Tag Archives: Fantasy

July 10, 2026 · 02:16

And so, part 3

And so the continuing story of a quack whose gone to the dogs (always good fun to laugh at myself) but there is a part 3 and there is more, but I cannot give the game away (at present). So as I was designing and redesigning the game I my mind (not graphically) there was the setting of the next part which is a little in the open. It becomes the stage of ‘Heralding’ my entry as a Fakir of Baghdad. It is the fist definite stage on becoming a person for good, or a person of debatable conditioning. You see, Evil is only in existence of this who ‘claim’ themselves to be good, evil is their opposite, or so they seem to think. But being evil is merely a stepping stone. It is always carved to the degree others think what evil was. But we have good and an opposite and that is where the game goes. As I see it, as a Fakir you will get a malleable setting. The good get the power of water, the others get the setting of fire and as you complete the stage you get introduced to either and take another trip to a cave the damp cave for the water Djini Zarek or fire Djini Zulrekh. The setting will decide how the Italian fortress of the game is dealt with. The Arabian lands are dry, the water had left them, but what you will discover is that the Italians built over a earlier stage of the underground waters, they dammed the waters in and kept a well for themselves. As such you are treated by Zulrekh as the instigator of flames, burning the enemy down and the Italians become the firewood of your power. As you became Fakir, you were also given access to a staff (which must be bought) the staff is the same either way, but the way the staff is gained is important. In a previous mission you were able to get a staff, but either you steal it, or you perform tasks to get it. If you steal the staff, you get a beggars staff which is an oak staff and you get the dream to find Zulrekh in the cinder cave, if you perform the tasks you get the dream of the Water Djini Zarek who invites you to the damp cave. That is the step that defines your route.  Zarek tells you:

Hello young one, You did well, you please me with the route that is fluidic like water. You did the task and now I seek you out, there is much to tell. The western Italici decided to put there fortress on top of the streams that feed Bagdad, they blocked the waters keeping little for themselves. This water can no longer feed Baghdad, the tigris still flows, but no longer to Baghdad. They must now travel to the Tigris every day to get their waters. But water is strong, so I will teach you how water breaks stone and you can crush the Italians by crushing the walls of their dam and their fortress and the waters will return to the people feeding their needs. Water is an elemental power and it is strong, so you will face new hardships, but you will come out stronger and more fluidic than you have ever been. In this cave challenge you will only get a stream of water, as you smother fire you also give animals a route to escape and as the animals escape your stream becomes stronger and you will be able to stop the flames.

The idea becomes to soften the earth and washing the mud over the cinders fueling the fire. The challenge is not hard, but it shows how a simple stream washes sand, making it mud, as the stream becomes stronger you can unset boulders and they will move over the hay smothering the fuel for the flames. As you do this, you are attacked by scorpions and you can direct the stream over the scorpions washing them away. This is almost how it needs to be, I reckon that some ‘prototyping’ will be required, 

Zulrekh tells you:

Young one, your enemy has a fortress, it must burn, their people must burn, it is the only way. And in this task you end the fuel that stops the Arabian people being free. You must attack their ability to wage war against us, they become the fuel to your fire and that fire will fuel your powers too, it is your destiny to free the people to your needs and as they serve you, you will serve my needs too. 

And as such you are given the task of flaming the small boys in armor that represent the Italians and as such your flames become stronger and as you burn these little warriors you also gain mana and power just like the washed scorpions did, in the end both will give you a mana segment and your mana will get +5 making your actions stronger. As you play either you get the same rewards, only at the end you will get a different runic stone and the garbs of the Fakir will transform into either red/black or blue/green the clothes are almost the same, merely cosmetically colored and looks differ, but there is no power benefit. 

The idea is that if you take this route, you will never see the buried well, you will never free the stream but over time you will redirect the Tigris, but many will be lost to all this (which you will not know). It sets a double dialogue over the game and subsequent settings. I was not happy how some quests in other games went, it is normally not this or that, but to get two storylines and other storylines subsequently is another thing, it makes is a game with two faces and two outcomes. And as you get some direction and choices you will see that the game gives you more. I also think that these acts will shape your coat of arms, The red and black colours in your shield comes from Zulrekh, the blue and green colours come from Zarek and in the end the game shapes your coat of arms and gives you the ‘immortal’ setting on Baghdad. 

As such I also envisioned for the Spanish fortress a new challenge, but I am talking about some historic events (as they tend to be) where the Spaniards saw the impact of pestilence of Tharvex or the Azrakhil’s ghoulish hunger. It reflects on Spanish food and their need for Tapas (not entirely true, but it gave me the idea) on that others will learn and whilst we get to that as you have become a person of nobility, you will have gained most places and now it becomes about getting known and accepted all over Baghdad. It is from there you have access to the palace of the Vizier (your old place) and whilst it had fallen into disrepair, your actions will breath it new life and as such the entrance with your coat of arm and stature will proper (either way) and it merely looks cosmetically different and whilst one is darker then the other, it is still a place for you. And as such you will gain the same settings, although there are cosmetic differences to both settings, in the end the same parts are found. 

The ending is still in my mind and it has a sneaky movie reference, all the way from Kentucky. So whether you go with blow one’s own horn (my personal pride) or toot your own horn which tends to lean towards a humble statement. But the reality is that some make claim to be such innovative game designers. And I outdid them in three days, all whilst some of those braggers had a over a dozen people working on it. I did this myself and I handed it to the UAE and their gaming ventures, as such a can toot all I care for. 

You all have a great day It is time for me to snore a forest into plywood, have fun.

