Just last week I posted a He-Man game model I recently finished. In a nicely-timed coincidence, I learned the existence of this game today:
It is called Toy Soldiers. (Let me clarify that I have nothing to do with this game.) Listening to the cheesy He-Man lines made me smile :\
More info in this Kotaku article.
---
I used to be excited about video games. There was a period of time I thought I would work in a game company. With time and work experience, I changed. I was, and still am, convinced that what I really like is animation and story-telling, not games.
Games are complicated. Some games, such as Chrono Trigger and Terranigma, captivated me with their stories, music, and atmosphere. Other games, such as Sonic The Hedgehog 3, captivated me because of a fun game play, large stages, and great music.
I was lucky enough to grow up more or less in parallel with the game industry. The side effect was that I realize whatever factor I found fun in a game would be irrelevant in the "next generation" of games. To illustrate, I cannot honestly recommend Chrono Trigger and Terranigma to people to play now. They were fun for their time; they were fresh when they came out. Now they feel tedious to play.
The same thing applies to Sonic. I used to like Sonic games. I played Sonic 3, Sonic 1, Sonic 2, and Sonic & Knuckles. For a period I drew nothing but Sonic. A few years ago, probably around 2008, I revisited Sonic by playing Sonic Rush. Similar formula, so in theory I should like the game. I was puzzled to find the game tedious. Since then, at the back of my mind, I wondered what changed.
Today, I found this rather in-depth video about suggestions on how to redesign Sonic games. It is called "DEAR SEGA // Sonic Re-design."
(I link the video instead of embedding it with the hope that you will go there and leave a comment.)
I found the video answered some of my questions. It made me excited about games. I think great games do not have to push the innovation envelope; in fact, such games will probably feel tedious in a few years. Great games should respect the gamer and give an experience mixed with unexpected touches (instead of giving the same experience only with new levels).
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Monday, February 09, 2015
Parallels of the Planets of the Apes
Recently my wife and I watched Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014). We found it good enough, that I suggested that we watch first film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011). Watching the two films near enough to each other enabled us to see some interesting parallels between them.
(Spoiler alert. If you do not want to be spoiled, please stop reading here.)
Both films start with a group hunting another group.
Both films have a sense of dread throughout. My wife and I agreed that somehow the films makes us dread the bad thing that will happen in the climax.
Overall, though, we thought Rise was more fun to watch than Dawn.
My wife pointed out an interesting observation related to this:
(Spoiler alert. If you do not want to be spoiled, please stop reading here.)
Both films start with a group hunting another group.
- In Rise, human hunted apes.
- In Dawn, apes hunted... other animals.
- Perhaps this parallel tries to tell us how far the apes advanced.
- In Rise, the apes pushed a bus to shield them from human machine guns.
- In Dawn, the apes loyal to Caesar were imprisoned in a bus.
- I do not know if this is intentional. If it is, why a bus? If you have an insight, please comment below. I will be happy to know.
Both films have a sense of dread throughout. My wife and I agreed that somehow the films makes us dread the bad thing that will happen in the climax.
Overall, though, we thought Rise was more fun to watch than Dawn.
(Edit on 10 Feb 2015)
In both films the "villain" character fell (to his death?).My wife pointed out an interesting observation related to this:
- In Rise, Koba pushed the villain character.
- In Dawn, it is Koba who fell.
- In Rise, Caesar was not willing to do the pushing/killing. He let Koba do this.
- In Dawn, Caesar accepted that he needed to do the killing. So, he let Koba fall.
Monday, February 03, 2014
Why G.I. Joe fits Chinese New Year
Sunday, 2 February 2014, was the second day of Chinese New Year and Channel 5, one of Singapore's TV stations, aired G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra as a "Chinese New Year special." On the surface, it looked like a simple coincidence. After the film ended, though, my eyes went wide with realization. G.I. Joe has an abundant of characters (quite a few even have flashbacks); it also has an abundant of cool things for audience to see. The last scene in the film perfectly captures these. The film is about abundance, one of the traditional things related to Chinese New Year.
Now I know why G.I. Joe fits Chinese New Year (and knowing is half the battle).
Now I know why G.I. Joe fits Chinese New Year (and knowing is half the battle).
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Comparing Stereotypes
I made an interesting observation recently. It is about Lyo and Merly, the mascots for the recent 2010 Youth Olympic Games.
The setting was a chaotic but warm family gathering, with many adults and 3 children. The TV was on, and Lyo and Merly made a brief appearance. Someone asked, "Which one is Lyo and which one is Merly?" Another replied, "Usually blue is boy, what. So blue should be Lyo and red should be Merly."
