Writing tip: Use your words!

 When writing dialogue, don't be afraid to grow your vocabulary. When I see an interesting word in a book I am reading I will often write it down, look it up later, and then add it to a list of vocabulary that I am going to use in one of my book series. Amazon has a number of awesome reference books like Scots-English, Hiberno-English, and many other dialects.  Don't be afraid to venture onto dictionary.com either. Use all of your tools and take your dialogue to the next level.

Game Review: Eurogaming ventures onto the farm in Farmassone.

 I am a big fan of the game Carcassone, it is a fantastic game that transitioned to touch screens very well. I enjoy playing it on my iPad. Carcassone opened my eyes to the world of the tile placement game. While I was researching this genre I stumbled upon Farmassone, a tile placement game that plays very much like the game that made the genre famous.  Unlike Carcassone which weighs in at $4.99, Farmassone weighs in at the staggering price of free. Farmasone appears to be ad supported and while my feelings toward "free to play games" are mixed, viewing an ad that pops up is far less annoying than a game that tries to nickel and dime you with in game purchases.

Farmassone plays well and runs well on a 1st gen iPad Air and the Lenovo Tab3. After playing the games back to back on both tablets, the iPad seems to handle it discernibly smoother.  The biggest difference in gameplay boils down to screen size. If you have a 9" or 10" screen you are going to have a much more enjoyable gaming experience with a digital board game. This is not a slight against the game or smaller screened tablets. I have had the same problem playing Settlers of Catan on the screen built into my Nintendo Switch. The larger screen on my iPad just feels less cramped. Time is not wasted swiping around the screen in order to see what your opponent has done. Online play works well with the exception of waiting to populate your virtual table with players. That is always awkward, no matter the game.  The game also offers solo and pass and play options too.

When it comes to theming the developers decided on a theme and stuck with it. From music to tiles and game pieces, they stayed with the farm theme. They even replaced the generic meeples that you would expect with farmers and tractors. All in all Farmassone is a solid and approachable game that makes a welcome addition to a board gamers digital library.   

Game Review: Evo Creo! I choose you!

Contains affiliate link.

We are living in unique times to say the least. The chip shortage and strained supply lines do not mean that gaming has to stop. The tablet or smart phone that you are carrying is a capable gaming device.  In the following game reviews I tested several games on an A7 powered 1st gen iPad Air, Medietak Cortex powered 7th generation Kindle Fire, and a Cortex powered Lenovo Tab3.

Back when "mobile" gaming was dominated by the Nintendo Gameboy, a unique RPG game burst on to the scene. The game was called Pokemon. The Pokemon franchise has continued until this very day. With the exception of Pokemon Go, Pika Chu and friends have been kept exclusive to platforms manufactured by Nintendo.

ilmfinity's Evo Creo is a game that follows in the foot steps of Pokemon. However, unlike Pokemon, gamers can play Evo Creo on iOS, Android, and the Kindle Fire. I prefer to play Evo Creo on a 7" or 8" tablet because it is easy to carry and reminds me of playing on a handheld gaming device. To ilmfinity's credit Evo Creo will run well on many older devices.  The game is not particularly demanding on the hardware which is refreshing in a world filled with bloated games that seem to be designed to force you into purchasing new hardware.

 Those who have ventured into the Poke world will find that the world of Zenith is different but familiar. On screen controls have replaced the direction pad and buttons, but the game is responsive and lag is barely noticeable.  (if any)

Combat in Evo Creo is just like a seasoned veteran would expect. I found myself able to use techniques that I had developed on my DS years ago. Controls work like you expect they would and menus are easy to use and understand.

I have only come across two things that detract from the experience. Every once in a while there is audio distortion during load scenes on my iPad. This may be a glitch in the free version of the game that is related to the system that present ads randomly during gameplay. While the game is free to play I would recommend buying the full version in order to not have to deal with the pop up ads. With a price that ranges between .99 and 2.99 it is a far better deal than the price we used to pay in order to catch and tame virtual monsters.

iOS Android Fire

A jaunt onto Fiverr.

I am the first to admit that I am not the greatest artist. I dabble with 3d and hand drawn art, but I will not be winning any awards for my hand drawn art. After much deliberation I decided that I would venture on to Fiverr and see if I could commission some art. I am a huge fan of high quality illustration and animation. (What often passes for animation and comic art now makes me very sad.) After looking through the various artist's portfolios I found an artist that I liked and made contact. The process was not too complicated and the art turned out great. From my experience with Fiverr, it appears to be a great option for the writer looking to take things to the next level.

Keeva drawn in a anime style by an artist on Fiverr.

Just the essentials.

 

The following article includes affiliate links. If you see something you like click the link, buy yourself something cool, and help me out at the same time.

So, you finally got that insanely awesome tablet that you have been dreaming about. It has everything, an awesome screen, incredible stylus, and you're ready to meet the world head on with never before dreamed levels of digital ability. There is just one small problem. How do you organize and maximize your user experience? We have all been there. 

Get connected.

