I'm Gonna be a SUPERSTAR!!!!
 

My name is Davey Boy Bott. I just entered The City on a greyhound bus. My life before I hit the city? Ok, but I'll be brief.

My family?

Well, we were upper middle class. I was sort of a black sheep of the family myself. I spent a lot of time partying with my older friends actually. Did put a damper on my studies.

After high school I worked a little trying to finance my big break but mostly blowing the money on beer and women. You know, important stuff.

Why do I want to be a musician?

Easy my good man, I pursue the hedonistic treasures of promiscuous excess. This is the most noble goal I can pursue I figure or at least the most fun one.

Dreams?

Man I always dream about the Acoustic Guitar of Eden. That fabled axe really jams you can bet your pick on it.

Regrets?

Man I wish I'd have been at Woodstock in '69. That was a musicians dream.

When I become a superstar what message would I like to pass on to humanity??

You've got to be joking? You're not? OK, give me a minute. Yes, how about this : Free your mind and do what you want. Hm, not bad, not bad.

The disturbance at the Alley Cat?

Man, that was blown way out of proportion. Some dude tried to hassle me. I could tell his problem wasn't really with me so I asked him about it. We straightened things out and are buds to this day.

Say, is this going to take much longer? I've got a lot of shit to do. Oh,. we're done. Well, thanks for doing this interview. It's not much man but one day we'll look back on it as the start of something big. This is the day I take my first steps towards becoming....a SUPERSTAR!!

The grayhound pulled into The City at 9am. I had ten bucks to my name and a second hand acoustic guitar. I only wish I'd have come with some talent but I'll have plenty of time to practice.

First things first though. One look at the street, full of prostitutes and drug dealers definately reminds me that I don't want to sleep here. I see a flier for the Pick Me Up Motel and they're charging ten bucks a week. I ask Debbie, who says she's a model but who eyes up every man in a suit like he's a mouse and she's a cat who hasn't eaten in a month which may well be right, where I can find work and she tells me about the employment agency downtown.

I can't afford a bus so I beat feet and head on my way.

Well, pickings are pretty slim today. I have four choices.

1. confectioner from 9a-3p for $3 per hour. A whole eighteen bucks and all the sugar I can eat.

2. taxi driver from 3a-6a for $6 per hour. Good rate but shitty hours and not enough of them. Still it's 18 bucks and half the hours of job #1

3. stripper from 2a-9a for $4 per hour. Now we're talking. :) I"m no prude and it pays 10 bucks more a day than the other two options. As tempting as it sounds, I can get 4 more hours of practice time in and only lose ten bucks if I become a hack.

4. Skip it and wait till tomorrow. Not a chance, I've got to eat.

I am now Davey Boy Bott, taxi driver and rising SUPERSTAR!!!

Well, I don't have anything to do until 3am so I decide to practice. Downtown isn't the place for that exactly so I head to a convenient street corner and pull out my guitar. The thought of flipping over my hat is tempting but I know that with my talent I'd more likely get my hat stolen than full of money.

I proceed to playing, chords mostly. Basic stuff. The time flies by. Come 8 o'clock my fingers are sore and my mood is edgy but I do feel the satisfaction of hearing how much better I'm sounding. Hell, a couple of people look at me playing and not with a look of utter disgust. I have a long way to go, but I stop for the night. I've got to be up by three am. I have a taxi to drive.

Two hours later and I finally cut it for the night. I just couldn't stop. I could feel a plateau coming and I had to reach it. I end with a flourish that would send chills down the spine of my audience if I had one.

I go to sleep and dream of things to come.

My first shift as a taxi driver goes quickly. I earned enough money to rent a room at the motel and thats just what I do. I get a sleazy room with a cheap rollaway bed and room for two guests. Hey, it beats the curb.

I'm pretty beat. The rest on the curb wasn't exactly refreshing and it was a long walk to the hotel. I don't have money for a cab or any uppers so I decide to sack out. I can always practice lat....