I instantaneously thought, "Hey, that's a wrong stereotype!" I was using the Power Rangers stereotype in colour scheme. Red is always the main guy; blue is one of the sidekicks, who is sometimes a girl (especially if the blue is close to cyan, like Merly's colour).
The next moment, I questioned my own thought, "Why is that wrong? After all, the boy is usually given the color blue and the girl pink, a shade of red."
I find it interesting that 2 stereotypes I take for granted clash each other in a manner I never expected.
The setting was a chaotic but warm family gathering, with many adults and 3 children. The TV was on, and Lyo and Merly made a brief appearance. Someone asked, "Which one is Lyo and which one is Merly?" Another replied, "Usually blue is boy, what. So blue should be Lyo and red should be Merly."
I instantaneously thought, "Hey, that's a wrong stereotype!" I was using the Power Rangers stereotype in colour scheme. Red is always the main guy; blue is one of the sidekicks, who is sometimes a girl (especially if the blue is close to cyan, like Merly's colour).
The next moment, I questioned my own thought, "Why is that wrong? After all, the boy is usually given the color blue and the girl pink, a shade of red."
I find it interesting that 2 stereotypes I take for granted clash each other in a manner I never expected.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
People List
On a whim, I decided to compile this list of people who change my life for the better but I never meet in person.
Reading
(Last updated on 2 April 2011.)
Reading
- Isaac Asimov: for writing I, Robot (my gateway drug to s.f.), The Bicentennial Man, The Gods Themselves, Nightfall.
- David Brin: for writing Kiln People (my other gateway drug to s.f.), Earth, Glory Season, Otherness, The River of Time, & for coming up with the awesome story title Thor Meets Captain America.
- Kurt Busiek: for writing Superman: Secret Identity
- Orson Scott Card: for writing Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead.
- Arthur C. Clarke: for writing Rendezvous with Rama, 3001, Childhood's End.
- Thomas L. Friedman: for writing The Lexus and the Olive Tree.
- Joe Haldeman: for writing The Forever War.
- Robert A. Heinlein: for writing Starship Troopers.
- Frank Herbert: for writing Dune (which got me interested in s.f.).
- Shimoku Kio: for writing & drawing Genshiken.
- Scott McCloud: for writing Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art.
- Frank Miller: for writing Batman: Year One.
- Terry Pratchett: for writing Discworld novels.
- Joel Spolsky: for writing Joel on Software (both the blog & the book, my gateway drug to self-improvement as a programmer).
- Andrew Aversa (a.k.a. zircon): for hosting VGDJ; remixing Ragol Weather.
- Daniel Baranowsky: for remixing Knuckleduster.
- Patrick Burns: for remixing Revisiting The Ruins.
- Diggi Dis: for remixing And He Returned Home.
- David W. Lloyd (a.k.a. djpretzel): for starting OverClocked Remix, remixing Love Hurts & Twoson Hits the Road.
- wingless: for hosting VGDJ.
- Zac Bertschy: for hosting ANNCast.
- Clarissa Graffeo: for hosting Anime World Order podcast.
- Gerald Rathkolb: for hosting Anime World Order podcast.
- Frederik Schodt: for writing The Astro Boy Essays (my gateway drug into reading about the anime/manga history in Japan & America), Dreamland Japan.
- Justin Sevakis: for hosting ANNCast & writing a travel blog when he visited Singapore for Anime Festival Asia 2009.
- Daryl Surat: for hosting Anime World Order podcast.
(Last updated on 2 April 2011.)
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Some Thoughts on Drawing
I like to look at drawings, paintings, and sketches. Then I found out that I seemed to be better than my peers in drawing things on paper and I became interested in drawing, painting, and sketching. Soon, this interest started to make me feel the need to learn from other people who I think are better than I am.
However, I often cannot understand what (people who call themselves or are called) artists mean when they describe their work and their working process. For example, it was only recently that I found out that "organic look" means something in the line of "non-geometric look". Before that, I never understood what "organic look" meant whenever I read or heard this term.
As I continue drawing, painting and sketching, I found a lot of fuzzy concepts that I learned from going back and forth between practice and reading books on drawing and painting. Examples of such concepts are (1) the reason behind squinting eyes when painting and (2) the difference between drawing lines and painting strokes. I realize I need labels/words/terms/vocabulary to describe these things and organize them in my mind (I personally believe that organizing what I know helps in learning things that I do not yet know). It is at this point that I started to understand why artists usually use words that I did/do not understand. They try to describe fuzzy concepts that they know exist (because they use these concepts when creating things) but people in general are not familiar with. (I wonder if this is a universal problem because of specialization.)
