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Fullscreen Writing Mode
Allows writing in an uncluttered, fullscreen environment with all the power of YourOtherMind available but kept out of sight. Fullscreen Writing Mode What does it do? Allows the writer to focus on the current text. Several advanced formatting tools are also available only in fullscreen mode such as access to cosmetic color changes (i.e., white text on blue background). It also has re-formatting options to convert a text between various styles (some markets like italics to be represented by underlines for example). How To Use It Right-click any note and select Full Screen Editor and then start writing. Changes will be saved automatically (ctrl+s still saves too). To view advanced…
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Version System
Keeps copies of the richtext in notes. Version System What does it do? Archives ‘drafts’ or versions of stories or other documents stored in YourOtherMind’s notebook. How To Use It Invoke the editbar (ctrl + f) and select Features|Versions. The user will be brought to a screen with a list of existing archives (if any). To archive the current version they press Archive This Version. To compare versions just doubleclick the ‘old’ version in the listbox. This old version will appear on the left hand side of the screen. The current version always appears on the right-hand. Each note can save an unlimited number of archives (or drafts). Useful if…
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Editbar
(Click on image for non-blurry) The editbar is available from any note and has find, replace, and other several editing features (spellchecking, grammar watch, and more). Editbar What does it do? How To Use It Press Ctrl + F to open it. The user can immediately enter text and press enter to initiate a find operation. Additionally they can do the following: Replace operation (by clicking beside the word Find to invoke replace menu) Select exact matches only by clicking the Exact button Select a chunk of text and see how many words are in See the current page number Press GrammarList to start searching their text for common grammar…
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October has been a good month for the stories
Just a few days before finding out that my Writer’s of the Future submission had qualified as a finalist, I received acceptances to two anthologies. Both anthologies will be available in 2010. When I’m allowed I’ll post details about the markets and stories (one is a fantasy story set in the same universe as The Tale of Lady Spite and From the Sea, the other is sci-fi and is in fact the first story of my ‘Wanderer‘ sc-fi future universe which terminates with The End of the Road, published by Not One of Us ). Just had to share the good news. And today I received an acceptance for another…
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Storyflesh
Allows for exploring ideas and fleshing out stories during the planning and revision phases Storyflesh What does it do? Storyflesh is a place to view existing ideas and lists that the user has already created in YourOtherMind but in a brainstorming setting. In version 8.2 Storyflesh features a character trait builder. In future versions scene building, complications, culture development, and plot design will be added. How To Use It This brainstorming environment is accessed via Page|Storyflesh. Users can add their own traits or modify the existing ones by going to the page Traits Revised in their notebook. This is the list of traits that StoryFlesh uses. Applies To Notes To…
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8.3 (planning)
When version 8.2 is launched, this page will describe the planned features and improvements for version 8.3. The estimate release date for this update will be early 2010, depending on whether there is continued interest in YourOtherMind. Please add your requests to the comments field! Features new for 8.3 [wlist category_name=”8.3″ order=desc orderby=title limit=40]
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Run YourOtherMind from a USB drive
(image source) Run YourOtherMind from a USB drive or an alternative directory. Run From USB Drive What does it do? By default YourOtherMind stores all of its information in “My Documents\keeper\” Some users prefer to keep their YourOtherMind data on a USB drive and take it with them (using it on other computers). Others like specifying another location or a network drive. Using the directory override, users can tell YourOtherMind to look for data other than in the default directory. How To Use It Simply create a batch file or a Windows short-cut. Two parameters are required. The first is a control word (‘override’) that specifies the user is overriding…
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Review: Creating Emotion in Games
Creating Emotion in Games by David Freeman This was a fantastic book, not just for writing in video games, but for writing in general. There’s great game theory in here and strong techniques for applying the many lessons prose and screen writers have learned to game design and writing. And even for games with limited writing much of the discussion of character traits and building an emotional connection with the player are equally applicable to world building, level design and even gameplay mechanics. My only real disagreements have nothing to do with the usefulness of the book, but more to do with some of David Freeman’s justifications for adding emotioneering…
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Finalist in Writer's of the Future Contest
I was very pleased last week to receive a phone call from Joni (Writer’s of the Future Contest) to tell me that I am a finalist for the contest for the 3rd Quarter. I have been waiting since that call for her to post the news on the official blog. Read the details on the blog here. So, what does this mean? My story will be competing with the stories of the seven other finalists to win favor with the judges. If it wins, then I get to attend a writing workshop and the story would be published in the next volume of the Writer’s of the Future. I am…
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BioWare-Brent Year 3 (2001 – 2002)
This is the third of ten posts, one for each year that I worked for BioWare. Alien Three Way Developing a game for an already existing Intellectual Property (IP) is a complicated affair, (probably) not unlike a three way involving different alien species. No one quite knows what goes where but everyone wiggles about enthusiastically. The bedmates for this particular anecdote are: BioWare (the developer) attempting to make Neverwinter Nights whose game world was owned by Wizards of the Coast (the IP Owner) but the rights to produce a video game using this particular region of the game world was owned by Interplay (the publisher). Of course I barely knew…
