A New Look

Things are looking positively 16-bit around here, now, I must admit. Similar, just 16-bit. Part of the reason was because I wanted to see if I could do it. I'd always been kind of sketchy at spriting (and both the d20 and the katana are indeed sprites, just blown up without any sort of sizing algorithm to keep their pixelated look) and I wanted to see if I was any better at it with a direct reference.

That's a fancy way of saying that I wanted to see if I could trace a picture with a computer, I suppose.

The other reason was that I had picked up those images from elsewhere on the interweb, and I figured maybe it was time to make them completely my own. I'm sure whoever took those photos would much prefer to keep them for their own use, and who am I to argue? Also, you have to admit, there is something intrinsically geeky about not only having a d20 for your profile picture, but a 32x32 d20 sprite. And I kinda like that.

In any case, I'm happy with the new look. It came out much better than I expected.

Another addition to the page is on the right-hand side, directly below the Delectable Webcomicry section, Ye Olde Podcastes. Ever since I got Pepper (the name of my iPod Touch, so called after Iron Man's Pepper Potts, even though it has a picture of Kaylee Frye* as its wallpaper at the moment)--an incident that coincided with the release of the Penny Arcade game in the Dungeons and Dragons Podcast--I've been listening to podcasts nonstop, and I figured that it was about time to share the wealth.

The D&D Podcast is precisely what it sounds like: all D&D 4e, all the time. I tuned in to it for the joint Penny Arcade/PvP introductory game, which was all kinds of hilarious even if it wasn't precisely my style of gaming.

Horror on the Orient Express, at www.yog-sothoth.com, is an actual play podcast of a group of very British folk playing through the Call of Cthulhu adventure of the same name. It certainly has its moments, though I'm only one episode in thus far listening.

Master Plan is one that I've recently picked up. It's a podcast about game design, and all the pitfalls and trappings thereof. To its credit, it gave me the idea for the game (no, this is a new one) I'm working to make on the side. I'm actually working on two at the moment, though my experiences as a fledgling game designer will have to wait for a different post. Anyway, the actual episodes of Master Plan are quite short, the longest coming in at thirty minutes.

The Accidental Survivors is four Canadians (at least, I get the impression that they're all Canadians--they might be aliens) sitting around having a drink and talking about gaming. Their topic changes from episode to episode, but it's almost always informative and entertaining.

The X-Play Daily Video Podcast differs from all the rest of these in that it actually has video, which is kind of nice. I always found X-Play entertaining (perhaps the last entertaining thing on G4...that network needs to die) but was never able to catch new episodes. The ability to watch their reviews on the go is a definite plus.

So that's pretty much it as regards updates. If I can, I'll be back later to talk a bit about my thoughts on tabletop game design. Because I'm sure you'll be wanting to hear.

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* If you don't know who Kaylee Frye is, you should be goddamned ashamed of yourself. She is only the most adorable mechanic to ever grace any screen, big or small. Go watch Firefly. NOW.

"It's Splug!"

Of Iron Men and Pepper Potts

So I've just recently returned from my viewing of Iron Man, and I have to say I was surprised by it, for the following reasons specifically:

1. It didn't suck.
2. It was awesome.

Let us be honest for a second. As much as I used to be a Marvel fanboy (now fully reformed and on the DC side of things), Marvel movies don't have a habit of turning out that well. Stop and think for a second. The Punisher. X-Men 3. Daredevil. I haven't seen Spider Man 3, but I understand that it sucks pretty spectacularly, too. So needless to say, I didn't have the highest of hopes for this one. I was never even particularly fond of Iron Man--I just happened to pick up some of his trivia by way of tangential geekdom.

What I discovered when I saw Iron Man was a film that was structured very tightly plotwise--every scene had a purpose to it. There was no meandering, no tedious exposition on superpowers and the place of heroes in the world. You start out with a "hero" who's a weapons manufacturing magnate with a blood alcohol level high enough his bodily fluids could be used as jet fuel, and you damn well go from there, holding on to the plot by your fingernails as it swerves periodically into oncoming traffic.

The other thing Iron Man had going for it was Virginia "Pepper" Potts, played by Gwyneth Paltrow and pictured above. I now have a serious fanboy crush on Pepper, because she is adorable. I suspect that I am also a big Gwyneth Paltrow fan as a consequence, but that's fine by me.

The world could use more 5'10" tall pretty.

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Let's face it. This isn't the worst thing you've caught me doing.