December 2011

December 8, 2011

NaNoWriMo ’11 & iTunes vs. Amazon

This post is more Dark Acre Books than Dark Acre Games, just giving you a heads-up.

NANO ’11 POST-MORTEM

I know I swore up and down last year that I wouldn’t enter a second time, but I’d realized that after publishing Ambia my overall drive to write had flagged.

I think a lot of creatives suffer the same syndrome, a kind of post-partum depression that comes with the official public release of a project. I’d poured my heart and soul into Ambia, and I was tapped. I was getting up later and later and writing less and less.

I was making up the balance with the game development, though, so the energy wasn’t going to waste. But with each passing day the nagging curse of not writing weighed heavier and heavier on my shoulders.

There’s a lot of truth in that statement that “writers write because they can’t not write”. When you’ve known that rush of inhabiting your characters and their worlds it really can become an addiction, an itch that screams out to be scratched. The trouble comes with the work involved in getting back into that space.

National Novel Writers Month was the perfect ramp-up, crank-pull, jump-start that I needed.

What Went Right

1. Characters First

I’d been considering trying out the Snowflake Method for the next Solarus novel, and I’d even gone as far as to plot it out following the first few steps.

I’ve yet to work from an outline, other than the nebulous junk that swirls around in my brain, so working from a plan as rigid as the Snowflake Method was a challenge I wasn’t ready to accept. But there was one huge takeaway from studying that method, and that’s starting with characters.

In the work that I’ve managed to complete so far that’s been the way that’s worked out best. I visualize a shambling set of values for my protagonists, antagonists, and their supporters and then throw them at each other until action emerges. The Snowflake Method is a more refined and defined technique for accomplishing this, and perhaps someday I’ll adopt it more fully into my process.

Regardless, for this NaNoWriMo I started off with a character that was near and dear to my heart. I wrote about myself.

2. Write Who You Know

A lot of the result I achieved this year was autobiographical. Many of Jack’s experiences are my own, and the descriptions come from things I saw, felt, and feared during my “dark days” as a young adult. The rest is hyperbolic science fiction and philosophical wanderings, and that’s fine. It was enough fuel to get me to 50K, and cross the finish line on time.

It was also cathartic as all hell, and I think I exorcised a handful of personal demons over the 30 days of NaNoWriMo ’11.

3. Hitting the Daily Word Count and Stopping

In order to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, a writer needs to put at least 1,667 words to page every day. In NaNoWriMo ’10 I was more concerned with filling the 2 hours I limited myself to each day than the quality of the words. So, some days would be 3K+ and a lot of it pure garbage. I can now write about 2K words per hour on a full head of steam, so this year I adjusted my flow to try and craft a higher quality first draft. I took more breaks, spent longer pondering where the characters were going and what they should be saying, and I ended up with a very coherent draft and a plot that managed to close with a satisfying conclusion.

I may have just been lucky, but I’d like to think that my focus tactics did more help than harm.

4. Open Writing

I don’t know how many writers have done this. I have a feeling that the number is very small, as I’ve found that for most writers I’ve met their process is very private, almost secretive. The fear of showing someone what lurks in the shallow waters of the mind can be overwhelming. I think the year that I spent pooping out little games and enduring the acid-bath of public reaction did something fundamental to my skin, and now I’m something of an exhibitionist when it comes to my work.

I decided to “live-write” the first draft, and made a pledge to write daily from 0700 to 0900 PST via a shared Google Document. I hit that schedule for the bulk of the writing, and I don’t know how many viewers I had or even if it was beneficial to them, but it was liberating to know that at any time, anyone with the link could “tune in” during those hours and watch words hit the page.

I know I’d be fascinated to watch a Stephen King, Tom Clancy, or Neil Gaiman-caliber writer do his thing, and maybe someday I’ll be at their level and can generate that kind of interest. For my confidence though, it was a huge boost to be able to open that document and lay the story down.

What Went Wrong

1. Missing a Day

The thing with writing just the minimum each day is that if you miss a session, for whatever reason, you’ve got to double up the next day. And for me, doubling up meant a return to the nasty forced-march writing that I disliked about last year’s efforts.

It happened only once, but there’s that section of the draft that’s going to be a pain in the butt to edit because it’s all very poorly written. It’s not easy to maintain the daily 2-hour 1,667-word pace for 30 days. But faltering in that pace is even worse, and I’m lucky that it was only the one stumble.