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July 9, 2026 · 10:16

Setting the game

This is a mere fraction of what is to come (optionally not all revealed here) and it drove my idea. The ending is also known to me, but it is too sweet a setting and the gamers would get to see this instance, there is no question whether they make it, you see, for many gamers it is about the journey and I believe that this journey is worth taking (a designer always thinks that). So whilst some are dissing others for not enough challenge, people like Bethesda saw what actually mattered, not what some drove for adrenaline rushes are at times great, but there are enough games to do that. And in all this Metroid Prime served the real gamers. Puzzles that mattered, challenges that were met and amazement along the way. That was where I found myself. In all this I added two or three additional settings, but this for now is merely a story.

Hello young one, I am Qandisha, the Djini of time. My brethren made an error. By their setting you were the greatest fear to face, but they were not even close. The Italicus and the Hispanus were more dangerous, they believe in demons as old as us, but nowhere near dangerous, but with a lack of faith comes a shield that stops my brethren. These people have weaknesses, they are especially driven by greed and lust as such other Djini can feast on them, but the lands are dying making others a setback unto mortality. So I saw the flaw in their reasoning and as I grasp you from your past we can only repair into what was. It is now 50 summers from what was, this cannot be undone, but I can take you from the moment before you died and place you here. You have no longer any memory of what was and this is your new station as a mere beggar. Prove my right and rise to the occasion and you could surpass what was your old station and you can reclaim your future as well as the future of the Arabian lands. You will see with new eyes and I will grant you the power to see the mana in the land, the magic of the Arabian sands and the land of the Djini. Go now and reclaim the lands of what was and remake the bad destiny your Arabian brethren are on now.

At this point you are thrust into the sewers of Baghdad and in filthy rags you are trust into the near darkness of the sewers. In this you get to loo around and you see a stave, unremarkable, but still glowing. As it is, it is a stave of Yew, it seems to bend a little and was a mere 18 inches long, but it was better than nothing. In the sewers you face rats and a few exits, but the guards will not let you out, you are a beggar and the streets do not need beggars. There is however other entrances thorough the sewers, some are hidden from view, but only one is open, dark and making you retreat in fear (an intentional setting), so as you go through the sewers you face rats and every rat you kill gives you +1 mana, and you need to kill 100 in total, the sewers have hidden pockets of 20 rats, so it is not a steeple chase, and as you kill 100 you gain a health segment, at this point, you get automatic healing, and some puddles glow orange. When you put the stave in your health segment loads up fast and when you have this added health your attack becomes +5. So whilst you you get more rats killed (another 200) you can get a second segment and now the fist cave does not seem so scary and is a little less dark. This is the first Cave of Prophesy. In this place you will find the Jinniya of fireless smoke. You will face her and whilst she is smoke she cannot be hit, but with your +5 attack, you can harm her when you successfully hit her. It takes 50 hits. So when you defeat her you get the next setting

Young one, show mercy and I will grant you a gift, one never bestowed on any mortal before. I am Qiwa Jinniya of illusion, I can teach you how to become smoke and traverse like smoke, but it takes strength and even as these powers restore, there is limited time you can use this power. So stand in this circle and walk to one other circle (a pentagram appears with every point a circle) So you can now move as smoke and let the Northstar guide you. 

This is also a setting, on the wall is one place that shows the Northstar, if you want to that point you are shown to be good, all others are dark settings, it does not impede you or set you, but the light path becomes less optional in the story. Then a door appears and behind that door is clothing of a citizen, a ring and a runic stone. The stone is a smoke stone, the clothes are of a decent civilian, you are no longer a beggar and are is the second setting, you have to go through a gate you did not pass through to be let through, or you have to go through as smoke (if there is not longer any non-visited gates available) After you get through the gates you are officially a citizen. Ad not you can see that part of Baghdad. As I see it now, there are 4 exits and they are all the same with optional quests in all of them, these parts of Bagdad lead to other 4 parts who have a special place in them (like palaces and fortresses). And as you make ways into the segments you are awarded mana points (no matter whether the acts are good or bad) and the good acts give you renown, the bad acts infamy. This is the first setting towards the end goal. After you do 5 good or 5 bad things, the other option disappears. 

As such you get to find issues in Baghdad, resolve them and find mana pools, as you find new solutions, you gain more mana, so after one renown/infamy point, the mana pools become +2 stronger and you get to see more colored options. 

So this is what I found yesterday. A small step for me, a giant leap for gamers and the UAE (I think I borrowed that expression from somewhere) I think the moon spoke to me. Well, should you wonder why Microsoft cannot come with anything else then iterated repeats of what already exists, Sony, Nintendo and I feel the same way and hopefully soon a new player (gossip: It is the UAE) will show Microsoft why they never should have bothered with gaming anyway, it costed them $100 billion and they seemingly have very little to show for it. 

So you all have a great day today.

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June 26, 2026 · 23:28

Story time

This is what happens and after I saw all the BS (as I see it) hits the internet. I had a little enough of this. So whilst we are given ‘Bubble talk is ‘blasphemy’, says SoftBank CEO’ with the quote “SoftBank’s CEO Masayoshi Son does not want to hear any faint-hearted negativity about AI.” So, how about calling something AI that is nothing of the sort? Is that not blasphemy? Ai is more than a decade away. After that I saw a few more articles and I kinda shutdown, but if you want stories I can give you one. This one is for ADTV (or its parent Abu Dhabi Media), the story plays for the larger part in Abu Dhabi, but to be honest, it started in Accra (around 1104). So before you start reading, this is a story, it is not real.

