(WIP) Ataraxia: Sins of the Obsidian Knights (Cancelled)

Ataraxia: Sins of the Obsidian Knights is the latest RPG Maker VX Ace project that I’ll cancel before I even announce it on my blog. Consider it cancelled, consider it announced. Lately I’ve been finding it increasingly difficult to undertake ambitious creative projects, especially with my current 12-hour, 6-days a week work schedule and my shift in focus from sitting on my laptop to physical fitness. Though I’ve cancelled Ataraxia, or at least temporarily placed it on the back-burner until things in my life settle down, I want to share what I’ve so far got on my blog for future reference. Let this post also serve as proof to my future self that even I, a washed-up novelist wannabe, am capable of creating original content rather than merely soaking up the content of others.

The title Ataraxia comes from the title of my novel, which is also on the back-burner, and the two are not at all related. I just like the word and what it signifies. While the novel is to be about drug addiction and mental illness, the RPG is to be about a man named Gerard, who is the captain of an elite fighting force called the Obsidian Knights. After a 7-year-long quest, he returns to his homeland (think Robin Hood coming back to England after the Crusades), and it’s at this point the player’s quest begins. The prologue is to be told to the player through a series of screens of character silhouettes, which represents the extent of my free-hand artistic ability. The prologue is the only part of this cancelled game I’ve completed, so for your viewing displeasure and my mild embarrassment, here are the first 9 screens of the game:

I don’t have the artistic ability to create detailed pixel art yet, so I settled on creating outlines of everything and blacking it all out to give audiences the general idea of the scene I’m trying to convey.

That’s my favorite screen, which is of two clashing armies in front of a blood red sky, if you couldn’t tell. Ever since I taught myself how to use the GIMP software (I’m a few years late, aren’t I?), I’ve been going crazy with pixel art. None of it’s good, but someday, if I can turn what’s in my head into what I see on the page, I might actually get somewhere with my art.

This screen of the “Starfont” being shattered into 13 pieces, I don’t like so much. It feels too busy and Bush league. My decision to learn basic image creating and editing techniques started with my previous cancelled WIP Half-Life: Nemesis, which required me to create a lot of original pixel art to replicate the feel of the Black Mesa Research Facility. I learned the basics of the software with that project, and with this project I feel I’ve taken the next step.

Here’s my second favorite screen, which is of the 13 Obsidian Knights all standing side-by-side, chilling in front of a setting sun. Like they’re a Christian rock band posing for a cover album. In Ataraxia, the Obsidian Knights are the elite fighting force of the Kingdom of Ataraxia. Their leader is Captain Gerard, whom the player controls throughout the game’s main storyline. During the prologue we learn that King Horace III sent Gerard and the Obsidian Knights on a quest to recover the fragments of a powerful ancient artifact called the “Starfont.”

This one’s pretty alright, if you don’t look too closely at it and realize how easy it is to create silhouettes of characters doing things. The quest of the Obsidian Knights takes 7 long years, but they eventually recover all 13 pieces of the Starfont. When Gerard returns home to Ataraxia, he is the sole survivor of the crusade. A lot of RPGs, I think, would’ve started where my prologue started and ended where my prologue ended, with a speechless, nameless hero who’s charged with recovering X number of items to accomplish Y. I want my story to take place after that, after the “quest” is already finished and the player is returning home triumphant. The player, when she opens my game, might initially think that her quest will be to collect those 13 shards, but she’ll soon find out that that bit’s already done, and her quest is something else entirely.

The heroic outline of our hero, Gerard, who can be renamed by the player. I’m a bit of a francophile ever since I lived in Montreal for six months, so a lot of the characters and locations in Ataraxia are going to be inspired by French names and French cities. Everyone knows Gérard Depardieu, right?

Ah, look at that moon. Maybe it’s a little too big, but it’s not meant to be realistic. Just pretty. I didn’t hand-draw it. I didn’t hand-draw the starry sky background, either. Don’t be silly. I stole those images from NASA. Well, maybe I didn’t steal them. Our tax dollars paid for the cameras, so the images are theoretically all of ours, one would imagine.

