Robot Soul

Jason Booth, in a comment to Damion Schubert's "You Don’t Want Realistic A.I." post, points to the combinatory approach to AI in the early Mario Brothers games.

This moves you very quickly towards an n^2 model of content instead of an n++. This is a desirable place for an MMO developer to be in, because you simply cannot produce enough content in the n++ model.

This is one of the reasons why I find Dramatica so useful: it really supports the quadratic approach. It takes more skills to create n^2 content, but to me, it's the only viable strategy anyway,

Via Chris Fairclough: INTO THE WOODS: A Practical Guide to the Hero’s Journey is an excellent essay about applying Joseph Campbells "Hero's Journey" concept to game development.

Microsoft Bob is the first feature they get working right in v.2 already, instead of v.3.

More on the Rule of Threes.

The new Quasimoto double-LP "The Future Adventures of Lord Quas" has just arrived. I recommend it. Here's the video to track A1 on the album, "Bullyshit".

Buy the vinyl. Check track C1, "Raw Deal". And if you've already got the promo CD - it ain't on that.

I heard it first tonight while we watched 1.FC Bayern München vs. The German Soccer Team. Bayern 4, Germany 2. The reason I mention this is the performance of Michael Ballack, who captained Bayern and made his absence felt on the German side. Not only did his performance on the playing field shine, but also the one in the interview with the ZDF (= 2nd largest German public TV channel) minutes after the game. Michael Ballack is clearly an inspiration for my bot. Check him out.

And while you're at it, check these out:

Lord Finesse - "Yes You May" Rmx by Todd Ray 12"
Sir Menelik "The Einstein Rosen Bridge" LP

And if you don't know, now you know.

Update June 1, 11:40: I was too tired last night to care about links. I'll make them general; doesn't make sense to link to any specific vinyl offerings, since they'll be gone in a minute.

Sir Menelik a.k.a. Cyclops 4000, "The Einstein Rosen Bridge".

Article on the original Einstein Rosen Bridge.

Lord Finesse, "Yes You May".

Michael Ballack.

Update June 1, 18:30: Besides his work with Quasimoto, check out Madlibs other productions on Stones Throw and Blue Note/EMI.

Another must-have for me - Jneiro Jaral, "Three Piece Puzzle" 2LP (samples). Another example of the Rule of Threes...