Sherlock Fails to Catch Jack the Ripper – Game Review

Box cover for the boardgame: Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective – Jack the Ripper & West End Adventures. Image from the internet.

Jack the Ripper may be part of the collective consciousness, but I really didn’t know anything about the case until this week.

Earlier this year I was introduced to a boardgame called Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective. It was less board and more oral story with an interesting concept and a terribly frustrating execution. The short version: you play as members of Holmes’ Baker Street Irregulars. By tracking down leads you are challenged to solve the case in as few steps as possible in order to beat the amazing Sherlock Holmes. Unfortunately, Sherlock cheats. He uses information you the player don’t have access to, magically traces only the correct – generally obscure or illogical – leads and makes up answers at the end. Anyway, with my family, we played all 10 cases, grew frustrated with the system and moved onto other things.

That is until my brother brought home the expansion/sequel. Now, I know he is going to do a much better (and more detailed analysis) of the game when we finish this next series of 10 cases. But in the meantime here is my feelings of the matter. We are, to date, only four cases in to the expansion and have just concluded the Ripper Series.

First, I would like to say that I like the general concept of the series. I like the idea of tracking down clues and solving mysteries. We have even decided to dismiss the scoring system of the game which encourages players to visit as few locations as possible and ultimately miss out on much of the story. Instead, this time around we are not counting our leads, but chasing up whatever clues catch our fancy – while trying to accumulate enough knowledge to answer the random assortment of questions at the end.

The first four cases of the expansion are all tied to Jack the Ripper. Obviously you cannot identify Jack until the end of Case Four. However, you are still given a series of questions to answer related to the earlier cases. I liked the idea of creating a great arch with smaller steps. I even liked the new mechanics which allowed you to get more information from different locations/witnesses by adding clue numbers together (under specific conditions). This meant you could learn more about a character you had already been introduced to.

What failed was the writing ultimately.

A spread of the board and game sheets for Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective – Jack the Ripper & West End Adventures. Image from the internet.

I learned that the case of Jack the Ripper actually did consist of a confusing mass of information and misinformation. The police did a terrible job and the coroner actually included wrong information in his report. An unknown and highly debated number of women are actually attributed to Jack. The newspapers actually fabricated letters apparently from the serial killer. So, this does explain some of the conflicting testimonies you are presented in the game.

Unfortunately, the writers, chose one of the weakest culprits to be Jack. Even Watson points out some of the numerous flaws to Sherlock’s weak explanation at the end of the fourth case. It was so utterly unsatisfying. Thus, I cannot say I am terribly excited to proceed with the other cases, though how they can be worse is difficult to imagine.

Yet, all was not lost. By playing this game, I did learn more about Jack the Ripper. And more interestingly, I discovered that my brother’s first novel was inspired by the case. No, it does not follow any one of the theories. But I can now see the influences of this bloody and violent case on the writing of Thyre. Something I found far more interesting that Sherlock’s impossible solution.

How to Write: Lesson 2

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Accessed from http://www.wga.hu/index1.html

Oriental Writer Cutting His Pen by Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp (1640).

Continuing our series on how to be a writer, we’re picking up after the first (and truly most important) lesson: Just write.

Today, I’d like to discuss a little more the manner in which we approach this daunting task. There’s really no winning formula for Just Writing (TM). It is partly the responsibility of the writer to figure out what works best for them. Through discussions and reading interviews of other writers, I have come to see there being really two paths one can take to completion. I call this the Pants vs Plans dichotomy. The distinction is easily delineated by how much organizing and outlining an author does before she begins putting pen to paper or fingers to keys.

The first approach, the Planners, is characterized by detailed and extravagant flow charts and chapter outlines. These are individuals that want to know exactly how the narrative will unfold well before they even open their word document. A Planner will have detailed notes on plot progression, character bios and pacing details. The Planner knows exactly how the third act twist will go down and where the final climax of the story takes place. Most of the work of the Planner is done through charts and graphs. The story is a crawling web of connected events and details. What happens when she writes is simply filling in the last few connections between these moments.

On the other hand, the Pantser is a person who knows nothing about his story as he sits down to write. He might have some idea of a character, a theme or even just a genre that he wants to explore. At best, he might have a few events he’d like to include in the story with no idea where, when or how those events will unfold or even connect. For the Pantser, writing is as much a creative process as it is an act of discovery. In many ways, it reflects the journey of the reader. You don’t know what is going to happen on this adventure and you may only have the briefest of backcover synopsis to guide you. The Panster will thus be surprised how his story turns out and it is not an accident but the creative method working at its best when the story concludes in a dramatically different style than what he expected when he sat down.

There is no clear ranking to these two methods. Great stories can come from either. There are, of course, advantageous and disadvantages to both approaches. There isn’t even surefire way to know which method will work best for you without trying them. However, it’s important to understand why these methods work before adopting them so that pitfalls can be avoided.

Take the Planner, for instance. The best part of her method is that she’ll never truly get stuck. She knows exactly what is going to come next and will never truly languish in the fabled “writer’s block.” In fact, the highly detailed notes give her great insulation from being overcome by “what happens next.” Thus, if she starts to find a section that is tedious or emotionally draining, it is effortless to step back, look for a section that grabs her attention and curiosity more and jump to that point and channel her creativity there. The Planner, though seemingly the most linear approach allows great non-linearity when it comes to crafting the story itself. And there is nothing more important than being engaged by your own work. If you find your own words are laborious and boring, chances are that readers will too. And maybe after covering some unrelated part will give the necessary clarity and fortitude to address whatever was initially draining the Planner when she diverged from the original section.

