The fixing the printer scenario gets all my love forever. It's like the conversation I hope to one day have with my dad where he explains all the crazy stuff I've heard him mention casually. Like how he was somehow involved in starting the South Korean Lottery...?
My white whale project is to submit something to Badass Herstory. It's an craftivism embroidery project documenting women's personal stories.
I'm not sure how much it was a successful idea pitch as it was unrelenting begging and constant sad face, but I did convince my husband that if he let me trap, neuter, and bring in the feral cat who visited our porch that that cat would be the absolute Last Cat I ever asked for, because 3 was plenty. Now he lives indoors with us, as well as cat #4.
Thanks for voting! And yup! I can totally relate to what you're saying. Isn't it funny how a relative will one day walk up to you and say, "You know we're related to actual leprechauns, right?"
Craftivism embroidery sounds amazing! If/when you start working on it, I hope you'll post updates in Table Talk.
Haha, you have so much love to give cats! I'm glad your husband was cool with it. Our current cat was a stray and she's very well adjusted. (Also very cute.)
I would go for the horror-slasher comedy but I can see either developing nicely. I used Twine (Harlowe) and a bit of inklewriter in the past. What do you use?
Thanks for weighing in! I'm exactly the opposite. I use Inklewriter and a bit of Twine in the past. The thing that appeals to me about Ink is the ability to port to Unity, which I might do... someday?
Definately. I lost my progress when inklewriter shut down back then so I started over in Twine but I do prefer inklewriter or inky even with the prospect of Unity integration. I haven't done anything in either of them for a while, except for the recent "Day One" demo on my substack.
Despite being an online post I feel like apologizing for being late to the comment section, strange. My vote is for fixing the printer. Think they'd all be fun, but I will say that I'm not into horror or thrillers so the psycho guidance counselor might not be for me if it has too many genuine slasher horror elements.
My white whale? I'd love to do an indulgent fan game where I blend everything I like together into a combination life sim and fighting game. You can give everyone comfy houses and also do cool fights. That's probably the biggest one. Even Battles Beneath the Stars the actual fighting game or printed out book that looks like a video game guidebook complete with fake screenshots sounds practical compared to that.
I made a successful pitch for an after school club to get a video game console. That was a nice success. Can't remember much about it though.
'Warthog Fighter is an arcade fighting game where you use mythological research and knowledge of the game's deep lore to overwhelm your opponents.'
No need to apologize. The table is always here, whenever you're free to sit and chat! Plus, I'm super late responding to your comment, so... 😅
Printer is clearly the winner on Table Talk. You're in good company. I have interesting data to share soon on which game I'll be working on.
Wow, a life sim and a fighting game. You know, you might have something there. Like, the player switches back and forth between being the fighter and being the fighter's manager, booking their travel accommodations, training, managing their accounts. It would add another dimension to the classic fighting game, especially for a single player campaign.
I actually wrote a zine years ago that was a fake NES video game guidebook:
I made it with a very talented cartoonist Kenny Keil, who illustrated the Adventure Snack quests Escape from Marble Mountain, Flashing Red, and Whoa, You Have a Jetpack!
That's pretty rad you got school to buy a game console. By kid logic, such a thing should not be possible. You did the impossible!
That'd be an interesting game, I've thought a bit about a gladiator manager type game that'd be like that. But in the dream fan game case the life sim part is more like Animal Crossing, everyone is just hanging out in a town together but you can open the menu or go to some arena to do some fighting. You can make Frodo and Beowulf next door neighbors.
Personally I think the narrative potential of perfectly normal tournaments with no evil organization behind them is severely underrated in fighting games in general. Smash Bros fan fiction often has the roster living together in a mansion getting up to hijinks, it'd be interesting to see a fighting game with some sort of mode based on that.
That zine is cool, I love all the little jokes even in the parts that are normally just white noise for these manuals.
