One big rule to which attention must be paid:
Never Wake Up With The Fear.
When the first thought in my groggy head is that a world of cruel treatment lies just beyond my bedsheets, something's wrong. And not with the world; something's wrong with me. I shouldn't be animated to get out of bed and put on clothes by fear of bad things happening to me. I shouldn't be a 33-year-old rat reacting to avoid immediate pain. I should instead think about things I want and move towards them. Sensible, right?
But the tricky part is I'm constantly doing dull work to satisfy some past version of myself. I mean, there was this guy that looked like me and (as far as I know) probably was me. In one viciously brief moment of happiness, he said, "
Let's have a multiplayer game of DROD for a contest."
And man, that guy was really excited and persuasive, so I agreed I'd make it happen for him. It was a whole month of continuous work, and I swear that flaky dude just took off and left me all the drudgery. That's just one example among many. And we got Mr. Gladhappy running around tasking everyone on the team with stuff to do, so the sick little relationship extends beyond just me and him. Every day, it seems this reckless whimmonger has left a loose end for me to tie down. The sheer quantity of undone-ities threatens to give me a massive case of The Fear.
It's better to wake up with the flu than to wake up with The Fear, because The Fear can make you sad and weak for longer than a few days--maybe a whole lifetime if it goes chronic. I really like this other guy and trust him to an extent, but a little grandiosity goes a long way. Last month, the Fear was held just out of claw's reach, Caravellian goals were accomplished, and good things were brought your way. Telling you about those good things is my favorite part of this unnatural existence called "
Erik's Life"
.
If You Had Two, and You Didn't Want Two
This secret offer can't be revealed publicly on our website, so its text has been omitted here. It was only sent to people who receive the Illumination
by e-mail. We've had a few secret offers like this so far, and there will be more, so getting the Illumination
once each month by e-mail is recommended. If you've got a Caravel Forum account, you can change settings in your profile to receive it. There is also a sign-up form at the top of caravelgames.com.
MacDROD
Weston Markham finished his port of DROD 2.0. Well, is it ever finished? We know there may be a patch or two in its future, but it's looking stable after months of testing, and I figure it's time to kick it out of the nest. The Mac OS X demo for
DROD: Journey to Rooted Hold is available from the website, and you can buy the full version from us if you want. Coming very soon: a Mac OS X version of DROD: King Dugan's Dungeon, and 2.0.11 patches for Linux and Windows. Coming later: CDs for both products containing Mac OS X versions as well as Windows and Linux. We are waiting on the CD in case there are any dramatic patches to be made.
Download demo
The Return of Synthpop
DROD: Journey to Rooted Hold has 90 minutes of music in it, which is a huge amount for any game--even retail titles with multimillion dollar development budgets. Those 90 minutes of music were hurried together from a collection of my own work that I spent about fifteen years writing. I've used up my stash of music, and there's none left for
DROD: The City Beneath. So that's a problem, because you guys are probably expecting another 90 minutes or so of music for the next game. What to do?
I remembered a two-man synthpop band from the early 90's called "
Pivot Clowj"
. Back then, synthpop was an attempt to make something new to listen to for people who liked 80's new wave electronic bands like
Depeche Mode or
New Order. The little movement was small and interesting--kind of like the indie gaming scene is now. There was one huge fan of
Information Society who put out a CD compilation with a new track from InSoc along with music from other fledgling synthpop bands. On this compilation, there was a song called "
Autonomy"
by Pivot Clowj--a beautiful, angstful, droning thing. I listened to it over and over again. It was great! In 94 or 95, I got a cassette tape from Jon Sonnenberg of Pivot Clowj with more songs on it, and thankfully, those were also really cool.
So some months ago, I thought "
it never hurts to ask"
, tracked down Jon, and made a proposition. Jon agreed to do the DROD music. At this point we've got unfinished samples for nearly all of the music in
The City Beneath, and Jon is busy getting final tracks together. A handful are instrumental versions of songs from two albums he put out under the name "
Travelogue"
. I feel like Jon's sound is something like the great synthpop music we had from Lars Kristian Aasbrenn in early releases of DROD, so Lars fans have something to look forward to. For a sampling, check out the Travelogue site.
Travelogue website
Hermetic Puzzles
For this contest, people make puzzles entirely contained within the bounds of a 300x300 image. You can enter by making a puzzle. Or you can solve the puzzles other people make for your own enjoyment. You can even do both of these things.
Contest Rules
The Deadlies
Not to be confused with The Fear. The Deadlies are actually awards given out to people who made outstanding holds (level collections). Patrick Fisher ran this last year, and for 2005, forum vet Ryan Berry will handle the proceedings. Come and nominate your favorites in the various categories of achievement!
More info
It Was Over So Quick
I put together the hardest logic puzzle I could come up with. I scattered all the clues to the winds. Then we started
The Truthbringers contest to solve the puzzle which I expected to take up the better part of a month. In two days, Krissh had cracked the puzzle like a soggy walnut, pausing briefly to stifle a bored yawn. "
Aw shucks,"
said Watcher. "
Curses!"
said Leroy00. And they dutifully crossed the finish line behind Krissh to accept second and third prize.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=8168&page=5
Topic Picks for December
I'm going to overcondense all DROD information into a series of soundbites that can be delivered in less two minutes. That's all somebody with your busy lifestyle can be expected to pay attention to, but hopefully you'll click on a few links and claim a deeper understanding.
Games/Genres Like DROD
This far-ranging conversation has a few gems in it and a lot of silliness.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=8373
Wonderquest
Speaking of games like DROD, here's one that bears more than a passing resemblance. I was so impressed with it that I gave it a whole new board to itself.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewboard.php?BoardID=91
Deja vu, not dr0d, MetDROiD Prime, Seeds Dungeon, war5, war6
These are all the new holds (level collections) that have been released since the last newsletter. At least two of them pay tribute to different games in an uninfringing kind of way.
http://www.drod.net/forum/viewboard.php?BoardID=11
Games on the Horizon
What games are you waiting to play that haven't been released yet?
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=8353
I Just Want to Play My CD
This cheesey guy just wants to play his CD, but it's been befouled with evil DRM spells. What to do?
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=8471
The Worst "Song" Ever
I maintain that the worst song ever is R. Kelly's epic masterpiece of badness, "
Trapped in the Closet"
. Other people present other terrible songs for your consideration.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=8344
-Erik
____________________________
The Godkiller - Chapter 1 available now on Steam. It's a DROD-like puzzle adventure game.
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[Last edited by mrimer at 05-18-2008 05:44 AM]
