Off to Key West
July 3rd, 2008 by Mao, under Random Mutterings :: No Comments
Just wanted to remind everyone that I am going to be gone until the 15th after today. I won’t be able to keep up with blogs and there will be no updates until the 15th of July. I know when I come back, I’m going to be completely overwhelmed with so much to catch up on, but hopefully I can handle it amidst all the work I make up for.
We’re leaving tomorrow at 8am, so this is it. I’m enjoying my last few moments on the internet while I scramble around gathering everything up for the trip. This will be my first time ever going South and ever, ever going so far away from what I’ve come to know and love. It’ll be interesting, that’s for sure.
Rest assured, when I return, Wings of Steel will resume and all will eventually fall back into place. Until then, see you later, have a happy 4th, and thanks again for the support and understanding during the hiatus. Later!
If All Goes According to Plan…
June 29th, 2008 by Mao, under Boreal Springs, Creativity, Random Mutterings, The Sims 2, Wings of Steel, Writing :: No Comments
Okay, so my muse seems to have returned. Sort of. I’ve got three Acts of Chapter Nine proofed and I finally have somewhat of an idea as to what needs to be accomplished in this chapter. The chapter page is also finally up on Wings of Steel. So you can take a gander there if you’re curious. I’m hoping I can get some more done before I leave this Friday, but I work the next two days… so we’ll see. I don’t want to force it, but I definitely have enough to resume on July 15th.
I also swear I did not call ‘Hiatus!’ to ignore my Sims 2 gameplaying (and Boreal Springs) to play Mass Effect. No, don’t you dare go and look at my xfire to see how long I’ve spent playing it in the time we’ve been back in Ohio, either. It’s all lies! The reason I haven’t been playing Sims 2 is because I cannot stand actually playing the game with GunMod’s lighting. I’m working on maybe moving it over to my fiance’s computer. I had everything ready until I realized he never installed pets. As you know, all expansions must be installed in order, ugh. So yeah, I’ll trial with that another time… and pretend that I’m not playing Mass Effect in the meantime instead. I’m on my third play through and having a lot of fun messing with the cutscenes in the game in Sony Vegas.
So, if I can get everything working with fiance’s computer, Boreal Springs may not need an extended hiatus. If not, then yeah, it’ll be on hiatus until I finish proofing Wings of Steel and can completely re-install everything. Uh, yay? Not really. We’ll see. At least I no longer want to throw my computer out a window. That’s always a plus.
A Final Solution?
June 24th, 2008 by Mao, under Announcements & News, Random Mutterings, The Sims 2, Wings of Steel :: No Comments
So, I’ve done what I did not want to do in the best interest of completing Wings of Steel. I have downloaded a newer version of GunMod’s Radiance Lighting, am crossing my fingers that it works, and installed it onto my Boreal Springs installation of The Sims 2. That means I am now utilizing only my Vista installation. I’ll be purchasing an external HD to move over my old crap from XP installation and formatting the HD completely… no reason to have an OS that won’t function, right?
I’m am incredibly exhausted. You truly have no idea. What was supposed to be so simple has become so complicated. My mental state as of late hasn’t been the best lately (my fiance has taken to calling me an ‘emo kid’) and this has taken it’s toll. Earlier, in my trials to get this bloody PC to function, I nearly lost everything entirely. I nearly wasted $800 on parts for nothing. I wanted to toss this damned tower out a window and be done with it.
But it is said that creativity breeds in the strangest and most hostile environments–when you’re stressed, upset, depressed… it somehow jars that escapist part of your mind. For me, that means I become creative. It’s like a shock to the system, though I’m happy about it. I might be a big old ‘emo kid’ right now, but I’ve found that being terribly upset/unhappy is when I am at my best creatively… so we’ll see. I’m drafting Chapter Nine in my head now, I have a tentative title for Chapter 10 and I KNOW how I want this all to end. It’s just getting to that end, the final conclusion.
