Getting Excited, Making Things

Sunday, August 05, 2018

Blog: Books Read in 2018

Oh!

Project 1: Project Octoseason Blog*

Yes, it’s time for that annual celebration where I remember that I started the Blog on August 1 (a long time ago) and should probably figure out what I’m doing with it. It’s also your annual reminder that not all things last forever, but this blog still might for another year.

Ahem, first, as tradition dictates, I’d like to remind you that the “Blog” here comes in two parts, the Blog as Project Report, and the Blog as Blog (which is itself a project). Effectively, my intention here has always been to get excited and make things - even if that’s not always as evident as I’d like it - and one of those things I’m excited to make, is a Blog where I talk about - well mostly the media I’ve consumed, but you get the idea.

Tradition further suggests that now is the time that I tell you I’m not done my PhD, but I’m close - and folks I’m getting ever closer to actually finishing the damn thing - and given that, that I haven’t done quite as much work on my own creations as I’d hoped last August. Still, here we are, I’m not going to beat myself up, I’m just going to celebrate what I have done.

In terms of projects in the last year, I’ve worked on four and I’m generally, pretty happy with how they came out. I started messing around generating floor plans for a game I’d like to make at some point. That only managed two posts, but I still had fun - and I’m still thinking about it, the Flurpins will be back “soon”. I pushed myself to read more, and set myself the goal of reading 12 books in 21 weeks. That was a nice project, in that it had a set end date, and ended at the end for 2017. I actually made it all the way to 18 books - what a stunner. I started on a program to help me with game tracking, and also to just get some general programming practice in. Finally I tackled #NaFYoFuThMo an effort to get me pushed across that finish line of that ever looming PhD.

A Flurpin ... an odd side effect of generating floor plans.

As far as the Blog as Blog goes, in the last year I’ve kept up with tracking my video game playing, which I continue to find interesting, even if it probably seems a bit repetitive. I dropped a little behind in the monthly posts, partly because I was fairly overwhelmed in the Winter managing teaching and the PhD. I’ve mostly caught up now, and you can expect to see the June and July posts in the next few days.

Following on from the success I had in boosting my reading in 2017, I’ve tracked all of the books I’ve read so far in 2018. I think It’s been worthwhile, and I’ve boosted my goal for the year on Good Reads from 32 to 40 (but that’s mostly to accommodate the fact that I can read a volume of Saga in a morning, and I hadn’t planned to read Saga at such a rate).

I only wrote one “thoughts on” post this year. That was Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, last August. I haven’t really finished another game this year that I’ve had that many thoughts about - while I loved Into The Breach, I found I didn’t have a lot to say other than, It’s really good. I suspect that in the next little while I may write a “thoughts on” piece for Paper Mario: Colour Splash - where you can enjoy my chants of “The WiiU is not a 3D system!” - and I may write a follow up to Breath of the Wild, another hundred hours on.

It's ok, you just have to trust the game not to smack you in the face with a hammer ... which you can't.

For the first time I wrote a New Years Resolution post. I think it was good for me to write down what I wanted to do better, or differently, this year. Generally, I’ve been more successful than not: I’m *slightly* better at monotasking and much better if I don’t let stress build up. I think I’ve done an okay job of holding fewer opinions, although that also varies with stress. I do think it’s helped while teaching introductory computer science, where many people hold a number of *very* strong opinions which may not matter very much. I think I’ve also been better at acting and getting stuff done just by standing up and doing it - it’s easier than I think it is.

I’m going to finish my thesis, sooner rather than later. I think in a small way I’ve been better on Twitter and happier with how I’ve been on Twitter. I’ve definitely read more and enjoyed a lot of what I’ve read - and then there’s Eats, Shoots and Leaves. I’m not sure I’ve made more stuff, but I’ve done a lot of stuff around the house that feels similar. I’ve seen more things, but I’d like to see more and keep pushing past the boundaries of inertia.

More or less, I’m happy with the Blog as Blog in its seventh season. It has mostly been bits of media I’ve consumed. I didn’t really mean for it to work out that way, but at the moment I’m feeling fairly happy with that. My favourite YouTube videos have fallen off, but I think given the state of that platform generally, I'm okay with that. I may bring them back in a different form in the future.

I’m going to do an Eighth Season of the Blog - surprise! I suspect it will look very similar to the seventh. Tracking media keeps me interested, and if I find I have something I want to write about in relation to that, then I’ll have a good space to do that. I am hoping that as I finally finish the PhD, I’ll be able to add in a few more projects - I have several in mind, which should be fun.

Thanks to all of you who read, I hope the fun I have here is at least a little fun for you as well.

via GIPHY

*Yes, yes I did make a stupid reference to Octopath Traveller in the title, what of it?

Monday, July 23, 2018

Blog: Games of May 2018

I played some stuff I really enjoyed in May, but also felt really unsettled about where I wanted to put my play time. I also found that when I did have time to play, I often didn't have anything I wanted to sit down and play. Also, I often found myself playing things when I really should have been focused elsewhere. So I'm trying to be more mindful again, and to take time to enjoy games after taking time to - you know - get excited and get stuff done.

My top five games (by play time) for May were:

Paper Mario: Color Splash - I was hoping to find something new to play when I needed an evening off. I've never actually played a Paper Mario game (I thought it was dumb to have a "2-D" game on the N64, but I had a lot of dumb thoughts back then). I've found Color Splash to be interesting, the world and the characterization are great (as is the dialog), the game play mechanics are pretty good, but the boss fights are really bad and the game is bad about respecting the time you put into it. I will say it's extremely charming and I'll enjoy finishing it.

The Princess and her fixer.
Stardew Valley - As I often do, I've been starting days in May playing a day or two of Stardew Valley. As always, it's a relaxing and gently consuming game.

A good day on the farm.

Cities: Skylines - I drifted back into to Skylines a bit with the Park DLC coming out (although I haven't actually picked it up yet). I enjoy the city building, but I keep kinda feeling unsatisfied a bit when I play. Still very good and very worth poking from time to time.

The University District.

Civilization VI - As I said, May may just have been not the right month for me to really get into and enjoy anything. I played some Civ VI, but I'm finding that my mindset isn't right either to stick it out for the long term, and also to play well the way the game expects (and granted I haven't picked up the DLC for this either).

So what we built the Hagia Sophia in the tundra.

Europa Universalis IV - While I haven't been playing it a ton, I have been enjoying EU4 quite a bit. I like the new mission system they've added in, and this particular play through I feel like I've managed to do a much better job understanding how the game wants me to play to really get the most out of it.

The center of everything (but the outsides are mighty big).