Delays, delays...nothing but delays!

Sorry for the delay.  The large amount of snow we received somehow caused me to suffer temporary amnesia, and I forgot I was supposed to post!

I’ve been working on my interactive fiction some, however not as much as I’d hoped.  Seems like work has been occupying more of my brain lately than I’m happy with.  But, I’m just glad to have a good job right now, so I guess I won’t complain…much.

Anyway, I have made some progress in my map and rooms, but mostly in working with the language and getting all manner of “gadgets” to operate correctly.  I've also been experimenting lately with what the Inform folks call extensions.  They are previously written scripts that extend the basic syntax and functionality included with Inform.  One can include these in their own projects by simply placing the extension file in the appropriate folder and adding an Include statement.

I have been working with two extensions specifically, the first of which adds a ton more things you can do with objects, like cleaning, breaking, throwing, kicking, climbing all over, etc.  The second is for dealing with liquids, like filling containers, drinking, putting out fires, etc.  These are the kinds of things I really enjoy!  The more realism I can bring to my story, the more I like it.  I know there is an eventual limit to what I can include, however right now I am in experimenting mode and this is my opportunity to see how much I can cram in and still make the story functional.

I think I have a few beta testers lined up as well.  As soon as I get something to a playable stage, I’m going to let these folks start beating up on it and getting feedback.  We’ll see how that turns out.

In other gaming news, I signed up on Friday for the open beta of CitiesXL from Monte Cristo.  It’s a PC city-builder simulation in the grand tradition of SimCity.  But, this thing is a quantum leap forward for the genre.  Instead of just building your own city, there will supposedly be online “planets” where you and others can build your cities, trade with each other and interact as if you were on the same planet together.  And, it is a persistent world, so even if you aren’t there, things continue to move forward. The graphics look awesome and the amount and depth of customization is amazing!  I would be so stoked to get on the beta and give it a shot.  Here’s hoping…

The Rockies are playing like the club I remember…unfortunately.  We’re 4-8, have lost the last four, and we’re tied with San Francisco for the bottom of the NL West.  I know it’s early in the season, so I’m not getting really depressed yet.  This is just a slump, I hope.  But, it was just getting too depressing watching them lose to Arizona, so I came down to my office and put on “Rock Star” with Mark Wahlberg.  Haven’t seen that movie in a while, and while it’s definitely not Oscar material, it is fun to watch and the soundtrack gets the old metal-head in me going!  I guess I need to get on Amazon and find the CD.  If you remember the hair-metal bands of the 80’s fondly, check the movie out sometime.  It’s decent entertainment, even if you aren't trying to hide from bad baseball!

-- Sundown, Out.

Am I Getting Too Old???

You know, I used to be better than this. I used to keep up with all the newest tech trends. I remember when telnet, ftp and gopher were the best things going. I was learning HTML before most people had heard of the Internet. I've had an email address continuously since 1992. But somehow, this whole Web 2.0 social thing just got away from me.

It's not like I didn't know it was happening. You'd have to have been seriously off-planet for the last several years not to see/hear/smell it. But I just chose to resist. I'm not even sure why... I believe I even said out loud at one point, "Young fools! Don't they have anything better to do!" [shakes head in disbelief]

Now, let's be clear. I have not begun to text wildly at anyone/everyone I know. I'm not trolling FaceBook or MySpace, looking for people I went to high school with. And I'm certainly not walking around the grocery store with the cell glued to my ear, talking about absolutely nothing (though that is not strictly Web 2.0-related, I had to vent...sue me.) But I am trying to embrace some of the "more worthwhile" changes that have happened. That's why you will notice the Twitter widget on here, and the link to the RSS feed.

Posting here is something I feel strongly about not letting go of. I have finally heard the siren call of the blog, and I was curious enough to turn the ship towards the rocks...I just hope I don't hit them. Although, I could just get close enough to gawk at the sirens. But, I digress... I will do my level best to post on a regular basis. At this moment I am leaning towards every Monday, Wednesday and Friday...with the occasionally odd day thrown in to keep y'all on your toes. If I can keep this to a regular schedule, it makes it easier.

