’ve seen (at least part) of the ending episode. Crucially, I don’t remember the outcome of the episode (please, don’t tell me). I’m usually really good about retaining stories and I know that I’ve seen at least some of the episode, so I don’t really know why I can’t remember the ultimate resolution of the story. So, at this point, I think this is why I’m interested in it–not just for completion’s sake, but because I’d also like to know the ending.
Season 1
I’m currently on season 1, about half-way through (episode 15 or 16 or so). I will hopefully do a season review when I finish it. I really like the characters and the humor of this season. While I hate the couple of episodes which focused on “love” (you know the ones), I still think that the seasons has very good mix of humor and seriousness. One thing that I think I’m noticing this time around is how episodic the series is at this point. I guess because it is still introducing characters–I think where I am, Toph (a major character in the show, and one of my personal favorites)–hasn’t yet been introduced, making the team feel incomplete. Again, I’ve not seen every episode, so please don’t tell me if Toth goes away from the team before the ending episode.
Why Have You Not Seen These Episodes?
In a word: work. Yes, that most mundane of human activities. I’m older than I look and when this aired on Nickelodeon originally, I was already an adult and member of the workforce. As I recall, these came on originally at night and I was probably reading or playing video games after a hard day’s work (2005-2008). I worked at the Reference Desk from 1996-2013. Later, probably around 2010 or 2011, Nickelodeon started putting this show on in the afternoons–you know, long multi-episode blocks to fill time. My off days were normally Wednesdays, so if it happened to be on on Wednesdays, I generally watched TV in the afternoon, before dinner and then went off to play games and/or read.
I just remembered another reason for me not seeing these during the first run–school. Starting in 2005 or 2006,, I was working on my 2nd Master’s Degree (in Education) for teaching certification. So, both work and school kept me from getting a chance to see this show as I tended to take night courses on my off days whenever possible (Wednesdays, 5:30 – 8:30) and use 1 hour of vacation time during the semester per week to leave work early to be on time for class (I usually worked an 8:45am-5:45pm schedule)–and I would have taken just 30 mins of vacation time, but the rule was that you had to take them in 1 hour increments. So, all that to say, that both work and school kept me from seeing the entire run of this show, so I’m really glad to see that it is back on streaming, and maybe this time I can finish it before it leaves again!
Hope you have a good day!
Sidney
Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Purchase HawkeMoon on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase Dragonhawk on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase WarLight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Ship of Shadows on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Faerie Knight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle
Currently Working On (7/2020):
“Project Wall” (Science Fiction Story)
Drafting: First Draft
Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
Drafting: 2nd Draft (Working Draft)
Childe Roland Graphic Novel
Up Next: Rough Draft (Story)
I, Mage (Urban Fantasy Story)
Drafting: 1st Revision
July 10, 2020
Weekly Log: July 2020 Gaming
So, yesterday’s post should give a bit of context for why this is going to be a fairly short post for this week. I’ve played a lot of games, but I’ve not gotten very far in them in the short-term.
Horizon Zero Dawn
This game came out in 2017. I put in quite a bit of time with it, but moved on to other games. I came back earlier this year (in April), and made significant progress in the game, but now I’m stuck again. I’ve done all that I can do without having to do “circle arenas.” Both of the next missions, have me squaring off against two super creatures (one is spoiler related, but the other is a Thunder Jaw, one of the most powerful creatures in the game). As I described in yesterday’s post, I really hate circle arenas–it is an old, tired video game trope.
One of the problems (for me) is that the game was marketed as an action game, but it really is more of a stealth game. The systems really favor a more stealthy approach. Taking on more than 1 or 2 enemies becomes problematic, especially if there is a tougher enemy mixed in with them. Now, I love this game and the concept, but the game, itself, isn’t an easy one to get through (for me). I do want to finish the game this summer as the sequel is (pardon the pun) “on the horizon.”
Call of Duty Modern Warfare (2019)
Like Horizon above, this is a game that I’ve had for a while. Usually, the very first thing I do is play the campaign, finish it, and then move on to the online portion. However, this time I got to a point in the game which is essentially a “stealth” section (in an action game) and stopped playing, and went almost exclusively to online multiplayer play.
