White Blood Cells Are Nice Too...

So it turns out, it's pretty damn easy to die.  Hell, even microscopic bacteria can kill ya.  Who knew?

Suffice it to say, I did not have a fun November, December or January.  How was your holiday?  I got back home last week, and have since been trying to catch up on everything I've missed.

First off, I need to thank Agrippa on the LoP Team for taking over for me and not only finishing what would become Teen Fangbangers, but essentially starting from scratch on it as there was no way for me to send him my script at the time.  I also want to thank Strutter for his work on creating the art assets for Teen Fangbangers, and I apologize for the delay in keeping his art from all of you!

Of course I also need to thank Leonizer for his infinite patience and understanding, as well as the rest of the LoP Team, our communities and everyone who e-mailed or posted a comment on the various forums and websites I frequent who shared their concerns for me.

Thank-you!

Mon petit chou-fleur...

Living with Britney: Secret Exhibitions is just about finished up.  Testing went real well today, and everything is looking good, and more importantly, it's running as it should.  Leonizer wants to get it out as soon as possible, so it's looking like it will be published real soon.

I happily got to play with Claire today as well.  The script writing has been going real smooth, albeit it's longer than it initially appeared to me.  Not that I'm complaining, especially when I'm having fun writing this one.  I'm curious to see how much I can get done tomorrow now that my attention is, hopefully, completely off LwB.

Claire:TES is a fairly linear game, albeit with the usual branching paths, and it's looking to have about five different endings when all is said and done.  However, while Claire is the title character, the players will be taking on the role of someone else...

Back and Forth

So far I've tested 3 different versions of the new LwB expansion.  Fortunately, I've only had to make some minor changes to the draft.  Unfortunately, one of the larger story elements is being a bit buggy as of writing this.  Apparently the new girl doesn't want to cooperate with us, so we'll have to slap her around a bit.  Don't worry though, I hear she likes it!

Aside from some game scripting issues, everything else is going pretty well.  Since I spent all my time working on LwB I didn't get a chance to play with Claire today.  Hopefully that will change tomorrow.

Foreign Languages

First off, the Living with Britney expansion is in testing!  Not all the features are in yet, but it is in a playable state.  It should be out sometime early next month, as long as nothing goes horribly wrong...

Now then, Claire.

Writing properly in my native tongue is hard enough, writing for someone who doesn't natively speak it is even more so.  The problem is, I can't write with ahn outwagious aczent zat mahkes ze vords unriedable.  That's no fun for the reader, and it's no fun for me either.  More so with this current game, since the previously mentioned Quick Time Events (QTE's) require the player to absorb the relevant information and then make a prompt judgement call.  Choosing poorly is damaging, not choosing at all can be damning...

Sex and Jokes

Well, I just sent the first draft of the LwB expansion (Tentatively titled: Secret Exhibitions) off to Leonizer.  When I said I wanted to get this done by the weekend, I meant last weekend.  C'est la vie.

Actually, that's one of the primary reasons I started this blog, so I could keep myself motivated and keep track of time.  I'm actually pretty terrible at time management.

Like the title suggests the last things to finish up where the sex scenes, and the jokes.  Jokes are murder to write, and fortunately I only had to write three of them for one small bit of gameplay involving the phone.  Yes, our heroes are that immature.

I pretty much already explained what happens next.  I wait, write any new content that I'm asked to, wait some more, then do testing for every scene, making changes as needed, and repeat that process until the game is published.

Even after publishing, there have been times where we've need to make changes to the script, so it's really not finished until my OCD says it's good enough.

That's all for now!

When it rains...

To put it mildly, my weekend was shot.  I won't go into details, but the expenses are almost $1500.  Fortunately I was able to get a lot done yesterday and today.  Tomorrow I should have the first draft of the new expansion finished, and sent off to Leonizer.

Just about all the new interactions with Britney and the new toys for the apartment are written, and all that's left is to write the endings and fill in those damn sex scenes and some missing story elements.  (By the way, I suck at writing jokes!)  After that, I'll read over the entire script again looking for spelling and grammar errors and then send it on its merry way.

Of course the project and my involvement doesn't end there.  Inevitably there are rewrites as everything is smashed together and conflicts arise.  Part of that involves a ton of testing that goes on to make sure each element makes sense in the context that's provided and that everything plays out balanced and as is intended. 

Not all of that happens immediately.  To give you an idea of the iteration process, the original LwB game's script went from the draft Leonizer sent me in January through 6 drafts that I worked on, finishing up sometime in mid-March.  In the meantime, I'll get back to working on another project that has been taking shape for a very long time now and involves the number "3".

The St. Paula Girl

Is anything but(t).

The other new girl in the LwB expansion was pretty much a blank slate.  Just that she has a need, and someone isn't fulfilling it.  Of course only our hero, Josh, can save the day!

These can be some of the most fun characters to write for.  There is just something so enjoyable about breathing life into an enigma.  Giving a character a story, and filling in the details that reinforce her motives is pretty much always fun.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I usually write the sex scenes last, and again that's the case with LwB.  To be honest, those are the hardest things to write, and they can be the most soul sucking.  It's not that I don't like sex.  In fact, I love sex.  Why do you think I'm doing this?  It's just that, there are only so many ways to describe "Insert TAB-A into SLOT-B."

So pretty much the first half of this project is done.  What's left is everything on Britney's side of the expansion, which while not containing much story, does contain a lot more interactions as well as a new location for our lovebirds to visit.  After that are the new endings, which I already know how they're going to turn out, and then filling in all those glorious sex scenes.

Ideally, I wanted to get this wrapped up by the end of the weekend, and that may still be possible.  I'll just have to see what fate has in store for me.

A Rival Appears!

Did a lot of work on the story today for the LwB expansion.  Britney now has some competition!  Elly, a co-worker of Britney, has her own particular quirks and thus far she's been fairly enjoyable to write for.  In some ways Elly is the antithesis of Britney, but she still has her needs that Josh will have to live up to if he wants to win her over.

There is still is a lot to finish writing however, even after I'm done with Elly's story.  There is also another new character being introduced as well as a whole bunch of new activities (and dates?) with Britney.  So fans of Brit, fear not, she is in no way being ignored.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be finished with both of the new girls' stories and I'll just have to focus on Brit and all her new toys.

One last thing I will add, I did send in a request for additional assets.  I felt that a certain kiss was needed, and really, it's not a big thing, but it helps to add a bit more flavor to the characters involved.  My point is: even if you're not in control of everything, it doesn't hurt to ask for help.  Something I too often forget myself...

And... Scene!

Well, if I'm going to write about using this to help with my work I might as well actually use it...

Ow!

First, before this started, and before that thing was a confirmed failure, I kinda broke a nail.  Well, more like ripped it half off my middle finger.  This is what happens when you do things without the proper tools, so be forewarned kids!

Anyway, took the bandage off cause it makes things a pain in the ass to type.  Now then...

Testing 1, 2, 3...

Well, after the colossal failure that was that last project, I've decided to run a little experiment.

I'm going to start writing at night about what I worked on during the day to see if that can help improve my work.  Inspiration is a fickle thing, and I need to get it where I can, especially if I want to keep doing the things I enjoy.  So let's consider this a work diary and see where it goes.

Dear Diary,

I totally fucked that up.  Thankfully the boss hasn't fired me yet.  Now to start on the LwB Expansion...

G