Mental Pressure Valve

Time to take a break from coherence and indulge in a touch of broomwork in my crowded mental space.

Am I posting too much? I'm finding it a rewarding way to start my day, but I worry that it all comes too rapidly. Posting every day makes sense for someone like Alice, whose posts are short, but it takes time to read all the nonsense/ideas I pump out. I don't really know what my relationship to the people who come to this blog is or should be. Maybe this is not something that one knows, but something one must simply take on trust.

The blogs I read stopped talking about games this week and turned to other subjects. In the case of Man Bytes Blog, this led to a number of posts about myth which I have really enjoyed, and which have prompted modestly verbose comments from me. I've really enjoyed it - mythology is a subject close to my heart. For anyone interested, the four posts are archived under Myth Things (in reverse order).

Corvus looks completely different with the shorter hair! Almost respectible. :) It makes me want to host a 'Years Apart' exhibition, and show sets of photos of people taken five or so years apart. Seven years ago, I looked like the leader of a religious cult! :)

Sanjit, lead programmer on Fireball, delivered a build yesterday which fixed all the problems in the burning mechanics that were giving me some anxiety. Now it's certain the gameplay works, and it definitely has the capacity to support both the  Hard Fun of puzzles and environmental challenges and the Easy Fun of simply watching things burn. A colleague suggested yesterday that we might like to show the title and author of levels in the game - and this is quite tempting. Authors names would by like the names of crossword makers - handles, if you will. It would allow the player to build a relationship with the different level makers, potentially. We need the people to make the levels, though. We could even change the framing structure to be more like a gallery than a game, potentially. See here for details if you fancy being involved.

Last night, in the "Not Work" evening, we had an impulse to play Wave Race 64. I never realised before how much the lower resolution graphics lend this game an impressionistic feel - it's like playing a Monet painting. No wonder Blue Storm was a disappointment - it's graphics are shiny and "realistic". All the beauty was lost. Wave Race 64 (along with Blast Corps) was the game that persuaded me to buy my very first console, although I'd played on many consoles before this point, of course. It still retains an elegance of design and environment that I admire.

Went to see the local squirrels last Monday. They're doing well - but too busy burying supplies for the winter to hang out and play with me. Grateful for my free handouts, but easily distracted. My wife took some pictures and films - I haven't seen them yet, but I might post a few if there are some good ones.

Right, my mind is swept clean. Enjoy your weekend!

The opening image, Broom Brain, is by Ryan Arthurs. No copyright infringement is implied, and I will take the image down if I am asked.

Comments

[Corvus]

I've been wondering about the length of my posts lately as well. Even my 'short' re-caps turn into lengthy posts. Still, I'm blogging to say what I need to say where a handful of people can reply when compelled to (thanks for that, by the way), so I'm not going to worry about it overly much (which is to say I'll be worrying about it a little).

If you host a portrait show, I can give you such pictures! Long hair, bald, short hair, medium hair with long moustache, short hair with shaggy beard, you just say the word and I'll display my chameleonic nature to the world!

Have a great weekend!

[Dhruin]

I really enjoy the regular posts and the meaty topics - it just takes a while for a response to "percolate" in my brain, so I can't always keep up. :)

[Neil]

I think it is best to let what comes naturally. You can always revise things and repost on subjects.

But if you are really worried things are too long or similar, make more effort to post snippets which break up the lengthier posts.

I think the length of the posts makes a blog feel bigger (or shorter), rather than the number of posts.