While I like variety in Call of Duty games, the designers have to understand that the campaign is “virtual shooting gallery.” That’s what players play it for — not to run around and hide from an enemy while trying to whittle away at its health. I’ve not looked at the trophy completion percentages, but I would guess that there is a steep decline on the section where I am. Like Horizon, I’m trying to push past this section, but it is so annoying that after one or two tries, I just move on to multiplayer again.
Borderlands 3
This has been the only really gaming success since the last gaming log post. I have been able to make significant progress–finishing missions, gaining levels and experience, getting a ship and moving to the 2nd planet in the game. The driving mechanics leave a lot to be desired, but I’m able to get my “virtual shooting gallery” fix in this game instead of CoD where I’m stuck on a (non-shooting) segment. There’s a very “YouTuber/Influencer” vibe happening in the game that is pretty humorous as well, especially because I watch a lot of YouTube and see many of the traits/behaviors that the game is satirizing. While the game is not always puppies and unicorns (there are some mini-bosses that are way too tough for your level), but, for the most part, I’ve been able to make progress in the game–which is what I want from my gaming experience.
In conclusion, ideally I would like to alternate between two games, and maybe a third one on the weekends. However, until I break through the arbitrary roadblocks on either Horizon or Call of Duty, that’s not going to happen–at least, not unless I switch to a different game, but that’s part of the problem, it takes time for me to get back to the game (risking spoilers all the while–I already know far more than I want about Horizon due to the voice over in the first 10 seconds of the new game’s trailer), so I’d like to power through if at all possible to get these games finished.
Anyway, that’s what I have for today. Have a great weekend!
Sidney
Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Purchase HawkeMoon on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase Dragonhawk on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase WarLight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Ship of Shadows on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Faerie Knight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle
Currently Working On (7/2020):
“Project Wall” (Science Fiction Story)
Drafting: First Draft
Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
Drafting: 2nd Draft (Working Draft)
Childe Roland Graphic Novel
Up Next: Rough Draft (Story)
I, Mage (Urban Fantasy Story)
Drafting: 1st Revision
July 9, 2020
Video Game Tropes that Need to Go Away
In thinking about tomorrow’s “Log” post on gaming, I started brainstorming about all the reasons why I’ve been majorly un-enthused about gaming for the past 2-3 weeks. I’m in a Pandemic and I’m not going out, so gaming should be the major activity right now for me. However, streaming is probably what I’m doing most, as well as reading and writing, be it for school or creatively. Gaming is far behind these activities.The original title of this post was going to be “Video Game Tropes that NEED to DIE!” However, I felt that was way TOO over the top and sensationalist, and we really need to stop saying things “should die” on the internet (too many imbeciles use “death threats” as a way of intimidation and fear against ideologies that they don’t believe, so I don’t want to encourage that way of thinking, no matter how tangentially.)
“Circle Arenas”
So, this one is a “biggie” for me. Circle Arenas are my name for a whole class of enemy encounters in which you, the protagonist character, are forced into an “arena” of some sort (usually a circle) and are forced to square off against a vastly overpowered opponent (or multiple opponents) in some way. Sometimes you are fight the opponent/opponents by themselves, but more often you either have to fight numerous other smaller/weaker enemies (current gamer slang = “adds” or “minions” or “mobs”) alongside the overpowered opponent.
The arena is designed in such a way that there are basically two moves that the player has: dodge and attack. The player must dodge the enemy’s attack, waiting for the right time to strike. Then the player attacks and whittles away at the (usually) massive life of the boss character. Rinse and repeat until either the enemy is defeated (or moves on to another “form”) or the protagonist character is dead.
This game design tactic needs to go away because it shuts off avenues for learning. It is basically tied to reflexes and timing. You need the reflexes to consistently avoid the attack and you need the timing to line up your attacks while avoiding being hit yourself. If you’ve discovered a successful strategy for taking out the enemy in the game world, chances are good that you aren’t going to be able to use it here in the “circle arena.“
This an overused game design mechanic–I can’t tell you the number of games that it is in. Assassin’s Creed Origins has it (of course, it has actual arenas, but this mechanic features into some non-arena encounters as well). Two games I’m currently playing–Horizon Zero Dawn and Strange Brigade–both have these and that’s where I’m currently “stuck” (well, not really stuck, but have little interest in continuing the narrative because of my annoyance and lack of motivation to continue playing because of these “circle arenas“). I even quit a game that I was playing a while back, not because I couldn’t finish it, but because of the lazy over-reliance on “circle arenas.” It was Inversion on the Playstation 3 and I just stopped playing because of the “circle arenas” in this game.
