Week 8 Blog

I really enjoyed myself being the GM of call of Cthulhu. It was interesting having to make thinks up as I went. It also gives me some ideas for my project. While playing the game I decided to bring some sound effects and used them at the end. We ended the game at the basement and they never found the body. One of the players rolled to leave and could not do it for 3 rolls it was kinda funny. One person ended up dying in the room because I kept drowning them in a waterfall of blood and they could not get the dexterity to get out of the bed. Another player almost finished himself off falling down the broken stairs. I still have yet to finish one of the required games but will do so before class. I got the new Diablo 3 and am spending my weekend break playing that. I really want to make my own table top RPG with the same call of Cthulhu stats and everything, I am not sure of where I will set the setting. One of the players in my game gave me a good idea to take an old cult classic movie and make that into a game, and I thought that would be fun. I love my movies and I love my games, so that would be a great way to incorporate both of them. I was also thinking of doing a choose your own adventure, but that seems like that would be a bit harder to accomplish then making a game. I need to take a look at the final projects more closely on Monday and decide which way I am going to go. I could have my friend help me make a game, he has taken the class before and he is just as much of a geek as I am. Well until next class happy gaming.

Week 7 Blog

ABOUT THE READING In Between Acting and Narrating: Editors' Introduction to "Tabletop Systems," I was supprised at just how popular these table top RPG’s really were. I never got into them myself but have always thought it might be fun to try. I always had this bias though that those kind of games were only for nerds. I was also surprised to learn that many of the RPG’s were available as a PDF and some even were exclusively PDF only. I also learned from this excerpt that there is a Call of Cthulhu card game that was a collectable game. I think it would be interesting to play that if I could ever find it as well as the board game of Call of Cthulhu. In Narrative Structure and Creative Tension in Call of Cthulhu it talks about how the game of Call of Cthulhu is a kind of story telling game rather than a traditional Dungeons & Dragons type game. I am a little worried that I won’t know what I am doing when it comes to leading the game and hope that the material is enough to get me going. I did like how it explained what to do in the reading… 1) A mystery or crisis is posed. . . 2) The investigators become linked to the problem. . . 3) The investigators attempt to define the mystery. . . 4) The investigators use the clues and evidence to confront the danger. . . 5) The mystery or problem is solved. ABOUT THE GAMING I actually downloaded the FPS Call of Cthulhu to see what it was like even though it was not an assignment, I wanted to see what it was like since FPS is my favorite type of game. I enjoyed it although it is a little different than any other FPS that I have ever played. I also have been continuing to play Resident Evil. I got further with the help of some better online players than myself. I like how the levels of Resident Evil seem impossible to finish. I also like that feeling of accomplishment when you finally do beat them. I am really finding it hard to force myself into the story mode of GTA, I have always just liked running around in the world causing havoc. I need to focus more and get the story done and stop getting side tracked with my own adventures.

Week 6 Blog

About the Reading I am seeing a repeating concept of time throughout the study of games and literature in this class. I like how in the story The Call of Cthulhu time is used to set the stage for bazaar dreams. All the dreams of those affected happen all in this period of time between March 22 and 23rd and April 2nd. This story caught my attention because it was something different that I was not used to seeing. I like how in the story Wilcox gets sick and then remembers nothing of his dreams before, as if it had never happened. It leaves you as the reader putting yourself in the narrators shoes thinking that others might think of you as being mad as if it never really happened and it was all in your head. The story leaves a lot to the imagination as far as trying to figure out in my own mind what is going on. It also leaves me to try and put myself in the time period in which the story was told. I found this story to be so interesting I even found an old black and white silent picture movie of it. About the Games I decided that for this part I was going to look at what it would take to run a Call of Cthulhu RPG since I signed up to do so. From what I understand it is kind of like horror meets investigation. Also you have to make things creepy and weird. I don’t know what this game is exactly like but it kind of sounds like fun. And apparently it is really important to understand the H P Lovecraft story. I did get the last Resident Evil game and started playing that a bit. It is an interesting game and is actually pretty hard. I was playing with another person online in this sort of co-op and even then found it difficult. Maybe it is because I am so new to the game, I am not sure. I kept getting stuck with running out of ammo and fumbling with the controls trying to kill things without bullets. Overall it is a fun game and look forward to playing more of it.