The caution, of course, is that the Planner is front-loading all her work. It’s possible that this method can fall victim to the dreaded “writer’s block” before even reaching the starting gate. Problems in the outline will stall progress to the actual work of writing. It can even lead to a point where there’s comfort in the planning and avoiding the writing altogether! The Planner could spend her whole time fretting over the details of the outline and spend all her time ironing out more and more kinks in the flow charts. It’s a fantastic way to fail the very first lesson while still convincing yourself that you’re accomplishing work. At some point you have to put the outline down and get to the meat of the project.

For the Pantser, he has no excuse for not writing. When the time to write comes, he has nothing else but to write. As such, he’s far more susceptible to blocks to his creative juices. Each day is tempting stagnation and creative emptiness. Completing a chapter leads to yet another blank page that can always gum up the process. Even worse, should some boring section or frustrating issue arise, the Pantser is stuck resolving it immediately. He can’t take breaks and work on other sections. In order to overcome these challenges, the Pantser has to learn to simply press on and forget issues. Resolve persistent problems inelegantly to get them out of the way. Pull some deus ex machina in order to save the soul of the work. Characters will vanish just as quickly as they materialize. Plot threads will be forgotten. Things wouldn’t add up by the conclusion.

The perk, however, is the true rush of creativity. The Pantser is truly free in his approach. While the Planner could revise her outline, that tempts her away from the work. Any issues not predict in the earlier organization stages can slow everything down. The Pantser, however, is infinitely flexible. And there is quite a rush to having a character suddenly breath new life and direction in a story. It’s literary improv and can be just as thrilling. There’s also a storytelling “purity” in a sense to this method. The art of storytelling stretches as far back as language has existed and certainly the most ancient masters of the craft wouldn’t have had exacting plots plotted before their characters started plodding. The Pantser also has more focus on fun since it is his enjoyment of the moment that will direct his path and he can maximize that which holds his interest instead of having to slave away for vital scenes necessary for the overall plot.

These are, of course, taking extreme looks at the method. Really, most writers will likely adopt different elements of the Pantser and Planner approach. It’s more an axis than hard categorization. In fact, I use both approaches when I begin work on a new idea. Generally speaking, I’ve have some outline of characters or the plot and I’ll leave large blanks to be filled in while I write. In fact, I’ve noticed my approach evolving over time to address different projects and their requirements. Certainly stories with heavier emphasis on narrative or theme require more planning than character driven pieces. And the more I structure narratives, the less I need to plan proper pacing and climaxes as they become second nature.

So find what works for you and keep trying new things. Writing is a creative process, after all, and without experimentation you will never discover the new twists waiting to spring from your pen tip.

A Mortal Song – Book Review

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My book review of A Mortal Song will contain some spoilers – you have been warned. This young adult fantasy-fairy tale novel by Megan Crewe was, in short, good.

The book cover of A Mortal Song. Image from the internet.

I loved the Japanese setting, partly because I had been there. I have seen Mount Fuji – I have actually climbed it! I have been to Tokyo. I know what the inside of a high school looks like and I have certainly stopped at many of the numerous shrines that litter Japan’s landscape. Yes, they really are found everywhere.

I enjoyed the coming of age story as Sora discovers the truth about her family and heritage. The book took an interesting look at the idea of children swapped at birth. It explored the related emotions of learning your parents will tell lies, even though they still love you.

A Mortal Song has all the classic elements of a youth novel. The leads are children – well, I suppose at 17 they are more like young adults – who must save the world (or the mountain) including the adults. There is self-discovery, first loves, a bit of betrayal and monster fighting. I love that the ending does not hinge on the girl with the most powerful weapons. Words are just as strong as emotions and can overcome even the scariest of demons.

Our lead heroine, Sora, is believable. Her turmoil of emotions draw the reader through her joys, fears, and uncertainties. The relations she builds with the other characters are strong and realistic. The motivations are clear. The threat of Mt. Fuji’s anger is felt by the rest of the world. This creates a solid connection between the fantasy of the story and the world in which the story is set. The stakes are real for the characters.

From the book cover of A Mortal Song. Image from the internet.

Despite the Japanese influence in the setting, character names and religion, the books is not overwhelmed with Japanese words. It is very accessible. In fact, I would have enjoyed a little more reference to Japan’s culture and language, but recognize this may not be approachable for many readers. The notes and pieces that were included felt well-researched and authentic.

A Mortal Song is filled with solid writing, a fast-paced plot and characters the reader can relate to. The journey of Sora teaches us that being human is a good thing. In fact, even humans can help the kami and prevent mountains from erupting. The ending is bitter-sweet in the way that growing up is.

For a star rating, A Mortal Song gets 5 out of 5. Great writing and solid story.

The International Conclusion

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Well, yet another Dota 2 The International tournament comes to an end. It was full of exciting twists and turns. We even had some records set by the winners. I won’t spoil too much, though I can’t imagine anyone interested in the results doesn’t already know them.

