Month: December 2009

Game Review: Fallout 3

“War. War never changes.” So begins Bethesda’s near-future apocalyptic RPG, Fallout 3. The story of your character begins quite literally at the beginning, with your birth deep within a Vault-Tec bomb shelter. After the exchange of nuclear fire between the United States and China in a slightly altered time where technology ran far ahead of… Continue reading Game Review: Fallout 3

Star Trek: Farraday 1.1

“Approaching Regula, Captain,” reported the helmswoman, glancing over her displays with dark brown eyes. “Slow to impulse, Lieutenant D’Sarl,” Captain Parkhurst ordered. D’Sarl’s fingers moved across the console, her green skin catching the light from the indicators. The USS Farraday dropped out of warp, bringing the pocked surface of the Regula planetoid into sharp relief… Continue reading Star Trek: Farraday 1.1

PT: Handling Rejection

Maybe you got a letter. It could be something you received electronically. One way or another, a submission or entry upon which you’ve spent time and energy has been rejected. Now, I’m not talking about receiving constructive criticism. That’s always a good thing to get. Iron sharpening iron and all that. What I’m on about… Continue reading PT: Handling Rejection

IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Snatch.

[audio:http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/uploads/snatch.mp3] I’ve stated in some previous reviews that Jason Statham is a badass. I’ve also mentioned him in his work with Guy Ritchie, of which Snatch is the prime example. It’s also arguably Ritchie’s best film to date, often compared to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels the way Pulp Fiction is compared to Reservoir… Continue reading IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Snatch.

Everything's Cooler in Space: Sources of Conflict

“All drama is conflict” according to an old saying. That’s why combat features so prominently in gaming situations – it’s easy to have something feel dramatic when the player’s getting shot at. However, the drama and combat should grow organically from the setting and story, rather than just happening when things get dull. To that… Continue reading Everything's Cooler in Space: Sources of Conflict

Programmatic Mission Statement

My career path has been, to say the least, an odd one. I knew that published fiction was a tough field to enter, and that attempting to make a living from it directly out of university would be difficult, if not impossible. That knowledge, coupled with a challenge issued by a flatmate, pushed me in… Continue reading Programmatic Mission Statement

Jotting in the Margins: On Toilet Paper & Pigeons

Storytellers are creative folk. They create something out of nothing. The entire world of Middle-Earth, for example, sprang from the notes jotted down by J.R.R. Tolkien in the trenches of the first World War. The magical world parallel to our own that seems to have a school called Hogwart’s at its center would not exist… Continue reading Jotting in the Margins: On Toilet Paper & Pigeons

IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Seige Tale

[audio:http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/uploads/dungeon_siege.mp3] The more new movies come out, the more it seems that Hollywood is almost completely out of original ideas. Even James Cameron’s Avatar is only slightly original, as we’ve had the “humans are assholes invading peaceful aliens” plot as recently as earlier this year with Battle for Terra. And then there’s the news that… Continue reading IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Seige Tale