All the pieces are spread out before you. Trying to find the puzzle pieces isn’t part of the puzzle, it’s all about figuring out how they fit together. Stealth games should be the same. Videogames can do a lot of interesting things, but the stealth genre doesn’t seem to have the same traction as others. I think that’s because the code for what makes great stealth mechanics hasn’t been broken yet. So I’m going to pretend like I have some answers. 

Can the manticore bite through steel? Does the dragon’s fire melt stone? What happens when someone gets hit with those mage fireballs? Any piece of fiction that has fantastical, sci-fi, superhero, or any variation of those elements needs to have consistent internal logic. It’s the thing that keeps us, the audience, rooted in the world even though Strongman is swinging a bus like a baseball bat. 

I have no idea.

Okay, I have some of an idea. Like a third of one. 

The Witcher 2 was a huge improvement over the first. I liked the action more, felt more involved with the story, and felt like I needed to rely more on managing which potions and bombs I used. All in all, it was pretty great. 

Some minor spoilers below.

It’s always interesting to see everyone’s reflections on a year. For some it was amazing, with career achievements and relationships flourishing, for others it was hellish, with careers failing and relationships breaking. It’s bittersweet to see another year pass. 

A while ago I mentioned that I was working on a new series called the Investigative Privateers. Book one, The Horned Scarab, was suppose to come out late October (hah--hah). Obviously that hasn’t happened, and for the moment it has been postponed until early 2016.

I’ve finally got the chance to play some PC games, and one of the first things on my list was the Witcher series. It’s one of the boats I missed out on, and now I’m finally getting a chance to try ‘em out. But man, the first Witcher game is rough.

Some minor spoilers below. 

This year's NaNoWriMo, unsurprisingly, went pretty horribly. I’m some 40k words short of the goal, and unless some divine intervention happens, I’m not going to hit the 50k mark. The month started off great, I was hitting the daily goals and trucking along feeling good, and then a sweaty wad of life decided to fling itself into my face.