Goblin Quest

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I have just released Goblin Quest, my latest text adventure game created using the Adventuron system. It’s the first game I’ve finished that wasn’t released as an entry for a game jam.

Goblin Quest
A location in Goblin Quest.

Goblin Quest was my first design for the most recent Adventuron game jam, which focused on treasure hunt style games with limited text. As such, it mostly follows the rules of that jam – other than the intro and endgame, the responses are limited to six words. However, there are some cutscenes with line after line of six-word responses, which probably stretch the rules a bit! It was for this reason that I decided halfway through the treasure hunt jam to go with a different game design, as I didn’t feel that these multi-line exposition sequences were really within the spirit of the jam rules.

I have also added graphics to this game – graphics weren’t allowed in the treasure hunt jam, although I did release an updated graphical version of my jam entry, Goblin Decathlon, after the fact. For Goblin Quest, I used a different style of graphics from my previous games – rather than creating basic pixel art from scratch, I went analogue and drew the graphics with paper and pencil before transferring them to the computer and editing from there. I’ve talked about my graphics creation process in a previous post; while I do find it a challenge due to not being very artistic, it’s become one of the most enjoyable parts of game design for me. I also find that graphics make navigating text adventures a lot easier – I’m prone to getting a bit lost when every room looks like a couple of lines of text.

I’ve been working on Goblin Quest on and off since I finished the graphical version of Goblin Decathlon, and am thrilled that I’ve managed to get it finished and released this weekend – just in time, as there’s a new Adventuron jam starting on Wednesday, and so I’m looking forward to getting my teeth into a brand new project!

You can play Goblin Quest here.

RED day 151

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Today’s earworm playlist:

Michael Land – ‘The Booty Boutique’
Michael Land – ‘Monkey Island Main Theme’
Michael Land – ‘Mêlée Island’

Um, yes, I have been listening to the Monkey Island soundtracks again while finishing off my latest game. Why do you ask?

Flying Friday post

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One hundred and fifty days running in a row!

Good and bad things about today, both meaning I’m a little too busy for a long (or even medium) blog post. Will update properly on Monday!

parkrun pandemic apricot
The label on the back of my special pandemic edition parkrun apricot, which arrived last week.

Today’s earworm playlist:

Michael Land – ‘Jazzy Voodoo In The Swamp’
Levellers – ‘Julie’
Queen – ‘One Vision’

Still pixelating

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Another mile this morning, just like the rest of this week…

…which has been really good, actually, as I feel properly rested and ready to go for my half marathon length run on Sunday. I feel that this has been a good plan and will be doing the same once every four weeks (the aim is to stay half marathon fit while I don’t have any races to train for – I am fully expecting all my postponed-to-the-autumn races to be re-postponed to next spring, so I think I’ll probably be doing this programme for some time).

I’ve spent the rest of the day doing my graphics for my text adventure. One more to go this evening, and then I can spend the next couple of days polishing and finalising the game! I’m hoping to have it ready to release by Saturday evening, but we’ll see.

Same again tomorrow… I hope.

realMyst: Masterpiece Edition
Once I’ve got a few hours free to play games again as well as just making them, I will be diving into this new acquisition. Looking forward to seeing how they’ve updated the world I first explored in 1993 🙂

Today’s earworm playlist:

Thought Beings – ‘Shakedown’
Tyler Lyle – ‘Lost And Found’ [The Midnight Remix]
Rebecca Black – ‘Friday’

Phone Box Thursday: Queensway, London

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We move south again now for a series of phone boxes that I found when I last visited London, in November 2019.

Red phone box
Red phone box, Queensway, London, 27th November 2019.

(Coordinates 51°51’23.8″N, 0°18’75.5″W.)

This one stands outside Bayswater tube station, which was the closest station to where I was staying. Like most London phone boxes, it’s well-maintained and still has its machinery intact.

More from London next week!

Absorbing hours

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Just a mile again today…

…for the same reason as yesterday, but also because I wanted to get going with my game creation stuff. I’m still working on my graphics and they’re taking aaaaages ’cause I want to get them right! It’s a really relaxing thing to do though.