Now we come out of the pure silhouette segment of the prologue and see some of our in-game major characters that we’ll meet again and again throughout the story. From left to right: Magister Bont, Gerard (player), King Horace III, Prince Horace IV, and a random guard who’s just there for decoration. One of the greater advances I intend for this already-cancelled RPG over my previous game works, including Half-Life: Nemesis and Once Upon a Time in 1348, is that I learn how to do parallax mapping. With parallax mapping, you create the whole game map in an image editing software, using multiple layers including layers above and below the player-character. It’s amazingly superior to using the default VX Ace mapping methods because it allows for much more detailed worlds. See how there are two guard towers in the foreground of the previous image, blurred to give the effect of them being out of focus? See how the light from the lantern casts illumination over Bont and Gerard? See how details like the cracks in the bricks aren’t quite centered within a 32×32 grid? You can’t pull this kind of visual tomfoolery without parallax mapping, baby. I had a lot of fun learning how it’s done.

Another example of parallax mapping in action, here’s the front of Gerard’s house. My excitement over learning parallax was one of the driving factors during development: I was so eager to find out what I could and couldn’t pull off visually, given my very limited artistic abilities. I want Ataraxia to be HD when compared to 1348.

Planned features of Ataraxia: Sins of the Obsidian Knights:

• A 3-character party system, with 13 potential characters to choose from, each with a unique personality, voice, and set of skills.
• An upgradeable and customizable home base, which is where the non-partied characters you’ve recruited hang out and await command.
• A story with mature themes that takes place on a fully-realized continent called Ataraxia.
• Ten major cities to quest through, complete with side quests and hidden locations for the adept explorer.
• Traditional RPG XP-grinding and leveling system with traditional turn-based or free-turn combat, unlike my previous RPG, 1348.
• Hundreds of weapons and armor pieces to find, earn, and craft to customize your small army.
• Gameplay reminiscent of classic Super Nintendo RPGs, like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy IV and Earthbound.
• Every single area done with parallax techniques for maximum artistic detail.

I might return to this project at some point in the future. I’d worked myself into such an frenzy, planning it out like it was some homage to the Square RPGs of the SNES days. I planned out the entire story from start to finish and developed all of the main characters. But… the work! THE WORK! To realize the total vision of this game would require months and months of concentration and dedication, so many hours a day taken away from exercise, socializing, reading, going on adventures, meeting people, finding a girlfriend, all those moments lost in time like tears in the rain. And for what? So that two people could consume a product that took me six months to complete?

On the one hand I create because I love creation. I love the process. When I finished 1348 after months of work and it was only played by 2 of my friends (out of the 20-30 or so I sent it to), I didn’t despair, because I had fun creating the product. I’m not a savvy self-promoter or a marketer or a paid content creator. I’m just a hobbyist, so I do it for the love of the process. On the other hand, Ataraxia will inevitably turn out to be 15 times the size of 1348, which itself took me months to complete. These days I just don’t have the resources to invest in such an involved hobby as RPG design and creation and play-testing.

If only there were a team of amateur game designers out there who needed my extra hand in a collaborative project, then I could enjoy the act of creation without shouldering the burden of my grand ambitions by myself. Maybe one day I’ll meet such people, and it’ll be a glorious day.

“Through the Diner Window”

A story about a young boy whose father takes him to a diner for a mealtime discussion about life and stuff. Here’s one of my short stories circa 2008:

The waitress came to our table with a pad of paper and a pencil. She wore a white apron and a blue skirt and her hair was brown and short like my mom’s hair. After I said what I wanted and dad said what he wanted and she wrote it all down, she looked at my dad’s face.

“Do I know you from somewheres?” she said.

“No,” he said. “Can you refill my son’s orange juice when you get a chance, please?”

Click to read “Through the Diner Window.”

“The Slipstream Artist”

Ah, yet another of my college stories, and the first story I ever submitted for the creative writing workshop course that I took three times throughout my career. Is ’bout time travel.

Before the drive up, I called her. She apologized for the weather. She said it was something she did ten years ago that brought on this snowstorm. I didn’t argue with her.

