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	<title>Z-Machines</title>
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	<link>http://site.z-machines.com</link>
	<description>The personal site of Zac North.</description>
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		<title>Redoing the site</title>
		<link>http://site.z-machines.com/2010/05/redoing-the-site/</link>
		<comments>http://site.z-machines.com/2010/05/redoing-the-site/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 May 2010 06:26:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zac North</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://site.z-machines.com/?p=79</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[New design (variable width ftw!), new portfolio, updated resume&#8230;hopefully this will be bigger and better.
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>New design (variable width ftw!), new portfolio, updated resume&#8230;hopefully this will be bigger and better.</p>
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		<title>Assassin&#8217;s Creed 2 Thoughts</title>
		<link>http://site.z-machines.com/2009/11/assassins-creed-2-thoughts/</link>
		<comments>http://site.z-machines.com/2009/11/assassins-creed-2-thoughts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:11:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zac North</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://site.z-machines.com/2009/11/assassins-creed-2-thoughts/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Put simply: GOTY.
I&#8217;m loving this so far. I was all over the original&#8217;s story, but not so much the repetitive investigations. Now, though, it&#8217;s been vastly improved, and I can&#8217;t wait to finish this one.
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Put simply: GOTY.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m loving this so far. I was all over the original&#8217;s story, but not so much the repetitive investigations. Now, though, it&#8217;s been vastly improved, and I can&#8217;t wait to finish this one.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>GOOGLE WAVE</title>
		<link>http://site.z-machines.com/2009/10/google-wave/</link>
		<comments>http://site.z-machines.com/2009/10/google-wave/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:33:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zac North</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Personal]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://site.z-machines.com/?p=76</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[http://google.com/wave/
Is really quite brillo. Also, I have an invite. Am I super-magickal or what?
New opinion article about Dead Space Extraction coming soon, stay tuned.
Also, in other news, I might post an essay I wrote about T-Mobile.
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>http://google.com/wave/</p>
<p>Is really quite brillo. Also, I have an invite. Am I super-magickal or what?</p>
<p>New opinion article about Dead Space Extraction coming soon, stay tuned.</p>
<p>Also, in other news, I might post an essay I wrote about T-Mobile.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>LD48 &#8211; FINISHED!</title>
		<link>http://site.z-machines.com/2009/08/ld48-finished/</link>
		<comments>http://site.z-machines.com/2009/08/ld48-finished/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:17:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zac North</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://site.z-machines.com/?p=70</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Check out my entry here, or on this site&#8217;s page here. I&#8217;m so amazingly happy that I was able to participate in this&#8211;it&#8217;s truly an incredible experience, and I think it&#8217;s quite ignited my creativity for a bit. Thanks LD48!
I&#8217;d really appreciate play-throughs of the game and emails with comments. Also, I&#8217;ll post a proper [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Check out my entry <a href="http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-15/?action=preview&#038;uid=994">here</a>, or on this site&#8217;s page <a href="http://site.z-machines.com/cavern-tycoon-ld48/">here</a>. I&#8217;m so amazingly happy that I was able to participate in this&#8211;it&#8217;s truly an incredible experience, and I think it&#8217;s quite ignited my creativity for a bit. Thanks LD48!</p>
<p>I&#8217;d really appreciate play-throughs of the game and emails with comments. Also, I&#8217;ll post a proper post-mortem later. Thanks everyone.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>LD48 #15</title>
		<link>http://site.z-machines.com/2009/08/ld48-15/</link>
		<comments>http://site.z-machines.com/2009/08/ld48-15/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:23:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zac North</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://site.z-machines.com/?p=59</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m competing, follow me! Very excited because this is my first LD. I&#8217;ll cross-post a proper post-mortem on both blogs once the weekend is over, but I think I&#8217;ll only have time to update one (if any) during the weekend. You can check out my Twitter feed though (on the right!) for up-to-the-minute updates!
