I love monsters, especially the lost, lovelorn, and lonely kind — the afflicted Wolf Man; the misguided Creature from the Black Lagoon; Frankenstein’s tragic monster; even Jeff Goldblum’s suffering Brundle-Fly… Always on the lookout for new monsters, or new takes on existing archetypes and characters, I was delighted to stumble across ”The Mad Scientist’s Daughter” by Theodora Goss. Concerning a group of women with infamous fathers, it’s dark but funny, grim and sweet all at once.
Archive for January, 2010
There are a ton of reasons to love Borderlands, but one of the things I appreciate the most about the game is its commitment to a visual language. Where do I go next? What doors can I open? What can be destroyed? What can hurt me in the environment? What kind of attack does that enemy have? How do I defeat this creature? Conveying the answers to all of these questions (and hundreds more) relies heavily on establishing consistent visual cues. If some doors can be opened and others can’t, the locked doors should look different. If a force field is going to hurt me when I run into it, that force field better warn me ahead of time by looking (and even sounding) dangerous. Not earth shattering insight, but something that’s very easy to forget in the quest to innovate or make beautiful art.
Borderlands’ visual language includes many well-etablished conventions, including color-coding both loot (based on traditional RPG codes for rarity) and some enemies (based on the type of damage they deal: red for fire, blue for electricity, green for corrosive, etc.). But my favorite visual cue is the bright green light applied to every “treasure chest” in the game. While “Green Means Gold” has undoubtedly been used in other games, the consistency with which it’s used in Borderlands is impressive. Money, weapons, ammo, and other goodies can be found in a wide range of containers: lockers, red crates, small lock boxes, and even old washing machines and trash heaps. Built into every one of these (even the trash heaps) is some kind of bright green light. There’s a sense of glee (and maybe greed) when, after clearing an area of enemies, you look around and see a dozen green lights glowing from shadowy corners, through open doorways, behind fences, or on top of roofs. Each green light offers the promise of reward, ranging from a few bucks to a rare weapon you can’t wait to test out on the next group of enemies.
Seems like just a little thing, but often it’s the little things that prove most important.
My most recent writing gig — Star Wars: Purge #3 — was announced last week by Dark Horse. The story, called ”The Hidden Blade” (a nod to Samurai cinema), focuses on Darth Vader’s personal mission to find and destroy the last of the Jedi. Solicitation text:
On a remote world, Darth Vader chafes at the assignment given to him by the Emperor: guarding an Imperial manufacturing facility from the anti-Imperial natives. Vader feels the duty is beneath him — until he learns that a Jedi Master and his Padawan are in league with the natives!
Now the game is afoot, and Vader is on the trail of his favorite prey. No ambush, no local monstrous lizards, will deter him his pursuit. Woe be to the Jedi when Vader catches up with them! This issue follows events in Revenge of the Sith!
Art by Chris Scalf, who does amazing character and creature work.
