It’s been a while. Thought I would drop a note.
There have been a few things that have happened since my last update. My daughter being born being the biggest.
Not sure when I’ll drop back in since I have some things that need to be taken care of.
Kelly and I went in for another ultrasound yesterday.
This one was pretty important since they can now determine the gender of the baby which Kelly has been really impatient for.
As it turns out, we will be having a girl.
Now, I just need to find a way to survive the next 5 months.
A very nice web presentation of the… evolution of Darwin’s book, On the Origin of Species.
Shadow Complex is a recent XBLA (Xbox Live Arcade) game. It is loosely based on the universe found in Orson Scott Card’s Empire novels.
The controversy is about whether or not we should boycott the game because Orson Scott Card is a proponent of traditional marriage. Or to put it as it is in the original post:
Now why should we boycott it? Card is a notorious homophobe
Here is the full neogaf thread, and here is a decent article discussing it.
Please note that the game has nothing to do with gay marriage, and Orson Scott Card had very little to do with the game.
As a creator this controversy has stirred up some odd feelings.
Before I go on, let me clarify some of my personal views.
First, I’m a big fan of the works of Orson Scott Card. He is is a very talented author. Please keep in mind that I don’t go to him for religious or political news or opinion. I don’t know him personally, nor am I likely to in the future. His personal views are his own and they do not diminish the respect I have towards him as a creator.
Second, I am not against gay marriage. I also don’t believe that a priest, or other religious member, should be forced to perform a gay marriage if it’s against their views.
In one aspect, I’m really scared by this type of thing.
I create works to be viewed and discussed as they are, not as I am. It’s one thing for people to avoid the work because they don’t agree with the subject matter or the way I handle it, but another thing altogether because of me or my personal views. To not even give the work a chance because of something that I think or say.
On the other hand, I firmly believe a person’s money and viewpoint are their own. If they choose not to sponsor a creator because of that person’s views than that is for them to decide.
I do view that this type of thought and behavior can be dangerous for the industry. Most game businesses will not look at why people refused to buy a game. In the end, they will just look at whether or not that game failed in the market, and then decide if they should make a similar game. A boycott, especially one not based on what they game is or what it is about, is only going to hurt the industry as a whole.
For this situation in specific, I would like people to keep in mind the many people who have slaved away to bring this game to market. What of their views, their families, their homes? What if these people don’t agree with Orson Scott Card on this matter that is unrelated to the actual game? You may be putting them out of a job because of someone else’s belief; especially a belief that has no bearing on the product in question.
For works such as novels, where primarily one person is directly effected by sales, boycotting can be an effective tool to express your take on the matter. For something like a game though, which is usually not created by a sole individual anymore, this seems like there would be an excessive amount of collateral damage.
I will leave you with a thought provoking response by xbhaskarx, a poster at neogaf:
Do you not buy products like electronics that are made using raw materials extracted from African countries where millions of people are killed, like the Democratic Republic of Congo? Do you not buy products like [half the stuff you own] that benefit dictatorial regimes that utilize labor camps and engage in organ harvesting like the People’s Republic of China? Do you not drive a car because such a large percentage of our oil comes from countries that ban homosexuality altogether like Saudi Arabia?
Abraham Lincoln:
You can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.
So, Chloe is now in full remission.
That’s a burden off my shoulders, or now at least.
This morning, my grandmother, Rosie, passed away.
Rosie is my late father’s mother. She was a very sweet and charming lady. Rosie was also very strong. She sadly had outlived all four of her children.
I can only hope that I posses as much strength (and charm), as my grandmother. She will be missed.
I would like to introduce a new project of mine, Thackis RPG!
In essence, this will be a RPG engine using only native web technologies such as HTML, CSS, Javascript / AJAX, PHP, and MySQL.
I tried this project about 10 years ago, but between the narrow standards support and poor javascript performance, I decided to hold off for a while. Now with all the new advancements to the browsers, I thought I would give it another go.
Currently there is not much there (in fact, it only displays a basic view with no movement options). I’m going to be hacking at the project as I have time. Unlike normal software production, there will be no production / feature map. I’m going to be experimenting and prototyping as I go to see how the technologies handle the strain of basic game programming (and to figure out the limits of the browsers).
Go take a look!
P.S.: Two notes of caution. One, when I’m working on the project, I will be working on it live. Meaning it might not work if I’m currently messing with it (in fact, it probably won’t). Not to worry though, I will post a notice when I’m currently under the hood. Two, because of how the browsers work, and the technologies I want to use, this will only be developed with Safari 4 and FireFox 3.5 or later (or other equivalent browser – sorry IE). If you want to view it, you will have to use one of those.
I’m now finished with my tweaks to ThackisNet.
While I still have a few minor things to do, such as code cleanup, I’m done with the overall look and feel of the site. There are still a few features I’m tossing around in my head, and more content that needs to be added. Overall though, I’m happy with the end result.