Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Post Updates
Kit here! I just wanted to let you folks know that I've heavily modified some of my old posts in preparation for new ones. Right now it's just personal and background info, but it might shed some light on me and why storytelling and the Euphoria Project are so important to me.
Endless Daydreams Resurrected and Reopened
Well folks, here I am, back from the dead and ready to resume my project. As I look to the new year, I feel especially compelled to document my creative pursuits. To all of you (like all three people...) who visited my blog, I'm sorry for getting so busy that I forget to decompress creatively which only made me more stressed. I realize now that my posting standards were a little high and that I really only needed to go at my own creative pace and feel free to throw half-finished ideas, settings and characters out there because life itself is a work in progress. I've removed a bunch of older posts that I felt were going off on a tangent I'm not ready for yet.
I'll be posting a lot more, probably shorter posts that will outline ideas before details which I think is a better way to communicate my stories and give characters and events some relatable relevance. For the next month or two, I'm just going to post basic synopses and/or gameplay descriptions of stories so I can get more ideas out and brewing instead of getting bogged down in any one topic. I've recently learned that ideas are easy but implementation and execution is everything. So, the new goal isn't to market any idea on it's own, but to give me a usable portfolio and idea reservoir. It also has the added benefit of being a testament not to my life's work, but to my life's potential work. I might not make it as a professional game designer, but I can damn well tell my stories and use game design as a very time consuming hobby. This concept has put me back onto the path of optimism and has got me willing to express my mind and soul online.
I've made one or two formatting changes to the blog to enhance it's stated objectives. Instead of that stupid quote of the day crap, I'm going to accompany every post with a writing exercise or artwork. The writing will usually be a random description of a character, an excerpt, a group, place, setting, event or mythology that relates to the post and might add to my growing mythos. The artwork will probably be almost always character or object related because I'm even less talented at drawing scenery than anything else. And that's saying something. I'll try to draw scenes, but excerpts might be the only way I can do my ideas SOME justice.
Last, but not least, I love, nay, NEED feedback, input, inquiry and the occasional reality check. With all of that out of the way, let the daydreaming continue!
Friday, June 11, 2010
A Tale of Two Kits and proudly introducing Kit Kabbit
Project Name: Euphoria/Starchild
Genre: Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Medium: Video Game and Possible Webcomic
Entry Type: Character
What's in a Name?
Before I delve into Kit Kabbit's character profile, biography and gameplay notes I should clear up the Kit naming issue. Kit Kabbit is the main character in my story Starchild and although he is a takeoff of my personality in some respects, he is also very unique and independent from me rather than some kind of Mary Sue. In truth, Kit began development long before I donned the title. The character's origin goes back to my third grade year, which should tell you how long I've been working on this story in one form or another (I'm 22). Because I was/am a fairly introverted person, the character was a lot like me, but he eventually outgrew me as a creation and became his own "person" with a disparate attitude and set of complexes from my own. For the record, my nickname Kit came later and was somewhat embarrassingly derived from the nickname "Kitten." A girl in my neighborhood called me that after seeing my affinity for animals and my self-detremental curiosity. It was shortened as I got a little older for obvious reasons. My fursona Kit E. Kat aka Kit Foxboy, is something of an amalgam of all these elements and my personal drift towards a more canine attitude which I believe is my more natural inclination. Enough about me, lets get on with it...
Description
Kit is a short canid boy (I am hesitant to say fox because he is an original species) covered mostly in soft snow white fur with very light grayish tones on his limbs and back. He has large, innocent looking eyes with irises that glow with a mysterious yellow light. Several parts of his body are "tattooed" with black fur that make out designs and symbols and glows blue at night. He wasn't born with these, a Guardian trait, and still doesn't understand the implications. His ears are of fairly average size for a fox or dog and are usually held erect. His brush shaped tail is somewhat large in proportion to his body and it's thick fur makes it look quite plushy. He has a lean build and although he has little in the way of muscle mass, he is very lithe and toned.
