Haven’t felt much like blogging lately. I blame it on having a furry friend to play with. Here are a few new pictures.
I figured out how to make the demon eyes go away in Photoshop, thanks to this tutorial…
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I’ve wanted a dog for a really, really long time. And now that I work from home, I’m able to have one.
Ignore her funky left eye. Apparently Photoshop’s red eye reduction doesn’t work on dogs.
Her name is Rosy, and we think she’s a Chihuahua / Italian Greyhound mix. She’s about a year old, and was found in September wandering the streets. She’s been at the Marin Humane Society since then… well, after doing a stint at San Quentin, where she took part in a foster care program that pairs shy dogs up with inmates for a few months to help socialize them. She’s still a bit nervous, which isn’t too surprising considering her breed and her background, but she’s settling in with us and is a very sweet dog. I never thought I’d get a Chihuahua, but they’re kind of hard to avoid these days…
We’ve had her about a week, and just finalized the adoption this morning. So I’ve gone from sleeping in and spending much of the day on the couch (writing! really!) to taking two walks a day, thanks to plenty of prodding from the man of the house. So far, so good.
(Here’s another picture, minus scary demon eyes. I love that stoic face.)
My review of Chronicles of Mystery: The Tree of Life went up this morning at Adventure Gamers. This is the first City Interactive game I’ve played, although I’ve been vaguely aware of their existence for a year or so now. They’re churning out regular installments of two adventure game series (The Art of Murder and Chronicles of Mystery) and let’s face it, these days any company that commits to putting out multiple installments of a new series—and actually follows through—deserves applause and a bit of attention.
Unfortunately the game suffers from low-budgetosis in many areas. This may sound like a petty complaint, but the characters’ idle animations are awful and they diverted my attention for much of the game (not in a good way). I also had a lot of problems with the way the story was told, and since for me experiencing an interesting story is the main reason for playing an adventure game in the first place, this really sapped my enjoyment. Plus the game falls into some standard adventure pitfalls that I may have been able to deal with back in the eighties when I didn’t know any better, but today just don’t have the patience for.
Even so, if you’re an adventure game fan (and more patient than I am), it’s a game you might want to check out—or at the very least, a company to keep on your radar. I get the impression that these issues are not unique to The Tree of Life, but that’s not to say City Interactive won’t keep improving…
In other news, Heather’s Kickstarter project has jumped to 94% funded, with about 10 hours left to go. She only needs around $500 more. That’s nothing! If you haven’t already pledged, maybe forego that latte today and pitch in a few bucks to a good cause instead?
Emily is a freelance writer, miniaturist, and adventure game enthusiast.
If you have comments about this site or would like to get in touch regarding a freelance opportunity, please write to hello -at- emilymorganti.com.