Friday night when I get up I see that the ratings for the week are in. Arctic Wrecks have the number one album in the city in Windy Territory. The Wrecks are pretty cool. I hope to meet them someday.

Still, as cool as they are, Windyt Territory doesn't break into the national top 20 not to mention the world rankings. I turn to the Cool Artists top 120 and am surprised to see myself on the charts! Sure I'm the Mr irrelevent of music sitting at position 120 but it seems like my first interview had generated at least a little heat. Arctic Wrecks are at 96 which does let me know how hard I have to work to even make a difference.

The top band in the world is Son of Factory, followed by Bitter Moan and Atomic Sinner. Right now, I couldn't even drive these guys anywhere in my taxi thats how far off my radar scope they are. With that, I again begin to practice.

I spend the next few days working my butt off and practicing in every spare moment. By wednesday after my shift, I['m beat but I've managed to save $63 and I decide to check out the local Club.

The manager accuses me of trying to be funny when I ask about a gig. I guess I need to practice a lot more. Even at 630 am the place has some important people hobnobbing.

Bart Dudley, the 5 star vocalist for American Gambler is there. I know better but decide to approach him and greet him. All he says is "forgive me, stranger" as he turns his attention back ot his entourage. I decide to see if I recognize anybody else.

I spot Paul Ganza, the not so famous unranked producer in the crowd. He can't really help me in any meaningful way as he has no real talent. I strike up a conversation anyway. He tells me about this thing called trends. Apparantly the listening public goes through different phases every month and it's a producers job to keep track of that.

This comes in handy when one is trying to sell albums as it's wise to push a song off your album that matches the monthly trend. This months trend is death. If I was anywhere near album making stage this might be useful but for now it's merely fluff.

Paul and I exchange phone numbers and I split. He's a nice enough guy I guess but not someone I'll socialize with much. I turn my attention to the last person of import, Carol Reilly,a one star journalist.

Carol is a purple haired, copper skin woman who I do want to get to know. She's not big time but she reaches a larger audience than I do and press is always a good thing. Unfortunately she tells me "sorry, but you don't inspire me." Fine.

I'll remember that Carol, when I'm on the rise and you're begging me for the time of day. I don't inspire her indeed. I buy myself three beers and then sack out on the couch they have in the back.

I sleep longer than expected but I'm not far from work and I take a stroll out into the street to begin the grind yet again. Man, I really needed those beers.

Very cool, Axxon. I'll be reading this...

It's friday night. Wow, Nuclear Secateurs have knocked arctic wreck out of the top spot with their album Invisible Blaze but the Wrecks arent too far behind.

Meanwhile, I'm still not even good enough to open at the local club. Lots of work to do but I imagine next week might be a bit different.

Speaking of the club, I decide to use their couch again. When I enter I see six big wigs and none of them less than 3 star talent. No one is likely to be interested in me.

I overhear Victor Cartwhright talking to his buds and he's claiming he's a freethinker. Well, so am I. Victor is a six star unemployed vocalist. There's not enough liquor in the world to get him to team up with me NOW, but if I can at least talk to him, then maybe later we may get together.

To my surprise Vic is a pretty cool guy. He invites me to his table and we rap for a little while. He is really a romantic at heart and he is a pretty good composer. I buy him a round which is all I can afford right now and we exchange numbers. We're certainly not friends yet but we can be and I intend to keep in touch with Victor.

I crash out with a smile on my face. I can feel my luck changing. Moving to the city looks like it may have been the right move after all. I don't even mind so much that I didn't even practice one note or that I was certainly going to miss work tomorrow. After all, I'm going to be a SUPERSTAR!!!

I wake up at around noon and a new crowd has blown in. I'll admit that I'm a little pissed with myself for fawning over the big rock star when I should have been working on becoming one myself. Today is going to be different.

I see that Zack Lang is in the house. He's an inexperienced composer but how inexperienced is the question. Very, is the answer. Zack is as green as I was when I hit town. I know how bad he sucks in other words. Just to humor him I offer to buy a song from him.

