Ever really wanted to just sit down and do what you wanted to do? Every really liked something so much that you could see yourself never getting bored with? That's how I feel about Game Making (among other interests). But life seems to be geared towards ensuring that we never have enough time to enjoy the things that we like to do. Somehow we have to put up with the tedious first and foremost.
I've really been trying to find time for Game Maker but things have been difficult. First we had a huge project at work to get done that spanned over several months and now they've made cuts and put on a hiring freeze. So now I'm more or less doing the work of 2 1/2 people, at the same pay scale of course.
And it isn't likely to end anytime soon. I really would like to take part in some of the many EO community projects going on but I just don't have time. Heck, it's hard enough finding time for my own projects now.
I'm still doing them just slower. It's reflecting in my web page in that I'm only updating about once a month now and with nothing significant. I really should do something about that.
Life could be worse I suppose so I shouldn't be too harsh, but it would be kind of nice if there way just more time in the week.
Ablach Blackrat's blog
Ablach Blackrat's blog
Nov '05
27
Nov '05
12
Couldn't let this day pass without saying something.
November 11 is the day that we remember the vetrans that fought and died throughout the wars since WWI. This year is particularly special since it will be the first time that vets from WWI weren't in attendance at the main Canadian ceremony in Ottawa at the War Memorial. There are only five left, and all too sickly to have come.
In the meantime, someone thought it would be a nice idea to shack up the visiting WWII veterans in condemned military housing. For some reason they thought the vets would appreciate being reminded of the conditions that they lived in when they were fighting. Brilliant.
Kind of reminds me of when Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae's medals were coming up for auction. He's the military doctor who wrote the poem 'In Flanders Fields', probably one of the most famous poems today. The Federal government not only refused to buy the medals to keep them in Canada, but when a philanthropist bought the medals and donated them to a museum, the Federal Government demanded that he pay full GST. The Provincial Government at the time, under Mike Harris, waved the PST on them as a gesture of respect.
But that's only a couple of examples of the dishonour that the Federal Government has shown our fighting men and women. I could list the ailing copters that have taken lives, the slashing in funds, the lack of armoured vehicles in hostile areas, the lack as basic equipment and clothing, and on and on and on...
Needless to say, the Liberals will never show the proper respect to the men and women who have put their lives on the line in the name of duty. Maybe it's about time we sent some the politicians to the front lines to do the dirty work.
November 11 is the day that we remember the vetrans that fought and died throughout the wars since WWI. This year is particularly special since it will be the first time that vets from WWI weren't in attendance at the main Canadian ceremony in Ottawa at the War Memorial. There are only five left, and all too sickly to have come.
In the meantime, someone thought it would be a nice idea to shack up the visiting WWII veterans in condemned military housing. For some reason they thought the vets would appreciate being reminded of the conditions that they lived in when they were fighting. Brilliant.
Kind of reminds me of when Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae's medals were coming up for auction. He's the military doctor who wrote the poem 'In Flanders Fields', probably one of the most famous poems today. The Federal government not only refused to buy the medals to keep them in Canada, but when a philanthropist bought the medals and donated them to a museum, the Federal Government demanded that he pay full GST. The Provincial Government at the time, under Mike Harris, waved the PST on them as a gesture of respect.
But that's only a couple of examples of the dishonour that the Federal Government has shown our fighting men and women. I could list the ailing copters that have taken lives, the slashing in funds, the lack of armoured vehicles in hostile areas, the lack as basic equipment and clothing, and on and on and on...
Needless to say, the Liberals will never show the proper respect to the men and women who have put their lives on the line in the name of duty. Maybe it's about time we sent some the politicians to the front lines to do the dirty work.
Nov '05
8
As of late there have been many rants on the quality of games being posted. I really have to ask why that is of any importance. Or more to the point, do people know why the GMC even exists?
Professional video games sometimes takes years to make, and can include quite a few people. Whereas the indie game developer, such as those on the GMC, has only themselves. For one person to do story, art, music, spriting, coding, etc, all by themselves is a huge undertaking and in four years I have see maybe four or five people that could do all that and make the game look good.