In May 1104, the crusades pillaged the city of Accra, over 4000 muslims died in that event, even though they offered to surrender, allowing residents to leave peacefully or stay under Crusader rule. However, the Genoese violated these terms and pillaged the place. This got the attention of a man called the Black King, his real name was Al-Malik Al-Aswad and he took offense to the Crusaders being on Arabian lands. There were scuffles, but in November of that year, the Crusaders set a trap, they wanted this infidel and they knew he was strong, but they didn’t know how strong, so a hut was created around a cage, a leaded iron cage. And they wanted, there were two doors, the first was open, the second closed after the crusader who played for bait went through the rear exit and close that door whilst getting out of the hut. As the Black King entered the hut, the first door slammed shut. Here the story becomes a jump. 

What they did not know that the man was an Afreet and without knowing they had the best cage imaginable. The man had no way of eloping from an lead coated iron cage. Lead was used to stop iron bars from rusting and the cage was completely leaded. They knew they had something really evil, because he was not stopped by swords. They took the cage and rode it with to the end of their known world. It was at that end when they heard about a cave, everyone feared this cave. This was the the end of the known world (for them) they were near Muscat in Oman and they left the man in the cave and then caused it to collapse. As they were concerned their job was done. They figured that this man would starve in weeks and they went back towards Accra, they never made it, but that was a different story, the fate of this man was lost in the sands. 

1918
It was the end of WW1, the RAF set up camp in Muscat and in that beginning there were some bomb runs for the newly graduated RAF pilots, they had sopwith Camels (the same the New Zealand air force still operates) and one threw a bomb which fell on collapsed cave and at that point, two of the bindings of the cage were broken. It was the start of his escape. It would take years to get out, but the man was immortal, time never mattered, what he was for now was hungry and thirsty.

1962 
The man had created a strong presence. It was a slow life, but he was dealing with the emerging of Islam all over the Arabic lands and the stage of such a strong christian setting was utterly upsetting to him, he was still careful to act, not out of fear, but he recently escaped ad he did not want to experience a repeat and these people have much stronger weaponry. 

2026
The man had moved and moved over the years. He was now in Abu Dhabi, he spoke the language, he knew the people and after being all over the Arabic nation, he knew where the corrupt, the easily manipulated were and he was growing his influence. Islam had stopped his progress to a much larger degree then he had expected, christians were relatively easy and tourism was awakening all over the Arabic lands. So whilst he was walking a thin slab broke and he sunk in it with one foot, under it was a Cobra, they were rare in the UAE, so he was taken a little by surprise. It attacked, but he was surprised and he lashed out and drained the cobra of its life essence.

It was a slow day, a man was sitting in a floater in the Al Raha River in WaterWorld in Abu Dhabi. He was enjoying his vacation. He was nearly dozing of when he suddenly felt a pulse, something he had not felt in centuries. As such he felt a little anxious. He looked around and saw the stairs out of the water. He quickly left his floater and swam to land, it was a mere 3 meters away. He climbed the stairs and walked back to his cabana to get dressed and return to his hotel. Back at the hotel his mind enlarged itself to feel his surroundings. He felt the usual stage os death around him, the sick, the old and the dying. That was still in place. His mind felt around the direction where the pulse was from. He was feeling something, but he had not felt this in centuries. It was time to find what was happening. 

So this is the first part, more on this soon enough. There is more to come and a small twist on all this. And all that came to me in mere minutes and what comes next already came to me, the setting of death and the facts of what deities go through when they are faced with what they see now. That part is what came to me when I saw Reconstructing the Divine on YouTube. It opens a few doors of creativity in me. 

Have a great day and don’t let creativity hit you in the back of your head. 

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June 18, 2026 · 11:04

Out of the pink

Yup, that’s me, not out of the blue, so I had to think of another colour. Out of the Teal was too close to blue, so it defeated the purpose, then there was red, but it was too aggressive. So, out of the pink it became. My thoughts tend to be all over the place and I was thinking of the old Activision game Hacker. So, consider that it was based to what we thought it was thinkable in the 80’s (with only 38KB memory). This is not a setting we need to consider today, the average mobile has 10 times the memory we used to land on the moon, as such we have some degrees of freedom. The issue becomes when we consider a multitude of games like Hacker and Paradroid. Not to copy, but the settings there is one that can lead to all kinds of new IP and these games are lost and mostly forgotten. So consider that we have an AI setting (an Actual True AI) so we get that to play with, but the sinister setting is not that it is all it is cracked up to be, because the people were gone decades ago and now we get to resolve what there is. So in comes an unknown entity (largely unknown) and it can resolve the settings it sees with tech more advanced that we have seen over the coming century. So the game starts as an observation game, but the video links are giving us clues. From there, we get to the industrial stage. These systems can replicate, but they need fuel. So its first function is search for fuels it can use to replicate. At this the link to Paradroid comes into play. We get to ‘infest’ the visible droids we see and they can set us towards new areas. And from there we get to new places and see new things. I partially write bout this before (somewhere last year) and set it to an Earth-Mars setting, but with disclosure day upon us, we can take a much further aim to what we are looking for. More importantly, this could be a near infinite game. I don’t believe in infinite, but near infinite is a much nicer way to tell the audience, this is a game that could fuel you for a long time. So if the goal is conquest, we can always see the edge of what we can do and see, but if the goal is data, that setting becomes near limitless. Consider the ‘aliens’ in AI, if this is what we envision, what would be the edge of what they would see? 

