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Well, I am officially moving into my new apartment on October 1! Back on Monday I gave Gail a call and said that I was interested in finalizing the paperwork for the Hillcrest Apartments. After some friendly chatter, a bit of signing and information exchange, and a $600 payment, I've been solidified as the future tenant of apartment B-3 at the Hillcrest Apartments down in Bordentown! I'm pretty excited and apprehensive at the same time. I guess they call that 'anxious.' But the place is only 15 minutes away from work with a liquor store just down the street, a Shop Rite across the street, and a Papa John's, deli, and bagel shop all within walking distance! I really lucked out as far as all that is concerned. Down the road are Mastori's, Alstarz, and Dubh Linn Square, and up the road is "beautiful" Trenton, NJ. I'm also happy that there are one or two parks a short distance away from my future apartment. They aren't anywhere near as big as Thompson Park, but I knew I'd be losing points in some areas while gaining them in others. Another downside is that I'll be further away from some friends while closer to others. For one thing, Ian will no longer be in walking distance anymore. I loved that invigorating walk both to and from his house. However, a major plus is that I won't have to ever again worry about waking up Mom and/or Dad during the weekend because someone laughed too loud. No, instead I have to worry about being a good neighbor, which is infinitely easier. So yes. I have begun packing. My room looks like a warzone, and I never realized just how many books I had until today! I'm especially shocked at the amount of books I don't remember reading.
I've slowly begun to spread the word around to relevant friends. A status update on facebook at midnight is also a pretty smart idea, too, I guess. My brother Shaun was excited to help me shop for for relevant items at the Wal-Mart in Hamilton Marketplace along Rt. 130 south yesterday. Plates, silverware, a lamppost with three aimable lights, a sturdy frying pan, a set of glasses, some serving/stirring utensils, and a can opener were all that we picked up. I still need a metric shit-ton of other things like a coffee table for the living room, sidetables, a nightstand, even more lamps and lights, a dining area table (probably), and a whole bunch of other small stuff that I am almost guaranteed to forget like a shower curtain, window curtains, oven mitts, sponges, and all that other small-time crap. Thank goodness my supervisor at work is getting rid of his couch. He's going to give it to me for free! I don't know what color it is, but that hardly matters when the sofa will be mine at zero cost. That makes me happy. I think he said it was a fold-out, too, which means that guests can sleep in it instead of just on it. Although, I get the feeling that the couch will be way more comfortable than the bed within the couch. We'll see. Oh yeah, I think I'll need a bigger bed, too. The bedroom is 16 x 13, which is far larger than my simple 8 x 12. For as long as I can remember I've always had a 'twin' size bed. The next size up is a 'double' or 'full' size bed. A queen isn't that much larger, but I would have to get all new bed sheets. I think I would have to, anyway, because most, if not all, of my current ones are fitted for a single. What do you guys think? Do I go for the gusto and get the large and luxurious queen size or try to save a little bit of money and spring for the full size? Speaking of springs, do I get a regular spring mattress or invest in one of those memory foam things? So much to think about.
On the Drawception side of things, I've got a nice black and white game to show you. I didn't contribute to the art, I was a captioner in this game. As it happens, I was the best captioner, if the number of votes is anything to go by. (You'll need to click the picture to see the number of votes each panelist got.) Despite all of my votes, though, it is almost always the artists that deserve much more of the praise. After all, some of them spend upwards of ten minutes crafting their panels whereas most captions can be completely typed out in all their clever/snarky glory in less than two minutes. In particular, I think panels #12 and #22 are the better ones. What do you all think of the game entitled "Macbeth"?
On the kickstarter side of things, I have slowed down with my frantic supporting of projects. My bank account is happy to know that I haven't backed any projects since the one I spoke about in my entry before this one, but there is still some news I want to talk about. The project I talked about in this entry isn't doing so well. TERRIBLE THINGS started out exceedingly strongly, but it's lost momentum. According to the corresponding kicktraq.com page, they are projected to raise only 90% of their goal. And when a project on kickstarter fails to match their target, they get absolutely none of the money that the backers donated to them. That's the risk involved with trying to fund a creative project through kickstarter. It's all or nothing. Oh, and kicktraq.com is a third-party website that indexes all projects ever submitted to kickstarter and tracks how much money they raised each day, how many people joined their cause, and even how many people made comments. It can estimate with reasonable accuracy how successful the campaign will end up being, and it can estimate how much money they will raise at the end. I'd really like to see this game succeed. I'm sick of 'Cranium' and 'Apples to Apples.' And even 'Quelf' loses its charm after awhile. If you have at least $30 floating around, you'll support this game and also get a copy of the game delivered to your door if they reach their goal. Spread the word, amigos.
Aside from all that, I guess nothing else is happening. I haven't had any alcohol in weeks. That's how focused I've been. Not to mentioned that I haven't a bottle of anything in the whole house. That, and now I leave work at midnight. So, even if I wanted to stop by Bottle King on my way home and pick up some Golden Monkey or Yukon Jack I couldn't because they will have been closed for two hours. I could certainly get up and go out during the afternoon or even the late morning. However, I think we have established by now that I am very much a night owl. At least my nocturnal habits won't bother anyone else once I move into my apartment. I'm so excited!