Same again tomorrow, with a bit of added housework (boring, but needs to be done).

Flower
More flowers from the back garden!

Today’s earworm playlist:

Michael Land – ‘Edward van Helgen’
Duran Duran – ‘What Happens Tomorrow’
Michael Land – ‘Monkey Island Main Theme’
Ollie Wride – ‘Back To Life’

Bit of a blip

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Just a mile today…

…which will probably be the case for the next three days too, as I’m trying to have a bit of a rest week before doing a half marathon-length run on Sunday.

So far during lockdown, I’ve not really felt in control of my diet, and I’m starting to worry about it a bit. I am still ‘attending’ Slimming World by paying the reduced lockdown rate, weighing myself on Thursday mornings and texting the result to my consultant, but I’ve not been doing the Zoom groups or anything because I hate teleconferencing (largely due to my hearing difficulties) and the idea makes me really stressed. I have been trying to get in as much exercise as possible, but having less to do in life means I think about and want food more often, and generalised situational anxiety means I sometimes don’t have the energy to cook healthy meals. As such, I’m hovering about a stone above my target weight, and I’m having real difficulty getting it off.

Last night Geth and I ordered takeaway pizza… again. This was justified by having done a lot of exercise and it being a bank holiday and me being out of sorts. However, it made me feel ill all night, and I still feel ill today, and I just don’t want to feel ill and unhealthy like this anymore.

As such, I’ve identified some acceptable lower-calorie options for ‘easy’ meals that I can just bung in the oven when I can’t face cooking. Most of them are not really ‘on plan’ in a Slimming World sense, but will at least allow enough of a calorie deficit that I can hopefully start losing the excess weight again.

Anyway, today has largely involved making graphics for my current game project, which I’m really enjoying. I’ve got extra motivation now to finish and release it by the weekend, because it was announced yesterday that a new Adventuron jam starts on Sunday and so I will want to focus my energies on the game I’m making for that!

Hoping to have time to work on it tomorrow as well.

Pixel graphic
This graphic is black and white for now, but will have some colour soon.

Today’s earworm playlist:

Michael Land – ‘Firing The Cannon’
RingFit Adventure – ‘Battle Theme’
The Midnight – ‘Memories’

An active bank holiday

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A recovery mile this morning…

…but given that today I also did a RingFit Adventure level, a YouTube yoga session, and a long bank holiday walk, I feel I’ve been quite active, really!

I also spent a couple of hours enjoying the sunshine in the back garden, keeping Geth company while he was doing his tree-hacking. The trees are growing quite quickly at the moment, but Geth is doing a good job of keeping them trimmed back. The grass in both gardens is a bit parched, though, so we need to get a sprinkler attachment for the hose next time I take the car for a spin to B&Q!

After all of that, I’ve not had time for much else today. Will get back to the coding tomorrow.

Plant in garden
I know very little about plants and so I’ve no idea what this thing is called, but the flowers on it are very pretty.

Today’s earworm playlist:

Alvin & The Chipmunks – ‘We’re The Chipmunks’
Henry Mancini – ‘The Pink Panther Theme’
Ollie Wride – ‘Back To Life’
Tyler Lyle – ‘Lost And Found’ [The Midnight Remix]
RingFit Adventure – ‘Warmup Theme’
Sesame Street – ‘Sesame Street Theme’
Duran Duran – ‘White Lines’

And a bonus track that Geth was humming earlier:

Michael Land – ‘Monkey Island Main Theme’

Booze Alternative: Cosy Club Virgin Blood Orange Mojito

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When Geth and I were in Leeds for the A-ha gig last November, we ate out at the Cosy Club, a restaurant we hadn’t tried before. I don’t actually remember what I ate, but they did the most fantastic alcohol-free mocktails!

Cosy Club Virgin Blood Orange Mojito
Cosy Club Virgin Blood Orange Mojito.

This mocktail was amazingly minty, reminding me strongly of all the lovely-tasting mojitos I’d had in my drinking days. I was a little wary on first taste, as drinks that are very similar-tasting to their alcoholic versions can be a bit triggering sometimes, but in the event I didn’t miss the alcohol at all. Absolutely delicious and thoroughly recommended.