I felt the need to write this article because of my recent experience collaborating with a friend from my drawing group. She shares similar interests in drawing, painting, and sketching (let's put "visual arts" label to this set of things), but her background and experience are very different from mine. There were times that I realized we were having difficulty to communicate (to describe what look that we want to achieve, for example). I wondered why this difficulty was there at all. As I pondered on it, my train of thought helped me to formulate the cause as I wrote in previous paragraphs. We both tried to explain what we meant using inexact words either because there were no exact words or because we did not fully understand what we wanted to describe.
---
Related to this experience, there is another fuzzy concept that I started to see. I'd like to attempt to describe it here.
I find myself often using the words "high level" and "low level" to categorize things. The things can be concepts related to visual arts, programming, or anything in general; but let's to stick to visual arts concepts. A high level concept is not necessarily better/greater/more advanced than low level ones. A high level concept is built on top of a number of low level concepts (perhaps the metaphorical "top" is the reason for the term "high level"?). For example, walking is a high level concept while swinging arms, shifting body weight, moving a leg forward, and so on are low level concepts needed for walking. Low level concepts are more concrete than high level concepts. The fuzzy concepts I mentioned earlier above are high level concepts I learned from practicing low level concepts many times.
Now, an artist has his own knowledge, which is a set of high level concepts. As he practices, he learns more concepts.
Artists with less experience care more about low level concepts, such as drawing the correct proportions, smoothing line curves, tightening up & cleaning up sketches, or even minute details of character (e.g. exact number of spikes in the case of anime hair). At some point, all these would sink to the background. The artist still thinks about all these, but they are in a background process that do not need much attention. It is at this point that he can learn new concepts because his conscious mind is free from all these. It is at this point that he starts building high level concepts using the low level concepts that now runs in the background process.
I think it is also at this point that he starts to use words people don't understand :)
Reality is no doubt much more complex than this; but, hey, that's what I can formulate in words for now.
However, I often cannot understand what (people who call themselves or are called) artists mean when they describe their work and their working process. For example, it was only recently that I found out that "organic look" means something in the line of "non-geometric look". Before that, I never understood what "organic look" meant whenever I read or heard this term.
As I continue drawing, painting and sketching, I found a lot of fuzzy concepts that I learned from going back and forth between practice and reading books on drawing and painting. Examples of such concepts are (1) the reason behind squinting eyes when painting and (2) the difference between drawing lines and painting strokes. I realize I need labels/words/terms/vocabulary to describe these things and organize them in my mind (I personally believe that organizing what I know helps in learning things that I do not yet know). It is at this point that I started to understand why artists usually use words that I did/do not understand. They try to describe fuzzy concepts that they know exist (because they use these concepts when creating things) but people in general are not familiar with. (I wonder if this is a universal problem because of specialization.)
I felt the need to write this article because of my recent experience collaborating with a friend from my drawing group. She shares similar interests in drawing, painting, and sketching (let's put "visual arts" label to this set of things), but her background and experience are very different from mine. There were times that I realized we were having difficulty to communicate (to describe what look that we want to achieve, for example). I wondered why this difficulty was there at all. As I pondered on it, my train of thought helped me to formulate the cause as I wrote in previous paragraphs. We both tried to explain what we meant using inexact words either because there were no exact words or because we did not fully understand what we wanted to describe.
---
Related to this experience, there is another fuzzy concept that I started to see. I'd like to attempt to describe it here.
I find myself often using the words "high level" and "low level" to categorize things. The things can be concepts related to visual arts, programming, or anything in general; but let's to stick to visual arts concepts. A high level concept is not necessarily better/greater/more advanced than low level ones. A high level concept is built on top of a number of low level concepts (perhaps the metaphorical "top" is the reason for the term "high level"?). For example, walking is a high level concept while swinging arms, shifting body weight, moving a leg forward, and so on are low level concepts needed for walking. Low level concepts are more concrete than high level concepts. The fuzzy concepts I mentioned earlier above are high level concepts I learned from practicing low level concepts many times.
Now, an artist has his own knowledge, which is a set of high level concepts. As he practices, he learns more concepts.
- On the one hand, people are naturally interested in new things, so usually they want to learn new things.
- On the other, learning is a personal experience; thus learning what you are interested in means that you are likely to care about the topic deeply. Most of the time your care is deep enough to make you tie your self-worth to what you know.
Artists with less experience care more about low level concepts, such as drawing the correct proportions, smoothing line curves, tightening up & cleaning up sketches, or even minute details of character (e.g. exact number of spikes in the case of anime hair). At some point, all these would sink to the background. The artist still thinks about all these, but they are in a background process that do not need much attention. It is at this point that he can learn new concepts because his conscious mind is free from all these. It is at this point that he starts building high level concepts using the low level concepts that now runs in the background process.