Instead, I want to mention that the TI Curse is still in effect. It’s probably one of the things I really like about professional Dota 2. The Curse, of course, isn’t anything official. It’s just an observation on a continuing trend over the scene for the last seven years. Through a conflux of a number of factors, there has not been a single repeating TI champion. For the last seven years, a different team of five players have claimed the prestigious Aegis of the Immortals. Even more impressive, there hasn’t even been a repeat in teams.

Due to the nature of its competitive scene, Dota 2 teams are ephemeral things. They last long enough to compete in the tournament of tournaments and then evaporate in the wake of the closing ceremony like so much morning dew in the rising sun. This isn’t to say the players themselves disappear. In fact, there’s a rather large, consistent base composing the highest echelon of the game’s competition. And what would the competitive scene look like without BurNing or Puppey? It’s a competitive scene I’m not certain I would want to see. There are certainly new names that break through but it does allow fans to continue cheering for old favourites.

So what happens after TI is the great team shuffle where players are all seemingly tossed into a hat, shaken then spilled out in new groups of five. From this prestidigitation, the top sponsors will then slap their name on whoever they can. Thus, Invictus Gaming has attended pretty much every competition and has claimed a good chunk of the top Chinese players within its roster at some point or another. Surely through mere chance alone a sponsor will land upon two winning teams, especially since there aren’t a lot of major sponsors.

But that portion of the curse has still remained strong.

Finally, the most exciting part of the TI curse is that no region has won back to back.

Due to convenience and… well… geographical delineations, there are about six major scenes in Dota. These are: China, South East Asia, Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS aka Russia), Europe, North America and South America. Typically speaking, teams will scrimmage and compete against each other in their respective regions for most of the year. The only times these teams come together are for major tournaments and The International. Of these six regions, Europe, CIS and China have traditionally posted the strongest results throughout Dota 2’s history. However, North America was able to snag the championship for the first time two years ago and South East Asian has been improving year after year.

The reason I’m most excited that there are no back to back winning regions is that it demonstrates no real dominance at the highest level of play by anyone. Other esports often get taken over by one area and, as an area achieves more victories, they develop better infrastructure to keep international competitions in lockdown. You see this in most of the other major esports: Starcraft, League of Legends, Overwatch and probably a bunch of others that I don’t follow.

The closest one particular region can claim as dominance is China, I suppose, having qualified the most teams and taken the largest number of TI victories in total. Course, this ignores performance at Valve’s prior Majors and other large tournaments where European teams often have strong showings. But this bleeds down to the game itself and watching TI has never been more exciting as more and more teams are more capable of taking the grand prize.

In fact, 2017 is probably the first year where I was watching and feeling like the majority of participating teams could, reasonably, be winners. Prior tournaments usually had only a handful of stand out teams that looked poise to sweep the finals. But this year it really felt like anyone’s game. Even the weakest teams at the tournament were showing far greater skill than ever before.

I think it really speaks well to the health of the competitive scene. That so many people can play and play in often vastly different styles with distinct strategies while still being competitive with their peers across the globe is truly impressive. To lend to this, only four of the one hundred and thirteen heroes available went unpicked in the entire tournament!

You can truly sit down and watch a game of Dota and have just about anything happen. It’s fantastic and it leaves Kait and me excited for next year when hopefully the competition can be even greater!

Gates of Thread and Stone – Book Review

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Book Review: Gates of Thread and Stone

The Gates of Thread and Stone book; not the copy I read as mine was an ebook. The image comes from the internet.

Author: Lori M. Lee

I am not entirely certain how I feel this book. It was not what I expected when I started it. Of course that brings up the question of what did I expect?

Well, I thought there would be more of a discovery of magic. I thought there would be greater discussion of the relationship between the main lead, Kai and her adopted brother Reev. I certainly expected the book to stay within the city. In that way, I thought there would be more exploration of the city.

Even now I am struggling to find the words to describe the book. Was the writing to indistinct? Is this a reflection of an underdeveloped world? Or, did I fail to engage as a reader? Was I not paying sufficient attention?

Written in the first person we follow Kai’s journey of self-discovery as she learns about her biological parents (at least her father) while trying to rescue her adopted brother. There was a number of elements that made this story feel familiar. The relationship between Kai and Reev reminded me strongly of Kaylin and Severn in the Chronicles of Elantra. I think it was the adoption of the female lead by the very protective, brother-figure with undertones or suggestions of something else that made that connection for me.

The relationship between Avan and Kai was reminiscent of another young adult story I read where both characters turned out to be magical-humans. This seemed stronger later when with the introduction of G-10, who also seemed highly attracted to Kai. And this brings me to the first element of disappointment. The manner in which the three males and really only characters to receive significant development, all appear to fall for the charms of our main female lead. It was a little cliched. While this might not be so terrible depending on how the story plays out. This was book one in the series, and I can certainly foresee the setup of love triangles. But I could be doing the author an injustice. Perhaps, this story will bare more in common with a College of Magics and the leading couple will accept the overwhelming changes brought by the final acts of the book and not enter more expected romantic entanglements.

I think the second thing I would like to comment on is the overused idea that characters are stronger when they can fight, physically an opponent. The fact that Kai’s greatest achievement is killing another individual is ultimately boring. It makes the pacing of the story rather bland as the story becomes a laundry list of places to go and people to meet. It is very linear. Go to set-piece A, learn X, which causes you to access set-piece B. I suppose because this took us out of the city without really spending as much time exploring the city.

