Flight from Shadow

Hey everyone,

Remember that one time I went to LTUE and saw a really cool special about a fan film that was shot here in Utah?  Yeah, so that fan film has FINALLY made it to the interwebs!  Yaay!  Check it out below!



Awesome, right?

All of this was filmed here in Utah.  Doesn't the kid that plays Rand look familiar?  Hmmmm... I wonder where we've seen him before.  (Hint: He plays an important historical figure who was extremely important to the restoration of the Gospel.  Yeah, THAT guy.)  So what do I love so much about this?

The first thing I love about this is the production value.  The costumes and sets are so well done you would think they were done by a big name studio.  All of this was done from donations.  No one in this fan film made any money.  They just poured a bunch of time, money, energy, sweat, and blood into a project mostly because they just love the Wheel of Time.  Now that's some serious fandom!

So why would anyone put all these resources into a project that isn't going to pay back?

Now hold on one second there.  Not going to pay back?  Oh, this pays back.  It doesn't pay back in money (at least not directly or right away) but it certainly pays back.  The cast and crew involved with this work now have a resume of work to show.  It's also measurable.  Enough youtube views will turn the heads of bigger studios.

A big project like this shows that you can work in a team and it also shows serious dedication.  The Tavern scene was shot in the summer.  The actors talked about how hot they were and how completely uncomfortable it was.  They did it though because they love it.  If you really love something then you'll suffer being outside of your comfort zone for it to be part of your life.  It takes sleepless nights and sacrifice to accomplish dreams like animation, getting a book published, building up a business, or making a successful blog.

So let's give Wheel of 9 productions a big pat on the back by watching their video and sharing it on social networking sites.

-Stephen

The Gender Button

There’s a complaint among video game players that female characters are nothing but sex objects or the reward for the male hero to receive after he rescues her from Bowser. Valid points, but I’ve noticed a relatively new trend popping up in games that seems to not only address the problem but catapult it to the other side of the spectrum.

Let me explain: I recently bought Diablo 3 for X Box 360. Now having grown up with the Diablo series, I was always perturbed that in order to be a sorcerer or an assassin I had to either be a scantily clad Storm knock off or a sassy Catwoman knock off respectively. Diablo 3 addressed this issue by making every character either male or female based off an option in character creation. The only thing this changes in gameplay is how the character looks and sounds.

This isn’t the first game I’ve seen this in. I first saw it in Knights of the Old Republic, but I’ve seen it in the Mass Effect series, the Elder Scrolls series and Saints Row. These games keep the stories the same, even though the gender of the character is changed.

I’m not sure if this is really a good thing or not. It seems to me that this makes the statement that gender is a purely cosmetic differentiation and has no sociological differentiations or differences in how different genders react to situations.

Before you start screaming that I’m some sort of misogynist, I’m not saying that female characters should run around in hysterics just because they’re facing a dragon. Take Korra from the Legend of Korra series. Korra’s gender has never come into play in the series, except with her interaction with the Fire Ferrets. Korra’s not out to prove that she’s tough for a girl, or a good female Avatar, she’s out to prove that she’s tough, and that she’s a good Avatar. Yet if her character were to be replaced with a male character, aside from the romantic aspect, would anyone be able to tell? And is that a bad thing?

I guess that’s really the interesting question here: While female characters shouldn’t be dressed up as Playboy bunnies, can these societies really exist? If we didn’t have years of gender oppression or gender stereotyping, would men and women react exactly the same if they were put into the exact same situation?

Of course, this could all just be that it’s easier to make a different skin and voice for a character rather than write and animate two completely different stories based on gender, all to please insufferable fans who prefer playing male characters when it really doesn’t matter to the story, but it’s an interesting thought none the less.

What do you think?

-JOE

Even more Minecraft variants: Dwarves vs. Zombies! and Terra Firma Craft

Minecraft is a really cool game.  I mean, even in it's unaltered form, it can provides hours of entertainment, exploration, zombie fighting, and building.  When the game is modded, it can add a whole new level of experience to the game.  In fact, there are even whole servers devoted to providing various interesting Minecraft based games.  Want to play hide and seek? There is a server that plays that!  Plays get disguised as various blocks in the world.  Want to play the hunger games? Yes, there is a server for that too!  I'm going to cover two different modifications that I have actually played.

