RELIC / Team Synaptic Sugar's New Opening Cinematic
This is our cinematic team's most recent version of the game's opening cinematic! It serves as an introduction to Relic's storyline: relic hunter Sam Ward is on her way to collect the final artifact for a wealthy collector, Kotubir. The cinematic communicates Sam's goal, personality, and relationship with her AI helper, Gimbal. This cinematic also features: - my voice acting as the player's character, Sam Ward - the Narrative Team's collaborative dialogue The game's Narrative
My Name v. I Call Myself
A friend and I were talking about our careers and GDC and why my friend moved out of the South when I accidentally called her by a name that she recently stopped using. I almost didn’t notice the slip, and she didn’t correct me, but I saw her eyes scrunch for a brief second – the tip-off that I had misspoken. After I apologized and we moved on, I started to go through the different names that my friends, family, and miscellaneous others have called me over the years. It occur
The Diary of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, or: Slivers of Ourselves (short fiction - journal entry)
Film critic Nathan Rabin defined this trope thusly: "...that bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures." Since the concept and certain MPDG incarnations are inherently shallow and sexist, I wanted to try to take a brief look at her side of the story. Source (I edited out the expletive) ------------------------- O
The Creative Fortress: Fighting Writer's Block
One common struggle that I’ve noticed amongst my peers in traditionally ‘creative’ fields – art, audio, game design, writing – is with finding a way to summon creativity on demand. Once I enter my creative flow state, I can generate reasonably interesting and usable content for hours at a time, without noticing the passage of time. While I do meet my deadlines, I have found the occurrence of these creative flow states to be unpredictable and that the quality of my work is hig
V.2 Character Design: Athena Lithegood, Intergalactic Gunslinger
Character Design, Worldbuilding, & Dialog DESIGN GOALS My intent was to create a low-scope sci-fi world and a non-conventional redemption character. Athena identifies as a bigender lesbian, but in the world I have created, her identification is known, accepted, and essentially a non-issue. First and foremost, she is a sharpshooter who has endured a traumatic experience. SAMPLE Mentor (minor); Ally Character Overview: ATHENA LITHEGOOD is a seasoned Ganymedian gunslinger (NPC)
Prologue to Transcendence (short story excerpt)
For as long as I can remember, I have made things grow. Even in my old existence – brief and blurry by comparison – I helped every creature I met, beggar or baron. Charity softened my heart, freeing my fingertips for their intended purpose: to heal. Mother taught me well. Sometimes I sit in the garden and try to recall my life. Its roses smell sweet, even under moonlight, but I fear that my memory is beginning to fade. Laced-up boots. Mother’s fresh verbena perfume. A ve
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (short play)
Cast: FATHER EDWARD: Catholic priest in his early 30s with dark hair and green eyes; heartbreakingly handsome AMETHYST: voluptuous, platinum blond stripper in her late 20s; naturally beautiful beneath the bleach and the tangerine tights FATHER JOHN: Catholic priest in his late 50s with cropped salt and pepper hair Setting: Church of St. Vincent in a major northeastern city near you; 11:35pm on Christmas Eve; present day There’s a small nativity scene on stage right, and exces