Yes, I am sure some people would argue that a great deal of time was spent in different districts of the city. True, but it did not develop, not really. The setting was a strange creation and very confusing. It needed more attention, more exploration to be anything other than the unstructured mess in the background.

Gates of Thread and Stone book cover; image from the internet.

My problem rests on the uncertainty of where this story takes place. There are a number of teasing references which lead me to suppose the Gates of Thread and Stone is supposed to take place in a post-apocalyptic future. Except, their recent past is not our present. It takes place in some world rich in magic and technology common to steampunk fantasy. It includes a random assortment of our ancient gods who hold power and manipulate the setting. It left me unsettled as I could not reconcile the regular allusions to our world with the magic and steampunk-like elements of the book’s world. Is this supposed to be some futuristic version of our reality? Am I really missing a better understanding of the book because I am not conversant in world religions?

I think a greater development of the world in which the Gates of Thread and Stone take place would have grounded the story. The city should have been treated like a character and developed and explored in more detail. Instead, what I have pieced together, leaves me with a sour taste.

So, while in many ways I think it was interesting, with mostly competent writing, I would give the Gates of Thread and Stone a 3 out of 5. I do not this book, but I cannot hate either. It was okay. But perhaps other readers have found more in its pages to recommend it more highly.

How to Write: Lesson 1

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Oriental Writer Cutting His Pen by Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp (1640).

I would like to do a postmortem on The International 2017 but my manager has informed me that I should be offering writing advice instead. Having now published my first book, I feel like I’m a little more qualified to offer tips on the process. There are some past articles I’ve done on related topics addressing the generation of ideas but I’ll try to make this series a bit more direct. There is, of course, a caveat to writing. As with all creative endeavours, what works for one person isn’t necessarily going to work for another. However, I will try and keep the tips and secrets as universal as I possibly can.

And actually, coming up with the first lesson (or tip, really) for writing was pretty easy. It’s the advice I always give whenever someone mentions that they are interested or trying to write their own stories. It’s possibly the easiest advice to give and the hardest to follow. And that tip is…

Just write.

That’s it.

Just write.

It sounds rather stupid on face value but there’s no other way you’re going to get your story completed without following it. Do you have a story you want to tell? Do you have a word document or piece of paper nearby? Then write. Have you stopped writing? Open up that word document or grab another piece of paper and start writing again.

Writing is a long process. It’s also a hard process and you’re never going to finish if you don’t sit down and do it. However, I can probably predict how most people will approach the task of writing. They’ll schedule a few hours on a slow day or they’ll find a quiet moment when the inspiration strikes. They’ll get their desk ready. They’ll find a warm cup of coffee or tea. They’ll set aside their writing material. They’ll get a few snacks ready. Then they’ll sit down and—

They’ll look up some songs to play in the background. They’ll browse the Internet for the latest news. They’ll open up their email. They’ll look up some photographs of their nieces. They’ll see their desk is messy and start to tidy it. Oh, but the floor is dirty too. Maybe that could be quickly swept. Oh, I should really add apples to the shopping list. Maybe I should check in with Becky and see what she’s doing tomorrow.

Before they know it, twenty minutes have passed and that blank page is still staring at them. They’ll get up to stretch. They’ll flick on the television. They’ll get started on an assignment due next week. And, you know, that new episode of Game of Thrones is about to start so better catch that. The words can always be done later.

In fact, people have a rather creative knack for avoiding any actual writing. I know this first hand. In fact, training myself to actually consistently write everyday was perhaps the hardest part of becoming a writer. Even if you managed to convince yourself to sit down before the screen, you’ll find your mind seize. Writer’s block will grip you. You won’t know what to write despite having imagined with the greatest ideas ever earlier while in the shower. Nothing will sound right in your head. And that blank page will keep staring at you.

I can’t count the number of people I know who have been trying to write a story. I can guarantee, however, that the reason they aren’t succeeding is because they don’t follow today’s tip.

And you want to know my secret? How do I overcome this initial inertia that paralyses so many others?

I write.

The trick, however, is to turn off your internal editor. Shut out all distractions and focus simply on putting words onto paper. That is the most important part. In fact, those words don’t even have to be good. They will typically be absolute garbage. I’d wager that about a quarter of my writing is actually serviceable. The rest I’m embarrassed to even show my family.

But it doesn’t matter because bad writing can be edited and fixed. But you can’t edit nothing.

And once you start getting things down, you’ll find that it gets easier. The worst is that initial start: that fixed point wherein infinite possibilities expand. It’s like the writing equivalent of the Paradox of Choice. You could go in just about any direction and choosing which one leaves you unable to select any. But once you’ve made that commitment and once you’ve started down that path then you’ve got a direction and focus that makes continuing easier with each step.

So what are some tips for conquering that dreaded blank page and ensure you just write?

