creativity

Way With Worlds Book 1 Is Out!

by

Way With Worlds Book 1 is out. Go get it in print or kindle. Or both if you want.

If you’re new to the book, it’s a giant guide to worldbuilding, from philosophy of setting creation, to sex, to ecology, and more.  There’s advice, exercises, several lame jokes, and some insights that should give you a different view on creating your settings.  It’s designed to be a manual for the important points of making a setting.

After some sixteen years, this is the next stage in my efforts to bring this old work to life!  First rewrites, now books.  It’s fantastic to see this journey turn into something physical people can hold in their hands!

Certainly it’s not done yet – there’s one more book to drop in November/December (probably December). There’s some smaller followup work. But this marks that transition to the new formats.

My mind still goes back to, when in the midst of the rewrites, someone told me how they’d printed my old columns out when they were younger. It had mattered to them that much, and they remembered it that well. That turned my efforts into more of a mission.

Mission isn’t over yet. Book two drops in November/December (probably December honestly). There’s some followup works I want to do.

But today I can note the next stage of Way With Worlds has started, and it has printed pages and the smell of paper, highlighted with fond memories.

So go on, take a look. There’s thoughts on sex and religion, characters and ecology, and of course plenty of philosophy. In this age, where anyone can put out book or a comic, good worldbuilding is needed more than ever – and is where you can stand out.

– Steve

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, www.SeventhSanctum.com, and Steve’s Tumblr)

The Power Of Creative Paths Is Out!

by

And it’s done, out, published, ready – the first of my Sanctum-inspired books, “The Power Of Creative Paths!”  Thanks to everyone for your support!

The book is my guide to improving your creative abilities.  The idea is that you can identify how you create, and then expand your horizons to use other creative methods and work well with people who create differently.  Through advice, exercises, and examples, it’s a way to get better and dreaming things up and reaching those valuable Big Ideas.

It’s also going to be one of several.  I’ve got my Way With Worlds books coming, and am considering a few more.  It’s time for me to do more than Geek Career advice, and this is one of the other things I know about.

So go on, give it a shot!

– 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