Shifty Characters

Game Update

The polishing process has begun as I fixed a problem with the map camera and the water on the map. We made some changes to the skybox which made the water look black on the map camera. In order to fix the issue we added a blue plane which can only be seen by the map camera and is otherwise invisible to the normal player view.

I still need to do the four items I outlined two weeks ago. I should focus on swapping level one and two. I feel like those will be the most straight forward although a little work intensive to get done. I need to set aside more times during the week to focus on getting the work done. Hopefully I will have less distractions and more focus over the Christmas holiday.

Still looking to release in February and I have a date in mind but there is plenty of work yet to do and so I don’t want to say a specific date yet. I do like the fact that I can have a lot of twos in the date though, so there’s a hint.

Personal Update

I’m reviewing what I wrote about last week and it’s been a bit of a whirlwind this week. I see that I had put down all my dating apps which has been good overall as I just don’t have a lot of time to meet new people right now. I’m starting to think it won’t be until after the game is released that I will be back on them, but then again maybe one of the people I’m currently seeing will become more exclusive before then. It’s been a good decision overall.

I spoke with a good friend about counseling and still ended up with a price that was a bit to high for me. I think that I will pursue something through the VA this week to explore those possibilities. That reminds me that I need to follow up on my sons Autism treatments which have been taking some time to get set up.

Florida truly is the land of a thousand scam artists. It seems like everywhere I turn there’s another one. I’m not sure what it is about this state that attracts so much of that. I wonder if there are some social reforms that could help out. I’m not sure if the government should or shouldn’t be involved as on the one hand a person could say that a person that is foolish with their money will be parted from it. Then again I do believe that government should protect certain people like the elderly and children from such practices. The nice thing is that it has exposed me to a character that has inspired me to write once again. I’m not sure where this will go however.

The World of Six Aspects

These stories set in the world of Six Aspects are not cannon but might become cannon in the future.

Marcus the Virtuous

My brother Kyle left home because he’s selfish. All he thinks about is his future and what he will become. He has no love for what the empire has done to give all of us here a better life in Zelteris. I on the other hand signed up for service on the day I turned 18. Nothing was going to hold me back from my duty to defend the empire whatever the cost.

I left my hometown in Kingsland after enlisting and was sent to Sherman area to begin my on the job training. I primarily worked in Din and there is one incident that stood out to me in particular when I was there.

The population of Din was divided between the merchants at the top of society with much of the wealth and the worker class which often lived in spaces with a lower standard of living. I wouldn’t say that they were scraping by, but their standards were pretty far from the upper echelon of society. Often I would hear about how they felt it was unfair that they worked while the ruling class made money off their labor. Some various worker revolts broke out and I was called in to help suppress them.

This unrest led to some grifters living on the edge between the working class and the merchants. One such person was Mr. Hagerman. This guy was smooth. It took us months of investigation to figure out his exact scheme. We were always one step behind him. The city would often have individuals coming in and out, and Mr. Hagerman knew that he could always find a soft heart among them to sew his seeds of discourse.

He would tell people that a family member died and he needed to get some money so he could go to the funeral. He would even promise to pay double back which was pretty amazing. The targets would hand over the money and when the time came to pay up he would produce another emergency related to his mothers roof. Everyone knew where he lived and it’s a wonder that he did this for so long. The thing is that travelers come and go. He figured they would forget and they didn’t deserve the money if they listened to his lies anyway.

He was a master of telling people about how he needed to take care of his sick family members to solicit good feelings. He was so good at telling lies that he really believed that he was the most virtuous one in the city. No one deserved the money more than he. Often if someone asked for a return on their money he would simply make them feel bad for asking and tell them they would get their money tomorrow.

When we finally figured out all the things this malcontent had done we were too late, unfortunately. He had already left town to go to the next one to peddle his lies there. Is this the grand Empire I serve? A place where we can’t even police a simple grifter to protect our local population? I suppose it could be worse, but I wasn’t ready to deal with this. I don’t feel like I’m making a difference here at all. I’m just a cog in a machine. Someone needs to do something to take charge before something really bad happens. I feel powerless to fight back.

Maybe I should have put a stop to Mr. Hagerman earlier and less people would have been scammed. I had a chance but I didn’t act. I’m the one to blame for this. Sometimes smooth talk and a friendly face hide a dark heart, and I guess I found that out the hard way. I pray to Gods Aspect of Snow to give me clarity.