Tuesday, December 4, 2018

What is Neostriker

What if combat was based off the combatants' spirits? This is the core of Neostriker.

Neostriker is a series where combatants wear an armor-representation of their spirit. As a result, this creates a dynamic where the fights are generally for art and fun while the story may focus on character growth or be philosophical.

How this dynamic plays out is based off the story. For example, in Neostriker: Shining, it is primarily for fun but ideas and light discussions are naturally woven throughout the story such as why men may refuse fighting women.

If I were to place it in a genre, I guess since I would classify Digimon and superhero comics as fantasy, Neostriker would be fantasy as well. You may not see elves, wizards, orcs, etc., but there are elements of fantasy such as special powers, monsters, and idealogies.

Core to the philosophy of the Neostriker stories is promoting good such as honor, respect, friendship, justice, and love. At the same time, I will try my best to not dehumanize my villains who are also human. Since Neostriker is about inner growth, my evil archetypes can simply be evil spirits which means I have flexibility to focus that the human "oppositions" have more complex motives that can still be clearly wrong, but understandable.

I hope to have your support as I write these stories. I foresee it will be a long journey, but I hope that not only will we have fun and enjoy the results, but also that we will grow to be better human beings. These are the kind of stories I would like my children to enjoy.

Dream on!
J. D. Nyle

Saturday, November 10, 2018

eBook version coming soon!

Greetings!

I am pleased to announce that it looks like Neostriker: Shining will be able to get a kindle version after all! While there are some complications, it looks doable and possibly can release within the month. This will be great since it also opens the possibility of reaching markets beyond what I had access to before.


It's a bit confusing for me, but what this means is a few things. First, the earlier draft I had uploaded four years ago needed to be taken down, though the first chapter can still be available. This is to satisfy the exclusivity requirements. Second, the cover I used for the printed copy wasn't compatible for Kindle so there is a difference in covers.


Now for pricing: I currently intend to hold at the target $10 price as promised before. However, to celebrate the launch, I intend to discount it to $7 for a period of time. At the same time, from how I understand the model, I'll also make the eBook version free for those who buy the physical copy for a while. I hope this action also works retroactively and allows those who bought the printed copy within the last year to also redeem a free kindle version.

I hope you all will use this opportunity to read my novel.

Dream On!
J. D. Nyle

Friday, October 12, 2018

What Neostriker is about

What is Neostriker about? It's been awhile since I last posted an update concerning the stories, but I just got inspired for my next story after watching the first episode of 24. I don't know when I will get to write it, but I think it'd be good to address a topic that it may raise.

The theme of this story would be peer pressure. While I will likely write multiple stories on this topic, in this case I want to cover where sexual attraction is a main force. However, this will mean that the main fight will end up being between a boy and a girl, something seemingly in our media culture only allowed if the girl wins. My guess for this restriction is prevent violence against women. This topic is briefly addressed in Shining as the theme for one episode and that is where I think we can see established what Neostriker is about.

In that episode, David said he would not fight a girl but duels Emily anyway. When asked about this, he says that it's okay due to the nature of Neostriker. That nature is that Neostriker is not about violence. The combat is for art and fun and where injury is very uncommon, but the underlying nature of Neostriker is spirit, particularly in the realm of logic and ideals. The focus is not to care about the gender of the combatants, but rather the debates they have or the inner growth of a character. When it comes to the rules of philosophical debates, gender plays no role and that is what David was referring to. I certainly oppose violence against women, but since the underlying focus of Neostriker is on debate and ideals, there is no reason to segregate.

Neostriker was of course originally developed with an action mindset, but like all good things, it grew to have depth as well, similar to the TV shows, movies, and games that inspired it. The action and character design were hooks, but there was real value to glean as well. I hope that Neostriker is seen that way as well, especially in the realm of heroes. It should always promote good values and propose how to properly deal with some situations. I have learned that this is important when there came a trial for me, but I was inspired to make the good choice by David in a similar situation I had in my earlier drafts.

