Anticipation Unbearable

Amy and I have less than a month left before we pack up our lives and move across town into a new house. Well, it's a used house, but it's new to us. With all that's going on, all I seem to be able to think about is getting back to writing music. Maybe my fantasizing is just stress-related. It always seems as though I'm itching to write new music only when I am so busy that I don't even have time to think about it. Prior to February 2004, I was mostly writing music and creating sound effects for other people so that my portfolio would impress someone and I would get a job writing music and creating sound effects. So I finally got a job (and it is indeed most rad) and ever since I've been heaving a metaphorical sigh of relief by not wanting to compose music or deal with sound outside of work. Five months of rest and I'm ready to create music just for me again. In all honesty, I did record two songs for my own pleasure since January, but one was just a throwaway joke track about the movie Robot Jox. The other was a jazz flavored electronic track that I recorded with my Zube Tube and tenor saxophone.

Anyway, I've been listening to Tree Wave, Bit Shifter, Nullsleep, and Printed Circuit, among others for the last few weeks and they're inspiring me to dust off my coding and tracking skills to get some killer old school chip sounds happening. But, I'll just have to wait until after our move in August to get some time for that kind of stuff. Until then, I'll continue to stay inspired by those very cool artists mentioned above.

I am definitely excited about the new house for musical purposes, though. First, my parents have been threatening to haul all of my stuff that's currently stored at their abode to Chicago as soon as we got a house. Now that that threat will be carried out, I'll have my Commodore 64 and Atari VCS back. It'll be like a reunion of old friends. I haven't been able to play on the authentic machines ever since I left home 6 years ago and I'm looking forward to putting both machines through their musical paces. Emulators are cool and all, but there's nothing like using the real thing. Secondly, I don't have to keep quiet on my saxophone like I have to in the apartment. It's always nice to be able to just play without worrying about complaints from the neighbors.

Currently listening to: mmfan316, Modern Control, incredible chip music from Japan.

The Innocence Mission

Amy and I went to see The Innocence Mission at Schuba's last weekend. This trio is simply fantastic. The music is simple and honest and Karen's lyrics are masterful snapshots taken from very real experiences. David Dondero opened the show. I'd never heard of him before, but he had an intriguing performance method of appearing extremely nervous. While I was never sure if his jitters were sincere or just a different kind of Kaufman-esque stage persona, they were rather endearing. As a musician with a good amount of stage fright, I was sympathetic regardless of the sincerity factor. He played a number of songs that were very solidly in a traditional anti-culture folk vein. Simple chords and harmonic progressions were underpinned by brutally honest and often expository lyrics such as "This isn't like Playstation at all." from a song entitled, "Pre-Invasion Jitters," about a kid who enlists in the military to get money for school but ends up getting sent to war. Also on DD's set list was a narrative song titled, "Double Murder Ballad Suicide". To explain the song would be a spoiler; however, at one point during the song, Dondero stops to discuss the true color of the Golden Gate bridge, orange vermillion. I'm not sure if the small crowd, pumped for the Innocence Mission, was entirely ready for a performance like Dondero's, but he showed no sign of wavering even when his opening query to audience ("Who likes the good state of Florida?") met with an odd silence. I was surprised that there were no wisecrackers who let out a solitary sarcastic whoop of approval.

After Dondero's performance, The Innocence Mission took the stage to much applause, opening with "Sweep Down Early" if memory serves me correctly. They continued to play through a good portion of the new album before tackling some of their older material. They did not, however, go much further back than "Glow." Songs from "Umbrella" and their self-titled debut were all but absent from the set list. At one point, Mike Bitts' bass amp (I couldn't quite see what he was fiddling with) refused to function and there was some good-natured exchange between Don Peris and the house audio crew, but Mike was back up quickly and the show continued. The audience was also treated to a rare performance of "Small Planes." Before the song, Karen admitted that they hadn't played the song prior to this tour since it had been recorded. All being said, I was incredibly satisfied with the show. The band played two out of the three songs that I most hoped they would play including "July" and, surprisingly, "Our Harry" during the encore. After one encore the band left the stage and did not return despite our fervent applause begging a return. We'll just have to wait until their next Chicago visit.

