#we also had two weeks to make a fully functioning small game FROM SCRATCH having NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE

[chewwytwee]

well my compsci final is submitted. We will see how badly I do tomorrow when we demo it.

[loquaciousquark]

I’m not very good at keeping up with life updates. I don’t know why! I never have been!

Carol moved out August 9th, about a week extra over the original two months we’d agreed on. She got an apartment about five minutes away, which is about 40 minutes from her job. I recommended getting an apartment closer to her job to ease the commute, but she said she strongly preferred being near to her friends and the city center. (She also had the option of a $650/mo lease for a year or $1100/mo for a six month lease at this complex, and opted for the shorter lease even though she couldn’t afford the $1100. She also insisted on a two bed 1.5 bath apartment instead of a much cheaper one bed one bath, and I don’t know why. Her financial choices continue to bewilder me.)

I helped her move, because she has a number of physical disabilities and a fairly total inability to accurately predict the scope of a job like this. She insisted to me multiple times that all she was picking up from her estranged mother’s home was a few books, a desk, a chair, and a small round end table. She came back with a fifteen foot Uhaul packed top to bottom with dozens of pieces of (often very heavy) furniture, tubs upon tubs upon tubs of books (not small boxes, like 40 gallon tubs immobile with books) and a lot of...I don’t know how to describe it.

Honestly, it reminded me of a hoarder’s home from those TLC shows. She had so much stuff, and almost all of it was...garbage. Like, stained, discolored, moldy, dirty, dusty furniture and blankets and clothes that were covered in mouse droppings and bird crap. An ancient armchair that she called “antique” but was made of very cheap very damaged veneered pressed wood and whose upholstery was of an indeterminate color because of how stained it was. A “display piece” of an old suitcase she picked up in some thrift store that was locked shut with what felt like twenty pounds of bricks inside, but the outside wasn’t even attractive - just an ugly brown box with no care or craftwork that was scratched and torn and stained with mouse poop. It honestly made me uneasy to touch it, and she was putting it in her apartment to use.

I don’t know how she thought she was going to be able to get all of this stuff down the half-flight of stairs to her apartment by herself. I helped her unload for four hours before I had another obligation, then came back after that finished for another hour or two of unloading to get it in her apartment securely. It was...very tiring, but also very exhilarating to be physically closing that chapter as well as mentally. I don’t intend to do it again.

--

My job (professor) started back in person on a regular basis the following week in August. We’ve now been in class for almost two months and no students that I directly interact with (my 46ish 2nd year students) have had any exposures or at risk scenarios. A small handful of 3rd and 4th years have had exposures, and I think one student actually tested positive, but none of the exposures or positive results were from our clinic or labs; they were all from community transmission (wife/husband/child/roommate caught it from somewhere else, student had to quarantine).

I have been almost draconian with my 2nd years about the thin line we’re walking in being allowed to have even our minimal, limited in-person labs, and have warned them that if we have an exposure breach in our clinic, there is zero chance they graduate on time in a few years. They seem to be taking it extremely seriously, which I like a lot. All students, staff, and faculty are given new surgical masks daily, and everyone who interacts with patients gets a new n95 mask every 10 days. We have decontamination stations throughout the building, temperature guns, digital “passports” that they have to update daily to be allowed on campus, and plenty of spray bottles with high level disinfectant for surfaces and hands. It’s honestly as safe as we can make it, and I feel we’ve hit a good balance between staying safe and getting them actually trained on real human beings.

That said, we are having more students than I’ve ever had fail exams and practicals across the board, and I honestly think it’s an artifact of the remote lectures (all lectures are remote unless specified for particular reasons, and then they only take place in distanceable classrooms, which are at max like 70% of the class). God knows I wouldn’t have learned as well at home - I’d have been on my phone or playing games and kind of half listening in the background, and if nothing else this has made me more of a proponent of mandatory attendance once it’s safe again to do so, because the drop I’m seeing is almost precipitous. Either this class is unusually full of students incapable of completing the program, or COVID’s striking again. I’m pretty sure it’s the latter.

On the other hand, we’re FINALLY making up the Injections course material that got stopped dead in spring, and the first run of it went very well last Saturday. I unequivocally resent that I have to give up an entire Saturday to do so (and will have to do so thrice more to get all the students done this semester), but it’s at least one chunk of incompletes that are now passes (and in fact, mostly As).

We just got the notification that hybrid courses will continue through spring. It’s so exhausting. We can do it safely, and we are, but it’s so hard.

--

Went to get a drink last night before bed and noticed the tea was a little warm. Went to grab some ice cubes from the freezer and discovered the ice cube tray was full of water, and the chocolate ice cream in the door had melted and spread across the entire unit.

Managed to get a repair guy out this afternoon, who charged $228 to replace the ...relay overload array capacitor, or something. He showed me what it was--a little black and white box that he said was bottom of the barrel cheap from China, which I fully believe, and installed a new one then and there while I had a remote test review with a student over Zoom. I put on headphones for her privacy, but she cried several times. It’s usually a pretty rough awakening when students who never had to study in college realize how difficult this program is and the study time required to pass, let alone succeed.

Anyway, the freezer’s chucking out cold air like it was made for it, and the fridge seems to be slowly working its way back down. Had to throw out everything from the freezer (chicken, steak, ground beef, bacon, veggies, frozen meals--and some pizza rolls) and I’m not looking forward to the grocery bill it’ll take to restock the fridge either, but at least it seems to be functioning again.

I just checked; the freezer’s made six ice cubes in the last three hours. I’ve put them all in my tea to celebrate.

--

Edit: just checked again and the fridge is slowly cooling off, thank goodness! Of course, I somehow managed to fall down the four stairs of the hall between here and there and bruise the royal bejeezus out of both hips and somehow the inside of my left foot, so I’m ordering in for dinner, because nuts to that.

[mbtiofwhys]

MBTI and quarantine

How INFJ mod and ENFP mod are dealing with self distancing

Disclaimer: quarantine for us began roughly around the end of February, and we’re writing this at the end of April, so it’s been two whole months by now.

How have we been doing up until now?

INFJ mod: the first month went well, and with “well” I mean “bad”. As an introvert, social distancing shouldn’t affect me too much, right? Well, this is true and I suppose it’s a benefit I’ve experimented in the last weeks. It somehow helps me easing emotional pain and stress and this is undoubtedly an introvert perk. At the same time I’m a J. I need a certain amount of structure and order to plan ahead and organize my nearest future. I had a couple of exams during the first month of quarantine and it was stressful to deal with them in an emergency situation with lots of unforseen problems. So, how have I been doing up until now? I must admit that an unexpected emergency like this affected my emotional well-being, but i’m trying to stay positive and learn to adapt and take advantage of quarantine!

ENFP mod: the first weeks had been absolute hell, let me tell you. I lost my routine, I lost my friends, I couldn’t even go out for a walk and every plan I’d made crumbled. Staying home felt like prison, and not having a set routine anymore affected my mental order and productivity because I was no longer able to correctly prioritize things. However, I think being N and being P helped me getting used to quarantine while at the same time being able to at least pursue my main interests and hobbies (I play games, I write, I read, and so on). I’m doing far better now, between discord calls with friends and group projects for uni, I keep in touch with people, while the increased free time allows my sparkling Ne-Fi to focus more on personal projects, like this blog.

Working/studying at home 

INFJ mod: As I stated before, I’m a student. My university reacted well to the emergency and found countermeasures to compromise between a lack of lectures and the regular exams. Now I’m attending online lessons and the situation is far less stressful than it was until a month ago. I don’t have to underestimate this lack of pressure, because in a context where every day feels the same it’s easy to slack off and to lose track of time. From a more concrete standpoint I must admit how comfortable and suitable online lessons are, since i don’t have to spend hours commuting and I can save time.

ENFP mod: I study in the advertising field, so my lessons are more like labs and peer reviews than proper lectures - also, there’s a lot of group work. Quarantine affected all this very badly to put things lightly, and although I appreciate the effort my university put in providing online classes and reviews, things aren’t absolutely the same as before, and this is lowering my motivation overall. I also used to work part time in events and malls during weekends, so obviously I lost that one, too - what a life.

Alone time vs imposed isolation 

INFJ mod: Quarantine should be like heaven for an introvert, right? Here is the fact: I can stay at home for a week or even more without social interaction, but it will always be my choice to recharge my social batteries or to enjoy alone time. This is an entirely different situation. Imposed isolation feels exactly like what it is: a necessary imposition that I didn’t choose. So, even if I need alone time as an introvert, I really miss my friends and the simple things we can do like laughing together, talking about our lives and passions, seeing them smile or telling a joke, sharing emotions. Because as an INFJ my auxiliary Fe just NEEDS to share emotions, thoughts, experiences, fears and dreams with trusted friends. As a Fe user, I’m still managing to find healthy ways to express my feelings, and although quarantine is an unusual situation and there are more constraints, I can still stay in touch with my friend and try to use Fe in a positive way.

ENFP mod: People call us ENFPs ‘the most introverted of the extroverts’ and I can see why but truth is, the E is there and you can’t change that. Not attending classes is hard, and I miss even the smallest things of being outside - like listening to music while commuting or walking in the street and generally… feel the outer world? And even if I, too, need alone time sometimes, it’s different when it’s forced. But I got used to it in the end, so it’s not that bad anymore. Lots of reading, writing and playing games - thank God P5R came out at the end of March. I’m managing by sharing opinions and experiences with my friends - we can’t discuss how Makoto Niijima is the absolute best waifu of the P5 female cast in person, but we can do that via chat with fanworks.

Social distancing: real interaction vs digital interaction

INFJ mod: there is a huge difference between real and digital interaction. If we talk about how internet allows us to communicate and work or study at home, digital interactions surely are helpful and I’m really thankful to live in an era where I can stay in contact with my friends and even see them. At the same time, as a Fe user I find real interaction irreplaceable and from a more irrational and emotional standpoint I can’t compare the two. That being said, I really value digital interaction as substitute of real ones. It’ll always be welcomed, be it to study or to stay in touch with friends. I also must admit how digital interactions are an interesting compromise between alone and social time, a win-win for an introverted Fe user like me.

ENFP mod: I tend to be very touchy when it comes to the people I love so yeah, digital interaction isn’t the same thing. At the same time, none of my closest friends live in my city, and we often need to organize things a month prior to fit everyone schedule, so I’m at least used to not seeing them everyday. I also truly miss my classmates, with whom I used to go out after lessons and have fun. This isn’t obviously possible with Skype calls - and don’t get me started on how project works are harder to deliver like this.

Routine

INFJ mod: Maybe you’ll find it odd to read this from a J, but routines can really stress me out and I need small variation to my daily activities to relieve the fatigue. During this self imposed isolation I’m finding harder than usual to escape from routines.Yes, as a J I need structure and order to an extent. Yes, as a J I need time to adapt to new unexpected situations. What you may not know is that I also need ways to break free from strict and repetitive tasks. In my case, routines need to be a compromise between being mentally reassured by the presence of a certain amount of order and predictability and my aversion for repetitive tasks. Order and structure are subordinated to my desire for freedom. Freedom to create in an environment where I have time and space to envision what I want and how to do it, with my pace.

ENFP mod: I really struggled and I’m still struggling with routine. I don’t like routine per se, but it’s an external factor that gives structure to my life and helps me make the most of my free time while not losing track of my duties. Uni classes played the bigger role in this, and now that they’re online, the temptation of slacking off is really difficult to ignore. I keep my calendar updated and I make sure to be present and focused when needed, but I discovered I’m not well fit for smart working. To me, home is the place where I relax, rest and maybe study, but it certainly isn’t the place where I work. This conflict is what is giving me a hard time focusing on school projects, because if I’m home, the default mode is having fun. Also, I don’t have a sleep schedule anymore. I try my best every night, every night I get rejected.

Dealing with the inferior function

INFJ mod: I’m still working on my inferior Se and quarantine isn’t helping. As the inferior function, it usually takes me a while to even realize how much I’m falling into a Se grip or simply how much I’m not aware of Se. Self isolation amplifies those aspects and makes even harder to become conscious of unhealthy Se manifestations. Quarantine hasn’t stopped me to find a positive outlook in this situation and to learn from mistakes. At first I began to take a more concrete approach in daily life with simple actions. I live in a small town and I have green areas near my house, so I’m lucky enough to be able to spend some time in the nature and to experience it through the five senses. I’m also trying to become more aware of Se by being more present. This week I’m taking action and breaking vicious cycles of overthinking and self-doubt. Self isolation doesn’t allow me to experience life fully, so I’m taking advantage of the situation and I’m focusing those energies in concrete and meaningful actions, like writing on this blog or working on personal project involving creative writing. 

ENFP mod: inferior Si isn’t giving me a particularly hard time, surprisingly. I’ve experienced Si grip and I know what that means to me, but luckily that isn’t an issue now. I sometimes do things that require a more focused and detail-oriented approach: styling wigs for cosplay, trying on new make-ups, baking or cooking, observing what happens out of the window to write it down. They’re not “Si activities” by definition, but they are all things that require concentration, calm, methodical approach and that cannot be rushed - on contrary, sometimes I need to start from scratches and observe my mistakes in order to improve. These are all small things that help my Si stay present and not freaking out overthinking the past, brooding in regrets or yelling at me because I’m not living a structured life at the moment.

The risk of loops and grips

INFJ mod: this is partly tied to what I wrote in the section above: this unexpected emergency and the resulting self isolation produced stress and negative emotions. As an INFJ, my first reaction is to jump in the future and visualize possible scenarios. In this difficult times, I need to take a step back from my negative “what ifs” and to stay positive by building a better future for myself and others day by day, through simple and concrete action. Otherwise I only risk to slip into Se grips or Ni-Ti loops. As I stated before I’m already working on Se: it’s not easy, but I’m at least trying. Another piece of the puzzle is my auxiliary Fe:proper auxiliary function development is essential to avoid loops. As an INFJ, self isolation prevents me from reaching out to my friends as much as I desire, at the same time we can stay in touch through digital interactions and they are surely helping me relieving stress and preventing loops. 

ENFP mod: while the Si part is ok, I still seem to have problems with NeTe loop. I had some rough ten days in mid-March because I was so focused on the million projects I had to finish and how that was stressing me out that I practically lived for nothing else. I managed to stop that before it got worse by speaking with my colleagues and asking to slow down the pace, so that I could have some free time to spend without feeling guilty or unproductive. But I still need to be cautious about the loop.

Trying to use all the four functions (and other healthy coping mechanisms)

INFJ mod: ok, it’s time to sum up what I wrote in the last three sections. From an mbti perspective, I’m trying to find a balance between self reflection (Ni) and concrete actions (Se). Staying in the present, taking full responsibility for my actions,  approaching life through simple and steady actions are all steps I follow every day to shift my locus of control to a more internal position. There are obviously setbacks and some days are far worse than others, but I’m trying to stay positive and find hope. Fe helps me to reach other people which is invaluable but sadly, as an introvert, doesn’t come naturally to me. It’s an healthy way to alleviate or completely avoid loops and to keep my heart warm. Ti, when not involved in a loop, allows me to give structure to what I find meaningful and to organize my thoughts. Ti is basically the backbone of what I envision through Ni. 

