I'm embarrassed to say that's exactly what I took during my last update. I think I've got to make a rule - if I hit a target, I should then immediately set a new target. If I don't, I find myself not doing the work that I want to do and things slacken off. It's tough being a new dad, true enough, but I should really make time for my writing. Having said that, today I managed to edit the work I did mid-week and teased out another 200 or so words for 'Meanwhile...'. I can live with that. I'm on the cusp of introducing the antagonist, too, so that gives me an extra incentive for this week's target.
I can't just blame broken sleep for my slackness. I've returned to Fallout 3 to play the DLC. Oh dear. I played right through the main story in more or less one fell swoop, and although it motivated me just enough to complete it, I found the story a bit underwhelming. I had no real interest in continuing on my adventures in the Capital Wasteland until I stumbled across an abandoned building on a random wander through the debris. On entering, I kicked off a minor quest told through the classic video game trope of discarded diary pages. There was an obvious Lovecraftian influence to the deftly-relayed story, which built nicely towards an interesting confrontation deep in the bowels of the earth beneath the building. What I liked about this was that some people may never, ever see this building or complete this quest, because, like many of the game's side-quests, it has no bearing on the main storyline. However, despite using the exact same art assets as everywhere else in the game, the location managed to exude a great atmosphere with clever placement of objects, simple scripted events and imaginative use of standard terrain pieces. As a developer myself, I can see how someone would have carefully planned how he would have executed the vision of his little quest even as he was constrained within the limits of a game engine not particularly well suited to this type of mini-story. Also, I wonder if someone just piped-up about their desire for a Lovecraft-alike in a design meeting, then got offered the chance to have a crack at writing and directing their own slice of Wasteland pie. That kind of romantic notion appeals to the writer in me. I'd like a go at that!
So, if you ever find yourself wandering the post-nuclear ruins of Washington DC with nothing to do, pop down to the Dunwich Building and play your way through a fun little horror adventure. You never know what you might find!
This week's target is 007 (duh duh d-duhhhh d-duh duhhh! Duh-d'dlerrr duh-duh duhhh!) - finish the first draft of 'Meanwhile, in the Underworld' by Friday bedtime. Tough one. That's what you get for trying to weasle out of setting targets young man!
