Showing posts with label Fate of the World. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fate of the World. Show all posts
Friday, September 09, 2011
Fox News attacks eco-games for fear-mongering
Above: Fox News accuses eco-friendly computer games of liberal fear-mongering. Among the games cited is Fate of the World, which I wrote. I'm glad Fox News is helping me see the error of my ways. Down with liberal fear-mongering! Only conservative fear-mongering should be permitted! No more pots calling kettles black! #ironyfail
Monday, February 28, 2011
Progress check: two months into 2011, plus other Febs
Well, that was unexpected: I had the weekend off. I'd been expecting to be cramming to hit deadlines for two different projects, the computer game I've been writing solidly since mid-January, and my last script for Nina and the Neurons, the CBeebies science show for preschoolers. But instead I got signed off on both. Result: free weekend.
So I went into Edinburgh and wandered round some shops, blinking and trying to remember what to do in polite company [it's been a while]. Came home and watched some Six Nations rugby, plus a bunch of new DVDs that turned up in the post: Despicable Me; The Social Network; and the first series of Downton Abbey. Plus the pilot of Hill Street Blues.
Of course, having been working non-stop since xmas, it proved kind of hard to switch off completely. So I commissioned an artist to provide a cartoon visual for a new CBeebies pitch I'm developing. Spent a few amount of time thinking about the new calling card script I resume writing tomorrow. And checked my email far too often [force of habit].
Things I have done since xmas: written five eps of Nina and the Neurons. Vast screeds of text for computer strategy game Fate of the World. Scripted an issue of comic book Fantomen, featuring costumed hero The Phantom. Met with an independent producer to discuss various ideas. Hooked up with a director for a potential short film project.
Agreed to provide text for a new edition of The Complete Inspector Morse, to be published this autumn by Titan Books. Written a new story of the day pitch for Doctors. Been teaching a brand new post-grad module on writing for graphic fiction. And taught MA Creative Writing 2.5 days a week. So it's been reasonably busy.
Having come to the end of both major projects that have occupied most of my time, creative energy and brain space, it's time to think about the path ahead. Whenever I need to ponder the way forwards, I like to look back and see what lessons I can learn from past successes, failures and missteps. Learn from your personal history, it helps.
Five years ago I was still in year one of my part-time MA screenwriting studies. I'd been commissioned to write my first radio play [Island Blue: Ronald, tx June 2006]. Went to my first Adrian Mead screenwriting seminar and learned a lot. Heard how to break in at BBC Scotland's continuing drama River City and decided to have a go.
Four years ago I was nearing the end of my screenwriting MA. I was writing Danny's Toys, a short film script that's opened several doors for me since. Thanks to the Scottish Book Trust, I was being mentored by Adrian Mead in screenwriting for TV. I was also taking every related short course known to man, or so it seemed at the time.
Three years ago I successfully completed a trial script for Doctors, but was told in no uncertain terms it could be months [or more likely years] before I got my first commission - if I ever did. My script Danny's Toys had won an award in Los Angeles, and I was meeting with an animation producer, trying to get it made as a short film.
Two years ago I was still banging my head against the wall at Doctors, trying to get a story of the day pitch banked, let alone commissioned to ep. I'd taken a part-time job with a new creative writing MA at Edinburgh Napier University. And I was part of a team-writing TV drama workshop scheme run at the Lighthouse Arts Centre in Brighton.
One year ago my first TV drama was broadcast, an episode of Doctors called A Pill For Every Ill. Katie Williams at Blake Friedmann became my agent. I was working on my second radio drama commission, Legacy. I was teaching 2.5 days a week. And the executive producer on River City said I had been on her radar for a wee while.
This year? My third ep of Doctors will be broadcast on March 18. One more ep and I'll have two hours of TV drama credits, which elevates me [contractually, at least] to the level of experienced. I'm under no such illusions and am painfully aware of how much I've still got to learn and develop. Like all writers, I'm a work in progress.
I've got five eps of Nina and the Neurons on the go for broadcast later this year. Writing for a younger audience is new for me, something that's only arisen thanks to a writers' lab run by the Scottish Book Trust and CBeebies Scotland run last summer. One thing led to another and now I'm exploring the world of children's TV writing.
I'm still knocking on the door at River City, five years on from my first attempt. Every now and then I feel like I'm getting close, but regime change sweeps through the production offices at Dumbarton and I'm back to square one. Nevertheless, it's an area I'm still pursuing. Sheer bloodymindedness triumphs eventually, that's my policy.
