AWOL

By the beard of Odin its been over a month this time since I've posted diddly-squat! Plus, its been even longer since I've posted anything of any real substance on any of my projects. Well, on the former, the wait continues because I haven't written much lately. I've picked up some inspirational books and I'm making my notes, but not much beyond that. I scored a copy of the old sci-fi poster book
"Wanted: 22 Criminals by the Intergalactic Security Bureau" in fairly good condition for cheap. Plus, I also found a copy of the old "Worlds of the Federation" guidebook detailing all sorts of aliens and their worlds from Star Trek. Some of the material in WotF has been invalidated, but it's still a great source for inspiration for space opera games.

I'm also still compiling my great Monster Codex for S&W. Not sure what my count is up to now, but it's gotta be getting close to the 2000 mark. Plus, I've picked up a few more monster books to add to the conversion pile. (What can I say? I'm a monster junkie!)

On the video game front, I'm playing around with mods for Torchlight II. I think I've about got my favorite mods re-packed correctly so that the loot system isn't fouled up and that it doesn't crash the game...just about... I finally started playing Max Payne 3. It's a great game, but the sight of an older, slightly overweight Max has taken some getting used to. Still, Rock Star has once again made a great game with that sweet spot combination of great gameplay and an excellent story. I've also just picked up Dragon's Crown. I'm not overly keen on the art style, but it's a great fantasy beat-em-up in the vein of D&D Mystara and the Tower of Doom and Castle Crashers. I readily recommend it. I still have yet to play Borderlands 2, Assassin's Creed Revelations and AC3, and Prototype 2, all of which are waiting impatiently on the shelf.

One final note, I've just watched the new Star Trek movie: Into Darkness. Other than JJ Abram's love of lens flares becoming a severe neurosis, I loved it. Yes, it's an action flick by and large and the show was far more cerebral, but the characters feel right and Benedict Cumberbatch made a great Khan. What I hope this movie does is finally get some TV execs (or even Netflix or Hulu) to put together a smart and hopeful space opera show back on TV. It would be great if that show were Star Trek, but I'd take a new franchise as well at this point. That said, I really hope there is a new Star Trek series on the horizon. We need shows like that to keep kids interested in dreaming about the stars. Plus, the ST universe's hopeful feel is something I think we could use on TV again. Something that runs counter to the dark, depressing, dystopian series that seem to be all that's on TV anymore. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against post-apocalyptic and/or zombie invasion shows, but it would be nice to see a series that takes place in a world where many species can work for the common good. Where we have conquered hunger, disease, and (for the most part) war. The ST universe is hardly utopian, as there are always threats on the horizon be it Romulans, Klingons, Borg, or insidious mind-controlling worms invading Starfleet, but those threats always seem to be able to be met with words, logic, and reason as opposed to going in guns blazing and leaving only a trail of smoking corpses. It would be nice to see a return to diplomacy and peaceful exploration. I get it, art imitates life. That's why so many shows revolve around mankind losing everything or clawing to survive against impossible odds as that's what it feels like so much nowadays with high unemployment, constant war, and the forces seeming to work against the regular folk from all angles. That's all the more reason to have a show that thinks we can and will have a brighter future ahead of us.

Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox now. I do hope to get a chance (or at least force myself) to get some writing done and in a state where I'm not embarrassed to post it sometime soon. I'm back in sci-fi mode for the time being, but since I'm still reading the Song of Fire and Ice series, I change gears back into fantasy fairly regularly. Until next time!