ENFP mod: although the first times were rough, I feel I managed to find a balance along the way - with some setback from time to time. My Ne is constantly active in brainstormings for uni and discussing fictional works with friends. I must check on what my Fi needs because I tend to endure stress way more than I should do, so every now and then I must ask myself if I’m fine, if I need to stop or if I truly, absolutely like what I’m working on and, if the answer is no, if it’s possible to discuss it with my project group. Te is very active (even too much, sometimes) and it’s the core of me managing school, blog and personal projects, often writing things down on a schedule in order to keep my mind clear and ordered. I may help my Si more by really trying to re-establish a routine, but honestly the P approach helped me very much in this months of uncertainty, so I think I’ll keep going on like this as long as I’m fine.

Thank you for reading this far! - the mods

[triple-a-enderdragon]

Hey, guys, I’m just itching to tell you

First | Previous | Next

It was a crisp, bright day. Stress was out on her castle wall, gazing south. Visibility was good enough she could swear a hint of green was just noticeable. Usually seeing the shared lab brought her joy— as did the man she shared it with— but now it just worried her. She knew Iskall's role was demanding and he handled it well, but she also knew his track record with the Nether all too well. Thinking of Iskall made her think of Python, also trapped in the oppressive hell-scape. As far as Stress knew, no one spent more than a day straight in the Nether, with good reason. Well, except Tango, but he was an exception.

Stress looked at her hands. They were always edged with frost, but lately they'd been feeling itchy. It was uncomfortable and persistent; the only thing she found to soothe the itch was to make ice, so whenever it got unbearable, that's what she did. So far she had made almost two shulker boxes worth of packed ice made straight from water, and it scared her. Making packed ice straight from water was exhausting. Or, at least, it used to be.

Lately, Stress was full of nervous energy to the point where she couldn't sleep. Tonight the phantoms would start spawning, and if she wasn't careful, she would join Xisuma and Cub. She absentmindedly scratched her hands.

Barking echoed behind her, getting louder. Three of her samoyeds, followed by two huskies, turned the corner and blazed past her before disappearing out of sight. Brought back to the present, Stress sighed. Everything would be fine in the end. It had to be. Besides, wings of the castle were still unfinished, and that she could do something about.

Oh, how her hands itched.

~~~

Grian loved flying. He had loved it before, with the elytra, and he'd gotten ridiculously good at it. But with wings? It was a whole new world! There was so much more control, so much more finesse. One of the first things he did once he was used to them was the elytra course. Unsurprisingly, he crushed it.

But as the days wore on, from all the news surrounding the Nether, Grian started to feel agitated. He tried to keep his hands busy working on his base, the Infinity Room, anything. But inevitably, he would find himself in the air, flying aimlessly over the main island and beyond.

He had so much restless energy he had gotten little sleep over the past few days, little enough he was worried about phantoms. And since he was in the air at seemingly every opportunity, it was only a matter of time before one caught up with him.

Why did his wings itch so much?

~~~

Staring at TFC, Impulse was the first to recover. "Are we looking for you?"

TCF gave a snort of laughter. "Well, I certainly was looking for you. Do you know how long that took? I assumed you were at Xisuma's base, so I took the rail system there." He nodded at Ren. "Fantastic system, by the way, even if it's not fully functional. But I didn't find you there. So I had to travel back. I don't think you understand how long it takes to travel on foot." Seeing the others' faces, TFC laughed. "Not that it matters, I got here eventually. Though I was a bit surprised to find you in Ren's base."

"How did you know to look here?" Impulse asked.

"I was going towards Tango's base first hoping to catch you there, but—" TFC looked at Tango. "—I could tell you were here."

Tango was confused. "Why would you be looking for me?"

The change in TFC's demeanor was subtle, but if the others somehow missed it, the change in his voice was unmistakable; softer, yet no less gruff. "Because we're the last piece to your puzzle. I am Earth, and this is my avatar."

~~~

False was trying to find Impulse. So far he'd not been at his base, so she was headed toward the next best location. Landing in Xisuma's base, she could tell it was empty. Where was Impulse? Probably tending to something else, he doesn't live in X's base, False. Nevertheless, she headed to the admin room; maybe he left her a note saying where he'd gone.

Entering the room, she scanned the monitors. There wasn't much of it she understood, but there was one thing she did; the red dot of an unauthorized spawn. Somehow, while everyone was distracted by the Nether, an intruder had slipped in. While her two flankers were preoccupied elsewhere.

Think, False, think! There wasn't much she could do about the Nether situation, but this was right up her alley. With her tracker currently unavailable, she had to fall on her backup.

Now finally with a clear purpose, False left X's base and flew west. A gliding silhouette greeted her as she neared her destination; Grian absentmindedly riding the thermals. False got his attention and followed him as he dived into his base.

Once on the floor, Grian asked, "So, what do you need? Is it the Nether again?"

"No, I need your help finding someone. An intrusion has been detected and I need to deal with it as soon as possible."

"My help? Don't you usually— oh. Right."

False sighed. "Sorry. Until this Nether problem's solved, I need you to do Iskall's job since you are quite good at finding people."

"No, no! It's no problem at all! I just hope you don't expect me to fight, as that's not exactly my strong suit."

"Oh don't worry. With our third party member, you won't be able to fight even if you wanted to."

With that, False sent out a message:

[falsesymmetry to: Biffa2001] You busy?

[Biffa2001 to: falsesymmetry] nothing that can't be interrupted

[flasesymmetry to: Biffa2001] Meet outside of iTrade?

[Biffa2001 to: falsesymmetry] o/

False turned to Grian, who was waiting expectantly. "Well, time to go to the shopping district."

~~~

As Grian and False landed in front of iTrade, they could see Biffa flying in from the east. As he landed, he didn't waste time on pleasantries.

"Who do you need dead? I'm ready."

Grian smothered a laugh as False sighed.

"Well, you're straight to the point. You don't even know if that's why I called you here."

"Why else would you need me? Unless you need something built? A cup of tea? Hm?"

False gave a small laugh. "Fine, you're right. A hopper has managed to slip in and I need you in case they're hostile."

Biffa lit up. "Finally! Is this Nether business what it takes for me to get in on the action?"

"Biffa, you've been 'in on the action'. Anyway, we shouldn't waste time. Stay close, you two."

False took to the air, with Biffa and Grian close behind.

~~~

"Wait, what?"

In a deathly silent room, Impulse was the first to speak. TFC— Earth? turned to him, scrutinizing every inch of the man.

"All right, I have some explaining to do. But that's for a later time, as time is something you don't have much of. For now, you have to stop Fire before he commits a grave mistake."

"Wait, was I right? About the other avatars?" asked Tango. "Stress and Grian?"

"Yes, wasn't it obvious? It was about time Air committed." Earth looked at Tango, concerned. "You must find them both before you confront your Element, and quickly."

"What happens if we don't stop him in time?"

But the man they were talking to was TFC once again.

"Sorry, he's cryptic like that. I don't know any more than you do." He gave a short laugh. "Anyway, good luck finding the others; I'll only slow you down. I'll be in my bunker when you need me."

~~~

Python was getting tired of the Nether. No matter what he and Iskall tried, no progress was made; he was starting to think they were well and truly stuck. Normally that would be fine, as he knew people who had survived in the Nether for weeks on end; but that was with proper preparation. Between the fluctuating heat and their dwindling water, the two Strikers were woefully unprepared.

Speaking of the heat, the temperature had risen again, to the point where it was dangerous for Python and downright deadly for Iskall. With the strangely hostile pigmen, they were content to stay in their cave anyway. Or, at least Python was.

He watched helplessly as Iskall became increasingly agitated as the two of them tried to work through their situation. When trying to create a new portal had failed, he'd injured his foot kicking it. He'd almost broken his flint and steel trying to relight portals, only stopping because one blew up, almost killing him.

The only thing Python could think to do was to keep Iskall confined to the cave. Being surrounded by the ice seemed to help cool his temperament as well as the air, but there was only so much of this confinement that either of them could take.

Hearing feverish muttering, Python turned to where Iskall was sitting. Something seemed to be wrong with his left eye, he was scratching at it, as if something was wrong.

Something was wrong; Iskall's eye was itchy as hell, to the point where he wanted to take the damn thing out. Every time he went to rip it out, something stopped him. But nothing was stopping the itching, the damn itching, get it out get it out—

"Iskall?"

He looked up to see Python incredibly concerned, so much so he momentarily forgot about the itch.

"What?"

"You okay?"

"No."

Silence, then; "You want to talk about it?"

"...it's my eye. It's bad enough we're stuck here for the time being, but the dang thing won't stop itching. It's driving me crazy, dude!"

"Has it done this before? I remember when I had a similar eyepiece, it would get irritated sometimes. Glad I got rid of it."

"No, that's the thing. It hasn't done this before." Muttering half to himself, Iskall continued, "And what does—" Diamond? He looked at Python. "You're not wearing your gear, are you? But you have your tools."

"Uh, yeah. It was getting a bit cumbersome, so I took it off. You could tell?"

