It's probably very fitting that with Steam releasing the Mega Man Legacy Collection that includes games 1 through 6, now with leader boards, replays and a challenge mode, as well as a good bit of 8-bit polish to the classic graphics, that I should come across the Protomen, a conceptual rock band that is incredibly hard to describe.
There's so many influences that it would be impossible to list them all- but as a short example: the opening tracks of Act II, the second album but the prologue of the story, 'Intermission' and 'The Good Doctor' has a definite Johnny Cash vibe to me. Whereas the recently released 'This City Made Us' is a lot more synth rock and sounds a bit like Maiden. And it's fucking great.
One of the reasons I just stopped listening to Coheed and Cambria is because unless it was a particular track, it just all started sounding a bit samey. It's a problem I've found in bands that focus on concept albums because to create a cohesive series of stories you usually have to stick to a theme so that it's instantly recognisable as being part of that one universe. It's a fairly simple thing for writers that are publishing books and stories because a lot of that can come from a particular style of writing, like in Discworld where you have a mix of story types, characters and locations, but are unified through Terry Pratchett's wit and ability to create magic from the mundane, and vice versa. Seriously, he makes a University of Wizards sound like anti-social, squabbling, tired adults. He makes them sound like teachers, and I love that, however I've deviated from my point.
Conceptual bands can quickly sound samey just through repetition of riffs or sound motifs being used continously throughout an album, or over multiple albums. It's a quick and easy way to identify a band- but it can also make everything sound the same.
The Protomen do not have this problem. In one album alone they have switched from spaghetti western styled music to rock and onto rockabilly and even a militant marching song, Hell, that's not even half way through that album. And everything is nicely clear and an obvious continuation of the same story. If anything the changes in styles highlight the progression of mood as time passes.
Now, I know I've ranted a hell of a lot about the importance of composition in a rock opera, and I know a lot of you will be wondering what that has to do with Mega Man, because apart from my opening line and the name of the band, there's not been any reference to good ol' boy blue other than that. This band, these songs, tell a dystopian imagined world set around the characters of the Mega Man world and characters, where Dr. Wiley lords over a broken city, opposed only by Dr. Light whom he betrayed and framed for murder. Taking from the Mega Man lore but not adhering to it, the Protomen have created a dark, desperate story that seems unlikely to end well.
Act I focuses on the creation and destruction of Proto Man, and the creation of Mega Man and the fight against Dr. Wiley. Act II delves into the back story of exactly what happened between Dr. Wiley and Dr. Light. Act III isn't out yet, but the first album single, 'This City Made Us' is and it is wonderful. The Protomen are going to be at PAX Prime this year too, so if you're going check them out on Sunday (30th Aug 2015). I will be at home, jealous and potentially eating too much cake out of despair. I would suggest finding a moment to check them out.
Favourite track right now: The Hounds;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LChtBpTjvTY
But really, try a couple of different tracks, there is probably going to be something there for everyone. Check them out and let me know what you think!
- Idge
Wednesday, 26 August 2015
Tuesday, 18 August 2015
Stuck
I've been feeling kind of stuck lately, that horribly anxious and slow feeling of absolutely nothing happening and not being able to do anything about it. I am stuck.
I'm stuck in a job that I neither love nor hate. I lack inspiration, motivation or even just the inclination to try to better my situations in life. I hate it and I hate that it's self perpetuating too. I loathe that the only thing keeping me in the cycle of emptiness is myself, my apathy.
So yeah, that all sucks.
The thing that really made it hit home was that I got sick about two/three weeks ago and spent my sick leave stuck in the house, finding it physically difficult to move around so I was more or less confined to two seats- and regardless of how bloody comfortable your sofa is I can guarantee that after 3 days of not moving from that seat it will be the most uncomfortable thing you have ever sat on. I couldn't move around easily, and sadly because I felt like shit, I couldn't even do the simple things that I take enjoyment in like playing computer games or writing anything, even just to distract myself. I honestly think this is the longest thing I've written in the past month, sad huh?
However all of this big mental block that I've been having is the by product of a lot of things that have just built up over time and was at it's worst and most noticeable while I was ill.
