Creativity

The Countdown Begins: The Power Of Creative Paths!

by

This is it folks, the countdown to my first book on creativity, The Power Of Creative Paths!

The book is going to drop on Saturday the 30th.  I’m lining up some reviewers right now (and there’s a chance to get in on it) to help give people an idea of what’s in it from a reader’s viewpoint.  Only six more days!

So what’s in this book?

Basically, after years of working with Seventh Sanctum, I’d realized that creativity fit certain paths – ways we get to our “Big Ideas.”  Most people had one or two default paths, and not everyone knew how to get along with people different than them.  So I put all my findings into one book, a handy guide to help you get off of Creative Paths you’re a bit too stuck on and onto others, as well as how to work with people different than yourself creativity-wise.

A lot of this comes from my curious observation that the generators at Seventh Sanctum fit specific patterns, or certain little tweaks, trends, or sets of data seemed to inspire people surprisingly.  In time I began to see that these general observations fit specific trends, and formed a useful theory around it.

So hang in there, it’s almost arrived . . .

  • Steve

Looking For Reviewers!

by

Hey gang!  I want to let you know I’m looking for reviewers for my first book on Creativity, “The Power Of Creative Paths.”  It comes out late January/early February, but I want to line up people who want to review it (don’t worry, it’s an eBook and it’s a reasonable size) and review it honestly.  If you’re interested contact me right away!

-Steve

Procedural Content – An Invisible Service

by

A friend of mine recently found Jukedeck – a service that will randomly generate music for you.  Depending on your membership you get to download randomly made music and have assorted rights to it.

It’s fairly obvious from my work at Seventh Sanctum that I love randomized stuff.  Also as I’m a big proponent of Roguelike games and procedural content in things like Borderlands, I’m really biased.

But looking at Jukedeck I began thinking that they (and me to an extent) have explored procedural content as a service.  I mean yes assorted generator-makers like myself have done that before.  But I don’t think people have thought about it as deeply as could be.

Procedural generation, at its best, involves researching data, parameters, and patterns.  It involves finding ways to make them into code that delivers something recognizable.  It is work, it is art, and it is critical to certain artistic forms.

(Hell, it’s pretty much core to No Man’s Sky).

However, procedural generation rarely gets appreciated.  We’re used to it, having seen it make dungeons and weapons in our games from decades, or simply create stuff for pen and paper RPGs with dice rolls.  We take it for granted because it doesn’t stand out, it’s integrated into some media – or we are used to seeing it treated in a funny way, from randomizing errors to brain-shaking numbers of game possibilities being touted.

Jukedeck, by making procedural content a service, made me “see” procedural generation a bit clearer.  It is a service in some cases (I know, I provide it).  It is core to some media.  We’re just so used to it we don’t see it – or see what goes into it.

Step back for a bit and ask just what role it’s played in your life . . .

  • Steven Savage