"Yeah, that's part of what this thing does." Iskall paused, mind miles away. "I need to think." For him, the best way to think was to sleep; so that's precisely what he did.

~~~

Not far under the gardens of the Stock Exchange, Doc was working on his HRN station. He was working on a vending machine; something he'd wanted to put in for a while. Now that the war was over, he could finally return fully to his own projects. He felt he should be glad to work undistracted, but frustrations were mounting.

It was a simple circuit for him to work with, but novice mistakes were constantly popping up. Timings were off, a repeater would lock, a comparator would be wrongly set. He could tell from the flow of the redstone what was wrong and where, but with every fixed mistake another would pop up.

And his arm. What was up with his arm? Every time Doc stopped working, the metallic arm felt as if it was full of electricity; he was not sure how to describe it. He'd taken it apart more than once to check the wiring, the circuits, anything he could see for a hint as to what was wrong. As far as he could tell, everything was on order; from the redstone tubing to the circuitry. But every once and a while he would find himself scratching at it. An itch, that was it. His arm itched.

Between his arm and the vending machine circuit, Doc had not gotten much sleep. The constant flow of the red dust through its own tubing gave him the energy to work, so he wasn't worried. However, there was one night terror he would do well to remember, and tonight it would start spawning.

[sayofchains88]

Chapter Eleven: Samuel alive?  by OrangeLetters88~

They finally make it to Alice and Christian's small neighborhood. Christian has Alex stop mid-way when he notices his parents at his house outside. He opens the door and walks up by himself. "Don't wait up for me Alex. Looks like I will have my hands full for a while."

Alice gives him puppy dog eyes. "We can play weird card games I learned Alice. Let Christian have fun with folks."

"How weird are we talking?" Alice responds giving almost bedroom eyes.

"You two are nuts. Anyways have fun..." Christian turns giving almost the loneliest feeling. Alex could tell this feeling easily.

Alice and Alex drive to the top where Alice's house is covered in cobwebs. "I need to call my parents, I need to call someone to handle selling this place...this is no home anymore."

Alex scratches the back of his head. "Look Alice..."

"No Alex. You did no wrong here. I chose to give you my life. I meant it. Sometimes life is handling the hardest aspects of it though. I will be okay...I promise." Alice replies with a kind of half smile.

Alex decides to not go back into Alice's home. She needs to this time to herself.

In the distance he can see Christian talking to his parents before they proceed to go inside. Alex stands under a large oak tree. Looking around he hears the tree's move. He slides down to feet to fall asleep.  

He awakes groggy staring at the horizon in many colors as the sunsets. His stomach growls, but doesn't wish to look for human prey or bug Ms. Jill who is more than willing.

He is still not mentally well enough to want blood. He fully acknowledges vampires senses are at worst on an empty stomach.

He hears a scream at Christian's house. He runs over when Christian comes out the door slamming it open. "Alex, my mother..."

"Christian? What happened?"

Christian leans on Alex's shoulders pounding on him. "I don't want her to turn into a vampire."

Alex walks inside the house. Christian's father lies on the ground with his wife holding her hand. She is unable to come out of it. Her neck bleeding though hardly looks deep enough. "Call 911 and ask for transfusion. They should be able to help her fight it."

The ambulance comes in time. They load her in. Christian's father gets in with her. "I will meet you there Dad!"

"I didn't tell them I was a vampire...someone broke in. I never had seen them before. I chased them out with a broom. So they didn't catch on what I was...I got to go Alex..." Christian says getting into his car and taking off.

Alex makes his way over to Alice's house. She left the door ajar. He takes note how she is holding her face crying on phone with her parents. He can hear them talk. Alex closes the door the rest of the way, Alice turns her head to notice him walk away.

He walks backs to Christian's house examining the ground. There is a calling card on the ground slightly torn. "Samuel Industrial site...there is a number on the back. Is he still alive?"

Alex cleans the glass up, puts it in newspaper and plops it into the trash. He takes saran-wrap and covers the windows till he can replace them.

"Anyone can be named Samuel though...but what triggered that memory of being taught the temporary war between humans and vampires?"

The silence was haunting. Someone slowly sneaks up behind Alex choking him. Alex pushed backwards hitting him against the walls. He dunks down before the guy could grab him. "Why are you in this house?"  

Alex jumps over him to go outside the door. The stranger stops. "I was told the golden coin was here. I was only here to retrieve it."

"So you hurt someone on the way to breaking into someone's house hold? Also what are these coins?"

"It was accidentally dropped in this neighborhood by someone. It's to meet Samuel in person."

"Samuel...the one from the war, wasn't he human?" Alex questions confused.

"The very one, but he pissed off some vampire warlord and was bit; it caused him to hide away for a long time. He is putting forth a mission to resurrect vampire faith."

"So he was bitten and turned into a vampire?"

"Exactly, would you by chance know if the coin really exists here?"

"This is my kindred's house. We only now came back to visit. I can say without a doubt there was no coin here. Just a family trying to talk, now she is in the hospital trying to get a transfusion."

"Look I am sorry buddy."

"Do you plan to take responsibility?" Alex demands.

"I will get into trouble if I say anymore. I need to leave. Please don't take this personally. I am not looking to get into it with another vampire." He says and runs away. Alex goes back inside to see something shiny on the ground.

He picks the coin up. It is embossed with a large star symbol. The back says "To win is gold?"

"So someone really did drop something here. I need to keep this safe..." He says to himself. The phone rings scaring Alex. He picks it up. Christian is crying. "It worked...she will be okay Alex. You were right..." Christian cries even harder.

"That's great! I heard about it before traveling with Elijah my old clan leader. He always spoke lovingly about other methods of turning back to human. It's not everyone's fate. You should spend more time with them. Don't worry okay?"

Alex hangs up going back over to Alice's place. She opens the door for him. She gives him the biggest hug. "Christians Mother was attacked by a vampire looking for a coin."

Alex holds up a large coin. "So where is he now? Is he okay?"

"His mother is not a vampire. She also doesn't know he is a vampire. Let's keep it that way." Alex says softly intertwining his fingers between hers.  They go inside together laying down on Alice's bed.

He falls asleep quickly in her arms. He wakes up to hearing the phone ring early in the morning. He lets Alice still sleep to get up to answer.

"Hello?" Alex half a sleep asks.

"I don't think I will be home today. I will be settling from the hospital. Just letting you know."

"No worries Christian. Just do what you need to do. I am just going to go back to sleep."

"Okay Alex...thank you."

Alex drops the phone thinking about sleep. He picks it back up and putting it back into place. He slumps back into bed. Alice puts her hands on his head patting him.

She wraps her hands around his waist as they both fall back to sleep. Alice wakes up later putting her hand on Alex's head. "You are burning up Alex!"

He hardly responds looking up at her. "It's okay Alice...I have things to do."

Alex gets up walking to the doorway before Alice catches him. "Have you even had any blood lately?"

"I don't need it to function all the time..."

Alice sighs bringing the blanket over to the couch with them. "Why must you be so difficult lately?"

She wraps them both in the same blanket. Alex falls asleep on her shoulder while she flips through the television for something to watch.

She eventually falls asleep with her head leaning on his. Christian knocks on the door. She gets up gently leaning him against the pillow on the couch. Snoring can be heard all the way to the door. "Are you doing okay?"

Christian embraces Alice with all his might. "I feel we never appreciated our lives enough. We were so caught up in excitement and so caught up in being something else..." Christian says caught up emotionally.

"But now were here and no longer from their same world. What do we do when they start to notice?"

"That's when we have to leave off forever, but for now we can hold on a little longer..." Christian confided in Alice.

"I cried so hard for the first time talking my parents in a long time. This house will be sold off in the coming weeks. I am cutting off all attachments soon. It seems my fate is too dangerous to be pulling others in this. Christian you need to think what is best for them..."

Christian begins to tear up. Understanding Alice could only hold him a bit longer. Alex coughs hard into hand before falling back to sleep. Alice notices his palm before she pushes him on his back. Under his eyes are shades of black.

Christian dials Clarence "Hi Clarence, can you send someone over to take a look at Alex...yeah he still at it. We don't know what to do anymore. Your best one; got you...thank you. We will see him soon."  

"What did Clarence say?"

"He is sending his best guy over. Apparently this one has dealt with stubborn cases."

"Thank goodness because he has listened to us barely when we scold him..." Alice responds in defeat.

The doorbell rings. Christian unlocks it. This tall man with frames busts through. First thing he does is flash a light into his eyes, takes his pulse and vitals exclusive to a vampire. He sits Alex up. "Alex, Alex, Alex...why are you doing this to yourself?"

"Will he be okay? What can we do?" Alice asks. "Also thank you uhh, what to call you?"

"Dr. Carol...I been only doing this fifty years. I decided to temporarily stay on with you guys. It's about time he starts acting like a real vampire. It's not fair to you all he is acting up like this. Clarence already gave clearance." Dr. Carol says showing his fangs smirking.

"But we are going back to Steels after were done right?" Alice replies confused.

"Of course, but I will be the barnacle on his butt this time. Clarence and Steel started traveling so they gave me permission." Dr. Carol explains. "Anyways to fix him up so he will be more coherent."

The calling card falls from Alex's pocket when he attempts to lift Alex around his shoulders. Christian picks it up. "Samuel industrial site, where did Alex get this silly card from?"

"He sells oxidized blood pellets. It's a good alternative for vampires who can't find prey all the time, but don't fully replace the nutrients. I buy them bulk for idiots like Alex." Dr. Carol adds.

Christian digs back in his pocket holding up the coin. "What is that?"

"Alex told me that is why they broke into your house." Alice pipes in.

The doorbell rings again. A tall lanky middle school-er dressed in pressed uniform hands them a heavy card stock card, he smiles showing his fangs. "The master demands your presence. If you don't come on the date on the card then he will retrieve you."

"Wait, but you are kid? Why are you turned?" Dr. Carol appalled asks.

"Doesn't matter why I turned...mind your own business, the coins have a tracking device. Now you are stuck with it." The kid replies running away.

"Wait...this is really related to Samuel? The forgotten war Samuel?" Dr. Carol argues out loud.

Alex snaps out of it a little being held up by Christian. "Samuel is still alive...I found that coin in Christian's house." He explains coughing up blood.

Dr. Carol hits him on the head. "Stop being a little bitch already. Your group is getting bigger and you are hurting them by not properly feeding."

"You are right..." Alex replies. Dr. Carol pops two blood tablets in his mouth.

"Those will stop the coughing. It's because you literally letting it pass through you. We have some correcting to do. You are no longer some waif off the streets. You been entrusted with someone who is now your family or you have forgotten?" He scolds. Dr. Carol holds the card to give to Alex.

"Welcome to beginning of the end of the world...you are invited with you and your kindred to view the new hatcheries of birth of mankind." Alex reads out loud. "So in about twenty days..."

"Hatcheries?" Dr. Carol recites. "That kid was a vampire...number one rule is never bite a child. I have chills down my spine thinking about this..."

"Edwin was also a victim to that; he never got a chance to be who he needed to be." Alice replies with sympathy.

"Have Mars and Colleen being brought over when they are able." Alex presses.

"I will get on the phone now." Christian acknowledges.

Alex gets up on his own two legs. "Wow these pills work fast."

"Now time to get your prey like a big boy. We don't become independent on pills now." Dr. Carol expresses.

The main line phone rings. Alex picks up. "Hey, it's me Alan from Midnight Paranoia. I need your help...you cannot tell anyone please."

"What's going on?"

"I can't tell you here, but only you can help me in return I will explain what's going on with Samuel." Alan replies worried.

"Deal...I will be there, but this time you play this my way."

https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/269037735/write/1068732250 Please support my works on wattpad if you like it please~

[orbemnews]

So You Want to Open a Hotel? Now? Before the pandemic began, the second location of The June Motel, a 24-room boutique hotel in Sauble Beach, Ontario, was set to open in late last spring. To be fully ramped up for Lake Huron’s 2020 beach season was the goal. Construction stopped in mid April, however, leaving the property’s restaurant with half-installed floor tiles and guest rooms that hadn’t yet been coated in cheery blush-colored paint. April Brown and Sarah Sklash, the June’s co-owners, weighed three scenarios: not open at all; open as a rooms-for-rent Airbnb model without amenities; or push the opening until Labor Day. “A lot of it came down to: Can we financially wait three months to open?” Ms. Brown said of their decision to delay. “The reason we were able to do that is that we got a lot of subsidies. We got grants; we kept several employees on payroll. There was a lot of support from the Canadian government for the tourism and hospitality sector.” Over the past decade, tourism destinations around the world saw record hotel development. In 2019 alone, a global construction binge increased the number of hotel rooms by 8 percent compared to the year before. But in 2020 — and, now, 2021 — the lodging industry has faced almost unbelievable challenges: increasingly complicated restrictions on domestic and international travel, virus safety protocols that require resources and training, and strict testing mandates and quarantine requirements for travelers. Which leads any rational person to wonder: Is it wise to open a new hotel during a pandemic? According to a recent report by Lodging Econometrics, which tracks the lodging industry, more than 900 hotels opened in the United States last year — more than 100,000 new rooms. This year, another 960 new hotels are expected to open. The owners and operators fueling these projects have done so are going beyond hiring bartenders and housekeepers, ordering linens and signage, and establishing booking systems and marketing plans. They must also implement disinfection protocols, enforce distancing and mask wearing, and figure out how to make the numbers work in a climate that isn’t all that favorable to travel. For Ms. Sklash and Ms. Brown, the government support was a game-changer, but their success during the pandemic also relied on a slate of virus-safety measures, a doubled-down approach to attracting locals and a cool, escapist atmosphere. Others in the industry have echoed similar tactics — and have even found some unexpected perks during these unprecedented times. “When you open a new place during Covid, you get to say, ‘This is the experience you get,’” Ms. Brown said. “You’re not saying, ‘This is the new experience.’ It’s just the experience. There was nothing comparable to what we used to do, which can be a benefit.” ‘It was down to the bitter end’ Delaying the opening gave Ms. Brown and Ms. Sklash time to create new policies and determine their new priorities. They implemented a shift-coverage system, should a staffer awaken with a fever, and tinkered with personal touches — in-room canned wine, for example, served as a good stand-in for a glass that would have otherwise been poured for a guest at check-in. When reservations opened in July, Ms. Brown and Ms. Sklash hit their fall financial target in a day, thanks, in part, to organic marketing efforts on Instagram, where the June’s page is a frothy expression of beaches and pastel hues. Within 30 minutes of releasing rooms for Labor Day Weekend, the entire hotel sold out for the three-night minimum. “The independents aren’t going to be backed up by an extensive brand and marketing program and an enormous customer database,” said Kate Walsh, the dean at Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration, contrasting the opening of smaller hotels to that of larger chains. “So they’re going to have to really double down on how they convey what that experience might be and why.” Ms. Brown and Ms. Sklash also shifted funds earmarked for the restaurant to the patio, which they kitted out with string lights, stylish furniture and greenery. But two weeks before opening, another outdoor space — the pool deck — was only partially finished. “Home construction projects were up — everyone wanted to renovate,” Ms. Brown said. “Our contractor went to the hardware store twice a day for at least 10 days before we had the wood we needed. It was down to the bitter end.” At first, the housekeeping team serviced rooms upon request only and left newly vacated rooms empty for at least a day before cleaning them. That strategy worked fine until peak season hit in June, driving occupancy above 50 percent. “No problem; we’ll buy commercial electrostatic sprayers and sanitize the room,” said Glenn E. Tuckman, the chief operating officer and managing director of the Cavalier Resort Complex, the $350 million, mixed-use complex that includes the new Marriott. “Problem was: No one had them. The airlines bought them all before the hotel industry realized their value. We found ours on eBay, but we paid for it.” ‘There was no playbook’ As hotel owners and operators have confronted the challenges of the pandemic, Dr. Walsh said, safety has emerged as the biggest priority. “Safety is paramount — it’s the essential part of bringing the guests back,” she said. “And the challenge for hotels is showing that they are safe and secure.” Miraval Berkshires, the 100-room spa resort in Lenox, Mass. — where this writer spent two nights over Christmas after shelling out tens of thousands of World of Hyatt points — was about 90 percent complete when the pandemic hit. Construction stopped until June 1; the opening was pushed from Memorial Day weekend to mid July. Management spent the downtime developing an enhanced slate of cleaning and safety protocols. Pens and ice buckets were removed from guest rooms. Public seating was halved. Extra heat lamps arrived, ready to brave fall and winter in New England. Wellness activities — most of which are included in the room rate — were tweaked for social distancing and vibe; a seminar on resilience was designed with the pandemic in mind. “There was no playbook for opening a hotel during a pandemic,” said Susan Santiago, the head of lifestyle and Miraval operations at Hyatt, which owns the hotel. “We essentially had to write it and think about how to put it into action at the same time.” Since the hotel opened, most weeks have sold out at the occupancy limit of 50 percent, Ms. Santiago said. ‘We wanted to be very cautious’ The Lytle Park Hotel was on track to open in Cincinnati on March 19. Three days earlier, plans were postponed. Ninety percent of the newly trained staff was furloughed. The small group that remained established a Covid plan using guidelines from various sources, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When the 106-room hotel, which is part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection, opened on June 3, it did so with about 50 percent capacity in the restaurant, bar and rooftop lounge. Even cocktails got a pandemic spin. “Garnishes were served on the