I think one of the mistakes I made was in creating a tumblr. Don't get me wrong, it's actually a pretty good site if you want to find artwork, but for sharing any other kind of media it's clunky, and slow, and if you follow regular people and not people that use it as a tool for promotion, then you get an unfortunate amount of crap designed to manipulate and coerce you into filling your tumblr space with a parroted opinion that's worded in such a way that if you don't reblog it then you're the scum of the earth that doesn't believe in basic human rights. It's anxiety inducing and quickly makes something that should be a good way to spend an hour of your day into a toxic environment where if you don't reblog, "you may as well unfollow me now". How about- fuck that? I don't need to reblog a post that a stranger has created to tell you my opinions on anything, if you want to know you can ask. If you don't want to know I won't shove my opinion down your throat, insisting that you comply or die. Most of you are human, some of you are even rational beings, I am sure whatever opinion you come to on religious, political, or social matters, you have come to through reasoning and research. Or maybe I'm hoping for too much but eh. I'd like to think I'm an optimist.
One of the good things that I've managed to get out of tumblr, through the blog of an artist I like, was the introduction to this fun short game called the Jimi Hendrix Case. It took me about 30 minutes to complete and I loved every second of it. You play as Jimi Hendrix, investigating the murder of Jimi Hendrix. It's a point and click but it's not obnoxious with it like some other point and clicks where you pick up useless junk that just lives in your inventory for eternity. Seriously game designers, don't do that, you can create an aura of mystery and a challenging puzzle without being a dick by making us think a silkworm is going to be useful and then just have it taking up space for the rest of the game. Nothing in this game is superfluous and in honesty I would have liked the game to be that little bit longer, but the ending to the game it pretty damn fitting. If you're okay with downloading games that aren't on Steam then I'd give this one a look, it's good fun even if it's quick.
Another thing that kept me sane during my incarceration of the self was the magnificent Real Rollplay: Swan Song videos that are up on Itmejp's youtube; playlist here. Stylised like a television show in parts, it was so easy to binge watch somewhere in the region of 150 plus videos. Set in the year 3200 using the Stars Without Numbers gaming system which is a bit like D&D in space. I'd seriously suggest checking it out. Adam Koebel, the game's DM creates a heavily layered universe that is centred around the crew of the Swan Song, a frigate class ship captained by Wilbur Higgins the 3rd, and they're lives as they drift from job to job, from con to con, amongst these stars without numbers.
And now that I've got that incredibly cheesy line out of my system, let me continue. The stories that come about from this strange mish mash of a crew are just enthralling. For example, I found myself close to tears when a character I didn't particularly care for in the beginning left the crew just because of how they grew as a character. You get attached to these fake people- your alcoholic captain, the computer expert with a Spacebook problem and a complete lack of respect for privacy, the tank with the biggest chip on their shoulder, the Doctor (phd) of the ship that really should've just waited for the elevator, the pop loving mechanic, the fanatical Frenchman, one of the nicest Vikings you'll ever meet, a pizza loving artificial intelligence and a talking octopus.
I recommend clearing a week and just marathoning the entire series however I do realise that's not always quite possible. Still, check this series out- or if you prefer fantasy to sci fi check out some of the other Rollplay series, the West Marches is particularly good, and Missclicks has some great moments. Not to mention, the original series that kicked it all off, just titled Rollplay, is fantastic viewing if only for the impossible rolls from the character of Bregor. Following Itmejp on twitter or twitch is a good way to find out when he's going live or when new videos are posted.
And as always, if you do check these out please leave a comment and let me know. I love geeking out with folk. Thanks for letting me ramble on, it's made me feel a little unstuck.
I'm stuck in a job that I neither love nor hate. I lack inspiration, motivation or even just the inclination to try to better my situations in life. I hate it and I hate that it's self perpetuating too. I loathe that the only thing keeping me in the cycle of emptiness is myself, my apathy.
So yeah, that all sucks.
The thing that really made it hit home was that I got sick about two/three weeks ago and spent my sick leave stuck in the house, finding it physically difficult to move around so I was more or less confined to two seats- and regardless of how bloody comfortable your sofa is I can guarantee that after 3 days of not moving from that seat it will be the most uncomfortable thing you have ever sat on. I couldn't move around easily, and sadly because I felt like shit, I couldn't even do the simple things that I take enjoyment in like playing computer games or writing anything, even just to distract myself. I honestly think this is the longest thing I've written in the past month, sad huh?
However all of this big mental block that I've been having is the by product of a lot of things that have just built up over time and was at it's worst and most noticeable while I was ill.