There was something serene about that view by Steven Spielberg. I am still curious how Stanley Kubrick would have set that pace (because it was a little too sweet for his view on matters) but that is my interpretation of what I know of Stanley Kubrick and that gave me the setting on the creation of lore in the stores that this game could stage. You see, there is no real AI, but there is the setting of DML/LLM and lore can be spun around those two stages. You see, we can go about it again and again, but when you get a repetitive story, the fun dwindles down to a small trickle. So to counter that, we need to create a intelligence that uses the internet (in part) to set the stages for millions off gamers and hen we get a stage where we have the profile of dozens of writers (from Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Edgar Allen Poe, George Eliot, Homer (not Simpson), Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Plato, Herodotus, Miguel de Cervantes, Harry Mulisch and it is not based on one writer, as we get elements of romance and intrigue intertwined the result is a mix of Jane Austen/Charlotte Brontë whilst the intrigue part is set to George Eliot/Herodotus and these aren’t mere settings, the intelligence is vast and diverse, as it needs to be, so the connections are towards a gaming mainframe that passes along the lore towards the stage of play. This would be a monumental undertaking and it is not a given that it is simple. But this level of diversity has never ever been achieved and that is where the larger benefit is. A stage where we see a multitiered Producer-Consumer Model that has s fas as I considered it never been achieved in gaming before, so this will take a level of understanding that is unique and could become the game changer and it makes sense as it is not merely a ‘single setting’ this could be the evolving door towards RPG lore creation. The writers are known, but the materials it creates are a diverse amount of layers that were never part of these writers. It becomes a whole new field of IP and even as AI doesn’t exist, DML and LLM do and they do all the heavy lifting. It could also diversify the engines that are currently in existence. So we see Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick, but what happens when we replace the stage from Steven Spielberg and replace his settings with Graham Greene? What do you think that does to the lore of the story, when AI gets a distinct ‘The Third Man’ touch to the story? This is what we aim to go for, where we get to the story, what happens when the elements become interchangeable? Don’t think that I cam sup with this and it is simple. This might be the next stage in gaming and it becomes a much larger setting towards the exploitation of gaming lore. And exploitation is about right, because we might be harvesting writers style, but this setting ha never been done and that is the solemn goal of any designer, to be the one making a difference and as far as I can tell, this has never been tried or even succeeded before in gaming. But that is what makes the next idea exciting. Not merely because it is new, but because this approach towards dynamic lore has never been achieved and perhaps there was a reason for that in the past, but we have a lot more space than the CBM-64 about 64,000,000 times more and that is merely for the storyline to be created and when that works we can focus one the long term approach of making an actual never-ending story, the insert of the sacrificial Artax becomes optional. But that is my sick sense of humor and I am still privy of making Sir Hiss (Terry-Thomas) becoming the rope that saves Artax, but that is my sneaky sense of humor. 

So you all have a great day and consider the hints I have in this story, so where does this make waves? It’s up to you to see where this is possible.

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May 24, 2026 · 22:18

Just a thought

I just rewatched the Harry Potter series (as one does) and I suddenly thought of a few parts which might be useful for HL2 (Hogwarts Legacy) or HL3. The setting is given that I love replaying a game, especially RPG games and for the most it will be up to Avalanche Software to do or to consider this. The first one was a great hit and there is no reason to change too much of the setup which the people loved. But there needs to be additional ties to a game, not there was anything wrong with the first one, but there is always space to add to what you had and that is where my reengineering skills will assist me. 

The first premise is how to start a person in year six? Then I suddenly realised that there are a few thoughts and this is where I considered that the new student is an exchange student. If the student is male he comes from Durmstrang, if the student is female she comes from Beauxbatons Academy. They also come for a few different reasons, but they are exchange students, so there is ample reason to set the new game in similar (but not completely) similar settings. The map will be the same, although some things will be different and other challenges will come to you. The added stages are Durmstrang and the area around it, as well as Beauxbatons Academy and the area around that place. These sides I leave to Avalanche software. Whilst watching the last HP movie. I got the idea that one of the two schools will face a massive damage setting (the school where you are from) and you get a lot of use from the reparo spell and it can be upgraded to stronger versions, but there is more (there always is) the settings of repairs are bound by your skills as you learn them at Hogwarts. That gave me the idea to have skills intertwined. Reparo can become stronger when you learn Levioso, as such staircases become easily fixable. Better fixing of walls as you learn Accio, Depulso and Flipendo. The stage for an open game remains, but better fixing of things becomes essential to get to parts of the school. And perhaps Avalanche has more (or perhaps even better) ideas. 

Then the setting of the dark spells never felt quite right, because they were unforgivable, But what if we have an option to become a dark wizard or a light wizard? Only dark wizards can do the unforgivable spells, the light wizards have increased shields. It was just a thought. I already voiced the idea for a jobs in an article I wrote called ‘It starts with options’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/11/27/it-starts-with-options/) and a few more after that you get to start work (of a sort) and there is another setting, the house you are in decides a few options for you. I also set some parts in ‘In dubio’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2025/03/26/in-dubio/) but the idea was considered. So as the 4 houses have some the same and one unique, optionally with an additional setting for Witches and Wizards, we get a much larger replay setting. You can’t select certain matters when the first game start, but in a subsequent game you get to override the house you are selected in, so to make it all more playable for the returning gamer. 

There are much more options open, but this is a start and the idea that unique spells are obtainable in either Durmstrang or Beauxbatons Academy is also an option, but the larger setting is that Witches are never allowed in Durmstrang and Wizards can not get into Beauxbatons Academy. Sometimes limitations are a benefit, not a hindrance. And as far as I remember, some limitations were last seen in NeverWinter Nights, so that pleases me too. 

