#mechageddon

Pyrite, Meddling Mechanic

Rule 2: Answer the questions the tagger has set for you in their posts, then make 11 new ones.

Rule 3: tag 11 people and link them in your post. nope it's five now

Rule 4: Let them know you’ve tagged them.

1. What is a song that always makes you relive a memory?

"The Guitar" by They Might be Giants was really what prompted me to get into music. Listening to it always reminds me how excited I was when I first picked up the guitar, and how exciting it can still be now.

2. What is your favorite creative outlet?

I can never pick favorites. Does cooking count? I think that's the one I'm best at. It's not very expressive, but it definitely benefits other people the most. Music is the one I've spent the most time with. I'm always attempting art and writing as well, but I'm really not very good at either. I guess what makes all of these good creative outlets for me is the fact that even if the end result is very poor, the process of making bad things and slowly getting less bad at them is fulfilling.

3. If you could choose any fictional character to be your new traveling companion and housemate, who would you choose?

I think I'd have to say Matthew from Sandman. I think we can all agree that ravens are cool, and he seems like a pretty down-to-earth kind of guy, even if he is dead and stuff. Having him as a traveling partner would obviously be pretty easy, but I don't know about as a housemate. I guess I'd have the place to myself most of the time since he'd probably be out doing raven things a lot.

4. What is the biggest problem in the world?

I think it's always been peoples' lack of empathy. I can't imagine that any of the problems we have always had in this world, save natural disasters, would be nearly as bad (or exist at all, in some cases) if any person could look at any other person and see, you know, a person, in the same way they see themselves. Unfortunately I also think it goes against human nature to think like this all the time (least of all myself), and I don't think this is a problem anyone can solve, but it's what I try to remind myself whenever I'm facing a difficult judgment, and I hope anyone reading this will take that into consideration as well.

5. Can you describe a moment that took your breath away?

I am pretty consistently impressed by seeing things from very high up. I'm not sure how many of these experiences I'd honestly call "breathtaking", but for some reason, there's something amazing about looking out at trees or buildings or lakes or whatever from the top of a mountain or a fire tower. I think my favorite was looking down on fireworks from the top of North Point on July 4th.

6. What are the best and worst animal encounters you've experienced?

My best animal encounter is: every encounter with my cat. He is kind of an idiot as far as cats go but I guess that's why I like him. My worst animal encounter is: every encounter with the cat my parents had when I was very very young (younger than 4). I don't really remember them except that he fucking hated me, probably because I didn't really get cats so I did a lot of mean things to him. I never really hurt him (as far as I know) but I thought it was funny to pick up his hind legs and walk around with him like a wheelbarrow. I still cringe when I think about it, but I'm pretty sure I started leaving him alone when he started scratching me.

7. Is there something you would like to change about yourself?

Yes. A lot. Too much to talk about right now, so let's move on.

8. What motivates/drives/inspires you?

You always hear these stories about how devoted people get to their endeavors. For example, when I was learning guitar, I read about how Jimi Hendrix sat on his bed learning songs from the radio for like six hours a day when he was a kid. Those are meant to be inspiring, I think, but they don't really inspire me at all. I'm most driven by my friends. Among my friends are amazing artists and talented musicians and brilliant programmers and just wonderful people. Maybe it's due to a lack of imagination, but knowing that someone I've never met spent years and years one one sculpture doesn't really connect with me as much as seeing the incredible things my friends do. It reminds me that greatness is a real thing that occurs in real people, and it's everywhere.

9. What do you think about when you look into a clear night sky?

I kind of don't. I spend far too much time laying in bed or staring out train windows thinking about things. When I look up into a clear night sky, that's the only time I can really let my head be empty. I just look up and feel the impossible depth, and that profound (if cliche) floating sensation.

10. What was the last dream that you had that you can remember?

I can't really remember any specific dreams, but I do remember some impressions that many of my dreams recently have had in common. A lot have been about leaving places, especially about stressful changes and bitter goodbyes. I wish I could remember more, but I haven't recorded any in the last few weeks.

11. Do you have a favorite story that is very meaningful to you?

You mean a story I heard, or a story from my life? I'm going to go with the former, and I'm also going to assert that "The Hobbit" counts as a story here, because it was read to me as a bedtime story (well, many bedtime stories) when I was a kid. It's significant to me because it's probably the first time I was ever seriously engaged in a narrative (I got REALLY into it) and sparked my interest in stories. It's also my only real memory of early bonding with my father.

Thanks for tagging me, that was fun and I think I really needed to write something like this. Maybe I should change my favorite creative outlet to responding to chain posts on Tumblr.

Here are my eleven questions:

What is your favorite game that does not involve equipment other than yourself (word games, math games, red rover, whatever)?

What is something you consistently get angry about?

What is your favorite language to hear?

Which writer or artist or musician or filmmaker would you say "speaks to you" most?

What's something that you've completely reversed your opinion on?

Have you ever had an experience that felt like it was fictional (like, staged, straight out of a movie, something like that)?

Are you comfortable discussing your spiritual beliefs? If so, please do!

If you could be the most knowledgable person in the world on one very specific topic, what would that topic be?

Where would you like to live when you retire?

What is a movie that you know is awful but you love anyway?

What is a thing you are currently excited about?

These five I call upon to answer my silly questions:

adimals

paper-eight

mechageddon

nerdmuffin

gabynaeb

Coming close to the completion of the beta.  Enjoy

More updates completed in the project.  The next step, in addition to playtesting, is to begin the creation of a 4th AI.  Not going to reveal any details as to what this detail is (if Ellis or Curtis wish to, they may), but it'll hopefully be a very enjoyable one.

Hey guys, we've been on spring break for the past week (did I mention this game is a college project?), so we're not working as intensively on game as we have been in the past few weeks.

The second half of the project starts in early May, where we will be working toward the final product. We're at the alpha stage right now, and in two months we should be ready to release the game (we better be at least).

When I can manage to get the right software I'll make a video and upload it to this blog to show you all where we are with the game at this moment (probably make a youtube account at the same time).