I'm rooting for Cyborg Rats to show up in Dreamfall, because let's face it, if any place is in desperate need of Cyborg Rats, it's Stark. Maybe you could even give us the chance to control one... sweeeet...

Dustin

In fact, in order for Zoë to get past the mutant bats in the Mutant Bat Dungeon, you'll need to get down and dirty with about thirty cyborg rats - that'll get the XP flowin' and the levels growin', know what I'm sayin'? Character development, I'm lovin' it.

We've been toying with the idea of letting the player control non-human creatures - no rats, though - but we might save that for the next chapter. Why? Because we're meanies, and if something smells like fun: *snip*, it's outta there. In fact, "save it for the sequel" is our catch-all for the things we'd love to do but: a) don't have time to do; b) can't afford; c) aren't talented enough to do.

(And, oh, just kidding about the rats & bats. People believe the craziest things. My pledge to you: no character development. After all, who wants to work that hard at anything?)

(And, oh, also: I might have lied a bit about that last part. Which part? That part.)  ¶ 19:48 0 comments   

  Art? Or squiggly lines and paint blotches on a canvas? We've been fooled before, and by God, we shan't be fooled again - not by a four-year old. She's got that look in her eyes that says "I'm a bit dodgy, me".

Still, she's raking in the dough, so she's got to be doing something right.  ¶ 19:41 0 comments   

  The good news: I didn't have to wait long in Stockholm. The bad news: I just finished a seven hour cross-country road trip of Sweden in a cramped, crowded, and hot bus. Thus the trip from New York to Oslo - usually a pleasant jaunt at little over ten hours in total, door to door, taxi rides and all - took me more than twenty hours. I still feel it's a miracle that I actually made it home, and while I generally respect workers' rights, I don't quite see how the air-traffic controllers can justify their actions. It's not as though I can do anything about their situation, and making life difficult for everyone - not just those who have a say in the matter - is the cheapest form of blackmail there is.

Still, I got home safe and sound, no bones broken or luggage lost, so I can't complain. Tomorrow: back to work. I can't wait.  ¶ 17:33 2 comments   

  An air controller strike in Norway means that I might end up stuck in Stockholm tomorrow morning. That won't be fun: straight off the trans-Atlantic red-eye, past due for an A.M. meeting in Oslo, waiting for a flight that might never depart. Happy times.

About to head out to Newark in a couple of hours, so I'm getting my last mail-slash-web fix before going offline. Next year, SAS - and other airlines - plan to start offering broadband wireless access on board selected routesn (for a reasonable fee), which will be the Best. Thing. Ever. Honestly, it will. Those ten-and-a-half hour trips to L.A. will finally be bearable...as long as they also provide power.  ¶ 18:50 1 comments   

  Cyborg rats?

I knew the rats would save us all. I just knew it.  ¶ 07:08 1 comments   

  This makes me feel like going on a long road trip:

http://www.lacquersound.com/english/opener1.html

My last 'proper' road trip was back in 2003, when we drove from L.A. to San Francisco and back down Highway 1. That's about a perfect a route as you can find - although the drive to our mountain cabin in Norway is gorgeously scenic as well.

I thought I was leaving New York today, but, much to my surprise, I'm not. My plane leaves tomorrow afternoon. Not that I mind the extra twenty-four hours in the city, but when you've prepared yourself - and made plans - for an earlier departure, it's a tiny bit off-putting. It's a beautifully sunny day, however, and I'm heading for the park in a few minutes, so I'm not complaining too much. Serves me right for not checking the e-ticket printout properly before leaving.

Caught Shaun of the Dead on the big screen yesterday, and it was great seeing it again with an attentive audience. I really hope it does well over here. The reviews have been extremely positive, and the crowd we saw it with ate it up - applauding, laughing, and screaming on cue - so it will definitely benefit from positive word-of-mouth. Now, if we could just get everyone to watch Spaced, all would be well with the world.

Haven't had the chance to ruminate further on Sky Captain, though a few comments to the previous post were right on the mark. I'll get around to it once I'm back in Oslo. For the time being, this will probably be my final New York post.  ¶ 19:09 2 comments   

  How best to summarise Resident Evil: Apocalypse? I won't try to be clever. The movie doesn't deserve that. It was shit, pure and simple. Horrible, awful, moronic, ugly, boring - shit.

I did enjoy the first Resident Evil. It was a cheap B-movie that stayed true to the game and served up a decent dose of zombie action - no pretentions, no expectations. I walked into Apocalypse hoping for nothing more, and was bitterly, bitterly disappointed. Lousily shot, amateurishly directed, awfully written, laughably acted, and those 'special' effects... Nemesis looked like a big guy in a very, very silly suit. With a rocket launcher. And a rash. It did stay true to the franchise - especially the acting was on par with the series - and some scenes were replicated from the games (one set-piece, ironically enough one of the better bits, was a shot-for-shot recreation of the Code: Veronica intro movie). The church, the school; these were like stages right out of Evils two and three. But staying true to the source material won't help if everything else is shit. And that's still all it was: shit. Don't see it. Spare yourself the agony. I squirmed in my seat so you won't have to.