Before he learns about his heritage (and after during casual periods) he is content to wear a comfortable loin cloth around his waist with long cloths that cover his front and back. He also wears leather straps to hold his travel possessions and gear. In more "civilized" settings he wears a pair of denim-like pants that are worn down and a little shredded. Because of his lifestyle as a wandering nomad, he sees very little point to dressy or fashionable attire and thinks little of clothing in general. He does however take pride in a charm with beads and feathers called the guiding light pendant which his mother gave to him. He uses this as a hair clip for his scruffy ponytail (mane?). After signing up on the quest for the control stones, Ceta (pronounced say-tah) sets out to train Kit how to fight. Kit learns how to use his sword and pistol with no armor but also trains in different types of light and medium armor at times. In the game setting the players preference dictates Kit's combat attire and weapon(s) style but canonically he sticks with very light armor in favor of speed and grace. In combat, Kit wears a short, durable pair of leather shorts under his loin cloth and shoulder pads made of leather. Later in his adventures he acquires a high tech armor set called active armor. The suit consists of activation clips around his neck and belt that when triggered cover the body from neck to knees in a tight, black, electro-core (a technology that uses core shards as a powers source) infused material that is capable of stopping bullets while weighing next to nothing.
Kit is an upbeat person who appears easygoing and carefree. He has an adventurous attitude oddly coupled with a passion for relaxation and goofing off. He's fairly capricious but puts his heart into anything he pursues. His charm and charisma bely his occasional, deep pensive moods that he keeps to himself. He's gentle by nature and dislikes conflict which is a personality trait he has to learn to balance with the duty of protecting the Aurora Core and the innocents of Euphoria by his blade if necessary. Even though he is cheerful and passionate, Kit harbors a dark side that troubles him greatly sometimes. His strict morals regarding violence and the preservation of innocence are always at odds with a seemingly ancient fury that burns slowly and deeply within him. His power over aurora and sheer potential frightens him in that he might lose control of it. His capacity for suffering is great because he holds on to his pains in life quietly and he rarely shares his emotional state when it's anything but cheery. If he wants to achieve his potential and fulfill his goals, he will have to let go of his charming facade now and then by trusting his comrades with his feelings and facing his demons or more accurately his true nature. There once was someone who Kit confided in and shared his dreams with, but she disappeared in one tragic moment in Kit's past. He wonders, did she even exist? Perhaps she was just a part of Guardian genetic memory. (More on her later)
Genre: Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Medium: Video Game and Possible Webcomic
Entry Type: Character
What's in a Name?
Before I delve into Kit Kabbit's character profile, biography and gameplay notes I should clear up the Kit naming issue. Kit Kabbit is the main character in my story Starchild and although he is a takeoff of my personality in some respects, he is also very unique and independent from me rather than some kind of Mary Sue. In truth, Kit began development long before I donned the title. The character's origin goes back to my third grade year, which should tell you how long I've been working on this story in one form or another (I'm 22). Because I was/am a fairly introverted person, the character was a lot like me, but he eventually outgrew me as a creation and became his own "person" with a disparate attitude and set of complexes from my own. For the record, my nickname Kit came later and was somewhat embarrassingly derived from the nickname "Kitten." A girl in my neighborhood called me that after seeing my affinity for animals and my self-detremental curiosity. It was shortened as I got a little older for obvious reasons. My fursona Kit E. Kat aka Kit Foxboy, is something of an amalgam of all these elements and my personal drift towards a more canine attitude which I believe is my more natural inclination. Enough about me, lets get on with it...
Description
Kit is a short canid boy (I am hesitant to say fox because he is an original species) covered mostly in soft snow white fur with very light grayish tones on his limbs and back. He has large, innocent looking eyes with irises that glow with a mysterious yellow light. Several parts of his body are "tattooed" with black fur that make out designs and symbols and glows blue at night. He wasn't born with these, a Guardian trait, and still doesn't understand the implications. His ears are of fairly average size for a fox or dog and are usually held erect. His brush shaped tail is somewhat large in proportion to his body and it's thick fur makes it look quite plushy. He has a lean build and although he has little in the way of muscle mass, he is very lithe and toned.