I think one of the mistakes I made was in creating a tumblr. Don't get me wrong, it's actually a pretty good site if you want to find artwork, but for sharing any other kind of media it's clunky, and slow, and if you follow regular people and not people that use it as a tool for promotion, then you get an unfortunate amount of crap designed to manipulate and coerce you into filling your tumblr space with a parroted opinion that's worded in such a way that if you don't reblog it then you're the scum of the earth that doesn't believe in basic human rights. It's anxiety inducing and quickly makes something that should be a good way to spend an hour of your day into a toxic environment where if you don't reblog, "you may as well unfollow me now". How about- fuck that? I don't need to reblog a post that a stranger has created to tell you my opinions on anything, if you want to know you can ask. If you don't want to know I won't shove my opinion down your throat, insisting that you comply or die. Most of you are human, some of you are even rational beings, I am sure whatever opinion you come to on religious, political, or social matters, you have come to through reasoning and research. Or maybe I'm hoping for too much but eh. I'd like to think I'm an optimist.
One of the good things that I've managed to get out of tumblr, through the blog of an artist I like, was the introduction to this fun short game called the Jimi Hendrix Case. It took me about 30 minutes to complete and I loved every second of it. You play as Jimi Hendrix, investigating the murder of Jimi Hendrix. It's a point and click but it's not obnoxious with it like some other point and clicks where you pick up useless junk that just lives in your inventory for eternity. Seriously game designers, don't do that, you can create an aura of mystery and a challenging puzzle without being a dick by making us think a silkworm is going to be useful and then just have it taking up space for the rest of the game. Nothing in this game is superfluous and in honesty I would have liked the game to be that little bit longer, but the ending to the game it pretty damn fitting. If you're okay with downloading games that aren't on Steam then I'd give this one a look, it's good fun even if it's quick.
Another thing that kept me sane during my incarceration of the self was the magnificent Real Rollplay: Swan Song videos that are up on Itmejp's youtube; playlist here. Stylised like a television show in parts, it was so easy to binge watch somewhere in the region of 150 plus videos. Set in the year 3200 using the Stars Without Numbers gaming system which is a bit like D&D in space. I'd seriously suggest checking it out. Adam Koebel, the game's DM creates a heavily layered universe that is centred around the crew of the Swan Song, a frigate class ship captained by Wilbur Higgins the 3rd, and they're lives as they drift from job to job, from con to con, amongst these stars without numbers.
And now that I've got that incredibly cheesy line out of my system, let me continue. The stories that come about from this strange mish mash of a crew are just enthralling. For example, I found myself close to tears when a character I didn't particularly care for in the beginning left the crew just because of how they grew as a character. You get attached to these fake people- your alcoholic captain, the computer expert with a Spacebook problem and a complete lack of respect for privacy, the tank with the biggest chip on their shoulder, the Doctor (phd) of the ship that really should've just waited for the elevator, the pop loving mechanic, the fanatical Frenchman, one of the nicest Vikings you'll ever meet, a pizza loving artificial intelligence and a talking octopus.
I recommend clearing a week and just marathoning the entire series however I do realise that's not always quite possible. Still, check this series out- or if you prefer fantasy to sci fi check out some of the other Rollplay series, the West Marches is particularly good, and Missclicks has some great moments. Not to mention, the original series that kicked it all off, just titled Rollplay, is fantastic viewing if only for the impossible rolls from the character of Bregor. Following Itmejp on twitter or twitch is a good way to find out when he's going live or when new videos are posted.
And as always, if you do check these out please leave a comment and let me know. I love geeking out with folk. Thanks for letting me ramble on, it's made me feel a little unstuck.
Saturday, 28 March 2015
Organising a digital life
Hello folks, it has been quite a while since I updated and sadly this post will probably be as useful as the others.
Work is a strange mix of frantically busy while being rather empty and slow at the same time. It's exhausting and I don't really feel like I can complain because we're really really quiet, although not when it comes to paperwork.
Balancing this with my life outside of work (non-exsistant but I'm trying darnit) that is unpredictable at the best of times, I'm just feeling like I've lost control over a lot of things.
So, my plan is to better organise my digital life- a move partially put into play by Twitch.tv getting hacked. They've set it up so that the next time you log in to Twitch they'll ask you to reset your password. Thankfully I didn't have any thing like my twitter linked to it but that's a whole other issue.
And the reason I'm telling y'all this is that I've set up a tumblr, a twitch should I ever start streaming, a youtube again- should I ever make videos, I'm on facebook, twitter and now on a fan fiction website too for some of the crap I write.
Does that mean this blog is dead? Probably. I wasn't the best at updating this anyway so it's probably not like anyone will notice. However if you do and you want me to continue on here then just bitch at me in the comments. I'll get to it eventually.