And there is as always the idea to get the people to create their own homestead. There are places you can revive or places that you can obtain, and with that we get largely a much bigger setting. Even with the Hogwarts area map. They should be the same map, but other settings will be added and perhaps a few more additions in enemies and traps might be considered. But I leave that to Avalanche software. Anyway these ideas (consider IP) I freely hand over to Avalanche software. Perhaps they can use it, perhaps not. But there is always the chance that these thoughts will be valued and it might open a few other additions to a game. I am not trying to tell them what to do, their first attempt was quite good, excellent even. But my brain will mull over anything it sees and that is what my brain does. So have a great day, time to watch the Jedi order be destroyed (3rd movie).

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March 5, 2026 · 20:32

Yesterday’s desires, tomorrow’s vices

I was brooding today (I do that a lot) and as my imaginary visions are predicting fame and fortune in the realm of $5-$10 million (when you are allowed to call church mice decadent rich bitches you can do that) the other side of me was looking at a setting we had decades ago. Decades ago Magic the gathering started and it was quickly followed by Netrunner, Star Trek, Star Wars, Babylon 5 and a whole range of other games. To be honest Jacksons illuminati was one of the first too. We had a whole range of game designers who thought it was a quick gain to fortune, it you let this evolve into a greed thing. But the people caught on and they had enough. The weird part was that some of these games were good, they were challenging and if it wasn’t for the greed factor, they could endure. So today these games are basically gone. But why? What stops these makers from creating a digital set (containing a factory set) perhaps not all card, but most cards. Now in the case of Harry Potter

We have a somewhat large population of Harry Potter fans, there is no actual number, but these fans ruin into the millions. So what happens when they can get a ‘starterkit’ for free, so that they can play and if they like it they buy the factory set for lets say $5-$10. A game at the moment written off will gain to the effect up to $50M to $100M dollars. So when was that a bad idea? And with someone setting the new Harry Potter realm in a TV show, the stage will only increase. Then there are certain cards (I actually had one) the rare golden cauldron which (if I remember correctly) gave you potion powers. So some of these cards exist as Hologram cards and some not, but what would it be if you get that card for a mere $0.50? No haggling, no chances. A simple transaction and that would be more money in the hands of these card makers. Perhaps some fans will pay $1 for the hologram set of Potter, Granger and Weasley. People don’t have to do that, because these three are in the starter kit (as far as I know), but fans will pay the extra dollar, on that I have no doubt. And with that we can set the premise to other CCG sets. Dune also has millions of fans. Now there is no guarantee that all these fans like these games, but the setting of a starter kit and the option to play might gain traction over these games.


I believe that good business is where you find it, as the greed setting dies down, the actual game could be the next big thing. Especially on this internet where people are dying to get ahead from the boredom they tend to have and in other news, the setting against social networking and younger players gives Harry Potter an advantage and that is not something you should overlook.

Are all games valid? Pretty much, although not all games can be changed into a digital version of the game. Dune is one that might take some tinkering, but If we look at the fact that hundreds of art images are now catching dust on some hard drive is almost too sacrilege to contemplate and in all this I do think that the Harry Potter CCG might be one that could be ready in a short time. Although it is mostly up to Wizards of the Coast and the designers Paul Peterson, Skaff Elias and Mike Elliott. It seems to me that they are ignoring a good premise. Perhaps they have considered it in the past, perhaps not. But I believe that there is a whole station of alternative games out there. Especially as players like Bethesda and Ubisoft are rehashing old games for the nextgen systems. So why aren’t we looking at the other formats and see if there is an opening for them in the new setting? As far as I can tell, the Harry Potter CCG could be played on a mobile. So how many non-adults have a mobile? Consider that there are an estimated 811 million children under 14 worldwide who own a smartphone and social media bans are set to under 16, so (as I see it) over 500 million have a mobile and no social interaction (one would hope), but these numbers are out there and no one made the jump to see what could be used? Seems like a wasted opportunity to me. 

Have a great day and take some time to smell the roses (if able), I have to because my TV went into Rigor Mortis yesterday, as such my day sucks because no TV also means no PS5 (bitter tears of sadness). 

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January 1, 2026 · 04:49

The games we cherish

We (namely gamers) have a weird knack. When we go ‘gaga’ for a game we cannot help but try to improve upon it in our minds, optionally create new IP based on that game. In 2012 I created Elder Scrolls VI (now basically VII) and after Bethesda was bought by Microsoft, I thought it might be better to put parts of this on my blog, but now ‘altered’ to fit new IP and I basically handed it to anyone making games for non Microsoft systems. I thought it was a good idea to create new IP to cater to the new game designers. I also came up with a new idea of setting a larger combat setting, so that we would not fall for the usual culprits (by stepping out of that combat area, a new way to increase the deadliness of the NPC and I used an idea that Vint Cerf created and gave it new life, but now in gaming. I reckon that this was never done before, so there was a nice niche for that designer. This background was slightly needed as I created an idea for the upcoming (somewhere in the future) of Hogwarts Legacy 2, there is no real timeline, but several sources tell bye that Avalanche Software is on the ball. That didn’t stop me from slapping my mind about for some quick fixes and I wrote about this in the past in two blogs I gave Avalanche Software the ideas, free of charge. I did put one small barricade in place, because as I see it, Hogwarts is the IP of JK Rowling and I have no idea how this is set in the corridors of Avalanche Software, as such the small barricade was that they get it (still free of charge) only with the approval of JK Rowling. 

It seems flimsy, but I believe that IP is holy, messing with it is not my forte. As such I keep some ideas and they go straight to JK Rowling, because she owns that IP. As such I cover myself in some protection and no-one can come and go with the setting “But he gave this to us”. To prevent that, all Hogwarts related idea become property of JK and if she doesn’t approve no harm was done. 