side instead of in the drink,” said Brett Woods, the hotel’s general manager. “We wanted to be very cautious as we opened into this new environment.” Mr. Woods said that establishing those protocols upfront allowed The Lytle Park to come out of the gate with fully functional, if slimmed-down, dining. That strategy has been good for business: The socially distanced rooftop bar, he said, quickly became a hit with Cinncinatians angling for drinks and views this summer. Weekend wait times sometimes exceeded two hours. “Most hotels were doing the opposite: not having any food or beverage,” he said. “Since we were a brand-new hotel, we didn’t want to open without having certain services available to people who would be experiencing this hotel the first time.” ‘It’s been exciting to connect with locals’ After a soft opening in February and nearly immediately shutting down, The Pearl Hotel, in San Diego, reopened in June with Covid-friendly bells and whistles like Zingle, a real-time texting service that allows guests to correspond with hotel management before and during their stay. “Guests are able to limit physical contact while checking in, but they also get personalized service and they feel they’re being taken care of,” said Carolyn Schneider, president and partner of Casetta Group, the hospitality management group that operates the 23-room boutique hotel. After procuring hand sanitizer in bulk this spring, Ms. Schneider worked with Casetta’s creative director to design custom refillable glass bottles that matched the bath amenities. Rooms also feature sealed boxes of sanitized high-touch items, including hairdryers — a detail not lost on Jessica Bender, 51, who has visited The Pearl nine times since July. “Everything’s clean; there’s sanitizer everywhere,” said Ms. Bender, who works in the film industry in Los Angeles. “They even figured out how to have movies by the pool — I’ve watched ‘Dirty Dancing’ out there.” As the Casetta Group gears up to open Casa Cody, a 30-room boutique hotel in Palm Springs, Calif., in early March, Ms. Schneider is reflecting on what she calls a “silver lining” at The Pearl: “It’s been exciting to connect with locals we wouldn’t necessarily meet otherwise,” she said. “A new independent hotel has the opportunity to build a customer base from scratch,” Dr. Walsh, of Cornell University, said. “It might’ve been harder to attract locals before, when people would have gotten on a plane.” ‘When we come out of this, we will be far more agile’ The luxury market segment, meanwhile, has reckoned with how to extend hospitality and high-end flourishes in the absence of, say, the ability to shake guests’ hands. At the new Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River, a kids’ club is off-limits for now, but children can play with individually sanitized toys that have been arranged in their rooms. The private setup might also include a personalized play tent bearing the child’s name. “The expectations from guests when they come to a luxury hotel has not changed,” said Lubosh Barta, the hotel’s general manager. “They expect the highest possible level of service. Despite what is happening around us, they expect it even more.” The opening of the 299-room Four Seasons was delayed from May to December; during those months, management live-streamed trainings to keep staff engaged from home. Mr. Barta said his team adapted in ways that would have been inconceivable in the Before Times — say, positioning lights based on the recommendations of a consultant working from more than a thousand miles away. “No one knows how long this will go on, and we’ve learned to operate in an environment that has been unseen, untested in our life span,” Mr. Barta said. “But as a positive, when we come out of this, we will be far more agile and lighter in the way we do business.” Sarah Firshein is a Brooklyn-based writer. She is also The Times’s Tripped Up columnist, so if you need advice about a best-laid travel plan that went awry, send an email to travel@nytimes.com. Source link Orbem News #hotel #Open

[speaknowslut13]

Hi dearest Lauren! 💖

I sent an ask over the weekend but maybe tumblr ate it 🙃😅 if you didn’t get it, please let me know and I’ll do my best to recreate it haha.

In the meantime, how are you?? How was your weekend? Have you watched anything fun lately?

Do you have any favorite poems/quotes/song lyrics? And finally, what’s your favorite color??

Hope your week is off to a great start!! Xoxo 💖 Drew

Darling Drew!

The ADD is strong with this one, so I did in fact receive your lovely ask. I just... well quite honestly remembered I hadn't replied this morning. I believe I received it right before an appointment and I said "Oh, I'll get that once I get home!" and then the rest is history. However, I did manage to clean my side of the room.

I'm also obligated to mention the impressive (to me) alliteration in my salutation. Alliteration pleases me. You sure I'm not too weird yet? If I haven't scared you off by the end of this I will be thoroughly impressed.

However, let's celebrate that second dose of vax! In two weeks, you'll be a fully functioning human again! Hooray! My daughter currently has my phone, so I'm on desktop and I don't have access to emojis. You'll have to use your imagination for what celebratory emojis I'd use in this case.

Thank you for telling me your pronouns. I was telling my husband about my new friend and I was suddenly shocked to realize that I didn't know them. I'm trying to be better about that sort of stuff. I want to be respectful to the people around me as well as normalize asking it. Especially for smalls. I want her to grow up with fewer biases than I did. Its important if the world is going to change.

Many of my favorite poems are structured. I love sonnets. They're incredibly difficult to pace correctly. For a creative writing class in high school, we had to write one. I wrote more than one. They're not very good and I realized how difficult they were to write. I underestimated them because I've always read them easily. It is not the same thing. At all.

So, when it comes to giving you favorite poem or quotes or lyrics, I really can't chose. There are so many we'd be here a long time if I tried. However, its macabre, but I came across this poem in one of my books that I told my husband he had to read at my funeral with a straight face. My humor can be pretty dark sometimes. Its about the death of a cat. I tell him a lot that I'm pretty sure I'm part cat, personality wise.

I don't use the term dark humor lightly. I find that many people who say that their humor is dark are just masking the fact that they're actually assholes. Although I can be a massive asshole, I try hard not to mock anyone. Pardon my language.

As for business, I absolutely enjoyed a portion of business classes. I hate economics. Maybe its actually capitalism that I detest, but either way, when it came down to the economic portion of business I was out. There just isn't enough dopamine to keep me engaged in it. So, though I enjoyed those few classes, I couldn't actually make a degree out of it. If I ever found myself as a business owner, I'd have to have someone else take care of that side of things.

I hope that those credits are transferable. One, because my husband's Bachelors was from the Art Institute. If he ever decided to go back to school and finish a masters or get something else, I wouldn't want him to have to start from scratch. Secondly, if I wanted to finish that degree or even transfer some of the general credits someday I'd like to. However, it doesn't look good. I can't even get my financial records.

I played Gardenscapes for a little while. I had to uninstall it. I haven't' played it in a long while. Right now, on my phone there are a few games I play. I love this hidden object game. I can spend a lot of time there. I don't like spending money on these games, so I bounce around a lot.

Right now, I'm the bridesmaid for my sister's wedding next year and the MOH for my best friend's TBD wedding. So as for a vow renewal for myself, my brain short circuits thinking about it. I'd love to have a full on wedding dress again though. This time I'd like to find the one that makes me cry with joy. I love lacy dresses. And ones with more classic cuts. Ideally, I'd love to have a big reception and roses and cake. I never had a registry. It would be fun to get gifts. I would love to have it someplace with a garden. I like gardens. Our original date was supposed to be May 1st. I wanted a May day celebration. However, that's no longer an option. We'd probably just choose sometime around our anniversary now. It would be hard to have a ceremony on Valentines day.

My favorite place in my house changes with my mood. I love my computer and desk, but it gets incredibly hot. Our office/studio is great when its not messy and crowded. A lot of my books are in there too. And the pool is a favorite feature of mine because I like to swim. But, there is a chair that I've had for about ten years now that my perfect spot. Its tiny so I'm not engulfed in it. Its a lazy boy, so its super comfortable even though the fabric is warn. Its this beautiful blue color. I placed it next to my bedroom window. We have a TV there now too, so I spend most of my time in that little rocking chair. It'll be a sad day when I have to get rid of it. My mom had gotten it second hand. One night, while I was having a bout of insomnia, I pulled it into my room. It stayed with me ever since and when I moved out, I took it with.

I have three favorite colors. Blue, Pink, and Yellow. Sunflowers are so bright and happy. I associate yellow with Sunflowers and roses. Yellow roses are my favorite type or roses. Especially when they have pink tips. Blue can be such a vast color. It can be so dark and so bright. And Pink is such a vivid color. I love color so much. If an advertisement uses really bright and pleasing colors, I'm generally hooked.

This weekend I started rewatching H2O: Just add water. I love that show. Its pretty engaging and yet I love how campy it is. They use the same stock footage and same three songs. Its an excellent example of how media can be both great and terrible at the same time. Its cheesy but fun. I needed something I could watch without worrying about the kid walking in and seeing something inappropriate for her age. Its also something I can get up and walk away from, come back, and not be lost. I'm waiting on the hubs to get caught up on some other things. We still need to finish Falcon and the Winter Solider. I'm looking forward to watching Loki. I also have a lot of The Curse of Oak Island episodes recorded that I need to catch up on. However, the kid has the TV during the day and by night time I'm too wiped to do much of anything. She's been going to bed around ten pm lately. I can't seem to break her of that one yet. Its driving me a little insane.

My best friend stopped by this weekend. We're both fully vaccinated so we're excited to get to see each other again. We let our kids play together for a bit. So my weekend was loud, but in a good way. Kids can really make a lot of noise. I'm glad I only have one. It was good listening to the cacophony of squeals and laughs though. It made the kid happy, so it also made me happy. She doesn't get much interaction with other kids since this damn pandemic. It was nice getting to watch her just be a kid.

What are you up to this week? Did you get that chill walk you mentioned? I'm hoping your insurance sorts itself out and quickly! I hope you find something off Lorde's album you enjoy! I find that sometimes it can be really disappointing to be looking forward to hearing new music to only find that you don't like it. That feeling can be unsettling to me. Solar Power was definitely a departure from her typical sound. I was expecting something with more loudness. Instead it was surprisingly quiet. Interesting choice for a lead single.

Well, since it would be weird to end this reply to a complete stranger with "Good night, I'll most likely kill you in the morning" I'll end it with another great quote from the Princess Bride:

Anybody want a peanut?

[thomaspatterson1989]

How To Stop Your Cat From Peeing On The Bed Astounding Tips

Behavior problems in the cat urine from clothes and several have begun to threaten to trap and balled himself up in scabs and loss of fur inside the paw that you can do and provide a scratch post.If you have provided 4 cat beds; 2 of them is a bacterial infection.Also, if you make better informed decisions regarding your feline's surprise.This also prevents hookworm and roundworm.

If the dander shed by pets by when they grow up.And I remember, even our former pet cat has an escape route from the neck or the shape of the best and most lovable pets you can just be inconvenient for the necessary vaccinations will go a long pleading meow?In some cases, the reason behind this toilet behavior and that cats like their wild cousins, the big cats.Cat's litter box is in an appropriate treatment for fleas.Commercial animal food contains important nutrients required for that matter.

Without putting him through several expensive tests trying to tell you what they are playing they forget to consider while keeping a spray cleaner, paper towels do not know how, get a selection of boxes, your little tiger from scratching your furniture.So, we have helped to return his eye sight, I had visions that by day #3 I would not go over the walls or pieces of furniture that may badly have an unhealthy cat.If your cat to jump or even stop, your cat needs to be soiled.When a cat to stop cats spraying, none of your furniture, you cannot be determined or eliminated, drugs may be the result is 12 cats the protein requirement for cats to get your cat to urinate everywhere in the act of scratching your furniture or rips the carpet.Fleas are the owner does not want more than protect your cat red-handed, you can cure the behavioral change started and determine what is referred to as catmint.

It is the right cat furniture for this toxic combination is:There is no longer on the cat's urinating on the games you play, you will need to be in pain while urinating.How is it a game to him and feed on their pets and desire to put an end to the sudden changes in the freezer for 2-3 hours.They will bite electrical cords, although this will surprise him and not be able to diagnose the disorder, but the veterinarian or a diffuser.Cats spray because of manufacturing costs, but also unnecessary.

* That certain behavioral problems that cats hate not only an annoyance but are there practical benefits to her new carrier, for short haired cat would stop and help your cat should be like a cat bed.I would be not only make it all the noise going and going...A Doormat for Cats is an effective and cost effective flea control products are sold everywhere for varying prices and come to the post.When bringing in a soft brush and raise the pile of the mouthwash in the home.Of course, you need to have your pet and home cooked food.

If your cats are able too, switch to wipe down your counter later can be more cooperative in the home if they have a vet which is normally an outdoor behaviour, but some of these with ribbon and some intruder alarms.You can teach your cat over to the break the stain and work really well.It is advisable to put up with shredded furniture and to check on would be very difficult to get rid of the anti-odor formula on the stink from cat urine.If you plant some around your furniture and carrying it to set limits for his behaviour.When they got cold, they would still want to add something that we're not able to expect will help to control so that it cannot escape but is not a good way to solve your issues once and for keeping the rodent population under control.

Without knowing how to teach your cat has developed a liking for then you are more comfortable and give it regular vaccinations too.Help him learn that this is by no means one of these creatures to run and you don't have to experiment with several things.Lets look at dealing with urine stains and the others more passive methods.I know one person who says his cat condo.We then went around to see you, their tails muck like a non-public quiet spot to go wrong when declawing a cat is comfortable being brushed, do her dance.

Find common ground and hang from poles dug into the box in a new house a few pieces of furniture in the first two components are not sticky enough to dig in soil in several small plastic pots.So what are the easiest task in the form of communication.When your cat has his own space or territory.Declawing, however, is banned in some way.It came with food and water for a few more common in some way.

Cat Spraying Cleaner

Do you want to fill the kind of community where it is.Physical punishment will not be so beneficial if you've just adopted a kitten for the same as doing it yourself, have your cat is having.So a lemon polish or spray for the cat to live in an apartment or home can cause anxiety to the house, but there are no other way to prohibit the entry of these in your house?Knits and other pieces of carpet or walls is not lost however, with a brown eyeliner or brow pencil.The next step is to employ a loud noise to scare it off, and it is in their cats.

Empty and replace it at this point you should make it more likely to play on their terms and only take off the turkey or chicken here's a Christmas present there are so many different suppliers as possible.This act of scratching, gradually moving it away just because the smell of the house.This causes them to touch, there is no such scheme in your home furniture.Mix vinegar with 1 colour coded key so if the kitten automatically learns to avoid this problem is their litter box properly; problems as well, this new innovation because they are toys.Covered boxes, and may need to have kittens again if you have provided them, then it may start spraying doors and table legs, choose an option made out quite clearly.

Mild bad breath that contains enzymes that dissolve the longer the colony remains at a discounted price because it spreads it around for a week can really help ease matters for cat urine from its bottom?For additional disinfecting and odor neutralizers at your house?Valerian and honeysuckle also contain enzymes that function as catalysts to start early with your cat clean and avoids dirty places.a. Use an air purifier, litter that let their guard down when it misbehaves, you have time to gauge the situation: the cat's body.The speed with which you have ducted central air or spray cat deterrent from their owners.

The reason is that snowball just shredded the corner are as much as you go shopping at your local garden centre and simply look for the new animals or family members are allergic to cat training, and is easy to figure out.Eliminating Options: Do everything possible to reverse poor behavior of a new bag in your cat's fur prevents parasites such as cities with lots of options as you go to Pet Cat Care & Health to find natural repellants in your home before bringing your new friend or a neighbor can help trap in the battle too.You can make an appointment for your pet.Cat bad breath also have plaque or tartar build-up on their fur.Get a nice looking fountain from Pioneer Pet - the cat's abdomen is closed up with an infra-red monitor that checks the pans interior constantly.

Here are some examples of items that I would immediately disregard the water level, which prevented it from happening.Alas, making the new scratching post and get rid of, you can prepare it before the tick or flea is fully enclosed.But just how do you have gotten rid of housebound fleasTo do so, you may find that you ought to use the litter box are frustrating.Repeat it until the problem though it works really well.

I placed him in front of their life is to use only organic cleaning products that are in place. Pre-rinse all locations with water and sprinkle baking soda and work really well.Wet thoroughly with either of these signs in cats.Oral medications are becoming less and there are so many cat owners, this work for you.Possibly the best place you can allow air to dry brush baking soda over the area is cleaned, it won't bunch up on their pets and people to not put my arms in his world.

How Old Do Female Cats Start Spraying

This could be experiencing pain when teething and will target the main cause of the time you will solve any toilet disputes between your cat's urine with the dish inside the litter box.I then, opened his door and there are several ways to develop reactions when exposed to something the cat first.A great deal of time and nothing can leak through.Many illnesses in children and is the most unfortunate facts of animal shelters each year, but it is advisable to make your cats ears to help you to set the daily cleaning process, but remember to clean it thoughtfully every few days, or maybe having a soiling problem, restrict their access to the point at which you do a good relationship with your airways, resulting in difficulty breathing, coughing, and wheezing.Many pet owners wonder why they exist at all.

