Graphics != Gameplay?

Have you ever read one of those arguments on the Internet about gameplay being more important than graphics? Usually they begin with that argument and don't get very far until someone calls the person who made the argument a liar. Person One only thinks they value gameplay over graphics, says Person Two. In actuality, continues Person Two, Person One is only deluding himself due to a haze of nostalgia and if Person One actually tried to play an older game for more than thirty minutes they'd soon find themselves pining for something that looks more contemporary.

I can now say that I have empirically experienced that Person Two is most definitely wrong. On a whim, I reinstalled the original Half-Life on my PC and began playing it for a fourth time. Guess what? I don't even notice the graphics 95% of the time. You know what I do notice? The audio. All the dialogue and sound effects are played back at 22kHz and except for the weapon sounds, it makes everything just kind of muffled compared to what I'm now accustomed to hearing. As I've played through even more of the game, I've found that I don't even notice the audio anymore except for dialogue. Voices are very hard to understand at lower sample rates with environmental effects applied.

Obviously, this audio critique is my bias. But I would maintain that it's not that Person Two is completely wrong. It's just that people that only appreciate with their eyes can't quite grasp the people who don't. The point that Person One is trying to make to Person Two is that graphics aren't the whole picture. It sure is nice when they're pretty, but even when they're not, the game can still be fun. I can now wholly attest to this point. I tried playing Far Cry and I just wasn't having fun (sorry Ian). I'm playing Half-Life for the fourth time and I'm having almost as much fun playing it as I did eight years ago.

I guess in Person Two's defense, if I were more of a visual person then I might weigh graphics more heavily in determining the fun quotient of a game. But I don't and I'm not a liar for saying so.

..\My Pictures

One night while Amy and I were home for Christmas at my parents' house, I couldn't sleep (which seems to be a theme with me). Not wanting to disturb Amy, I chose to spend some time sifting through stuff in my old room. My room had been turned into a storage room quite a while ago and I spied some old photographs that I had taken in a photography class about ten years ago. Some of them were just awful, but there were a handful that I still liked after a decade and I brought those home with us.

Amy bought some simple but elegant frames for them and I spent time yesterday cutting the museum-sized mounting boards to fit the smaller frames. I'm happy with the way they turned out although I wish I had cut the prints at more exact angles when I applied them to the boards a decade ago. I must say that having my own art hanging in the house is something I have never experienced before. I'm quite proud of those photographs and I'm happy to have a chance to display my work.

I can't do that with music at all. With music, I'd have to persuade anyone who comes over to spend five minutes pretending to like what I've written while we sit staring at each other in silence. This is not to say that I'd rather be a visual artist. It's just that visual art is more convenient as a conversation piece. You can look at it and use your mouth at the same time which really isn't possible with music.

Eight Years

Amy and I are traveling to Galena again in March and I can't wait because I really want a vacation no matter how small. It's technically our anniversary trip that we had to put off because things are so busy right now. It's hard for me to believe we've been married for eight years now (on the 20th). For me, the first four years were a blur. I remember where we lived and what we were doing and the people we knew, but it seems like ancient history. I love to think back in awe at how we made it through those first few years. Amy was counting and sorting coupons to make sure we could save twenty-five cents on a loaf of bread. We had two movie theaters withing walking distance of our first apartment but we would drive 45 minutes to West Mifflin to go to the theater that had two dollar seats rather than pay eight dollars for the same seats and newer movies. We hardly ever went out to eat. There was a well-respected seafood place on the corner that we never went to because we never could have afforded it. We've since promised ourselves that we would go back someday. We mooched a free dial-up connection service from the University of Pittsburgh because we couldn't pay the ten or fifteen bucks a month for a more reliable service. We lived on a busy street directly next to on of the busiest highways in the city. But we made it and if we ever have kids I can't wait to bore them with stories of how Amy and I pulled through a really tough time because we needed each other. Happy eighth, Amy!

Ohio River Working Class

I was just listening to a song called Way Down Watson by Son Volt and it reminded me of the times I spent driving up and down Routes 60 and 65 when I used to install cable modems. Despite being one of the darker periods in my life, I will never forget those months in the fall when I would look across the river from whichever side I was on to see the trees exploding with color. I had made a mix tape that contained a lot of slow, rather depressing music like the song previously mentioned that, with the sight of the colorful trees in the golden September sun would keep me calm when I would get frustrated with a rude customer.

Baden and Ambridge and Aliquippa being depressed manufacturing towns all seemed so sad at times but I always found it comforting to know that I probably wouldn't have to put up with any millionaire jackasses when I was working in those places. They were hard-working, honest people like me and didn't blow a fuse when things didn't always go their way. Nice people were always more abundant in the poorer areas than the golf course communities. Of course, this isn't to say that I didn't meet nice people who had a lot of money or poor people who behaved badly, but it was more often the other way around. Sorry, my prejudice is my own responsibility.

Ultimately, I'm glad I went through those times. I was unhappy, no doubt. Even now, just thinking about Pittsburgh makes me feel a little sad. But going through all of that taught me about how to be more self-reliant, that sometimes I just had to do something even though I abhorred it because if I didn't, I couldn't eat or have a heated house. It also helped me to set my sights on the goal of my career and although I missed the bullseye slightly, I still hit the target in a good spot.

Uploading...

There's not too much going on except for work lately. I've been working seven days a week for the last three weeks or so with no real end in sight. I'm not complaining too much, though. I'm basically earning money to build the studio I've always wanted. While I plan it out, we're going to sink the extra cash into various outstanding debts. Right now, I'm just killing some time while I upload assets.

D&D has been going strong now for awhile and our characters are third level, getting a bit more powerful. We're kind of stuck/lost in a cavern right now so I hope we get out during the next session without any unpleasant deaths or anything. I'm also having a good time playing some PC games on my 22" montior. Most of my games support the native resolution and, for the time being anyway, my current video card hasn't had to many problems handling the high resolution. Personally, I don't mind a few jaggies here and there. I mostly just want to have a good time for a couple of hours. :)