I've been playing alot of videogames lately and I know that is one of my biggest issues as far as getting things done. While I'm playing however I'm getting lots of ideas for my art and thinking of ways to improve so it's a strange trade off.

Lately it's been GTA 4 and I've been getting quite a few ideas while playing it. Playing through each of the characters and noticing quite a few issues among them all and thinking of ways that would make for more interesting characters as far as gameplay and writing goes. Nico, Johnny, and Luis are all super combat monsters. Nico goes flying through a warehouse full of badguys like a hail of bullets incarnate, Johnny has a miserable time getting anything done, and Luis is at best a hypocrite with his side missions and abilities(ie. not wanting to get involved in his old friends' dealings yet is enthusiastic when they show up for him to drive or despite being a bouncer and an underground fighter he gets beat up pretty fast once he starts getting hit.)

Imagine if the main character was a coward though, his main skills being driving and running for his life. When a firefight breaks out of even when a situation gets tense the camera looks over to him turning the corner down the street trying to get away from the mess. When having to fire a gun he panics and doesn't aim opting to duck and cover his head while pointing in the general direction of the targets. Imagine him trying to carjack someone from an intersection like the usual GTA series characters only to have the driver not move from their seat or to start shooting back. picture the character running away from a group he pissed off somehow only to collapse from exhaustion a couple blocks away, the group catches up to him and just beats him down to about 20% and walks off. And then trying to jump a fence only to hit it short and bounce back.

Now he wouldn't always have to be like this, he could get better as the game progresses. Actually taking cover and building up his stamina and ability to move. He'd still be best just running from any encounter but he'd get to a point where he's at least competent in a fight.

Writing wise he'd have to follow that trend. The usual characters in the cinematics are there talking to the other people involved until the situation gets rough and keeps staying there, the cowardly character would be off and running as soon as the other people turned their heads initially. Later on he'd overcome most of his fear but he'd still run as soon as things started looking bad.

The storyline would have to be more comedic to fully bring the best out of the character. Anyone forcing him to do something would have to chase him down, find him, and then send someone to make sure he does what they want. Yes the gameplay would involve getting beat up alot in the beginning, some players would be upset with this. But having it where getting beat up or caught by any group isn't really a failure state would really change the feel of the game. Being able to get up and limp away would allow the player to plot revenge and think more of how to get out of bad situations in the future.

And the ideas keep coming too. Not on just this one thing but on many others too. Maybe my mind is being bogged down with all these thoughts and ideas floating round in my head, there isn't a time when I'm not thinking of some story or character or way to improve things.

The only thing that really gets me is when I go to get any drawing done I go blank as far as the art. I've been trying to get GM up and running again but I can't seem to get more than a panel or two out at a time and I know it will require more than that for a decent post. I try to get several pages done but as soon as I get the rough layout done and I go to get the pages drawn I go blank. My ideas are there and I know I can get them out on paper. GM deals with some personal experiences that have influenced it and the current chapter is no exception to that. Dealing with hormones and their effects on the body, people dealing with underemployment, people dealing with frivolous family grudges...it's all there in my head on what I want to cover in the chapter, writing isn't the issue, it's artistic block. Has to be. I know my ability isn't the issue, I feel more confident in my skills more than ever lately. The motivation and drive is there but it seems to go away whenever I sit down at the desk.

If anyone is on xbox live and wants to play a game with me my screen name is "NursingBrute" . I would love to play through Halo ODST with someone as the matchmaking for the game is a mess.