Dwarves Vs Zombies!

At it's hard, Dwarves vs. Zombies (or DvZ) is a roleplaying game at heart.  The players all take the role of dwarves and spawn into an area.  They are required to gather resources, craft armor, cook cakes, and build up a fortress to withstand the upcoming onslaught of monsters.  As the night comes, a horrific event will occur that will kill off some of the dwarves.  Sometimes, it is a mighty fire breathing dragon.  Other times, it is a horrific plague.  I've also seen rat swarms, tornadoes, and a black cloud of pure death.  Once a dwarf dies, they come back as a monster.  They can choose to be a zombie, skeleton, or creeper.  Each of them functions pretty similar to regular Minecraft mobs, except they are controlled by players. Zombies get a powerful regeneration effect.  Skeletons can cause a wither effect if they shoot someone.  Creepers well...explode.  There are even special monsters that will randomly spawn in like the wolverine, super creepers, spider kings, squirds, kraken, and the iron golem.  The game can be played, for free, at www.brucesgym.com. (Note that the server IP for Minecraft and for a web browser is the same).

Every week, the creator of Bruce's Gym gets on and does a streaming even of Dwarves vs. Zombies.  When the creator is involved, all sorts of new and exciting things can happen.  No game is the same.  Be warned they do use strong language in the stream.  The stream can be found here.

Terra Firma Craft

Terra Firma Craft is a mod for vanilla Minecraft.  According to it's website, it is 'survival as it should have been'.  It definitely does live up to its name.  Terra Firma Craft completely changes how Minecraft is played. For instance, a player can't start a new game, and immediately start punching down a tree.  First, they have to break the leaves of a tree to collect sticks.  Then they collect rocks from the ground and knap them to create an ax head.  Combining the ax head with a stick creates an ax.  The player can then chop down the tree, causing the entire tree to break, dropping it's logs on the ground.  It gets far more complicate and intricate from there.

As the player breaks the stones on the ground, they may find small bits of metal.  Using clay and a crafting bench, they can create a clay mold.  When cooked in a fire pit (yes, there are fire pits!) it becomes a ceramic mold.  The player then heats up the metal till its melting point and the melted metal is stored in a ceramic mold.  When enough metal is melted, the resulting liquid must be cooled, then shaped into an ingot using an anvil (or a piece of rock at the beginning of the game).  Then the ingot can be shaped into a tool head.  Also, the ingot must be at the right workable temperature in order to be shaped. (See the Metals article for temperature details).

Also, animals can't be instantly bred!  There are male and female animals.  When 'bred' there is a gestational period and after that, a baby animal is created.  There are even fruit trees in the game that can be planted and pruned.  Agriculture has a lot more crops than vanilla Minecraft, each of which uses a different nutrient from the soil.

All in all, it is a very detailed and complicated mod.  As a single player, it was a lot of work to keep myself alive and well fed for the first few portions of the games.  Monsters like zombies and skeletons are a lot more dangerous than in vanilla Minecraft (especially with only a knife to protect myself).  It is a very fun Minecraft mod if you are looking for something different to try or something more challenging.

That's all for today.  Happy gaming.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

This past Saturday, my wife decided to do a 15-mile walk known as the Provo River Walk (or something like that.) She wanted me to join her on it, so I did. I of course, only did 9.5 miles. Not because I'm lazy, but because my injured back was so bad (starting around mile 4 and killing me by mile 8), that if I didn't stop the walk, I'd probably be in bed still. Needless to say, I spent a lot of yesterday trying to ease the pain in my back. During this time, I decided to find something to watch and noticed that this new show, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (hereafter MAoS), was on Hulu. So I watched it.