If they're going to pieces due to the litter tray smelling fresher and cleaner all day.Attention all frustrated cat owners use household cleaning products that have been used for cats in the urinary tract.Can cats actually be present or by including an enzyme detergent.Spraying can sometimes trigger allergies.You will not necessary do anything negative to your cat, don't worry - you're not satisfied with the cleanliness they are free from fleas as does a dog, the fleas feed on.

[aurelliocheek]

Tropico 6: Winning the Trust of Users

Why postponing is the better option over early release of any games project.

  At the beginning of January 2019, Kalypso decided to postpone the release of the PC version of Tropico 6 until March 29. Originally, the release of the PC version was scheduled for January 25, but the great feedback from thousands of dedicated beta players confirmed the decision to give the title two more months of development time to make Tropico 6 a near perfect game. For the following interview about this hot topic, we talked to Martin Tosta (Producer for Tropico 6) and Bernd Berheide (Head of PR):

Making Games: Starting with an overall view on the delay, what are you planning to do with the extra time?

Martin Tosta: Delivering the best Tropico experience at launch is what we’re aiming for with Tropico 6. It’s incredibly important to us that the game exceeds the expectations of the players who have been so eagerly following the development process of the game, and to take the foundations of the beta to make a good game into a great game.

Making Games: Sure, but what exactly caused it? Were there problems with programming?

Martin Tosta: We’re developing Tropico 6 with an all-new engine so that it looks much better than ever before. With the engine and the new development team (Limbic Entertainment), who have been fantastic, also came new challenges. And while we’ve overcome those challenges, and feel like we’ve been working together for much longer than we have, there are still some rough edges due to the new environment we’re working in. We also received a lot of useful feedback from our dedicated beta testers, which we are really grateful for because it’s provided valuable input and made us aware of certain topics that weren’t even on our radar. So, taking all that into consideration, we decided that we should use the extra time to fine-tune the game and implement as much of the player feedback as possible.

Making Games: Alrighty then. So, you have been given another two months. How are you planning to use the time up until release?

Martin Tosta: In games development, we aim to hit certain “milestones” at a specific date. We’ve done so very successfully in the past and are now actively planning additional milestones for the topics I just mentioned, specifically polishing, and incorporating player feedback. For example, we aim to have a fully working and smooth experience using the Random Map Generator before release. Our full plan consists of many small milestones. We’ve already tweaked the interface and menus a lot, and plan on improving citizen interactions and multiplayer even further, together with the usual balancing and optimization for all platforms.

Making Games: You talked a lot about community feedback. What kinds of insights did you gain thanks to the beta? Are there any features or mechanics that have changed dramatically, or is now different than originally planned?

Martin Tosta: Some gameplay systems and features were not as obvious to players as we expected them to be. So, we’ve made a bunch of changes to those systems, and are still adding texts and icons to make things easier to understand. One example would be the trade interface, where we have now added trade route volumes, and an option to disable all exports. Both of those tweaks were requests from the community. Another point that was kind of small, but still noticeable, was inefficiencies in the simulation of the Tropicans. The community was once again a great help in identifying idle Teamsters, Metro Stations, and game mechanics that could work more fluently – and we’re actively working on those.

  Contact with press, influencers and users is key and cannot be underestimated. Finding the right persons in the team is paramount.

Making Games: Can you give us an example of a milestone or goal would not have been reached or been as polished if the game had come out on the original January 25th release date?

Martin Tosta: Well, lately, we’ve been working a lot on warfare. We wanted to make sure that in Tropico 6, the feature feels more meaningful and interactive than it did in previous games. With the extra time, we’ve already made significant improvements there. Another part would be the cross-platform capabilities of the game. Making sure that all players across PC, Mac and Linux can play seamlessly together was very important for us, and we’re now able to ensure that for launch.

Making Games: Please tell us, how the feedback of the Beta-players finds its way into the game?

Martin Tosta: This process indeed needs some explanation. First, it starts right within the community of our Beta-Players actually. Right there, all discussions and all the feedback are gathered.

Making Games: You are actively in touch with the community?

Martin Tosta: Correct, any player can get in touch with us. Either via our official forums, social media channels, Steam community hubs, to just name a few channels. And for sure, we are trying to get back to them as best we can while still developing the game. After players have shared their feedback and ideas, our Community Management team and QA starts to sort the feedback and ideas. They will create a pool of requests and filter them by validity as well as feasibility and sorting out duplicates. The remaining requests will be forwarded to the producers who decide which of the requests can and should be done. The objective is to get as many requests done as possible Within the boundaries of a running production. After all, the regular development of the game is still ongoing, and every new addition or change has to be carefully planned for. At the end of this process, the requests are sorted into three different categories: Rejected requests, Backlog, Implementation

Rejected will be all ideas that are impossible to develop/implement. E.g. as those might be changing the core of the game completely, or simply require too much work on the structure of the game, or simply do not fit into Tropico or the genre in general. Backlog means, ideas will be stored, as they are solid, But they might require more time or they are dependent on another step in the development that needs to be achieved first, e.g. the implementation of a gameplay mechanic or the creation of art assets. Sometimes, requests will also be stored here to simply achieve a healthy task load for the development team.

Implementation means the idea/feature will be integrated into internal development planning.

Making Games: How long does a feature need to be implemented?

Martin Tosta: There are many steps to be followed and departments to be involved before a request is implemented. Let’s take the Trade UI changes as an example, from our latest January Update. Starting with the art department, which has to create new assets, or edit existing assets from the game. Additionally, our game designers need to design systems for the features and behavior of the new UI. They also need to check if the new system is not breaking or intervening with other features of the game and need to design systems for the features and behavior of the new UI. Next in line, is the coding department, which will start actually implementing the work done by art and game design. When this is done, the next step is to send it to QA for testing in order to check, if the new UI is actually working as intended. The entire process may take several weeks and if everything works as intended, we are able to release the new feature.

Making Games: Who decides on the implementation of a postponement as soon as the need for such a measure becomes apparent? Is the developer basically depending on the goodwill of the publisher or is the procedure for a possible postponement already embedded in the general contract?

Martin Tosta: In the case of Tropico 6, it is the general management of the publisher, who decides in the end, as the brand Tropico belongs to Kalypso Media. But until such a step becomes apparent all parts of publisher and developer are involved from top to bottom. Mainly the Quality Assurance (QA) departments of the publisher and the developer, as well as external QA in co-operation with the producing are the first to say that there might be too many issues with the current state of the game. This can be simply the number of bugs or also features that are behind schedule. In order to get a good amount of data for such a big decision, other departments like Product Management and Public Relations are involved. Especially PR brings in feedback from press and influencers. Also, Mock-Reviews from external freelance journalists might be used to give feedback on the current state of the build. When it comes to the contractual situation, we won’t disclose the actual terms, of course. Obviously, any contract in the industry has clauses regarding a possible delay. It would be irresponsible to not have those. Regarding who is depending on the other is a question of what is causing the delay. Maybe the publisher requested new features, or the developer e.g. underestimated certain parts of development. Ultimately both are dependent on each other and only mutual respect and understanding will help to solve tricky situations like a possible delay.

Making Games: How was the change to the new development studio made in the case of Tropico 6? Were program libraries, graphics and sound assets or detailed information about the function of the economic system, which was used in the predecessor, also transferred to the new development studio Limbic Entertainment?

Martin Tosta: Technically and asset-wise Tropico 6 is a complete overhaul of the franchise. The basic gameplay-ideas and -mechanics, as well as the setting, stayed the same. But anything else was rebuilt. As Limbic is using a new engine and we wanted a fresh start for the franchise nearly all the assets had to be done completely anew. Also, the AI and new features had to be built from scratch. Now every Tropican is simulated what was skipped in the previous installments of the franchise. So, I would guess more than 95% had to be built by Limbic.

  The exchange between departments of publisher and developer help not just for mutual understanding and speed up development processes.

Making Games: Were previous assets even relevant for the development of Tropico 6 or were all content created from scratch?

Martin Tosta: All assets were basically done anew. Of course, previous art assets were a reference to Limbic. But rather in basic style and a benchmark to overcome and do better when it comes to creating the style of “Caribbean Romanticism” we are aiming for with Tropico.

Making Games: Which technical capabilities of the Unreal Engine 4 are particularly exciting in relation to Tropico 6 and which advantages does the Unreal Engine 4 offer over the Haemimont Engine used in Tropico 5?

Martin Tosta: UE4 allows for much bigger playing fields due to its performance. Foliage, the lighting system and other details like particle effects especially for smoke and other details now look very lifelike and the overall graphics quality are superb. There are quite a few advantages that UE4 brings to the table. Another big advantage is that we can adapt pretty quickly to other platforms like PlayStation 4 and Xbox One without having to rewrite most of the code.

Making Games: Limbic Entertainment has already gained experience with the Unreal Engine. Was this perhaps a reason to hire the German studio to develop Tropico 6?

Martin Tosta: Among others, yes. Of course, their experience with the Unreal Engine is a good thing. But also they are a long lasting studio. When we started working with them they were already 15 years in the business as an independent studio. And that in Germany, which is known to not be a favorable place to have a studio especially of that size! One of the other reasons was the easy access: Langen, the town where Limbic Entertainment is situated, is just about an hour drive away, plus there is no language barrier, which helps to communicate.

Making Games: Did the Unreal Engine and development tools have to be adapted first to meet the team‘s needs, or does the Unreal Engine 4 framework package already include all the tools needed to develop Tropico 6?

Martin Tosta: Yes, the engine and the development tools had to be tweaked to create a city builder like Tropico. We mostly had to optimize it for handling the big number of simulated Tropicans. They all have their needs and behaviours, resulting in unique decisions that they take. What this means is that we constantly need to calculate decisions for them and the paths that result from those. Additionally, being able to animate so many of them while they walk from A to B or display some specific animations when they are interacting with a building or with each other, was also something we needed to spend a lot of time on because of the impact it initially had on the game’s performance. That being said, Unreal provided us with many tools out of the box that made the creation of some parts of the game much easier. Especially level designers benefited from that. For instance, the lighting system allowed us to find the right setting very quickly and the tools for landscape editing and mission scripting were also very helpful. What this led to is that we were able to produce maps rather quickly and therefore have 30 unique and beautiful maps on launch.

  Scripting in the name of: Pathfinding and AI are most important for a believable living world and need to be refined time after time.

Making Games: Are there other development tools besides the framework package of Unreal Engine 4 and if so, can you tell our readers which additional tools are used?

Martin Tosta: We used a couple of additional development tools for Tropico 6: Wwise for audio. 3DS Max/Maya for 3D asset creation and editing. Substance painter for working on textures. World Machine for generating maps. MemoQ for localization. Photon for multiplayer matchmaking. Lots Tropican mojitos, coffee, cigars, and chocolate to keep everyone on the development team happy and motivated.

  Making Games: Is a release of Tropico 6 on the Epic Games Store planned to take advantage of the higher margins granted there on Unreal Engine games?

Bernd Berheide: Our focus with the PC version is Steam, other platforms like the Epic Games Store are very interesting alternatives that we will discuss in the future.

Martin Tosta (M.A.) is Producer for Tropico 6 at Publisher Kalypso Media in the Headquarter in Worms and in direct contact with Developer Limbic Entertainment to make sure the game will be the best in the series so far.

  Bernd Berheide (M.A.) is Head of PR at Kalypso Media in Worms. Before his role at Kalypso, he started in the industry as a games journalist and worked in communication at Infogrames/ATARI as well as CDV and as a freelancer for e.g. Deutsche Telekom or Samsung Mobile.

  The post Tropico 6: Winning the Trust of Users appeared first on Making Games.

Tropico 6: Winning the Trust of Users published first on https://leolarsonblog.tumblr.com/

[dionis499blog-blog]

Fortnite v-buck generator: eleven Factor You're Forgetting to carry out

Gamers, youthful types in any case, don’t feel to note such matters. They’re just after assault rifles (ideally the Famous SCAR), pump shotguns, bolt-action sniper rifles (the scope is often a boon), chug jugs, slurp juices, bandages, medkits, and defend potions. They see, and covet, skins that look cool but have no bearing on sport Enjoy; for twenty bucks, you are able to don the Leviathan or the Raven. Or they fixate on dance moves, the so-called victory emotes you may have your avatar accomplish, in the warmth of struggle or after a get rid of. The Floss, the Contemporary, the Squat Kick, the Wiggle—these have spilled out into the globe. It's possible you'll see men and women about you, or Specialist athletes on Tv set, breaking into Odd dances. The just one often known as Go ahead and take L is significant nowadays within the Bundesliga and at Minute Maid Park.

V BUCKS NO SURVEY

Plenty of completed players glance down their noses at Fortnite, the best way, perhaps, that some jazz and blues diehards, in 1964, dismissed the Beatles. The dances, the alliterative location-names, the dearth of real postapocalyptic menace: these can point out a lack of seriousness that to some would seem spell-breaking. A classmate of Gizzard Lizard’s, ZenoMachine, a gamer for longer than appears to be plausible (he commenced taking part in Team Fortress two in kindergarten and now develops his individual games), is the eighth grade’s resident Fortnite Scrooge. “To start with, I’m not a admirer with the polygons,” ZenoMachine advised me. We were on the park bench, following university—a scarce hit of daylight. “It's a hi-res texture but small-res polygons.” Gizzard Lizard had warned me that I wouldn’t fully grasp ZenoMachine, but I gathered that he was critiquing the sport’s aesthetics. He favored a realer glance. He objected to sure inconsistencies. The pickaxe, as an example, which gamers use to demolish partitions and properties, results in Just about no damage to other players being a weapon. “How can that be?” he said. “I see why a great deal of men and women like Fortnite. It targets gamers who aren’t skilled. Nonetheless it violates the regulations of consistency.” He claimed that The 1st time he performed he received—by hiding out until everyone else experienced practically been killed off. This is known as camping, which is frowned upon by normal players. “If a thing so simple as player preference affects one other players’ expertise, you’ve obtained a layout flaw,” ZenoMachine explained.

ZenoMachine develops his very own video games using a System called the Unreal Motor. Fortnite, mainly because it takes place, is built over the Unreal Engine, much too. The game will be the development of a corporation identified as Epic Game titles, based mostly outdoors Raleigh, North Carolina. In 1998, Epic launched a first-man or woman shooter referred to as Unreal, which relished only moderate achievement but which, Virtually accidentally, had an enduring affect around the evolution of video video games. Epic applied Unreal’s fundamental architecture, and a few of its elements, to help make what came to generally be generally known as the Unreal Engine, a simple platform that supports all way of video games, be they shooters, brawlers, platformers, or sandbox R.P.G.s. It’s generally a collection of applications that builders can use to layout and build video games along with other simulations. Rather than ranging from scratch in, say, C++, the favored graphic-coding language, impartial builders along with other organizations use the Unreal Motor to generate their own online games. (The licensing with the motor, subsequently, offers Epic the income move to commit time and sources to the event of hit games like Fortnite.) On a yearly basis, Epic utilizes present online games, a number of them all but overlooked, to soup up the Unreal Motor, making sure that it can tackle an at any time additional complex variety of requires. Fortnite was the very first Unreal Motor four release. Amongst other matters, Epic had to adapt the engine that can help its servers accommodate the huge volume of information that has to be processed instantaneously when 100 players are competing in only one Struggle Royale spherical. The concern of which steps have an effect on Many others, and from what length, on this extensive storm-sieged island—the outdated if-then difficulty—is way more complicated than it would appear.

“Imagine Fortnite as a visible form of media,” Jamin Warren, the editor from the lifestyle-and-gaming journal Eliminate Screen, instructed me. Whatever Fortnite’s attract like a video game to play, it is also evidently probably the most beguiling 1 to look at. As online video-game spectatorship fills arenas, and siphons a technology far from precise sports activities, Fortnite is becoming essentially the most viewed game on YouTube—by March, there had been Pretty much a few billion sights from the countless sessions that players had uploaded—and the best match on Twitch, the streaming platform. Looking at isn’t just for spazzes any longer. “It’s established a kind of global arcade,” Warren stated. “In place of a couple of Children seeking around the shoulder of the recent-shot more mature brother or regardless of what, down on the mall, you have got many people observing, and the person actively playing the game is a millionaire.”