Anyway, I was thinking or speculating on what HL2 would be like, and that is a waste of my time, so I thought that it might be an idea to set a threshold in place. As such we get a condition if you transfer you HL character. And if done splendidly, you get to do that 4 times. And that was how I came up with the setting of a part (could be a DLC) where your Hufflepuff character could become a junior wand-maker (at Olivanders) the small scene at Azkaban gave the idea that people from Ravenclaw could get one of three jobs at Azkaban, Slytherin gets to be a ministry of Magic employee and Gryffindorians become Aurors, it came with a few ideas. First it shouldn’t impact the game, so it might be either DLC, or unrelated at the end of the game where you could get into that phase after you do the main story (or graduate from Hogwarts) in any way, it shouldn’t interfere with the main game (because that would be a pig move) the added benefit is that you get a lot more if you have to replay HL to get into the other houses, but I reckon that most Harry Potter Fans have played it for every house already, so that makes the threshold rather slim. 

There was some idea where there were more jobs, and the idea was that one is perfect for the house you were in, but there would be the setting where Hufflepuff students could get a smaller function in Azkaban (the Ravenclaw choice) as would the Gryffindor student, on the other side we have Slytherin they are fit for the ministry, but there Gryffindor and Hufflepuff could get a smaller job. And so on, as such you get to play 3 jobs (not at the same time). It was merely a thought and it would enable larger lore to be created and given a larger setting towards the magical world. I took this idea and put it here for Avalanche Software to capture the idea and make it their own (if JK Rowling approves). I am adamant about the latter part of this as I consider JK Rowling to be the owner of the original IP, then as I got into this stage of Harry Potter there were more sides that I was thinking of, but in this case I will refrain from (for now) as I have no idea what Avalanche is doing. And I have no intent on getting into their fairway. 

In that same setting I had (before Microsoft bought it) an idea for Fallout 5, not the story, but a wrinkle to connect your Fallout Shelter profile to fallout 5 and it would transfer up to a shelter (your active shelter) to create that shelter in Fallout 5 as a standalone mission, and the programming needs to transfer that shelter into a 3D image and as it is a 2D presentation, there needs to be a setting where the corridors are automatically created, I had some ideas on that too and when you get that, you can have your own shelter in Fallout 5, with some additional safety (security) settings and a few security gimmicks. All part of the idea and that is merely what my mind was up to and there is a lot more, but I wanted to start the new year thinking of games, not on the political disasters playing now. This is not the day to make that happen, but gaming can be done any day of the week, including day 1 of 2026.

So have a great day and enjoy yourself either already in the new year of following us when you get there. Enjoy the festivities today.

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December 16, 2025 · 10:39

President Bully

Here I was, telling myself that the world is screwed up and behest and behold the world shows me I am right. So as a well known person (who I will not name) set the world on fire with his tweet (see below), I suddenly had a massive idea and as I am already working on three scripts I thought I put the idea here, for the entertaining person (likely an American democrat) to make this into a real script. Feel free to hack it in many ways you see fit and know that I would be happy to receive a donation for the idea, but that is largely in your hands. Know that I put this here for all to enjoy.

So as the world is on fire (seeing the massive response to this tweet on both the Republican and Democratic side of the isle) I thought that a script that pleases at least 40% of the American people might be the way to go. So here goes.

BEGIN
The day was nice and sunny and a simple man was walking on the street. He was suddenly halted by a woman pretending to be his friend and as he looked with questions at the women car suddenly halted and bricked him away. [END SCENE]

The man was in a room his bag was taken away from him and the people were talking at him, not to him. He was barely listening because he was confused, he was taken from the street without force and he was placed in a room. There were people who were speaking to each other, there was some disagreement between them and suddenly someone spoke to him. “We were in error” sign this release form and we will put you on your way. He looked suspiciously and looked at the form. It was in a holder and it stated a few things about a release form and a penalty fine imposed on the people who arrested him. The amount was $5000. He looked strangely relieved, it was more than he had seen in several months. So he signed the paper, and he got his 50 bills of 100 dollars. He took his bag and he left the place. [END SCENE]

It was 8 o’clock clock and he was watching the news. It showed something from Microsoft, he wasn’t listening and they had made billions in a deal. He wasn’t up to this and he was about to shut down the TV when he noticed a man standing there. It was a man that was in that room with him and suddenly he had a distinct feeling of unease. And he suddenly looked into his bag. The backup drive had gone. He was beside himself and the next day the news showed a white house setting where Microsoft made a massive announcement that would bring billions into the American economy. And the man became furious beyond believe. [END SCENE]

He ran to the nearest SBS station and gave his recollection of the day he was ‘abducted’, they listened to him, but there was little intent of following up. He recognised that he must have sounded like a deranged person and he got that. When he left the SBS studio, people from Channel 7 were waiting for him asking him “What does it feel to hand over IP worth billions for a few thousand dollars?” He denied doing that, and gave the response what he encountered. And he wasn’t taken seriously. Later that day the news was all jumbled up and the responses were edited for maximum digital dollar effects. He was beyond angry. He then remembered that there were other people involved and he waited around the corner of the American consulate waiting for a chance to get even and after 2-3 hours he got lucky, he recognised one of the men and with chopsticks he ran over to the man approaching his from behind, kicking him in the balls and shouting at him. Who did this? Who ordered the theft of my IP? And the man gave a simple “Fuck you!” Which drove the man insane and he shoved the chopstick into his nostril into his brain. Killing the man on sight. It was less then 10 seconds when the police arrested him for murder. [END SCENE]