Let me start with my background knowledge of this piece of the Marvel universe. I have seen Thor, Iron Man (not 2 or 3), Captain America, and The Avengers. My only knowledge of Agent Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D. is what I recall from The Avengers and a sleight memory of Coulson being in Thor. Other than that, I'm blank. My fear for this show is a repeat of Lost and Heroes. Meaning: over-saturated cast with poorly-resolved storylines. However, the first episode impressed me. It stood fairly alone. Yeah, I'm sure that won't last long. But for an opening episode to end in a there-will-be-more cliffhanger. It wasn't one of those "Oh, I'm annoyed I have to watch to know what happened." For a series premier MAoS did it right. This show left me with very little question as to what was going on. Had I not seen The Avengers, I still wouldn't have been confused b/c I'm not living under a rock and know what movies Marvel has put out. There was only 1 reference that made me question having missed something, and that's Melinda May, played by Ming-Na Wen. (If you don't know, I'm a fan of Ming-Na Wen's. First, she was on ER, but I don't know her from that since I only watched a few episodes of it. Second, she was the voice of Mulan, so she's awesome for that. Third she was Chun-Li in Street Fighter. And finally, she was on the 4th/5th seasons of Eureka, which is one of my favorite shows ever.) The way May was referenced in conversation between Coulson and West made me wonder if she has a history we should know of. In the end, I enjoyed the way this pilot went. I didn't feel lost. I didn't feel like "I hate these cliffhangers." And most importantly, I didn't feel "there are too many characters." Alien abductions are involuntary, but probings are scheduled.

ARGGGHHH ZOMBIES

Its  Halloween next month so this week I have decided to write about my best picks for Zombie related books in case your in the mood for a little horror.  I have a love for horror and the poor zombie has a special place in my heart.  No brains and an insatiable hunger, just like me before I go in to work my graveyard shift. And these books are definitely creepy enough for a little Halloween reading.

WORLD WAR Z

Author:  Max Brooks, the guy who wrote "The Zombie Survival Guide."

World War Z as a book is brilliant, in a way that might not be immediately apparent. The thing that is genius about this book is that it presents the story in a more realistic way. Something I have noticed about the Zombie genre is that the more realistic the story and how it is told is the easier it is to suspend the disbelief that the dead have returned as mindless eating machines.

Max Brooks has done this in a brilliant way. He has turned the book into an investigatory document. It is a series of interviews. Each person interviewed in the story had a unique view of the zombie war and how it progressed. And because the novel is written as a series of documented interviews it gives an immediacy and a realism that I have not seen often.

The story is not about the zombies which I might add is the other thing he has done right. It is about the governments, and the people, and what they decide to do when the world as they know it ends. You meet a range of different people in the story and each has a piece to contribute to the whole. Children, adults, regular guys, army, and military, lots of different walks of life are represented. Each characters perspective is different and some even are a little contrary. It reminded me of reading first hand accounts and primary sources in my history classes at college. And that is why this is my number one zombie book. It gets a PG 13 Rating for language and it is pretty dark in a few accounts this is not a warm fuzzy book. (Now that I think about it, I think most of my picks will have the same rating for the same reason, hard to find good horror books without tons and tons of language.)

NEWSFLESH TRILOGY
Author: Mira Grant

My number two pick for Zombie brain munching awesomeness is the Mira Grant series that begins with the book “FEED.” Once again the book isn’t about the zombies but around the world that is filled with the undead brain munchers. “Feed” takes place in a world after the zombie apocalypse. And even though the worst already happened just like any other natural disaster, life continued. There are zombie protection systems that include never ending blood tests given by a modified version of a diabetic tester. There are laws governing safe and unsafe behaviors. And the Internet reigns supreme in a world where walking outside might be the last choice you make. So of course the main character is a blogger who is going to accompany a presidential candidate on campaign. I won’t tell you more because I will ruin it for you. But I will tell you there are a lot of twists and turns in this one and it’s worth the read.

This one also gets a PG 13 for language throughout.

MONSTER HUNTER INTERNATIONAL

Author:  Larry Corriea

The Monster Hunter books are quite frankly one of the funnest book romps I have ever had. They are not really Zombie books, but there are tons (literally I think there might be tons) of zombies in the series. These books are funny, full of paranormal monsters, and feature lots and lots of guns and stuff going boom. They are the literary equivalent of a smart action movie. The story centers around Owen Zestava Pitt, not so mild mannered CPA who after pushing his boss, a turned werewolf out a window is picked up by a secret organization that hunts monsters for bounties from the government. It is funny and clever. And once again features lots of Zombies as well as other creepy monsters. There is more to it then that, but once again I am not going to give you much because, I don’t want to spoil it. This one is also a PG13, for language again.