I think it is also at this point that he starts to use words people don't understand :)
Reality is no doubt much more complex than this; but, hey, that's what I can formulate in words for now.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Cast Off! K-On!
Just a few days ago I realized dreadfully that I was getting shallow. Recent show I watched are painfully light and perhaps shallow, but I found them very entertaining for multiple reasons.
First, I watch Kamen Rider Kabuto. To me, recent Kamen Rider titles are fun because of their gimmicks: costume design, fighting choreography (usually for climactic moments), and the Rider powers (cheap special effects that are fun to watch). With Kamen Rider Kabuto, I enjoyed Kabuto design. I also love the concept of "Cast Off", where a Rider takes off his heavy armor to reveal a slimmer form, and "Clock Up", essentially a mode in which the Riders and the monsters move very fast. I think I accepted that Kamen Rider is half comedy while watching Kabuto.
I was disappointed by the later part of the series, though. I usually enjoy the powered-up form a series introduce mid-way. But Kabuto's "Hyper Form" is just too powerful and poorly executed. It could have turned the series even more fun, but it didn't (it turned the series worse, in my opinion).
Still, I love that voice, "Cast Off! Change Beetle."
Next, I watched K-On! It's very light-hearted and, as Anime World Order may put it, nothing really happened. But it reminded me of high school days. With that weird (to me) notion of friendship.
I personally keep only a few friends I am (relatively) close with and hang out with them often. The way things worked, one way or another people move on and these friends keep changing. That is to say, friend who used to be close usually drift further and I accept this a fact of life.
So, the notion of making really close friends in high school, which I guess what I did, only reminds me of the next thing awaiting in the corner: U-U-U-University. Where people are very likely to go on their separate ways. It was when transitioning to university that I realized that in real life, people prioritize on what they want to do, not friendship. It sounds terrible, but that's fast of life for me. Maybe that's why I don't keep very close friends anymore.
Anyway, watching K-On! was a so-happy-and-nostalgic-that-it-hurts-a-little for me.
But these on their own did not trigger the said realization above. It was when I started watching Baccano! that I realized I was having trouble watching somewhat complex story. I remembered I used to look for this kind of stories in anime. Compare it to the kind of shows that I watch now. Maybe I'm too comfortable in my comfort zone?
Anyway, I'm still continuing inside my comfort zone with Kamen Ride D-D-D-Decade!
First, I watch Kamen Rider Kabuto. To me, recent Kamen Rider titles are fun because of their gimmicks: costume design, fighting choreography (usually for climactic moments), and the Rider powers (cheap special effects that are fun to watch). With Kamen Rider Kabuto, I enjoyed Kabuto design. I also love the concept of "Cast Off", where a Rider takes off his heavy armor to reveal a slimmer form, and "Clock Up", essentially a mode in which the Riders and the monsters move very fast. I think I accepted that Kamen Rider is half comedy while watching Kabuto.
I was disappointed by the later part of the series, though. I usually enjoy the powered-up form a series introduce mid-way. But Kabuto's "Hyper Form" is just too powerful and poorly executed. It could have turned the series even more fun, but it didn't (it turned the series worse, in my opinion).
Still, I love that voice, "Cast Off! Change Beetle."
Next, I watched K-On! It's very light-hearted and, as Anime World Order may put it, nothing really happened. But it reminded me of high school days. With that weird (to me) notion of friendship.
I personally keep only a few friends I am (relatively) close with and hang out with them often. The way things worked, one way or another people move on and these friends keep changing. That is to say, friend who used to be close usually drift further and I accept this a fact of life.
So, the notion of making really close friends in high school, which I guess what I did, only reminds me of the next thing awaiting in the corner: U-U-U-University. Where people are very likely to go on their separate ways. It was when transitioning to university that I realized that in real life, people prioritize on what they want to do, not friendship. It sounds terrible, but that's fast of life for me. Maybe that's why I don't keep very close friends anymore.
Anyway, watching K-On! was a so-happy-and-nostalgic-that-it-hurts-a-little for me.
But these on their own did not trigger the said realization above. It was when I started watching Baccano! that I realized I was having trouble watching somewhat complex story. I remembered I used to look for this kind of stories in anime. Compare it to the kind of shows that I watch now. Maybe I'm too comfortable in my comfort zone?
Anyway, I'm still continuing inside my comfort zone with Kamen Ride D-D-D-Decade!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Figurine Fun
I went to Anime Festival Asia over the weekend. It was lots of fun.
Some photo highlights:
I bought myself the Kamen Rider Black/RX figurine. It has one main body to which I can attach Kamen Rider Black armor or Black RX armor. Check out my first bunch of shots on my Picasa album.
