Illness, the Dark Secret of Roleplaying, and Avara
I'm sick, but not sick enough to stay home from school today. Tomorrow is a no-class "fun" day called International Day that's traditionally skipped by people who care less, so I've got a grade that hinges on me showing up. If I'm too sick to go to school tomorrow and don't go, I fail a history test. But if I do go, I might have some unofficial playing of a popular Italian-themed party game that originated in Russia, so that'd be international and actually fun.
I have this crazy theory that every mode of creative expression has a Dark Secret: one mental block that's the main reason it seems like it takes more work than it should. When one finds and overcomes the Dark Secret, one can realize what it really takes to produce at that quality. The tricky thing is that since it's a mental block, it's not enough to be repeatedly told it; one must discover it through creating something good that uses it. The Dark Secret of Drawing, for instance, is apparently to draw what things look like and not what they are, and the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain works on teaching based on that Dark Secret, starting with a discovery exercise of copying a line picture when it's upside down. Over the weekend, I discovered the Dark Secret of Roleplaying, which, unlike how some superconservatives would like you to believe, has nothing to do with "You have reached the eighth level." It's something more along the lines of not overplanning and just going with whatever happens. The particular way I discovered it was to enlist Gryph and Scorp in a little freeform RPG with absolutely no plan whatsoever. It actually worked, so I think I'm past that, and I might be able to progress with other RPG projects soon. I'm still looking for the Dark Secrets of Writing, Game Design (Both board and computer), Acting (Though I suspect it may be similar to the roleplaying one), and perhaps Level Design (As in levels for games).
If you have an old Mac (I'm not sure how well Classic is supported), Avara rules because it's a first/third-person-shooter that's different in a simple way. Unlike most other shooters these days with dozens of weapons turning levels into (to some extent) a race to find the good weapon or vehicle, Avara has three. Its graphics have a strange aesthetic smoothness in being simple polygons that makes network play feasible for slow connections. It's very expandable by users; even the game's physics can change from level to level. It came out seven years ago, and I just beat the single-player missions and might play online if I have the opportunity. Anyone else intrigued?
I have this crazy theory that every mode of creative expression has a Dark Secret: one mental block that's the main reason it seems like it takes more work than it should. When one finds and overcomes the Dark Secret, one can realize what it really takes to produce at that quality. The tricky thing is that since it's a mental block, it's not enough to be repeatedly told it; one must discover it through creating something good that uses it. The Dark Secret of Drawing, for instance, is apparently to draw what things look like and not what they are, and the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain works on teaching based on that Dark Secret, starting with a discovery exercise of copying a line picture when it's upside down. Over the weekend, I discovered the Dark Secret of Roleplaying, which, unlike how some superconservatives would like you to believe, has nothing to do with "You have reached the eighth level." It's something more along the lines of not overplanning and just going with whatever happens. The particular way I discovered it was to enlist Gryph and Scorp in a little freeform RPG with absolutely no plan whatsoever. It actually worked, so I think I'm past that, and I might be able to progress with other RPG projects soon. I'm still looking for the Dark Secrets of Writing, Game Design (Both board and computer), Acting (Though I suspect it may be similar to the roleplaying one), and perhaps Level Design (As in levels for games).
If you have an old Mac (I'm not sure how well Classic is supported), Avara rules because it's a first/third-person-shooter that's different in a simple way. Unlike most other shooters these days with dozens of weapons turning levels into (to some extent) a race to find the good weapon or vehicle, Avara has three. Its graphics have a strange aesthetic smoothness in being simple polygons that makes network play feasible for slow connections. It's very expandable by users; even the game's physics can change from level to level. It came out seven years ago, and I just beat the single-player missions and might play online if I have the opportunity. Anyone else intrigued?