Ludofex

Jeg planlægger at deltage i NaNoWriMo i år, og for at varme lidt op, så prøvede jeg i går aftes lige at strikke en lille historie sammen, for at se hvad jeg kunne nå på en time. En slags PiCoWriHo.

So without further ado:

“Ahh, there you are. Do come in dear. So glad you could make the time. I’m sure a young girl like you has plenty of things to do.”

Sarah had been cleaning for Mrs. Agathon for at couple of months now, but this was the first time she had visited in the evening. Actually ‘cleaning’ was overstating it at bit, since the old lady seemed to keep to whole house quite tidy all by herself, and the vacuuming and dusting that Sarah was asked to do was mostly symbolic in nature. The real reason she had been hired, was probably just to provide a bit of company. Which was also why Sarah had agreed to come by this evening - it seemed like the least she could do.

“I’ve made some tea, so just help yourself dear; you know where the milk and sugar is. I just need you get a few things.” Mrs. Agathon waved absentmindedly at the coffee table in the parlor, as she went slowly but determinedly up the stairs. Sarah knew that Mrs. Agathon wasn’t the least bit decrepit, but sometimes she liked making a show of it anyway. One of the privileges of getting old she said.

Before making herself comfortable, Sarah did as instructed and found the milk and sugar. Neither she nor Mrs. Agathon used milk or sugar, but Mrs. Agathon liked her tea table complete, and besides Cleopatra might honor them with his presence (the cat had been named before a proper inspection had been made, and now the name stuck) and want a saucer of milk. Sarah had just finished arranging everything, when Mrs. Agathon came down with a dusty box.

“A Ouija board!?!” Sarah was surprised to say the least. Parlor games didn’t exacly fit her image of the old lady - though she had to admit she was sitting in a very nice parlor. “Yes dear. It is used to contact spirits of those who have passed away dear.” “Oh, I know what Ouija board is,” half-mumbled Sarah, “I just hadn’t expected you to be into that sort of thing. Isn’t it just a game for drunken college girls?” Mrs. Agathon smiled: “Oh, no dear. Talking to the departed can be quite useful. Move the cups over will you.”

Still a bit puzzled Sarah cleared space on the coffee table (not that it would have seen coffee - at least not while it had been in this parlor) and Mrs. Agathon arranged the board. It looked old and worn, a bit buckled and stained (probably more tea).

“So who are we … contacting? Your husband?” Despite herself Sarah was getting a bit exited. “John? Oh no. I think he enjoys having a bit of peace and quiet right now, so no need to go and talk his ear off. We’ll be together soon enough, and there is no reason waste already sparse conversation if we are going to fill an eternity together.” Mrs. Agathon smiled “besides, I said useful, not sentimental, dear.”

“Is anybody there?” Sarah’s hands were trembling, and she could more or less convince herself that was the reason the plancette moved unsteadily towards the YES on the board. “Who?” asked Mrs. Agathon, in a voice that indicated she already knew. “T..H..O..M..A” “Thomas Batterson?” “YES”. Sarah was more or less convinced the old lady was having her on, until she noticed only her hands where on the planchette. “Good. You really are very receptive dear. I thought you would be.”

Sarah just sat there stunned, unable to take her hands from the planchette, as Mrs. Agathon unfolded a piece of paper and placed it on the board. The paper had somekind of drawing on it. Gently the old woman placed one of her hands on the planchette and said “Please Thomas - show us where it is.” Sarah felt like a spectator, as her hands spasmed the planchette around the map and finally came to a rest. Only then did Sarah notice that the drawing was a map - a map of Mrs. Agathons house.

“You really are good at this Sarah. Thank you Mr. Batterson, I think that will be all. Have a good evening.” And just like that Sarah felt like herself again. Well, perhaps not quite herself, but at least in control of her own hands. Spooked but still excited she asked “What is it? A lost treasure? An old will? What did we find?” “Oh no dear, nothing so exiting I’m afraid. This is an old house, and like me it is starting to show. I’m afraid the piping has sprung a leak somewhere, and since Thomas was the plumber who installed it way back when, I figured he would know where it was. More tea? You probably need to get your strength back after all this.”

Efter af have spenderet den sidste uge i San Fransisco, og oven i købet på en spændende konference om spiludvikling villle jeg da være et skarn hvis jeg ikke kunne finde stof til bare en blog-posting. Og nu hvor jeg efterhånden er kommet mig over min jet-lag har jeg vist ikke flere undskyldninger.