He wants $12. Heh. There's no chance in hell I'll use his song. I have a cover medly that my manager back home worked on for me which is rated as a 2 star composition and lasts 30 minutes which is the minimum length of a set. The best this song could possibly be is a zero star dud. I'll never use it.

Still, I remember how desparate I was when I first hit town. I could have used someone looking out for me and giving me some charity and practice. Even though I can't afford it and won't use it I slip him the $12 bucks. I gotta hit the streets soon. At this rate I'll go broke in the club and I haven't even gotten drunk yet.

I hit the streets to practice.

The next day after my shift I head to the club and meet a guy named Deen Freiss. He is a two star poet. He maybe could rescue old Zacks crappy composition but I don't really approach him for this. I'd just like to know a cool poet for when I start pumping out songs. Deen, however won't even talk to me. Says my rep is too low.

Dang, he must be a choir boy or something because I haven't done anything bad yet. Hmmph. It's no biggie but it bugs me. I tell him off and he yells "I'll never forget this..." Some poet huh.

It does get a rise out of 6 star Hip Hop DJ Joey Neal. Joey is pretty laid back and while I'm not a hip hop guy he is cool to pass the time talking to. We talk about shock video mostly. Again, I get his number and we part ways. If I ever do a crossover I'll have to look him up.

In passing he tells me that for my first band I really should hit the bars in the suburbs. There's no gigs there but the starter level musicians and such tend to gather there. Well, I'm not walking to the suburbs so I need more money before I go for this. Oh well, back to the grind.

I hooked up with a journalist. He's Guido Sanchez. He's a 2 star kind of guy and he's eager to talk. He's a future asset to be sure but once I have a band going and some bribe money he'll be able to give us a needed push. Things are beginning to take shape. Nothings HAPPENING but the networking is coming along nicely.

If only I could say the same about the guitar playing. :(

Actually, I'm right on schedule there too but it's no fun being broke and untalented.

Back to work.

On a monday note. I met up with Marsia Hierro ( 4* bass - techno/anarchist ), an unemplyed bass player who told me to "go to hell, you miserable artist" before she thoroughly ignored me. Didn't even give me a chance to insult her back. Must suck to have a wealth of talent and not have a job. Shame I couldn't tell her that. :)

Dinah Asqith ( 4* Saxophonist - jazz/materialist - ) another musician with no job says the same thing to me.

Clarice Mortimer ( 6* vocalist - metal/materialist ) had much more class. She said "I delight in loneliness. Don't you see?" I'll keep an eye out for her. She's cool.

Having struck out with all the ladies in the bar I head to the back to crash out. I guess I shouldn't hit on popular women when I'm on the brink of exhaustion.

I'm almost ready for my big premier. Only a few more days left I'd say barring anything unexpected. I'm tired all the time and I need some entertainment but I have set my sights on a goal and I won't waver in this commitment. Anyway, I can't afford to.

I did try and create my own entertainment. I met Eileen Romero ( 0* - journalist ) and struck up a conversation. I decided to cut to the chase and bypass chit chat and head straight to the flirting. She asked me "what do you want in exchange?"

MOOD KILLER.

I guess we should try being friends first.

Wednesday -

Life of the Stars 5/1996 put out their list of the most sexy males.

Andy Bender won with Cesare Neves and Chris Cobot coming in second and third.

I'll have you know that I'm number 482 on the list. OK, ok, not very flattering I'll admit but at least they spelled the name right. Does make me pretty glad I didn't take the stripper job though.

WooHoo!!

After reading the Life of the Stars I went by the employment agency to see if there were any better jobs around.

The stripper job now open is from midnight to 9am and pays $7 hr. Thats $63 a night. Still, on the heels of the awards and all...

There's a barman job open from 1-5am and it pays $8 an hour. Thats $32 which is a lot less but leaves more hours free. This time the decision is really a hard one but again I'll opt for more free time. It'svery likely a mistake but I"m a musician damn it not a piece of meat. If I sell out before I even learn how to properly play guitar then I was always a phony and never true to my art.