Boss Fights
Okay, so I’m not opposed to Boss Fights in theory, but I don’t like the way most are executed. Most boss fights stop progress, acting as a sort of “test” of your gaming abilities in that game and not allowing you to progress until you defeat it. There are usually bespoke mechanics that you’ve either been taught earlier in the game that you are required to use here, or they teach you the mechanics inside the boss fight itself.
Now, it isn’t that I don’t like boss fights per se, but game designers seem to love combining them with “circle arenas” listed above–especially in open world games. Bespoke mechanics not withstanding, you much usually hide/take cover/dodge as the boss attacks, and then wait for the opportunity to attack, taking small chunks off the enemy’s health. And woe be it unto you if you make your character not combat related–such as taking a stealth approach to the game–as this will often make the boss encounter much more difficult, if not impossible. Don’t believe me? Here is a game journalist discussing his experience with the game Deus Ex: Human Revolution and its boss battles using stealth.
Going Away From Core Game Mechanics
Now this one sounds like it shouldn’t be on this list–you want there to be variety in a game. Without it, the game gets boring. Except that designers are going away from what their game is actually about. Call of Duty Modern Warfare (2019) is an example of what I mean. There’s a section where you guide someone in the embassy away from terrorists using video cameras. Okay, not the arcade shooting gallery that I bought the game for, but I see what you’re trying to do.
However, I’m stuck on the section where (minor spoilers) you play as a little girl hiding from a terrorist. It is a boss fight encounter inside a “circle arena” and you have to stab the terrorist and then hide, repeating this multiple time before the game will let you continue. This is NOT the Call of Duty experience I signed up for! I want a “virtual gun” and I want my skill at “virtually shooting” foes to determine my progression, not my ability to “hide” from foes and stealthily stab a “virtual knife” into the enemy’s leg and run away. There’s a game for that already, Little Nightmares, and it does a far better job than a CoD campaign ever could. In fact, you be the judge:
versus
In trying to be controversial and “edgy,” CoD moved too far away from its core mechanic of “virtual shooting gallery” and created a “circle arena” boss fight that completely robbed the narrative of any punch and took me out of the game–so much so, that I’ve still not gone back to it to finish it.
In Conclusion
While no game developer will probably ever read this blog, I write it in hopes that someone will, if not now, then in the future, and eliminate some (or praise be, ALL) of these tropes from his or her game. I think these are old, tired tropes, that need to go away from gaming (if not forever, definitely for a while).
Sidney
Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Purchase HawkeMoon on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase Dragonhawk on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase WarLight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Ship of Shadows on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Faerie Knight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle
Currently Working On (7/2020):
“Project Wall” (Science Fiction Story)
Drafting: First Draft
Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
Drafting: 2nd Draft (Working Draft)
Childe Roland Graphic Novel
Up Next: Rough Draft (Story)
I, Mage (Urban Fantasy Story)
Drafting: 1st Revision
July 8, 2020
Streaming Services that Work (for Me)
As a Science Fiction and Fantasy reader and writer (and a lover of most things of a speculative nature), I find myself (Pre-Corona virus) browsing bookshelves in libraries and bookstores for the Sci-Fi and Fantasy offerings. Not surprisingly (I guess), is that I end up doing the same things for various streaming services. The first thing that I do when I look at a service or assess as to whether I’m going to sign up, is to take a look at the offerings for Sci-Fi and Fantasy. While not the only criteria (price plays a role as well), I often decide on what streaming services to subscribe to, in large part, based on what offerings they have that appeal to my as a speculative fiction afficianado.
Netflix
I subscribe to Netflix because (initially) because, originally, it was an innovative way to rent movies affordably. While I didn’t always love the “DVD/Blu Ray” by mail system, even then I thought the movie companies should have had an online streaming licensing clause available to Netflix — similar to what Hoopla has for libraries now–even back then I found Netflix to have a strong back catalog in Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Even now, with their original programming, I find that, in many cases, Netflix has more Sci-Fi/Fantasy shows and movies than I can reliably watch. While I wish Netflix would work on beefing up their licensing deals with Hollywood content–there’s rarely a a movie in the speculative genre that I haven’t seen on their service, I still find they do a pretty good job with content for a reasonable price.