2. Science Without Science

I know a few things about this and that, but I’m no expert when it comes to neuroscience or mathematics. It just so happened that the characters in the story that was unfolding under my fingertips were, and I needed to fake it as best I could to keep advancing the plot.

Wikipedia helped a lot, and I think I managed to fudge enough of the hard facts to have the overall story make sense. I definitely garnered a strong appreciation for writers who choose subjects outside of their realm of experience and take the time to do full research on them.

I suppose that’s what writing grant money is really for, eh?

So, was it worth it to do the month of hard labor? Absolutely. I’ve already gotten a great start on Solarus III, building off of the momentum gained from participating in NaNoWriMo ’11. For me, it’s that establishment of a “regiment of writing”, putting in the time daily, rain or shine, to crank out a couple thousand words in the lives of these characters I’m trying my damnedest to make live and breathe.

If you’re keen to see the first draft, you can read the first draft of the NaNoWriMo ’11 on Google Docs. I’ll be editing it into publishable form once the first draft of Solarus III is done. (The Google Doc account is lost, and Solarus III languishes in first draft. –Ed.)

ITUNES FOR APPS, AMAZON FOR BOOKS

Today Amazon announced a special promotion for their Lending Library. I’m not going to go into too many details, but the gist is that if your work is exclusive to Amazon then you can reap some benefits.

While I’m not lighting the world on fire with my ebooks on either platform, I’ve definitely pushed more copies via Amazon than I have on the iBookstore. Significantly more.

The iBookstore has one advantage over Amazon, though: it’s possible to publish a free book. Why Amazon doesn’t allow this is a mystery to me, but that’s fine. What’s happening from tomorrow is that I’ll be exclusively publishing my pay-for ebooks on Amazon, and leaving iBookstore for the free stories.

If you really want a copy of either Tale of the Madeus or Ambia on your iPhone or iPad in the Books app, I’ll leave them up until midnight tonight. Short notice, I know, but I need to move quickly to capitalize on the Amazon offer.

Thanks for all of your continued support, and I hope this decision doesn’t hurt any readers who use the iOS Books app as their core reader, but if sales are any indication this really shouldn’t be an issue. And besides, you really should be using the iOS Kindle app to read on your iDevice, anyway.

THE DARKADE

Quickly: I’ve been doing little personal game jams every Sunday for the past month. You may have noticed the new link under the banner at the top of the page, that leads to the newly-opened Darkade, a showcase for these efforts.

There’s more detail on that page if you’re interested.

Thanks as always for reading! Work continues apace and we’ll have announcements regarding the mysterious Rocket Prevenge and more in coming months. 2012 is looking better every day. And, of course, I’ll be participating in the upcoming Ludum Dare 48 #22. If you’re a developer with a free weekend, I can’t recommend this enough. It’s something you must participate in to appreciate the benefits it can bring, regardless of whether you’re able to finish or not.

Please subscribe to Dark Acre, Circle up the new Page on Google Plus, Like the Facebook presence, or Follow on Twitter. Let me entertain you!

P.S. I’m not sure if this is worth anything, but there’s button-clicking and +1′ing involved so if you’re keen to try out some new social networking nonsense, check out our presence at Connect.me and if you want an invite just ping my personal Twitter account or Facebook account and I’ll “Vouch” for you.

(Astonishing that Connect.me link was archived. I had over a thousand “connections” there, and I remember zero of them. –Ed.)

December 21, 2011

Holiday Special

THANKSGIVING

I was walking through the mall, coming back from a disappointing egg-nog run (they were out, and I’m not drinking this rum straight) and I passed by a toy vendor.

He was circling a radio-controlled car around and around, staring at it with a blank expression on his face.

I recalled some of my past life as an employed person, and the jobs I’d held. Kitchen staff, security guard, English instructor. In each of those occupations there were always times when I’d sit, much like RC toy man, watching the hours spiral out until I had my freedom back, wishing that I was anywhere but at my wage-slaving. Dreaming of doing something creative, or something magical, anything but what I’d been hired to do.

Then it struck me: I’m presently in the position that I’d always wished I could be in during those long and dolorous hours at those mindless jobs. I’d been so wrapped up in the work of making games and writing books that I hadn’t stopped to really appreciate where I’d gotten myself to.

