Sneaky sneaky...

Posted by Zaron on July 18, 2010, 2:43 p.m.

Not much to say, so I won't bother with the front paging nonsense, as this is largely for anyone who's weird enough to wonder if I'm still alive. Or if the RPG thinger is, in any case.

i worked out a Phantom-Brave style "keep the pointer in the ellipse" deal for the battle system, and made some action icons so that if I ever feel like sinking a few minutes into it at random again I can get the bare bones of battle started (finally). It's a bit pointless without anywhere to test it, so expect some of the ugliest early version art ever seen on the internet because if I want to make crap work *I just want to make crap work,* and have determined I can make it pretty later.

Also there's a new WIP song on my Newgrounds, which I can't be bothered to link to because it's a WIP and I'm lazy to boot.

For non-RPG stuff: finalizing some stuff for the Redux print version and working on Matt Matter slowly but surely for all you non-furries out there.

I believe that is all. Hopefully soon I'll have something a smidgen more substancial. Meanwhile, go play DeathSpank, it's awesome.

Comments

Zaron 14 years, 5 months ago

Archetypes are also a good foundation to start with, and establishing somebody as one with a hidden quirk just makes it more effective when that quirk comes out and catches the reader from left field. It can also provide an immediate reference point of familiarity with the reader that can then be expanded upon or evolved over time, but then they become less of an archetype, so I guess I'm agreeing with you while disagreeing at the same time? Seems I'm nitpicking myself now.

As for the tomboyish girl, I've got Tenla recently, and while she's not had many interactions with the bulk of the cast, she's more about being a jumpy spaz than turning into a bitch on anybody. Granted, my definition of tomboy is pretty loose, enough so that I'd put almost half my girls under it, which is pretty comparable to the ratio I've experienced in real life. Hur.

As for Erik and his yiff desires, -insert ASCII dong here-

blackhole 14 years, 5 months ago

It's not my fault i'm a pervert :C

Zaron 14 years, 5 months ago

It's okay, Erik. Your perversion adds comic relief to an already excellent conversation.

And by "comic relief" I mean "I got to type something about an ASCII dong, and somewhere in the UK Zone just shot wide awake for reasons he doesn't understand." [/joke only blackhole will understand]

Castypher 14 years, 5 months ago

Now Cyrus got me wondering. Since when is it common for a tomboy to cause trouble to the protagonist? That's not even really an archetype, it's just some weird commonality you must've found in what you've read/played. Because honestly I've never seen it.

But if said character is anything like people I know, then being tomboyish might not just explain their personality or the way they dress, it sometimes seems to have to do with their orientation as well. No, I'm serious. Though I wasn't the first to guess that Dumbledore (sp?) was gay either.

Zaron 14 years, 5 months ago

I think the tomboy giving a male lead crap tends to come about from the tomboy having a crush on said male lead. I see that one a lot, anyway. Barring that, though, I suppose they could just take great joy in tormenting their companions or something.

Zaron 14 years, 5 months ago

I'd be more suspicious that me and Erik are both just online *all* the time.

Zaron 14 years, 5 months ago

Heh, S'what I get for trying to draw him something besides enraged, I guess. Poor Gato.

Suppose I *am* due for a new one, but not sure I feel like putting in the work on something like that, especially with all the crap I've got going on atm.

Vance_Kimiyoshi 14 years, 5 months ago

Quote:
What's up with people adding a tomboyish girl to their stories? You know, one of those girls that are cold and act like a total bitch towards the protagonist in the beginning of the story, but they begin to warm up to them later on. I've been seeing this more often now, including in my own game's story.

The term is "tsundere." And it's probably author appeal. I enjoy those types of characters, hence I'm prone to include them. But I don't because it's a boring archetype to write and develop – unless I'm ripping the archetype apart because my writing is all about deconstruction and deep analysis.

Castypher 14 years, 5 months ago

I honestly prefer not to use archetypes as they make for a boring character. I like reading characters that are interesting and dynamic, though having one or two strictly for comic relief doesn't hurt. Other than that, most people tend to find archetypal (if that's a word, Chrome doesn't yell at me) characters fairly boring, and they usually only play as subsidiaries.

Meaning, if you have a lead character as an archetype, nobody will like your story, because the lead character is one of the people the reader is supposed to bond with and relate to, and if they can't do that with anyone, let alone the protagonist, they'll put your book down faster than you can say [INSERT SHORT WORD HERE].

Games are the exception, because if you have kickass gameplay but a God-awful story, you can still pull it off (e.g. Mario games).

Juju 14 years, 5 months ago

"Tsundere" eh? Never heard of that one. I like it.