“Florty”?!

Typos.  Typoes.  Typo’s.

Sometimes they are hilarious (to everyone except the writer). And sometimes they make you want to pull your hair out by the root and set it aflame.  (…but you won’t because it’s painful and you might need what little you have left… and pulling someone else’s hair out is not commonly acceptable, and also burning hair has a singularly specific odor which is, of course, not commonly acceptable.)

As a writer and programmer / coder, I make both kinds of typos. I came to accept this fact, long ago, when I decided that “progress while the Iron of Inspiration was hot” would be better than “accuracy”.  Mostly, it means trading three well-written paragraphs to get an entire chapter or two… sometimes a full arc… or even a complete outline.

Worth it.

Every.

Single.

Time.

A good paragraph can be crafted at a later time, and all by itself won’t convey the larger picture even while it hints at the beauty of what was to be shared.

I cannot tell you how many incomplete ideas I’ve “put on paper” simply by focusing on a singular aspect or element, while missing the rest of the picture.  It’s like spending an entire day hiking and only seeing one tree; missing the rest of the forest. (“I went hiking and I saw this tree… it was amazing. It had all these colors and… where? I don’t know. Which trail? No idea.”)  I’m serious when I say that I have story / game / concept notes that feel inspired and brilliant, but only begin to touch on the idea.

So, yeah… Typos.  “Florty”. Long story… some day I might even share it.

As far as projects go… I’ve been playing more games than I’ve been creating. (I stumbled across a few older games that have drawn my attention.)  It’s not a bad thing, but I’ve got other obligations, too.

…and I’m going to be moving my household from my current city to the next one over.  Not far, but it still means packing my physical home-life into boxes and carting them to a new abode.  After nine years (four of them complaining), I’m actually going to miss the current apartment.

(But I will SO ENJOY being in a house, once again!)

I started this project (Game of Slaves) and the respective blog to keep track of what’s happening, and to have some kind of external accountability.  As you can see, I don’t have a lot of fans hanging on my every word, but I don’t need that.  I just need it to be what it is… for now.  And the Game and blog have kept me focused — they’re working as intended.

Almost six months down the line, I am still working on Game of Slaves, Hell Breaks Loose, and my Guests of Acteon series.  (No, I have not posted the latest chapter… it needs some work and might be combined with the chapter after it.)

It’s not all vaporware and pipedreams, I’m actually seeing results. Even if they don’t get posted to the world, they are happening.  Here’s a peek:

• Game of Slaves is still receiving a lot of planning and forethought. With the kind of experience I’m planning, most of the work is going to go into the “little things” which seem so minor to the end-user. (Have I blogged on that topic, yet?)  I’m ready for that.  I’m planning for it from a design perspective. I want it to feel polished, even as I build, because I expect to be working with quality components.
• Game of Slaves is still at the rough design phase.  I’m building tables of info and deciding what I want to track, and what should be calculated. I’m designing non-player characters. I’m putting together encounters and scenes. I’m finding the voices I want the player to hear.
• Hell Breaks Loose is becoming a full game unto itself.  Heck, it might even become my opus, some day… but right now I’m using it to learn what I need so I can make Game of Slaves into the end-product I want… something I’d want to play.
• Hell Breaks Loose is being coded in Inform7 which should allow it to be embedded in webpages and accessed by multiple platforms.  Most of the game design elements were completed while I was working with Twine, so I have most of that out of the way.  …and I understand there’s a way to make Inform7 games multiplayer… *Tee-hee!*
• Guest of Acteon: Len is coming along. I think the next chapter to be posted is important to the story, but it’s a bit dry… And I only want to post tasty morsels, if I can get my way. (Important means not “essential” or “critical”, but still sets a tone or reveals something significant.
• I am working on chapters ahead of where I’m posting, so I know where I’m going as I polish chapters for posting. It should help posted chapters feel more complete. It sounds “good on paper”, but we’ll have to see how it works in my world.  I’m up to chapter 8 notes and chapter 7 is being written.  Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are still going through proofing phases. (Does it sound like I actually know what I’m doing? Heh, heh.)

…and there ya go.  Another update. (760-ish words.)

— Cam