As far as I can recall, Neostriker has almost always had philosophical elements to it. And once I decided that the central force of Neostriker was spirit, it began to take center stage. Shining was the turning point where the action and philosophy were about equal in content though arguably slightly more on the philosophical side. And even though I don't plan to include a story in the game I'm working on, a driving force of it is the philosophical idea that games should be fun and not frustrating, as opposed to many mobile games where they frustrate to the point you might pay. 

I hope this blog post helps explain my ideals behind Neostriker and I certainly hope to have your support in growing it.

Dream on!
J. D. Nyle

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

September Update

I've decided to take another chance in making a Neostriker game. I've had a concept for a tactical game for a few years, by few, I mean perhaps 14 years. Yes, the game concept greatly predates Shining as it's based off a board game I designed to allow my friends and me to play Neostriker when we could not play outside. The concept has evolved, but the base is the same.

Part of what took so long was the search for a game engine. The most popular ones for Indies seem to be Unity and Unreal engine. However, I found programming a 2D tactical game for them to be too difficult for my level of experience. I took a look at RPG maker, but it looked too tedious and would require a lot of heavy customization. Things changed though when I heard the news of Nintendo Switch supporting Gamemaker Studio. I read reviews on Steam of the engine and saw some saying the community support was strong. I then opened YouTube and found Sergeant Indie's tutorial series. While my game will still require a lot of changes, the base he presented was what I needed to get started.

That being said, I have a few intentions for how I want to design this game.
1) Be easily replayable.
2) Keep grinding to a minimum.
3) Allow for player freedom and customization
4) Hide a few secrets
5) Allow for enjoyment of discovering mechanics

At the moment, I do not expect to have great graphics and music as my budget is pretty low and I'm already spending a bit with little prospect of getting a return. I'll try my best at providing what I can, but my hope is that the gameplay will be good enough to obtain funding to polish up, add multiplayer, and support consoles.

There is certainly a lot of work ahead of me, but I look forward it. Creating, when you have the right tools, is fun and so is the result. I hope you will enjoy the result of my work.

Dream on,
J. D. Nyle

P.s. if you are interested in learning about turn-based strategy and an intro into GameMaker Studio, I highly recommend Sergeant Indie's series. If you just want to learn about pathfinding, he has a video on that in the series https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFAuv8mcArkU5QeQv6qec5BKbZYdaWBjb

Friday, August 10, 2018

Does the Lord of the Rings promote Magic?

While I wait for more feedback on my latest short story Intent to Join (which is viewable on wattpad at the moment), I wrote a small thought piece after seeing people ask why some people give Tolkien and C. S. Lewis a pass on magic, but not other authors. This is my theory on the answer by looking at the One Ring

--------------------

If there is one thing people like to play with the most in storytelling, I'd wager it is magic. It's a fascinating subject, but if not handled properly, can lead to questionable morals. And as we cannot discuss magic in storytelling without bringing up Tolkien, whom many authors credit for inspiration, it would be good to analyze what his thoughts were.

Tolkien can be a bit confusing since he appears to use magic everywhere. It's even acknowledged in the Fellowship of the Ring when the hobbits meet with some elves. In this case, it's probably best to say he applied it to whatever could not be comprehended from a purely human and real world perspective. However, if we consider the reasons why magic is evil (grasping, evil source, and possession), then we can reason that he did indeed consider that magic to be evil. And this is all exemplified by the One Ring.

Grasping

To assume the One Ring only makes its wearer invisible is a critical misunderstanding. Instead, it was an amplifier. This is how everyone saw it and responded to it. Everyone who wanted the Ring was grasping for power. Even it's crafting was for the thirst of power. That is why it was given to the weak for safe-keeping.

Recall that Sauron was not invisible when he wore the Ring, but he became more powerful. Hobbits, on the other hand, were described as naturally good at hiding, so invisibility is an amplification of that power. So rather than just an invisibility tool, it's rather an amplifier.

Power source
To assume the One Ring is simply a tool that can be used and mastered by anyone would make the Lord of the Rings books confusing. Why not simply give it to the noblest and purest of heart?

Gandalf gives a brief statement that he could not accept the Ring even though he would initially desire to use it for good. He warned that with the Ring he would become possibly even worse than Sauron. And yet it is said he also bears one of the other rings while being a powerful wizard. To us, those would be two characteristics of magic and power. Why the discrimination? The answer is that his sources of power were good, but the Ring was forged by evil and was evil itself.