As for Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, I'm a bit torn. On some levels, I loved it; on others, I was a bit disappointed. It's obvious that this movie won't appeal to everyone, or even to most. It's definitely special interest. If you're a fan of the classic serials, of the Fleischer Superman cartoons, of King Kong, pulp fiction, and art deco robots, you'll at least be thrilled by parts of it. But the story isn't the best, there are major loopholes, some of the characters are a bit dull, and portions of it feel...cold, lifeless, bereft of the energy that made Raiders of the Lost Ark (which Sky Captain has been compared to) such an enduring classic. I'll ruminate on it and write more tomorrow, but for the moment: yes, it's worth seeing; no, it's not as great as it could, should, have been; but yes, Kerry Conran is a director to watch. And any big budget movie that dares to be different ought to be applauded.  ¶ 06:13 2 comments   

  I haven't updated the time zone setting in Blogger, which is currently set on CET, so no, it's not the middle of the afternoon as I write this; rather, it's eight-bloody-thirty in the AM. I'm trying to get the most out of my days here, which means defying my natural instinct to stay in bed until eleven.

The weather here has been quite lovely, some rain, but mostly sunshine with an autumnal nip in the air. Perfect walking-around weather - which is what I did yesterday, and will continue to do today, though with time on my hands and to myself, I'll most likely spend a few hours in a darkened theatre at some point, watching either Sky Captain or Resident Evil: Apocalypse.

I've had technical problems with my moblog this past week, so even though I've taken a bunch of shots with my mobile, I haven't been able to post them - sorry. I cleverly changed my carrier on Friday, the same day I was leaving for New York, which has botched up my MMS and net services. I'll try and fix it while I'm here, but the moblog might have to lie dormant until next week.

Right: coffee time. I'll be back with more tonight, including (probably) some sort of movie review.  ¶ 14:15 0 comments   

  theAtrainplays were, as predicted, a bit hit-and-miss, but overall there were more hits - considering the premise - than misses. The first one in particular was great fun; a jaunty musical about everyday heroes. The second one was awful, while the rest - there were five in total, each running about fifteen minutes - ranged from okay to good. Definitely worth the fifteen dollars, though, and a great deal more interesting than most polished big budget Broadway musicals.

Was hoping to catch Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow today, but with the beautiful weather we're having, I might go, um, tomorrow instead. Really looking forward to it; the reviews have been a bit mixed, but skewed positively, and the whole look of it appeals to me. I was intrigued from the moment I heard about it, though I was skeptical about its commercial viability. It's definitely a movie for movie geeks - and if the story is weak, that will damage its ability to capture a larger audience who might already be a bit alienated by the visuals and the setting. Hopefully it'll do good business. The director's next flick, Princess of Mars, should be one to watch out for.

My internet connection here is a bit shaky: I'm 'borrowing' bandwidth from a faceless neighbour via an open wi-fi network, so if the updates stop happening, the owner has probably wised up pulled the plug on me. Since I have to deliver some work this week, and thus depend on a permanent connection, fingers should stay firmly crossed. I don't want to have to resort to Starbucks.  ¶ 01:23 0 comments   

  Made it to New York despite rogue remnants of Ivan making it a bumpy - and delayed - ride into Newark. We had to circle Connecticut for a while as the storm passed over Jersey. Despite this grand finale, it was a reasonably pleasant ride, and the cramped seating finally justified having a tiny laptop. I actually managed to comfortably watch a couple of episodes of Smallville on the PowerBook. I suffered through one painful in-flight movie (The Stepford Wives, a horribly written remake that simply did not make sense on any level), and slept the rest of the time, soothing iPod tunes in my ears. Didn't get into Manhattan until close to 1 AM, but feel curiously refreshed today despite a lack of sleep. I think the banana muffin and Starbucks latte helped.

Tonight I'm catching theAtrainplays at the Neighborhood Playhouse. Should be great fun. The concept is unique, and while the results may vary, that's kind of the idea. Like with a short film festival, you're never stuck with one play for long.  ¶ 19:39 1 comments   

  I'm off to Nueva York-o today, so there may or may not be any updates this weekend. It all depends on my schedule (packed). More China pictures? Probably not until after the 27th, but I'll get around to it. Maybe I'll even snap some new shots in New York.  ¶ 09:41 0 comments   

  Filmmakers Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis say students at the University of Southern California could change moviemaking by playing more video games.

