So I had today off from work, and went to see Hero, Napoleon Dynamite and The People Vs. Larry Flynt. All in one day.

Hero’s a great modern epic folktale, told in the folktale fashion that makes you think you have it all figured out in the first few minutes. And then it says, “lol punk’d” and tells it a different way. And again. And again. Lots of wire-fu action, very deep story, with cool environmental effects and colors used as cues.

Napoleon Dynamite is an excruciating movie that is just a little too accurate in its depiction of rural America and rural Americans for me to truly appreciate it. Been there, grew up there, don’t like being reminded how far removed I am from that kind of life. (Not by much.) Does have a killer dance sequence, though, probably the best ever performed in moon boots.

And then I saw a movie I’d already seen before. Which I liked better than all the rest. Even got to meet the real-life subject, Pervert No. 1 himself, Larry Flynt.
Continue reading Movie day Monday…

LiveJournal entries cheer me up. When they’re not written by me, rather by people who I know, who otherwise would probably rather me not know that they’re spilling their guts out about their shitty lives. Except they have a LJ, and that’s what they’re supposed to do.

Yeah, I don’t update this site that much. But if my life was going as badly as some lives I’ve been in vague contact with, the last place I’d spout off about it would be here. Christ, people, step away from the light, or step into it. Those are your choices. Yeah, “you know” who “you” are.

Some buffalo wings would be good.

UNTIL YOUR BRAIN GOES SPLODEY.

With Project Director Tiberius’ blessing, here are some recent screenshots from Ultima 5:Lazarus, which I’m writing but not worldbuilding for. Ultima fans will more than likely recognize the significance of the following locations faster than most.

Britain, mid-town. There’s more than one street this time, and it’s bigger, with more buildings.
Covetous, the inner crypts.
Destard, an abyssal gorge inside the dungeon.
Fens of the Dead, the swamps outside Paws and north of Trinsic.
Iolo’s Hut, the Avatar’s starting spot in Ultima V.
Poppy field, down a ways from the High Steppes.
Ruins from the High Steppes, with Headlesses.
Yew, with signs displaying Blackthorn’s Law of Justice. “Thou shalt confess to thy crime and suffer just punishment, or thou shalt be put to death.”

I’m right there above Dell on the guest list, so you know I’ll be there. Anyone else going?

Lately most of my extra energy and brain cycles have been put towards assigned work on the writing team for Ultima V: Lazarus, the Dungeon Siege mod meant to adapt Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny. I’ve been officially on the team for almost a month now, and no, I don’t really want to talk much about what I’m doing.

In part because this game has such personal significance for me. I got it for Christmas in 1987, when I was 11 years old. It was the first computer game I ever owned, and I played it on the family’s Apple IIe, which for the longest time was used 90 percent of the time for games. Then we finally got a word processor.

The game is meant to be an adaptation, but it’s not a straight copy, as anyone who’s played the demo should know. The dialogue is closer to Ultima VII standards, and while just about everything from the original Ultima V will be in Lazarus (no flying carpets, though,) there’s going to be lots of other stuff to do, see and experience.

If I had to compare the feeling of what we’re doing to something outside games, it’d probably be something like the film adaptation of Raiders of the Lost Ark three teenagers from Mississippi did back in the 80s. Including the giant rolling boulder.

The project manager hopes to unveil the finished product at E3 2005, so we’ll see how much can be done by then. It’s taken four years just to get Dungeon Siege to behave well enough to build Ultima onto it, and the team members that have stayed on through the lean spots include some supremely dedicated people.

Hopefully some new screenshots will get added to the site soon. Until then, check the forum for the most up to date stuff.

“Once, I killed a man.”

Don’t miss the essay below. No, I don’t know what the yellow box is supposed to be. pcAnywhere, maybe.

Sancus plugged this site to me originally for its Doom 3 review, in which they declare the game is nothing but a MagLight advert (my own plug: Duct Tape Mod, so you don’t have to disarm to use the flashlight), but I’ve since discovered that this site is in fact the coolest bullshit hardware site in existence. Among the faves:

Penny RAM sinks
CTRL-ALT-DEL reset button
24-volt case fans (might even be useful!)
Corrosive Snapple cooler (powered by a CPU fan)
Aluminum foil CPU heatsink, by Arnold Schwarzenegger
Inductive wireless mouse charger, ditto
Pikashoes, I choose you!
CD-ROM parts-powered vibrator, vaccuum cleaner attachment sold separately.

Minutes of entertainment.

The purpose of Austin Community College’s Video Game Development instruction program is to further the industry’s presence in Austin, so said program coordinator Bob McGoldrick at the program’s open house last night at ACC’s Highland Business Center.

The purpose of me, with no immediate means to either enter the industry or take any of ACC’s courses, held two counties from where I live and at hours incompatible with my work schedule, going to the open house, were entirely selfish.

I heard they had free food.
Continue reading ACC Open House…

I might get one of these.

Please, like I don’t already have a shit ton of weird t-shirts that aren’t socially acceptable to wear most of the time.