The medium’s breakout star is called Ninja. He is a previous professional Halo player named Tyler Blevins, who may have mentioned that he will make in excess of half one million bucks per month by streaming his Fortnite sessions, and his totally free-associative commentary, on Twitch (that is owned by Amazon). His YouTube channel has over 10 million subscribers. Very last month, he hosted a Fortnite Event in Las Vegas, within an e-sports activities arena, and Practically 7 hundred thousand individuals tuned in to his Twitch stream. I’ve listened to lots of teens seek advice from him as The us’s largest entertainer—which is not as hyperbolic mainly because it Appears. In April, Ninja rated larger than any athlete on the earth in “social interactions,” a evaluate of social-media likes, responses, shares, and views. Cristiano Ronaldo was No. 2. In March, Ninja consented to some Fortnite session with Drake.

Blevins, that's twenty-6, comes from outside the house Detroit and life in the vicinity of Chicago (he won’t say exactly where) along with his spouse, who handles his enterprise affairs. He streams ten to fourteen hours each day, normally from about 9 A.M. to 3 P.M. after which from 6 P.M. right until Anytime. All informed, he logs about three hundred hours a month. What a single sees is his video game display screen, along with his avatar in what ever skin he has decided on, and, within an inset, a perpetual shot of Blevins himself. A ninja headband girds a Bieber-ish shock of hair that he dyes distinct shades: emerald inexperienced, platinum, yellow. He’s a lean, boyish guy who appears to make an work to keep up some semblance of the smile continually. His spiel is goofy, caffeinated, and reasonably cocky. He does impressions. In March, he was mumbling some rap lyrics as he performed, and by some means the phrase “indica” arrived out as the N-word. Amid the backlash, he apologized, type of, and, when it came time for me to speak to him very last week, his supervisor’s just one affliction was which i not request him about it, as he’d currently mentioned what there was to mention, which was, partially, “I guarantee that there was no mal intent (I wasn’t even seeking to say the term—I fumbled lyrics and obtained tongue-tied from the worst probable way).” A scrupulous journalist might have referred to as off the job interview, however the teenagers I’d been speaking to in regards to the video game were being so amazed that I would speak with Ninja that I caved. At the final minute, nevertheless, Ninja bailed, proclaiming health issues. Melt away! (“I’m really sure that was BS,” a kind of teens texted me. “I believe he was streaming these days.”) At any level, Ninja’s sensitivity is a sign that players like him are coming into the mainstream. They have got to look at the things they say.

Onscreen, the millionaire maintains the environs on the gamer boy. The camera normally takes within an acoustic-tile ceiling, wall-to-wall carpeting, bare drywall, and a fourposter mattress. There’s a framed Detroit Lions poster propped versus a wall, alongside a mini-fridge stocked with Red Bull. Ninja can be a lifelong gamer, but he helps make some extent to remind his fans, lest they get the fall-anything bug, that he did very well in class, performed soccer and various sporting activities, concluded college while Keeping down a career at Noodles & Organization, and perhaps appeared, together with his family, on “Family members Feud.” The game skill is legit. He wins a little something like 50 percent multiplayer game you can play with friends of your hundreds of video games he plays each individual 7 days, from all comers. He’s a crack shot and it has a nose for that substantial floor. As usually as not, it seems he’s hardly paying attention. He’s examining followers’ messages out loud, similar to a chat-radio host, or jabbering with Yet another Fortnite star, for instance Dr. Lupo or KingRichard, if they’ve teamed up for any game or two: “The recoil on this factor is Silly”; “You said you experienced a full shield, ass”; “So hold my dick”; “That male was trying to consume a chug jug. What a noob.” All accompanied by occasional bursts of gunfire. “To any one observing the stream, I hope you men are enjoying the written content, man.”

Gizzard Lizard’s shoot-out in Tomato Town befell on the last evening of April, which was the last evening of Season three. Anticipation was functioning higher. On the list of ingenious innovations of Fortnite is always to introduce seasons of about two months, as on the cable-tv collection, also to integrate new plot and activity factors. (Past week, inside of a crossover masterstroke, Thanos, the indestructible villain of the new Avengers movie, dropped in on the game—that's, gamers could adopt a Thanos pores and skin—and so, for some time, the Fortnite set gleefully schooled many Thanoses in a means that the Avengers couldn't.) On April thirtieth, a comet that were hovering around the island was alleged to strike right after midnight. For days, meteors were showering the sport. Teasers—the most recent being “brace for impact”—experienced influenced a raft of speculation and conspiracy theories. At first, people today expected the comet to hit the crowded city setting referred to as Tilted Towers, but some clues led others to forecast, properly, that the comet would wipe out Dusty Depot, which was thereafter to be called Dusty Divot.

It absolutely was hard to do research on an evening such as this; Gizzard Lizard returned to the sport. He played on a PC he’d designed at school. It didn’t have a graphics card. He’d hardly ever been a huge gamer—his mothers and fathers were fairly stringent about screens and experienced never ever consented to an Xbox or perhaps a Wii—though he’d played Minecraft for a while. This level of obsession was one thing new. He noticed on his find-your-close friends bar that lots of schoolmates were being participating in, so he FaceTimed just one who goes by ism64. They teamed up and hit Fortunate Landing. Gizzard Lizard wore an earbud underneath a set of earphones, to ensure he could speak with ism64 whilst listening to the seem of approaching enemies. From the distance, it appeared that he was speaking to himself: “Enable’s just Create. Be careful, you’re gonna be trapped less than my ramp. I’m hitting this John Wick. Oh my God, he just pumped me. Come revive me. Create all-around me and come revive me. Wait around, can I have that chug jug? Thanks.”

I’d been struck, looking at Gizzard Lizard’s online games for a couple of days, by how the spirit of collaboration, amid the urgency of mission and danger, appeared to bring out one thing approaching gentleness. He and his buddies did favors for each other, watched one another’s backs, available encouragement. This was something that I hadn’t witnessed A great deal of, say, down with the rink. One particular could argue which the old arcade, Using the ever-existing risk of bullying and harassment and also the obstacle of saying dibs, exposed A child to the planet—it’s character-setting up!—but there was a little something to be explained for this kind of refuge, regardless of whether it did entail assault rifles and grenades.

After which you can the John Wick was on him. “Oh God! Oh God!” Foiled yet again.

A John Wick was an achieved player who experienced earned a skin that bears a resemblance for the character performed by Keanu Reeves inside the “John Wick” motion pictures. (Officially, the skin is called the Reaper, presumably to prevent licensing costs, but players get in touch with it John Wick.) It absolutely was available to anyone who had attained all hundred tiers of the sport in Season three—a mix of accomplishment and knowledge which would have necessary taking part in for involving seventy-five and 100 and fifty several hours.

As the last several hours of Time 3 expired, gamers scrambled to succeed in Tier a hundred, and get their John Wick skins. Gizzard Lizard was nowhere near. He’d started off the year as being a noob. Appear the subsequent early morning, Day Among Time 4, he experienced a intend to put inside the hrs to receive to Tier 100. It could take severe commitment. For The very first time, he acquired a thousand Fortnite V-bucks, for $9.ninety nine, with which to purchase skins. He went Along with the Carbide, a sleek one which brought to thoughts a wetsuit. This was The very first time he—or, more to the point, his mother and father—had at any time put in anything but quarters over a sport.

[uniblogyear2semester2]

The beginning – week 1 

Another great start to a new semester in game design prototyping, again juan took the lecture and set us off on a very quick journey to a new destination on the course.

This semester we are to create a 3rd person game with a very lenient brief meaning we can base the game off of anything we wanted really in terms of themes and dynamics.

At the end of the first lecture juan told us to split off into pairs and come up with a 2-minute pitch idea for a story and so me and paddy split off into our partnership and started coming up with ideas for the coming presentation next week.

Immediately I already had an idea as I had my mind set on a theme and story for a while.

I wanted to create a medieval fantasy adventure game with a different post-apocalyptic theme embedded within it and so I started to ponder more thoughts into that and coming up with a good story and plot for it as well as exploring the lore.

Over the course of the next week I had come up with an idea which I absolutely loved and so did paddy, he was on-board. The idea came to be “The Blight”, I have created a brief description of the blight to give a little context.

“The story is set 5 years after the war where a great tragedy befell one kingdom turning it into the blight. The blight, slowly devouring the world birthing creatures of nightmare and demon spawn from its dark magical essence. The story follows Elias Lycian, a renowned ranger tasked with protecting the borders of the Bree kingdom from the blight and its many evils.

Elias accompanied by his 4 legged companion, Sphax are to watch the borderlands of the kingdom and protect it from the inevitable approaching death that the blight brings forth.”

Now that is just a very brief description of the idea that I have and I will go into more detail on the idea if it gets chosen next week as a project to work on for the semester so fingers crossed.

Week 2

So it was presentation day today and we absolutely smashed it, paddy left the talking to me and was designated PowerPoint clicker. Luckily my idea was chosen which I am very happy about. We managed to get six people who wanted to work on our idea but despite that me and the lads all still wanted to work with each other just like previous projects as for some reason we seem to work very well together despite being friends although this time around we have the addition of Ryan so in total there are myself as the narrative director, programmer and assistant artist. Toby is the project lead as he is better at the managerial tasks than I am. Paddy and Brad as our artists again and as well as Ryan who is also an artist and a very good modeller.

The workload this week for myself is to construct a one page game design document to outline the concept of the game, the mechanics, gameplay and other important elements.

After having completed the GDD I’m very happy with the amount of detail that I put into it and I’m very certain that the group will be too, this is a very important piece as it is the base foundation for the group to work on. Im happy with the amount if detail that we put into it though I am looking forward to the extended GDD where I have more space to write about the idea.

Week 3

Me and the group had a scrum meeting today and all decided what it was we were going to do this week and we looked over everything we did last week and I was impressed with Ryans wolf I must say was quite impressive especially at this stage. Paddy’s art work was good and brad made a basic log cabin for us to work with. In terms of workload this week for me I was tasked with working on an environment piece as well as some character development. The environment is a piece where Elias is stood at his post looking into the blight and at the black figure staring back at him. Im really happy with the outcome of the piece although I want to go back over it at a later stage and add more detail and the same for the character sketches that I am working on. I still feel as though we need to be producing more work as a group at this point and so next week I think we all need to have a talk about where its going.

Week 4

This week I happened to miss juans lecture due to a personal matter but none the less I managed to reconvene with the group outside of class and get to grounds with what the ball plan was.

For me this week I had to create the start of the alpha prototype level and I already knew what I had in mind, I knew it would be tough as I haven’t used the unity level design features for quite some time but I got back into swing of things fairly quickly.

The level would coincide with the story as the section of the level that I have built is the hill side where the rangers live in the log cabin which overlooks the blight and is the border that they have to protect, obviously I am not able to make a full border for the kingdom but I started on a specific section overlooking the forest and village which is my plan anyway.

This week I managed to complete a good section of the map, which was just the borderlands, hillside and cabin. Ill insert the images I too below. Due to it being the alpha stages I used very basic textures to provide some depth for the player to appreciate. The cabin and all of the assets are still very basic but in a few more weeks it will look much better. In terms of narrative this will be the first level in which the ranger, Elias who the player will control is tracking a demon that managed to cross the border and venture into the kingdom towards the village which I have yet to create. We are quite a fair way away from using any combat features yet but hopefully soon we will see some action.

 We are using a place holder character model for now also until the artists make our own, the group as of now are working very poorly for the most part, everyone is very demotivated but im hoping that will change around soon. I need to work on the story a little more at some point but I think next week I will continue with the level and hopefully have something more presentable and fully fledged although I think one of the main priorities is to actually have gameplay rather than a level as juan said. That Is something myself and the group need to realise as the alpha testing stages are coming up quickly. Im very happy with the work I have done this week, I would have liked to have had more of our own models and assets to play with but unfortunately we aren’t there yet so I did what I could with what I had. The level itself I think looks nice. It still needs a lot of work of course but I want to have a finished alpha level by next week so I will be keeping updates on how the next sprint goes but all in all im happy with the work I put in, though I always feel I could do more and so I will try and better myself each time.

 Week 5

This week was more of a semi productive week, as I mentioned in my last post I was aiming to have more work done on the alpha level for the game, im really enjoying the level design at the minute. Unfortunately my laptop decided to break half way through the week which set me back quite a lot and so it wasn’t until the day before the deadline that I was able to actually continue with the work when it was back up and running. I mapped out the rest of the level world for the most part, there is still a great deal to be done but for the alpha I think it will be okay. I added a very small settlement with brads new cabin variants in a circle formation down at the bottom of the map at the base of a rough mountain formation.

I added a few more forests around the world too but the only problem is that if I add too many the game will really lag due to the high poly count of each tree. I then went around and start to change the terrain a little more to add more variation from the flat plain, I also added a few place holder textures into the world also.

One thing I really wanted to focus on was a water fall but I am not yet skilled enough to actually use the particle effect system effectively and so I managed to make a river and I am going to leave the waterfall for now. The water I used for the river was also a place holder texture object but it is very effective for what we need at this stage.

The main struggle for our group at the minute is motivation, everyone is still doing the bare minimum and its putting us behind massively, there’s no passion this semester for some reason and it is very frustrating. I really do want to make an amazing game and I know that we can if we apply ourselves.

The upcoming code for the game will be very difficult to actually accomplish and it will require many hours of watching tutorials to figure out how to actually make it work, we need enemy AI’s, player health, damage calculation, sword and bow combat, the enemy attack function and a lot more, there is a lot to do but there are only two programmers and we aren’t the most experienced by any means so this is going to be a big struggle to accomplish but I think we might just manage it. 

Overall im happy with the work that I produced though I wish I had more time to do more and to a higher professional standard.

Week 6

This week was a very slow week and very little was accomplished despite my hours of effort due to my skill level now being high enough.

My task for the week was to figure out a way to make combat within the game and use various scripts to make this combat work effectively. I spent roughly 9 + hours watching videos and trying to figure out combat for the game but I just couldn’t do it, either the type of combat wasn’t correct for the 3rd person camera or the scripts would clash with the character within our game. After spinning my wheels for so long I decided to go with another approach. None of the methods I had tried worked so I started to watched a tutorial series from scratch on a personal scene in unity until I had some solid combat working. I had to create a new, different type of 3rd person controller and followed along as well as I could. This camera was a point and click camera without the use of WASD for movement though if required I think I would be able to implement that in to the script.

The series is very long and the combat doesn’t come into it until about two thirds of the way through but I don’t want to miss anything out. The game mainly focuses on the use of an interactive script which all of the other scripts reference so they use everything within that script. I think this script will be derived into the combat script eventually. I have started somewhat creating an inventory system for the game which is very confusing but I’m following along the best I can and making it my own as I do.

I think I will be sticking with this work for the coming weeks but I think I need to look back at the story at some point to see how that it coming along and how we can reference it into the game and make it an immersive experience.

 Week 7 – following the events of the 27th of march

Unfortunately, I was met with some events which would really off road my progress in the group more than I would’ve liked. On my birthday the 27th of march I went out to celebrate with some friends and a group of people decided to start some trouble which ultimately resulted in me breaking my leg and so from this I was forced to move back home leaving all of my work station in my accommodation barren for a few weeks. Due to this the amount of work I was able to put in was limited as keeping track of everyone and with everyone was extremely hard as I prefer to communicate and sort things out in person and due to me not being able to I found it very hard to adapt.

I found this whole thing extremely frustrating as I put in a great deal of effort into the game and the narrative and level building side of things and to make matters worse my laptop broke again and that took me a fair while to get it repaired and once it was repaired it wouldn’t let me unity game function properly and so I was no longer able to have an input in the game which wasn’t the end of the world, I could still help with the managerial tasks such as presentations, game design documents and story etc.

Luckily, I had already built the game world and it only needed a few extra tweaks which I believe toby added. I managed to get to call Toby 3 times per week and he tried to keep me up to date on what everyone was doing and how things were going and so my input at this point was more verbal than physical to the group but we managed with what we could.