ELANTRIS

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Elantris is number four. Technically it’s not a book about zombies but I classify it so because the Elantrians are neither dead nor are they really alive. So they are sorta Zombies. I admit I could have included other Zombie books here but really none of the others I have read are good enough to make the cut. (I admit I havn’t read every zombie book but still) Anyway. The Elantrians were once worshiped as Gods, but all that changed ten years before the start of the book. I won’t tell you too much about the book for fear of giving something away but I will say that Sanderson has done something rather brilliant with his magic system and with the Elantrian’s here and so I recommend it. This is probaply also the only book that will recieve a PG rating.

 I hope you all enjoy these as much as I have.

Tracee McClellan

  

Animation Showcase

Hey Everyone!

Want to see what's been keeping me busy?  You do?!  Great!  I've been working a lot in my animation class.  Each week we have to turn in a walk cycle.  One walk cycle can be 14 to maybe even 30-something frames long.  One or two frames can be one drawing.  That's a lot of drawing!  And that's okay because it's what I love to do.

So here's what I've done thus far.

Like this zombie?  I was trying to do something different.  This ended up being a bit more challenging than what I was used to.  Zombies drag their foot behind them and then fall to move forward.  Very different from your average cartoon character.

For this one I did everything digitally in a program called Toon Boom Animate.  Toon Boom is what is used for most cartoon feauture length films and tv shows like Legend of Korra.  The hand drawn stuff you see above and below is drawn by hand on paper and using a lightboard.  It is then taken to a capture station where a camera is mounted and takes pictures of your drawings.  I really like using Toon Boom.  It makes stuff easier.  You get a nice clean look too while retaining a hand drawn effect.

Yeah, I'm not perfect.  Ha ha.  This and the other ones are pretty flawed.  That said, I am learning and I'm learning to be skilled on a deadline.  This is an invaluable skill for me to develop.

Hope you enjoyed some of my work.  More exciting stuff is on the horizon.

-Stephen

Winter is Coming

I recently read George RR Martin’s book Game of Thrones, a fantasy novel of kings, knights, intrigue and war. One thing I thought was especially interesting in the book was that each family, or house, has a saying, like a motto to remind themselves who they are and what they stand for. The saying that interested me was the Stark’s motto “Winter is coming”. While this saying does point to some of the fantasy aspects of the world, IE that summers and winters can last decades and even centuries, the phrase means more than just snow and ice.

The book takes place in a fantasy land called the Seven Kingdoms, which fourteen years before had been the scene of a major civil war where the nobles overthrew an evil king. Helping them was Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell, the northernmost kingdom in the seven lands. Since the war he and his family have lived in relative peace, where he has had children and taught them the virtue of honor in a world where summer has lasted for years.After a couple chapters of bliss the family is thrown into an intrigue involving kings and murder where there honor is put through its ultimate test.

This is where the Starks words draw their inner meaning. “Winter is coming” is a warning to the entire family that, no matter how happy things are now, always be ready for when things become hard, cold, and nearly unbearable.

It sounds like a grim promise, but I think the warning has more strength in it than despair. The word winter reminds them that suffering and hard times are inevitable. No summer lasts forever. I’ve seen men come home from firesides, experiential weekends, and even exceptionally good parties saying how happy they were and how things will be so much better forever and ever. It may be true, they can certainly take good things from anything and enjoy them, but the happiness can’t last forever. At one point something hard comes, a trial, or a temptation rolls its ugly head around and the happy times becomes a fleeting memory. I’ve seen many a tear shed for lost summers.

This warning is reflected in the teachings of our beloved prophets. How many talks have been about food storage? How many times did we get those talks about mission preparation in Young Men’s or seminary? BYU has entire classes on how to prepare for marriage, and the prophets throughout the ages have always told us to prepare for the second coming. Now yes these can be glorious and beautiful things, but I know personally that some of my hardest trials came on my mission, and as much fun as my Disney themed wedding reception will be, I know that marriage will hold its own set of trials as well as blessings.