Otherwise, thank you everyone who has read this nonsense and kept coming back in the off chance I'll write something sensible. You guys have all my love. <3
Work is a strange mix of frantically busy while being rather empty and slow at the same time. It's exhausting and I don't really feel like I can complain because we're really really quiet, although not when it comes to paperwork.
Balancing this with my life outside of work (non-exsistant but I'm trying darnit) that is unpredictable at the best of times, I'm just feeling like I've lost control over a lot of things.
So, my plan is to better organise my digital life- a move partially put into play by Twitch.tv getting hacked. They've set it up so that the next time you log in to Twitch they'll ask you to reset your password. Thankfully I didn't have any thing like my twitter linked to it but that's a whole other issue.
And the reason I'm telling y'all this is that I've set up a tumblr, a twitch should I ever start streaming, a youtube again- should I ever make videos, I'm on facebook, twitter and now on a fan fiction website too for some of the crap I write.
Does that mean this blog is dead? Probably. I wasn't the best at updating this anyway so it's probably not like anyone will notice. However if you do and you want me to continue on here then just bitch at me in the comments. I'll get to it eventually.
Otherwise, thank you everyone who has read this nonsense and kept coming back in the off chance I'll write something sensible. You guys have all my love. <3
Saturday, 21 February 2015
A Generic Zombie Story
They came from under the cold hard ground.
They saw with their white unseeing eyes.
They conquered swiftly in their slow, shambling hordes.
There was no warning, no state of emergency was announced and no support from the armed forces.
The country entered a state of lockdown. No one was allowed in or out, barriers were erected along the coastlines.
All of this happened with an efficiency that was not associated with the country in question's government at all that it left only one explanation.
It had been planned.
They saw with their white unseeing eyes.
They conquered swiftly in their slow, shambling hordes.
There was no warning, no state of emergency was announced and no support from the armed forces.
The country entered a state of lockdown. No one was allowed in or out, barriers were erected along the coastlines.
All of this happened with an efficiency that was not associated with the country in question's government at all that it left only one explanation.
It had been planned.
Monday, 9 February 2015
Messing around with the blog
Ignore the changes to the blog over the next wee while. I'm just pissing about.
This has been a PSA
This has been a PSA
Friday, 9 January 2015
Back to the Grindstone
Hello folks, and a very happy 2015 to you all.
It's back to the madhouse for me as work seems to just be going at full pelt after what feels like too short a break. December to mid January is usually pretty busy for me so I'm hoping things at least level off for the middle of the month.
However, it's not stopped me in my writing goals. Sure, my set goal of 250 words per week seems small, but I can easily forsee days when I don't want to write anything at all. In fact, I'm really quite surprised I managed it so easily already.
My drabble came from a bolt of inspiration that struck in a conversation with @Macksaur on Tuesday evening about potential ideas for games. I'm not a coder, despite how much I enjoyed messing about with Beyond for the Gishwhes entry, and making a game myself is something that I feel would just be beyond my capabilities. But I like writing narratives. And I love the idea of a work of interactive fiction, whether it be a choose your own adventure story or something much like a game. Even television and Youtube to some extent is interactive, moreso in Youtubes case depending on the channel.
I like the idea that writing can be flexible without completely destroying what came before too. You only need to go into a comic book store to see how reboots can be utilised to positive or damaging results. I think that when I write I get very stuck on what I think should happen that I may be missing out on potential stories.
And I hate missing out on stories.
It's one of the reasons that- despite abandoning it at random intervals- I really like updating this blog. There's a certain freedom that comes from just spewing thoughts out regardless of decorum and I feel like I have a somewhat more fluid method of writing when I sit down to just amble through some thoughts and text, with just a quick read through before publishing. Rarely do I sit down with a topic and plot it out for you all to read, preferring to jump from topic to whatever topic floats through my mind like Muhammad Ali. It's somewhat freeing.
So, over the weekend I'll probably try expanding on my 250 words and see if I can get something cohesive out of it. If not then it at least sparked about 20 different story ideas that are currently vying for attention in my small, small brain. But for just now, back to work!
Take care and thanks for reading.
So, over the weekend I'll probably try expanding on my 250 words and see if I can get something cohesive out of it. If not then it at least sparked about 20 different story ideas that are currently vying for attention in my small, small brain. But for just now, back to work!
Take care and thanks for reading.
