Modesty Studios

You know like any nerd I enjoy fantasy novels. I also enjoy writing them. And because this is my blog there are some things I'd like to complain about. I have some scars left by fantasy novels that I have read that really betrayed me. Most of them were recommended by friends who clearly do not know my tastes as well as they think they do. The hero of the story is meant to represent an ideal that the reader relates to or disagrees with. There is something that the reader sympathizes with or else they don't enjoy the book. What's even worse is when the reader sympathizes and relates to the character and then the character makes a change for the worse and the reader is lost. There are a few times this has happened when I was reading a book and unfortunately I remember those books better than the stories I truly enjoyed. One book starred a girl who wanted to become a knight. This was something I related to. I admire women who enter male dominated spaces like the games industry ...

I'm stretching some of my memory here to try and remember some of my favorite all-time games. I will try to limit it to my top 8...there may be less. They are not ranked in order of MOST FAVORITE GAME EVAR to least. My most favorite game changes with the times and my mood. So let's get digging. 1. Designasaurus 2 - This one stretches back to hallowed antiquity. It ran on MS-DOS and was stored on 5 hard disks (which are floppy.) The premise of the game was you got to pick a dinosaur or make your own out of parts, go back in time, and survive. This was in some lab in the far future. 2601 ad or something. There were two modes. Practice Mode and Adventure mode. Adventure mode was basically teleporting your dinosaur hero to every level and finding "gene prints" to the ultimate dinosaur. It was a weak-ass story, but at age 7 I gobbled it up. I found it on an abandonware site and still enjoy the simple pleasures of pretending I'm a dinosaur, roaming around a pixelated ju...

Last night I was having an interesting reflection about how I got into gaming and what sort of gamer I consider myself. What Am I? There really isn't a term or catch-phrase that encompasses what I am. On the one hand I consider myself a casual gamer, I enjoy many 'brain-dead' online games like Bejeweled, Diner Dash, Ponystars, the Sims and other games that don't require me to put in much of my time. I also play a lot of handheld games on my DS. I'm not quite a hard-core player but I'm also a console gamer and enjoy several hours of fun playing RPG, Action/Adventure, and Platformer games. (And the occasional arcade fighter). However, I don't have the same dedication to a game that I see other players have. I know that I will never be the best so I don't even try. I'm just having a good time. But I do play for long hours when I do. So I guess I would call myself an Active Gamer. A casual gamer seems to be the type who will play games on occasion, an a...

This is purely an opinionated piece that I just felt I had to get out of my system. Late last night I had this thought bubble while writing down the details of geography for the world in Brind Songs and trying to set up a wiki. I've drawn maps of my "worlds" and looked at other maps. Middle Earth, wherever the funk Eragon took place, Narnia etc. And even lots of online fantasy that I've read...the world is always incomplete on the map. It's always just a coast like Europe. Just a jut of land or a coast line, that's all you get to see. I've been guilty of this myself when I finally mapped out Gauland for my MSK novel and a few RP maps. It's not very annoying actually so much as it is a common trend I've noticed. Of course the map is only going to show what matters to the story. That's all you need really. The rest is no man's land and no one knows what happens out there. No one. "What's over that nearly impassible mountain range?...

Another novel series I've begun developing based on some artwork I've been doing recently and the story I tried to co-author with my sister. I've divided it up into Four Books so far. Over the course of a few years I've been developing the world and culture of the planet...which needs a name still. The countries have names, but not the world. I've got a good handle on the various cultures and creatures in the world including their government type, who their leaders are, the primary religion, the sort of religion that is, distinctive features, and various alliances. This called for a huge long list of characters. Which I've got all in a document. Some are more developed than others since they were a part of the "original" tale. Book 1 I intend to be the story that my sister and I never finished. That's where it starts. It gives a narrow view of the world and situation from the eyes of a child. Book 2 is set elsewhere and takes a more macro-view of t...

Last night I spent more time brainstorming on my "Egg World" story and have sketched out three basic "Acts" or chapters to draw. Act 1: is the Creation story and events leading up to the "hatching". The 7 Eldest divide into factions over the sayings of the youngest who is a prophet. Act 2: is the beginning of civilization that happens immediately after the hatching. The faction still exists so there is the first war. Act 3: is the beginning of domestic trouble. There are no more factions but their is one Eldest who feels left out of the group. We have our first affair! :D So far I've only conceptualized the 7 eldest characters. (They're not even developed yet.) I still need to flesh out a few new characters to add. And I need a new title. Eggworld is stupid. That's just a working title. Let's brainstorm some new titles based on themes in the story so far. Themes: Birth, Origins, Eldest, Wonder, Hatching Title Ideas: Seven (it was the name...

I'm not sure what I will do with this idea. It may become a game or it may become a comic or novel. Probably a comic. It'll be fun. A world growing inside an egg that is almost ready to hatch. Such a process that will change the structure and peoples dwelling/growing on it. Terra-Angels are human like beings with feathered wings. Within the embryo world of the egg, Terra-Angels can fly regardless of their wing-span. The size of wings denotes the greatness of heart which can grow or shrink throughout the course of life. Terra-Angels may look masculine or feminine, but they have no sex and can not reproduce. The egg world has merely been producing them. However, it has been a long time since the birth of a Terra-Angel...which means the world is about ready to hatch...which will change the appearance and everything they know to be true. There are 7 eldest Terra-Angels. They were the first 7 to be born and as such were given authority. Their role is shepherd-like since the world is...