When I chose to study for an MA in screenwriting, I knew it would be expensive. Not so much the course fees [though I was entirely self-funding], but the loss of income from setting paid work aside to study. But it felt necessary. I wanted to write for TV, I knew I could tell a story, but I didn't have the craft skills or contacts to succeed.
So I took an MA to hone my craft skills, and a plethora of other schemes, workshops and opportunities to improve my prospects. Slowly, painfully, it's paying off. I was making a healthy living from the media tie-in hackwork before starting my MA. Nearly six years later, my earnings are just about back to where they were in summer 2005.
There are no guarantees. February 2012 could see me reflecting on a barren year during which I got no new commssions - it happens. But it won't be for want of trying part. I don't claim to be hyper-talented, but I put in the effort and pursue a sound strategy. My favourite mantra is simple: talent + effort + strategy = success. Onwards!
So I went into Edinburgh and wandered round some shops, blinking and trying to remember what to do in polite company [it's been a while]. Came home and watched some Six Nations rugby, plus a bunch of new DVDs that turned up in the post: Despicable Me; The Social Network; and the first series of Downton Abbey. Plus the pilot of Hill Street Blues.
Of course, having been working non-stop since xmas, it proved kind of hard to switch off completely. So I commissioned an artist to provide a cartoon visual for a new CBeebies pitch I'm developing. Spent a few amount of time thinking about the new calling card script I resume writing tomorrow. And checked my email far too often [force of habit].
Things I have done since xmas: written five eps of Nina and the Neurons. Vast screeds of text for computer strategy game Fate of the World. Scripted an issue of comic book Fantomen, featuring costumed hero The Phantom. Met with an independent producer to discuss various ideas. Hooked up with a director for a potential short film project.
Agreed to provide text for a new edition of The Complete Inspector Morse, to be published this autumn by Titan Books. Written a new story of the day pitch for Doctors. Been teaching a brand new post-grad module on writing for graphic fiction. And taught MA Creative Writing 2.5 days a week. So it's been reasonably busy.
Having come to the end of both major projects that have occupied most of my time, creative energy and brain space, it's time to think about the path ahead. Whenever I need to ponder the way forwards, I like to look back and see what lessons I can learn from past successes, failures and missteps. Learn from your personal history, it helps.
Five years ago I was still in year one of my part-time MA screenwriting studies. I'd been commissioned to write my first radio play [Island Blue: Ronald, tx June 2006]. Went to my first Adrian Mead screenwriting seminar and learned a lot. Heard how to break in at BBC Scotland's continuing drama River City and decided to have a go.
Four years ago I was nearing the end of my screenwriting MA. I was writing Danny's Toys, a short film script that's opened several doors for me since. Thanks to the Scottish Book Trust, I was being mentored by Adrian Mead in screenwriting for TV. I was also taking every related short course known to man, or so it seemed at the time.
Three years ago I successfully completed a trial script for Doctors, but was told in no uncertain terms it could be months [or more likely years] before I got my first commission - if I ever did. My script Danny's Toys had won an award in Los Angeles, and I was meeting with an animation producer, trying to get it made as a short film.
Two years ago I was still banging my head against the wall at Doctors, trying to get a story of the day pitch banked, let alone commissioned to ep. I'd taken a part-time job with a new creative writing MA at Edinburgh Napier University. And I was part of a team-writing TV drama workshop scheme run at the Lighthouse Arts Centre in Brighton.
One year ago my first TV drama was broadcast, an episode of Doctors called A Pill For Every Ill. Katie Williams at Blake Friedmann became my agent. I was working on my second radio drama commission, Legacy. I was teaching 2.5 days a week. And the executive producer on River City said I had been on her radar for a wee while.
This year? My third ep of Doctors will be broadcast on March 18. One more ep and I'll have two hours of TV drama credits, which elevates me [contractually, at least] to the level of experienced. I'm under no such illusions and am painfully aware of how much I've still got to learn and develop. Like all writers, I'm a work in progress.
I've got five eps of Nina and the Neurons on the go for broadcast later this year. Writing for a younger audience is new for me, something that's only arisen thanks to a writers' lab run by the Scottish Book Trust and CBeebies Scotland run last summer. One thing led to another and now I'm exploring the world of children's TV writing.
I'm still knocking on the door at River City, five years on from my first attempt. Every now and then I feel like I'm getting close, but regime change sweeps through the production offices at Dumbarton and I'm back to square one. Nevertheless, it's an area I'm still pursuing. Sheer bloodymindedness triumphs eventually, that's my policy.