Possession

Recall that the Ring is not just a Ring, but it was in fact Sauron. The magic part of the magic ring is arguably that it was Sauron. Sauron had poured his essence into the Ring. Therefore anyone who used the Ring was actually using Sauron for power. When considering the idea that Sauron was essentially the devil, this is the textbook case of magic. And at the same time, the longer one had the Ring, the more susceptible to evil they became. We can even argue the character of Gollum to be a case of possession rather than split personality, but that's would be a separate debate.


Conclusion

Tolkien may have a variety of magic in his books, but he does present the core ideas of magic as evil. Grasping for power is evil; Power sourced from evil is also evil, even if the intent is good; It is evil to allow possession by evil. These ideas are perfectly portrayed in the One Ring as it is not only a symbol of evil, but also of magic.

J. D. Nyle


Disclaimer: My knowledge of Lord of the Rings comes mostly from watching the films and reading the books and attending a class on the subject. I am not Christopher Tolkien or Stephen Colbert and must defer to their expertise if they say otherwise.





Friday, July 6, 2018

Quick Analysis of a Great Opening Scene

When you are trying to write a new story or even make a game, perhaps one of the most important tasks is making a good starting experience. Now if you were to ask me what would be a good example of a solid opening, the first answer will probably always be How to Train Your Dragon.



While the video I shared above cuts off the very beginning, the rest of it is pretty much solid. If you were not interested after watching the first well-done 10 minutes of the movie, then I'm not sure what will impress you. The music, transitions, choreography, monologue and dialogue, and action are excellent. It also serves as a good preview on what the rest of the film will be like. I theorize that if you make a good opening, you shouldn't need a spoiler-filled trailer to build up hype.

You have a quick introduction that is timed perfectly with fantastic music. In fact, I often listen to the soundtrack and reflect on well-done it was. How to Train Your Dragon does fantastic job by starting with a nice mellow but vikingish tune and scene but quickly turns to humor and epicness. Within the first 10 minutes, almost all of the themes that will be apart are covered. You are subconsciously told that there will moments of reflection, humor, epic encounters, romance, and a few twists. The only theme missing that is the core to the whole movie which is friendship.

As sort of a proof of how well the opening follows the movie, consider which characters get developed in the film. There are three: Hiccup, Stoic, and Astrid. They not only appear in that order, but their development and time spent as the focus of the movie corresponds to their time as the focus within the first few minutes. Even though Gobber is present, he's never the real focus. You know this because Gobber is used to tell us more about Hiccup (and later about Stoic or dragons) but never about himself. However, Stoic has a few scenes where he is the star of the scene and Astrid has one moment in the opening as well where she's the star. Now if you argue there's a fourth character, I would agree if you mean all of dragons. This is because they also take the focus as Hiccup informs us about a few of them which happens quite a bit throughout the film but at a good pace.

While it may take 10 minutes to present this solid picture, the fact that it is pleasant, entertaining, and well executed makes you forget about the time. I kept thinking it was 5 minutes only because of the time on the soundtrack, but when I actually analyzed, I found it was close to 10. I think it's safe to say that if we can make the audience forget about the time, then we have done a good job with our art. And if the audience is pleased after finishing the whole thing, then we did a fantastic work of art.

Dream On,
J. D. Nyle

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Mature Stories

Society has a weird relationship with mature stories. I would argue that the intended audience for most mature rated content is actually the immature and there is no intention to actually maturing them. It is mostly the fantasies of the immature that are shown, and that depresses me because that is not how it should be. A good mature story is one that sets up the growth of the audience rather than the appeasement of immature fantasies.

If you watch Empire Strikes Back and then Return of the Jedi, you can see the former is truly a more mature story while the latter is pretending to be mature in the first half. The former is a true classic, but the latter really isn't so great and was even criticized when it first came out. As an aspiring storyteller, I've grown to dislike Return of the Jedi more and more as I grow older, while Empire Strikes Back gets better and better, and I used to hate that movie.