I 'm no longer a cabbie I'm a bartender and damned proud of it. But just in case, I keep a speedo handy.

Friday. My day that I should finally be good enough to convince the Club to hire me. The album rankings didn't shift in the top spots.

I'm hitting on Maisie Fesier ( 0* - composer ) She's cuter than Eileen but not as professional. Hey, I don't want her to compose anything after all. I just want to celebrate my upcoming gigs.

Things were looking good but alas I had to go to work. My love life sucks. I don't worry though, once I become a superstar I'll fix all that.

Maisie is way too plain for a superstar. I get her number anyway.

It's friday night and approaching 6pm. I'm sitting on my favorite stoop just working my chops. My fingers sure are a lot more agile than they were when I first got to town and they seem to be acquiring a mind of their own.

They did tonight. I was flying through my cover medley and momentarily became mesmerized by my own playing. I quit concentrating on what I was doing and began listening to what I was producing. I didn't notice the small crowd which had quietly gathered around me also listening with rapt attention until I stopped playing and heard the polite applause.

I looked at them and recognized in the front the face of Reggie the Rippler. Reggie was once a sax man before the love of the vine felled his career and he'd busted my chops many a night as I practiced my craft. Tonight though he was smiling.

"Kid, I think you've got it" he said as he reached out and touched me on the shoulder. "Now, don't fuck it up."

He turned around and walked away. The crowd began to disperse. I packed my guitar and headed for the club. Time to see what the man who pays the bills thinks. Will I get my first gig???

Seems like a really cool dynasty. Where did you get this game from? Is visual or mostly text based? Are you making up most of the dialogue or is the game really that in depth? Can you pick another type of musician other than a guitar player?

good stuff

The game is called Superstar. It is available at the Home of the Underdogs store at the high price of $6 but the shareware part alone is huge and I am absolutely nowhere near that point in my dynasty yet.

It is text but all the Characters have pictures which is really cool and at the beginnning you pick your look by picking from different facial parts, nose mouth hair face shape etc etc. I have a pretty cool top hat I wear and I've just added a pair of aviator glasses to my image. :)

All of the dialog I've provided is in the game but it's pretty much it as far as dialog goes. The game is so freaking easy to get immersed in and you really do feel like you're your character. That part is my favorite part of the game by far.

You have a lot of instrument choices. In the first post the part where I talked about my dream ( acoustic guitar of Eden ) is where you pick that. Off the top of my head ( the game doesn't play well with alt-tab so I don't have it open. this may make this an at work only dynasty but after I answer this I'm going to try it here at home and see how it goes. I remember it not working at all but maybe I can figure something out. I really want to work on this at home too. It's the one game where honestly writing a dynasty to me is not a chore but a valuable tool ) you have

bass guitar
acoustic guitar
synth
piano
organ
sax
vocals ( yes you can buy vocal upgrades yikes!! )
electric guitar

and I'm sure theres a bit more.

[ok it let me alt-tab now but as I said it's finicky. I don't know if it's be too annoying. anyway]

trumpet
violin
drums.

That's it.

Anyway, I have a few minutes before I have to go back to work for a supervisor's meeting so I'm going to try and get a little bit more in.

I hightail it to the club and talk to the booking manager but he tells me that they're booked for the week. He suggests I try back monday when he's booking next weeks gigs.

This leaves me with a weekend to kill and I don't feel like practicing too much. I decide to take a trip to the suburbs and hit the dives. Since it's late I do work my shift at work though so I'll have some cash to spend. Then I hop the local bus and am on my way.

Not much happening so I have a couple shots of moonshine and head home to crash. I haven't been spending much time at home lately and my own rented cot really feels pretty good to me right now. Sleep, glorious sleep.

When I get up, it's back to the dive. This time I run into Lanau Rosario ( 1* violinist - techno/freethinker ). Lanau is a bit neurotic and techno isn't my style. It doesn't seem like a good matchup but...

