hey at least this hell is fresh
Jan. 5th, 2026 09:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alicevangelineNah, it's not that bad, but I enjoy that expression; it also seems so apt when the president is who it is.
First-
Complicated thoughts about venezuela:
* Sounds like lots of international laws and maybe our own processes were not followed.
* Horrified that we kidnapped a 'president.'...but
* have re-learned that actually the venez people generally dislike maduro, so that's not all bad, sometimes the US likes play to liberator
* this one is challenging because many memes are making fun of libs like me for being horrified because it turns out he is a dictator who stole an election
* side note, the cons are okay with us kidnapping a dictator who did that? Brave of them to say that
* most of the time when US plays Liberator, there's an ulterior motive
* They forgot to even mention the 'dictator' thing and leaned into the drug narrative
* yeah, it's not drugs, it's oil anyway
* and taking over a country for oil remains uncool
So, I'm a horrified lib, but I was searching for content from venez creators for that perspective, and trying to understand.
----
Second -
The kids have enjoyed the video game series Deltarune for a few years. In a recent chapter that came out, there is a character (an old man, but he's a turtle) whose catchphrase is "I'm Old!" So when I'm trying to understand things, or have weird body things, I shrug and say "I'm Old!"
Oh! Speaking of old turtles! We had a misadventure in Boston yesterday (wanted to go to Harvard Museum of NH and see the glass flowers, but no parking in a one mi radius and it was cold, so we went to the aquarium, and it was hella crowded and liz had a panic attack) but a high point was seeing the old lady, myrtle the sea turtle, who is probably 90 yrs old. She is graceful and beloved and gentle.
---
Third-
Wanted to see the glass flowers because of 'good day for a museum' and also because I'm rereading Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow (to see if it's one of my favorite books upon the re-read; I think it is) and there is a scene in the book about the place.
And it's a cool time to be reading it, because in the micro I was literally at Harvard while listening to them talk about events at harvard in 1996, and on our way home had the scene about that gallery. ("That was nice, but where were the GLASS flowers?")
In the broader sense, it's a cool time to be reading it because I have been messing around with making video games and that's what they do in book, and I understood it before from the player perspective but now I know a little bit more about engines and dev. a LITTLE.
---
Fourth -
So, over my vacation, I basically had all the hobbies: reading, knitting, video game, and new ones: "Song Exploder," and learning about making games.
We watched the making of Losing My Religion by REM and it was a delight, and now that is stuck in my head. So is Viva Las Vengeance, which I listened to. I don't know a lot of the songs on the podcast, so I'm starting with the bands/songs I do know and then progressing.
I also have David Bowie songs in my head, because the first game I've completed (still needs improvement, but it works and has all the story beats I was going for) links together "Man Who Sold the World," "Starman," and "Space Oddity." there's a nod to Ziggy as well, but tbh the lyrics or story of Ziggy didn't quite fit.
In theory, I could upload the zip so people could play it, but I'd like to make some fixes first -
- break up the audio into smaller bits that are lined up with the story
- tell the story more directly in case listeners don't know the songs - more text esp in chapter 2
- allow player to choose a chapter (not linearly)
- make some of the text boxes lighter
So, it's done but it's not polished or "done," and got my fam to try it out - Ty esp doesn't know the music so he was puzzled but also enjoying it.
It's really not a game as much as an interactive visual novel - I used the Ren.py engine. (And, we're using Renpy because the game my daughter wants to make lends itself to that, but with some additional code so you can click on stuff.) I mostly downloaded assets from Itch.io and NASA.
Earlier, I was also trying out GameMaker as opposed to Godot because it seemed easier and unfortunately I blended them in my head a bit.
I started screwing around with another story, but I had nothing in particular in mind so I was just messing with free assets that spoke to me; then 'screwing around' became 'knifin around' because that's a spaceghost episode and that phrase is silly. So that is becoming an SGC2C fan game.
I can't make money off any of this because of licenses (even if the games become 'good"), however, itch.io does allow you to post stuff for free or donation, which should cover me well enough for fair use.
