keith_nt4's Journal: Vacation: Day 4

Well looks like this really is a less-than-productive vacation. I mean I realize this is only day 4 of 5 weeks but jeeze. Today I went overboard warming up my car before it got tested for smog. I drove around and around. I just moved to the city so I needed to learn more about my surroundings anyway. California has this real facist system when it comes to car pollution (I think al gore's book is the legislature's bible). Well that took up most of the day. When I finally got home I started working on my little router project again. Found it most likely this isn't going to work anyway because the module isn't included. Or whatever. Then I tried setting up an SSH thing so I could do it that way. This almost showed some promise but missed.

Then at 8:00 I saw the new lord of the rings movie. I haven't read the book version of this one (something I was planning for this vacation) but I think I liked this movie. Obviously an incredible amount of work. And even some humor. This movie brings me to my next rant.

It's become obvious to me movies such as this are less about holding to true to a book or even getting the general spirit or gist. It's all about what they can sell. I read this review ya see, by Roger Ebert. He says the books really revolve around the two hobbits and so the movie is that much less enjoyable since it's so unfaithful in that area. But I say you should expect it. Because a large part of this movie is all about selling movie related products. The most important of which, from what I can tell, are video games. Who would want to play a game based on a couple hobbits?? Especially when there are such dungons and dragons-related figures as the bow and dual sword bear elf, the dwarf with the double-bladed axe, the long sword-bearing human, the magic staff-weilding wizard and all the rest. So of course the emphasis is not going to be on those characters. And besides that who would want a poster, action figure, or anything else of a couple hobbits? Seems like the elf and gandolph are MADE for action figures. No crummy old hobbits. I mean all they do is run away and hold onto a ring, weilding there ugly feet. Of course this is expected. In movies like this there's not extra income from bilbo hold a pepsi can or gandolph wearing Nikes. So this is the next best thing. This is the new product placement.

I can't believe vacation is alread a week in. I mean wow. I'd like to make a game some day. Seriously. I ordered a book on how to do it that might actually start at a more bottom level. Of course I have one of the best game making development kits ever made.

Neverwinter Nights. In my view this game is simply a game-making developer's kit with large sample of what's possible so you can learn the game. But it's really there so you for making and downloading modules. And of course a large emphasis on multiplayer games. So why should I try to make a game from scratch if I have this great resource? Is that rhetorical? Well I'll answer it anyway. First I haven't been able to put in the time to finish Neverwinter so I feel like I know the game well enough I could start making modules. And second I think it would be fun to do at least some basic games. Like a block puzzle type game, and a astroid clone, space invaders, and of course my favorite of the old classics a Missile Command-like game. And besides with neverwinter I could write a real complicated, artsy plot with a moral and message and other crap like that. Maybe. I guess this is all for now. I have some other things brewing but you got to save something for later, right?