I take a look in my wallet and think of all the bills I'm going to have soon. I remember how good sleep felt last night. I start thinking that a rock/techno band might not be such a bad idea for a while and a violin might be eccentric enough to draw some extra fans to the gigs.

From the look of things, Lanau must be thinking the same thing. After an enchanting talk about love bites and geishas I can tell that we get along so what the hell. I bring up the idea of forming a band.

Lanau says "Sure, I'm out of work. We could try."

Just like that, the band Bott-ulism! is born.

I spend sunday practicing again. Right after work monday morning I head to the club. They'll only give us one gig but thursday night Bott-ulism! will play their first gig.

I practice a bit more monday afternoon. For now, the plan is to have a reasonably normal week and practice as much as possible before the big gig. I may make another trip to the burbs just to check out the scene.

I'm not a superstar yet but I'm pretty excited nonetheless. Those hosers at the club don't know the treat they're in for come thursday night. Come to think of it, neither do I.

Monday night at the club, when I'm getting ready for my shift, I meet a pretty cool chick Aliie Harlan ( 0* journalist ). We strike up a conversation. She's talking about spaghetti ( good visuals here folks ) then she starts talking about girls and we move on to supermodels.

Ailies a nice enough chick but something tells me I'd be better suited looking elsewhere for romantic action.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Finally the big night arrives. I get to the club early and start slamming vodka. I'm feeling tight by set time and I'm ready to jam. I'm pretty excited by the turn out.

Imagine, Andrew Moulin ( 5* vocals - metal/freethinker ) dropped in to hear Bott-ulism! . We share a couple of rounds and I ask him about singing with us. He refuses of course but says to keep in touch and maybe once I'm a bit better known. I plan to.

We have a crowd of 48 for our debut and we had them rocking. I now have six new groupies and $101. It was a good debut and the booking manager looks forward to working us in next week. I'm looking forward to the same thing. I throw in a comment that more than one gig would be nice but he doesn't reply.

I don't care. I'm flying high right now. I decide to head out to the suburbs and see if I can't hook up with somebody. I'm totally blitzed by now of course.

I pick up a copy of the weekly charts and see that Acrid Brake;s new album Light Gust has moved to number one. The wrecks have dropped out of the top three so they better get back into the studio soon. I'm thinking about penning some tunes soon so I can put my own album out soon. We just need a few more gigs to discover how well we'll work together.

The burbs are basically dead and I've lost my buzz by the time I get there. This is pretty depressing so I'm heading back home.

I get home but I'm not ready to crash yet. I call Lanau and invite him over to bullshit. He says cool and to expect him at 6. Seems he can't sleep either.

We bullshit for a couple of hours. I'd forgotten to pick up any booze but I get some from my bud at the front desk. It's more expensive than at the club but I say what the hell and we get loaded. Finally, the time has come for me to crash but it's been a lot of fun. Next time Lanau needs to bring his violen and we'll jam.

After work I pick up some bootleg vodka, some cool hip flasks and cigars. It never hurts to have some gifts to spread around especially when you're putting a band together. Now, it's off to the burbs again.

Still dead. I have a few drinks and head home to hole up until monday.

This week I'm given two gigs, monday and thursday. I quickly call Lanau to make sure he can make it tonight and he will. Nancie Gilbert ( 0* actress ) comes on to me and we chat. I thought about offering her a role in my video but decided that would be better done in my room. I'm thinking wednesday maybe.

Mistake. While preparing for my gig I drink a bit too much vodka and the next thing I know I pass out. I woke up around 1130 and everybody is pissed. I take off to the bar I work at and hand around till my shift. I'm feeling like shit but a superstar has to experiment so he can know his limits. It's painful but it's the price one pays for success.

It was a pretty mundane next few days. I laid low practicing my chops letting the dust settle. On thursday I invited Lanau to meet me at the club early so we could clear the air.

While I was there I met Elvira Carrera ( 0* - journalist ). She has some mouth on her and is basically obnoxous but we talked anyway. For the heck of it I asked her to give us some good press. She shocked me by saying "everything has a price. mine is $48." Heh, she is a hack but I paid it. Press is press.

