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Introducing Rosy

I’ve wanted a dog for a really, really long time. And now that I work from home, I’m able to have one.


Ignore her funky left eye. Apparently Photoshop’s red eye reduction doesn’t work on dogs.

Her name is Rosy, and we think she’s a Chihuahua / Italian Greyhound mix. She’s about a year old, and was found in September wandering the streets. She’s been at the Marin Humane Society since then… well, after doing a stint at San Quentin, where she took part in a foster care program that pairs shy dogs up with inmates for a few months to help socialize them. She’s still a bit nervous, which isn’t too surprising considering her breed and her background, but she’s settling in with us and is a very sweet dog. I never thought I’d get a Chihuahua, but they’re kind of hard to avoid these days

We’ve had her about a week, and just finalized the adoption this morning. So I’ve gone from sleeping in and spending much of the day on the couch (writing! really!) to taking two walks a day, thanks to plenty of prodding from the man of the house. So far, so good.

(Here’s another picture, minus scary demon eyes. I love that stoic face.)

Chronicles of Mystery: The Tree of Life review posted

My review of Chronicles of Mystery: The Tree of Life went up this morning at Adventure Gamers. This is the first City Interactive game I’ve played, although I’ve been vaguely aware of their existence for a year or so now. They’re churning out regular installments of two adventure game series (The Art of Murder and Chronicles of Mystery) and let’s face it, these days any company that commits to putting out multiple installments of a new series—and actually follows through—deserves applause and a bit of attention.

Unfortunately the game suffers from low-budgetosis in many areas. This may sound like a petty complaint, but the characters’ idle animations are awful and they diverted my attention for much of the game (not in a good way). I also had a lot of problems with the way the story was told, and since for me experiencing an interesting story is the main reason for playing an adventure game in the first place, this really sapped my enjoyment. Plus the game falls into some standard adventure pitfalls that I may have been able to deal with back in the eighties when I didn’t know any better, but today just don’t have the patience for.

Even so, if you’re an adventure game fan (and more patient than I am), it’s a game you might want to check out—or at the very least, a company to keep on your radar. I get the impression that these issues are not unique to The Tree of Life, but that’s not to say City Interactive won’t keep improving…

In other news, Heather’s Kickstarter project has jumped to 94% funded, with about 10 hours left to go. She only needs around $500 more. That’s nothing! If you haven’t already pledged, maybe forego that latte today and pitch in a few bucks to a good cause instead?

Help Heather’s dream come true

My friend Heather Logas is a game designer. We worked together at Telltale. Like me, she’s now her own boss… and also like me, she has big, creative dreams. In my case, that creativity is generally channeled into fiction. In Heather’s case, it comes through in games, and they happen to be the types of games I love to play.

Heather’s trying to fund a project she’s been wanting to do since she was in grad school. You can read more about it on her Kickstarter page. She’s trying to raise enough cash to take a few months off from contract work, so she can focus on getting this game made. With only two days left to go, she’s about 66% of the way there.

A bit more info…

Before You Close Your Eyes is a Choose Your Own Adventure style game where you create your own personality and the choices you make have real consequences on a game world.

Remember those Choose your own Adventure books you used to love as a kid? The game is a bit like that, if it was the fevered brain child of Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell and H.P Lovecraft. Create your new Self by answering questions that shape your personality. The personality traits you choose for your character affect the choices you have available to you at any given point. Your chosen personality shapes the path of the story, and the decisions you make will change your fate, and the fate of everyone you will meet.

If you think this sounds intriguing, why not go pledge a few bucks to her cause? Even with the revival Telltale’s episodic series have sparked these past few years, quality adventure games are still few and far between, which often means people with big dreams like this one have to go it alone. Can’t blame a girl for trying.

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