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My name's Kasey Ozymy. I'm a game designer from Texas. I made Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass and am currently working on Hymn to the Earless God.
Check out Hymn to the Earless God:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2165130/Hymn_to_the_Earless_God
Buy Jimmy:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/706560/Jimmy_and_the_Pulsating_Mass/
Check out Hymn to the Earless God:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2165130/Hymn_to_the_Earless_God
Buy Jimmy:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/706560/Jimmy_and_the_Pulsating_Mass/
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[Poll] Accounting For Taste
author=MaxMcGee
If you look at a guy who's spent 30 years playing metal and a guy who's spent 30 years playing folk and bluegrass, they're going to have wildly different musical tastes and there's no real objective measure of who's better.
You could say the same thing about literary writers and genre writers: different backgrounds, different standards, different likes and dislikes. As long as they've put a lot of thought into their writing, though, they'll be able to appreciate each other's stuff even if it isn't their cup of tea.
Even if I don't like a musical style, I've got a sharp enough ear to tell if the music fits, if it's being informed by what historically came before it, and if it's well-constructed. There's a lot more informing my musical decisions than, "I like metal so I'm going to put metal in it." That's where experience comes in (and close listening to a large range of music).
"I Based the Main Character on Myself."
author=suzy_cheesedreams
Well, that illustrates my point: I have difficulty understanding exactly what others mean when they say something. I feel underqualified to speak in threads like these, but I comment anyway... One of the things I was worried about before joining this site was that I wasn't sure I'd be able to communicate effectively about game design or theory because I always misinterpret what people say :/
Don't worry about it. I swear, 80% of forum discussion consists of communication breakdowns and quibbling over tangents and unimportant details.
[Poll] Accounting For Taste
I picked never, which probably isn't fair; like LockeZ said, the right comment will impact my decisions. But, I still went with never because I compose my own music, and I've been playing guitar religiously for about twelve years now. I trust my musical taste more than others because my decisions are being informed by years of experience. Same with writing.
That said, if anyone has any art or game design tips, I'm way more likely to consider them.
That said, if anyone has any art or game design tips, I'm way more likely to consider them.
Themes and Messages
We should probably make a distinction between themes and messages. I like media that deals with tricky subjects, but I don't like media that pretends to have an answer to those subjects, and I think that's what King's getting at, to a degree, as that's where propaganda comes in. I like to come to the paper with questions, not answers.
Themes and Messages
@LockeZ: Well, no, but I think that I'm thinking about it differently than you. If I were exploring an idea like isolation--looking at reasons why people isolate themselves and how it's harmful behavior that's paradoxically sought after--at the end of the day, the game would still be about that. I wouldn't switch to, like Snow Owl mentioned, the undying power of friendship because that would run contradictory to the theme itself. However, friendship might also work its way into it, but I'd still intentionally be exploring the isolation, not the friendship. So, I guess that the story/characters could evolve in unexpected ways, but that would be to conform to the theme instead of vice versa.
Themes and Messages
Pixar is formulaic. They're successful, and they make films that are really solid for children's films, but I don't know. I've heard Up was supposed to be really fantastic, but people told me that about Wall-E, and I felt the writers were trying to manipulate my heartstrings in a really corporate way (cool setting and ground situation, though). Pixar makes films that are good at being financially successful, charming, and evocative, which are all good things, but they're not writing stories that challenge the audience in any way, so I guess it really comes down to what you want to do as a storyteller/game developer. Just a little counterpoint to that Pixar link--sorry for the aside.
For me, trying for a theme isn't just important--it's paramount. If I get to the end of what I've written and for some reason the story is different than where I started (which has never happened and I don't really see how it would if you're consistently thinking about that theme--maybe that's just more common with a group of writers instead of writing individually), then I would shelf the idea or rewrite to make the theme clearer. When I write, I tend to want to explore something about myself or the world that I don't understand. If I'm not doing that--if I'm not reaching towards something beyond me--then it's like, what's the point? If I wanted to make money I'd do anything else. Entertainment's a valid goal, and I want to entertain as well, but just entertainment would be unfulfilling for me in the same way that if I spend all day playing Monster Hunter, I feel like a useless piece of shit. That kind of thing is great when you're younger, but the older you get, the more you want things to matter (even if you're just fooling yourself, but whatever).
For me, trying for a theme isn't just important--it's paramount. If I get to the end of what I've written and for some reason the story is different than where I started (which has never happened and I don't really see how it would if you're consistently thinking about that theme--maybe that's just more common with a group of writers instead of writing individually), then I would shelf the idea or rewrite to make the theme clearer. When I write, I tend to want to explore something about myself or the world that I don't understand. If I'm not doing that--if I'm not reaching towards something beyond me--then it's like, what's the point? If I wanted to make money I'd do anything else. Entertainment's a valid goal, and I want to entertain as well, but just entertainment would be unfulfilling for me in the same way that if I spend all day playing Monster Hunter, I feel like a useless piece of shit. That kind of thing is great when you're younger, but the older you get, the more you want things to matter (even if you're just fooling yourself, but whatever).
"I Based the Main Character on Myself."
No, I meant when I said, "If we're looking at writing as a sort of therapeutic exercise." You're plenty articulate; here I am using vague pronouns.