Write a quick little sketch of the character for your story. It doesn’t have to be a scene that you plan to include. Have your character buy some coffee. Have them practice their sword work. You could take a fantasy princess and chuck her under the ocean or into a Star Wars cantina for all it matters.
Write what you see. Describe your work space. Describe your cat sitting on your keyboard. Describe how dirty your curtains are. Just don’t get up and wash them until you’re done your writing.
Set yourself realistic goals and don’t leave your writing space until you’ve achieved them. For my first novel, I wouldn’t get up from my desk until I had written 1,000 words. A paltry amount now but back then it could take me until two in the morning to achieve it.
Make a schedule and keep to it. Force yourself to write 1,000 words every day of the week. Participate in challenges like National Write a Novel in a Month (NaNoWriMo). I once did a challenge to write a novel (50k words) in a weekend. You really learn to turn off your filter and simply write with a compressed schedule like that!
Don’t worry if your writing is bad, your dialogue is stilted and your characters are shallow. Every author’s first draft is awful.
Don’t worry if your writing isn’t even connected to what you did yesterday. You can fix issues in your story in post-production (i.e. editing).
Write what you like. Don’t worry if anyone else will. You won’t ever finish anything you don’t enjoy. Find the whimsy and excitement in your own work first and let others discover it later.
Close this page and Just Write!

International 2017

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Accessed from http://cdn.dota2.com/apps/dota2/images/blogfiles/blog_tcktslsimg2017.jpg

Dota 2 and the International belong to Valve. Check it out! It’s a lot of frustrating fun.

It’s that time of year again. Grab your tide green polo shirt. Pull up a massive bag of trail mix. Block out a week of your life. The Dota 2 International tournament is upon us. This year, the prize pool has broken a staggering 23 million dollars – for those that care about such things. Though Valve has listened to feedback and no longer does the finalist walk away with half that amount and the money is better spread to see that most participants are making a sizeable return should the make it to the prestigious event.

This year there’s no wild card slot. Instead, we had a massive number of teams qualify through regional competitions to get an invite. Of the eighteen participants, only six of them received a direct invite. Furthermore, no team will be eliminated in the first day before the group stages. Instead, the bottom teams from the two pools will not qualify for the main event. This is a reasonable compromise. It means the wild card teams who initially made it will see a bit more play and get a bit of a better chance to prove themselves. And while it sucks having teams invited not make the main event, dropping the bottom teams is fine since they have already demonstrated that they’re unlikely to do well against the top teams and it’s certainly a far better arrangement than prior wildcards received. They even got a cool $55,000 for showing up.

Kait and I are probably more excited for this years TI than most in recent memory. Partly because we missed last year (and Kait missed the year before) and partly because we’ve been trying to get back into Dota 2 as well. We certainly haven’t followed the professional scene and have no idea who is likely to be favourites going into the tournament. I’ll, of course, be cheering for the remnants of Fnatic reborn into the dominating OG team. OG has a tendency for ripping apart the competition throughout the year at Valve’s Major tournaments. Unfortunately, things seem to fall apart once they get to the big one. Will they be able to keep nerves in check and continue their streak? I almost am afraid for them to be successful and draw the awful Champion Curse upon themselves.

Kait, on the other hand, has lost her traditional underdogs. She’s been an Alliance fan since the history making TI 3. But the original players have scattered to the wind and the Alliance organization itself failed to qualify for this year. I think she’s tentatively swapped to cheering for OG as well but her loyalty is fickle and wavering. I know she has a soft spot for Burning so she might start supporting iG even if it seems unlikely for a team to win successive TIs.

All of this indicates that posting from us will be a little sparse over the coming week. But you’re welcome to tune in. Twitch.tv will be streaming the games and, of course, the tournament is free to watch within Valve’s Steam storefront and game client.

Either way, I’ve got my Dota 2 shirts ready and my digital banners ironed. Let’s go OG!

A Tale of Two Mods

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It’s the middle of the summer and outside of complaining about the weather, I have little to share. Unless people would be interested in my vacation to Algonquin. Here it is:

It was buggy.

So instead, I’m going to share my thoughts on how I’ve been spending my free time over the last several months. This site has certainly documented much of my video game enthusiasm – perhaps even documenting too much enthusiasm in the process. However, one thing I really enjoy about this little hobby – and experiencing it on the personal computer no less – is the breadth of experiences you can enjoy. While console gaming which requires the use of a television and a dedicated machine is more popular, the ever present computer has a long history of wildly different opportunities. You can have varied products like exacting flight simulators find success alongside two dimensional whimsical farming games about falling in love with your sheep. Or you can play Dota and give up on just about anything else.

Another oft-spoken perk of the computer is the open access. This applies to both developers (as visual novels are finding their first success there and will likely spread onward) and those that would love to know what developers do. PC games have a lovely history of modification which has led to the creation of wholly new genres of games in the process. Even games that weren’t designed to be modded by their playing community can be wholly changed with enough ingenuity and dogged persistence.

Xcom (the reboot) is a lovely example. It was initially developed by Firaxis for both console and PC use. Many would complain that its design was hamstrung by this split focus. I would, certainly, because anyone trying to navigate some of those pre-fabricated maps with a mouse will instantly see how poorly optimised it was for none joystick manipulation. Its code was pretty locked but somehow a small, dedicated team was capable of releasing the Long War modification that drastically turned a lot of the reboot’s systems on its head.

Enderal: The Shards of Order belongs to SureAI and its associated artists and whatnot. The rest belongs to Bethesda I think? Not sure how mods work with regards to copyright.

