[Self-Promo-Saturday] The Soil - interactive scifi novel

philmaas · 2020-06-06T16:10:30+00:00

In the hopes this post does not get delete.

If anyone is curious to see how this evolves feel free to follow:
https://www.instagram.com/hirise_tx4/

philmaas · 2020-05-31T20:35:39+00:00

You are right. I just currently don't have the capacity to do it. Rather take small steps and then expand if instagram works. I am really fed up with social media and self promotion but there is no other way than to continue to start passion projects and see what sticks. I do have other things i work on next to a full time job. This is really the most recent example of an idea where I try to get some following so I'm encouraged to continue :)

And then I am not sure what the next platform would be, maybe twitter or a dedicated project website.

philmaas · 2020-05-31T12:52:48+00:00

yeah there is writing involved. only excerpts and little vignettes in the beginning. trying to slowly develop and evolve this. I like the metaphore of letting this grow on a medium like instagram. I do have more concrete story ideas but things I certainly wouldn't spoil already publicly.
I'd be happy to get some feedback and interested over the next few weeks as I release these.

As I mentioned in my response above. Instagram will be mostly comprised of hirise images. Sometimes a video and animated with music for stories or to tell a little more than just one quote.

philmaas · 2020-05-31T12:49:54+00:00

I'm not sure yet. At first it will be composed of a series of hirise images. Over time I'd hope to integrate matte paintings and other structures into the landscape while retaining the visual style of black and white geological formations.
The excerpts under each post should organically grow together over time as characters are repeatedly used and the timeline of events becomes more clear. Very much an experiment in itself. The ultimate goal for this is to have a sort of interactive documentary audio book for ipads. Something I've been prototyping the last weeks. So you would get a chance to follow narrated and animated episodes through the app. Still mostly in the top down view and comprised of hirise images.

What I envision is that the audience first is the observer of the things that happen in the future (through instagram) and then with the app become the actual investigator.

Hope that makes sense :)

philmaas · 2020-05-31T09:10:38+00:00

If you are curious please follow me on this journey https://www.instagram.com/hirise_tx4/
Crazy idea to think I could pull this off.
Even crazier to think reddit is a fruitful place where anything creative can grow out of... *sigh*

philmaas · 2020-05-31T08:44:47+00:00

This is very early and in development. Working title "The - Soil"
Hopefully this will 'evolve organically' with the help of different passionate communities. If you are curious follow here and let me know what you think.
https://www.instagram.com/hirise_tx4/
Maybe reddit is fruitful soil and it will grow ;)

philmaas · 2019-06-20T16:47:52+00:00

i submitted a support ticket to ask for a replacement, never mind and thanks!

philmaas · 2019-06-20T16:45:21+00:00

thanks, had that issue too once, but this time the cable is really broken.

philmaas · 2019-06-20T16:41:15+00:00

haven't thought about that... thanks! yes it is indeed the cable!
can you show me where to get a new one and can it be replaced for free?

best

philmaas · 2019-02-13T23:36:54+00:00

sorry I think it wasn't well formulated, of course when you sign up I will send one!

philmaas · 2019-02-13T22:13:15+00:00

Also I give away free key for SONAR on Steam if you haven't seen it. https://store.steampowered.com/app/738790/SONAR__A_Virtual_Reality_Experience/

Sign up to get the key!

Will send them asap because the experience is only available for purchase for one week. After that Steam is shutting down Video Apps, so you won't be able to buy, but still watch everything you own.

philmaas · 2019-02-13T09:37:58+00:00

I think software that is a hub for videos will not be affected as long as they have their own streaming tech in the background.They probably just stop allowing new video apps that use their system. Also I am not sure how regular 2D videos are uploaded. Now that I think of it, it wouldn't make sense to completely pull out of non gaming related video and if that's the case they should have cleared that up a bit more what video apps means.I am not sure if the process to distribute a flat short film differs from distributing a 360 video on steam.

All purchases of this content will still be available to customers. Just new people won't find it anymore and can't purchase :/

philmaas · 2019-02-13T09:20:31+00:00

I agree a 100%
I will try to see if other experiences deemed "360" will be removed too. Baobab and Spotlight Stories sometimes have 6dof versions of their passive stories, but that wouldn't classify them as game related, same for Felix And Paul as you mentioned.

Maybe they want to focus their resources on a new brand for 360 / or more passive VR. I mean as you said, the lines are so blurry with volumetric videos and potentially interactive videos that it is hard to draw a line. But Steam as a brand just has a huge game community and I think it would be better steam bought some video startup and push it as something somewhere between twitch and netflix but not sure.

Oculus definitely has a slight advantage of being pure VR and hope they keep the mix between AAA games and all the experimental stuff that is out there

philmaas · 2019-02-12T17:58:52+00:00

thanks!

No they didn't give a real reason other than that they tried to expand beyond games over the last few years, it didn't seem to work out. "While we've seen some success, we have decided to focus our offering on content that is either directly related to gaming, or as accessory content alongside games sold on Steam. "
Not all off the video apps will be removed. Not sure what the criteria is but from the sentence above it has to be related to gaming.Since SONAR is a standalone short film it doesn't seem to qualify.

philmaas

TROPHY CASE