{"id":196,"date":"2026-03-30T14:24:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T14:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prestonorrick.com\/?p=196"},"modified":"2026-03-30T14:25:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T14:25:31","slug":"an-excerpt-from-my-newest-book-a-childhood-in-pixels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prestonorrick.com\/?p=196","title":{"rendered":"An Excerpt From My Newest Book, A Childhood In Pixels."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I took shelter in the tent and switched from third person to my character’s first-person point-of-view in the game, Fire Ridge.<\/em> The sky looked rotten with dark clouds settling in. Thunder rolled in the distance. The whole experience was oddly relaxing. This was the first time in any game that I let my character sit there, not doing anything. I observed even the most minute details like raindrops realistically striking the ground. The campfire hissed and fizzled, ultimately extinguished by a torrential downpour. This wasn\u2019t my camp. I had ambushed a gang of thieves loudly projecting their plans to rob the bank in town. A fiery arrow into their parked wagon had served as an easy distraction. Hiding behind a tree, I easily picked off all five of them. The game’s attention to detail was impressive. The same tree I took cover behind would weather over time. The bullets would remain in the bark, potentially rotting and killing the tree from within.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The blistering lightning and heavy rain eventually subsided. A wagon towing an impressive carriage rolled up the hill nearby. A short man wearing a white shirt underneath a bright, blue vest held the reigns tied to four horses. Rain-soaked white drapes covered the carriage windows. Normally, I would have held them up and looted their carriage. Killing, stealing, causing carnage. The outlaw lifestyle. This playthrough, I wanted to be a good citizen and avoid crime as much as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the real world, I\u2019d been stuck in my house for so long I had the time to play through Fire Ridge<\/em> again. In the real world, everyone stayed inside their homes as much as they could. It was a weird time that I will likely never see again. People were fearful of stepping outside their front door. Paranoia, confusion, uncertainty. Because of all this, I believe I would not have enjoyed Fire Ridge <\/em>as much as I did if I hadn\u2019t played it during this strange event. I truly appreciated the tranquil moments in the game, transporting myself to a more peaceful time in America’s history. That is, if you don’t include lawless bandits and outlaws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I found myself sitting back and watching my character ride an old steam-powered train across the entire map. The map was so large it took an hour and a half for the train to complete a full circle. My character sat beside pretty lakes teeming with fish or on top of a church people-watching. Snowy mountain areas offered the tallest peaks with breathtaking views, so long as you kept an eye out for wolves and the occasional mad survivalist roughing it in the frigid temps. I\u2019d have my character sitting on rooftops in small towns for hours watching characters interact with each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The game’s Artificial Intelligence was mind-boggling. You could really tell the developers put a ton of work into each NPC, also known as non-playable-character. If I started a fight, that same NPC I\u2019d exchanged punches with would remember me when I returned. In some cases, they\u2019d chase me across the map. Houses in the game couldn’t be destroyed but could be damaged. A lit kerosene bottle exploding against a house would leave a permanent scar. If I gave money to a beggar, his family would seek me out later and give their thanks. Alternatively, if I killed the beggar, family members would find me or commission bounty hunters to track me down, dead or alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the real world, it hadn’t taken long for everyone to panic buy. Store shelves were stripped bare of the essentials from toilet paper to hand sanitizer. Some whiskey companies joined in on the craze, selling branded sanitizing solutions or hand wipes. There were fears gas stations would run out of gas. Those lucky enough to work from home full-time got used to it, remaining fully remote after life returned to normal. I believe this odd chapter had long-lasting effects on everyone. Lack of trust in others, less desire to be social and the inability to make and keep friends. They had essentially become me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I spent so much time at home that I started building model kits. I became very entrenched in the hobby, taking my time to build cool, miniature plastic robots. I’d seen model building enthusiasts online taking it to the next level. Burn marks (from their \u2018battles\u2019) and excruciatingly customized paint jobs. I had half a thought to get serious about model building kits before real life returned to normal and I discarded that hobby for good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While I don\u2019t sit and idly watch my character in Fire Ridge <\/em>riding atop a wagon anymore, I rely on it as a source of escapism when I need to be transported away from real life, if only for a short while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I took shelter in the tent and switched from third person to my character’s first-person point-of-view in the game, Fire Ridge. The sky looked rotten with dark clouds settling in. Thunder rolled in the distance. The whole experience was oddly relaxing. This was the first time in any game that…<\/p>\n

Continue readingAn Excerpt From My Newest Book, A Childhood In Pixels.<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prestonorrick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prestonorrick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prestonorrick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prestonorrick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prestonorrick.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=196"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/prestonorrick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":200,"href":"https:\/\/prestonorrick.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196\/revisions\/200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prestonorrick.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prestonorrick.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prestonorrick.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}