Click to read “The Slipstream Artist.”

The Misanthropic Epic Adventures of Razorboy and Scissor Girl

I was rereading parts of the epic Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf and then this happened (mature language):

The Misanthropic Epic Adventures of Razorboy and Scissor Girl (Issue #001 of #001)

I’m going to tell you a story about a boy,
Who lived in his mother’s attic and never felt joy,
His short and messy hair was as black as his soul,
He wore black ‘cause the darkness was all he’d ever know.
     In Meteor City the police had gone on strike,
     And the law and Lady Justice both took a hike,
     When a group called LoVE rose to prominence,
     They were the “League of Villainous Extremists.”
The whole city would’ve fallen were it not for the heroic few,
The elite, devoted members of the H-a-T-E crew.
They fought evil in the park, downtown and in the shopping mall,
They were well known as the “Heroes against The Evil” to all.
     During one hot summer day in the thick of June,
     Our hero was walking when he heard a great kaboom.
     The good guys and the bad guys were fighting so rough,
     Our hero never thought he’d ever be able to get enough.
He watched, all clad in black, as they battled in the street
When he laid his eyes upon the prettiest girl he’d ever seen.
She wore sunglasses and a dress all cut up and covered with blood,
As soon as he saw her he knew he’d fallen in love.
     In the newspaper later he learned who she was,
     Her name was Scissor Girl and that was because
     She kept five scissors in each of her delicate hands,
     Which she used to cut hearts out of her enemies’ skins.
She was a member of LoVE and somehow he had to find her
Our brave hero determined to enlist so he could fight beside her
So he made a long list of all the goth clubs and parties
Where someone as hip as her might hang out on Fridays.
     Then that Friday finally came and he’d hit the bottom of his list.
     This last wicked location, they called it the Devil’s Pit.
     The drug-fueled music was a-thumping and the lights were dim,
     And he only got in because he looked like a member of H.I.M.
She was sitting at the bar, talking to some cute guys,
Who were buying her mixed drinks and staring at her eyes,
She wore sunglasses of course just like she’d worn before,
He looked at her once and then he looked back at the door.
     He thought, “She’s out of my league, there’s just no way,
     Even if I approached her I wouldn’t know what to say.
     Besides, it seems like she’s interested in those dudes,
     If I tried to talk to her now I’d only come off as rude.
“Back to the dark attic I’ll go, where I belong,
I should’ve never bothered, I always do things wrong,
And now I’m feeling worse than I’ve ever felt before,
I will try not to think of Scissor Girl anymore.”
     As he turned to bail he thought he saw something odd,
     Scissor Girl looked tired, her head was starting to nod,
     The guys she was with grinned and looked at each other
     It was clear that they had nothing but terrible plans for her.
The taller of the two took her under his great big arms,
If our hero didn’t think fast Scissor Girl might come to harm,
So he followed the evil duo as they carried her body away,
To a dark, pulsing room hidden in the back of the place.
     They threw her on the bed and tried to lift up her skirt,
     When our hero stepped in brandishing a straight razor,
     The two men looked surprised but then they both laughed,
     They were bigger and stronger and could kick our hero’s ass.
Until our silly little hero turned the razor against his wrists,
To which the first scumbag smiled and said, “Do it, like I give a shit,”
And then our hero replied, “You want my blood in your face?
Look at me, I’m sick, and if I bleed I’ll infect this whole place.”
     “You’re bluffing you little faggot and I’ll beat your ass to death,
     And then I’ll rape this bitch while you sit there in a bloody mess.”
     “This one’s mine, watch, I’ll make him regret it,” the other said,
     “You’re out of your league, you’re just a little faggot kid.”
Our hero then looked at the girl as she lay unconscious on the bed,
All pretty and with a white dress all cut up and covered in red.
He pressed the razor hard and started to open a vein,
The douche bags started to wonder if this kid was insane.
     The blood started to flow and our hero bravely said,
     “You asked for this you bastards, now you’ll all be dead.
     The sickness in my veins is a contagious and wicked threat.
     You’ve got only seconds to leave before you’re both infected.”
The men looked at each other and they heard the kid’s voice.
He wasn’t joking, it seemed, he didn’t leave them with a choice,
They both bolted for the door, screaming, “This kid’s a damn loon!
Someone call the CDC and quickly quarantine that room!”
     Alone now with Scissor Girl our hero put away his blade,
     He smiled at her and wondered when she would awake.
     He kneeled beside the bed and thought about giving her a kiss,
     But if he took any advantage he’d be no better than those dicks.
He looked around the room and found a little closet
And out of that little closet he took a little blue blanket
Which he placed over this girl with whom he’d already fallen in love,
And then he laid on the floor to rest while he waited for her to wake up.
     It was a couple hours later when he woke from his nightmares,
     And Scissor Girl stood above him with a giant pair of scissors,
     She said, “You didn’t have to do that, I had it all under control.
     I only needed another minute, then I’d have slaughtered those assholes.
“Who even are you?” she said, “I’ve never seen you before.”
“My name is Jeremy,” he said, “and you’re who I was looking for.”
“Well, you found me,” she said, “now what the hell do you want?”
“I want to join you in LoVE,” he said, “and give criminality a shot.”
     “You want to join me in LoVE?” she asked, “But I don’t do partnerships.
     Besides, what kind of a name is Jeremy? You need something more hip.
     How about we call you Razorboy, since you seem to like to bleed?
     Since you helped me out back there, I guess I’ll help you join the team.”
“But I want to be your partner,” he said, “It’s like my biggest dream.
Ever since I saw you fighting the other day. See, I’m stronger than I seem.
I’m not very experienced in crime but the darkness is my whole life,
I’ve never known anything but violence, self-infliction and strife.”
     She put the scissors to his neck and said, “Then look into my eyes.”
     She removed her sunglasses and revealed her big surprise.
     Instead of two eyes she’d been hiding two black hollow holes,
     Where eyes had once been until she’d cut out them both.
“Look into my eyes,” she said, “and tell me what Razorboy sees.”
“I see the most beautiful girl,” he said, “that’s ever looked at me.”
“You’re a sweet kid,” she said, “maybe too sweet for a life of crime.
But I’ll take you under my wing anyway and show you a good time.”