Twitter seems like a good way to get some short, random thoughts out of my head without having to do a full post about them. Some of them may, from time to time, end up as posts...but don't count on it. And an RSS feed is just good blogosphere etiquette. I use them extensively to keep track of the sites I read, so why not return the favor.

Ok, subject change... A quick update on my IF project. It has a name...sort of. I gave it the name "The Testing Dungeon" early on, just as a placeholder. But the project is actually turning into something that might be of interest to more than just me, so I am percolating on other possible names. One that popped out of my head the other night was "Careless Caverns." Don't know if that'll stick or not. We'll just have to see what other nuggets might lie buried in the detritus that is my imagination.

-- Sundown, Out.

Ok, Here We Go...

For better or worse...everything must start somewhere. And this is where it will start for me.

I'm not a professional writer...nor do I play one on television. But, I will do my best to keep any loyal readers out there disgusted, disinterested, disenfranchised...or maybe just plain ol' entertained.

"So, we're here...what are you going to write about?", one might ponder. Well, I'm glad you asked!

Almost all geeks have at least one "geek project" going at all times. I am no exception to that rule. My current project is working on writing interactive fiction using Inform 7. What an interesting experience this is turning into! For those who are not aware, Inform 7 is a sort of IDE (Interactive Development Environment) which uses a very plain-english programming language to create interactive fiction (I.E. text adventure) files for use with most z-machine version 5 or 8 interpreters. I've been having a ball!

The plain English syntax is easy to pick up compared to other programming languages I've used, both successfully and not-so (BASIC and Pascal to Perl and C#). The amount of coding that went into creating this natural language syntax Inform 7 uses must have been an undertaking of monumental, nay almost biblical proportions. And the result is nothing short of astonishing in its simplicity. So, to the developers of Inform (you know who you are), thank you. [and...salute!]

I wanted my first IF project to be something simple, so I could get used to the new language and capabilities before tackling some bigger ideas that I keep rolling around in my head. So, I decided it would be best for me to start out with a concept from my youth that I still find enjoyable...a basic dungeon-crawl. I've been working for over a week now, at least a couple of hours a night, and I'm only about seven rooms into it. Why? I haven't gotten farther into room creation because I've been spending most of my time creating a ton of "gadgets!" I can't seem to get away from creating machines, obstacles and various other scenery that the player can interact with (or more likely be frustrated by!). I don't know if or when I'll get more rooms built...but hey, I'm havin' so much bloody fun, who cares?!?

I also wanted to give a Sundown-ShoutOut in this first post to my Everlasting SoulMate, also known as my wife. She recently used her enormous powers of persuasion to get me to go get a sleep study done. You see, amongst my several other sleep issues...I snore. And when I say I snore, I don't just mean a little snort and honk now and then...I can destroy windows at thirty feet! And because my father was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea (which is normally genetic), that was the final straw in her battle to convince me I needed to go. I relented and went...

If any of you are thinking about having a sleep study done, let me say this. Go. Go now! Call your doctor, get it scheduled, and go. It's one night out of your life, that in my case changed mine forever. I indeed have sleep apnea, and worse than my father. No one in my family thought that was even possible! I was, for all intents and purposes, "dead" for several hours every night. Scary.

I have now had a CPAP for about two weeks, and lovingly call it my "sleepy-bye machine." What a difference!!! I look back on how I was before, especially in the few years leading up to my diagnosis, and I now feel I can appreciate what zombies must go through constantly...minus the brain-eating, of course. I am so much more awake, aware and alive than I have been in a long time. I know my wife appreciates having me mentally "here" again, and I must say I appreciate her persistence, and sometimes-not-so-gentle prodding to get me to finally go. I luv ya, hun!

So, again I reiterate to all of you out there in the multiverse...if you think you may have sleep apnea...Go. Get. Tested. Don't wait. Get your life back. Please.

-- Sundown, Out.