They said video games are getting closer to a storytelling art form but not quite yet.

Not quite yet? By whose standards? Hollywood's?

"I think the real indicator will be when somebody confesses that they cried at level 17," Spielberg said.

Yes, so we're definitely there, then: games do make people cry. I have received mails from players who shed tears at the end of The Longest Journey, and there are plenty of games - like Final Fantasy VII, where a major character dies a tragic and unexpected death - that engender real and powerful emotions in players.

By the way, what's the obsession with levels? It sounds like Spielberg and Zemeckis haven't actually played a game since 1987. Still, it's great to see 'video games' receiving credit for being an important, and relevant, cultural influence. It's about bloody time.  ¶ 23:43 8 comments   

  Tinkered a bit with The Sims 2 yesterday, and I am fully aware that this is a game that I can get dangerously hooked on. Roughly similar to its progenitor, the updated engine, the gameplay modifications - specifically the character goals - the amazing animations, and the wealth of design options nevertheless make this one a solid evolution of the franchise. I loved The Sims but grew tired of it quite quickly. With this one, I think there's more reason and incentive to keep playing. And playing. And playing. God help us all.

Luckily, I'll be leaving my PC at home on Friday, when I head out to New York. My new super-light 12" PowerBook will, for the first time, accompany me as my Word/mail/internet buddy; no Sims 2 there...yet.  ¶ 09:17 1 comments   

  Time Warner withdrew as a suitor for MGM today (Monday) after Sony sweetened its bid for the studio to nearly $5 billion over the weekend.

And so the dream of seeing The Hobbit on the big screen fades slowly, soon to die, dagnabbit. The distribution rights for that movie lie with MGM, while Warner - and New Line - holds the rights to make the movie. Oh, what a tangled web, etc. What are the chances Sony will relinquish their newly purchased rights? Slim to none.

Of course, with MGM's extensive library of films, Sony is all set to push the Blu-ray standard for the next generation of high definition video. Which is good.  ¶ 09:06 1 comments   

  Hmmmmm.... coincidence?

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/543/543282p1.html?fromint=1

http://www.gameforms.com/news/?1273

Dustin

Ah, the gaming market matures. No, honestly, it does.

Hi there Ragnar. Thought you might like to know, there's a Preview article in Computer Gaming Weekly for Dreamfall -- even though they call it TLJ2, which, when I saw it, pointed it out to my wife (and fellow player of TLJ) and said "ooh, Ragnar
wouldn't like that."

As long as they're talking about us, I can't complain. I'm having a hard enough time getting everyone on the team to stop saying 'TLJ2'.

Remember, kids: it's not a sequel. It's "a follow up" or, even better, "a spiritual successor". With a cherry on top.  ¶ 13:01 4 comments   

  Right, technical problems with the blog have now been sorted, but I had to temporarily swap my template with a default one. I'll get around to fixing it proper as soon as possible. (Given my track record, that might take a while.)

I've also activated a couple of new features: an 'e-mail this blog' link (tell your friends!), and comments. After testing out comments on my moblog for the past few days, I'm cautiously optimistic about it. We'll see how it works out. I will pull it if it's misused, spammed, or if I think it's simply inappropriate for this blog.  ¶ 15:17 6 comments   

  wonder why, in your blog, when I click on the times after an entry... for example: "22:36" in the latest one, after the ¶, they lead me right into the vicious clutches of a 404 error not unlike the Gribbler. :( Why? And where are they *supposed* to go? (If they're meant to be direct links to the entries, then there's an extra you-know what in there.)

Thanks for the heads up, Torley. I have no idea why the links are messed up. I may just have to swap out my custom made blog template with a default one - at least for the time being - to see if that helps.  ¶ 09:39 0 comments   

  The police in Paris have made a curious discovery beneath the city. A fully equipped subterranean cinema has been discovered below one of the city's museums.

A secret society of cineasts - that's bloody brilliant.  ¶ 09:04 0 comments   

  Seven percent of Norwegians polled would like to see George Dubya re-elected. Good thing he doesn't need the votes of the world. Although there's an idea...

They've just opened an Italian restaurant downstairs from my gym. The scent of pizza and pasta wafts through the locale, accompanied by the usual odour of sweat, making for a potent - and potentially sickening - combination. I'm not sure the trattoria-gymnasium merger is a healthy one.

Post work-out, I found myself alone in the showers with a man who muttered angrily to himself. It's exceedingly uncomfortable to be naked and have your exit (and precious towel) blocked by a rambling lunatic. I escaped, unscarred but shaken. They ought to install a panic button in there. That way, drop your soap, you won't feel quite so vulnerable. Actually, I vote for stalls. With locks.

