TALBOTT – an interactive novel

Deadline box cover (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I may be able to lie about many things, but this isn’t one of them: Video games are a big reason why I became so enamored of the arts, and why I chose to be a writer. Just the thought of creating worlds other people could navigate through the written word or neat computer graphics sent shivers down my spine as a kid. And yet I never imagined you could do it both ways simultaneously (to a degree) until I played an old text-adventure called Deadline in my neighbor’s Apple II computer.

Now let me be honest about one more thing: I never got past the beginning of the game, due to my poor grasp on English at the time. I never quite figured what the word “lawn” meant, but I was convinced not understanding it was the reason I couldn’t progress. Later on, of course, I found out I had to learn a number of commands to get around the Robner estate. Yes. I still remember that much.

Fast forward a good fifteen years later. Thanks to an article featured on Kotaku.com, I’ve found the tools to let me create a world just like the one I experienced through a green monochrome monitor so long ago. Of course I did something about it.

Using Twine and what little free time I had before restarting my teaching duties, I’ve created a working demo of my first ever text-adventure video game/interactive novel. Enjoy!

In case you’d like to play the demo some other time, or you’d like to tell your friends where to try it (please!), I’ve added a very convenient page from which they can access both the game and a humble trailer. There’s no download or installation required! You only need a working internet collection. If you’re reading this, I think you already got that covered.

Having reached this nigh-impossible personal milestone –albeit in a small measure–, I’d say this is a pretty good way to start 2013. Feel welcome to leave any comments, questions or feedback below.

Eat.Sleep.Write.Conquer.
–JP

Related articles

• A Beginner’s Guide To Making Your First Video Game (kotaku.com)
• Twine, Creativity, and Freedom: The Leo Loikkanen Interview (indiegraph.wordpress.com)
• Twine Tips for Beginners (indiegraph.wordpress.com)

 

The Spirit of The Streets

The city talks to me whenever I leave my home, no matter how briefly or how insignificant the reason. I get to hear the joys and the struggles of its children every time. My neighborhood is just minutes away from one of the wealthiest parts of town, a couple more away from the poor, crime-stricken zones. As a writer with a predominantly urban focus, I couldn’t ask for more. I’m right in the middle. I walk the line.

Let’s Call It a Comeback

I really can’t bear the humiliation to accurately check how long it has been since my last post. That’s kind of an open wound, considering my old propensity to leave things half-finished. I’d rather turn this into a positive experience and tell you what’s been going on at The Bard of Steel since the last time you offered me the privilege of your attention.

The Line Between Meaningful and Pretentious

The feet of a tightrope walker. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Grafting your ideas, your fears and your wishes onto a piece of art –literature, cinema or a painting– is one of the most gratifying moments you can experience as a creative entity. You blink and suddenly there it is, that which stirs you, cursing you with sleepless nights and hours of endless contemplation. It’s too bad that people glance at your material with bored, unimpressed eyes. Some even stage-whisper words like “pretentious” and “convoluted”.

You want to express yourself, but you don’t want to bore your audience. You want to share your opinion, but you don’t want to force it onto people. Have you walked that tightrope before?

Writer’s Inertia

Make no mistake. Everything about the universe and your life is a manifestation of balance. Writers are no different. We get writer’s block and go through periods of great productivity just the same; but believe or not, we can be also be influenced by inertia.

REVIEW – The Shootist

Some men and women live long enough to epitomize an age in history. Their philosophy, their ideas and their deeds brand them as icons, unique individuals who carry the spirit of their generation on their shoulders. Such was the case of Victoria, Queen of England. Such was the case of John Bernard Books, the last great gunfighter of the Old West.

The Shootist by Glendon Swarthout was published in the year 1975. It has been a quiet but solid influence in modern American culture for more than thirty years, spawning a 1976 movie adaptation starring the late John Wayne –his final role– and influencing Clint Eastwood to direct the iconic Unforgiven more than ten years later. This story of a gunman’s last days inspired two revered stars to deliver what many consider their finest performances. This is not a coincidence.

A Fascist and A Hero

The system doesn’t work; only a collective moral resolve –or a single representative of it– can truly come close to achieving absolute “justice”. Bureaucratic niceties, civil cowardice and the inability to distinguish friend from foe only get in the way of doing what’s right, even if that road leads somewhere outside the law.

Harry Callahan, an archetype of the modern vigilante hero. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dirty Harry, Batman and 24‘s Jack Bauer are all representatives of this idea. If any of these characters existed in real life, they would be criticized for their moral absolutism, their overt violation of constitutional and human rights and their inhumane treatment of criminals. However, thanks to some clever and favorable narrative, we get to cheer them as our heroes. Are they?

A Look Inside

 

Cover of The Big Sleep

I don’t read anymore. I study. It’s as though every piece of writing I come across now adds something to my experience and knowledge as a writer, however small both may be. I study various subjects related to my craft or personal interests; sometimes, I can also wind up learning more about myself and my work in the process. This may just be the case with the book I’m reading, The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler.

Busy Joe

Eagle-eyed readers may have come to notice my blogging presence has diminished over the last couple of weeks. I don’t engage in comments and participation as much, I don’t tweet much and my Tumblr account is kind of a desert now.

As it happens, I am in the middle of summer break thanks to my teaching job, and I intend to use it and work on the draft for my next novel. I also want to use this time to put my short story collection together for a future sales pitch. News on that soon.

I intend to maintain my posting schedule meanwhile, but other than that it’s safe to say that I’ll be rather scarce. A big thanks and apologies in advance to all the kind readers and people whose blog I follow.

-JP

Two Minds

(Photo credit: rahady)

Nothing is more personal than the act of writing. Doing it alone is far from a choice; it’s a necessity. What you write on that piece of paper or word processor has to come from you and you alone. Your feelings, your dreams, your nightmares, your life.

In spite of this, no man is an island, writers included.