Out of the package, the figure has the Black RX armor on. I took them off and put on the Black armor. I found the Black armor more attractive; I love the grasshopper look of it. Black RX looks too neat and robot-y. What I soon found out while posing the figurine during the photo shot, though, is that the Black armor comes off far too easily. The small pieces just "hugs" the main body, in contrast to Black RX armor that can be secured comfortably. Still, I did have fun with it and to a certain extent re-discover my liking for photography.
That reminds me of Wei Man's remark about figurines. Before this, she didn't understand what's so good about figurines. Somehow, she bought her first figurines from AFA: a poseable Yuffie (of FF7, her favourite character) figurine and a bunch of Magna Carta figurines. While posing Yuffie, she saw how well-designed figurines work and she was wowed. It was fun to see her finding the charm of poseable figurine (and taking photos of them). One more otaku in our sketch group, mwahaha.
Some photo highlights:
I bought myself the Kamen Rider Black/RX figurine. It has one main body to which I can attach Kamen Rider Black armor or Black RX armor. Check out my first bunch of shots on my Picasa album.
Out of the package, the figure has the Black RX armor on. I took them off and put on the Black armor. I found the Black armor more attractive; I love the grasshopper look of it. Black RX looks too neat and robot-y. What I soon found out while posing the figurine during the photo shot, though, is that the Black armor comes off far too easily. The small pieces just "hugs" the main body, in contrast to Black RX armor that can be secured comfortably. Still, I did have fun with it and to a certain extent re-discover my liking for photography.
That reminds me of Wei Man's remark about figurines. Before this, she didn't understand what's so good about figurines. Somehow, she bought her first figurines from AFA: a poseable Yuffie (of FF7, her favourite character) figurine and a bunch of Magna Carta figurines. While posing Yuffie, she saw how well-designed figurines work and she was wowed. It was fun to see her finding the charm of poseable figurine (and taking photos of them). One more otaku in our sketch group, mwahaha.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Kamen Rider for Computer Science
I just thought of a crazy idea. To begin, let us trace back to why it crossed my mind in the first place.
I liked Kamen Rider Black. It is a show "for kids" that people probably will say similar to Power Rangers. I think I can accept this in terms of casual public's thinking: action figure tie-ins, heroes fighting monsters with enough time to pose to the camera, etc. But as a fan, I disagree quite strongly. While there are excellent Power Ranger series (Ninja Storm and Space Patrol Delta come to mind), Kamen Rider series usually have a much darker background story, complete with conspiracy theory paranoia (and, of course, Kamen Riders no longer pose that much Edit: this is no longer true with "modern" Kamen Riders. They now pose as often, if not more often, than Power Rangers.).
Well, anyway, note the "Black" sub-title. It was rather long ago (long, long ago, 20th century--if you get the reference, heh). These days, Kamen Riders are getting weirder (and sometimes childish).
Take Kamen Rider 555 for example. A person needs to wear the belt (Kamen Rider trade mark equipment/morpher), dial "555" on a mobile phone, put the mobile onto the belt, and he transforms into Kamen Rider Faiz. Silly, huh? (But I love Faiz, the action sequences and gimmicks somehow got into me.)
Another recent example is Kamen Rider Blade. Of course the main Rider uses a sword.
Now, extrapolating, what if we were to design a Kamen Rider series to get kids into computer science? (As a part of our grand scheme to take over the world peacefully.) Kamen Rider EM came to my mind. EM stands for Expectation Maximization(Google it, there are a lot of tutorials out there). Well, one of the uses of EM algorithm is to estimate Gaussian mixture distribution, so probably we can represent each monster as points on high-dimensional space. The Rider will pose dramatically as he tried to estimate parameters needed to fit the monster's points. Once he can fit the points using a Gaussian distribution, that's when he delivers the final, destructive blow. A punch maybe. Or a kick. Gaussian Kick?
Then, as the series progresses, he will of course meet stronger monsters. Even ones he clearly cannot defeat. So he will need an upgrade. He needs a better mathematical model to defeat the monsters.
Well, a monster does not usually follow the same fighting pattern all the time. So, a better model is to assume that the monster assumes a certain fighting state at a point in time. Each fighting state can be modeled by a Gaussian mixture; while the change from one fighting state to another can be modeled by transition probabilities.
Kamen Rider EM evolves into Kamen Rider HMM. Now he has new weapons: Ergodic shield and, uhm, Left-to-right Sword.
Another Rider to accompany EM in the series can be other classes of computation. Instead of statistical powers, this Rider prefers deterministic powers. Kamen Rider Algo perhaps? Not sure yet how he fights and what weapons he has.
Some thoughts for another day when I re-visit algorithms perhaps.
(Yes, I got this crazy idea while re-reading about EM algorithms.)