You don't need to show mature content in order to talk about it. For example, does a long and vivid sex scene provide any necessary information about the effects of an affair? No. You can fully and effectively discuss a topic without necessarily showing it. In fact, if you show it, then you probably will actually distract from the topic.

My intent for Neostriker is that there will occasionally be mature stories, but not inappropriate content. There will be no sex scenes and even foul language will be in check. Even if there is language, I will likely use fictional words instead in order to bring attention to the underlying psychology and not promote use of actual bad language.

Why this self-censoring? Because as storytellers, we also hold responsibility for promoting good, but not even all good things are appropriate for all ages. Just as honey is dangerous for an infant, so too some concepts are dangerous for those who are not yet mature enough. As you can see from the short story on preventing suicide, there will be darker themes popping up now and then. I consider these fair topics as they are something a youth will encounter and I hope to provide a good model for then. As a result, I plan to mark the more mature stories so that it's encouraged for those too young to discuss the story with their parents. However, I do intend to continue to encourage thinking in all the stories, like is seen throughout Shining.

Will my new stories always be dark and mature? Not according to what I have in mind. I plan to write according to the stories I have in mind, and some series will lean towards certain levels of maturity. Though I think a good age to strive for is ones that adolescents will appreciate. If you consider that as the target group for Empire Strikes Back or Spider-Man 2, then you realize that you can actually make good stories while still being mature.

Hope you look forward to the new stories.
Dream On,
J. D. Nyle

Friday, May 4, 2018

May 2018 Update

Last month, I shared a short story written for what I have in mind for a series set in the world of Neostriker: Shining. As you can probably see, the style is different than the Legends series I was posting before. I still plan to work on Legends, especially since I do have one story that I would like to write. One thing you might notice is that Neostriker works a bit differently in each of the stories, and that's something I decided after writing Shining back in 2009. The core would be the same in that Neostriker would be spirit-based, but how that would come into play would vary from series to series. Now let's dive into elements I intend to build the new series on as shown in this short story.

First element to point out is that David and company are not the main characters. This has always been the plan. This helps keep Shining as it's own complete story and I really don't have a story where they are the main characters.

The second element I want to try to expand is the continued link between dialog and combat. There are hints of it in Shining. Perhaps I will mostly use the same model as in Shining, but as this story shows, I want to focus on the dialog more and have that dictate the action. There is another model I'm considering where it'd be like a detective story where there is a battle and in the aftermath, a conversation. At the same time, I'm open to the possibility that some stories won't have any fights at all, sort of like the chase chapter in Shining or some stories in Legends.

The third element of the stories I'm planning is the task force model. Rather than being an adventure, the new series would simply be stories taking place in the same general area. My thought is that this would be a combination of superhero vigilantes, but they are actually a government force tasked with stopping evil Neostrikers. Part of that would be the use of human operators rather than Asens.

The fourth element is the additional combat mechanics. At the moment, I have two planned though they are pretty much related to each other. One isn't shown in this story, but it is related to the second element I mentioned above. The other mechanic is actually an old one that I didn't include in Shining called purification. While you could see Jenny do purification, it was actually a combat mechanic that the warriors would use.

The fifth element is the kind of topics the stories bring up. Arguably, this short story is more mature than all of Shining since it focuses on depressing matters like suicide, depression, and heartbreak. While I intend to stay away from having profanity and sex in my stories, I figure a topic that might concern a twelve-year-old is important to cover. I believe I was 10 when I I had a thought of committing suicide. And we also know there are stories of adolescents committing it even on live video feeds. As a result, I think providing good stories that help bring up the conversations while also providing some answers to help prevent such depressing actions is a good thing to do. Therefore, a large focus of this series would be examining everyday issues and questions youth may have.

The final element that I want to include is the letter at the end of the story. I actually originally had another story that I wanted to do based off the rival I mentioned before since there was great dialog and action, but there wasn't a good letter for that yet. These letters are based off the letters you can read from N. D. Moharo's blog, though I'm still working out how I want it to work.

How did you like the short story? What do you think about these 6 elements that I plan to base the new series on. Do you think the short story did a good job as a proof of concept? I would love to hear your thoughts about what worked and what didn't. I especially would like to know if you are interested in reading more stories like this.