END OF ISSUE #01

“Someplace Warmer”

I remembered this terrible short-form artsy French film I produced four years ago called “Someplace Warmer,” about a skeleton dude that looks like Jack Skellington who ventures out to rescue a princess from her captors. It’s so, so very lame, and I made it entirely with Microsoft Paint in about four hours. Music by Nobuo Uematsu.

I’ve no shame.

“We Can’t Be Cool”

One of the few attempts I’ve ever made at writing something comical, “We Can’t Be Cool” is about a pastor at a Baptist church who has a run-in with a few vampires who wish to join his congregation. This is yet another story I wrote during university, which is when I was at my most prolific and still wasn’t very prolific.

Every Sunday morning, the congregants at Essence Baptist Church shuffled down the pews into positions they’d long since appropriated for themselves. Families sat a certain distance apart, their personal spaces established by arm’s length. Each congregant used the same hymnal every Sunday, and the three McBride sisters always sat in the front pew because they’re hard of hearing. And every Sunday morning, Pastor Glick stood before his congregation and discussed a particular aspect of the Bible that elicited from them smiles and nods and amens and the occasional emotional outburst. Nobody had yet to speak in tongues but he had the video camera ready for just such an event.

Click to read “We Can’t Be Cool.”

James Bond Playlist

What follows is a playlist of primary, secondary, alternate, and unused theme songs created over the 50 year course of James Bond’s cinematic history. Enjoy your time travel. (Covers not included.)