We now get a court case, where the man is found guilty of manslaughter, not murder and convicted for 10 years in a maximum prison. After a week he is transferred and before he knows where he is put on a military plane and whisked of to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune where he become an inmate of the MCIEAST regional brig classified as an intelligence prisoner. There he stayed for 7 years, he was then released as a 70 year old person. [END SCENE]

We then get a setting of vengeance. First we get hits on Sydney harbour, ships sinking and we see the same happen to Jacksonville and the Port of South Louisiana. We see the attacks and we see the fallout, but the story in between the attacks show the ingenuity of the writer who was imprisoned. The ships sing making these ports unproductive for months. Whilst the settings are given of the billions of dollars of damage that these attacks bring, we are given the news how ‘former’ president Trump raked in the revenue of billions from Microsoft (who was making a lot more) and now the snippets are joined together as we see the man making a vengeance tour of America. Then we see the port of San Francisco losing several piers to sinking ships and the fallout that this brings to the city, in addition, we see several ferries sink on the spot in total 8 ships sunk leave a very lasting impression of the harbour which will now operate at a mere 30% making the city lose billions and billions in cleaning fees. Next on the list is Los Angeles, around the Angel’s Gate Lighthouse 3 ships are sunk making most of the harbour unavailable. Now we get to see the new setting, the missing snippets are that the man is seeking revenge and a Chinese splinter group, people who hate America are willing to fund the attacks and the stealth solution to what the man invented years before he was incarcerated thought of, and the fun part was that Microsoft had all this knowledge, but they saw it as the ravings of a person who never amounted to anything and that was exactly the setting the group which was a splinter group of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was hoping for. The man disappears, no-one knows where, but we see a small scene of an old man in the Changbaishan International Resort (Jilin Province), enjoying a cup of tea with a young lady at his side. He looks over the ski slopes. In the mean time the harshest insult a person can get in America is to be called a Trumpist, America is looking towards decades of hash living conditions as the evidence seems to be popping up what happened between Microsoft and the White House. Microsoft is rejected all over Europe and the Commonwealth and the Commonwealth no longer considers itself an ally of America. The democrats who follow are between a rock and a hard place. Republicans are shunned all over America.
THE END

So this is what I have so far and I have had the tweet for less then 4 hours. So in view of the loss of Rob Reiner, who gave us  All in the Family (My introduction to Rob Reiner), the Princess bride, When Harry met Sally, Misery and a Few good men and several others. I think I countered the tweet by @realDonaldTrump, I think I got my creative revenge. I didn’t get to introduce on how Ivanka and Barron Trump had to flee to Russia as most Americans had their fill of the Trumps where they get to be toys of the Russian Mafia. Well the world turns in many unexpected ways. 

How you like my sense of consideration Mister President? 

Have a lovely day and take a moment to remember the works of Rob Reiner. I have many good and happy thoughts of his work, even if a never realised what an impact he had on me as a teenager watching Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton giving us their version of America.

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December 7, 2025 · 10:28

The idea and a half

That is the setting, it started yesterday. To relax me I decided to listen to some Hogwarts ambiance music and I stumbled upon the 4 common rooms under Christmas and as I was relaxing, I suddenly noticed a few things. The shadows, some other details and my mind went racing and as such I created a ‘new’ IP, or better I reengineered one. Ih this story I was arriving at Hogwarts as a replacement student, I was replacing Abraham Ronen for a year as he was attending family business. It was quite the rush seeing Hogwarts after so long and I was giddy as a first year student. As I was attending late, I tried the old ways from my youth and would you believe it, that method still worked. I set the frog in a tree and cast the spell making it a one time only and only for me setting and I arrived in a dusty old room, where the brother of my frog was left untouched for years. There was another frog there and it would place me at the bottom of the curved stairs. I quickly charmed the room and cleaned it up. I saw the dust all over from the years of neglect and I summoned a house elf, which weirdly enough wasn’t answering, so I called my personal house elf and asked him to clean up this room. He nodded in acceptance and a minute later he was busy cleaning and scrubbing the room. I thought for a moment and summoned a second house elf from my house in Irondale, the house elf apparated and soon they were both cleaning the room. I asked the second elf to focus on the cozy chair and the walls. I then walked into the frog and appeared at the bottom of the curved stairs. I was hit with two settings, the first one was that it looked still like I remembered it nearly 15 years ago. The second thought that it was massively empty, there wasn’t a sound other then some hoofs in the distance. I walked to towards the great hall and as I got closer, there was still no sound. Over a hundred students tend to make noise, so it felt wrong, also the rooms were absent of candles and lights making it an eerie setting. I walked through the large doors to see…. Nothing. This was odd, I looked at my watch, I then looked at the room and there wasn’t a sound. I called for a house elf. It didn’t appear. I was slightly confused, no professors, no students and there was the sound of hoofs outside. Not even the ghosts were here. I took my wand a voiced the disillusionment spell. I vanished into a shimmer I then whispered the lighting spell for the lights and it obeyed, but there was nothing. I then saw a portrait looking at me and I made myself visible again. I introduced myself to the portrait of Minerva McGonagall. “Good evening, I am the replacement charms professor. My name is Severus Seafarer, I am standing in for Abraham Ronen. What is going on here?” The response was not what I thought “There was a panic and all the professors and student disappeared. I do not know where, but there was something dangerous in the air and now you have been exposed too” I understood the setting and she continued “There are the ghosts in the castle who have been given tasks to keep Hogwarts safe, sook them out. Also the animals around Hogwarts have been exposed and they are now rabid and dangerous. The most dangerous creatures are I think the Centaurs, but they are not alone and they stick together” I thought for a second and I took my leave of her. I rushed to the potions lab and got all the ingredients I could find and made several potions for health, like Wiggenweld as well as some anti toxin potions. I went through the professors cupboard and took what I thought was useful as well as some sleeping draughts, I thought that might be the way to go. I then took a different route, I was originally a Hufflepuff student and as my entry word was a professors code, it would let me in. If the ghosts were the answer, the house ghost of Hufflepuff would be a first. I entered the Hufflepuff common room and ignited the fire as well as the lights. In less then a minute the Hufflepuff was as warm and cozy as I remembered it to be. I called the Fat Friar, as he was my first port of call. He appeared but he was shaken, I don’t remember him ever to be nervous. I bowed and he recognised me. “Severus?” he said. I bowed and said “Yes, I am here as a professor now, what is going on? Minerva explained some of it, but not all. What is going on?” The fat friar explained that it was something to do with the muggle world. We were hit in more profound ways, especially the magical creatures. The students and the professors weren’t hit, but they took no chances as the magical creatures were more and more rabid” The professors decided on the painting portals. Each house has an emergency painting and they went there with house elf. We patrolled the corridors but the Centaurs got too aggressive, so we went into hiding. And that is how it has been for roughly a week.