Lastly, word has it that Joss Whedon, long rumoured to be on the shortlist to inherit the X-Men franchise from Bryan Singer - who's now prepping Superman - has indeed been signed for X3. If that's the case: good on ya, mate! He ought to do a bang-up job, seeing how he's real passionate about the material. And, in addition to being the writer-genius-boy, he's a very talented director.  ¶ 22:36 0 comments   

  Having been an enormous fan of Spaced for years(*), I've been anxiously awaiting Shaun of the Dead since I first heard about it, what seems like ages ago. It hasn't yet arrived in the cinemas here in Norway, but on Monday I got the DVD, and yesterday my brother - another huge Spaced fan - and I finally got to watch it.

Brilliant stuff.

It's that rare beast; a horror comedy (or RomZomCom) that succeeds at both the horror and the comedy. It's wickedly funny, it's scary - it's even sweetly romantic, in a singularly British fashion. The cast is fantastic; Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are as funny here as they ever were in Spaced, playing characters that fit them like gloves. Kate Ashfield - who's new to me - is a real find, cute and gutsy. And the rest of the cast, some of which are recognisable faces from British TV (including a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo by the future Arthur Dent, Martin Freeman, joining his Office co-star Lucy Davis) are all absolutely top notch. And the production values and prosthetic effects are excellent, especially considering the film's low budget.

Keep in mind that it's not a parody - there's gore, and plenty of it - but rather a true horror flick with lots of (very dark) comedy, so if you're expecting another Scary Movie, you'll be disappointed. If you're in the US, it opens in limited release over there in a few weeks (coinciding with my upcoming trip to New York), so get your mates together and go see it. I guarantee a good time.

(* And if you haven't yet watched Spaced, it's about bloody time you did. Didn't I tell you ages ago? In Europe, you can order seasons one and two (cheaply) through Play.com. In the US, you'll need a region-free player and an import store. If anyone's got a suggestion, feel free to mail it in. It's definitely worth the hassle and the cost.)  ¶ 09:34 0 comments   

  It's a brave new experiment. Don't go messing it up for everyone by being rude:

http://moblog.co.uk/blog/ragnar

The world shan't be safe again. It shan't.

In other news:

"I think one of the reasons is people have to come to accept CGI as a way of making a movie that's compelling to all ages," as opposed to hand-drawn animation, which can carry the stigma that it's mainly for kids and their moms, said Jim Tharp, head of distribution for DreamWorks, the studio behind the 'Shrek' movies. "CGI plays to teens, to dads, to the whole 3-to-93 age group."

Sadly, it's true. Great art like Spirited Away gets branded kids' fare, while Shrek 2 wins over the adult audience. Why? It's not just the fart jokes (though that hasn't hurt it none): CGI is the New Thing. Traditional animation belongs to your daddy's - or worse, your granddaddy's - generation. It's okay for everyone to watch 3D animated movies; cel animation, on the other hand, is for children and 'enthusiasts'. I'm flogging a dead horse, of course, but it's still a depressing fact that a unique art form that has evolved over the course of the past century is quickly dying out.  ¶ 01:21 0 comments   

  We're not done with the China pictures yet, but it'll be a few more days before I can post any more. Have been too busy to get around to it, unfortunately - and no, it's not just my new Mac stealing all of my spare time. (Although it certainly hasn't helped.)

It's been a busy weekend, and it will certainly be a busy week, with the next milestone looming on the horizon. This is an important one: it entails a bunch of important new gameplay features and pretty much every single location in the game - in very rough form. Our iterative production process means that we will have the game up and running and playable from beginning to end reasonably quickly, with graphics that can only generously be labelled 'primitive'. From that point on we'll focus on visual iterations across the board - animations, effects, textures, shaders, more detailed characters, weather, time of day, and so on - as well as gameplay tweaking and inclusion of more features. This is the only way to develop great games. (In my opinion, of course.) Things are on track and looking good.

As for my Mac: I love it to death, but I still prefer Windows XP to OS X. More to come.  ¶ 22:53 0 comments   

  My first Mac blog!

Busy setting up my new working environment yesterday, and I quickly came to the realisation that I need a bigger desk. There is simply not enough room for everything: two laptops - each with its own separate keyboard/mouse - one external screen (big), speakers, phone, external hard-drive, iPod... Eek. I've turned my apartment living room into a (wireless) shrine to technology.

Mac's OS X ('Panther') disturbs me on many, many levels. I just don't have the level of control that I'm used to from Windows, and everything's done differently. I actually feel a bit helpless. Installing programs has been relatively painless, however, and I'm up and running with a few vital tools, including Final Cut Pro and Adobe Creative Suite. On Friday: http://www.apple.com/motion/. Then I'm all set for some heavy duty video editing this weekend.  ¶ 22:43 0 comments