Then, of course, there are the massive overhauls on games that are designed to be tweaked and changed by the gaming community. Bethesda may release questionable quality games in the first-person/role-playing domain but their support of fan made changes is to be lauded. It was the one thing I could never understand as Bethesda’s reputation was built and they received commercial success: the joy and enthusiasm for console gamers to have Bethesda port their work to their systems even if they owned a personal computer. For sure I can understand the (misguided) desire to experience what others were enjoying but for me Bethesda’s worlds have always been wonderful little sandboxes awaiting you and your own tools to come and make of them what you will. Some of my best hours have been in heavily modded Bethesda worlds and it’s the sole reason I keep close attention on their newest releases even if they go ahead and shove a dialogue wheel and voiced protagonist in my Fallout franchise.

Thus, I was really excited for the announcement of two fairly long awaited community mods and the time to poke around in them. Over the last six months I have put quite a few hours into Skyrim’s Enderal and Xcom 2’s Long War 2. What makes these two mods special, outside of being complete reworks of two games I love, is that they’re both sequels to community beloved releases that I never played. Enderal is the follow-up to the Oblivion overhaul Nehrim: At Fate’s Edge by SureAI. Derek played it and the mod itself was so well received that several enthusiast publications had it nominated for best role-playing game in the year of its release. I never got to try it since I was busy doing… something. And I rather regretted never getting around to it.

Enderal: Shards of Order is quite obviously a direct sequel as it makes several references to what I assume happens in Nehrim. My first impression of the mod was largely impressed with how incredibly easy it was to install. Not only did it come with its own executable but it had its own mod launcher which I immediately used to apply some of my favourite quality of life mods. Course, this turned into a typical Bethesda modding experience very quickly: spend two days trying to get it to work then not touch it for a week due to life, work and just needing a break from getting all the fiddly bits to cooperate. However, if you’re just hoping to hop into Enderal without any third party (fourth party?) additions, then what SureAI releases is a god send. The executable also packages up your old Skyrim folder so that, when you’re finished with Enderal, you can uninstall it and enjoy all your other mods you have for the main game.

And if Enderal is anywhere close to Nehrim, I can see how the other game got so much praise. There’s a great attention to detail and clearly a lot of work put into the mod. It’s a pretty near revision of the entire scope of Skyrim. The map, characters, races, magic, levelling system, crafting systems, narrative, menus, armour and combat are all pretty much new. If you’ve plunked five hundred or so hours in the original game, it’s really refreshing to jump into something entirely new. You’re basically getting a new game without having to buy one!

And there’s a lot that Enderal does that’s really good. The story is the biggest improvement and definitely why you’d download the massive conversion. Bethesda’s stories are… workable at best. But Enderal is heavily informed by its narrative. It’s a reminder of the old top-down role-playing games of the late nineties and early two thousands like Baldur’s Gate. In it, you play a character touched by… fate I guess and this gives you access to magic and memories that aren’t your own. Thus, you level through unlocking abilities corresponding to different archetypes. Course, these are your stock warrior, thief and mage but you’re free to pick and choose to discover cute combinations of abilities. Me being me, I was leaning heavily on the mage tree but was starting to make a stealthy mage build that leaned on turning invisible and killing things before they found me. If an enemy didn’t die to my initial backstab, I fell back on otherworldly summons and ghostly bows while keeping away from any retaliation.

As such, I don’t really know how well the warrior and most the thief reworks function but it was certainly a different experience than playing a mage in Skyrim where I could summon demons to do most the fighting for me while I stood back and tossed the odd fireball or stabbing for a short paralysis enchantment with my craft dagger. Enderal definitely had a different vision for its world and how magic and all the underlying systems wove into it. Your progression isn’t tied to your levels and fantastical elements were, on the whole, largely subdued. You aren’t crafting demon armour and becoming godly powerful after about eight hours into the game.

Accessed from https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/78683-0-1473655637.jpg

The art is just beautiful in the game.

Course, a large part of that is changing how the player levels their character. Enderal relies on classic methods of character progression. You earn experience through the completion of quests and after a certain threshold is reached, you’ll receive your next level which grants new perks and an increase to your health, stamina or magic. Skyrim, on the other hand, levels your skills through use. Which leads to the obvious abuse of people doing mindless actions over and over again to pump their abilities as quickly as possible instead of staggering it throughout the entire journey.

And this bleeds into my issues with Enderal. Don’t get me wrong, I love it and think its marvellous. But it’s just not Skyrim. And there’s just something about being in a world created from Skyrim assets with a camera mode suited for Skyrim gameplay and exploration but being stuck in a different kind of game’s mechanical system.

I will readily agree that Bethesda’s games have significant design issues. But part of those arise from its design philosophy. I don’t feel that Bethesda is striving to make good role-playing games. Which is good because they typically don’t. Instead, they create these weird simulation/rpg hybrid experiences. The fun of Oblivion and Skyrim isn’t going through a high fantasy story of good and evil that concludes with the slaying of a god (though that’s ostensibly what Bethesda creates). No, the enjoyment comes from the hunting of an elk across a blistering cold field, felling and skinning it then returning to the nearby village to sell the furs to afford a warm room at the end of the night. It’s learning of some forgotten ruin by a tavern patron and poking through spider filled tunnels for long lost treasures that you immediately sell to afford a modest house in the trade district.

It’s all about the stories you make within the game world with Bethesda’s “crafted” experiences serving simply as window dressing or framing to contextualize the personal journey you take. Which is why I’m so adamant about modding my Bethesda experience to get exactly what I want from the game.