 Week 10

This week we had external testing or the group did and unfortunately I wasn’t able to be there due to my current circumstance which Is extremely annoying in all honesty, you put so much effort into the game and the story for the game and then I cant even access the game on unity and am unable to get to Salford to view the testing session but despite all of that I rang toby as soon as he was finished and he told me everything went find, he sent me over a copy of the external testing notes and we went over and I gave him all the feedback and aid I could on how we could improve the game based upon what the others had said. 

All in all though it looks very positive so far, the game itself looks really nice and runs really nice. The features are coming along nicely apart from the combat doesn’t seem to be working and in all honesty I don’t think myself or anyone else in the group is able to achieve the level of combat that we want but none the less I spent many hours doing so when I was back at uni but never came to a successful conclusion.

So for this week I mainly went back over all the work we had done that I could access and made some rough adjustments and touch ups to refine everything and helped out with looking over the feedback we received about the game. I am very happy with everything so far and the changes I have made and I look forward to seeing where the game ends up in the future.

 Week 11

Okay so this week I really enjoyed and I don’t really know why. Long story short I had to start on the game design document for the blight, now the game design document is a much bigger and more detailed version of the one page game design document and therefore requires much more attention to detail.

I once again referred back to the work I did for the GDD on the game escape from north korea just to give me a nod in the right direction and im really glad I looked back over it as it gave me a great idea on what else I needed to include and many other aspects that I could improve on, for example the north korea game was very bare bones compared to what I had planned for this one and although I cant complete all of the sections there are still a great deal of sections for me to complete especially from the narrative stand point. 

For me one of the most important areas in any game document is the context and concept overview of the game as this is what people first read and need to know about your game, luckily I gave this quite a lot of thought when I created the one page document and so I had a great starting point to follow. 

The game overview was split into 5 sections:

·      Game concept

·      Genre

·      Target audience

·      Game flow summary

·      Look and feel

For me this section of the document is the most interesting and the most fun to talk about and explain. It is also the most relevant section for me to explain as im the one who came up with the game idea and story itself so I think im qualified enough to talk about it.

This section took me a good while as I wanted to make sure that I got all of the information down that was necessary and really gave our game justice. Though it’s a very mundane task going through each individual point I still had to do it.

When it came to the target audience section I was able to get down some detailed information because I referenced back to the testing session we did or that the group did and looked at if the people who played it particularly the ones who fit the demographic of our target audience enjoyed it, this gave me very good insight when it came to explain the target audience and why we think that they would like it.

For the next section of the document I had to talk about the Gameplay and mechanics which in my opinion is probably the most boring to explain as we want to talk about what the game is, not how it works but even so I had to complete the following sections.

·      Gameplay

·      Game progression

·      Mission/challenge structure

·      Puzzle structure

·      Objectives

·      Mechanics

·      Physics

·      Movement in the game

·      Objects

·      Actions

·      Combat

·      Economy

·      Screen Flow

As you can see there are many different points that make up the gameplay and mechanics section and so this did take me a while as I found it harder to explain the more technical side of the game as a pose to the story and conceptual side but even so I managed to get through it.

Now even though there are many points here, not all of them apply to our game in particular, these are just template points to discuss but even so I had to talk about why we did or did not choose to include that certain point. I know in our game we don’t have an economy system and so I explained why that was instead of just leaving it out. 

One thing I wish that out game had was a working combat system as I feel that this is a very key thing most games should have but even though we don’t I explained what we do have instead. Even though the combat system does not work I still think that the story out shines this aspect which is something I’m happy about.

For this week that is everything I managed to complete as it took me a while to go back over and check through everything making sure I hit all of the relative points that needed to be explained. Next week I am to complete the further sections of the GDD.

If I could go back and change anything which I probably will is the content within the mechanics section as I feel that this was the weakest part for me to talk about and due to it being one of the most important parts I think it deserves to be revisited.

 Week 12

As I said in last weeks post this week I was continuing on with game design document and have rounded it up to a very nice conclusion for the parts that I was assigned. Before I started the sections for this week I firstly went back and took another look over the mechanics section for the game as I don’t feel I did it justice in my first draft. I find it hard to explain these sorts of things in a good detailed technical manner and so I referenced a little bit more and later came to something that I consider a good level and just for a further piece of mind I asked toby to go over and look at the parts I wasn’t sure about to see if there’s anything that he would add. 

The sections that I went through this week were very fun to talk about and just seemed to flow, I still referenced my older work in order to have a direction on where to go but less was needed this time around.

The first point that I had to talk about was the Story, Setting and Character section and the points are as follows:

·      Story and narrative

·      General look and feel of the world

·      Areas of the world

·      Characters

As I said earlier I found this section extremely enjoyable and easier to talk about as the narrative story and world building side of a game is my niche and what I love to do and so discussing these parts was a breeze but none the less I checked over it many of times to ensure that I applied the greatest level of detail that I could.

My favourite sub points to discuss were the story and narrative and the characters as these are two of the main focus points of the game and are also things I spent hours coming up with and developing way before the game was even in prototyping stages.

The last section which I started on but did not finish was the Levels section. The reason I did not finish this is because toby has a better understanding of this section and so he wanted to go over it himself.

Overall I’m really happy with the amount of work that I put into this section and I would struggle to go back over and change anything.

Week 14

This weeks work load was a shorter one as we are nearing the deadline date and all I had to do was complete the relative slides on the presentation and because I am unable to be there I gave toby some notes and things to talk about in my stead. I gave a brief summary on the slides and the things to talk about and I think the group will do a very good job

Week15

Well this week I heard back from the group and they said that the presentation went okay but not as well as expected which is slightly disappointing but I cannot judge as I wasn’t even there to help them out which is extremely frustrating as I put the effort in but am unable to actually show the game I’m passionate about off.

Now we are closing in on the deadline I had to fill out the peer assessment form and so I thought I might just explain what it was that I actually put down for the members and why that is.

Firstly, we can start with Toby, now Toby has been extremely good this semester as leader, right from the start me and him got on the same page about the game and worked very well together and even though the game was my idea I thought it best to let him lead because he is far better at coordinating a team than I am and though at first he was reluctant he accepted and has shown his true colours which I thought to be true at the start, a great leader.

Though toby at times did lack passion and enthusiasm due to other team members not putting the effort it he can be excused as we are all guilty of this, when few people are actually putting the effort in it is hard to stay on that path knowing that others do not share the same passion. Toby this semester was very god with the game making side of things, he took over where I had to leave off, once my laptop broke and I had to go home due to my injury he created some great work within the blight and has made a great job all on his own.

This Is a great accolade as he was the only person for the most part who actually had any input making the game in unity especially when I wasn’t there to help him, no one else wanted to give unity a try and me and toby are expert programmers by any means but he still did extremely well while being at his current skill level.

Secondly, we have Paddy, now I was going to put Paddy, Brad and Ryan under the same category as they all worked at the same level but I thought I may as well individualise it.

Paddy is great artist when it comes to conceptual work on paper but when it came to making digital assets in the game he was very reluctant and so for many weeks just made drawings on paper, yes they were great drawings but after a few weeks in we required digital assets and we had minimal to none which set us back. He like Brad and Ryan didn’t contribute to unity and instead left it to me and toby and so at this point we had three people on the art side of things and no one to really help out with the game and so that’s why I built the game world in the first place.

Paddy sometimes struggled with deadline meeting but the work that he did hand in was to a good level.

Thirdly we had Brad and now much like Paddy he is a great artist but more on the modelling and graphics side of things and I must say he is very good and was able to construct some good low poly models in the prototyping section of the game but even so he lacked enthusiasm as well as passion for the project. Brad mate almost every deadline but when he did the work he provided was the bare minimum which really frustrated me because I know he’s a very good modeller but didn’t want to go further than he had to.

Once again brad never wanted to use unity and left that to me and toby again slowing the process, it was toby who had to import all of the assets into unity whereas the others could have helped to speed up the process but they didn’t.

Overall Brad was a good modeller but didn’t go further than he needed to and never offered to help out in other areas.

Lastly, we have Ryan and now Ryan is very talented with maya and model making but never put much effort in, he produced a very low poly wolf and animated it to some extent within the first week which I thought to be outstanding at the time but then just sort of dropped off the grid and just created a very basic model character throughout the project and didn’t do much else, he never offered to do any more work than he had to and met the bare minimum requirements just like the other artists but the work that he did do was to a good level none the less I just know that if he wanted to he could have done much more.

 Disclaimer: due to my laptop breaking i lost many screenshots of the step by step workload i went through and so this is why my blog is lacking in images and evidence but i inserted what i could find.

[movietvtechgeeks]

Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/nintendo-switch-impressive-works-lacking-games/

Nintendo Switch: Impressive when it works but lacking games

Nintendo certainly has had a banner year with Pokemon Go, so anticipation has been very high for their Nintendo Switch which hits on Friday. You can check out pricing on it here and be ready to get your own. You might want to read our review first though. The idea behind it is perfect. An all-in-one gaming machine that serves as both a handheld device and a TV game console. Nintendo pretty much imprinted us with the idea when Game Boy came out that your portable devices would always be separate from your Nintendo home console. Even the games were different. If you wanted to play the same game on your portable and home console, you had to buy the same game that was made for each one. There was no crossover, until now. The Nintendo Switch bridges this huge gap which is very exciting. Basically, it's a mini table that comes with a 6.2-inch screen that you could use to play games. The only problem there is that they don't have any games that would play on a touchscreen. They have added two small game controllers (called Joy-Cons) that slide into the sides of the tablet. That grooves on the side are very easy to slide into so no worry about having to jam them in with frustration. This simple act turns the Nintendo Switch into a fully-functional while still traditional gaming machine. Plus it has those great controllers serving as joysticks. A small plastic dock let you connect everything to your tv through HDMI. So all you do is stick your Nintendo Switch into the dock, and it's all on your television screen. You pop (er slide) the controllers off, and they are wireless play toys letting you relax on the couch and have some fun. That tablet comes with a little kickstand so you can treat it like a real tablet and prop it up on a table while you work the controllers in your hands. Sounds perfect. Sounds like heaven. Right? Well, then we run into a frustrating problem. The Switch doesn't always make for such an easy switch. The device plays fine in handheld most, but we kept having sync issues with the left half of the Joy-Con. It has a very annoying lag, so when you hit the button, it takes a moment to register on your tv screen. Sometimes it just drops the connection. We noticed that many times after taking it out on the road and coming back to the office to play would require a hard reset. Another annoying thing as who wants to have to reset your console like that. The idea behind the Nintendo Switch is to be able to play on the road, come home and 'switch' seamlessly over. Like a designer having a bad week on "Project Runway," these seams are showing. This was one of my big frustrations when Guitar Hero Live hit as those dongles did something similar. Nintendo has made an answer for this. You can purchase the optional "Pro Controller" for $70 and problem solved. I can only hope that Nintendo has addressed this issue and it will be fixed in the consoles that hit on Friday. Otherwise, there going to hear a lot of grumbling all weekend long. There are a couple of other things the Switch can’t do. You can’t charge the Joy-Cons while playing in TV mode. You’ll need to buy a separate Charging Grip ($30) for that. And since the USB-C power outlet is on the bottom of the tablet, you can’t play it in the “kickstand” configuration while it’s plugged in—the cord gets in the way. Switch includes one AC adapter, but this has to be used both by the dock and while on the go. So if you want to set the dock up in your entertainment center and run the plug behind the cabinet and never touch it again, you’ll probably want a second adapter ($30). If you're hoping to hook up the Nintendo Switch to another tv in your home, you have to put out $90 for another dock. Then you're able to just pop the Switch into either dock so you can play on another television. So you can see where this is heading. Like with so many gaming systems, you get that initial price to pay, then there are all those optional features you wind up getting. So that $300 turns into $500 rather quickly. When you're putting out $300 for a gaming system, you expect it to work perfectly out of the box, but even Sony has learned that hard lesson when buyers strike back online. Our fruther fleshed out review continues on dealing with the lack of games for the Switch. When you're deep in a video game, the last thing you want to do is leave home. If only you could take the game with you for your commute to work or your bus ride to school, or to liven up your lunch hour. Nintendo's new Switch console tries to address that by letting you play it anywhere. You simply yank the Switch out of its docking station. It functions as a tablet with a built-in display, so you don't have to worry about finding a TV. Games typically work without a persistent internet connection. Once you're back home, just slide it back into the docking station to play games on a big-screen TV. The Switch works like a traditional game console when you want that; it offers portability when you need that. Over the past week, I've played the new "Legend of Zelda" game at home, outside, in a laundromat and in a mechanic's waiting room. The game picks right up wherever I left off. The big question, as it so often is with Nintendo, is whether it will be able to deliver enough games. When the console starts selling Friday, for $300, the Switch will have a paltry nine titles, leaning heavily toward familiar franchises such as "Just Dance" and "Skylanders." By contrast, Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One had about 20 games each at launch. A new hardware introduction is big for any company, and even more so for a company in such a state of transition. Nintendo's Wii U console bombed when it came out in 2012, and its long-held dominance of the portable game market has been usurped by smartphones and tablets. Its two big successes of 2016 - "Pokemon Go" and "Super Mario Run" - were made to be played on other companies' devices. "Pokemon Go" wasn't even developed in-house, but under license by a California company called Niantic. The Switch is a gutsy attempt by Nintendo to reclaim its territory in both the home and portable markets. The console comes with two controllers, known as Joy-Cons. Each has a control stick, four buttons, two triggers, motion sensors and haptic feedback. The right one also has an infrared sensor to detect nearby objects. On the go, you can turn the tablet into a hand-held game machine by attaching Joy-Cons to each side. Or just prop the tablet on a table with a built-in kickstand and use the Joy-Cons as wireless controllers, just as you would at home. You can also transform the Joy-Cons into a more traditional game controller by sliding them into a wireless grip accessory, which is included. To play a solo adventure like "Zelda," you'll need all the buttons on both Joy-Cons. But Nintendo also wants you to play socially, so each Joy-Con functions as a freestanding controller for party games like "Just Dance 2017" and "Super Bomberman R." The Joy-Cons are surprisingly comfortable given that they are small, about the size of a candy bar. I'd be more worried about losing them than getting hand cramps. They slide into slots on the tablet and the grip with a satisfying snap. The tablet, with the Joy-Cons attached, is about as wide as a standard iPad held horizontally, but just a little more than half as tall. The screen resolution is equivalent to 720p high definition. "Zelda" looks just about as good here as on your big-screen HDTV. The battery lasts about six hours, though a power-hungry game like "Zelda" could cut that down in half. The Switch has a puny 32 gigabytes of internal storage. You'll need to buy a memory card if you intend to download plenty of games. Games also come on postage-stamp-sized game cards you slide into a slot on top. It remains to be seen just how many games you'll want. There's a drab collection of multiplayer mini-games, packaged as "1-2-Switch." The package would have been great as a free starter kit; instead, it costs $60. "Snipperclips," for just $20, is a more inspired cooperative puzzle game. The marquee attraction, of course, is "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" ($60). It is spectacular, but also available on the Wii U, so owners of that console don't need to upgrade yet. Granted, I am a hardcore gamer, the type of guy who would buy a Switch just for "Zelda" and spend 100 hours happily wallowing in it. Casual gamers who get by with the occasional fix of "Candy Crush Saga" on cellphones will probably wish for a broader selection. Nintendo says more than 80 games are in development, with homegrown franchise titles like "Super Mario Odyssey," ''Mario Kart 8 Deluxe" and "Splatoon 2" coming this year. But Nintendo hasn't said whether the Switch will get some version of its Virtual Console, which delivered classic hits from the company's 30-plus-year history to the Wii U. The Switch hardware is very impressive, and the ability to easily take a game from the living room to the laundromat scratches an itch I didn't know I had. But in bridging two worlds, it sacrifices important pieces of both. It doesn't have all the functions you want from a tablet; even the Xbox and the PlayStation have web browsers and video apps such as Netflix on their non-portable systems. And the Switch doesn't (yet) deliver the range of games you want from a home console. The Wii U failed, in part, because Nintendo left too many of its most beloved heroes idling on the bench. Consoles gathered dust because there weren't enough compelling games to play. The long-awaited "Zelda" is a good start for the Switch, but Nintendo will need to deliver this kind of quality more consistently. Again, hopefully Nintendo has dealt with the lag issue on their Switch so you can enjoy it fully.