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m competing, <a href="http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/author/kato/">follow me!</a> Very excited because this is my first LD. I&#8217;ll cross-post a proper post-mortem on both blogs once the weekend is over, but I think I&#8217;ll only have time to update one (if any) during the weekend. You can check out my <a href="http://twitter.com/kato">Twitter feed</a> though (on the right!) for up-to-the-minute updates!</p>
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		<title>Shadow Complex, Dage, and Recent Thoughts</title>
		<link>http://site.z-machines.com/2009/08/shadow-complex-dage-and-recent-thoughts/</link>
		<comments>http://site.z-machines.com/2009/08/shadow-complex-dage-and-recent-thoughts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 22 Aug 2009 17:21:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zac North</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blender]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[adventure games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chair]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dog adventure game engine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[engine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[epic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[game engine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[shadow complex]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[thoughts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ue3]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unreal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unreal engine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[valve]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://site.z-machines.com/?p=55</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I recently got Shadow Complex, as did everyone else in the world. But, unlike everyone else, I have some severe problems with it&#8211;the limitations of downloadable on current-gen platforms show in the character models, which I found remarkably bad for an Epic-ish product on UE3 on the Xbox 360. However, I do like that I [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I recently got <a href="http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/s/shadowcomplexxbla/">Shadow Complex</a>, as did everyone else in the world. But, unlike everyone else, I have some severe problems with it&#8211;the limitations of downloadable on current-gen platforms show in the character models, which I found remarkably bad for an Epic-ish product on UE3 on the Xbox 360. However, I do like that I haven&#8217;t gotten the &#8220;UE3 texture loading&#8221; pop-in facet yet&#8211;and I&#8217;m hoping that it doesn&#8217;t rear its ugly head.</p>
<p>It does have some strange game design choices, though. Like the oft-mention flashlight that runs out of batteries, but takes less than a second to recharge once it does. I also, personally, don&#8217;t like that you have to shine the flashlight to find secret items&#8211;Metroid was never like that. The colors were revealed to you.</p>
<p>The spacing of checkpoints is atrocious, in my opinion. Please don&#8217;t put a checkpoint, then a boss, then a firefight, and then have the character have to go back to <em>before</em> the boss when they get killed. I also don&#8217;t like the design during the first boss&#8211;you need grenades to defeat it, but you only get six, and getting more is quite difficult.</p>
<p>All in all, it looks like a fun Metroidvania explore-em-up, but with some deplorable choices in design and unforgivable checkpoint spacing. After playing it more I may post further impressions.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve recently learned of <a href="http://rahakasvi.hinguere.fi/Dage/docs/doku.php">Dog Adventure Game Engine</a> (Dage), and I&#8217;ve been trying to get into it. It&#8217;s got HUGE potential&#8211;I might make some editors for it for myself for personal use if I can ever get out of the bug I&#8217;m in&#8211;but it needs a bit of work. I think that if the author open-sourced it a lot of things could be worked on, and I hope that if he ever does discontinue it that he open-sources it. I can&#8217;t wait to follow this program&#8217;s development. It&#8217;s about time the indie community had a 3D adventure creator. I also can&#8217;t wait until some great talent catches on and releases a killer freeware app on it.</p>
<p>Well, that&#8217;s it for now. You should really all <a href="http://twitter.com/Kato">follow me on Twitter!</a> All negative one of you!</p>
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		<title>Harry Potter and the Disappointing Film</title>
		<link>http://site.z-machines.com/2009/07/harry-potter-and-the-disappointing-film/</link>
		<comments>http://site.z-machines.com/2009/07/harry-potter-and-the-disappointing-film/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:44:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zac North</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[harry potter bad movie movies notgames disappointment]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://site.z-machines.com/2009/07/harry-potter-and-the-disappointing-film/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Wow, that might be the most unclever title I&#8217;ve ever written. I&#8217;m setting new goals for myself every day, really.
Anyway, the bottom line is that I thought the new HP film lacked action, lacked mystery, lacked chemistry, and felt like a bridge between two &#8220;good&#8221; stories, which I suppose it is. I kept waiting for [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Wow, that might be the most unclever title I&#8217;ve ever written. I&#8217;m setting new goals for myself every day, really.</p>
<p>Anyway, the bottom line is that I thought the new HP film lacked action, lacked mystery, lacked chemistry, and felt like a bridge between two &#8220;good&#8221; stories, which I suppose it is. I kept waiting for the excitement to ramp up&#8211;and it never did.</p>
<p>One of the worst, if not the worst, of the six, in my opinion.</p>
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		<title>&#8220;Ben There, Dan That!&#8221; and &#8220;Time Gentlemen, Please!&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://site.z-machines.com/2009/07/ben-there-dan-that-and-time-gentlemen-please/</link>
		<comments>http://site.z-machines.com/2009/07/ben-there-dan-that-and-time-gentlemen-please/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:12:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zac North</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Games]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://site.z-machines.com/?p=49</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Ben There, Dan That is a freeware adventure game from last year with an incredible sense of humor. It&#8217;s a great few hours&#8211;and it warms my heart that adventure games are living on.
