Blog Post #10 A Return
Th. 11/14/2024
I rewatched a VaatiVidya video on the art of Bloodborne II. I'm going to start playing Bloodborne. I've wanted to play soulsborne games for years— I tried playing Elden Ring a bit, but didn't get very far; I've owned Bloodborne for ages, but I've never booted it up. I know that soulslikes are challenging, and that I am not a very skilled gamer— but I am motivated to play the genre, especially Bloodborne. I think it will be a great inspiration for Pareidolia: Unbound, in addition to Crossed Stars (set in the same Ettingrad setting), and The Mongrel Sings (my current writing project).
Later.
I just spent about an hour troubleshooting placing my Google Doc of my final homebrew into an InDesign document— for Wanderer's Guide to Dromknost, 2nd Edition. I have four new subclasses, bringing the number of subclasses for the twelve base, official classes up to an even 50! I lost the InDesign file for v.1 when I was upgrading my storage, so I have to reformat it all. I'm trying to work smart, not hard— so if I do proper research and planning, I should be able to format it way easier than last time. And if I do a small portion each day— like five subclasses a day— then it'll take like two months, tops.
I added an additional foreword— the essay I wrote about realities for the Clark Dean's Scholarship. I think it adds a nice philosophical nature to the start of the book.
Later.
I played Bloodborne for about half an hour. Minimal troubleshooting getting the PS4 set up. I like it so far! I mean, I knew I would. I'm still a bit concerned about the difficulty— as I am not a skilled gamer— but skill can be developed. And for this game, I am dedicated to learning from it.
Later.
I got hooked in reformatting my book. I set a time to stop working on it, but I had gotten into a groove with the repetitive motions— and I was concerned that if I stopped for the day, I'd forget the flow— and next thing I know, all of it— all over 300 pages of it— is done. Obviously I'm going to proofread the hell out of it.
For the personalized dedications to my players, I think I'm going to publish individual, unique author copies with typed notes in the front— and send those straight to them. I think it'll be easier, and definitely faster.
Sa. 11/16/2024
I went to bed early last night, and got up at like 7:30am! I have to polish up the neck and head of my model for my Modeling class assignment, and I sat down and used some alphas to add pores— but I shortly realized that there were holes in the back of the model— including the back of the head. Dynameshing it was a mess; it just made a bunch of spiraling holes throughout the entire thing. I messaged Ezra about it. Waiting on a reply. I tried filling the holes in Blender— first by filling all of them, then just the one on the head (because that's all I need for this assignment), and remeshing it, but when I re-imported the OBJ back into ZBrush, it just imported a fan of edges— that didn't look anything like a head. I resigned myself to having to start over.
I spent a bit of time, taking the premade planar head, but I'm having technical difficulties. The planes are getting messed up. For some reason, the head is angled off-center, and I can't fix it (even by just moving it, because it's not perfect— and I need perfect for X mirroring). I got frustrated. And I'm going to let it lie for tonight.
I also watched Pt. 2 of Season 2 of Arcane— twice. Isha is my favorite character. Also, the visual effects this season are a real step up— and they weren't bad Season 1. The oily iridescence effect associated with the Arcane is really captivating.
I have a couple of hours before my monthly online D&D game with my undergrad friends. I'm not sure what I'm going to do right now. I already finished eating for the day.
Su. 11/17/2024 - M. 11/18/2024
I was having some emergent technical difficulties with my Alice model— which I had planned to use for my Organic Modeling self-portrait assignment. Frustrated and draining enthusiasm for that particular model— and excited about my character from my monthly online D&D game with my undergrad friends— I decided to start from scratch for the assignment. I spent 14 hours straight this night making it. I finished all of the sculpt, and even did hair cards— but in class today, I asked about how to UV the cards— of which I had 9,000.
Lucy Weirdbeard, the blind lookout.
T. 11/19/2024
I'm working on the Level Design assignment for my worldbuilding class. I have to define qualities of the enemies in this particular level— including "Attributes". I'm not really sure what I want to have in terms of stats, so I did a quick YouTube search, and found a video on Stat System Design. But I clicked off of it expeditiously. Setting a stat system is attested, and therefore non-innovative. I quickly found the first video for Miscast's Arcane Ugly TTRPG devlog.
I remembered that Trent from Miscast threw away standard stats, in favor of a more complex inventory system— at least, that's what Arcane Ugly was, ep. 1. A "class-less, level-less" system. I'm really interested in a complex trading/crafting system— in which the player of Pareidolia: Unbound acquires materials (folkparts and artefacts), and can either craft items from them, or trade them for products— maybe even trading your own products for other things? So having an inventory-based attribute system would make sense for this game.
Essentially, you would have inventory slots— a slot for headwear, etc.— and you can equip up to that maximum— gaining the benefits of the gear equipped. I'm thinking about having a "tag" system, instead of quantitative buffs; each item would have at least one quality (in a multi-branched tier system), which would buff (or debuff) certain abilities of the player character.
Watching that Miscast video.
Ideas:
- A jousting minigame.
- There is no player character death in the game; there is a complex injury/dismemberment system.
- I definitely want there to be a dismemberment mechanic for attacking enemies, but what if the eldritch power sustaining Alice (the MC) is such that he can continue despite grievous injuries? So, as long as he can move, he can continue. And certain injuries/amputations have tags, as well— and those will affect his performance and ability.
I'm inspired by TTRPGs. What if— in the UI— there are dice rolled— the amount depending on your active tags— to resist mal-effects? (Like dismemberment). So when a powerful attack hits you, in the bottom right corner of the screen, there's a dice contest between you and the attacker.
A bit later.
Here's what I have for the worldbuilding Level Design assignment. It's about the vertical slice for this project.
Level
This level is physically the hovel of the witch Bena.
Main Objective: Defend the hovel against an onslaught of fairy tale creatures.
Sub Objectives: Practice the alla prima mechanic; rescue Rook the binder faerie from the oven.
Environment: The hovel is a three-story radially symmetric building, composed of rotting planks, rough stones, and sticks. It rests deep in the Wyrdwoods of the Epilogue. The Wyrdwoods have the canopy and understory of a rainforest, with the floor of a swamp.
Mechanics
The primary mechanic that is taught is the alla prima mechanic— using the MC's flail to reconstruct the environment around him. Other key mechanics are attacking with said flail, switching combat stances (to one of four), dodging (not rolling, but sidestepping), and interacting with various objects.
The player will be able to open and close doors and windows, pour salt— both around entrances and on enemies— and, before the encounter commences, they will be able to explore the hovel, interacting with various objects strewn about.
The primary foci of the encounter are to 1) introduce the player to key mechanics, and 2) introduce them to the setting and the types of creatures that they will encounter as the game progresses. It's not really supposed to be replayed— except when starting the game afresh.
Rewards: Defending the hovel and rescuing Rook the binder faerie will allow the player to be able to upgrade their stats (Rook helps with that); they will have gained XP from the encounter, as well as various folkparts with which they can upgrade their gear.
Punishment: If the player character is defeated in combat, they will have to start the level over again— from the point when the onslaught begins.
Items: 1) Masinry the stone snake flail, 2) folkparts scavenged from defeated Folk, 3) Rook's quill and ink (to be used in the stat upgrade process)
Secrets: Bena explains the sound of the baby crying as her nephew in the other room, but if the player moves through the hovel, the sound gets louder closer to the kitchen; Rook is being cooked in the oven. The witch is deceitful— acting kindly despite her harrowing appearance. It is a requisite part of the level to rescue Rook, but the attack begins right before the player has a chance to.
People
Attributes. I'm not planning on having stats.