Now to see how this new mod looks…
Frankenputer Lives & A Small Hiatus
June 21st, 2008 by Mao, under Announcements & News, Boreal Springs, Creativity, The Sims 2, Wings of Steel, Writing :: 9 Comments
Okay, so my computer is fully functional now. I’ve had it assembled since Wednesday night, working since Thursday, and completely going (with both HDs) since this morning. Haven’t had much time with work and everything. So, everything is go. Nothing is lost (except my old computer) and I am now running a system comparable to my fiance’s Dx10 killer rig. I just don’t have a quad core. So the Sims 2 will likely move a lot better. I don’t know, I haven’t loaded it up yet on Vista or XP.
And that’s when it comes to this–I am taking a break. I haven’t taken a break in nearly two years–I need one. The one between Knock it Down and Wings of Steel doesn’t count, as I was still working on the story. I need to think… we’re down to the wire, the final two chapters. I want them to be good, not sub par and hastily thrown together. I only have one Act left as buffer, so I’m going to keep it under wraps and just break between the chapters. Hopefully no one will forget what’s happened. The hiatus will only be until I return from Key West. That means, Wings of Steel will resume July 15th. I know that seems like forever, but it would be senseless to post an update before I leave and then not again until I get back a week or so later. It’ll give me time to build up a buffer and think things through.
Boreal Springs will also be hiatus-y. I may or may not post updates. If I do, those updates will likely be intermittent. I’m sorry. I really do feel bad about this, but I can’t think of anything else to do. I refuse to compromise WoS’ story by just writing crappy Acts and foisting them upon you. I’d rather them be worthy of being read. And right now, I just need a Sims 2 break.
If you haven’t already, feel free to sign up to Wings of Steel’s email updates via feedblitz. I send out custom emails whenever I update, so you’ll know when Wings of Steel is back and active.
Thank you so much for your continued support and understanding. It really does mean the world to me. I hope you’ll all still be here when the hiatus is over. I’ve enabled comments in case you have any questions/etc.
Dell II has officially died…
June 14th, 2008 by Mao, under Boreal Springs, Random Mutterings, The Sims 2, Wings of Steel :: No Comments
So, my computer died around 5pm or so. It’s been acting oddly since the day before we left to start the drive to Pennsylvania. I went to turn it on today and it wouldn’t. The power queued up, but the motherboard refused to respond. It’s been randomly shutting itself off and refusing to boot for a few days. I wasn’t expecting it to die–I thought the newest Vista update had messed something up. Wrong. The motherboard has checked out and gone to mobo heaven. Unfortunately, it was old and dell is proprietary, so I am unable to just get a new one, I have to upgrade.
What does this mean? Well, unfortunately, it means I had to make a tough financial decision. I currently have about $700-$800 worth of parts heading to my fiance’s house. I just ordered them. I’ll be pretty much building a new computer, only using some leftover and salvageable parts from Dell II. This may not seem like a bad thing, but I wasn’t expecting to upgrade this soon. I was hoping it would hold out a bit longer. At least now I’ll be Dx10 ready. Anyway, I’ll be without a computer and unable to really comment/etc on anything until then.
This means that Boreal Springs will be temporarily on hold. Wings of Steel’s next update is ready, all I need is the internet for that. See you all soon, hopefully…
ETA–I did not lose anything in this except my motherboard. Therefore, my HDs are still 100% functional and all my Sims 2 stuff will resume once I’ve built the new computer. No worries there, folks.
Wings of Steel: A Year & Counting
June 10th, 2008 by Mao, under Announcements & News, Creativity, The Sims 2, Wings of Steel, Writing :: No Comments
I can’t believe it’s already been a year since Wings of Steel began. Officially, that is. Technically, it began in February 2007, as that’s when the idea was brought up and I began planning. I wasn’t sure if I’d end up doing it, but the gears were going in my head and so it was.