Before he learns about his heritage (and after during casual periods) he is content to wear a comfortable loin cloth around his waist with long cloths that cover his front and back. He also wears leather straps to hold his travel possessions and gear. In more "civilized" settings he wears a pair of denim-like pants that are worn down and a little shredded. Because of his lifestyle as a wandering nomad, he sees very little point to dressy or fashionable attire and thinks little of clothing in general. He does however take pride in a charm with beads and feathers called the guiding light pendant which his mother gave to him. He uses this as a hair clip for his scruffy ponytail (mane?). After signing up on the quest for the control stones, Ceta (pronounced say-tah) sets out to train Kit how to fight. Kit learns how to use his sword and pistol with no armor but also trains in different types of light and medium armor at times. In the game setting the players preference dictates Kit's combat attire and weapon(s) style but canonically he sticks with very light armor in favor of speed and grace. In combat, Kit wears a short, durable pair of leather shorts under his loin cloth and shoulder pads made of leather. Later in his adventures he acquires a high tech armor set called active armor. The suit consists of activation clips around his neck and belt that when triggered cover the body from neck to knees in a tight, black, electro-core (a technology that uses core shards as a powers source) infused material that is capable of stopping bullets while weighing next to nothing.
Kit is an upbeat person who appears easygoing and carefree. He has an adventurous attitude oddly coupled with a passion for relaxation and goofing off. He's fairly capricious but puts his heart into anything he pursues. His charm and charisma bely his occasional, deep pensive moods that he keeps to himself. He's gentle by nature and dislikes conflict which is a personality trait he has to learn to balance with the duty of protecting the Aurora Core and the innocents of Euphoria by his blade if necessary. Even though he is cheerful and passionate, Kit harbors a dark side that troubles him greatly sometimes. His strict morals regarding violence and the preservation of innocence are always at odds with a seemingly ancient fury that burns slowly and deeply within him. His power over aurora and sheer potential frightens him in that he might lose control of it. His capacity for suffering is great because he holds on to his pains in life quietly and he rarely shares his emotional state when it's anything but cheery. If he wants to achieve his potential and fulfill his goals, he will have to let go of his charming facade now and then by trusting his comrades with his feelings and facing his demons or more accurately his true nature. There once was someone who Kit confided in and shared his dreams with, but she disappeared in one tragic moment in Kit's past. He wonders, did she even exist? Perhaps she was just a part of Guardian genetic memory. (More on her later)
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
My Special Project Euphoria ("Starchild")
Project name: Euphoria or Starchild
Genre: Fantasy/Sci-fi
Medium: Video Game and Possible Web Comic
Entry Type: Personal
A Special Introduction
Ah where to start… This project, currently known as Project Euphoria, or Starchild (working titles), has been with me a very long time. It’s had many incarnations and revisions and is without a doubt my biggest, most elaborate story/game idea. This blog will most likely be about Starchild most of the time but don’t worry, I do other genres. The project is primarily designed to end up as a video game but I'm also open to doing a web comic if I can ever get my artwork passable. I've grown up with a few inspirations that have really stuck with me and evolved as I have grown older and depended less on existing formulas. Starchild is thus a synthesis of all I love about storytelling, interactive entertainment and things that I feel are simply fun without apology. I want to see this project succeed in some way more than any other and it is
Humble Origins
The project name is based on the setting (planet Euphoria) and the mythical "Starchild" character. One of the things that will become evident over the course of this blog (other than my chronic run-on sentences) is that I kind of suck at naming things. Euphoria was the original title and then Starchild seemed right for a while, but now I have no clue. If you come up with ideas for my piles of unnamed characters, settings and stories as I convey them, SPEAK UP! I need it. They say write about what you know, and, while no one can really know a fictional universe full of all kinds of creatures and magics, it's been in my mind's eye since age eight (I'm now 23). It debuted under the wonderfully elementary school name, "Magic World." It was basically an interactive video game that you acted out live. This was informal and before LARPing gained a solid following. I was always the narrator and the players played somewhat consistent characters that would make choices, perform challenges and figure themselves out of tough situations. There was very little story beyond "missions" and "quests," but the settings were there and the stories my friends played out contribute occasionally to characters and situations.
