Journal entries - August 2009
The joys of a multilingual environment
With less than three weeks to go before I leave for London on a one-year course at university, I’m starting to realise that there’s one thing I’ll definitely miss about Brussels: its multilingual aspect. Though in London I’ll have to tackle a wider array of English accents than I have ever encountered so far, which in itself will be quite a challenge, it’s not quite the same.
Come to think of it, compared to a multilingual environment, studying & working in a monolingual environment must be boring.
Have I become European (and/or Belgian) to the point of looking down upon “lesser people” such as the Brits and the Americans, who rarely have to venture outside their linguistic comfort zone?
Arpia – version 1, at 171,060 words
The day has finally come where I can say the following: I have finished writing Arpia.
I never imagined it would happen, but I have indeed written the last words of the full version 1 of the Arpia novel (version 1 as in “the parts that haven’t been revised three times already will be revised, and I’ll then revise the entire thing”).
As such, the Arpia novel page has been updated, and I’m in dire need of reviewers for the whole thing (I already have some reviews for part I [the first half], but you can never get enough reviews).
If you are therefore interested in reviewing the novel, letting me know what doesn’t flow, what is amazing, what is awful, do drop me a line by using the contact form.
To get some of you intrigued (hopefully), here are the very last lines of the novel:
One mind pondered a question.
“Is she ready now?”
The answer came from the second mind.
“We shall consult with the Shroud.”
If you know who the Shroud are, you’ll get easier access to the novel for review.
Comments that make it all worthwhile
Though ARPIA2 is nearing its third birthday, every now and again I receive comments from people regarding the plug-in.
And just as the end of “draft 1″ of the Arpia novels enters in sight (“Operation Firestorm” is what I’m writing about right now), here’s a little comment posted on the Ambrosia Software webboards that made me smile:
I just finished the Regular string today. Very, very impressive.
I have to say: I was a bit shocked when the two “destroy the Hogun” missions came along. Up until that point, the Regular string was honestly feeling a bit too safe (pirate-kill missions tapered off, courier missions involved little to no blockade-running). And then suddenly, oof. I think it took at least a dozen attempts, plus several million credits worth of escorts and upgrades to them (n.b., I am about the worst starfighter in the known galaxy), to beat that one. (None of my escorts or manta fighters survived, even in victory.)
Which is pretty awesome, all in all: I put EVERYthing I had into beating back the enemy and it was just barely enough. Now that’s a feeling of accomplishment.
This plug-in really lived up to billing. I never expected to pull off missions like that, or even “go take out two pirate carriers” (yikes!), or to command a (now extinct) fleet that included an Enterprise and a Manticore.
And I can tell there’s still a ton of stuff that I haven’t done yet. Thanks for all of the effort that went into this.
- source
Thanks mattkuhns!