I also can’t even begin to tell you how much my original vision has changed. It wasn’t going to be as ‘big’ as it’s turned out to be. It also wasn’t going to be nearly as ‘deep’ as it turned out to be. You can tell from the beginning, of course. Everything was a bit lighter and fluffier then. As time wore on, that dissipated. I’m sure that has a lot to do with comments/readership going down, but I’m not here for popularity. I won’t jeopordize my creativity to please people. You like it or you don’t, fine with me. There’s plenty of stuff out there I don’t like, let me assure you.
As you can tell, I’m not doing anything special. Truth be told, I’m in a bit of a panic at the moment. I’ve only begun the start of the next chapter. That is to say, I have Act I of Chapter Nine done and that’s it. I’m woefully behind and my muse seems to be content to jet off and leave me hanging. This isn’t uncommon. Unfortunately, real life has intervened with a cartload of BS that I have been sorting through for months and so my time on both the computer and thinking creatively has been cut short. As is the way of the ‘real’ world.
I’ve mentioned it before and I’ll say it again–Wings of Steel will go on a brief week hiatus! Don’t worry, I’ll mention it again nearer to the fact, but right now, it stands without changing: Wings of Steel will not update on July 9th because I will be in Key West and sans internet connection. This may extend to the following Wednesday or the preceding one. It all depends on how plans go. So WoS may not update on the 3rd or 16th, as well. I haven’t decided if it’s necessary yet.
After I update tomorrow I will be left with two Acts as buffer. Not good. I’m hoping after we get back from Pennsylvania I’ll have some time. I’ll only have around two weeks to work on anything before we leave for Key West. When we return, I have a huge, difficult decision about real life I need to make. Thus why I may not update on the following Wednesday (16th). Truth be told, I’m not even sure if I’ll end up doing the Prequel–I’m still very apprehensive about my ability to commit to another serial of considerable size so close to the end of Sims 2. Don’t even mention Sims 3 to me, it’s likely my journey that began the day of Sims 1 release ends with the death of Sims 2.
Sorry I couldn’t make this a more joyous occassion. I’m sort of down creative-wise and it shows, doesn’t it? I apologize. Thanks, as always, for the continued support–even you silent folks. I don’t write for anyone but myself, but it means a lot that other people are able to enjoy it, too.
Book List #1
June 1st, 2008 by Mao, under Creativity, Random Mutterings, books :: 5 Comments
Okay, so this has nothing to do with The Sims 2 or my writing in that area. I’ve had people email me or comment asking if I’ve read a certain book and I’ve also seen some other folks doing it (Anghard!), so I figured, what the hell. I’m a sporadic reader. I simply adore it, I really do, but I do so much I don’t often feel “in the mood”. Two or three times a year, I make a bulk order at Amazon.com ranging from four books to nearly twenty. I go through books very quickly, depending on how well I like them.
I just put in an order since I’m going to Key West for an entire week in July (more on that later, as it WILL affect WoS updates), so a bunch of new books to read. I’m fairly experimental, though I prefer paranormal and darker things. I rarely ever read YA unless it’s recommended or something really catches my eye.
Currently Reading
‘A Feast for Crows (A Song of Fire & Ice, 4)’ by George R.R. Martin (Fiance and I are both reading the series)
Have, But Have Yet to Read
‘His Dark Materials Trilogy’ by Philip Pullman
Ordered in Preperation for Key West
‘A Countess Below the Stairs’ by Eva Ibbotson
‘Beauty’ by Sheri S. Tepper (recommended by Anghard)
‘I Am Legend’ by Richard Matheson
‘Assassin’s Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, 1)’ by Robin Hobb
‘Storm Front (Dresden Files, 1)’ by Jim Butcher
I am open to recommendations, so I’ve left comments turned on for this entry. I mostly like fantasy, horror, thrillers, off-the-wall insane stuff. If it’s dark, has vampires, and isn’t some vapid romance novel, I’ll probably like it. Please keep in mind I’ve already read nearly all of Anne Rice’s works, so no need to recommend that. Oh, and don’t recommend Twilight. Didn’t like it at all.