And the whole time I’m playing through Enderal, with its carefully crafted quests and interwoven story, I keep thinking “This isn’t what I want.” At least, it’s not what I want in the format that I’m being presented. There’s this weird disconnect where the systems are at odd with the core presentation. I kept searching Enderal for side villages and little personal stories to craft for myself. But they don’t exist. Sure, there are hidden collectables that reward going off the beaten path but I was more apt to stumble into mobs of enemies well beyond my current capabilities (necessitating that I toss my poor spirit pooch at them as a I sprint madly past) or I came across areas strictly sealed off because I hadn’t progressed through the game far enough to unlock them.

I kept having the fantasy world simulation broken by the necessity for telling me the fantasy story.

Had Enderal been presented in any other fashion – say even in a third person, top-down perspective – I’d be entirely behind it. But more than anything, I kept thinking how it wasn’t Skyrim. It wasn’t allowing me to play some dastardly thief merchant who stole from the one town that had slighted him in order to peddle the villagers belongings a few holdings over leaving them with nothing. There’s simply no room for that in Enderal. It addresses all the complaints people level against Skyrim but in doing so it completely guts the spirit of Skyrim.

It is an entirely different experience.

So I was torn and it’s part of the reason that I’ve abandoned it. It’s good. It’s really good. And I did enjoy the characters and the narrative that they offered. But instead of it making me think “Yes! This is what Bethesda should have done all along!” it made me appreciate more what Bethesda had accomplished. I came to like the flawed systems of Skyrim more while playing Enderal. I liked knowing that areas wouldn’t become too easy to the point of trivialised simply because I hadn’t explored them early enough in my wandering before I progressed past the point of their design. I liked that there was a better contextualisation of levelling up in Skyrim due to practicing and perfecting a skill rather than just magically knowing how to wear heavy armour better because I delivered a letter to a grieving mother detailing the final moments of her missing son.

And as I was playing through Enderal and getting a better grasp of its system, I kept thinking of different character builds I’d like to try that I know I never will. Because anytime I think of restarting the game I remember the lengthy intro sequence and I realize I’d have to go through all those early game zones that are unchanging and with no opportunity to strike out in a new direction. It would be the exact same experience except I could kill the enemies in a slightly different manner.

For the gameplay systems of Enderal to really work, I feel you have to use the traditional presentation systems that it mimics. You need a simple perspective that allows greater content creation and deemphasizes the personal element because those old systems are so impersonal.

Now, I’ll probably try and get through Enderal because its quests and world are so well crafted that I genuinely want to see how a lot of it concludes. I just need to divorce myself from its presentation and remind myself that, while it walks and talks like Skyrim, it is anything but Skyrim.

I’m not sure things will fare as well for Long War 2.

Accessed from http://www.pavonisinteractive.com/360pxPavonisLogoCirclefinalBold.png

Pavonis Interactive likewise own their stuff and Firaxis the rest.

I am definitely one of those players that cranks the difficulty up on most games then downloads mods to make things ever harder. Long War for Xcom: Enemy Unknown was so well received that I was excited to hear the same people (Pavonis Interactive) were going to do a second for Xcom 2. The only reason that I didn’t play Long War was that I was so incredibly tired of playing the same maps over again in the original reboot. Even after the handful of additional maps added in the expansion couldn’t entice me back for yet another run through the same damn bar or train station. Since Xcom 2 had procedural generated levels (sort of), this wasn’t going to be an issue.

And for awhile I really digged the changes that Pavonis introduced. I found their classes quite interesting and was amazed at how much changing up the core classes really freshens up gameplay. Not only that, but all of the Long War 2 classes had three options of perks to choose whenever a soldier levelled so there were even more combinations to consider. I liked their idea of liberating regions and infiltration as it really emphasized the guerrilla warfare theme that was hardly utilized in the original’s release.

It was difficult too. I had to turn down the difficulty for the mod, though I refused to budge off Veteran (even while it was kicking my ass as I learned the systems). It was fun, refreshing and exciting. I was entirely behind the release and could really see why I had such widespread appeal.

And then I cross the twenty hour benchmark and realized that I had made so little progress.

Long War 2 really demonstrates the adage “There is beauty in simplicity.” To be fair, my forthcoming complaint is readily warned in the mod’s name. It truly is a long war. It’s far longer than I can possibly devote to it. I don’t have endless hours in the day and sometimes I may only have an hour or two a night to play. It’s thus incredibly frustrating to get so little progress done in that time. Even more frustrating that there are many missions in Long War 2 that will take over three or four hours to complete on their own!

In order to diminish the “issue” of the godlike alpha squad in Xcom – a group of four soldiers so powerful that they complete all battles for you in the end game – Long War introduced many changes that would ensure you had a high rotating roster in your barracks. Now, I know I read that part of my difficulty was that I also included several map pack mods that increased variability and Long War 2 was most certainly not designed to accommodate them. But when you have a squad of ten soldiers routinely facing off against maps of 50 or more aliens, the game stops being fun and strategic and turns into a massive grind.

Some people may like that. I do not. And it’s not like Xcom is a short game either. When I dropped Long War 2 and went back to grind some achievements, it still took up to two weeks in order to finish a single campaign on normal. I don’t know if I could do a Long War 2 campaign to completion (at least a completion that wasn’t a loss) in six months – of my actual, real life.

Accessed from http://www.pavonisinteractive.com/LongWar2b.jpg

Goodness did Pavonis return the terror of Chryssalids though.