Dream On!
J. D. Nyle

Saturday, March 10, 2018

March 2018 update

If writer's block is when you cannot think of anything to write, what is it called when you have too many ideas to start? Let me know when you have the answer. Until then I can give at least an update about some recent ideas that have come to my mind.

I'm still really thinking about making a video game I would really think that would be fun and a good advertisement. And since it'd be based off a game I previously made, I know the mechanics, and so it shouldn't be too hard to make if only I had the game development skills required to make it. However to devote the time to acquire those skills would be very difficult.

One thing that has been recently developing, though arguably it has been developing for 9 years, is a sequel series for Shining. Back then part of the issue was trying to make characters distinguished from those in Shining and each other. Among those would be the rival for the main character. An idea I had was a type based off a musketeer since I liked fencing. However when I drew that concept it looked horrible. So for nine years I was without a concept for a good rival that could match any of the four from Shining. And since I wanted this series to be team-based this was a very important thing.

So here's a rough draft of what I have in mind. Instead of a fencer, he would be a martial artist. His main weapons would be very very short swords that he essentially he is punching rather than slashing. And at the same time he would also fire long-range energy blasts. This would reflect in his personality in which he would ask very direct and personal questions, but also keep things at a distance when he's not comfortable. One interesting idea is that by using punches rather than slashes, is a text or more quick and to the point while slashes follow the logic of, the longer the blade, the more time it takes to swing. This in turn reflects that maybe he will not allow people to think so much, and while his logic it might be sound, his comments might be a little too personal and direct. For example in one case he'll probably ask, "do you know what the meaning of life is?"

One concept that might be pretty cool is that maybe he can throw back bombs using energy powers kind of like how energy blast in shining. And most likely in every one on one encounter the main character loses to him. Yet he will probably have one flaw that would prohibit him from being able to defeat the main enemies. Most likely it would be from personal torment and dealing with the dark power perhaps he took a little bit as a drug and now he's addicted? This might allow for a deeper relationship with the main character's sister as maybe she is one that supports him in trying to recover.

This leads into one of the themes considering for the series: Life issues. I'm thinking of this series taking place either in high school or college age. This would kind of be like The Spectacular Spider-Man TV series in which they take care of crime and stuff but at the same time to deal with teenage issues such as asking a girl out on a date. And again and cover topics that don't seem to be questions as much. For example well, some teenagers will wonder what is the meaning of life. So it would be cool to explore that and see how different people act.

One TV series that used to watch when I was younger but it's starting to influence how I'm thinking about this series is Psych. In pretty much every episode, the main character would learn something from his father that would help him solve the case or was somehow president to the case even though these things tended to be typical life lessons or ways of thinking. We'll see if I can pull it off. While it would still be better as visual media, I might be able to work this out in a serialized story format as well.

Dream On,
J. D. Nyle

P.S. I wrote this blog post using voice typing. What do you think? I had to correct a few things, but otherwise I think the result turned out well and especially allowed my hands to rest.

Friday, February 2, 2018

Making the Cover Art

After the cover art was finally finished, my wife came to me and said, "Now I know why the cover art was so important. It makes you want to read the book." That's exactly true. The primary reason why I hadn't published the book after receiving it back from the editor for over 18 months was due to not having any art.

I had one artist who said he was interested, but he never sent me the first draft and never replied to my messages. There was another guy who sounded like he might have been interested, but I also never heard back from him. Then one guy came up and asked about the project. I told him and he said he wanted to do it and he even agreed to do a trial piece.

That trial piece was important as I looked at his deviantArt profile and couldn't find anything that resembled what I was looking for. Some time before, I had decided the best cover art for this book needed to be a tapestry that showcased modern elements. I eventually settled on the fight between Cyonex and Crawn as it was the best for showing the fantasy elements and the time. However, no art on the artist's profile page matched this feel, but the trial piece would give me faith.

Since this was a trial piece, I didn't want him to use Neostriker for the basis. Instead, I needed him to use another series that had modern elements and see if he could transcribe them to a tapestry art. The result was Star Wars. While I could see room for improvement, the trial piece was good and I gave him the task of making the cover art.