And that's enough fantasy for one day.
(Edited on 5 March 2015)
I liked Kamen Rider Black. It is a show "for kids" that people probably will say similar to Power Rangers. I think I can accept this in terms of casual public's thinking: action figure tie-ins, heroes fighting monsters with enough time to pose to the camera, etc. But as a fan, I disagree quite strongly. While there are excellent Power Ranger series (Ninja Storm and Space Patrol Delta come to mind), Kamen Rider series usually have a much darker background story, complete with conspiracy theory paranoia (
Well, anyway, note the "Black" sub-title. It was rather long ago (long, long ago, 20th century--if you get the reference, heh). These days, Kamen Riders are getting weirder (and sometimes childish).
Take Kamen Rider 555 for example. A person needs to wear the belt (Kamen Rider trade mark equipment/morpher), dial "555" on a mobile phone, put the mobile onto the belt, and he transforms into Kamen Rider Faiz. Silly, huh? (But I love Faiz, the action sequences and gimmicks somehow got into me.)
Another recent example is Kamen Rider Blade. Of course the main Rider uses a sword.
Now, extrapolating, what if we were to design a Kamen Rider series to get kids into computer science? (As a part of our grand scheme to take over the world peacefully.) Kamen Rider EM came to my mind. EM stands for Expectation Maximization
Then, as the series progresses, he will of course meet stronger monsters. Even ones he clearly cannot defeat. So he will need an upgrade. He needs a better mathematical model to defeat the monsters.
Well, a monster does not usually follow the same fighting pattern all the time. So, a better model is to assume that the monster assumes a certain fighting state at a point in time. Each fighting state can be modeled by a Gaussian mixture; while the change from one fighting state to another can be modeled by transition probabilities.
Kamen Rider EM evolves into Kamen Rider HMM. Now he has new weapons: Ergodic shield and, uhm, Left-to-right Sword.
Another Rider to accompany EM in the series can be other classes of computation. Instead of statistical powers, this Rider prefers deterministic powers. Kamen Rider Algo perhaps? Not sure yet how he fights and what weapons he has.
Some thoughts for another day when I re-visit algorithms perhaps.
(Yes, I got this crazy idea while re-reading about EM algorithms.)
And that's enough fantasy for one day.
(Edited on 5 March 2015)
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Stormwatch
I just had to trace back the origins of The Authority, so I borrowed Stormwatch last weekend. The first collection I read, "Lightning Strikes", was a little of expected disappointment: less sophisticated story, not-so-attractive drawing, and characters are more stereotyped.
Still, I got to know more likeable characters like Winter and Jackson King before and while he was still the Weatherman. I was little disappointed to see that Jack Hawksmoor and Jenny Sparks were not given any major roles.
All these changes as the story continues. I especially like the story arc with The High. Probably this is the first time Ellis introduced the concept of a team with a Doctor and an Engineer, a concept brought forward into The Authority.
The final moments in the story have sooo much potential to be a comic-book tragedy. I think somehow the panels and drawing did not succeed in conveying this. I can still see the tragic circumstances, but it could have been better.
The end of Stormwatch, though, is really cataclysmic. Almost everyone dies. Guess I am fortunate enough to read The Authority first before reading this end. It is such a cliffhanger, I don't think I can survive it had I read the story in the proper order :D
Anyway, I think The Authority is a good evolution from Stormwatch. There is another story branch with Jackson King called The Monarchy. I have not got my hand on it yet, but Wikipedia says story telling is confusing and fan reactions are so bad that the series got cancelled. Probably I don't miss much :)
I certainly develop a lot of respect to WildStorm after reading these 2 series. Marvel universe seem much tamer compared to WildStorm universe. Superheroes, even protagonists, die. Arguably this reduces the concept of a superhero into a supersoldier, partially dispensible in a battle. But I think it reminds me that that's how life is.
Still, I got to know more likeable characters like Winter and Jackson King before and while he was still the Weatherman. I was little disappointed to see that Jack Hawksmoor and Jenny Sparks were not given any major roles.
All these changes as the story continues. I especially like the story arc with The High. Probably this is the first time Ellis introduced the concept of a team with a Doctor and an Engineer, a concept brought forward into The Authority.
The final moments in the story have sooo much potential to be a comic-book tragedy. I think somehow the panels and drawing did not succeed in conveying this. I can still see the tragic circumstances, but it could have been better.