Eventually the game died out, but I never forgot the story that was truly mine. I was pretty socially awkward for most of my life and so the story became a kind of mental escape that I still use. As I internalized the story, I began to imagine myself in the situations and stories my friends had played and it eventually led to me becoming the main character. It stayed that way until I'd imagined all sorts of adventures, characters and places. There was little in the way of the current continuity and was more like day to day adventures. I still intend to keep much of the game/comic as a day in the life of a psychic, fox-boy with aliens and redemptive demons for friends (a slice of crazy, sci-fi life?) despite the plots and subplots that have popped up. The main character was and still is a lot like me, but he grew on his own as the scale of the fictional universe outpaced my expectations. Kit Kabbit is now more like an old friend I grew up with and he carries the best of my hopes, dreams. He's not ideal though, because he also carries my fears and nightmares.
In about 5th or 6th grade, my story took a huge turn. All the marvelous things I'd seen in my head up to that point weren't always original or anything to stand out from existing works. There's a line between inspiration and plagiarism that I always respected but the story had lost some of it's potency as it became more of a haphazard mish-mash of ideas that were just tacked on. I needed something to regain the adventurous spirit of my games and tie together the universe and boy did I get it. I had a newer group of friends at the time, and as RPG video games became more and more common, so did the desire for role playing in general. My world had then been recently rocked by the new JRPG Final Fantasy VII and my friends began to show an interest in live action play once again.
It happened like a fireball from the sky. I found everything I needed in the idea of a central plot. It tied everything together and made it a work of true originality and potential. It was like the original Star Wars movie in that the universe, action and special effects make it cool, but a solid story makes it so much more than the sum of it's parts. The story shaped itself in my mind and grew exponentially. I then had everything a good story needed. A kind but reluctant hero who must face a nightmarish nemesis who represents all he fears in himself in a good vs. evil epic that explores self-discover, forgiveness and revenge. A seemingly distant love interest that makes his heart ache and soar at the same time. An amazing and deep world and a quest to explore it. A huge cast of colorful and non-superficial characters who's destinies intertwine in intricate ways as they all seek the same thing: a resolution to the past and the fight for freedom and survival.
I believe that's enough for now but I'm always daydreaming and Euphoria is always evolving. Feel free to comment for a discussion on storytelling and Euphoria's strong and weak literary archetypes.
Humble Origins
The project name is based on the setting (planet Euphoria) and the mythical "Starchild" character. One of the things that will become evident over the course of this blog (other than my chronic run-on sentences) is that I kind of suck at naming things. Euphoria was the original title and then Starchild seemed right for a while, but now I have no clue. If you come up with ideas for my piles of unnamed characters, settings and stories as I convey them, SPEAK UP! I need it. They say write about what you know, and, while no one can really know a fictional universe full of all kinds of creatures and magics, it's been in my mind's eye since age eight (I'm now 23). It debuted under the wonderfully elementary school name, "Magic World." It was basically an interactive video game that you acted out live. This was informal and before LARPing gained a solid following. I was always the narrator and the players played somewhat consistent characters that would make choices, perform challenges and figure themselves out of tough situations. There was very little story beyond "missions" and "quests," but the settings were there and the stories my friends played out contribute occasionally to characters and situations.