Currently listening to: Beck, Sunday Sun

Weekend Getaway (Slowly)

Amy and I went home for Rachel's wedding shower and Ian's bachelor party respectively. Joel and I took Ian to Dave and Buster's at the Waterfront in Homestead, blew a wad of cash, and had a great time in the process. There were only three of us, which was a bit of a disappointment. However, those that could not attend weren't simply no-shows. In fact, two out of the missing four were at another wedding. Both Ron and Ben were attending Ben's brother Chris' wedding. Adam couldn't make it due to his schedule and Jason was sick. They missed out on a good time, but nothing too wild. Our bachelor parties tend to be on the tame side as not all of this particular circle of friends imbibe, not to mention that we've never been the locker room bragging types, so the thought of a mostly naked stranger thrusting herself at us is not the kind of entertainment we need.

Regardless of how many attended or our lack of stereotypical vices, we had a good time getting together again. I know that some high school friends stay in touch, but I continue to find it amazing that all of us still manage to visit each other and even take group vacations together. It's been eleven years and we still make time for each other despite how slim that time gets. I usually wonder how many other groups of 5-6 high school friends remain that close even when they move across multiple states. I am sure we are not alone.

The drive to Pennsylvania was horrendous this time. Due to some nasty construction traffic, it took 10.5 hours to make a trip that will usually take us 8-8.5 hours. We sat for 2 hours in a virtual parking lot. However, we took a longer detour around the construction on the return trip but later discovered from one of Amy's coworkers who was also traveling west on I-80 to Chicago at approximately the same time that the traffic was merely slow. *sigh*

Now we have been back in Chicago for a few days and all is normal again. The house closing is approaching quickly with just over a month remaining until our move. Also, I have about 5 more weeks of leading the music at our church until I take an extended vacation which will be greatly appreciated. Looking forward...

Currently listening to: Miles Davis, All Blues

Sanitarium Review

You see, back in the 1980s and 90s there were these things called adventure games that one might play on one's home computer. One would usually direct some digital avatar to roam a pre-rendered universe in search of obtainable objects and then figure out which objects could be combined for use or directly used on a particular section of said pre-rendered universe. So, I began my adventure with... what? You say you don't understand? Oh, I forgot. Publishers have all but abandoned the adventure game. It's a darn shame, too. Many of my favorite games were adventure games. Fortunately, we still have some good adventure games available despite the fact that they are definitely a near-extinct species.

One such game that I completed recently is Sanitarium, developed by the defunct DreamForge Intertainment. Back in the late 1990s, I applied for work in their audio department and I can only attribute their demise to not hiring me. Anyway, now that my exaggerations are out of the way, let's get to the game. First of all, this was a refreshing experience. The PC game market seems to be severly stuck in a grey-ish green haze of World War II and other military-based games and the fantastical and colorful realm of a man's psyche is the perfect place to escape those drab depictions of real-world events.

As you start the game, you are introduced to a brief montage that explains why you wake up in a sanitarium with your head wrapped in bandages... almost. It is that 'almost' that keeps the plot moving. As you move through the game, you discover through flashbacks exactly what happened to you on that dark and stormy night when your car careened off of a tricky stretch of mountainous road. You're also treated to some childhood memories which give your character a good backstory and creates a character that you might actually give a rip about. As far as the story goes, without giving much more away, it is decent. (Adventure games, after all, are 90% story, 10% game mechanics.) You have probably heard it before: you're an amnesia patient, you don't know where you are, something bad has happened, et cetera, et cetera. However, the game is still worth a shot, especially at the current bargain price of $10. For that price, you'll find yourself exploring demonic farmsteads full of deformed children, abandoned circuses, haunted mansions, alien factories, Mayan ruins, and yes, even a sanitarium or two.

Speaking of game mechanics, the introductory level is a great introduction to the game's simple interface/control scheme which is nearly invisible. Basically, you click and hold the mouse button to move your character around. Or, if your character is stationary, you can go on a pixel hunt and wait for the cursor to change icons in order to discover what you can look at or pick up. Once you have items in your inventory, you can click on your character and a circular menu of the items you are holding opens. From there, you can click an item to select it and then attempt to click on an external object while holding the inventory item to see if they might interact. It's that simple. The only bad thing about the controls is getting your character to avoid staircases. Usually, if your character gets anywhere near a staircase, the ascending or descending animation kicks in and you'll have to wait until he gets to the other end of the stairs to return to where you were. Most of the time, this is only an annoyance. Only on a level that consists almost entirely of stairs does this become a true detriment.

The gameplay is quite simple. In fact, most of the game is easy enough that you'll be lucky to get more than 10 hours of play out of this title if you've ever played an adventure game before. That could be a good thing, though, too, especially if you don't have gobs of time to sit around and play games anymore. All of the puzzles in the game can be solved by some light brainwork. Unlike other adventure games, none of the puzzles in Sanitarium are throwbacks to traditional brain games like "Peg Jump." Even if you're not sure about how a particular object works, you'll figure it out if you just play around with it for a few minutes.

