Below are the 8 most recent journal entries recorded in matth03's LiveJournal:

Tuesday, March 30th, 2004
1:05 pm	My favorite Story My favorite story of all time would have to be Hansel and Gretel.. Its hard to put my finger on why exactly i like it so much. I guess i like the cleverness of the two children, leaving the trail of bread crumbs to find their way back as well as tricking the woman into the oven. It also possesses many aspects that make a good story. Good guys, a single bad guy (of girl), an adventure, a dangerous situation, and clever solution. Good stories have the adventure and danger element, as well as a moral lesson usually learned by the protegonists. THere is also a version of Hansel and Gretel from a book of Grim Fairy Tales in which they dont fare so well and the woman comes out on top. So not all fairy tales follow this criteria, although most of the well known ones tend to do so. (Comment on this)
Monday, February 23rd, 2004
10:18 pm	Game location. I wandered around for a while in SL tonight, talked to a few people, and got directed to a few games i was very impressed with. In the area i found there were many games. There was a mini-casino with craps and roulette, a tarot card reader, a jukebox, and other tables i didnt get a chance to try because my attention was quickly taken by a very impressive mini-golf course. The coordinates of the first hole are Blue (180,99). The course consisted of five holes, beginning very simply and ending more difficultly. First you click in the sign that said Mini-golf, and it offers you a putter and explains how to play. you walk to hole one, click on a smalle green circle where it places your ball. You select the putter from your inventory, and press M for mouse look camera angle. When you get close enough to the ball to putt, the ball shines blue, and you press and hold C to strike the ball, the longer you hold C the harder you hit the ball. After the first hole i had it down, and the course proceeded with some very creative holes. There was a windmile hole, a hole with a pendulum, and holes with multiple tubes that led down to a seperate green. It was clear that whoeveer created the course spent a good deal of time and effort. It was user friendly, creative, fun, and had aspects of competition, vertigo, and chance. (Comment on this)
Thursday, February 19th, 2004
3:14 pm	Games The games i have stumbled across so far in second lief have been reletively simple in nature. I mentioned the "simon" game in class, a station you approach with green red orange and yellow bottons which light up in a certain sequence which you then have to follow. Also, the game with the squares you stand on, kind of like a checkers board, where the directions are to jump to the blue square. I couldnt quite figure out how to "jump" though, so i gave up on that game rather quickly. I will post the coordinates of this game soon. All the games i have come across have been simple games, involving buttons or patterns, and most are very large, large enough for a person to walk around or see clearly in the game. (Comment on this)
Monday, February 16th, 2004
11:37 pm	SL motivations Over the weekend i struck of conversations with four people about why they played second life. I just wandered up as my female avatar and got myself involved in the conversation. I felt a little bit dumb asking people why they play SL, while i was playing SL. Sometimes people thought i was just trying to cause disruption and got a bit defensive, throwing it back into my face. "Why do YOU play SL," one guy said. But most of the people gave me an honest answer. Two girls were the most interesting. One said she really enjoyed the creativity of it, the building and the freedom people have within SL. The other one claimed that she only played because he friend got her into it. The general impression i got was that people that play SL are people that dont like the competition and the restrictions of man other games. They enjoy the fact that there is no real goal to SL, and they are free to build and experiment with building and buying things. I got more honest and friendly answers from girls, guys didnt seem to be interested in discussing their motivations. Maybe girls are just nicer to other girls. These interviews were short and sometimes a failure, but the people that answered definately let me know what attracts people to SL (Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 10th, 2004
11:20 am	Second Life As i wandered through Second life as a woman, everyone seemed to be even nicer than they were before. The people in SL are already more friendly than in most other games, but i noticed it especially when talking to people as a girl. Guys would sometimes subtly hit on you, but for the most part i noticed the difference when talking to other females. Girls just seem to treat eachother better than guys do, in real life or over an online game. It was very interesting seeng the difference, though sometimes it was hard not to forget and give yourself away during a conversation. I also have noticed that almost all female characters are made to be very good looking, tall and skinny and many times wearing skimpy clothing. My avatar wasnt quite like this, i tried to make her unique, although my efforts went to waste since i forgot to save her. She will be easy to recreate though if we have anything else to do with them. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2004
2:34 pm	Second Life What i have realized about the second life invironment so far is that there are almost no boundaries as to things that can be built or created, but there are many limits to how these things can be used. In trying to create a game, things that would work could be building contests, flying or steering contests or races, mind games like chess or other brain busters, or task oriented games like scavenger hunts. In other words, simple games that challenge the mind more than the limits of the environment. Games that wouldnt work would be fast moving games like basketball, car racing, or first person shooter games. Games like these have to be geared towards that type of gameplay, but the second life world is one of imagination and deliberate movements, perfect for socialization in an online world but not meant for these high speed and fast reflex type of games. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 27th, 2004
12:18 pm	Second Life First of all i think its really cool how they made accounts for everyone in Second Life. I think wandering around and meeting other people online is the best way to learn about online communities. Nothing beats just testing things and experiencing all the things in the game. Second, my preliminary impressions of the game. I like the movement keys they chose since i am already used to the from counter-strike and other games. I like how you can fly and run, but picking things up has seemed a little clumsy to me. I probably just need practice. I am excited to find out what else is in the game, i am guessing there are almost limitless possibilities based on the fact that within 10 minutes of leaving orientation island i had angle wings and an assault rifle. I look forward to seeing other places in the game, and doing whatever there is to do. I have no idea what there is to do, whether it is shooting ppl with this assault rifle, accomplishing tasks or riddles, or buying and selling things. Games like this are unique because everyone can do something different. Overall I think the game is excellent, despite the bit of lagginess that hindered my movement somewhat. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 20th, 2004
7:37 pm	Intro Hello, My name is Matt Himes and i am a 1st year at Trinity from Austin, TX. I live in Winn, my major is so far undeclared, and i like to play basketball, play video games (obviously), and hang out with friends from Trinity and from Austin. So far i enjoy most things about Trinity, San Antonio is alright i guess, and i wish the food was better. My interest in video games comes stems from when i was a little kid; first arcades and then NES, Mario Bros, and Zelda. Since then i have gotten a new system pretty much every time new ones have been released. In the early days it was nintendo, SNES and N64. Then i got a playstation and a PS2, which i enjoyed, but i recently traded my PS2 for a friend's XBOX. I liked the idea of a hard drive build in, no memory cards, and the better graphics of XBOX. For the last few years however, most of my gaming has been done over my PC, where i am addicted to Starcraft Brood Wars, and Counter-strike. I favor these games because they are online and you can talk to the people you play with. I have many friends who i play online with, some i know personally and others from across the world. That is what i enjoy the most about online games is the wide range of people you play with. I also play with my brother and friends from home and it helps us keep in touch. Anyways, im glad to be in the class, im not sure if i am the only 1st year or not. See everyone Thursday. Matt Himes (Comment on this)