Eventually the game died out, but I never forgot the story that was truly mine. I was pretty socially awkward for most of my life and so the story became a kind of mental escape that I still use. As I internalized the story, I began to imagine myself in the situations and stories my friends had played and it eventually led to me becoming the main character. It stayed that way until I'd imagined all sorts of adventures, characters and places. There was little in the way of the current continuity and was more like day to day adventures. I still intend to keep much of the game/comic as a day in the life of a psychic, fox-boy with aliens and redemptive demons for friends (a slice of crazy, sci-fi life?) despite the plots and subplots that have popped up. The main character was and still is a lot like me, but he grew on his own as the scale of the fictional universe outpaced my expectations. Kit Kabbit is now more like an old friend I grew up with and he carries the best of my hopes, dreams. He's not ideal though, because he also carries my fears and nightmares.
In about 5th or 6th grade, my story took a huge turn. All the marvelous things I'd seen in my head up to that point weren't always original or anything to stand out from existing works. There's a line between inspiration and plagiarism that I always respected but the story had lost some of it's potency as it became more of a haphazard mish-mash of ideas that were just tacked on. I needed something to regain the adventurous spirit of my games and tie together the universe and boy did I get it. I had a newer group of friends at the time, and as RPG video games became more and more common, so did the desire for role playing in general. My world had then been recently rocked by the new JRPG Final Fantasy VII and my friends began to show an interest in live action play once again.
It happened like a fireball from the sky. I found everything I needed in the idea of a central plot. It tied everything together and made it a work of true originality and potential. It was like the original Star Wars movie in that the universe, action and special effects make it cool, but a solid story makes it so much more than the sum of it's parts. The story shaped itself in my mind and grew exponentially. I then had everything a good story needed. A kind but reluctant hero who must face a nightmarish nemesis who represents all he fears in himself in a good vs. evil epic that explores self-discover, forgiveness and revenge. A seemingly distant love interest that makes his heart ache and soar at the same time. An amazing and deep world and a quest to explore it. A huge cast of colorful and non-superficial characters who's destinies intertwine in intricate ways as they all seek the same thing: a resolution to the past and the fight for freedom and survival.
I believe that's enough for now but I'm always daydreaming and Euphoria is always evolving. Feel free to comment for a discussion on storytelling and Euphoria's strong and weak literary archetypes.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Introduction
Welcome to Endless Daydreams, my personal proving grounds for prototypes and ideas of all kinds. This blog will feature my ideas for stories, comics, video games and general musings. I will discuss my ideas primarily through text but I hope to have some occasional concept art as long as you readers don't mind my lack of artistic prowess. Things like backgrounds, characters and game mechanics will be presented and I invite readers to comment with constructive criticism or add their own take on stuff. Maybe you might want to do some fan artwork if I am inspirational enough (yeah right...).
My hope for this blog is that I can finally document the creative ideas that flow through me so intensely. I endeavor to become a game designer and need a tangible portfolio of concepts and systems. I hope this will allow my ideas to become manifest as I often have difficulty getting things in all their glory in my mind into a real medium. I want to weave dreams and mold worlds, and have you along for the ride!
Bonus Excerpt
"But that's the point of an introduction isn't it?" The girl explained playfully as she walked in a circle around the clearly unnerved Kit. His canine ears angled downwards as his gaze followed her. "We greet each other," she continued, "make nice through the awkwardness and get on even terms with one another."
-Nikki Scott to Kit Kabbit after revealing she knew who he was and of his "nocturnal escapades"
My hope for this blog is that I can finally document the creative ideas that flow through me so intensely. I endeavor to become a game designer and need a tangible portfolio of concepts and systems. I hope this will allow my ideas to become manifest as I often have difficulty getting things in all their glory in my mind into a real medium. I want to weave dreams and mold worlds, and have you along for the ride!
Bonus Excerpt
"But that's the point of an introduction isn't it?" The girl explained playfully as she walked in a circle around the clearly unnerved Kit. His canine ears angled downwards as his gaze followed her. "We greet each other," she continued, "make nice through the awkwardness and get on even terms with one another."
-Nikki Scott to Kit Kabbit after revealing she knew who he was and of his "nocturnal escapades"
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