The end of Stormwatch, though, is really cataclysmic. Almost everyone dies. Guess I am fortunate enough to read The Authority first before reading this end. It is such a cliffhanger, I don't think I can survive it had I read the story in the proper order :D
Anyway, I think The Authority is a good evolution from Stormwatch. There is another story branch with Jackson King called The Monarchy. I have not got my hand on it yet, but Wikipedia says story telling is confusing and fan reactions are so bad that the series got cancelled. Probably I don't miss much :)
I certainly develop a lot of respect to WildStorm after reading these 2 series. Marvel universe seem much tamer compared to WildStorm universe. Superheroes, even protagonists, die. Arguably this reduces the concept of a superhero into a supersoldier, partially dispensible in a battle. But I think it reminds me that that's how life is.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
The Authority
Just found it last Saturday at Jurong East Regional Library. I really like it.
At first look, I thought it had the good look suitable to my taste. Nice lines, good colours.
Then I thought the characters were rip-offs from older superheroes. The Midnighter looks like Batman, from his mask to the 3 small "hooks" along his lower arm (even his name suggests Batman feel). Apollo is like a toned-down Superman with rays shooting out his eyes, vulnerability, and flight. Even Swift looks like Hawkgirl from Justice League.
But then I saw Jenny Spark.
Of course I didn't know her name yet, but I like her attitude. And she looked to be in charge. So I thought, "Oh well, why not?"
And it did not disappoint. Though externally it looks like another clone of Justice League or The Avengers, its universe has a very different feeling. Justice League is just too full of powerful creatures (sometimes I wonder what Batman or Flash can even hope to do); while the few copies of The Avengers that I got to read were boring--not much going on in those books, yet somehow they are *collections* of chapters.
The Authority, on the other hand, is rather fast-paced (enemies defeated in 2 or 3 chapters!) and a lot is going on. The characters are likable and have just enough power to get the action going.
The universe has a nice blend of fantasy and sci-fi-ish feel. Fantasy (and symbolism) is aplenty. Jenny Spark is the Spirit of the Twentieth Century. She is 100 years old in 1998. She embodies the scientific/technology progress in the 20th century, electricity. I read from Wikipedia later that her successor, Jenny Quantum, will be called the Spirit of the Twenty First Century. I know this sounds like mambo-jambo, but it has a nice feel of consistency to it.
Another symbolism example is my favourite character in the team: Jack Hawksmoor. On my first read, I like him only because of his attitude and his moves. (I guess he embodies a lot of qualities I like in a superhero. He is fast, agile, and somewhat cunning.) He is "God of the Cities". I did not understand the significance of his name until I read from Wikipedia later that he can only survive inside urban regions; and he can become one with a city, as if the city is a living being; and he can be affected physically by the condition of a city he is in if he "connects" to it (he had a nosebleed when he connected to a destroyed Moscow). Of course this kind of power is full of BS if we thnk about it; but somehow it reinforces the consistency feeling I got from the characters' names.
Sci-fi-ish feel is a rather generous allowance I made because I like the comic. Guess I'd refrain from making this point because I can shoot it down even as I'm thinking the case :
Another difference is that The Authority does not hesitate to take necessary actions to get to its goal, including *gasp* killing. Traditional DC and Marvel superheroes always, always refrain from killing; arguing that that is the line which seperates them from the villains. Even the celebrated Kingdom Come revolves around this issue of killing.
And, by being utilitarian in terms of killing, the comic has so much potential in asking the questions "why superheroes do good", "who watches the watchmen", and other questions which starts from the fact that absolute power corrupts absolutely.
There are minus points that I miss, I'm sure. For one, they are completely separated from the rest of the world. Who cares if big cities like Moscow, London, and LA keep getting destroyed? As long as we get to the bad guys. Who cares about an empty building being destroyed? Who cares about the common men when the story is so exciting around the super people? All in all, the comic gets to a point in which we have the idea that human is too stupid and powerless to develop itself and make progress. We need The Authority to save us (heck, there isn't even a concept of progress there).
And, of course, superpowers in general are not so clearly defined in this universe, unlike Marvel universe in which we know just how strong Spidey is, and we know that even though Hulk is huge, he cannot be as huge as Godzilla or Ultraman. In The Authority, though, Jenny Spark sometimes just fight hand-to-hand with her powers. Then, when the aliens invaded LA, she conveniently has the power to zap every single alien ship while taking a gigantic form (or at least somekind of projection of her body). And also, in the alien's world, she can be powerful enough to destroy whole major part of a city. What Midnighter can do is also not too clear. He seems to be a super soldier; sometimes he can beat a bunch of enemies easily, at others one guard takes him a whole page to defeat. And about the same can be said about everyone else.
I guess the only point which does not make this unclear definiton to destroy the comic's appeal is some limited consistency of how the characters use their powers. Jenny can never fly; whereas Swift, the Winged Huntress, always takes aerial position during combat. And the battles are not just a series of bam, bam, ka-pows; somehow Jenny can always yell at someone to do something and that something is a necessary step to winning.