Check behind the cut for more info on why I am STILL working on the fourth damn book in Martin’s series… (more…)
Woo, character ramblings…
May 28th, 2008 by Mao, under Creativity, Random Mutterings, The Sims 2, Wings of Steel, Writing :: No Comments
So, I’m incredibly bored and my internet connection is being stupid (I miss my DSL in PA…). What better to do than ramble? But the entire thing that caused this ramble was my boredom coupled with photoshop. Poor Christian is so ignored, have you noticed that? He’s not even in any of the random banner images! I feel bad about that, but there’s just no random images from WoS of his that translate well to a banner.
So I messed around with photoshop. Originally, I was editing an image of Beryl and then I thought maybe I could edit Christian into it and then he stole the show. So it’s just a Christian image. You’ll see that behind the cut and at the end of the entry. I’ve gotta ramble a bit, y’know.
SimFic 50
May 12th, 2008 by Mao, under Creativity, The Sims 2, Writing :: No Comments
So, I found this really cool thing on LJ. Two simmers you may be familiar with have taken a fandom idea and applied it to Sims 2! It’s essentially prompt fiction, which is writing fiction based around a single word. The idea that Anghard and goodbye_sun came up with is to write fifty pieces, each based upon a single word in a table. If you’re into livejournal stuff, you can check out the community here.
As for me, communities give me hives, so I’ve made a blog for it. I’m dubbing it ‘Little Bits of Fiction‘. There’s no update schedule, etc. Feel free to take a look. I am definitely planning to get all fifty!
Possible Prequel?
May 5th, 2008 by Mao, under Creativity, Knock it Down, The Sims 2, Wings of Steel, Writing :: 10 Comments
During our seven hour car ride back to Pennsylvania on Friday, my fiance felt the need to mention the possibility of a prequel of Wings of Steel. Now, if you don’t know the story of how Wings of Steel came to be, you won’t get the oddness of it. So, let me explain that, first. My fiance is the reason Wings of Steel exists. Randomly, during the end days of Knock it Down, he said, “wouldn’t it be cool to see Valerie as an adult?” Yes, it all stemmed from that idea. I let it cook for several months before deciding whether or not I wanted to do it. So, it’s his fault I’m still not done with this and why Knock it Down didn’t end as I had planned.
Now, onto more recent things, the prequel. His idea was to explore what happened before all of this. That means showing the Demon Queen in the body she had before Beryl and how the big rebellion with Eckhard, Antony, and Abigail came about. He claims that it is interesting and he really, really wants to see this. He also had to throw in that “good things come in three’s!”. Sigh. Of course, given how tangled KiD and WoS are, I can only imagine the gigantic headache that would be weaving in yet another tale, even if it does technically take place before all of this.
I’m still mulling over it. I really wanted to be done with The Sims 2 storytelling/etc after Wings of Steel, because I’m feeling the limitations and getting heavily frustrated. Each time I go to do something in WoS now I realize I can’t. That’s why you’re getting the ending you’re getting with WoS. Deal, haha. Yes, WoS will be ending soon. There’s only about two chapters left, I think. We’ll see how things go… if there’s any interest, maybe. The reason I say that is because interest seems to have tapered off since the end of KiD. Yes, WoS is a lot deeper and whatnot than KiD (not to mention it handles things a LOT of sims stories won’t touch, and with good reasoning!), but it’s still nice to see feedback/etc. I don’t care about popularity, piss on that, I just like seeing what people are getting from what they read. Different perceptions are a lot of fun and it never ceases to amaze me how differently people will see things!
I’ve enabled comments on this post incase anyone runs across this and thinks its a good idea. Feel free to speak, even if you don’t normally comment on WoS, your voice does have weight!