Also I played the updated version of Post Apocalyptic To Do List. I like that I can actually get different endings now, as usual they're fun to see. With the tricks and knowledge gained from the prior version I'm no longer a good source for its difficulty though. I went for the super sharp fence every playthrough after my experience with the earlier version, and if I made a guide I'd dedicate a whole section to getting it ASAP before going for the career endings.
I like the friendly fighter idea! I took Taekwondo as a kid and the dojo wasn’t evil, lol. We competed for fun. That’s a unique idea. I hope you explore it someday.
Thanks for giving it another play through! I’m glad you were able to get to the endings and that you enjoyed them. You’re right, the fence is crucial, especially if you want to build a bigger project like the car. I learned a lot from this project. It’s surprisingly complex under the hood.
My white whale would probably be finishing my historical trilogy. I've been working on it in my spare time for over 10 years. And if the question is whether I've gotten flustered pitching it in person to agents at conferences, the answer is hell yes. Though I wish I had thought of wearing a costume and acting out the plot because that would have been epic!
Sadly, I don't know enough about video games to describe my job as one, but I feel like it's basically a long, tedious game of email pong with my nemesis. Often I lose.
Wow, 10 years! It takes a lot of fortitude and commitment to stick with one project for so long. My partner and I ran a publishing house for 8 years, but within that were a lot of smaller projects with faster turnaround times. I applaud your sticktoitiveness.
I hear you. Pitching is difficult and can be stressful. I think for me, putting on the costume and character actually helped. It gave me a bit of a "shield," so it didn't feel so raw. A historical costume would be so much fun in a room! It'd be an unforgettable pitch.
Commitment... or insanity? haha. I'm a terrible public speaker and can definitely see the benefit of a "shield" in those situations. Mine was apparently sarcasm, which didn't score me huge points with agents ;-) I give you credit for taking a chance with something creative and fun like that!
My white whale project? I think that would be directing and producing a scifi movie short. There's at least 2-3 of my stories that would make a good low budget fit with a small cast of characters. Or, I would write an original screenplay short. A smaller baby white whale would be to write a novel.
Sci-fi special effects aren't as big a financial / logistical challenge as they once were, so I hope you get to direct your short someday. You've got the vision and the stories!
Family printer is the choice for me. Being called in to fix technology is a relatable task, Sisyphusian in difficulty (honestly who knows how those things work). But it’s rife with comedic potential and just a soupçon of catharsis.
I have too many white whale projects, I’ve never worked on one (or even two) things at once. My really big thing is I that I want to direct a film one day, I have a screenplay I wrote that could (with some effort) be made independently of it comes to that.
I’ve never been a big pitcher, as most of the things I’ve done I’ve done by myself. I become an incoherent mess in job interviews and the like. I always think I should have a portable fancy living room set. Replete with wallpaper, fireplace burning, bookshelves and of course a globe bar so I can sit in a big comfy chair (in my velvet smoking jacket) and not so much pitch but discuss in a casual manner whatever the thing is.
That Nickelodeon pitch sounds great though, what a story!
I’m more of a villain: The Quizmaster is a teacher of sorts, he bores listeners to death with his menial facts and figures. His only weakness? The recess bell.
Thank you, I'm glad you see so much potential in the concept. I had to look up "soupçon," and I'll be frequently incorporating it into casual conversation. (Well, maybe just a soupçon.)
I hope you get a chance to direct your film. Have you directed any shorts?
Your portable living room set sounds ideal. A globe bar is one of the funniest fancy things a person can own.
+50 points! I'm imagining The Quizmaster is an edutainment game that teaches teachers how to bore their students.
I guess, because I’m fancy, it wouldn’t be a living room but rather a den. Or a drawing room, or even a parlour room.
I’ve made little shorts here and there but I’ve mainly done animated things. With a soupçon of live action, but I’ve directed a little bit of theatre and stuff. Ill get there eventually!
The fixing the printer scenario gets all my love forever. It's like the conversation I hope to one day have with my dad where he explains all the crazy stuff I've heard him mention casually. Like how he was somehow involved in starting the South Korean Lottery...?