Try reading it yourself.
My favourite character is Jack Hawksmoor. Who is yours?
One final teaser for potential readers in Singapore: Jenny Quantum, the Spirit of the Twenty First Century, is born in Singapore.
At first look, I thought it had the good look suitable to my taste. Nice lines, good colours.
Then I thought the characters were rip-offs from older superheroes. The Midnighter looks like Batman, from his mask to the 3 small "hooks" along his lower arm (even his name suggests Batman feel). Apollo is like a toned-down Superman with rays shooting out his eyes, vulnerability, and flight. Even Swift looks like Hawkgirl from Justice League.
But then I saw Jenny Spark.
Of course I didn't know her name yet, but I like her attitude. And she looked to be in charge. So I thought, "Oh well, why not?"
And it did not disappoint. Though externally it looks like another clone of Justice League or The Avengers, its universe has a very different feeling. Justice League is just too full of powerful creatures (sometimes I wonder what Batman or Flash can even hope to do); while the few copies of The Avengers that I got to read were boring--not much going on in those books, yet somehow they are *collections* of chapters.
The Authority, on the other hand, is rather fast-paced (enemies defeated in 2 or 3 chapters!) and a lot is going on. The characters are likable and have just enough power to get the action going.
The universe has a nice blend of fantasy and sci-fi-ish feel. Fantasy (and symbolism) is aplenty. Jenny Spark is the Spirit of the Twentieth Century. She is 100 years old in 1998. She embodies the scientific/technology progress in the 20th century, electricity. I read from Wikipedia later that her successor, Jenny Quantum, will be called the Spirit of the Twenty First Century. I know this sounds like mambo-jambo, but it has a nice feel of consistency to it.
Another symbolism example is my favourite character in the team: Jack Hawksmoor. On my first read, I like him only because of his attitude and his moves. (I guess he embodies a lot of qualities I like in a superhero. He is fast, agile, and somewhat cunning.) He is "God of the Cities". I did not understand the significance of his name until I read from Wikipedia later that he can only survive inside urban regions; and he can become one with a city, as if the city is a living being; and he can be affected physically by the condition of a city he is in if he "connects" to it (he had a nosebleed when he connected to a destroyed Moscow). Of course this kind of power is full of BS if we thnk about it; but somehow it reinforces the consistency feeling I got from the characters' names.
Sci-fi-ish feel is a rather generous allowance I made because I like the comic. Guess I'd refrain from making this point because I can shoot it down even as I'm thinking the case :
Another difference is that The Authority does not hesitate to take necessary actions to get to its goal, including *gasp* killing. Traditional DC and Marvel superheroes always, always refrain from killing; arguing that that is the line which seperates them from the villains. Even the celebrated Kingdom Come revolves around this issue of killing.
And, by being utilitarian in terms of killing, the comic has so much potential in asking the questions "why superheroes do good", "who watches the watchmen", and other questions which starts from the fact that absolute power corrupts absolutely.
There are minus points that I miss, I'm sure. For one, they are completely separated from the rest of the world. Who cares if big cities like Moscow, London, and LA keep getting destroyed? As long as we get to the bad guys. Who cares about an empty building being destroyed? Who cares about the common men when the story is so exciting around the super people? All in all, the comic gets to a point in which we have the idea that human is too stupid and powerless to develop itself and make progress. We need The Authority to save us (heck, there isn't even a concept of progress there).
And, of course, superpowers in general are not so clearly defined in this universe, unlike Marvel universe in which we know just how strong Spidey is, and we know that even though Hulk is huge, he cannot be as huge as Godzilla or Ultraman. In The Authority, though, Jenny Spark sometimes just fight hand-to-hand with her powers. Then, when the aliens invaded LA, she conveniently has the power to zap every single alien ship while taking a gigantic form (or at least somekind of projection of her body). And also, in the alien's world, she can be powerful enough to destroy whole major part of a city. What Midnighter can do is also not too clear. He seems to be a super soldier; sometimes he can beat a bunch of enemies easily, at others one guard takes him a whole page to defeat. And about the same can be said about everyone else.
I guess the only point which does not make this unclear definiton to destroy the comic's appeal is some limited consistency of how the characters use their powers. Jenny can never fly; whereas Swift, the Winged Huntress, always takes aerial position during combat. And the battles are not just a series of bam, bam, ka-pows; somehow Jenny can always yell at someone to do something and that something is a necessary step to winning.
Try reading it yourself.
My favourite character is Jack Hawksmoor. Who is yours?
One final teaser for potential readers in Singapore: Jenny Quantum, the Spirit of the Twenty First Century, is born in Singapore.
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