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Montgomery Markland

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Posts posted by Montgomery Markland

    Monty Markland leaving Obsidian?

    in Obsidian General

    Posted

    I am Arthur Frayn, and I am Zardoz. I have lived 300 years, and long to die. But death is no longer possible, I am immortal. I present now my story - full of mystery and intrigue. Rich in irony, and most satirical. It is set deep within a possible future, so none of these events have yet occurred. But they may! Be warned, lest you end as I. In this tale I am a fake god by occupation, and a magician by inclination. Merlin is my hero! I am the puppet master. I manipulate many of the characters and events you will see. But I am invented too for your entertainment and amusement. And you, poor creatures, who conjured you out of the clay? Is God in showbusiness too?

    Monty Markland leaving Obsidian?

    in Obsidian General

    Posted

    How about feeling apathy instead? I mean, if you were working for McDonald's and Burger King offered $2 more per hour, wouldn't you say "Screw you, McDonald's!" in a heartbeat and switch? Business is business. Games are not art.

     

    Mixing business and art is a feat rarely accomplished, but it is not an impossibility as many great novels and films attest. The game industry is still in its nascent stages. For most of the early days of "movies," the "art form" consisted of nickel arcades showing nudie flicks. One of the first great "works of art" in the film industry was the unabashedly prejudicial The Birth of a Nation. Movies had been around in various forms, primarily exploitative, for the better part of two decades when D.W. Griffith's epic hit the screens.

     

    As for equating Obsidian to McDonald's, the analogy is so absurd as to not warrant challenge.

    Monty Markland leaving Obsidian?

    in Obsidian General

    Posted

    I am leaving Obsidian. It is by choice; but that is not a reflection on Obsidian -- I simply have an opportunity any reasonable person would pursue.

     

    Obsidian is a great studio. I would love to work with all of the owners again in the future.

     

    I'll miss working with many of the game creators at the company; but I intend to see them all socially as I am not leaving Southern California.

     

    As for "company loyalty" and that other nonsense... The average time spent at a single company is dropping across all industries. This isn't the 1950s; I'm not going to sexual harass the secretary and I'm not going to hold onto some vestige of feudal fealty in the form of "corporate loyalty."

     

    Business is business.

    Aspiring Game Designer

    in Developers' Corner

    Posted

    1) Start a mod team for a game such as Half Life, Unreal, Call of Duty, Crysis, Fallout, etc. Keep the scope of your mod small (one single awesome playable level) and add one unique, compelling gameplay feature to the game. When you have that finished, polish it for months, work on the audio, the visuals, everything. Create the most awesome section of game for whatever modding platform you have chosen and then use that as your demo reel. You'll get interviews if you execute well and the rest is up to you and your interviewing skills. (This route has the con that you are not making connections inside of the industry while you are working on your reel).

     

    2) Get a job doing QA for a studio and in your spare time learn the tech that the studio uses and create the exact same thing I described above in your spare time. Do a competent job as a QA guy at the same time. Use your creations as your internal job application. This approach probably has a higher success rate, but it chains your ability to advance to the studio you work in some regards (ie you might not ever be able to show what you make to anyone outside the studio, limiting your portfolio's utility unless you go make something with some publicly accessible tools).

     

    Basically, make an awesome level for a game and you will get a job unless you are scum (and if your level is awesome enough you can probably get away with being scum too -- I'm sort of scummy sometimes and I have a job).

    Names names...

    in Computer and Console

    Posted

    Ancient evil comes back to wipe everyone out is one of the oldest stories the human race tells. So, it's not really fair to say anyone ripped it off when they are telling a variation of the old myth.

     

    There is nothing new under the sun.

    man our aliens rpg is going to be so sweet

    in Aliens RPG: Speculation & Discussion

    Posted

    Two...are these two romantically linked?

    Not even remotely.

     

    you really do hate romance, don't you?

    He hasn't replied to any of the sexy pictures of me I sent him, so I assume he must.

     

    Oh, you actually sent those to me. Would you like me to forward them on?

    Don't worry, I've sent them to lots of people.

     

    I want some.

     

    One day, an RPG easter egg will feature the dreaded quote monster.

     

    I'd prefer sexy pictures of Aram.

     

    I want both.

     

    I just wanted to increase the quote depth.

    Which films should I bother with?

    in Aliens RPG: Speculation & Discussion

    Posted

    Alien is one of the greatest movies ever made.

     

    Aliens is one of the greatest action movies ever made.

     

    Alien 3 is one of David Fincher's worst movies.

     

    David Fincher's worst movies are superior to the vast majority of films released in theaters every year.

     

    Alien: Resurrection is terrible garbage in which a genetically-resurrected Ripalien sinks a no-look three pointer while the cast of the Crow and Girl Interrupted reference Wal-Mart and engage in other verisimilitude-breaking activities. All of this canon-stomping collision of Firefly with a French director channeling the worst stylistic components of Robert Rodriguez is topped off with one of the most tastelessly disturbing sequences in a sci-fi film, the only saving grace of which is that the hermaphroditism originally rendered for the sequences was digitally removed prior to the film's release.

     

    Watch Alien and Aliens over-and-over. Watch Alien 3 sometimes, but stick to the special edition cut which is much better. Don't bother with Alien: Resurrection unless you are desperate.

    LA Noire

    in Computer and Console

    Posted

    Ive seen those, but I dont recall them actually taking place in Los Angeles. They were recorded there obviously, but not set. Or am I confused here? I also seem to recall that the lady from shanghai takes place in the french riviera.

     

    All the Phillip Marlowe books - 'The Big Sleep,' 'The Long Goodbye,' 'The High Window' - were set in LA.

     

     

    I can't find the link, but I read a good article about Raymond Chandler, noir, and chivalric legends.

     

    Actually just go read Raymond Chandler. You won't regret it.

     

    Are you thinking of Ernest Fontana's "Chivalry and Modernity in Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep." ?

     

    The Long Goodbye is so good

    What kind of future settings is Obsidian planning?

    in Obsidian General

    Posted

    eh... Monty, isnt there anything that can be done about poor Purgatorio boards?

    Its really a shame to see them in such a sad state as they are now.

     

    That is one future setting that needs some attention.

     

    It's nearing the top of my list of things to do (getting the new guys on the purgatorio team some support from my end) -- it's been an insanely busy 6 months.

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