"I Based the Main Character on Myself."
I didn't read The Divine Comedy outside of The Inferno, so I don't know, Ebeth. I think the bigger deal with The Divine Comedy (in terms of why it's celebrated) is that it captured the social importance of Catholicism of the time and the values thereof. Dante as a character is really marginalized in The Inferno, anyway, as the emphasis is on explaining the seven circles of hell in great detail so that the Catholics reading it wouldn't want to go there. Really, the idea of character being the focal point in fiction wasn't really, truly emphasized until early 20th century modernism, so The Inferno might not have been the best example.
Honestly, I sort of see The Divine Comedy as worthwhile study material and not necessarily as compelling. Fiction's changed a lot since then, so I don't think a straight rendition of The Divine Comedy would be compelling outside of the imagery (which would be pretty fucking cool, actually). That shitty God of War clone tried to humanize it, which might not be a bad idea if it weren't so poorly handled (or so I hear--actually haven't played it). I think what I would like to see is the inhabitants of hell to be humanized so it doesn't become a moral play, but then that runs the risk of becoming an indictment of Christianity, so I don't know. Could be interesting in the right hands, for sure.
Honestly, I sort of see The Divine Comedy as worthwhile study material and not necessarily as compelling. Fiction's changed a lot since then, so I don't think a straight rendition of The Divine Comedy would be compelling outside of the imagery (which would be pretty fucking cool, actually). That shitty God of War clone tried to humanize it, which might not be a bad idea if it weren't so poorly handled (or so I hear--actually haven't played it). I think what I would like to see is the inhabitants of hell to be humanized so it doesn't become a moral play, but then that runs the risk of becoming an indictment of Christianity, so I don't know. Could be interesting in the right hands, for sure.
"I Based the Main Character on Myself."
@Emmy: Yeah, like I said, it's fine to write for yourself. You can also play music for yourself by picking up a guitar and dicking around even though you've never played before. You'll eventually find a key and play something that resonates with you, but if you're playing in front of an audience, then they're going to pick up on your unsteady fingers and cliche melodies.
I find myself often using analogies to different media with writing, because writing is often considered "anything goes" territory, and it's not. It's a skill and an art form, and it takes a huge amount of thought and practice to get good at. You have to consider things like social context, the writing that's come before you, emotional resonance/sincerity, nuance--ignoring these things to write a power fantasy isn't going to create compelling fiction.
@Suzy: Maybe a better way to have phrased it is "if you're writing for yourself, then power fantasies are fine." But, I do agree with you in the way that you were thinking of it.
@Liberty: I'm not saying that self-inserting is a bad thing; earlier in this thread, even, I said it was inescapable. I said that creating a power fantasy is a bad thing. If the Inferno were about how Dante punched a hole in the ground so he could triple throat chop Satan, then it would be a power fantasy that wouldn't have had the same staying power as the original. I feel like we're arguing different things here.
I find myself often using analogies to different media with writing, because writing is often considered "anything goes" territory, and it's not. It's a skill and an art form, and it takes a huge amount of thought and practice to get good at. You have to consider things like social context, the writing that's come before you, emotional resonance/sincerity, nuance--ignoring these things to write a power fantasy isn't going to create compelling fiction.
@Suzy: Maybe a better way to have phrased it is "if you're writing for yourself, then power fantasies are fine." But, I do agree with you in the way that you were thinking of it.
@Liberty: I'm not saying that self-inserting is a bad thing; earlier in this thread, even, I said it was inescapable. I said that creating a power fantasy is a bad thing. If the Inferno were about how Dante punched a hole in the ground so he could triple throat chop Satan, then it would be a power fantasy that wouldn't have had the same staying power as the original. I feel like we're arguing different things here.
"I Based the Main Character on Myself."
If we're looking at writing as art, then writing characters that are your personal power fantasies are a bad thing. You're not going to allow for any self-reflection if the entirety of the character is "this is the perfect being," as this character is a projection and won't read as even human, really.
If we're looking at writing as a technical skill, then these types of characters are a bad thing as well, as the characters have no depth or nuance, and they require next to no thought to write. Like, oh, my original character Horsekeeping is surrounded by zombies, so he uses a combination of self-taught karate and a fire axe to take out every one of them in a grotesque fountain of blood and chunks of flesh. Wait, no, let's change that to a sawzall since it's more original.
If we're looking at writing as a sort of therapeutic exercise, then I suppose these characters are okay. It's okay to write whatever you like, and you'll inevitably find other people on the planet that also enjoy your work. That doesn't mean that anything goes if you want your writing to be actually good.
If we're looking at writing as a technical skill, then these types of characters are a bad thing as well, as the characters have no depth or nuance, and they require next to no thought to write. Like, oh, my original character Horsekeeping is surrounded by zombies, so he uses a combination of self-taught karate and a fire axe to take out every one of them in a grotesque fountain of blood and chunks of flesh. Wait, no, let's change that to a sawzall since it's more original.
If we're looking at writing as a sort of therapeutic exercise, then I suppose these characters are okay. It's okay to write whatever you like, and you'll inevitably find other people on the planet that also enjoy your work. That doesn't mean that anything goes if you want your writing to be actually good.
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