Amazon Prime Video
So, Amazon Prime Video is a mixed bag for me. They have some really good content and my current favorite spaceship show–after a rocky start as I didn’t like it at first, The Expanse–is exclusive to the service. However, while not as expensive as Netflix, it does come out of my out in a large one-time sum. Now, Amazon Prime Video has other services that make this a fairly compelling value (2 day shipping on orders, a watered down “free” music service–there’s a paid version of the service as well, and other benefits at the time of this writing), but their movie offerings leave much to be desired. Amazon Prime Video has a few big name Hollywood movies, but they’re ones that I’ve seen before–rarely do they have new ones that I want to see (they currently have Knives Out, which, while not speculative, still is a pretty high profile “get”) and one that I hope to see soon.
Disney + and AppleTV+
I almost forgot these two, and since I got them from the same source, I’ll talk about them together. These are two that I got as a part of my needing to get a new iPhone after the old one broke–with a free 1 year trial. While I use both services, I find that I use Disney+ the most as I’m catching up on the Star Wars animated shows that I wasn’t able to watch before they left Netflix. I’m also catching up on the Disney live action movies, such as Aladdin which I enjoy. I own pretty much all of the Marvel content, so while a big draw for some, it isn’t really as much a draw for me. Apple TV+ has been mostly a “wash” for me as I’ve not yet seen any of the shows. I keep marking shows to watch, but I never seem to get around to them–and because of the way the interface works, I only notice AppleTV+ when I actually go looking for it (I may need to move the icon around and put it next to Amazon Prime and Netflix on my screen to “remind” me that there are shows that I’d like to watch before the free trial period is over. While I’m not sure I’ll keep either after the 1 year trial–although Disney+ does have my attention, Foundation for AppleTV+ is looking awesome, but that doesn’t come until 2021 after my trial is over, so we’ll see.
Hulu
This is one that I get because I’m a student and I get it through the student offer for Spotify. Technically, I also get Showtime through this as well, but since I rarely log on to Hulu, I’ve not taken the time to really set up the Showtime account (yes, I know I’d find a lot more Hollywood movies there, but as a student, there’s already way too many distractions for my time–the last thing I need is another streaming service competing for it). Hulu is the service I use the least and currently has the least amount of speculative content (that I’ve not yet seen, especially for movies). For television shows, they do have a fair amount of speculative fiction (for me) that I’m interested in, but they don’t have an original series that has really set me on fire the way Netflix and Amazon Prime does. Once I’m no longer a student and have to pay full price for the service, I’m sure how long I’ll keep it as it is justified at the current price point along with (Spotify and Showtime), but not by itself.
Tubi
This one is free and I actually like it quite a bit. It is on par with Hulu for me, but instead of a subscription fee, it requires you to view ads during the movie. For that reason alone, it is my least watched service. But, I thought you said you liked it, I can hear you ask. I do, because it has a fair amount of Speculative fiction on it in terms of Hollywood movies that I’ve not yet seen. Appleseed Alpha and The Last Witch Hunter were both movies that seemed to be made for streaming, and yet, none of the other services picked them up–not even for a 6 month licensing deal. There are tons of Hollywood movies released every year (well, maybe not this year), that would do so well on a streaming service just to recoup some of their investment, yet they end up only releasing for sale or stuck on some cynical corporate streaming service (CBS All Access, anyone?) which makes no sense. Tubi has a surprising number of speculative works. Now, it doesn’t look like they refresh their content as often as the others, so once I go through that content, I may find it all a bit stale in 6 months to a year from now, but as of now, if not for the ads, this service would probably be used more than Hulu for movies (ad and all)–although Hulu would still win out for TV content.
Well, that’s all for now. These are just my experiences with the various services, looking in general at what they offer in terms of speculative content, for me personally. I’ll be sure to let you know of any major changes (like, if I get Showtime up and running–probably won’t happen, though) and I see they have a major speculative presence or the like. Anyway, have a great day!
Sidney
Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Purchase HawkeMoon on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase Dragonhawk on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase WarLight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Ship of Shadows on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Faerie Knight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle
Currently Working On (7/2020):
“Project Wall” (Science Fiction Story)
Drafting: First Draft
Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
Drafting: 2nd Draft (Working Draft)
Childe Roland Graphic Novel
Up Next: Rough Draft (Story)
I, Mage (Urban Fantasy Story)
Drafting: 1st Revision
