Untitled Game - DevDiary #2 - The Hard Cut

In gaming, there is a particular concept that always gets my attention.  It usually shows up in table top war gaming and card games, but also appears in video games, board games, and RPG's (both pad & pencil and digital).  It is a concept that will usually make or break a game for me.  If done poorly, the game will be broken, frustrating, too easy, or even sometime just unplayable.  If done, right, the game will be absolutely timeless.  This concept is what I like to "the Hard Cut."

The Finale of the Amazing Adventures of Captain Farr Novarider and the Wild Horses

...Is up on Bandcamp.  Right here.  No, here!  Over here!  Ha, ha!  Can't catch me.

The Amazing Adventures of Captain Farr Novarider and the Wild Horses - Season 3

...Is now available right here on Bandcamp.  So smooth.  So tasty.  So cheap.

Still free here, though.  For you.  To not buy.

Let's MAD 7 - Shogo: Mobile Armor Division

Can Sanjuro free his dead ex-girlfriend from the dark and sinister halls of what looks to be a mere public services building?  Will someone, for the love of God, please put hand railings on all the precarious walk ways?  Find out in Shogo: Mobile Armor Division.


Let's MAD 7: Shogo Mobile Armor Division by Boundcompass

Season 2 of the Amazing Adventures of Captain Farr Novarider and the Wild Horses Is Now Available (Again)!

Season 2 of the Amazing Adventures of Captain Farr Novarider and the Wild Horses is now available for purchase on Bandcamp.  Go check it out, and help me fund future projects!  Not sure?  You can still check it out on this very website for free.

The Amazing Adventures of Captain Farr Novarider and the Wild Horses Now Available on Bandcamp!

Exciting news!  I've just put the first season of The Amazing Adventures of Captain Farr Novarider and the Wild Horses up for sale on Bandcamp.  Check it out!

But why put it on sale when I can still get it for free on Boundcompass you may ask?  Well, I'll level with you: I need the money.  Yes, the series will continue to remain free here.  You will still be able to download it, watch it on site, etc...  Buying it, however, at the astoundingly low, low price of $10.00 per season helps me continue to work on art, writing, and other projects, as well as puts me one step closer to making this my full time job.  A job that I would love to have as comparison to my boring cube-rat job at a stuffy bank.  This also comes at a critical time for me and my wife, as we're looking at buying our very fist condo, so any amount of single episodes or full seasons purchased, helps me off set that cost.

I know there are a small amount of you, but I don't care.  The amount of traffic is pleasing to see, and as long as you're getting some joy out of my work, be it the series, art, or other works I put up here, I'm happy.  If you want to keep coming to Boundcompass to check out my stuff, great.  Buying does help me immensely, regardless of how little it seems.  It's a big ego boost, and I can push forward on getting the new project off the ground.

Enjoy!

Untitled Game - DevDiary #1 - A Work in Progress

Back in November-ish, I decided to shelve Express Line Number Seven; a point and click style adventure game that would have released for the PC (and potentially other platforms).  I decided it best to ultimately shelve the project as the narrative, as I had envisioned it, did not fit a game format.  The project would be much better suited to a graphic novel.  Express Line Number Seven is still very much a possibility somewhere down the line, but I decided it best to continue on the video game vector because I want to challenge my self, much the way that I did with The Amazing Adventures of Captain Farr Novarider and the Wild Horses.  When I shelved Express Line Number Seven, I already had an idea of the story that I wanted to try.  Honestly, when I decided that I wanted to try developing a game, it was between Express Line Number Seven and the story that I’m currently working on.
 
You'll probably notice that it seems I'm playing coy with new project's title.  This is part of the reason that I had originally picked Express Line versus this story.  I had very little laid out in terms of what the narrative is going to be, the major themes that I would be playing with, the over-all world design, and even the title was nonexistent.  The most I had were a few early character concepts, and few ideas for game mechanics, and maybe a couple of themes.  Maybe.