Det bedste del af konferencen var nok den Game Design Workshop jeg var til de første to dage. Hovedformålet med workshoppen var at lære os en Mechanics-Dynmics-Aestethics metodik til at beskrive computerspil, og hvilke metoder man som game designer har til at påvirke den oplevelse spilleren får. Det fede ved workshoppen var at man fik mulighed for at prøve metoderne når man over de to dage skulle lege med diverse papirspil - for at ændre den tilhørende fiktion, ramme en ny målgruppe eller at retrofitte et spil med en feature som pludselig er blevet managements darling. Det blev bla. til ‘Sissy Fight - Name Calling edition’ - et Lunchmoney-agtigt spil om mobbende skolepiger, tilsat et læringselement (hvor spillerne får mulighed for at udvide deres ordforråd (med farverige gloser)) så det kunne sælges til skoler.

Hvis jeg ikke fik andet ud af det, så fik jeg i hvert fald lyst til at lave en masse brætspil :)

Resten af konferencen gik med forlæsninger, om alle mulige emner. Jeg behøver ikke engang sige mere eller mindre spændende, for det lykkedes mig stort set kun at vælge gode ting. Blandt oplevelserne var:

En meget passioneret mand tale om en ny game mode i ‘Fifa - 2008′, der blev præsenteret så godt at selv jeg fik lyst til at spille fodbold (på computer).

En meget solid gennemgang af effekterne i Bioshock. Selv om jeg må indrømme ikke at vide det store om shaders (det skulel jeg måske gøre noget ved), så var de problemer de stødte på så rigt illustreret med ‘før og efter’ billeder at det var en fornøjelse hver gang de var stødt på et nyt problem.

Postmortem på Uncharted. Det var en lærerig historie om hvordan man går fra 0 (linier kode) til trippel A på 3 år, hvilket primært byggede på det velkendte fænomen ‘Keep it simple stupid’. At en del af simpliciteten involverede at lade level designerne skrive Lisp, var så mere overraskende :)

Så var der en ret morsom ‘Pouring gas on the flames’ rant. Rant sessionen er åbenbart et årligt tilbageværende fænomen for hvor forskellige grene af spilbranchen får mulighed for at brokke sig over de dårlige sider af den ellers fede branche. I år var det så game designernes tur, og den primære konklusion var vist: ‘Vi voksne vil også spille spil, og lave lange spille-spil sange’.

Og naturligvis mange andre ting så som pathfinding, faldgruber i C++ og andre fornøjelser.

Ud over konferencen var der naturligvis GDC back-stage. De forskellige aftensmadsdiskussioner om fremtiden for IO, G2 og andet godt.

Og så var der naturligvis San Fransisco. Hmm - ikke så meget at sige der - Jeg trissede rundt i SF en enkelt formiddag, og det var da bestemt hyggeligt at se ude over bugten. Men jeg fik ikke set nogen seværdigheder, og mit generelle indtryk af USA blev ikke forbedret. Jeg ville gerne have købt en kimonoagtig-ting i Chinatown, for de var vældigt fine og sci-fi agtige, men der er for sent nu.

Som tidligere nævnt har jeg meldt mig til både fægtning og jura, og i denne uge oprendt så starten på kamp med både ord og sværd. Frederiksberg Slts Fægteklub, der er arvtager til Officerskolens fægteklub, viser sig at være en meget lille, i slidte men statelige omgivelser. Ud over trænere er der kun seks voksenfægtere, hvoraf de fleste er mere eller mindre nybegyndere. Til gengæld er halvdelen af dem piger/kvinder (deriblandt Søs Fenger), hvilket er ganske hyggeligt. Min krop - nærmere bestemt mine lår - er ikke udelt begejstet for at jeg har genoptaget sporten, men smerter til trods er det nu hyggeligt at være igang igen.

Jura (i form at et introduktionskursus på folkeuniversitetet) er en nyere oplevelse, men det virker til at blive ganske sjovt, og det er helt ufatteligt tillokkende at sidde på en skolebænk (well, i en undervisningsklasse i hvert fald) igen :)

Egentlig burde der jo også have været en post dengang jeg rev mine teltpløkker op i Århus og tog til staden, men det blev det altså ikke til. Alt i alt er denne blog nok nogt forsømt, men det er sådan det går altså. Jeg er nok så tilpas tilfreds med at tale med stemmerne i mit hovede at jeg ikke har ork til at skrive noget ned.

Back to the original topic.

Denne gang har jeg kun flyttet mig en god kilometer på Amager, men det føles alligevel større at have fundet sig en lejlighed og tøjret sig selv med et solidt realkreditlån. Men selv om der stadig er en del kasser der mangler at blive pakket ud, girokort der venter på at blive meldt til betalingsservice og alle de andre ‘grønne’ opgaver der skal klares i forbindelse med sådan en flytning, så føles det allerede som et hjem. Jeg har haft det fint med at blive voksen og bo for mig selv (og sammen med Terese), men det er nu alligevel mærkeligt pludselig at have et hjem.

Så bliver det spændende hvor mange andre brikker der kan falde på plads i mit liv nu. Min hjerne var i hvert fald stærk optaget af at organisere det hele i søndags (dagen før jeg flyttede).