The GMC exists to not only help people with the program itself but to give them a platform to showcase their creations. No, they will not all be winners, but they're at least trying. Even so, most of the people at the GMC make games, not to make money, but because they like to. Shouldn't we be encouraging that?
Yes, there are people releasing 5 minute programs with simple graphics. Every time I see the words 'did this when I was bored' I don't download because it will be obvious not a lot of time was spent on it. But I'm not going to do a rant about it (well, except for this one).
No one is forcing people to look at the games. And if they are, you have more problems than bad games to look at. Just ignore those games.
As for there not being any good games, let me list a few that have been recently released to prove that theory wrong...
Park Racer
Arc 22
Captain Genia
The Curse of Kaumaha
Vampirako
Professional video games sometimes takes years to make, and can include quite a few people. Whereas the indie game developer, such as those on the GMC, has only themselves. For one person to do story, art, music, spriting, coding, etc, all by themselves is a huge undertaking and in four years I have see maybe four or five people that could do all that and make the game look good.
The GMC exists to not only help people with the program itself but to give them a platform to showcase their creations. No, they will not all be winners, but they're at least trying. Even so, most of the people at the GMC make games, not to make money, but because they like to. Shouldn't we be encouraging that?
Yes, there are people releasing 5 minute programs with simple graphics. Every time I see the words 'did this when I was bored' I don't download because it will be obvious not a lot of time was spent on it. But I'm not going to do a rant about it (well, except for this one).
No one is forcing people to look at the games. And if they are, you have more problems than bad games to look at. Just ignore those games.
As for there not being any good games, let me list a few that have been recently released to prove that theory wrong...
Park Racer
Arc 22
Captain Genia
The Curse of Kaumaha
Vampirako
Oct '05
18
Woke up this past Saturday morning to a slightly flooded basement due to a clog in one of my neighbor's houses. No biggy: a five foot radius of water around the drain plug. So I called the landlord, who in turn called all the tenants on my block and told them not to use the water until the clog was fixed.
An hour goes by, I check and now half my basement is flooded. Oh, great. Call the landlord who checks with the other tenants. Despite being told not use water, most of them were either doing the dishes, taking showers or running laundry, filling up all our basements.
How stupid can people be? Did they really think it was a good idea to wade through sewer water just to clean clothes? And to boot, turns out the clog was caused by someone flushing used diapers down the toilet.
Is this Game Maker related? No, but I felt like giving out an example as to just how stupid people can be. Don't be like this, please.
An hour goes by, I check and now half my basement is flooded. Oh, great. Call the landlord who checks with the other tenants. Despite being told not use water, most of them were either doing the dishes, taking showers or running laundry, filling up all our basements.
How stupid can people be? Did they really think it was a good idea to wade through sewer water just to clean clothes? And to boot, turns out the clog was caused by someone flushing used diapers down the toilet.
Is this Game Maker related? No, but I felt like giving out an example as to just how stupid people can be. Don't be like this, please.
Oct '05
9
I've completely redone my website for various reasons. First and foremost is for accessibility for the handicapped. I plan on adding more one-switch games so having a website that they can actually browse would be nice. Tables are a no-no so I learned CSS (a big thumbs up to Simon Donkers for all his help).
As well I got tired of the black design. Let's face it; everyone who wants a 'cool' site uses black. It's not original anymore. I chose earth tones for the new site for the calming effect.
I've also given each GM creation its own page. I'd rather not hotlink directly to my files when I post a game so this makes things a little easier.
I know it's not a snazzy as the old site, but it works. And if you run it through the W3C validator it won't throw any errors. (My last site threw about 70). So it will stay like this for now.
As well I got tired of the black design. Let's face it; everyone who wants a 'cool' site uses black. It's not original anymore. I chose earth tones for the new site for the calming effect.
I've also given each GM creation its own page. I'd rather not hotlink directly to my files when I post a game so this makes things a little easier.
I know it's not a snazzy as the old site, but it works. And if you run it through the W3C validator it won't throw any errors. (My last site threw about 70). So it will stay like this for now.