The first draft he gave is what I would describe as a comic book cover. It was good. He implemented part of my design for the hero, which was to my liking, but I thought it was too realistic. I wanted the cover art to allow freedom of imagination to the readers. It also wasn't the format I was expecting after the trial piece. Part of the issue is that it wouldn't work with the cover template I had found to be the best of the options available.

The second draft was closer to expectations and also very promising. It was still a bit dynamic, but I liked the design of Crawn he came up with. I didn't care much for the background as I felt like it took away from the location of the fight. However, the biggest objection I had was that Craw's sword wasn't pointed at Cyonex. It was a good piece of art, but it didn't look right for a cover piece. It looked like Crawn was lecturing Cyonex which would completely change the first impression readers would have. While the book certainly has a bit of philosophy, I felt like it gave the wrong impression as it made Cyonex look like the aggressor. Had this been inside art, then that would be okay, but not good for the cover.
The third draft was fantastic. Even though I personally liked the designs of the warriors in the previous drafts better, this one felt like it could have been made in medieval times. It also allowed the imaginations of the readers to flourish. In addition, adding the jetpack helped conveyed that it was a modern story. As a result, we proceed to color this one and fine tune it. The result is the final art piece we have today.

I hope you enjoyed that look into the process of creating the cover art. David is an aspiring young artist. His hobbies include Star Wars, comics, drawing, cosplay, and sword-sparring. If you want to hire him, you can reach him through his DeviantArt profile, Omnipotrent

J. D. Nyle

Neostriker: Shining is now available for purchase from Amazon in US, Canada, UK, and Europe

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

The New Stories

Now that Shining has finally been printed, it could be said that it's time for me to move on to new stories. However, you might be aware I've been slow on working on them. Part of that was due to the decision to actually publish Shining in print, but it's also a combination of time and inspiration.

Neostriker is certainly a hobby, but it's one of many. While pretty much everything I do ends up contributing to Neostriker in some way, I can only write when I have free time and if I feel like it. While I would like Neostriker to be my career, the only funding I currently have is by working full time. In addition, I do have a family to take care of so the chances that I'll complete a new story in the near future is fairly low, unless I do serialized stories instead.

Now for years, I've had planned I want to do at least 12 different stories, but which ones I develop keep changing. Most of the time, it's the "Origin" novel that focuses on the first Nellenion King. However, I've also had periods of high inspiration for other stories along the timeline as well as sequels to Shining. To give an idea about the diversity, here is what I've been planning (names not final):

Main timeline

  1. Origin: Adventure novel on the first Neostrikers and the first Nellenion King. Feel would be like chapters 15-18 of Shining. The first chapter, which I wrote before deciding to rewrite Shining can be read here
  2. Legends: Serialized stories taking place in the same period as Origin. A few of them can be read on this blog.
  3. Twilight: Epic novel highly inspired by Twilight Princess. Takes place quite some time after Origin and focuses on the princess and a hero with the heart of a child. Many of the ideas here are a result of some dreams that I've had.  
  4. Fall of the Nellenion Kingdom: Covers the war that leads to the defeat of the Nellenion Kingdom which was partially described in Shining.
  5. Rebellion: Story of rebellion against the occupying forces taking place in a steampunk world. Inspiration varies from Zorro and The Last Story. Possibly serialized
  6. Wings of Freedom: Norse-inspired story that follows the descendants of the exiled prince.
Expanded universe
  1. Rising Sun: Japanese-inspired story. Possibly serialized.
  2. Eagle-heart: Native North American-inspired story
  3. Heart of the Ocean: story of a fisherman and his "mermaid" love (not actually half-fish).
Shining Universe
  1. Story focusing on the children of David and Jenny. Best if visual media like a movie
  2. Serialized stories following the events of aforementioned sequel. Best if a TV series
  3. Climax

I originally intended to focus on Origin, but I made a change of plans when I decided I wanted to practice my writing skills first with Shining. As a result, the core concept of the world has been established already, making me feel like I can actually write in any order like Brian Jacques did with Redwall. Of course, there is also the desire to make a Neostriker video game, which would take a very long time to do. Then again, if Shining sells really well, then maybe there is hope I can focus on these ambitions sooner.

Dream On,
J. D. Nyle