I've had a week
And because I have an inflated sense of self-importance, I think that all of you want to hear about it.
In Infinity Engine modding news, I can now report that I am officially a modder! Yes, even though I have not yet released anything under my own name (more on that later), some of my work has finally made its mark on teh Intarwebs, in the form of the 10th Iron Modder contest! You may have seen/heard of the TV show Iron Chef: A bunch of chefs gather their tools and ingredients in Kitchen Stadium, and wait for the Insane Overlord to announce the secret theme. Then, the chefs have 1 hour to prepare a delicious meal that reflects or incorporates that theme, and the winner is declared the Iron Chef. Well, Iron Modder is just the same, only we get 4 hours to design, code, test, and debug an original mod that best fits whatever theme that our own Insane Overlord has decided to take into his pointy little head. Now, I've been idly plugging away at my first mod for months, but even though I'm anything but an experienced modder, I decided to throw my hat into the ring this time--at the very least, I'd give the other folks somebody to beat. The theme was . . . (drum roll) . . . The Oldest Trick in the Book.
Now, traditionally, Iron Modder entries take the form of quests or encounters, but I decided to take a different tack, largely because I have only the foggiest notion of how to code such a quest or encounter. Instead, I cranked out the Rapscallion kit, a playable Bard-class character whose signature ploy (and my idea of a cinch for "oldest trick in the book") is that, during combat, he can point over his enemy's shoulder and say, "What in the WORLD can THAT be!?!" Then, when the enemy turns to look, the Rapscallion whacks him a cheap shot from behind. And to add insult to injury, while most Bards' songs provide beneficial effects to their allies (allowing them to fight harder and keep their morale during combat, etc.), the Rapscallion's song is "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," which forces nearby enemies to roll a Saving Throw vs. Breath Weapon or become blinded for a few seconds.
To be fair, the Rapscallion wasn't everything I'd planned him to be. For one thing, I was unable to make the enemies actually turn their backs to him . . . I'm still working on that, as it's going to require messing with the targeted creature's AI script. So I compromised and had the spell merely turn the Rapscallion invisible for a couple of seconds, meaning the enemy has to stop attacking and the Rapscallion gets a free hit . . . although not for multiplied damage, as I'd originally intended, I'll have to figure out why Bards can't Backstab like Thieves can. But, on the whole, the Rapscallion is a fun kit to play, largely because it's entertaining to play as an underhanded bastard every once in a while. And considering that this was my very first submitted mod ever, I think I did fairly well. Iron-Modder-wise, I came in 4th place out of 7 submitted mods (2 of which didn't work), and I even beat out a veteran who already has several mods under his belt. So I'm feeling pretty good about that. And by the turn of the year, I will be releasing Version 1 of my very own first actual standalone mod. Six's Kitpack will include 8 new playable kits to broaden the game's roleplaying scope and replay factor, and oh yeah, make the game more fun. In fact, the first release will actually include *9* kits, if I can get the damn Rapscallion to work correctly.
Anyhoo, that was last Sunday. Then I worked for a week (boo!), and Friday night was Ryzex's Christmas party. I'd invited hawkdancer along, and we had about as much fun as is legal in this town, largely because we know how to be silly. It's odd . . . we were seated with people I barely knew (and she didn't know at all), neither of us touched a drop of liquor, the "game" was thoroughly dull (quite a comedown from last year's), and the DJ left a bit to be desired, and yet we seemed to be enjoying ourselves more than anyone else there. Probably because we know how to put on our fanciest clothes, partake of intellectual dinner conversation, and then get up and act like complete and total dorks. I missed my chance to buy my tickets for the bike raffle: It was a killer bike that could go over some sweet jumps, and I was going to buy $100 worth of tickets, but I wanted to wait until the last minute to avoid discouraging other people from entering. But the drawing was held sooner than I'd anticipated, so poof went that opportunity . . . but the silver lining was that my door prize was a $100 gift certificate to the mall, so that, combined with the money I didn't spend on tickets, should get me a sweet bike anyway. And if I just go to Target, I don't even have to enter the actual mall, so that's another bonus.
Just once in my life, I'd like to go to an event where the door prize is an actual door.
Helpful Holiday Tip: Often, just pretending to know how to dance is enough to impress people who won't even do that much. Particularly if you make it look easy . . . because it is.