This game was released in 1998 and while it shows in the screen resolution, the graphics are still great. The backgrounds are lush, beautiful, spooky, and strange. Sometimes I found myself just looking at the screen and admiring the work of the 2D artists. Some of the best work was done on a later level that mixes all of the previous environs toghether. This game is just a beautiful sight. The animations are a bit herky-jerky, but this matters little once you're actually immersed in the plot.

The audio sounds good. In terms of the music, while some of the MIDI voices have not aged well, they did not annoy me and I doubt they'll annoy almost any player. The music is well suited for each environment. In fact, multiple pieces are used in each level in different areas. As you walk from an outdoor park area into a musty church, the music automatically changes to fit the area. The transitions are a bit rough, but I can forgive that in a six year old game. The sound effects are also particulary effective. Only the character's footsteps on gravel seemed a little out of place as they might be a bit too loud. The only area where the audio falls short is in the voice acting. The quality of the voice acting ranges from "pretty decent" to "dear God, that's gotta be the secretary from the dentist's office next door". If you watch the credits for the game, you'll see quite a few names from the development team reappear as voices of characters. Let this game stand as yet another example... if you have the budget, hire REAL ACTORS. Anything less sounds ridiculous and hokey. However, in the defense of the main character, he does a decent enough job. In the places where he falls short I might be more willing to attribute the mediocrity to the voice over direction at the recording sessions rather than his overall talent. See? If only they'd hired me!

If you like adventure games at all, I urge you to pick up this title. It's in the bargain bin at your local software retailer and at an approximate value of $1 per hour of play you cannot pass it up. You don't even get that kind of value out of a movie ticket. The game has a good albeit somewhat tired story that is well-paced by puzzles that are not overly difficult. And just in case it's not entirely clear, I don't really care that they didn't hire me anymore. After all, I wouldn't be employed anyway.

An Invisible Curtain

I woke up feeling alone again this morning. The feeling has decided to extend itself into midday as well, it seems. It's not really a "despair" kind of alone, just a sense that there is an invisible curtain surrounding me and unless I peek out, no one sees me. I walk along darkened corridors. And I walk along darkened corridors. It's a strange feeling, too, because at one moment I am cold and frightened and the next I am comforted by the idea that I am tucked away and out of sight. Didn't you ever find a great hiding place as a child and relish in the idea that you were so well hidden that the other kids would give up looking for you?

I finished Sanitarium last night. Expect a full reveiw in the coming days. I've read some reviews that praised the voice acting as "superb." Have these people never heard decent voice actors performing their characters? If one were to watch the credits, one would notice that half of the development team provided most of the voices, which usually isn't a good indicator of good things to come (or good things just past as the case may be). I refuse to give away any more before the post of the actual review.

Currently listening to: Camper Van Beethoven, Mao Reminisces About His Days In Southern China, which switched to: The Roots, You Ain't Fly while I was typing.

The Simpsons: Hit and Run Review, Pt. 2

I left off in the middle of my review yesterday so today, let's return to The Simpsons: Hit and Run.

My last major problem with S:H&R is with the camera. It is unweildy and problematic when your character is on foot. It will swing around wildly and unpredictably when what you really need is to see straight ahead. It would have been nice to have the ability to manuever the camera manually at some points, particularly when my character was next to a wall. Some jumping puzzles are rendered quite difficult because the camera is a solid object and cannot pass through any other solid object including walls, lampposts, or even tree leaves. For instance, in the first level, Homer must jump across multiple moving platforms to reach one of the objectives. When he is next to the wall, the camera will not move behind him because the wall is solid which makes finding a perfect line of sight to Homer's destination all but impossible. All of these problems are relatively nonexistent when the character is driving as the camera is confinded to following the path of the car.

In terms of the graphics, the models, textures, and animations are all well suited to the game. The colors are vivid and the models are well reproduced in three dimensions from their two-dimensional cartoon counterparts. I have read other complaints that the graphics are too plain, but I personally feel that this added to the impression that I was playing a cartoon. While the graphics are by no means "drool-inducing", they are more than sufficient to immerse me in the evirons of Springfield, USA.