Sunday, 28 December 2014
Reflections
I've rewritten this a couple of times now and each time it just sounds pretentious. I don't know if it's a fault of the kind of piece I'm writing, if reflections by their nature are at heart a bit pretentious, and then I realise it's happened again. Pretentiousness for everyone!
Hopefully that's it out of my system. On to the point: I've been re-examining myself over the past year, partially because it's coming up to a new year and partially because of one of my Christmas present. I had asked for, and was given, a scrapbook to fill. Thankfully I managed to get out of the house and do things so I have a couple of pages that I can fill with stuff, but there's a lot of empty pages too. Already I know of future events that can fill these, but it doesn't feel like it's enough. I don't feel like enough to be worth recording.
So, the question is what will I do to fix that?
Before I spill all my faults out to the internet and world at large, which I've probably covered in past posts regardless, I'll just say now that I'll figure all this out properly in my own time and space. I'm just going to put the things here that I'm happy sharing, so don't worry you won't be getting a 40 page epic on changes of diet and exercise that'd I'd never keep to anyway.
One thing that I will put here is that I want to do more. I want to travel more, I want to spend more time with friends and I want to talk to people more. I have a real difficultly talking to people and it's something that I can only work on by going ahead and doing it regardless of how nervous or anxious it makes me, and I'm not saying that I suffer from social anxiety issues- I've known plenty people that do, I'm just a whinger in comparison. In the past year I've done so much more than I usually do, and it's still a pathetic amount of nothing. I want to, and will do everything I can to change this, but it's up to me to do that.
Another thing that kind of ties in with the above post as it is part of the doing more campaign is that I want to get into the habit of writing regularly. I was given an amazing leather bound notebook and I have access to various writing programs on my laptop and now my new phone so I don't have the excuse of not having anywhere to write. I have ideas too, so that's not really an issue, it's just laziness, a bad habit. So my writing goal is a minimum of 250 words a week, per week. If I go over one week that's great, but they do not carry on to the next week. If I write 250 words a week by the end of a year I would've written 130,000 words minimum. It's a low target sure, but that's not the point, the point is to make it a habit that I'm comfortable with, so that when it comes to writing something with real purpose it's not a total uphill climb. It might be that my 250 words end up in this blog or that they go into a story, either way, as long as they're being written.
In closing, whatever your reflections on the past year bring you I hope you have many happy memories in there and I hope that the oncoming year brings you many more.
Yndi Halda!
Hopefully that's it out of my system. On to the point: I've been re-examining myself over the past year, partially because it's coming up to a new year and partially because of one of my Christmas present. I had asked for, and was given, a scrapbook to fill. Thankfully I managed to get out of the house and do things so I have a couple of pages that I can fill with stuff, but there's a lot of empty pages too. Already I know of future events that can fill these, but it doesn't feel like it's enough. I don't feel like enough to be worth recording.
So, the question is what will I do to fix that?
Before I spill all my faults out to the internet and world at large, which I've probably covered in past posts regardless, I'll just say now that I'll figure all this out properly in my own time and space. I'm just going to put the things here that I'm happy sharing, so don't worry you won't be getting a 40 page epic on changes of diet and exercise that'd I'd never keep to anyway.
One thing that I will put here is that I want to do more. I want to travel more, I want to spend more time with friends and I want to talk to people more. I have a real difficultly talking to people and it's something that I can only work on by going ahead and doing it regardless of how nervous or anxious it makes me, and I'm not saying that I suffer from social anxiety issues- I've known plenty people that do, I'm just a whinger in comparison. In the past year I've done so much more than I usually do, and it's still a pathetic amount of nothing. I want to, and will do everything I can to change this, but it's up to me to do that.
Another thing that kind of ties in with the above post as it is part of the doing more campaign is that I want to get into the habit of writing regularly. I was given an amazing leather bound notebook and I have access to various writing programs on my laptop and now my new phone so I don't have the excuse of not having anywhere to write. I have ideas too, so that's not really an issue, it's just laziness, a bad habit. So my writing goal is a minimum of 250 words a week, per week. If I go over one week that's great, but they do not carry on to the next week. If I write 250 words a week by the end of a year I would've written 130,000 words minimum. It's a low target sure, but that's not the point, the point is to make it a habit that I'm comfortable with, so that when it comes to writing something with real purpose it's not a total uphill climb. It might be that my 250 words end up in this blog or that they go into a story, either way, as long as they're being written.
In closing, whatever your reflections on the past year bring you I hope you have many happy memories in there and I hope that the oncoming year brings you many more.
Yndi Halda!
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