When I chose to study for an MA in screenwriting, I knew it would be expensive. Not so much the course fees [though I was entirely self-funding], but the loss of income from setting paid work aside to study. But it felt necessary. I wanted to write for TV, I knew I could tell a story, but I didn't have the craft skills or contacts to succeed.
So I took an MA to hone my craft skills, and a plethora of other schemes, workshops and opportunities to improve my prospects. Slowly, painfully, it's paying off. I was making a healthy living from the media tie-in hackwork before starting my MA. Nearly six years later, my earnings are just about back to where they were in summer 2005.
There are no guarantees. February 2012 could see me reflecting on a barren year during which I got no new commssions - it happens. But it won't be for want of trying part. I don't claim to be hyper-talented, but I put in the effort and pursue a sound strategy. My favourite mantra is simple: talent + effort + strategy = success. Onwards!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Finishing line beckons for marathan writing stint
Feels like I've been writing non-stop since Christmas. Obviously, the reality is a little different. I teach 2.5 days a week, get 5-6 hours sleep most nights and do enjoy a long bath. But I doubt there's been more than a handful of non-teaching days since Christmas when I haven't been writing [plenty of teaching days too, first thing].
Most weekdays and every weekend have been about writing, writing and more writing. What's been occupying all my time? Computer strategy game Fate of the World is a hearty chunk of that. Wrote 6000 words for that last weekend alone, as the final push is on before the game launches its full version. [A beta version is already out there.]
CBeebies science show Nina and the Neurons has also loomed large. I've completed at least a first draft for four of my five eps, and some second drafts too. A more first draft to come, and plenty of rewrites as well. I've little more than a newborn writer when it comes to capturing the preschool style of Nina, but I hope to be crawl soon.
I've also returned to writing comics for the first time in two years. My 41st script for the Phantom is written to first draft and needs a thorough polish before I submit it to my editor, Ulf. Took a while to get back up to speed, but teaching postgrads about writing for graphic fiction every Friday afternoon has been a useful reminder.
All things being equal, I should be signed off on most of these commitments next week. Suspect I'll need a day or two of drooling in a corner before I recall what the outside world looks like. [Most weekends of time the only time I've left the house in daylight have been supermarket trips. Live to shop, shop to live - that's my motto.]
But right now, March is looking relatively deadline free. There are lots of things I need to progress, most of which have been shoved aside to hit deliveries for Fate of the World and Nina. I'm working with a London director on a short film project that needs a new draft, but that's a writing for fun project rather than paying work.
I've got half a dozen ideas for Doctors story of the day pitches waiting to be written up and submitted. Simply haven't had the time to do any of them justice, so have been scribbling ideas into notebooks, thus justifying my stationery fetish/addiction. Found one on the computer yesterday I'd written a week earlier and since forgotten!
Plus there's the small matter of my new calling card script which got shoved aside last August to write my 3rd Doctors ep. It's been sat waiting for my return ever since, but the game and Nina and teaching and everything else have taken priority. I need to get my new script the attention it deserves, so that's a March job too.
One good thing that arises from being so insanely busy: you don't have time to spend much money. I even got a tax refund last month [my first ever, I suspect] and it's been sat in my bank account ever since, waiting for its moment. Come March, I might get to shop for things other than food and essentials. In the meantime - onwards!
Most weekdays and every weekend have been about writing, writing and more writing. What's been occupying all my time? Computer strategy game Fate of the World is a hearty chunk of that. Wrote 6000 words for that last weekend alone, as the final push is on before the game launches its full version. [A beta version is already out there.]
CBeebies science show Nina and the Neurons has also loomed large. I've completed at least a first draft for four of my five eps, and some second drafts too. A more first draft to come, and plenty of rewrites as well. I've little more than a newborn writer when it comes to capturing the preschool style of Nina, but I hope to be crawl soon.
I've also returned to writing comics for the first time in two years. My 41st script for the Phantom is written to first draft and needs a thorough polish before I submit it to my editor, Ulf. Took a while to get back up to speed, but teaching postgrads about writing for graphic fiction every Friday afternoon has been a useful reminder.
All things being equal, I should be signed off on most of these commitments next week. Suspect I'll need a day or two of drooling in a corner before I recall what the outside world looks like. [Most weekends of time the only time I've left the house in daylight have been supermarket trips. Live to shop, shop to live - that's my motto.]
