My Foot!

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I just came back to Israel, from about four months of travel, vagabonding mostly in Canada, and a bit in Western Europe. I have never been to Canada before, so I thought it a suitable destination. Maybe I would find a home there. Or company. Or interest. Anything.

I seriously love my "FeelTheWorld" Z-Trek sandals! It's almost like walking barefoot.
(Painful, for the novitiate!)

As always, I wanted to test my idea[l]s hardcore, so I went out with no sleeping bag, no tent, "FeelTheWorld" sandals with thin flexible soles, and an uncomfortable small backpack. After a couple of weeks, I spent almost every night outside. Eventually, not finding feather-down pants, I did buy a sleeping bag. Nights were cold, too often. But, I never gave up on my feet!

*sigh* Refreshing. Fishies nibbling at my legs. :3

My first days outside, walking cheerfully for endless hours, every day, taught me the difference between daily fitness walks and actual walking. My feet were sore, bleeding, slowly callusing, and quickly became unusable. I walked for a few days, then had a few days rest, in a hostel.

Eventually however, my feet did get used to days of walking. Marches. With carried weight. The calluses healed, the pain faded - or my endurance lasted longer hours, and I got tougher. The most primal, basic function of a Human, or any land-loving animal, was gained! I could walk freely, almost anywhere. [Walking long stretches on stones, like big pebbles, was too difficult and highly painful - but I am sure I will get used to it.]

Resting and cleaning, in the morning, next to a small waterfall in the valley.

Another issue I had was exposure to the elements; sun, wind, temperature, bugs, people, noise, dangers. Mostly the sun and wind, though. My body was not used to being exposed for whole days and long weeks! It gave me fatigue and irritation, sometimes bordering on distress. Again, with time I did get used to it, more so than before; although I still sought out shade and wind-blocks.

These issues, and my growing mastery of them, got me to consider roleplaying and virtual games. They do not expose us to the elements. Walking a virtual world is easy and boring. Walking the Earth is difficult and challenging, at the best of times. To walk some places is nigh impossible! Try walking through bush, a thick forest with thorny vines, or a stretch of thorns. Not to mention most places are not level. Climbing does feel!

The library's carpet, in North London, sure was agreeable! :D

So, in conclusion, at least one of the lessons I learned from this trip - do not be afraid of your environment. Get used to it. Feel comfortable in it, as much as possible. Life is not only about feeling comfortable in your own skin; it's also about feeling comfortable in your own space.

And virtual games could learn the lesson, too. Somehow.

Is Virtual Not Real?

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Virtual reality, maybe an ironically coined term, is meaningful to me. However, is it not akin to a dream, detached from reality; nothing but quickly fading imagery.

Anime is both virtual and awesome!

Dreams are an interesting lot. They do not affect me physically, directly, but they do affect me emotionally. Also, they reflect my own thoughts back at me, which can make me change my mind, and so my choices in real life.

The virtual world, also known as the internet, is like a phone call. It is real people, in a real conversation, only physically removed. Even though we now also enjoy face-to-face video chat.

And phone calls matter! We take very seriously conversations, even if they are not done in proximity. A letter can change the world. It had, many times before, when country leaders, warlords, scientists, and businessmen made choices according to remote conversations.

So, I am thinking that even if it is virtual, and even if it lacks touch... who cares. Not every activity has to include all of our senses, to be meaningful. Plenty of physical activities, from frisbee to sex, can be without speech, yet be as meaningful as a good conversation.

It only takes an acceptable level of interaction, to be satisfying. And I say, each to their own needs.

NodeJS, WebSocket & Elves Versus Trolls (Demo 0.2)

Oh, fantasy worlds. How amusing you are.

Finally, I have finished my 0.2 Demo of Elves Versus Trolls!~ (Link)

When I was trying to make the crappy Demo 0.1 (Link), I did not even imagine that a couple of weeks later, I would be running my own working server and simple demo game client. I must have spent pretty much every waking minute of these previous two weeks, just to get this up and live. :-D

So, what is this about? This new and exciting demo (Link) is the fruit of my previous work and vision. Those pretty flowcharts and Wiki, yes. I am actually making a game, or demo, of these wonderful ideas. While my 0.1 demo was intended as a test, just to see if C2 could deliver what I wanted, this 0.2 demo is completely different! It is far from being a real game with actual content; but, using random free sprites (and bit of music, too) to represent how the game would work, I aimed to have this demo show, generally, how I imagined this game to be. This means, very simple interface, with some basic multiplayer options, and a little bit of fun virtual world to roam.

Construct 2 by Scirra

How am I making it? I am using Construct 2 for the game itself, and NodeJS with WebSocket for a simple server, that integrates well. I wish I could buy C2 :S What a wonderful tool it is. Making cute complex games without almost any coding!

Check it out and tell me what you think! About its' potential, of course, and not about its' current incomplete state! Doh! ;-) Later on, I will start preparations for Demo 0.3, in which I am planning to set up the game World (rivers, lakes, mountains, etcetera..) and work seriously on the User Interface - all those nifty buttons and texts.

Until next time, or if I finally do the Elves article followup from last time's Troll article. Cheers.