Especially now that the creators are making money, with their latest release&#8211;Time Gentlemen, Please! A sequel to BTDT, TGP is a direct continuation&#8211;longer, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.zombie-cow.com/?page_id=17"><img src="/images/zombiecow/btdt_ad_01.jpg" alt="Ben There, Dan That!" /></a><a href="http://www.zombie-cow.com/?page_id=559"><img src="/images/zombiecow/tgp_ad_01.jpg" alt="Time Gentlemen, Please!" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.zombie-cow.com/?page_id=17"><em>Ben There, Dan That</em></a> is a freeware adventure game from last year with an incredible sense of humor. It&#8217;s a great few hours&#8211;and it warms my heart that adventure games are living on.</p>
<p>Especially now that <a href="http://www.zombie-cow.com/">the creators</a> are making money, with their latest release&#8211;<a href="http://www.zombie-cow.com/?page_id=559"><em>Time Gentlemen, Please!</em></a> A sequel to <em>BTDT,</em> TGP is a direct continuation&#8211;longer, tighter, and with much better graphics.</p>
<p>These guys really have the indie spirit. I&#8217;d love to release a product like this&#8211;a game that any adult can enjoy, for a small price.</p>
<p>If you haven&#8217;t played <em>BTDT</em> already, I&#8217;d recommend it&#8211;it&#8217;s free and it&#8217;s funny. And please, before you complain about the death of the adventure game, go buy <em>TGP,</em> because adventure games live, gentlemen. They will always live.</p>
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		<title>Desktop Zombie Defense: The Prototypening Devblog Part 1 &#8211; Intro and Basics</title>
		<link>http://site.z-machines.com/2009/05/desktop-zombie-defense-prototype-devblog-part-1-intro-and-basics/</link>
		<comments>http://site.z-machines.com/2009/05/desktop-zombie-defense-prototype-devblog-part-1-intro-and-basics/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2009 21:58:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zac North</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Authentic Experiences, Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://site.z-machines.com/?p=45</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the games I intend to create when I&#8217;m a big-time developer who can do whatever they want is a concept I&#8217;ve been calling Desktop Zombie Defense. It&#8217;s basically the Nazi Zombies mode of Call of Duty: World at War, blown into an entire game. It&#8217;d recreate the classic map, Nacht der Untoten, as [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One of the games I intend to create when I&#8217;m a big-time developer who can do whatever they want is a concept I&#8217;ve been calling <strong>Desktop Zombie Defense</strong>. It&#8217;s basically the Nazi Zombies mode of <em>Call of Duty: World at War</em>, blown into an entire game. It&#8217;d recreate the classic map, Nacht der Untoten, as well as offer new maps to unleash the 4+-player co-op action on.</p>
<p>Now, obviously, this game is a bit beyond my scope at the moment&#8211;my vision for <strong>DTD</strong> involves incredible graphics, flawless netplay, and well-balanced maps. However, it <em>is</em> within my ability to create a series of prototypes that will allow me to refine the gameplay concepts that I one day wish to implement. The first series of these prototypes will be 2D, and I will be documenting every step of work that I do on them.</p>
<p>Nazi Zombies, as a game itself, is a VERY two-dimensional concept. Zombies shamble towards you along a flat plane, and you kill them by shooting them <em>anywhere.</em> Three dimensions aren&#8217;t required for fun with this concept, even though the game is executed in that way. That&#8217;s why it&#8217;s my belief that a perfectly playable, and fun, 2D representation of the game can be created. And that&#8217;s my goal right now. To make a fun 2D game.</p>
<p>Will the graphics be good? No. Is netplay feasible? Not particularly. Can I even do this? Only time will tell. But it&#8217;s worth a shot. So I give to you, using graphics that are entirely not mine, the first ever screenshot of the <strong>Desktop Zombie Defense </strong>2D prototype.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a class="thickbox" title="Desktop Zombie Defense 2D Prototype Screenshot 001" href="/images/dzd/2d/dzd_2dproto_shot001.png"><img class="aligncenter" src="/phpThumb/phpThumb.php?src=/images/dzd/2d/dzd_2dproto_shot001.png&amp;w=200" alt="Desktop Zombie Defense 2D Prototype Screenshot 001" /></a></p>
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		<title>Zeno Clash Impressions</title>
		<link>http://site.z-machines.com/2009/05/zeno-clash-impressions/</link>
		<comments>http://site.z-machines.com/2009/05/zeno-clash-impressions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 03 May 2009 23:37:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zac North</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://site.z-machines.com/?p=44</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My Impressions of Zeno Clash just went up at VidyaNow, check it out.
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My Impressions of Zeno Clash just went up at <a href="http://vidyanow.net">VidyaNow</a>, <a href="http://vidyanow.net/2009/05/impressions-zeno-clash/">check it out.</a></p>
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