No man is an island unto himself. Neither is your tablet. Most tablets have internal storage, but they also expand their memory by using cloud storage. But what about when you are nowhere near WiFi or a hot spot? What if you want to back up your files locally? If you own an Android based tablet you can use an on the go USB adapter or on the newer tablets a USBC to USB adapter. I myself have used Syntech’s USBC to USB adapter with great success on my MacBook Pro. 

If you use an iPad with Apple’s lightning port I recommend Apple’s USB3 to Lightning adapter. There are many third party options available online and quality control can be all over the place. I recommend the Apple adapter because I know that the Apple accessories will have a higher level of quality control. When it comes to your data a solid connection is important. It’s best to err on the side of caution when it comes to backing up your data. 

Once you have your USB solution in place you simply plug your drive in. Some people use USB Hard Drives. If you want to go this route, I would recommend solid state drives. They are going to be more rugged than the older style mechanical (spinning) drives. Faster too. I myself use a 64 gigabyte SanDisk thumb drive as an external storage solution for my iPad. The thumb drive does not use much power and is easy to carry.

Get Organized

So… you have your thumb drive, stylus, stylus nibs, and any other small accessories you may want to use with your tablet. What are the odds that they will make it to work or the coffee shop without being lost? Not very high.  We need to get our stuff together. I use the case that came with my Pilot Fountain pen. Any small  pen case styled box that can be closed securely will do. DO NOT fall into the expensive stationary/ art supply trap. I used the pen case because it was the right size and rattling around my house. If you cannot find anything that can be repurposed, iDream 365’s Apple Pencil Case would make for a good choice.

Now that all of the small stuff is organized it’s time to find a way to carry the tablet, charger, cable, and the mobil kit that we have made. The progression of technology can come to our aid here. Chances are there is an old laptop bag laying around somewhere that is not being used. I use an old Targus Neoprene laptop bag that came with with an old laptop. The bag is cramped when it comes to holding a laptop, but it is the perfect size for a tablet. If you cannot find an old bag in your home, a trip to your local thrift shop should yield results. If you want a new bag, but still want to recycle, Several manufacturers offer bags made from recycled bottles.

Hopefully these tips are helpful to you on your digital journey. It does not matter if you are Urband Sketcher, Gamer, Writer, or a streamer. Grab your tablet, head out the door, and journey on.

Never assume!

 In writing and in life never assume that everyone knows what you know. That is why it is important for writers to "show and not tell" the reader what is happening in the book. Recently this concept slipped into my every day life. After growing tired of my wallet being punished by the grocery delivery service fees I decided to try using curbside pick up. After driving to the store I parked in the pick up area and called to let the store know that I was there. After a few minutes the curbside delivery person rolled the cart up to my pickup. I asked for the clerk to load the groceries into the back of the truck. I even explained how to open the cap. (rotate the handle) The clerk walked to the back of the truck and stood staring at the back end. A minute later another store employee walked up to help the first clerk and both ended up pulling on handles and staring. I ended up getting out of the truck and opening the back end. 

It would be easy to dismiss the event as a faux pas and move on. But, there is something to be learned here. We live in a highly automated world and my F-150 with its paint matched cap over the bed probably looks a lot like a Ford Expedition that it shares its frame with. The clerk no doubt thought that just touching the handles would lead to the back of the vehicle opening as if by magic. My explaining that the handle needed to be turned was not enough to over come the clerk's lack of knowledge or experience with a pickup truck in a world filled with crossovers and SUVS. Not everyone knows what we do. That's why we need to step back and with humility show not tell.  

With friends like Adobe, an artist does not need enemies.

 Back in the days when Macs were powered by Power PC chips I began the journey that would lead me into the field of Graphic Design. Along the way I discovered Adobe software. I was introduced to Adobe Illustrator in college and loved  all of the design, layout, and illustration options that it offered me. From there I spent a majority of my digital design time in the world of Adobe with only short jaunts into the realm of Quark. After collegeI saved money and purchased a copy of illustrator for myself and updated it several times. I may have expanded my skill set to include some 3d modeling, but Illustrator was always there and ready to go.

Time moved forward and things changed. Adobe joined the subscription service movement. I was not keen on the idea, but gave it a try. The early days of Adobe Creative Cloud were rough to say the least.  After growing weary of being bled by the month for a service that would have "authentication errors" I went back to my older copies of Illustrator and was happy. Happiness was fleeting because after a while Adobe made it seemingly impossible to activate my copy of Illustrator CS. Sadly my older versions of Illustrator were growing incompatible to newer computers and operating systems.  I ended up switching over to Affinity Designer and Inkscape and my layout/ design problem was solved. 

Little did I know that I know that Adobe was not done tampering with my workflow. I have worked in 3d for several years and often design my own book cover art. For years I have used a combination of Poser, Vue, and Carrera. This worked well until Adobe shut down Flash. When this happened my copy of Poser 8 lost its ability to let the user navigate through the interface. They had based major parts of their menu system in Flash and Adobe had turned Flash off. After attempting several work arounds I ended up switching to Daz Studio. The newer models and render engine gave me great results, but it threw my workflow into chaos once again. Remember, stay optimistic, be willing to learn, and almost any problem can be tackled.

A is the original art that was based on Daz Studios Victoria 4 in Poser 8.

B is rendered in Daz Studio and use models based on Daz's Genesis models.