Humor, Story and Breaking Through the Fourth Wall

My second Highborn Developer Diary went up on Jet Set Game's Facebook page this morning so go check it out.

The character bio for Trillian, the rogue with the heart of gold, went up a few days ago if you missed it. Yes, that is a big Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference. You should know by now that I don't write anything without including Douglas Adams references.

Speaking of references, the title of my previous Dev Diary, "Gentlemen, This is About Combat" is a quote from Top Gun which was sampled into the song "Just Do It Up" by Frank Klepacki for the original Command & Conquer soundtrack. I thought at least somebody would get that.

I would love to prattle on some more, but we are moving offices tomorrow and I have way too much to do before I can finish packing up my stuff. So enjoy the Dev Diary and TTYL.

"Gentlemen, this is about combat."

My first Highborn Developer Diary is up on the Jet Set Games Facebook page, which I am sure you are already a fan of. You are a fan right. Okay, good.

The Developer Diary lists the details of how combat plays out in the game and briefly talks about the mysterious Monoliths that are scattered about the maps.

I am not going to copy and paste the Developer Diary here, because I'm sure those evil marketing people (Amy doesn't read this blog right?) are watching the page count and stuff. So, pop over to the Jet Set Games Official Facebook Page and read it there. While you're there become a fan in case you were lying about it before. Shame on you.

I am also awarding the famous Joseph Hewitt "Hero Points" if you catch the title's reference. Hero Points* will only be awarded only if you know the original source and then where it was used that makes it relevant. Some additional conditions apply, see Joseph for details.

* Hero Points have no cash value and cannot be redeemed for anything. Hero Points decay over time at a rate which I make up as I go along. Offer not valid where prohibited by law.

Today is pretty much Teh Fail

I just wasted some time screwing around with the blog's HTML again to see if I could figure out where to put in a separate background image for the post area, so that I can use the background I have on my Twitter page. The post area would need it's own more text friendly background so you could still read it. I have had several people tell me how easy this would be to do, and even go so far as to say they would show me, but as of yet none of these promises has panned out.

I'm supposed to be writing some more background information on various units and things in Highborn, but my tummy is a tab bit upset and it's hard to get into the right frame of mind for that kind of humor.

I am also trying to write my developer diary, same problem.

Since I don't have much else to blather about at the moment, I though I would mention how I am obviously wrong about a few very popular games.

First, the God of War series. Been trying to play all three, and although there are some parts I like, I have some big issues with them. I don't like the special button sequence moves to defeat bosses. There I am fighting away, and suddenly this big, ugly interface thing pops up on screen telling me what to do with one of the controls. It violently pulls me out of the game. It doesn't help that half the time, I find I have to change my grip on the controller in order to mash the button or flip the joystick fast enough for it to register. But like I said in the introduction, I am must be in the wrong because so many other people LOVE these games.

Secondly, I started playing Mass Effect 2. I think it's okay, but I am not so overly wowed by it as lots and lots of other people are. I just don't think the level of story in these games are as great as they are made out to be. Don't get me wrong, it isn't bad, it is just people are raving about how deep the story is and the choices you make, yadda yadda. But I find them irritating. For example, right away at the begging of the game Miranda(?) (if you should know anything about me, you should know I can't remember names seconds after I learn them) shoots the guy she claims was a traitor and was trying to kill her. I have a dialog option that expresses that I'm a bit concerned with her just walking in and shooting the guy without letting him say his piece, try to deny it, or anything. She gives some half-assed explanation and after that I'm supposed to be all peachy about it. Sorry, I just don't roll over like that. I've been taught that in the Criminal Justice system, the people are represented by three separate yet equally important groups. The police, who investigate crime, the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders and the Goddamn Batman! (I think you can see why I've kinda given up writing humorous back-story for today.)

But anyway, people love the game so I just have to admit I'm wrong.

I got another game. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 for the PC. I just can't play it at the moment. I doesn't recognize my Logitech G9 mouse clicks in the game. It recognizes them in the menus, just not when I am actually playing. I go up to the first two enemies in solo play, I'm supposed to take out the guy on the left. I click my mouse and nothing happens. I go into the menu, make sure my mouse keybinds are correct. Reset LMB to Fire/Use. It takes the Left Mouse Button Click there, but when I go back into the game nothing happens when press the button. Granted I could just set the commands to out of the way keyboard keys and remap the mouse buttons to those, but I am writing this instead.

I guess I should actually go home and change. Have a birthday party to go to. Will try life again tomorrow.

BTW, I washed my car again. Expect rain or another intense wind storm.

Highborn Announced!

Hey everybody, look we announced the latest iPhone game I've been working here at Jet Set Games. I can't say too much at the moment, just wanted to put up some links and such.As I am sure you guessed from the title of this post and the words under the logo, the game is called Highborn. It is a fun little strategy game with the emphasis on the fun. You can read all about it at the Jet Set Games website. You can real all the latest news and updates on the Facebook page. That is where we are putting up developer diaries, character introductions, screen shots and other fun stuff. There is also the Flickr page.

Like I said though, I can't say too much at the moment. They've already threatened that they are going to make me write my own developer diary pretty soon, and I'm gonna save all the juicy stuff, tell-all, stuff for that.