I'm happy to say that after the last few months the world, themes, character concepts and motivations, and game play are all starting to coalesce into something a bit more tangible.  Mostly.  Some major steps still need to be taken, including finally getting an idea of what I want the story to look like and writing said story, what the ultimate conflicts for the characters are, major antagonists if any, and, yes, even the title of the game still needs to be figured.  Fortunately, my schedule has progressed enough to where I can finally begin working on these very important items at full speed.  What do I have so far?

The year is 1915, and World War I is in full swing.  Factories across the United Kingdom are producing vast quantities of munitions and supplies to ship to British Forces on the front lines.  Archwood Ashland (better known as Archie) has found dutiful employment at one such factory pumping out ammunition.  Archie’s talents with machines has lead to him being able to push the factory well above it’s expected capacity.

Things are not going well on the front lines, however, and the British Government is desperately looking for young bodies to pour into the trenches.  Due to Archie’s talent for machines, he’s managed to stay safe at the factory to ensure that it continues to operate and send ammunition to the front line.  With the increase in mechanized warfare, Archie’s talents are becoming more desirable on the front line rather than behind, and recruiters are becoming more pushy and demanding.

It wasn’t long before drafting papers were taken, meaning Archie was under government order to report to a recruiters.  The air sirens blare, however, signaling a Zeppelin Raid.  Archie attempts to find safety with the others, but bombs begin to strike the shelter and factory, forcing him to find safety elsewhere.  As he runs, a rip occurs a head of him.  He falls through just as a bomb hits.

He finds himself in a green meadow of an unknown land.  Debris from the chaos around him remains.  He’s greeted by a young woman who speaks a language that he’s not familiar with.  After a bit of work trying to communicate, he finds that her name is Auryon.  Alone and far from anywhere resembling home, Archie must find his way in a world scarred by a long forgotten war.

The game follows Archie and Auryon as they travel throughout the environments of the world, in a Metroidvania-style adventure game.  Can Archie find a way home?  Does he want to return?  What mysteries are hidden in the wounds of the war?  That will all be determined when I figure the rest out.

Let's MAD 6 - Shogo: Mobile Armor Division

In the sixth installment the game gives up and decides to take a big steaming plot and character dump in our shoe.  Who are these people?  What does their introduction mean?  The game doesn't know nor does it care.  Let's MAD: Shogo - Mobile Armor Division.



Let's Mad 6: Shogo Mobile Armor Division by Boundcompass

Let's MAD 5 - Shogo: Mobile Armor Division

It's finally here!  After numerous delays, Let's MAD number 5 is ready to watch.  Will Sanjuro finally figure out his girl troubles?  Nope, he's going to go looking for some old lady's cat.

You think I'm joking?


Let's MAD 5: Shogo Mobile Armor Division by Boundcompass

The Dublin Man

The music selection was mostly safe.  Nothing as jagged or broken as Brit Punk, and nothing as asymmetrical as Prog or Art Rock.  Most of the albums were ripped from the top 40 charts; a few outliers such as easily recognizable classical composers, the occasional Indie name, and nostalgia fuel - for those who insist on remembering the 80’s.

Let's MAD 4 - Shogo: Mobile Armor Division

How will Sanjuro deal with his dead ex coming back to life? Will he tell her that he's been dating her sister? Will he find his brother and best friend? Seriously, who is Gabriel? These and many other questions will not be answered in this month's Let's MAD: Shogo.


Let's MAD 4: Shogo by Boundcompass

DevDiary #3: Reformatting

One of the most important elements of writing is that before approaching a story, one should always consider what format that best fits the overall narrative. This should seem obvious, yet I see this mistake made so many times in final products - from comic books that would have made better short stories, novels that would make a better television series, and even video games that would make better movies. I am not above making this mistake. Not in the slightest.

Let's MAD 3 - Shogo: Mobile Armor Division

We continue the adventures of Sanjuro, as he continues to wander nondescript hall ways and sewers murdering who are likely under-paid guards and civilians.  The sort of hero that I want to follow.


