Last year, I wrote about my writing setup. It involved a few different apps, and while I had a comprehensive process laid out, I just didn’t get myself to follow it consistently. I stopped using Ulysses, and went back to writing on whatever text editor happened to be available, or typing a quick post directly into my blog CMS. It was rather chaotic, so I’m looking to compromise this year.
Continue reading “Fall 2021 Writing Setup”I’m an Author (Almost a Year Late)
With everything that happened last year, I managed to never write about my co-authorship of the Level 3 Puzzle Book put out by my company. It was the largest project I’ve been on, and the content I’m most proud of producing. Not only did I get to write and review close to half the puzzles in the book, I managed to learn the basics of InDesign and help compile the book into its final form.
I’m shocked I didn’t write about it late last Fall when it released, but I had other non-work ideas on my mind. This popped back into my head as we were cleaning our apartment in preparation for visitors, and I came across one of my copies of the book.
I recommend taking a look at the sample PDFs on the page linked above. They puzzles are dastardly. The Level 3 is only representative of the math prerequisites, but some of the puzzles themselves would stump our employees.
Text Adventures Part 4: The Document
A text adventure would not be useful to me if it was not written down. Particularly when the goal is to have an unfeeling, strict parser doling out commands only when successfully prompted, it’s important to have a reference that is clear, contains maps and explanatory information, space for notes, and everything the “computer” needs to say throughout the game.
With the exception of Recurring Nightmare, I write every text adventure using LaTeX. Over time I’ve built up commands and formatting to make this process simpler. For Recurring Nightmare, I tried my hand at InDesign since I had received a license from work. That license no longer exists, and it’s easier for me to edit a .tex document than an InDesign document, so LaTeX continues to be the way forward.
In this post I’ll talk about some of the decisions I made for formatting my document, how I make maps, and other bits of trivia that come to mind.
Continue reading “Text Adventures Part 4: The Document”2020 Election Pre-Processing
Although this is admittedly a privileged position to be in, the 2020 election snuck up on me. I got my mail-in ballot for California, but let it sit on my desk. I knew inside would be races for positions with which I was unfamiliar, having only lived in San Diego for a couple years and not knowing what the political environment was on the local level. In addition, the California Voter Information Guide let me know there would be 11 propositions that were difficult to parse, and had at least 4 pages each of thorough explanation and official arguments for and against them.
Feeling a little overwhelmed by the voting that did not involve the presidential race (and that presidential race being uncertain nationwide, despite me knowing who I would vote for), the ballot remained on my desk for two weeks. It wasn’t until a podcast introduction from ATP that it finally sunk in that the election was coming up incredibly fast, and I needed to get my vote in. So I sat down this past Thursday, and over the course of a couple hours researched and made decisions on the various candidates and measures filling my ballot.
With that done, I figured it was time to take a break from my self-indulgent series on text adventures, and focus on a particularly sticky election. I have no guess as to how it will turn out. Other people have summarized some of the main possible outcomes quite well, so I feel no need to do that. And since I am no longer working in a college dorm, I feel disconnected from the effects this nation’s politics have on people. I’m stuck between the privileged spot of wanting to simply focus on my daily work, and a deep discomfort for what precedent the past 4 years have set, and what the next 4 years could mean for our country.
What has been most frustrating is the lack of respect for our country, and a disagreement in what it stands for. We’ve set up a system where people refuse to change it (or actively try to hamstring it) because that’s the only way for them to maintain power. We’ve also set up a system where discussions about the system, ignoring the specific politics of the day, seem nearly impossible to navigate. So many cling to the wisdom of Founding Fathers without recognizing that a large part of what they included was the ability to adapt and change within the system. Yet these avenues seem cut off from us until massive change is created.
It’s a frustrating time, and I am discouraged by the thought of the presidential election. I find it unlikely that a transfer (or maintaining) of power will go smoothly, because the conversations are always about the wrong thing. It’s discouraging that reality has become inconsequential, and I’m not sure where my spot is in what the next few months will bring.
I’m sure this week will be a multiple-post week, at the expense of making any progress on NaNoWriMo. But this is a time for focusing on something much bigger than a certain creative itch, because I believe there’s much more at stake. It may be true that all the well-meaning people won’t be enough due to nefarious actors outside our control, but I hope we can start moving in a better direction.
Text Adventures Part 2: The Idea
I want each text adventure I write to have a unique flavor. Mechanics aside, the story behind it should be fresh, typically built from a single idea, and the more I write the more my mind recognizes these singular bits of inspiration. One thought or phrase is typically enough for me to build a world from: sitting down with a thought, then branching out from the initial point in whatever way my mind flows. I’m going to discuss how this process worked for each of the four text adventures I’ve written and released so far, and try to dissect what I learned in the process. In the next post, I’ll focus more on the thought process (or lack thereof) that went into developing some of the game mechanics around these ideas.
Continue reading “Text Adventures Part 2: The Idea”Road Trip Test
Erin and I embarked on yet another cross-country road trip from Minnesota to California this past weekend. It’s the third we’ve had, and each one has proven more successful than the last.
Work from Home Future
The word came in this week that my company will be working from home until at least the end of the year. Although we’ve already been working from home for about 5 months now, knowing that it’s another 5 months (and that I’ll be heading back to San Diego fairly soon) changes the feeling a bit.
Continue reading “Work from Home Future”Backpack Search
A while ago, one of the water bottle sleeves in my backpack started to tear. In addition, the nature of my traveling life began to change. I was taking weekend trips to San Francisco, and the occasional long-term trip back to Minnesota (such as I am on now.) Now that I’m armed with a little bit of birthday money, particularly a gift card to REI, I’m on the hunt for a new backpack.
This is actually a tough situation. I’m hesitant to go window shopping right now, and this is the first time I’ve needed to be intentional about purchasing a backpack. Throughout college and the first couple years in my job, having a standard “school” backpack with several large pockets, a laptop compartment, and some smaller organizational areas has been nice. But there’s more to be done now. In particular, I’m less enthused by how many external zippers there are on my current backpack, or how the interior space is split up in a way that is sub-optimal for what I need. There’s a lot to figure out, since this is a world that I’m not very familiar with. But it’s fun to take the time and explore. It’s not a rush purchase, so I can be intentional about it.