Alathonia

So last night at 1 in the morning, I got a call from a colleague who is listed as first-contact if an alarm goes off at our photostudio. She asks if I know anything about it, I answer no and get back to bed.

This morning I step into the studio as the first person, and notice all doors are wide open - Something we never leave open inside, because its cold as heck. Another colleague arrives, and it turns out someone broke in through one of our doubledoors by prying it open with force; which shouldn't have been possible, but apparently was. The alarm trips at 01:03, and security arrives at 01:25 to disable the alarm and close the gate again.

The unnerving thing about all of this is that they went very specifically after highly priced items, that you wouldn't normally necessarily assume were highly priced. Cameras (2 worth 100000DKK each) and video cameras (2 worth 350000DKK each) are a no duh, but things like little plastic boxes with load balancing calculators (for figuring out kiloton load on constructions) that aren't heavy, and a very plastic-looking video mixer worth almost 250000DKK stolen, next to a much cheaper one worth only 50000DKK that looks more fancy...

I count stolen goods worth approximately 1 million DKK, which were small enough for a single person to carry in the two camera bags he stuffed everything into (ours, gone from studio) and the video mixer which had a handle you can carry it in. Thats 177,547USD. The person literally took every single high-value, light-weight item in our entire studio; things from different rooms, some placed in obscure areas. I'm not police, but this was either an inside job or an ordered job from someone who hired someone with extreme knowledge of highly priced photo, TV and movie equipment (and even event rigging equipment, the load balancing equipment stolen).

Scary :/

So about 5 minutes ago I opened a letter from SKAT, the tax collection... agency, in Denmark. Apparently they've given me 14 days to pay 42385DKK back in taxes, that I supposedly accumulated in the year 2007.

Some quick easy math tells me that in order to be behind 42385DKK in taxes, I'd need to have earned roughly 100000DKK. And then paid zero taxes from it, which means whoever I worked for would either be failing to report taxes properly or I'd be working for money under the table. Thats an impressive 100000DKK, especially considering the fact that I was *unemployed* in 2007 except for the last two months, where I'm now looking at the paychecks where I was deducted properly in wages for taxes.

What the blazing heck. I can't wait to call them on Monday and figure out if I should consider myself royally screwed (student wages, 42000DKK? Yeah, right) or yell at them for making some huge mistake and scaring the crap out of me. As a point of reference, 42000DKK is about $9000

Rupture is a tale of survival, pitting you in the middle of a war gone horribly wrong. Divided and on the brink of extinction, the remaining races have banded into kingdoms and are now engaged in a fierce fight for territory. Will you fight or will you flee?

Rupture features a rich steampunk universe spread across 4 vastly different worlds. Take part in a game that evolves day and night; as cities are raided and burned, dragons scour the forest bed for victims and ancient treasures lie in wait for those who dare wander off the beaten path.

The gameplay focuses on a mix of strategy and adventure. You can control up to 9 characters, all of which can be customized and outfit according to the needs and goals of the player. Banding together in Guilds and Kingdoms allows players to build cities of their own design, and even raid and burn down an enemy city.

I have much more than this in store for Rupture, so theres a little teaser as the tip of the iceberg ;)

Rupture is currently scheduled to go live at the end of 2009, subject to change at any time.

Traditionally, new years is a time to look back on the year that is about to come to an end. To fondly remember the good and be happy that the bad is past.

The last year for me has without a doubt been the hardest, most trying year of my life. I've given up a child, lost the love of my life, got fired, lost all money, lost my apartment, lost most of my friends and virtually anything else that was a part of my life a year ago. The past 3-4 months have been a day-by-day battle to try and move on and get back some semblance of a life.

At the apex of the year, I'm happy for the good memories of things that were. Those will always be with me, come hellfire (as it has) or not. And I'm happy that despite 18 hour workdays, no money or real social life and lonely nights, things are moving in the right direction for the first time since last December.

I think my new years resolution will be a simple one: to rediscover the joy of life that I once had so much of; to learn how to smile again. Its so easy to forget the positive, and even a single moment of true happiness can light up a thousand bad memories.

I'm tired of looking behind me and losing track of where I was going. So heres to a good new years eve, and the future to come!

Cheers,
Martin

So work on the actual content of my game has begun; about time.

Disciplines are chosen by players to customize their character. The Primary Discipline is basically the equivelant of a class. Rune Weaver is one such discipline.

A Rune Weaver can tattoo runes onto their body and weaponry, as well as weave runes in the air to conjure a desired effect.

The rune weavers body can be tattoo'd in various different general areas (hands, arms, legs, torso, head, feet), and the 4 elemental runes (Fire Earth Air Water) cause different effects depending on where they are placed. More of the same type of rune in the same location increases potency.

Examples include:

Lightning shield that surrounds the rune weaver, striking back at those who attack him. (Air runes on Torso)

An attack that binds the oponent with water, causing them to slow their movement speed for a period of time (Water runes on arms)

The hands of the rune weaver move faster, allowing them to parry at greater speed (Air runes on hands)

The rune weavers body is hardened by the earthen runes, allowing them to sustain more hits and making severing of limbs a great deal more difficult (Earth runes on legs).

Runes tattoo'd onto the head (1 rune only) grant a long-time reuse ability that is of great power, such as a wall of bracken, a lance of fire, etc.

In addition to this, weaponry can also be enchanted with runes. And rune weavers can weave different combinations of runes (Fire Death = A fireball-like attack) to conjure effects.