Let's MAD: Shogo MAD 3 by Boundcompass

DevDiary #2: The Dublin Man Is Standing Outside My Window

More than two years ago, my wife and I got married.  For our honeymoon, we went to the Republic of Ireland - somewhere that I wanted to go back to and that she hadn’t been before.  We had no plans in particular beyond, take the train to Kilkenny, stay there a few nights, and then return back to Dublin for the remainder of the week. 

Lindy spent most of her time sleeping, and rightfully so.  She was basically catching up on a month’s worth that she had missed.  I, however, had a lot of trouble sleeping.  I’m not sure if it was jet lag, the beds (which I’ve seen no evidence that they’re not made of drop forged steel), or the weird heat wave that had hit Ireland at the time.  By the time that we returned to Dublin, I was in a bit of a hypnagogic state.

The heat wave seemed to get worse when we were in Dublin.  The hotel room retained heat all too well, meaning that it remained about 90-degrees; even in the dead of night.  Being born and raised in Portland, Oregon, I’m used to cold nights, so the heat was like being in my own personal hell.  It was nearly impossible for me to go to sleep. 

Beyond our bed was a window that had sheer curtains.  They functioned such that I could only see shadows and silhouettes beyond them.  In my sleeplessness, my mind began to explore concepts despite my best efforts to prevent it from doing so.  These were idea that were fueled by some of my favorite sci-fi horror movies from when I was a kid; movies such as Alien and The Thing.

I would imagine a figure - humanoid in shape - standing just beyond the curtains, pressing its hand against the window.  I could see this figure’s shadow in the hallway light coming from under the door frame.  There was no where to go.  Nowhere that I could run.  Despite speaking the language, despite having been to Ireland once before, I was alone.  I was caught by some aggressive being - unknown to me in nature - in a foreign land.

The day after this wakeful nightmare, I drowsily stumbled into a pub, sketch book in hand, ordered a Guinness and some crisps, and began playing with this fear.  Apparently, this can be a rather useful state to be in as I knocked out five or six hand written pages exploring the characters, themes, and plotting, plus a concept sketch of the figure standing outside the window in the span of two pints.  The Guinness may have also had something to do with it.

I’m sad to say that I never really played much with this idea all that much for the last two years.  It stuck in the back of my mind as something to work with, but my attention was always on the Amazing Adventures of Captain Farr Novarider and the Wild Horses, and more recently on Express Line Number 7.  I think it’s time to rectify this.

For the months of October and November, this short story - currently titled “The Dublin Man” - is going to be the focus of my work.  I think that two months is a pretty relaxed schedule for a short story (I seem to remember being able to produce one about every week in college).  This will allow me some time to get some peer input as well.  Once November 30th comes, “The Dublin Man” gets a go, no-go assessment for publishing, and I’m back to Express Line Number 7.

Working on this short story will hopefully have a couple effects.  The first being that it comes at a fortuitous time in the development of the story for Express Line Number 7 where I’ve found some problems with a few of the characters.  This project will afford me some time to think on these problems while not making me feel like I’m being unproductive.  The second being that I get a little break, staving off any of the animosity or frustration that becomes common with large projects like Express Line Number 7.  It happened with The Amazing Adventures, it will happen with this one, too.

I’ll still be working on the Let’s MAD series as well as developer diaries such as this.  I might take the opportunity to do something other than a DevDiary next month.  I’ve had an idea for a show for a some time now (almost as long as “The Dublin Man”) that I would like to execute on just to see how it might go over, but we’ll see about that.

I look forward to trying to publish a short story for my first time.  This will be a good diversion that will, hopefully, re-energize me for writing Express Line Number 7.  I’m excited.  Are you excited?  I’m excited.

Let's MAD 2 - Shogo: Mobile Armor Division

We continue the whimsical and joyful misadventures of Sanjuro - a plucky hero and his giant robot.  Let's play as he joyfully murders well armed City Municipal Water District employees and prevents his sweet ass from be fried.



Let's MAD 2 - Shogo: Mobile Armor Division by Boundcompass