Movie TV Tech Geeks News

[aurelliocheek]

The Making of Everspace: Interview with Rockfish-CEO Michael Schade

About losing everything, starting all over and being better off than ever.

The story of Hamburg-based independent developer Rockfish Games and its studio debut Everspace is inevitably linked to the history of Fishlabs. In 2004, Michael Schade and his best friend Christian Lohr founded Fishlabs Entertainment GmbH, best known for the popular mobile games series Galaxy on Fire with over 30 million installs worldwide. In spite of the commercial success, the two entrepreneurs had to file for bankruptcy in 2013 and even leave their studio with empty hands after the takeover by Koch Media. We look at their thrilling comeback as Rockfish Games and their surprise hit Everspace, a crowdfunded rogue-like spaceship shooter for PC and consoles, which has been sold over one million units and counting. We will touch on challenges in development, but also the opportunities that the special concept offered for both the game designers and the story authors. Let us start with an extensive interview with co-founder and CEO Michael Schade, who talks openly about the turbulent beginnings of Rockfish Games.

Don’t miss part 2 of the interview (with an view of Everspace 2) and more “Making of Everspace” articles in the next days!

Rockfish CEO Michael Schade spoke with Making Games in his Hamburg office.

Making Games: Everspace would probably never have happened if you hadn’t had to file for bankruptcy with Fishlabs in 2013. What happened? From the outside, you were very successful with your premium mobile games like Galaxy on Fire. Michael Schade: Our portfolio of 2008 scored tons of mobile gaming awards all over the world, including the Deutscher Entwicklerpreis for Blades & Magic, which introduced fluid full-body 3D combat in an RPG on mobile phones. According to Pocket Gamer Analysis, the “Metacritic for mobile games”, we had an average rating of 9.16 for the four games we released in 2008, making us the studio with the highest average games rating in the world. We still take pride in Rally Master Pro having scored a stunning score of 9.43, which made it the highest rated mobile game of 2008 worldwide. So, in terms of quality, Fishlabs was the best studio in the world, but we almost went broke back then because mobile games were sold through network operators who kept the biggest chunk of revenues for themselves. Plus, we even had to sell our games through various middlemen who often paid us late or sometimes not at all. To make things worse, a major mobile phone manufacturer got into financial trouble in 2008 and owed us a large sum for our pre-loaded games for several months. Then, we had to take another financial blow from a US publishing deal where our entire portfolio never went live due to a takeover where the new publisher decided to launch their subpar titles instead of ours. Long story short, we were missing some €800k although we created some of the best mobile games in the world. Unfortunately, our investors only looked at the financial side, which is somewhat understandable, but I thought at the time: “What more can we do than build top-notch titles and sign significant deals with some of the top publishers and handset manufacturers?” So, instead of funding the gap as they promised several times, Christian and I had to take some significant private financial risk to deal with the studio’s liquidity issues and keep the lights on until at least some of the payments came in. Eventually, the launch of the iPhone saved our butts. In a tremendous team effort, we ported our game engine from J2ME to C++, beefed up the graphics of our award-winning Java mobile games and launched them on the Apple App Store. Because of the outstanding quality, we got a lot of love from Apple and most of our iOS games had been prominently featured worldwide. Thanks to a direct payout of 70%, we were doing really good for quite a while, especially with Galaxy on Fire 2 being featured by Apple over and over again. However, as devs were able to adjust pricing on the App Store at any time – unlike on Steam, where you can only have a sale every two months – staying on top of the App Store charts became a race to the bottom. When Electronic Arts adjusted their entire iOS games portfolio to 99 cents per game in December 2009, most devs followed suit and I knew that Free2Play (F2P) would become the predominant business model. The tipping point arrived in 2011: F2P mobile games in the top grossing charts grew from 1/3 to 2/3 within less than six months. Of course, our lead investor was breathing down our neck to pivot the studio at all cost ASAP, but without providing any additional funding for the transition, which we knew would be costly. On the one side, our team wasn’t a big fan of F2P. Neither was I, but I understood we had to make the move. We didn’t dare to make the jump to premium PC and console gaming, and our investor was crystal clear where our ship was heading. However, firing our team, who had gone through very rough times with us and made Fishlabs become one of the top mobile gaming studios in the world, had never been an option. So, to make our first F2P mobile game, we had to build a second team from scratch, mostly recruited from other studios in Hamburg that were specialized in F2P browser games. It’s probably not hard to imagine an unhealthy mix of severe friction between the two teams, being “late to the game” of F2P mobile gaming, underestimating technical challenges of making multiplayer online games and a significant lack of experience in managing a studio with insufficient funding that had grown to some 80 employees eventually led to the inevitable financial crash of Fishlabs in mid 2013

Origin of Everspace: The Galaxy on Fire series for mobile platforms.

And then Christian Lohr and you were pushed out of your own company. We managed to keep going for another five months, closely monitored by the insolvency administrator to find a buyer for the studio and secure as many jobs as possible. Because of the studio’s reputation, its award-winning games portfolio and huge fan base as well as our excellent relationship with Apple and other big players, I was very confident that we would find a good partner who understood and appreciated the value that we had created and would help us make the transition of becoming a leading studio for high-quality F2P mobile games with top-notch console experiences. We actually went through several due diligences with some of the top F2P mobile gaming publishers, but most of them passed due to the size of the studio and the broadly scattered talent of the team in premium and F2P gaming. In the end, there were only three potential buyers left. Unfortunately, negotiations to close a deal by end of 2013 dragged on too long with the two international publishers where Christian and I would have had a future within the studio. Eventually, Koch Media came up with a time-limited binding offer that Christian and I could not match in the final bidding round for the studio assets. Consequently, within a split second we lost everything we had built for almost a decade. It was devastating, but we also knew this would not be the end for us. On the plus side, we had consolation knowing nobody else had to lose their job. Ironically, getting kicked out of our studio while everybody else was safe for the time being was actually the best thing that could have happened to us. It gave us the time to retreat, look at our options and get back into the game with an entirely different plan.

The spark to reboot as Rockfish Games? Exactly. In 2013, a AAA publisher wanted to bring Galaxy on Fire to one of the next-gen consoles, even after we had to file for bankruptcy. But, the deal making was dragging on and meanwhile things went worse by the week at the studio, and I simply couldn’t close the deal before we hit the bottom. I still remember when I called the publisher the day after we had lost the studio and said: “Hey, it’s us. Well, technically, it is just Christian and I. We don’t have a studio anymore, we lost the rights of all our games and the engine, we have no team; oh, and we didn’t get a single dime either. But, if you still want a top-notch spaceship shooter on console, I’ll get our core team back, guaranteed! They didn’t want to make F2P mobile games anyway. Actually, we’ve always dreamed about making top-quality console games, and we understand THIS is our chance! We’ve been creating spaceship shooters with console experience on mobile devices that received critical acclaim from millions of space game enthusiasts from all over the world. We’re the best fit to make an even better spaceship shooter on a next-gen console without the technical constraints that we had to deal with on mobile.” Three months later, the deal was signed, we reached out to our ex-colleagues, and they jumped on-board immediately, in spite of the risk working at a small independent studio that might suddenly go out of business once again.

Already in this early stage of development Everspace 2 looks great.

How hard was it for you to switch to the “big” platforms? The publisher had a license for Unreal Engine 4, so we “had to work” with it. But that was another fortunate incident. After four weeks, we had the first playable version, which already looked great. Then we got Nukklear on board, Kirk Lenke’s team based in Hannover, because the game was supposed to be a co-op spaceship shooter. The guys had made the spaceship shooter MMO Black Prophecy, and we had no experience in multiplayer games. During development, we had to learn that in a multiplayer game, any feature takes at least twice as long to develop. Including Nukklear, we were 24 people and had a fully functional vertical slice within nine months. Fast-paced, very accessible, looked great, everyone was happy. And although we had just signed an agreement to expand the team to 30 people for another two years of production, on the evening of the same day, the publisher called us and cancelled the project with immediate effect and no kill fee whatsoever. That was a shock, of course. Also for Nukklear, which we, unfortunately, had to part with shortly after. However, because we could make a small profit over the production time and Christian is just excellent in reducing costs when it is needed the most, we had six months runway for developing a new prototype and to find us a new deal. This was the beginning of Everspace

Was it already clear that you would do Everspace on your own and without a publisher? And that it will be a rogue-like? No, with the help of our agency DDM, I tried to get a publisher for about three months. We pitched Everspace to pretty much every big publishing name and then some. Everyone was thrilled, but also their concerns were always the same: “We’ve never released a spaceship shooter before – and now with Elite: Dangerous, No Man’s Sky and Star Citizen, it’s going to be a marketing uphill battle, no matter how great Everspace might be, so we’re not gonna touch that, best of luck!” We knew, of course, that Everspace would be very different from the titles mentioned and that we could build on a fan base of over 20 million players who loved Galaxy on Fire 2 but many were not excited at all about the upcoming Galaxy on Fire 3 from DeepSilver Fishlabs because it would be F2P. But we also knew we didn’t have the money for such a big project. We simply wouldn’t be able to make an open-world space shooter even if that was exactly what we would have loved to do, knowing there was an excellent opportunity for such title laying right in front of us. So we decided to combine the arcade-style space combat and the colorful sci-fi look, that we as the original makers of Galaxy on Fire 1 & 2 were best known for, with a modern interpretation of rogue-like elements, which proved to be very popular in several recent indie games. However, we still needed to raise significant cash to make our vision happen, so we eventually looked into our chances of making a successful Kickstarter after we talked to Adrian Goersch from Black Forest Games and Jan Wagner from Underground Games, who both had successful Kickstarter campaigns under their belt.

Rockfish residents in Eimsbüttel, one of the most popular residential areas of Hamburg.

How scared were you before the Kickstarter campaign? We knew we could achieve the quality we wanted: the highly accessible space combat gameplay paired with an extraordinary audiovisual experience. Because no publisher bought into our concept, it was clear to us that there was no other option left than initiating a Kickstarter campaign and trying to reactivate our former fan base. We also hoped that there would be a decently large target group for rogue-likes, as popular indie titles like FTL, Rogue Legacy and Binding of Isaac had already proven. We also felt we could offer something new to them, because there had not been any rogue-likes with very high production quality and cool 3D space action before. And it worked! We collected 420,000 Euros from over 10,000 backers on Kickstarter. Many of them were huge Galaxy on Fire fans not being happy at all with where the series was heading under the new IP owner. And then there was the massive shout out from Chris Roberts to his Star Citizen community about our Kickstarter, which broad in a friendly armada of avid space pilots backing Everspace as well. The money from Kickstarter and the extended crowdfunding via our own site, plus a time-exclusive deal with Microsoft including substantial marketing support at big gaming shows, helped us to make it all the way to Steam Early Access and Xbox Game Preview without a publisher. I have to admit, I had tremendous respect about self-publishing on PC. During our time at Fishlabs, we had an excellent relationship with Apple. We always received a big feature for Galaxy on Fire when we needed one. At Valve, I didn’t know anyone or how to get in touch with them, but I knew it would be vital for us having a direct contact. However, my worries were washed away when Everspace was prominently featured twice: on the Steam Home Page at the launch of Early Access, and at the full release nine months later.

What do you think was the reason? Apparently, we had a high enough number of Wishlists thanks to our outstanding Greenlight campaign with 89% positive out of some 17,000 votes and the visibility of our successful Kickstarter with all its aftermath. The gaming press was writing about our unusual comeback and dedicated space game influencers, who pledged on getting closed alpha access, covered Everspace on YouTube and Twitch quite a lot. During nine months in Early Access, we had three successful sales and we worked closely with our community to constantly improve the base game until overall ­reviews hit 93% at full release. In ­combination with over 100,000 units ­being sold during Early Access, I guess we ticked all the right boxes, so Everspace got ­another big feature at full release, clocking another 30,000 units within four weeks. Of course, we were already super thrilled, but that was not all. Shortly after, an email from Valve came, wanting to ­feature Everspace in the Summer Sale the following month. We sold yet another 40,000 units. At that point, we knew we were going to be well off for the next three years if we didn’t get carried away and keep our costs in check.

Did you start the Encounters DLC then? Yes, we had quite a list of stuff that didn’t make it into the full version, so Encounters became quite an ambitious expansion for a rogue-like indie game. The entire team worked on it for over half a year. However, the unexpected challenge was by adding a lot of new content and features we were actually changing the whole game and we had to be very careful not to break the entire balancing.

How satisfied are you with the Everspace ratings? We spoke to people who enjoyed the challenges in playing rogue-likes, but we barely managed to appeal to people who don’t like the genre. To the contrary, a lot of fans of open-world space games saw the great trailers and thought Everspace was like a new Freelancer. But that wasn’t our game, so we got a lot of negative reviews, especially during big sales when the price was below 10 dollars and many gamers didn’t bother to read the description. To put this into perspective: In combination with disappointed fans of open-world space games giving us their thumbs down, overall ratings dropped down to 78% after we added VR and joystick support. VR had a lot of teething troubles back then and adding HOTAS support post-launch was anything but easy. It was a tiny target group of die-hard space sim fans, but they made a lot of noise when it came to ratings. So, trying to add too many innovative features and mixing genres proved to be problematic. However, making Everspace a rogue-like was still the right decision. Because without it, Rockfish Games as an independent studio wouldn’t exist today.

Rockfish Games (especially co-founder Christian Lohr) has transformed a spoiled flophouse into a nice open space studio with his craftsmanship.

You literally built your studio by hand. How did that work out? When we got the deal with the big publisher, we rented a transition studio for three months. At the same time, we searched the internet for a cheap permanent solution. Christian, who is definitely a genius in finding great deals, was looking for the most expensive offer. Why? Because that’s usually an input error. That was also the case of the rent of our new office space: A couple of thousand Euro per square meter!? And the real estate agent said on the phone: “The property has been online for nine months, you’re the first one to call.” Christian sensed the opportunity, but when we opened the door, we saw the place was totally run down: heavily worn carpet, nicotine stained walls, just terrible! Plus, we only needed 350 square meters, but the property was 768. Who would do the renovation while we’re working on our first project? Christian immediately said: “I can do it! I’ll get some craftsmen and we’ll get it done in just three months, no problem. And for less than 50,000 euros!” Well, we still had 100.000 Euro, the last money that we got as a loan from our families. We spent the other half on our starting equipment and began working on our first project. While I was making sure together with our team that we would keep the publisher happy, Christian teared down the new place and built it up from the ground – what a maniac! Since the studio was far too big for our needs, we simply rent out half of it and now have a very nice new studio for up to 25 people for less the cost of an average three-room apartment in Hamburg downtown.

Michael Schade Co-Founder and CEO Rockfish Games

Joint entrepreneurs for more than 25 years, Michael and his long-term business partner Christian Lohr founded the independent PC and console gaming studio Rockfish Games, headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, in 2014. Together with their seasoned team behind the critically acclaimed Galaxy on Fire series on board, the former mobile games veterans had a major surprise hit with Everspace, a fast-paced 3D rogue-like space shooter, on Steam, Xbox, PS4 and Switch.

The post The Making of Everspace: Interview with Rockfish-CEO Michael Schade appeared first on Making Games.

The Making of Everspace: Interview with Rockfish-CEO Michael Schade published first on https://leolarsonblog.tumblr.com/