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Decided it was about time for an update as to what I’ve been doing. This summer I’m working on some of my last few classes for my bachelor’s degree (comm tech/arts coursework), my web development skills, my Python coding skills, and both The Pirate King’s Daughter and The Lonely. The Lonely actually has a lot more prose that’s been written out for it, so I’m glad for that. I’ve already got a programmer for PKD – one of my dear friends from college. He’s interested in the project so far. I’ll need to find an artist for both projects.

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I periodically play The Sims 3. I’ve been playing since the very first game in the series, probably due to the fact that I have some underlying god complex. With the fact that I specialize in world development, in my creative endeavors, I’ve always wanted to create worlds for The Sims 3. In truth, for awhile I wanted to work at Maxis on The Sims games for a very long time. But I figured my worlds would be too far out there. Then recently, EA came out with Lunar Lakes, a brand new world in the Sims 3 where things are very, very different. Player characters find themselves in a world on a different planet where crystals power everything. It gives me hope that I can create some worlds like that for the game, too. Now that I’ve got my new laptop, I should be able to make new worlds more easily.

The worlds that I’d like to start making are based off of the fantasy worlds in my novel series that I’ve been piecing together for years. I figure that I can tie them all together. Hell, who knows, maybe I can work with EA and maybe license out the worlds to them for different expansion packs or stuff packs or something? That would be amazing. They have been doing things like Barnacle Bay, Sims Medieval, etc. lately, so I might stand a good chance of getting content to them.

I’ve got to figure out how to divide my time so that I can accomplish these two things. I’ve been using a blog to chronicle my journey into leaving w2 jobs working for other people, and so that’s helped me to be able to put focus on other things. Can custom content and custom worlds for The Sims 3 be monetized?

What sorts of things would you develop using other game’s engines? Have you ever used the world creator?

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I realized this morning that this blog is supposed to be about my innovations and frustrations as an innovator. And I’m getting there. I just have to keep writing and writing in order to get myself back into the habit. But I just read a piece about the infamous Steve Jobs – you know, the one guy that named his company after a fruit and he made some cell phones. As much as I might bash and hate Apple products (while secretly envying them and wishing I could find something almost as good as iTunes to handle my music), I can’t help but admire this guy. How is he so damn awesome? Probably because he decides to do something and, well – he does it.

I decided that I’m going to be an entrepreneur, and an innovator, but I don’t think I’ve exactly locked down on what things it is that I want to make better. The best way to be a self-employed business owner is to find something that is already good and make it better or find a need that people have that isn’t being fulfilled and to fill that gap. For me, I’m very much into the idea of making games very central to our human experiences. Most of the way that we learn through as children is through games. To that end, I have already been working on some applications that kind of pit the competitive nature of games against procrastination. I did this because I know that for me, I get the greatest drive to do when I am competing against other people. I am terribly competitive, and at times I can be a terrible sport when I lose. Ask my boyfriend what happened when he, a rookie gamer, beat me at Marvel Vs. Capcom at the mall.

So to that end, I figured, it’s time to figure out some of the things that I want to innovate.

  • Methods of Studying – Growing up, I was That Kid. The kid that never had to study but still got A’s. And even when I did have to study something more advanced, I competed against others to get better grades. I always had to be the better person or be beating someone for me to care about it. To that end, I have an application I’ve been expanding upon that will do just this. Games and education can be paired together well, and social media’s just another boon to the mix…
  • Storytelling – I’m not sure that this will count as an innovation. As a little girl, I wanted to work for Square-Enix. I wanted to work on the next Final Fantasy 28. I even speak Japanese. But now, I’m wanting to make my own studio, and my own brand of interactive storytelling experiences. Right now, I’m getting back into writing, but I’m also learning about the Japanese phenomenon of visual novels. I plan on utilizing that base and integrating aspects of it to make a storytelling experience that will be emotionally involving for players to a brand new level. Book meets game.
  • Professional networking – Let’s face it. LinkedIn is great, but it’s a touch stuffy, and it’s not exactly the angle that every industry needs. That’s why you still have sites like Model Mayhem. They cater to a different niche with different needs. I’ve found a niche with a need, and pairing this with mobile technology, I’m pretty sure I’m onto something.
Sometimes I wonder if I should just focus on one thing. Sometimes I just want to focus on everything. For the time being, I’m working on different projects for chunks of time, then switching over when my interest wanes. It’s been working out decently for me, so I think I’ll keep to the pattern. However, as projects get closer to being wrapped, I’ll be focusing on them exclusively.
Here’s to the future Tearyne, and hoping that she’ll be all that she’s ever dreamed of being.