Lovely Mr. Smoozles

I've just received the latest strip from Stefano and have posted it on the website. He's adding a wonderful depth to the strips with his approach. We're going to have lots of fun with this storyline.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Daily Crescendo

I'm in the middle of designing a game. Although it's hard to be objective about a work in progress, it's possibly the best design I've worked on. (Best being completely relative of course.) The design is much more non-linear than anything else I've worked on, which naturally throws up a lot of detail and complexity, which I'm having a ball with. However, one thing I've noticed is an unusual pattern to my working day.

Because of the complexity, I find that my mornings are very slow. I must spend most of the first hour just getting all the details into my head and working out where I am with the design. By lunch time I'm back in the swing of things and after a bit to eat I go for a walk while I run a few things over in my head. Then int he afternoon things really take off and my pace picks up to a point where the ideas are coming so thick and fast I have to keep flying back and forth in the main document to keep plonking them in where they need to appear. Which in turn leads to more details as I work through any knock-on effects of the new ideas. By the end of the afternoon I'm going so well that I fear my head will explode if I were to continue.

Creativity is always such a buzz and creating games is far more fun than playing them. :)

So Blonde Official Website

The official website for So Blonde, has gone live. For those of you who cannot read German, or who prefer to read in English, click on the US/British flag just above Sunny's head on the right hand side.

Plenty to see here, don't move along.

Home Town Gets a Big One

A report over at MCV covers the opening of a new Gamestation shop in my home town of Hull. Claiming it will be the second largest gaming shop in Europe, that's quite an acheivement for a town that reguarly gets a lot of stick from all quarters.

"Hull has some of the most dedicated gamers in Britain" apparently. Who'd have thought...?

I wonder why I haven't been invited to the opening. :)

Another Mr. Smoozles Strip

After a slight delay, another strip has been posted on the Mr. Smoozles site. Stefano is beginning to get into his stride, I think. Let us know what you think of the latest direction.

Brütal Legend - trailer

The first trailer for Brütal Legend, the next Tim Schafer game, has been released. I must admit, it caught me a little by surprise, but the fact that a game trailer can do this in today's jaded climate is a good point to start from. Although it's an action game that looks incredibly gory, the humour is definitely there and I'm sure that the whole game is going to be a real blast.

And with the main character voiced by Jack Black!

Rock on, Brütal Legend!!

G.I.STEVE

I think that Stephen Fry is a wonderful entertainer and his recent documentaries about bipolar disorder and HIV have been excellent, too. In conjunction with the latest documentary on HIV, a new website has been created called G.I.JONNY to help raise awareness of the problems of HIV amidst fears that people are becoming complacent about the disease. Part of what you can do is create your own ID (hence the picture) and use it to help spread the word, but there are other things you can do, too. Anything that helps increase awareness of such a powerful health issue is deserving of support.

[By the way, for those of you who don't know, jonny is a nickname for a condom that goes back to a time before I was born - ancient history to some, I know.]

Steve Simpson

Simpsonised version of me.

Pocktoberfest

Now, an important part of being a writer is understanding when and how to relax and this weekend sees the fourth annual Pocktoberfest. Looks like there are some might fine real ales on show and I hope to be sampling one or two as part of my relaxation therapy.

If you live in the area, or happen to be passing, why not check it out?