The audio, particularly the voice over in S:H&R, is great . The original cast is entirely present to provide the voices that define the characters and hearing them spout lines from the show as well as some new material is a treat. The only time it starts to get a little weary is in a vehicle. Hearing Homer yell "Outta the way, jerkass!" was funny the first hundred times I heard it, but it got annoying after a while. The music is perfect as the soundtrack to the virtual lives of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Apu, smoothly weaving between jovial wandering themes and fist-pumping, adrenaline laced tracks during fast action sequences. While I haven't found myself whistling any of the tunes outside of the game, they are entirely effective in the game itself. The only drawback that I experience with the audio was annoying bug that occurred while driving certain cars. The engine sound would suddenly shift into a crashing static sound that interfered with all other sound channels. My only courses of action were to either reboot the game or turn my speakers off until the problem corrected itself.

All in all, The Simpson: Hit and Run is exactly what it sets itself up to be: an interesting jaunt through all of the little areas of Springfield that a Simpsons fan has come to know, filled with many of the oddball characters that have graced the screen at one point or another. The story, while not entirely compelling, is partially upstaged by all the quick-witted references to the show, which in the long run are what most of the fans of Simpsons lore want anyway. I recommend this game for even the more mild Simpsons fans out there. It is fun, albeit in increaingly brief play periods towards the end, it looks good, and it sounds great. However, I would definitely recommend picking this title up for whichever console flavor you prefer rather than the PC port. This is far and away a console title and one that deserves your attention if you've ever spent some time with The Simpsons television show.

Currently listening to: They Might Be Giants, If I Wasn't Shy

The Simpsons: Hit and Run Review, Pt. 1

The holiday weekend wasn't a total washout in our area. One might call it a drizzle-out to be more accurate. It rained off and on for three days and made for a lazy, uninspired Memorial Day weekend. While the rain-induced sloth was not totally unappreciated, it would have been nice to have seen sunshine for more than 30 minutes at a time before the next cold breeze waved more clouds toward the lakefront.

Due to the rain, I was able to get in plenty of game time which was completely well spent. I've wanted to play the PC adventure game Sanitarium since it came out in 1998, but I've never got around to it. Once Windows 2000 and XP became standard operating systems for me, the 9x-based game was destined for a buggy run on any of my machines and I avoided it. After that, it promplty fell off my must-play radar. However, with it's new monkey-bin re-release, the game has been optimized to run stably under XP and Amy picked it up for my birthday. A full review will be forthcoming, but let me preclude it by saying that I haven't played an adventure game since The Curse of Monkey Island and while I don't find Sanitarium to be quite as engaging a game, it is a breath of fresh air to play an adventure game again. I miss that genre. Adventure games need a Baldur's Gate to pull them from the ashes and I will stay faithful that that title will come eventually.

With Sanitarium over two-thirds complete, I feel safe enough to review The Simpsons: Hit and Run despite the fact that I have only played five out of the seven levels that it offers. First of all, I had read a lot of reviews that proclaimed that this was the game that Simpsons fans had long awaited and deserved. While that statement is true in terms of references to the show and all the little inside jokes that go with them, it is not quite true about the gameplay. I had a blast with S:H&R for the first three levels. But, I began to realize at the start of level 4 (Marge's level) that I wasn't going to see anything new besides the cutscenes. As I played through the fourth level, it was obvious that the mission objectives were each identical to tasks I had performed before with other characters not to mention that the environments began to recycle as well. *yawn* To add insult to injury, the objectives were never that interesting in the first place. I would bet rather safely that nearly 50% of the objectives in the entire game are of the FedEx variety: go to the guy across town and get the special object. Then, bring the special object back here. *yawn* By the time I started level 5 with Apu, the novelty was gone, I recognized the same areas, and the mission objectives were only loose carbon copies of each other.

Also in the gameplay category, the controls are not configureable enough for a PC game. While using a WASD configuration is good for some things, it is not good for subtle steering movements that require any amount of precision. This is where the control scheme of S:H&R really falls short. For a game that is mostly focused on driving, it sure would have been nice if I had been able to assign the steering controls on my car to be controlled by the mouse with the braking and accelerating controlled by keys on the keyboard. But, in their infinite wisdom, Radical chose to limit me to using the alpha keyboard to steer the car, thereby further limiting my mouse to the task of braking and accelerating by pressing the mouse buttons. Now, some might argue that I should be using a gamepad to play this game. However, I would counter that statement by saying that I don't play PC games so that I can use console-stlye interfaces. I play PC games because of the amounts of configuration that one can acheive so that the interface can be adapted to one's personal style of play. In short, just let me configure the controls.

That's all I have time for today. I'll post the rest of this review at a later date.

Currently listening to: Robyn Miller, "Sirrus' Cache" from the Myst OST