So as summer winds down and fall begins, I find the Stark’s words both a comfort and a warning. Winter is coming in many ways, and I need to be prepared for what’s coming, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be prepared for what’s coming. Back to the story, the Starks end up scattered across the kingdoms, being tried over and over in every way imaginable, but in every instance the characters personal preparation for such times shines through. “Winter is coming” doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the good times, but it means we can’t think of them as lasting forever so we can both enjoy them all the more and use them to get us through when things become cold and dark.

-JOE

5 Free Steam Games

I first started writing this article to share 3 Steam games that I have played that are completely free.  However, when I looked on Steam, I noticed that there are far more than 3 games that are free.  There are 73 as of the time that I wrote this article (17th of September).  I've even played some of these free games!

Let's break down the list.

Alien Swarm

On here because it is one of the first free Steam games I played.  The player takes the role of a space marine investigating a facility.  On the way, the player encounters the swarm, an alien race determined to eat all the humans.  With 4 player classes and many different weapons, the game is fun and exciting to play.  The game is a top-down shooter that is normally played co-op and requires coordination between the party members to execute well.  The game was simple, entertaining, and was free of those annoying 'have to pay to access this feature' things that seem to plague other free to play games.

Spiral Knights

In Spiral Knights, the players take the role of a group of spiral knights who have crash landed on a mysterious planet.  As they try to investigate the powerful energy source at the center of the planet, they discover a mysterious set of levels called the Clockworks, which is full of dangerous monsters and traps. I've found that there is a large variety of level design in the games and the community is pretty friendly to other players.  The weapons are fun, but the gameplay can get a little simplistic after awhile.  I've yet to make it down to the 'Core', but I'm getting close!

Warframe

Warframe can be best described as 'ninja robots that kill things'.  I have yet to discover any significant plot in the game.  The game is in an Open Beta state, and might actually change dramatically in the near future.  The player takes control of a Tenno which uses a Warframe that has a loadout of three weapons.  The levels are laid out as different parts of the solar system (a little hard to explain).  Mercury has 7 levels and at some point unlocks access to the Venus levels.  In some places, it branches out, giving a slightly non-linear approach to levels.  If you check this game out, expect to find exciting, fast paced, shooter combat that can get really confusing, especially when three other players are added to the mix.

Dungeons & Dragons: Online

I was really excited when I first heard about this game.  I just discovered that it is also on Steam.  Being a longtime Dungeons and Dragons fan, I decided to check the game out.  Actually playing Dungeons & Dragons as a computer game rather than a table top means a much different experience.  For one thing, I can't sit and ponder my choices as a wizard.  Instead, I have to run around, cast spells on the fly and think quickly.  It was a fun game.  The worst part: I didn't have any friends to play with. So, if you have a group of friends that wants to meet up online instead of in person, Dungeons & Dragons online might be the game for you.

The Lord of the Rings Online

Feeling burned out with World of Warcraft and other multiplayer online games?  Tired of feeling like the class you are playing as does everything else another class does?  Looking for combat that is intricate and different? Well, Lord of the Rings Online might be the game for you!  Lord of the Rings Online is one of the most unique games I've played before.  It stands in the class of it's own, really.  I played a bit as a Lore Master.  Not like the mage from another game, I had a multitude of abilities that could buff allies, summon monsters, heal, debuff enemies, or even damage them directly.  It was a nice break from the typical fireball wielding wizards I found in other games.  Besides the combat, I got to run around Middle Earth, explore, fight all sorts of monsters, and even grow tobacco!

Well, that about wraps up the list of free games being covered in this post.  If you see a game you like on the list, or one that I may have missed, feel free to comment about it below.  Above all, have fun gaming!
-Andrew

Podcast: Episode 2: Fantasy Books with Michael Young

T.J. does our 2nd podcast with one of Mormon Geeks' recurring guests, Michael Young. Their topic is fantasy books.

MORMON GEEKS D&D

Hay folks Joe here! Find us on twitter (@mormongeeks) and join us tonight at 6 for Mormon Geeks Dungeons and Dragons live, hosted by Andrew Airmet and yours truly! Hope to see you there!
-JOE
P.S. Check out our guest writer Casey Winter's latest post on Lord of the Rings! Just scroll down! :D