Dr. No (1962)
     Score by Monty Norman
“James Bond Theme”
“Kingston Calypso”
“Jump Up”
“Underneath the Mango Tree” by Diana Coupland

From Russia with Love (1963)
     Score by John Barry
“James Bond Is Back”
“From Russia with Love” by Matt Monro

Goldfinger (1964)
     Score by John Barry
“Goldfinger” by Shirley Bassey

Thunderball (1965)
     Score by John Barry
“Thunderball” by Tom Jones
“Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” by Dionne Warwick (unused)
“Thunderball” by Johnny Cash (unused)

You Only Live Twice (1967)
     Score by John Barry
“You Only Live Twice” by Nancy Sinatra
“You Only Live Twice” by Julie Rogers (unused)

Casino Royale (1967 non-EON film)
     Score by Burt Bacharach
“Casino Royale” by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass
“The Look of Love” by Dusty Springfield

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
     Score by John Barry
“On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”
“We Have All the Time in the World” by Louis Armstrong
“Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown?” by Nina
“Savez-vous ce qu’il faut au sapin de Noël?” by Isabelle Aubret (French)
“Wovon träumt ein Weihnachtsbaum im Mai?” by Katja Ebstein (German)

Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
     Score by John Barry
“Diamonds Are Forever” by Shirley Bassey

Live and Let Die (1973)
     Score by George Martin
“Live and Let Die” by Paul McCartney

The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
     Score by John Barry
“The Man with the Golden Gun” by Lulu
“The Man with the Golden Gun” by Alice Cooper (unused)

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
     Score by Marvin Hamlisch
“Nobody Does It Better” by Carly Simon

Moonraker (1979)
     Score by John Barry
“Moonraker” by Shirley Bassey

For Your Eyes Only (1981)
     Score by Bill Conti
“For Your Eyes Only” by Sheena Easton
“Make It Last All Night” by Rage (secondary)
“For Your Eyes Only” by Blondie (unused)

Octopussy (1983)
     Score by John Barry
“All Time High” by Rita Coolidge

Never Say Never Again (1983 non-EON film)
     Score by Michel Legrand
“Never Say Never Again” by Lani Hall
“Une Chanson d’Amour” by Sophie Della (secondary)
“Never Say Never Again” by Phyllis Hyman (unused)

A View to a Kill (1985)
     Score by John Barry
“A View to a Kill” by Duran Duran
“California Girls” by Gidea Park

The Living Daylights (1987)
     Score by John Barry
“The Living Daylights” by A-ha
“Where Has Everybody Gone?” by The Pretenders
“If There Was a Man” by Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders
“The Living Daylights” by Pet Shop Boys (unused)

License to Kill (1989)
     Score by Michael Kamen
“License to Kill” by Gladys Knight
“If You Asked Me To” by Patti LaBelle
“Wedding Party” by Ivory

GoldenEye (1995)
     Score by Éric Serra
“GoldenEye” by Tina Turner
“The Experience of Love” by Éric Serra
“Searcing for the GoldenEye” by Motiv 8 feat. Kym Mazelle
“Stand by Your Man” by Tammy Wynette

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
     Score by David Arnold
“Tomorrow Never Dies” by Sheryl Crow
“Surrender” by k.d. lang
“James Bond Theme” by Moby
“It Had to Be You” by Priscilla Lane
“Tomorrow Never Lies” by Pulp (unused)
“Tomorrow Never Dies” by Saint Etienne (unused)
“Tomorrow Never Dies” by Swan Lee (unused)

The World Is Not Enough (1999)
     Score by David Arnold
“The World Is Not Enough” by Garbage
“Only Myself to Blame” by Scott Walker (unused)
“James Bond Theme” by David Arnold
“Sweetest Coma Again” by LUNA SEA (Japanese)

Die Another Day (2002)
     Score by David Arnold
“Die Another Day” by Madonna
“London Calling” by The Clash
“James Bond Theme (Bond vs. Oakenfold)” by Paul Oakenfold

Nightfire (2002 video game)
     Score by Ed Lima and Jeff Tymoschuk
“Nearly Civilized” by Esthero

Everything or Nothing (2004 video game)
     Score by Sean Callery and Jeff Tymoschuk
“Everything or Nothing” by Mýa

GoldenEye: Rogue Againt (2004 video game)
     Score by Paul Oakenfold
“If You’re Gonna…” by Natasha Bedingfield

Casino Royale (2006)
     Score by David Arnold
“You Know My Name” by Chris Cornell

