Timely Updates

It is Monday, May 1st. I am currently sitting in my living room (where no one lives) and writing this on time, for the first time. So many things have been happening, but let’s get down to brass tacks (don’t throw them up).

Last week I watched Sonic 2, I continued reading Mortal Engines and I started a new RPG system to replace the previous one (it wasn’t even finished). I also discovered some new tech, “fixed” a computer and had trouble with food.

I think the highlight was Sonic 2. I watched the first Sonic movie at home, sitting on the carpet, looking up at the TV, much like I did when I was playing the Mega Drive games. It was bliss at the time. Those sounds, the music, the characters. Everything was fantastic and beyond belief for how fun it was. So I was expecting a great adventure for Sonic 2 (no pun intended) and boy does it deliver. I’m just bummed that I didn’t watch it sooner. But it was worth it. Unfortunately, the movie series seems to be taking a turn to unknown territory which either means I will no longer love it like I do, or I have to play more sonic games and expand my nostalgia tank.

Reading Mortal Engines has been slow. Having watched the movie first, some scenes are very different and much more is explained, which was the reason I even picked up the books in the first place, which is fine. I still haven’t gone through a lot to have a good opinion on it. I’ll get back on reading when I’m done with this one.

Writing has taken a sharp turn. I was constantly shifting between The Grand Tour and the RPG system, but last week was all about the RPG. I realised I was making a system that would be far too detailed and complicated for what it proposes, so I took a step back, set up a new idea, and started from scratch. That is not to say that the original format was completely abandoned. It’s still there, tables and all, but I thought I might try my hand at making something simpler, more direct. I have managed to start building something more organically and seemingly faster and more spontaneous. I shall update as I go along with it.

This week I also discovered a new portable emulator called Ayn Odin, which looks mighty fine, but it’s literally a smartphone without the phone parts, made completely for emulating (or streaming as they say) and it looks very nice. Cheap too. All good things. I’m just not sure I should get one. Maybe in time, but not now. But it got me thinking about portability and how much I really enjoy portable games. When I was growing up, I had the Mega Drive and the Gameboy, which I played mostly at home, because it was something expensive and even though I lived in a nice area, it was still dangerous to take it even to school. Now I wonder if it’s really worth having a console over something like a very fine computer and one portable gaming device just for the comfort of it. Maybe if I get back to streaming, that would be a good separator. One system to stream, one system to relax and have fun wherever I go. I’ll have to get back on that.

As for the fixed PC, I just bought a CMOS battery for a very old laptop. I think that’s as much as readers want to know about what I do. And if you’re interested, I should be updating my Patreon page this week as well. Pop in sometime.

Here’s to writing, gaming and consuming pop-culture. Cheers and see you next time.

A late update

Wow, this past week went by in a flash. I lost the day of the update, or as you people call it: Monday. So, This Wednesday I have some things to share: I have been updating the Red Universe RPG System; The Grand Tour (2022 edition) is going well enough; I have actually enjoyed a movie, which led me to immediately start reading a book. So let’s break this down one step at a time.

First, the writing: I have really been pouring energy and time into editing the Grand Tour to make it better overall. I am currently redoing chapter five of the book, the point of no return in the story. It is hard to write this part of the story because I have to come up with a LOT of things to touch the characters and the reader to make them all feel the impact of what is happening in that chapter. Human relation is hard.

The Red System is going better as well. I have finished the basic equipment section for the different scenarios and now I have to move on to what I think may be the most challenging: magic. I like magic, but much like Conan (the Barbarian, not the detective), I have a special fear of magic and all things not of this world. It’s hard to come up with rules and effects for magic when one is prone to avoiding it altogether. So, the next step in system creation is MAGIC!

So, for the fun part: I watched a movie called Mortal Engines, released in 2018, and boy-o-boy was it fun (up to a point). I really got into it and was really curious to read the original material. I was surprised to see that the movie was made so long ago (4 years is a lot in Cinema years) and that the book was made even longer-er ago. 2001, as a matter of fact. It was written by Phillip Reeve and is part of a 4-book series. I already dropped the other two books I wasn’t reading in order to not completely read this one. I hope I can manage.

And that is all for the past week. I hope next week will have more to be told. Or maybe I’ll just come up with a nice review of Mortal Engines, the movie. Cause I still have to finish reading the book.

See you next week.

News from the Editing Room, April 19th

Hello.

Sorry for the late post. Even though it’s just a few minutes after April 19th.

This past week was quiet, except for the Easter holiday at the tail end of it. In fact, here in Italy, it’s still Easter Monday, a holiday. Can you imagine that? I didn’t have to go to work, but rather stayed home and sorted out my clothes for the changing weather. I hope I have enough jackets for Spring rains.

As far as arts are concerned, I have been working, as much as mood allows, on my RPG system, improving tables and details on it. Trying to get it into gear to start some alpha testing. Preliminary information and whatnot. As a matter of fact, if anyone is interested in it, let me know and we can talk RPG.

On the other side, I’m still editing The Grand Tour, but not as frequently or as much as I’d like. I have a hard time finding the proper mental space to just sit down and write. I havev difficulties in concentrating with so much work and responsibilities in the real world. I still havev to figure out some things inside my brain box. It’s really hard to stay on top of things.

Unfortunately, I still haven’t picked up Takuan Soho’s Kendo to finish reading. I’m just postponing because I have little to no time for myself. Good news is: next week there is another free Monday and I may use it to devour this book. I hope I can manage to read and enjoy it. It requires some concentration and I’d like to givev it the attention it deserves.

After that, I should get back to reading Joshua Foer’s Moonwalking with Einstein to understand better about memory and whatnot.

As far as voice over, I still have some things to get around to doing, nothing really solid, so I still owe the world a decent performance in regards to my voice. I’ll be working hard to get there.

In my free time I enjoy playing video games and watching movies, mostly. So, I just went through about two weeks of Linux on my pc and I am glad to announce I dropped that faster than Skrillex drops a beat. It is NOT ready for serious gaming yet, so I just came back to good ‘ol Windows. I’m trying some new games, but during my Linux time I really got back into Prince of Persia (the original, mind you) and I’ve been trying to get good at it. Don’t really know why.

The upcoming week should be much the same, writing, maybe some guitar, definitely some voice. You’ll just have to check it out next week. Maybe I’ll have something interesting to show next update. See you then.