My white whale project is to submit something to Badass Herstory. It's an craftivism embroidery project documenting women's personal stories.
I'm not sure how much it was a successful idea pitch as it was unrelenting begging and constant sad face, but I did convince my husband that if he let me trap, neuter, and bring in the feral cat who visited our porch that that cat would be the absolute Last Cat I ever asked for, because 3 was plenty. Now he lives indoors with us, as well as cat #4.
Thanks for voting! And yup! I can totally relate to what you're saying. Isn't it funny how a relative will one day walk up to you and say, "You know we're related to actual leprechauns, right?"
Craftivism embroidery sounds amazing! If/when you start working on it, I hope you'll post updates in Table Talk.
Haha, you have so much love to give cats! I'm glad your husband was cool with it. Our current cat was a stray and she's very well adjusted. (Also very cute.)
I would go for the horror-slasher comedy but I can see either developing nicely. I used Twine (Harlowe) and a bit of inklewriter in the past. What do you use?
Thanks for weighing in! I'm exactly the opposite. I use Inklewriter and a bit of Twine in the past. The thing that appeals to me about Ink is the ability to port to Unity, which I might do... someday?
Definately. I lost my progress when inklewriter shut down back then so I started over in Twine but I do prefer inklewriter or inky even with the prospect of Unity integration. I haven't done anything in either of them for a while, except for the recent "Day One" demo on my substack.
Despite being an online post I feel like apologizing for being late to the comment section, strange. My vote is for fixing the printer. Think they'd all be fun, but I will say that I'm not into horror or thrillers so the psycho guidance counselor might not be for me if it has too many genuine slasher horror elements.
My white whale? I'd love to do an indulgent fan game where I blend everything I like together into a combination life sim and fighting game. You can give everyone comfy houses and also do cool fights. That's probably the biggest one. Even Battles Beneath the Stars the actual fighting game or printed out book that looks like a video game guidebook complete with fake screenshots sounds practical compared to that.
I made a successful pitch for an after school club to get a video game console. That was a nice success. Can't remember much about it though.
'Warthog Fighter is an arcade fighting game where you use mythological research and knowledge of the game's deep lore to overwhelm your opponents.'
And now to play the updated version of YPATDL.
No need to apologize. The table is always here, whenever you're free to sit and chat! Plus, I'm super late responding to your comment, so... 😅
Printer is clearly the winner on Table Talk. You're in good company. I have interesting data to share soon on which game I'll be working on.
Wow, a life sim and a fighting game. You know, you might have something there. Like, the player switches back and forth between being the fighter and being the fighter's manager, booking their travel accommodations, training, managing their accounts. It would add another dimension to the classic fighting game, especially for a single player campaign.
I actually wrote a zine years ago that was a fake NES video game guidebook:
https://devastatorpress.com/avada_portfolio/double-fisting/?portfolioCats=6%2C4%2C7%2C9%2C5
I made it with a very talented cartoonist Kenny Keil, who illustrated the Adventure Snack quests Escape from Marble Mountain, Flashing Red, and Whoa, You Have a Jetpack!
That's pretty rad you got school to buy a game console. By kid logic, such a thing should not be possible. You did the impossible!
+50 Points! LORETALITY!
That'd be an interesting game, I've thought a bit about a gladiator manager type game that'd be like that. But in the dream fan game case the life sim part is more like Animal Crossing, everyone is just hanging out in a town together but you can open the menu or go to some arena to do some fighting. You can make Frodo and Beowulf next door neighbors.
Personally I think the narrative potential of perfectly normal tournaments with no evil organization behind them is severely underrated in fighting games in general. Smash Bros fan fiction often has the roster living together in a mansion getting up to hijinks, it'd be interesting to see a fighting game with some sort of mode based on that.
That zine is cool, I love all the little jokes even in the parts that are normally just white noise for these manuals.
Also I played the updated version of Post Apocalyptic To Do List. I like that I can actually get different endings now, as usual they're fun to see. With the tricks and knowledge gained from the prior version I'm no longer a good source for its difficulty though. I went for the super sharp fence every playthrough after my experience with the earlier version, and if I made a guide I'd dedicate a whole section to getting it ASAP before going for the career endings.