This is the setting my mind conceived. The setting behind this is Covid-19 and the effect it had on magical creatures, because Covid was made by the asians to counter an invasion of Jiangshi and Oni oil their land, but it had an effect on muggles as well and that is the setting the professor Severus Seafarer faces. The game has 4 distinct environments til settings. Ravenclaw is struck with aerial traps and has invading birds. It is also a stage where you are confronted with Helena Ravenclaw (the Grey lady) and there you get to seek the herbal cures for most of the species. In addition that house will cure the air of Hogwarts, as such no one will get sick after that in Hogwarts and the air will start curing those effected including you. This will be seen that the two house elf will suddenly feel a lot better and will be a controlling force for setting up the Hogwarts defenses against the centaurs where you will have a lethal and a non-lethal setting, the non-lethal setting takes a lot longer, but the reward is a lot stronger. Slytherin is under water, the windows are broken and you need to get to repair the house and drain the water (in stages) as the window defenses are restored. The bloody baron has more on the water defenses and the old spell to set up the widow barriers are the first stage in restoring parts of Hogwarts and the Greenhouses (they are in the lower parts of Hogwarts and also under water) then we get to Gryffindor and nearly headless nick who has the final part of the painting spell and as all the parts are now above water, you can now access the paintings, they are linked and you get the other parts of the lore of the disease setting. Gryffindor has the stage where access to the headmaster tower becomes available and there we learn the last parts of the lore. 

So as we get to clear the common rooms, we also get the settings to clear the disease from Hogwarts. There is more, but for now that is ll there is. As I see it, this IP is readily available for Avalanche Software (as they own the IP of Hogwarts legacy) and as it stands as Hogwarts was completely designed in the first game (by them), it could become a larger DLC for the time being as HL2 is still in design. I have no idea how it fares with Warner Brothers and Netflix, but giving this idea to Avalanche Software might be the better option. So John Blackburn, you have an idea and feel free to use it and keep the scores (read: millions) of Harry Potter fans happy. It (the IP) is yours now.

Have a great day and consider the I wrote this on a Sunday morning, so you owe me a coffee (Jumbo cappuccino with two sugar and full cream milk) as I see it 😛

Have a great day you all, it was great thinking up another game, because that shows how some ore waiting all their settings on a non existing Ai whilst I (coffee deprived) think of new IP with my feeble little brain.

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October 18, 2025 · 23:21

Hidden claws

That is what happened to me, suddenly as I was rewatching ‘the last Witchhunter’ something woke up. It started after I played Oblivion on the Xbox360 for the first time. An idea awoke and I placed part of this as an idea on a gaming website. The idea however never completely died and it remained within me too. You see to take the Olympians into account, there is no way that the worlds of Hecate were innocent and docile and Hecate knew that. Balance is real, it cannot be maintained in the settings we see. Balance of light is still imbalance. In one of the books books of Star Trek there was a expression “Bless the world of shadows, because when the last sunsets fades, they too will die” and that stuck with me over the decades. So what about arch mage Traven? That was the setting I had in mind at that point and the setting war re-awakened in the last Witchhunter. What if the world of Hecate is reimagined but in a more balanced way? What happens when we accept the light and the dark? As such the worlds of Meridia and Namira? In the gaming world they are on opposite sides, but what is the thought that they aren’t truly opposite, what if they are merely apart by a third. Consider a segmented pie chart, one segment light and one dark. But the Elder Scrolls doesn’t hold that as ‘real’ and shows the light as two thirds, whilst the dark side is a mere third and Namira is on the edge between the two worlds and shown as dark. But the largest dark side is ignored. So what about that so called balance? What happens if Hecate, the ancient Greek goddess associated with magic, witchcraft, crossroads, night, and the underworld becomes real in Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls? What happens when that balance is restored? Not to celebrate ‘evil’ but to celebrate the ‘reality’ of things. Without light and dark the shadows do not exist, merely what we personally conceive as light and dark. So what will we see when the larger setting is revealed? What do we do when the world of Hecate is given life renewed? Will we create a larger setting of Vampires, Werewolves and darkness? What will be the real dark places? Perhaps we get a funny side of life and the true world of politicians and false prophets will be revealed to us. It is not merely the setting of what is real, but where the true darkness is real is equally important. As such, as the designer of gaming IP I say good night to one of my my godmothers (and family member) Hecate. 

If gaming is delusion and we love our games, let us say good day to the reality that beckons us and in there we might see what we cannot see in real life. It is merely a point of view to behold.

Have a great day and did you enjoy your Shawarma in Riyadh today? 

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