Today's question will be simple. Would you rather play a video game with the best graphics you have ever seen in your whole life but with a cruddy story (We're talking the original 'Doom' kind of a story.) or a video game with the most engrossing story you have ever experienced in your whole life but with cruddy graphics (We're talking the original Final Fantasy kind of graphics)? For me, it's a tough call because I love games like Painkiller that are mindless run-and-gun games. Games like those are cathartic and make for a nice relaxing play. Also, I love games like Grandia that have such a deeply rooted story with affected characters that you can't help but be sucked in. But I think story wins for me. All the eye-candy in the world would still be just that without any context. But let's not forget that the TRUE aim of a game is the gameplay. That is the real reason we enjoy games. If all we wanted was a story, we would read a book. If all we wanted was eye-candy, we'd look at a painting. If all we wanted was eye-candy and story, we'd watch a movie. Video games involve the audience in a meaningful way. So the interaction is the most important part. I'm still asking you to decide between story and graphics, though. Hahaha
I found 'Stargunner' on gog.com for free!-
Bryan
I've slowly begun to spread the word around to relevant friends. A status update on facebook at midnight is also a pretty smart idea, too, I guess. My brother Shaun was excited to help me shop for for relevant items at the Wal-Mart in Hamilton Marketplace along Rt. 130 south yesterday. Plates, silverware, a lamppost with three aimable lights, a sturdy frying pan, a set of glasses, some serving/stirring utensils, and a can opener were all that we picked up. I still need a metric shit-ton of other things like a coffee table for the living room, sidetables, a nightstand, even more lamps and lights, a dining area table (probably), and a whole bunch of other small stuff that I am almost guaranteed to forget like a shower curtain, window curtains, oven mitts, sponges, and all that other small-time crap. Thank goodness my supervisor at work is getting rid of his couch. He's going to give it to me for free! I don't know what color it is, but that hardly matters when the sofa will be mine at zero cost. That makes me happy. I think he said it was a fold-out, too, which means that guests can sleep in it instead of just on it. Although, I get the feeling that the couch will be way more comfortable than the bed within the couch. We'll see. Oh yeah, I think I'll need a bigger bed, too. The bedroom is 16 x 13, which is far larger than my simple 8 x 12. For as long as I can remember I've always had a 'twin' size bed. The next size up is a 'double' or 'full' size bed. A queen isn't that much larger, but I would have to get all new bed sheets. I think I would have to, anyway, because most, if not all, of my current ones are fitted for a single. What do you guys think? Do I go for the gusto and get the large and luxurious queen size or try to save a little bit of money and spring for the full size? Speaking of springs, do I get a regular spring mattress or invest in one of those memory foam things? So much to think about.
On the Drawception side of things, I've got a nice black and white game to show you. I didn't contribute to the art, I was a captioner in this game. As it happens, I was the best captioner, if the number of votes is anything to go by. (You'll need to click the picture to see the number of votes each panelist got.) Despite all of my votes, though, it is almost always the artists that deserve much more of the praise. After all, some of them spend upwards of ten minutes crafting their panels whereas most captions can be completely typed out in all their clever/snarky glory in less than two minutes. In particular, I think panels #12 and #22 are the better ones. What do you all think of the game entitled "Macbeth"?
On the kickstarter side of things, I have slowed down with my frantic supporting of projects. My bank account is happy to know that I haven't backed any projects since the one I spoke about in my entry before this one, but there is still some news I want to talk about. The project I talked about in this entry isn't doing so well. TERRIBLE THINGS started out exceedingly strongly, but it's lost momentum. According to the corresponding kicktraq.com page, they are projected to raise only 90% of their goal. And when a project on kickstarter fails to match their target, they get absolutely none of the money that the backers donated to them. That's the risk involved with trying to fund a creative project through kickstarter. It's all or nothing. Oh, and kicktraq.com is a third-party website that indexes all projects ever submitted to kickstarter and tracks how much money they raised each day, how many people joined their cause, and even how many people made comments. It can estimate with reasonable accuracy how successful the campaign will end up being, and it can estimate how much money they will raise at the end. I'd really like to see this game succeed. I'm sick of 'Cranium' and 'Apples to Apples.' And even 'Quelf' loses its charm after awhile. If you have at least $30 floating around, you'll support this game and also get a copy of the game delivered to your door if they reach their goal. Spread the word, amigos.
Aside from all that, I guess nothing else is happening. I haven't had any alcohol in weeks. That's how focused I've been. Not to mentioned that I haven't a bottle of anything in the whole house. That, and now I leave work at midnight. So, even if I wanted to stop by Bottle King on my way home and pick up some Golden Monkey or Yukon Jack I couldn't because they will have been closed for two hours. I could certainly get up and go out during the afternoon or even the late morning. However, I think we have established by now that I am very much a night owl. At least my nocturnal habits won't bother anyone else once I move into my apartment. I'm so excited!
Today's question will be simple. Would you rather play a video game with the best graphics you have ever seen in your whole life but with a cruddy story (We're talking the original 'Doom' kind of a story.) or a video game with the most engrossing story you have ever experienced in your whole life but with cruddy graphics (We're talking the original Final Fantasy kind of graphics)? For me, it's a tough call because I love games like Painkiller that are mindless run-and-gun games. Games like those are cathartic and make for a nice relaxing play. Also, I love games like Grandia that have such a deeply rooted story with affected characters that you can't help but be sucked in. But I think story wins for me. All the eye-candy in the world would still be just that without any context. But let's not forget that the TRUE aim of a game is the gameplay. That is the real reason we enjoy games. If all we wanted was a story, we would read a book. If all we wanted was eye-candy, we'd look at a painting. If all we wanted was eye-candy and story, we'd watch a movie. Video games involve the audience in a meaningful way. So the interaction is the most important part. I'm still asking you to decide between story and graphics, though. Hahaha
I found 'Stargunner' on gog.com for free!-
Bryan