I like the friendly fighter idea! I took Taekwondo as a kid and the dojo wasn’t evil, lol. We competed for fun. That’s a unique idea. I hope you explore it someday.
Thanks for giving it another play through! I’m glad you were able to get to the endings and that you enjoyed them. You’re right, the fence is crucial, especially if you want to build a bigger project like the car. I learned a lot from this project. It’s surprisingly complex under the hood.
All the game ideas are winners in my book :-)
My white whale would probably be finishing my historical trilogy. I've been working on it in my spare time for over 10 years. And if the question is whether I've gotten flustered pitching it in person to agents at conferences, the answer is hell yes. Though I wish I had thought of wearing a costume and acting out the plot because that would have been epic!
Sadly, I don't know enough about video games to describe my job as one, but I feel like it's basically a long, tedious game of email pong with my nemesis. Often I lose.
Thank you! I'm glad you like the pitches. ^_^
Wow, 10 years! It takes a lot of fortitude and commitment to stick with one project for so long. My partner and I ran a publishing house for 8 years, but within that were a lot of smaller projects with faster turnaround times. I applaud your sticktoitiveness.
I hear you. Pitching is difficult and can be stressful. I think for me, putting on the costume and character actually helped. It gave me a bit of a "shield," so it didn't feel so raw. A historical costume would be so much fun in a room! It'd be an unforgettable pitch.
+25 points! I really like the title "Email Pong."
Commitment... or insanity? haha. I'm a terrible public speaker and can definitely see the benefit of a "shield" in those situations. Mine was apparently sarcasm, which didn't score me huge points with agents ;-) I give you credit for taking a chance with something creative and fun like that!
My white whale project? I think that would be directing and producing a scifi movie short. There's at least 2-3 of my stories that would make a good low budget fit with a small cast of characters. Or, I would write an original screenplay short. A smaller baby white whale would be to write a novel.
Sci-fi special effects aren't as big a financial / logistical challenge as they once were, so I hope you get to direct your short someday. You've got the vision and the stories!
Thanks, Geoffrey, I sure hope so, too!
Family printer is the choice for me. Being called in to fix technology is a relatable task, Sisyphusian in difficulty (honestly who knows how those things work). But it’s rife with comedic potential and just a soupçon of catharsis.
I have too many white whale projects, I’ve never worked on one (or even two) things at once. My really big thing is I that I want to direct a film one day, I have a screenplay I wrote that could (with some effort) be made independently of it comes to that.
I’ve never been a big pitcher, as most of the things I’ve done I’ve done by myself. I become an incoherent mess in job interviews and the like. I always think I should have a portable fancy living room set. Replete with wallpaper, fireplace burning, bookshelves and of course a globe bar so I can sit in a big comfy chair (in my velvet smoking jacket) and not so much pitch but discuss in a casual manner whatever the thing is.
That Nickelodeon pitch sounds great though, what a story!
I’m more of a villain: The Quizmaster is a teacher of sorts, he bores listeners to death with his menial facts and figures. His only weakness? The recess bell.
Thank you, I'm glad you see so much potential in the concept. I had to look up "soupçon," and I'll be frequently incorporating it into casual conversation. (Well, maybe just a soupçon.)
I hope you get a chance to direct your film. Have you directed any shorts?
Your portable living room set sounds ideal. A globe bar is one of the funniest fancy things a person can own.
+50 points! I'm imagining The Quizmaster is an edutainment game that teaches teachers how to bore their students.
I guess, because I’m fancy, it wouldn’t be a living room but rather a den. Or a drawing room, or even a parlour room.
I’ve made little shorts here and there but I’ve mainly done animated things. With a soupçon of live action, but I’ve directed a little bit of theatre and stuff. Ill get there eventually!
The animated shorts on Misadventure Adventure are so well realized. Looking forward to your inevitable feature!