Dan is mostly saying "you're learning so much!"
That's true!
First-
Complicated thoughts about venezuela:
* Sounds like lots of international laws and maybe our own processes were not followed.
* Horrified that we kidnapped a 'president.'...but
* have re-learned that actually the venez people generally dislike maduro, so that's not all bad, sometimes the US likes play to liberator
* this one is challenging because many memes are making fun of libs like me for being horrified because it turns out he is a dictator who stole an election
* side note, the cons are okay with us kidnapping a dictator who did that? Brave of them to say that
* most of the time when US plays Liberator, there's an ulterior motive
* They forgot to even mention the 'dictator' thing and leaned into the drug narrative
* yeah, it's not drugs, it's oil anyway
* and taking over a country for oil remains uncool
So, I'm a horrified lib, but I was searching for content from venez creators for that perspective, and trying to understand.
----
Second -
The kids have enjoyed the video game series Deltarune for a few years. In a recent chapter that came out, there is a character (an old man, but he's a turtle) whose catchphrase is "I'm Old!" So when I'm trying to understand things, or have weird body things, I shrug and say "I'm Old!"
Oh! Speaking of old turtles! We had a misadventure in Boston yesterday (wanted to go to Harvard Museum of NH and see the glass flowers, but no parking in a one mi radius and it was cold, so we went to the aquarium, and it was hella crowded and liz had a panic attack) but a high point was seeing the old lady, myrtle the sea turtle, who is probably 90 yrs old. She is graceful and beloved and gentle.
---
Third-
Wanted to see the glass flowers because of 'good day for a museum' and also because I'm rereading Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow (to see if it's one of my favorite books upon the re-read; I think it is) and there is a scene in the book about the place.
And it's a cool time to be reading it, because in the micro I was literally at Harvard while listening to them talk about events at harvard in 1996, and on our way home had the scene about that gallery. ("That was nice, but where were the GLASS flowers?")
In the broader sense, it's a cool time to be reading it because I have been messing around with making video games and that's what they do in book, and I understood it before from the player perspective but now I know a little bit more about engines and dev. a LITTLE.
---
Fourth -
So, over my vacation, I basically had all the hobbies: reading, knitting, video game, and new ones: "Song Exploder," and learning about making games.
We watched the making of Losing My Religion by REM and it was a delight, and now that is stuck in my head. So is Viva Las Vengeance, which I listened to. I don't know a lot of the songs on the podcast, so I'm starting with the bands/songs I do know and then progressing.
I also have David Bowie songs in my head, because the first game I've completed (still needs improvement, but it works and has all the story beats I was going for) links together "Man Who Sold the World," "Starman," and "Space Oddity." there's a nod to Ziggy as well, but tbh the lyrics or story of Ziggy didn't quite fit.
In theory, I could upload the zip so people could play it, but I'd like to make some fixes first -
- break up the audio into smaller bits that are lined up with the story
- tell the story more directly in case listeners don't know the songs - more text esp in chapter 2
- allow player to choose a chapter (not linearly)
- make some of the text boxes lighter
So, it's done but it's not polished or "done," and got my fam to try it out - Ty esp doesn't know the music so he was puzzled but also enjoying it.
It's really not a game as much as an interactive visual novel - I used the Ren.py engine. (And, we're using Renpy because the game my daughter wants to make lends itself to that, but with some additional code so you can click on stuff.) I mostly downloaded assets from Itch.io and NASA.
Earlier, I was also trying out GameMaker as opposed to Godot because it seemed easier and unfortunately I blended them in my head a bit.
I started screwing around with another story, but I had nothing in particular in mind so I was just messing with free assets that spoke to me; then 'screwing around' became 'knifin around' because that's a spaceghost episode and that phrase is silly. So that is becoming an SGC2C fan game.
I can't make money off any of this because of licenses (even if the games become 'good"), however, itch.io does allow you to post stuff for free or donation, which should cover me well enough for fair use.
Dan is mostly saying "you're learning so much!"
That's true!