But right now, March is looking relatively deadline free. There are lots of things I need to progress, most of which have been shoved aside to hit deliveries for Fate of the World and Nina. I'm working with a London director on a short film project that needs a new draft, but that's a writing for fun project rather than paying work.
I've got half a dozen ideas for Doctors story of the day pitches waiting to be written up and submitted. Simply haven't had the time to do any of them justice, so have been scribbling ideas into notebooks, thus justifying my stationery fetish/addiction. Found one on the computer yesterday I'd written a week earlier and since forgotten!
Plus there's the small matter of my new calling card script which got shoved aside last August to write my 3rd Doctors ep. It's been sat waiting for my return ever since, but the game and Nina and teaching and everything else have taken priority. I need to get my new script the attention it deserves, so that's a March job too.
One good thing that arises from being so insanely busy: you don't have time to spend much money. I even got a tax refund last month [my first ever, I suspect] and it's been sat in my bank account ever since, waiting for its moment. Come March, I might get to shop for things other than food and essentials. In the meantime - onwards!
Monday, November 01, 2010
I'm writing a Page 3 computer game
Opened my newspaper this morning to find page three devoted to the game I'm writing. If I read the Sun, that would involve topless women. But I'm a Guardian reader and the game is Fate of the World, which challenges you to save the planet [or destroy it]. Here's an extract:
They've previously tackled alien invasions, gang violence in New York and how to raise a happy family, but this week computer games wrestle with an even more pressing issue: climate change.You can read the rest of the article here.
Arriving on PCs on Tuesday and Macs shortly after, the British-made Fate of the World puts players at the helm of a future World Trade Organisation-style environmental body with a task of saving the world by cutting carbon emissions or damning it by letting soaring temperatures wreak havoc through floods, droughts and fires.
The strategy game is already being hailed by gaming experts as a potential breakthrough for such social change titles, and welcomed by climate campaigners as a way of reaching new audiences.
While traditional mainstream games have focused on action, sports and increasingly casual genres, Fate of the World features data from real-world climate models, anecdotes from the polar explorer Pen Hadow and input from a team of scientists and economists in the US and UK.
It has been developed by Oxford-based games designers Red Redemption, whose previous browser-based climate game for the BBC has been played more than a million times since it was launched in 2006.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Trailer for FATE OF THE WORLD strategy game
The folks at Red Redemption Games have posted the trailer seen above for the strategy game I'm working on with them, FATE OF THE WORLD. You can pre-order the Beta version for PCs from this Friday, with the Apple version coming soon. Fate of the World is a dramatic global strategy game that puts all our futures in your hands.
The game features a dramatic set of scenarios covering the next 200 years, based on the latest science. Your job: balance the Earth's resources and climate against the needs of an ever-growing population. Your choice: help the whole planet or be an agent of destruction!
Fate of the World is by the award-winning Red Redemption games team and Battlestations: Midway Producer Klaude Thomas, with climate science by Dr Myles Allen (University of Oxford), writing by me and music composed by Richard Jacques (Mass Effect, Alice in Wonderland)
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Going off-grid; new Doctors commission; games gig
Right, I'm signing off from Vicious Imagery for the next two months due to pressure of work. I've just been commissioned to write my third episode of Doctors for BBC1, for broadcast in March next year. The new teaching year has begun at the Creative Writing MA course I help teach at Edinburgh Napier University. Plus there's this:
Indie developers Red Redemption are excited to announce that David Bishop, award-winning screen writer, Dr Who author and former editor of cult UK comics 2000AD and Judge Dredd Magazine, is writing the script for upcoming PC/Mac strategy title Fate of the World.My non-disclosure agreement means I can't say anything else about the project [so don't ask - sorry!]. All of these things mean I have to put Vicious Imagery to one side for at least two months. See you later in the year, hopefully. Onwards!
Fate of the World is a global strategy game that puts the whole world in the player's hands. Players will have to decide how the world will respond to rising temperatures, heaving populations, dwindling resources, crumbling ecosystems and brave opportunities.
"I'm thrilled to be writing the script for this innovative game," says David Bishop. "It's not often you get to work on a project that's got such a powerful message embedded in its narrative fabric, yet also offers you the chance to destroy the world in dozens of different ways!"
"A game with so many narrative outcomes as Fate of the World presents a real challenge for writers. David is such an intelligent, witty and versatile writer and we couldn't have imagined a better fit," said Ian Roberts, Creative Director of Red Redemption.
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