It’s an important lesson, that. So many people are dreaming of doing anything other than what they’re doing right now. If you’re one of the lucky few who’s found both the courage and determination to do exactly what it is that you want to do with your life, take half a second to stop and revel in the moment.

(Looking back, despite this pretentious and poetic post, I never took enough time to enjoy the privilege I’d carved out for myself. –Ed.)

BUY MY SH!T

“[We are living in a] brave new globally-connected world that consists entirely of people yammering for attention. Ugh.” Jeff Minter

It seems that the deeper I get into social networking, the more the phrase “and trying to sell me something” comes as an easy addition to the above.

It’s impossible to win this game of self-promotion. It’s critical to draw lines in the sand and boundaries around your friends, your audience, and your potential customers.

Remember Amway? Is that even still a thing? The gist of it was that you were to go out and recruit people into this sort of sales armada whose profits would then trickle back up to you, making you rich in the process.

These days, with everyone and their dog making something for 99 cents and pushing it through whatever channels they can at you, it’s an even worse institution than Amway was. Buying some half-stranger’s app doesn’t make me a better friend, or a better person, or enrich my life in any way. It just makes me 99 cents poorer. And the argument of “oh, it’s just 99 cents” is wearing a little thin. Sure, there’s just your 99 cents, but what about all the other 99 centers out there yammering for attention?

If your shit is good, and I happen to need and/or want it, I’ll find it and buy it. The more you shove it down my throat the less I like you.

Having said all that, I have a free book and a dozen or so free games floating around the site. But you knew that already so I’m not going to bother pimping them.

I hope I never get to the point where I’m begging you for your 99 cents. If I do, please remind me of this post and slap me upside the head. You have my permission.

LUDUM DARED

Another Ludum Dare 48 has come and gone, and this marks the fourth consecutive time that I’ve entered and managed to submit a “compo” entry, which means a game made completely from scratch in under 48 hours.

I’m proud and shocked to admit that Alone is the best game I’ve made with Unity so far. It’s also my first first-person view ‘cinematic’ game, and one that does pretty much everything I wanted it to.

I’d be extremely pleased with a “Theme” gold. I don’t care much for the “Overall” category, and I know my characterization isn’t charming enough to get into the higher levels of it, but “Theme”? For Ludum Dare? I came close with the last one, I hope I top 5 this one.

I felt no pressure, no rush, no stress at all during this competition. I slept a full 7 hours each night, and napped frequently. I submitted a more or less bug-free build at exactly the deadline.

I’m starting to feel like a real game developer. If you’re at all interested in the game you can play it here. There’s a rating link for my fellow Ludum Dare-er’s on the play page (in tiny print under the game window) or you can go direct to the LD22 ratings page.

There’s also a development archive page here on Dark Acre.

‘TIS THE SEASON

Happy holidays to everyone. I know that this can be a particularly rough time of year for many folks, so if you’re in that unfortunate number don’t despair! Spring is only 3 months away.

Best wishes from Jack and the Dark Acre, and remember: if you drink, don’t drive.

 

December 26, 2011

Flash in a Flash

WHAT?

The latest testing version of the software that I use to make games with can make a version of my games in Flash.

The rationale behind this is to get away from the stigma of installing the Unity webplayer plug-in. Some users have big reservations about installing additional web software to make things work in their browsers. The reason Flash gets so much love is that it’s been around forever and has a huge install base because of its longevity and widespread use.

Regardless of reasoning, Unity is holding a two-week long game development contest with a grand prize of $20,000 USD.

WHY?

Having just come off of a very successful Ludum Dare 48, I felt like the timing was right. My engine was hot and with the Project Prevengeance artist/designer otherwise occupied, the timing couldn’t have been better.

Plus, I like money. (And this, dear reader, was the root of all my evils. –Ed.)

WHEN?

Ongoing. The contest ends in a couple of weeks.

HOW?

Of course I’ll be using the usual tools, and keeping it as simple and stripped-down as possible. You can follow the progress by subscribing to my YouTube channel or coming back here and watching as more progress videos are added below.

I’ll be keeping this as the top post here on the Acre until the contest runs its course.

Flash in a Flash Development Playlist

Day 0

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

SCREENIES

Collected screens I’ve been posting to Twitter:

(There was once a deck of screenshots stored on a Google service. No longer. –Ed.)

2011.12.01 – 2011.12.31

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