but I’ve incorporated shifting day and night patterns that affect which monsters are out at what times. And get this—after they download the patch, if snipers camp in the same old spots for too long, those monsters will sniff them out. Some of the urban areas will have collapsing buildings or new areas attached to the perimeter of the play area. It’ll breathe new life into all the popular maps!”
“Okay,” Jason said in a favorable tone that probably came along with a nod. “What else have you got?”
Relieved by the reaction he’d gotten, Cole said, “I’ve designed some new enemies as well.”
“More monsters? Do we really need that?”
“These monsters aren’t just new character models. They’re the old monsters that transform into bigger, stronger, or faster ones. It’s a real evolution of the game and it’ll only require a few more animations to go from one to the other. Trust me,” Cole added. “I’ve researched them thoroughly and they’ll kick our players’ asses. I’ve got everything drawn up and laid out as far as how it all fits together. It sounds like a mess right now, but it’ll be so cool.”
“Sounds like it.” This time Jason seemed genuinely pleased.
“But wait,” Cole added in a voice pulled straight from a late night infomercial, “there’s more. I wrote up some tweaks for the now infamous painted hammers that will upgrade the stats.”
“You mean the different colors and handles won’t just be pretty?”
“Nope. I came up with ways to modify the weapons so anyone who bought that first batch of downloadable content will do more damage or get more attacks or even—”
“I get it, Cole. Will it be easy to implement?”
“The changes should just fit right into a patch that—” Knowing Jason was more concerned with the bottom line, Cole cut himself short. “It’ll just be another download. I thought we could make it free as a show of goodwill.”
“And a way to apologize for the first bunch of crap we put on the market.”
“My way didn’t sound so brutal, but yeah.”
“Send what you’ve got as soon as you can,” Jason said.
“I just did. Hopefully this will keep me employed for a little while longer.”
“I wasn’t going to fire you, Cole. Well, not yet anyway. Apart from the whole Hammer Paint fiasco, you’ve been turning in better content than any of our other part-time contractors.”
Part-time contractors. A fancy name for the guys who sent in pages of ideas to get a small commission. He might not have clawed too high up the corporate ladder, but the part-timers didn’t even have a rung. Now it seemed he was down there with them.
As if picking up on the gloom settling in over Cole’s head, Jason asked, “How’s Paige?”
“What was that?”
“Paige. You mentioned her in a few of your other e-mails a while ago. It sounded like she might be something more than just a friend, but you hadn’t quite…you know…sealed the deal.”
Jason was never good at guy talk. He knew the basics, but couldn’t commit enough to the subtle banalities to be truly fluent in the language.
“She’s been kicking my ass,” Cole grumbled.
“I hear you, man. Women.”
“I’m going to stop you before you try to call me bro.”
“That’s probably for the best.” Jason shifted enough to make his chair squeak and then said, “The e-mail just arrived. It looks like some good stuff. Your old job is waiting for you whenever you decide to come back to Seattle, but don’t take advantage of our friendship. Another Hammer Paint fiasco will sink our download division for good.”
“Read through everything I sent you. If you still want to scold me after that, I’ll bend over and take it like a good cell mate.”
Chapter 4
Kansas City University of Medicine
Kansas City, Missouri
Lisa Wilson knew better than to walk by herself at night. Not only had her parents drummed that into her head ever since she was young enough to have strangers offer her
“Okay,” Jason said in a favorable tone that probably came along with a nod. “What else have you got?”
Relieved by the reaction he’d gotten, Cole said, “I’ve designed some new enemies as well.”
“More monsters? Do we really need that?”
“These monsters aren’t just new character models. They’re the old monsters that transform into bigger, stronger, or faster ones. It’s a real evolution of the game and it’ll only require a few more animations to go from one to the other. Trust me,” Cole added. “I’ve researched them thoroughly and they’ll kick our players’ asses. I’ve got everything drawn up and laid out as far as how it all fits together. It sounds like a mess right now, but it’ll be so cool.”
“Sounds like it.” This time Jason seemed genuinely pleased.
“But wait,” Cole added in a voice pulled straight from a late night infomercial, “there’s more. I wrote up some tweaks for the now infamous painted hammers that will upgrade the stats.”
“You mean the different colors and handles won’t just be pretty?”
“Nope. I came up with ways to modify the weapons so anyone who bought that first batch of downloadable content will do more damage or get more attacks or even—”
“I get it, Cole. Will it be easy to implement?”
“The changes should just fit right into a patch that—” Knowing Jason was more concerned with the bottom line, Cole cut himself short. “It’ll just be another download. I thought we could make it free as a show of goodwill.”
“And a way to apologize for the first bunch of crap we put on the market.”
“My way didn’t sound so brutal, but yeah.”
“Send what you’ve got as soon as you can,” Jason said.
“I just did. Hopefully this will keep me employed for a little while longer.”
“I wasn’t going to fire you, Cole. Well, not yet anyway. Apart from the whole Hammer Paint fiasco, you’ve been turning in better content than any of our other part-time contractors.”
Part-time contractors. A fancy name for the guys who sent in pages of ideas to get a small commission. He might not have clawed too high up the corporate ladder, but the part-timers didn’t even have a rung. Now it seemed he was down there with them.
As if picking up on the gloom settling in over Cole’s head, Jason asked, “How’s Paige?”
“What was that?”
“Paige. You mentioned her in a few of your other e-mails a while ago. It sounded like she might be something more than just a friend, but you hadn’t quite…you know…sealed the deal.”
Jason was never good at guy talk. He knew the basics, but couldn’t commit enough to the subtle banalities to be truly fluent in the language.
“She’s been kicking my ass,” Cole grumbled.
“I hear you, man. Women.”
“I’m going to stop you before you try to call me bro.”
“That’s probably for the best.” Jason shifted enough to make his chair squeak and then said, “The e-mail just arrived. It looks like some good stuff. Your old job is waiting for you whenever you decide to come back to Seattle, but don’t take advantage of our friendship. Another Hammer Paint fiasco will sink our download division for good.”
“Read through everything I sent you. If you still want to scold me after that, I’ll bend over and take it like a good cell mate.”
Chapter 4
Kansas City University of Medicine
Kansas City, Missouri
Lisa Wilson knew better than to walk by herself at night. Not only had her parents drummed that into her head ever since she was young enough to have strangers offer her
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