That’s a level of commitment I’m simply unprepared for at this stage in my life. Which is unfortunate since some of their improvements like the adjustment to enemy AI are truly wonderful.

There were other complaints I had for the mod but they pale in comparison. Now, I recognize I was playing Long War 2 during one of its earlier iterations. I’m passingly aware that they have released a new version – ostensibly to remove the fact that a two party infiltration team was pretty much the best way to approach most missions – but am unlikely to return. From my understanding, the massive time commitment is an intended portion of Long War 2. And Firaxis have announced an expansion for Xcom 2 that appears to have some of the better ideas from the mod team incorporated into it.

Which isn’t to say that I wouldn’t want Long War 2 to exist. In fact, I think their mod makes Xcom 2 better. Partly, it allows me to appreciate what the original developers did but overall it creates a more impressive form of communication between creators and fans. It allows a sharing of ideas that really can’t happen in any other way. The original works inspire a new generation which can then turn around and influence those that came before them. It’s rather remarkable and probably one of the best things to come from this type of open system.

So while Enderal and Long War 2 aren’t really for me, I’m happy that I had them.

The Bear and the Nightingale – A book review

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Book cover for The Bear and the Nightingale; from the internet.

The Bear and the Nightingale is the first book (as far as I can tell) by author Katherine Arden. It is a fairy tale of sorts set in old-timey Russia.

I don’t know a lot about Russian fairy tales, so I cannot say if this was a retelling of a single tale or a compilation of several. From the writing and the feel of it I would guess that this is an original tale heavily influenced and pulling on multiple other classic folk tales. Further, I have little schooling in Russian history. So, I cannot place the period of the writing nor comment on the authenticity of the setting. The world certainly felt vaguely medieval, set in a time where the Grand Princes bowed to the Khan overlords. A time of feudal lords, when the word of the Christian God was still in the process of displacing the hearth-tales of small wood-sprites and local fairies.

The world of the Bear and the Nightingale was richly developed. With particular success seen in the tension created between ordained worshipers of the Christian God and those who still followed the old practices. I was really struck with the manner of creating characters both good and evil (or good and misguided) that followed both religions.

Image for The Bear and the Nightingale; from the internet. The date holds reflects the release of the book – I assume.

The narrative meandered between perspectives with general success. With this style of storytelling we had a much better idea of motivations propelling the various characters as they moved throughout the story. At the same time, I feel several perspectives became lost or reduced in the telling. And that was confusing come the end of the tale when some people, who I thought would be more important earlier, were left off in the distances – far from action of the main thread.

I would say that the biggest weakness was the ending. It seemed the story was so busy trying to wrap itself up in poetry and mystery that much was left unresolved. I was left feeling unsatisfied with the culmination of various characters. The Frost-God was teased but nothing much came of him. Even Vasya, our primary protagonist, was just left. This was particularly perplexing when earlier passages tease her death being needed to resolve the main conflict.

If the internal contradictions were intentional, then I would say the author’s purpose and story became lost in her attempt of subtly. Otherwise, this is an example of immature writing, a story requiring greater polishing.

Finally, I am left wondering at the title: The Bear and the Nightingale. The Bear was certainly clear, but the Nightingale appeared at the end of the story and seemed largely inconsequential.

In the end, I am unclear how well I liked the book. I did like it. It was different and interesting. The writing felt like an old-time fairy tale which certainly appealed. I liked Vasya and her family. Only her family came and went from the story and I feel was not as well realized as it could have been.

Book cover for The Bear and the Nightingale; from the internet.

Upon consideration, I would say The Bear and the Nightingale has a spirit similar to Uprooted by Naomi Novik. In fact they both held that same promise of a good, interesting fairy tale, but left me feeling a little empty at the end.

In conclusion, I suppose I would give the story a 4 out of 5.

Thyre Version 2.0

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We’ve exciting news! We’ve just published our first novel, Thyre: City of Smoke and Shadow.

Ok, this might sound a bit familiar. However, as with most firsts, the prior publication had a couple of problems. I’m proud to say that we’ve managed to figure out the formatting Amazon uses and have corrected them. Or, at the very least, we’ve corrected most of them! I’ve been told that a whole twenty-five pages have been saved through getting the sentences to print proper alone. That’s exciting, right?

Available for Kindle and Print at Amazon.ca and Amazon.com!

So to celebrate this great achievement in understanding web publishing, Kait has been so gracious to provide new cover art for the delightful little book. She has a digital tablet for drawing and everything!

This hasn’t changed anything on the customer’s end, of course. As such, you can find the book at all the old links and with the prior search keywords. In fact, you won’t find any evidence of the old book. So for those of you gracious early supporters, congratulations! You’re now the proud owners of a very limited release. Hold onto them – especially the autographed ones! I’m sure they’ll be worth something extra, someday. Maybe. Hopefully. One can dream.

Anyway, Thyre: City of Smoke and Shadow is still available on Kindle or for online reading from all Amazon sites. The Canadian digital copy is here: Thyre: City of Smoke and Shadow Kindle Edition

And the paperback version is still here: Thyre: City of Smoke and Shadow Paperback Edition

If you haven’t had the chance to check the book out, there’s no better time than now with our beautiful artwork and realigned interior. It’ll feel like an entirely new experience!

Thanks for all your wonderful support, you beautiful people you.