Quantum of Solace (2008)
     Score by David Arnold
“Another Way to Die” by Jack White and Alicia Keys
“Forever – I Am All Yours” by Eva Almér (unused)

Quantum of Solace (2008 video game)
     Score by Christopher Lennertz
“When Nobody Loves You” by Kerli

Blood Stone (2010 video game)
     Score by Richard Jacques
“I’ll Take It All” by Joss Stone

GoldenEye 007 (2010 video game)
     Score by David Arnold and Kevin Kiner
“GoldenEye” by Nicole Scherzinger

Skyfall (2012)
     Score by Thomas Newman
“Skyfall” by Adele

Science and the Celestial Playlist 1

For-the-road playlist inspired by Neil deGrasse Tyson’s StarTalk Radio and the musical selections of Ivan the sound engineer. StarTalk has both introduced me to new songs and reintroduced me to songs I haven’t heard in years.

These first 75 songs are my Science and the Celestial Playlist 1.

Ch-Check It Out by Beastie Boys
Sounds of Science by Beastie Boys
Space Bound by Eminem
Empty Sky by Bruce Springsteen
Venus vs. Mars by Jay Z

Rocket Man by Elton John
Code Monkey by Jonathan Coulton
No Limit by 2 Unlimited
Clams Have Feelings Too by NOFX
Sabotage by Beastie Boys

Drops of Jupiter by Train
Fly Me to the Moon by Frank Sinatra
Champagne Supernova by Oasis
Subterranean Homesick Alien by Radiohead
Life On Mars? by David Bowie

Man on the Moon by R.E.M.
Ball and Biscuit by The White Stripes
Already Dead by Beck
Hey Fuck You by Beastie Boys
Brain Damage by Pink Floyd

You Are Not Alone by Michael Jackson
Where Is the Love? by Black Eyed Peas
Robotic by Robert Benfer
Chiron Beta Prime by Jonathan Coulton
Insane in the Brain by Cypress Hill

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by The Beatles
Pruit Igoe and Prophecies by The Philip Glass Ensemble
Starlight by Muse
No Sleep Till Brooklyn by Beastie Boys
Earthquake Weather by Beck

Bring Out Your Dead by Anti-Flag
Hero by Mariah Carey
Candy Perfume Girl by Madonna
Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden
Eggman by Beastie Boys

I’m Your Moon by Jonathan Coulton
Riders on the Storm by The Doors
TiK ToK by Ke$ha
I’m a Climate Scientist
Lip Gloss by Lil’ Mama

(Don’t Fear) The Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult
Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me by Elton John
Turn Off the Light by Nelly Furtado
When the Levee Breaks by Led Zeppelin
Brain Damage by Eminem

Halloween by Aqua
Clocks by Coldplay
House of the Rising Sun by Animals
Space Oddity by David Bowie
Ghost Town by Shiny Toy Guns

Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous by Good Charlotte
Brooklyn We Go Hard by Jay Z
Every Morning by Sugar Ray
Party People by Nelly and Fergie
Which Side Are You On? by Billy Bragg

Walkin’ On the Moon by The-Dream
Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper
Empire State of Mind by Jay Z and Alicia Keys
American Idiot by Green Day
Galaxies by Laura Veirs

Times Like These by Foo Fighters
Rock Lobster by The B-52’s
Politics by KoRn
Astronaut by Simple Plan
This Is Halloween by Marilyn Manson

I Took a Trip On a Gemini Spacecraft by David Bowie
Black No. 1 by Type O Negative
Underneath the Night Sky by Young Love
Beautiful World by Coldplay
Starstruck by Lady GaGa

Planetary (GO!) by My Chemical Romance
Basket Case by Green Day
Re: Your Brains by Jonathan Coulton
Even Flow by Pearl Jam
Heart-Shaped Box by Nirvana

(WIP) Half-Life: Necrosis (Cancelled)

Update: This project is suspended. It may not be revived.