In Infinity Engine modding news, I can now report that I am officially a modder! Yes, even though I have not yet released anything under my own name (more on that later), some of my work has finally made its mark on teh Intarwebs, in the form of the 10th Iron Modder contest! You may have seen/heard of the TV show Iron Chef: A bunch of chefs gather their tools and ingredients in Kitchen Stadium, and wait for the Insane Overlord to announce the secret theme. Then, the chefs have 1 hour to prepare a delicious meal that reflects or incorporates that theme, and the winner is declared the Iron Chef. Well, Iron Modder is just the same, only we get 4 hours to design, code, test, and debug an original mod that best fits whatever theme that our own Insane Overlord has decided to take into his pointy little head. Now, I've been idly plugging away at my first mod for months, but even though I'm anything but an experienced modder, I decided to throw my hat into the ring this time--at the very least, I'd give the other folks somebody to beat. The theme was . . . (drum roll) . . . The Oldest Trick in the Book.
Now, traditionally, Iron Modder entries take the form of quests or encounters, but I decided to take a different tack, largely because I have only the foggiest notion of how to code such a quest or encounter. Instead, I cranked out the Rapscallion kit, a playable Bard-class character whose signature ploy (and my idea of a cinch for "oldest trick in the book") is that, during combat, he can point over his enemy's shoulder and say, "What in the WORLD can THAT be!?!" Then, when the enemy turns to look, the Rapscallion whacks him a cheap shot from behind. And to add insult to injury, while most Bards' songs provide beneficial effects to their allies (allowing them to fight harder and keep their morale during combat, etc.), the Rapscallion's song is "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," which forces nearby enemies to roll a Saving Throw vs. Breath Weapon or become blinded for a few seconds.
To be fair, the Rapscallion wasn't everything I'd planned him to be. For one thing, I was unable to make the enemies actually turn their backs to him . . . I'm still working on that, as it's going to require messing with the targeted creature's AI script. So I compromised and had the spell merely turn the Rapscallion invisible for a couple of seconds, meaning the enemy has to stop attacking and the Rapscallion gets a free hit . . . although not for multiplied damage, as I'd originally intended, I'll have to figure out why Bards can't Backstab like Thieves can. But, on the whole, the Rapscallion is a fun kit to play, largely because it's entertaining to play as an underhanded bastard every once in a while. And considering that this was my very first submitted mod ever, I think I did fairly well. Iron-Modder-wise, I came in 4th place out of 7 submitted mods (2 of which didn't work), and I even beat out a veteran who already has several mods under his belt. So I'm feeling pretty good about that. And by the turn of the year, I will be releasing Version 1 of my very own first actual standalone mod. Six's Kitpack will include 8 new playable kits to broaden the game's roleplaying scope and replay factor, and oh yeah, make the game more fun. In fact, the first release will actually include *9* kits, if I can get the damn Rapscallion to work correctly.
Anyhoo, that was last Sunday. Then I worked for a week (boo!), and Friday night was Ryzex's Christmas party. I'd invited hawkdancer along, and we had about as much fun as is legal in this town, largely because we know how to be silly. It's odd . . . we were seated with people I barely knew (and she didn't know at all), neither of us touched a drop of liquor, the "game" was thoroughly dull (quite a comedown from last year's), and the DJ left a bit to be desired, and yet we seemed to be enjoying ourselves more than anyone else there. Probably because we know how to put on our fanciest clothes, partake of intellectual dinner conversation, and then get up and act like complete and total dorks. I missed my chance to buy my tickets for the bike raffle: It was a killer bike that could go over some sweet jumps, and I was going to buy $100 worth of tickets, but I wanted to wait until the last minute to avoid discouraging other people from entering. But the drawing was held sooner than I'd anticipated, so poof went that opportunity . . . but the silver lining was that my door prize was a $100 gift certificate to the mall, so that, combined with the money I didn't spend on tickets, should get me a sweet bike anyway. And if I just go to Target, I don't even have to enter the actual mall, so that's another bonus.
Just once in my life, I'd like to go to an event where the door prize is an actual door.
Helpful Holiday Tip: Often, just pretending to know how to dance is enough to impress people who won't even do that much. Particularly if you make it look easy . . . because it is.