My next RPG Maker VX Ace project is something of a fan-fiction game set in the world of Valve Software’s beloved Half-Life series. It is called Half-Life: Necrosis. Before I started, I searched the web for a top-down, traditional Half-Life RPG. To my surprise, no one had done it yet. Back when Team Fortress Classic was in its prime, I mapped and modded a great many projects using Half-Life’s older GoldSrc engine. Due to this experience I’m familiar with the audio and graphical resources available to me as a developer, as well as the lore of the series. With Necrosis, I want to translate all of my knowledge and my teenage-years nostalgia into a 2D RPG format.

Necrosis takes place in the Black Mesa Research Facility during the resonance cascade scenario featured in the original Half-Life as well as its three spin-offs: Opposing Force, Blue Shift and Decay. Each of these spin-offs put you into the shoes of a different witness to that disaster. The protagonist of Necrosis is an engineer who, like those other heroes, is forced to confront in his own way the alien invasion that ultimately leads to the subjugation of humanity.

For gameplay, my plan is to adapt as many of the mechanics of the original Half-Life game into the 2D RPG format as possible, while mixing in RPG DNA and avoiding too many needless gimmicks. I want to strike a balance between a compelling story that puts a new spin on Half-Life, as well as fun and engaging gameplay based on exploration, strategy, and moral choices. So far, I’ve only completed the Hazard Course area of the game world, which serves as a tutorial for the player. In doing so I’ve recreated a well-known and often revisited section of the Black Mesa facility, albeit with one fewer dimension than the player would expect of a Half-Life game. Ultimately, I want the player to be able to explore every bit of Black Mesa, and to port that 3D world into a 2D one as faithfully and accurately as possible. Designing the Hazard Course right out of the gate enabled me to design, test, and refine the various mechanics that I’d like to expand upon throughout the rest of the game.

I can go on and on with what I hope to be able to accomplish with Half-Life: Necrosis, but instead I’ll just post screen grabs of what I’ve completed so far. I humbly give you the Black Mesa Hazard Course, in two glorious dimensions!

The tentative title screen.

The employment interview that kicks off the story.

We meet our holographic assistant, who will walk us through the Hazard Course.

For this RPG, I decided to learn the basics of pixel art with the GIMP software. I knew that in recreating the Black Mesa facility I wouldn’t be able to depend solely on RPG Maker’s provided graphics. The wall-mounted health kit in this next image is an example of the art I drew while learning GIMP.

Ah, the equipment management menu: a necessary evil, and pleasure, in any role-playing game. Since I’m trying to port a shooter to the RPG format, it only makes sense that the available weapons, in addition to melee selections like the crowbar and the pipe wrench, would be firearms. And when you’ve got firearms, they’ve got to consume ammo. Necrosis should ultimately feature every weapon ever made available in any of the original games.

An example of combat! I ripped the firing range target graphic straight out of the texture files of the actual Half-Life game.

Like in the original Half-Life, recruiting others to your party, be they scientists or security guards, can be a necessary means of advancing through the Black Mesa Research Facility.

The exit tram, heavily modified from RPG Maker’s futuristic tileset to reflect more closely the tram featured in Half-Life.

And finally, a taste of in-game combat against actual Xen creatures: a pack of headcrabs! The background is taken from an in-game screen grab, and the headcrabs themselves are 2D edited screen grabs of the actual 3D models. I’ve already created rough 2D monster art out of every alien model available from the original PC games, including the monsters that were cut from the final products but whose models we still have, like Mr. Friendly and the Stukabat. My plan is for each creature or combination of creatures to provide a unique combat experience.

So tell me, am I too much of a goddamn geek or what?

“The Numbing Snow”

“The Numbing Snow” is another story I wrote during university about a couple of teenagers who mess around on a winter night. It is also the only story for which I’ve ever been paid, but not because a magazine accepted it. Rather, I submitted it to a creative writing competition hosted by my university, and won $500, which immediately went toward my next computer, if I recall correctly.

If the radio plays another Christmas song, I’m going to kill the cashier. He looks down at my license, then up at me, then back at my license and scratches the stubble on his double chin. He shrugs and charges me for the beer and I leave the store. In the parking lot, a thin layer of snow already covers my car. I set the beer on top and unlock the door and get in. There are no messages on my cell except the text I received twenty minutes ago from Eric.

Click to read “The Numbing Snow.”