Lanau was pissed at first but I gave him the cigars and both hip flasks. With the air cleared I headed to the back for a nap. I'm expecting the show to be a killer. I'll watch the boozing but I will have a few shots anyway.

Now I'm pissed. The club pulled our gig at the last minute. Asked me how it feels. I was ready to rock and next thing I know my ass is out the door. It's been a pretty bad week overall. Hopefully things will pick up soon.

Life of the Stars has come out with a new ranking. I am ranked 972 most medial whatever the hell that means. After my shift at the bar my old boss comes in and offers me a 4-10 shift at $8 per hour. I figure what the hell, the music thing hasn't payed the bills lately and I could start immediately.

Monday, the club gives me a shot and books me for friday and saturday night gigs. We really need to play these I'd say.

I was in the burbs when I ran into Beth Ivory ( 0* trumpet - pop/altruis ), a platinum cutie who was no the dole. She isn't the most talented musician but she is a looker and can certainly draw in the crowds on that strength alone. I decide to ask her to join Bott-ulism!

Bott-ulism! is now a trio. We need a vocalist next.

Very cool, I will be reading.

I'm hooked. I even went and downloaded the game.

And what game is this?

Looks like it's a shareware download called Superstar. Downloading it now.

How much of a difference is the shareware to the complete version, because I may just be buying this...I see that the website has a patch/update/(or as in CM4's case) enhancement.

After I gained a level it told me I could only get to level six with the shareware. And I don't know if that enhacement is worth anything. I installed it anfd the game wouldn't load for me.

(/threadjack on) For those having problems with the game, try installing this patch : http://www.angelfire.com/indie/dc5/superwin.zip . The developer seemed to have alot of issues with windows early on (originally a DOS game) but seems to have gotten *most* of them fixed. My character is up to level 8 or 9 now and I have yet to even scratch the surface of the game, so I highly recommend the 6$ purchase if the demo+patch works on your system. (/threadjack off)



also, Eilim Damann, drummer and founder of the power Metal-Funk group Freakee Stylee wants to wish Bott-ulism and Davey Boy Bott the best of luck in the climb to fame and riches. (along with a note mentioning to check behind the couch in the backgroom of the club.. We stashed our leftover herbals and Guiness stout back there and you guys are welcome to help yourselves. ;) )



-Eilim

I go to the store on tuesday and buy some more hip flasks and some chocolates. I give Beth a call and invite her over to my place.
She comes over and literally eats up the chocolate but my advances are a no go. I'll give her more time. I know they warn against getting involved with bandmates but I figure I'll find out if that's true the hard way.

The new rankings come out on gig night. Total Stigma captures the first spot with the album Vain Haven. I enjoy looking at the marquee and seeing Bott-ulism! I am ready to go for tonight.

We get 47 people in the crowd mostly to see Beth. We put on a good show and earn $239 split three ways. Beth gets the biggest cut. 6 more wise souls join the Davey Boy fan club.

After the show, the club manager notes how my leadership skills have improved lately. The rest of the band agrees and elect me the leader. I don't mind and it means I get a bigger cut of the loot. I thank everybody and tell them to get some rest. We have a big night tomorrow night.

Hehe, found the herbal and the Guiness. Thanks man, maybe Freakee Stylee and Bott-ulism! can tour one day. Of course, we're a long way from our touring days though I am getting my ducks in a row and should be cutting an album as soon as I can afford some good hash and whiskey.

That couch is the coolest crash spot in the game early on isn't it. :)

Oh and the full version just goes on a lot longer. I'm not moving particularly fast in the dynasty but you can do a whole lot by level six; the shareware will amuse you for a while and really, it's only six bucks to register.

BTW, Bott JUST hit level 2 in the dynasty. I have found that if you solo that level gain takes a lot longer. A full band may make you a little less sometimes, for example our two gigs had the same crowd but with the third person I made 20 bucks or so less but if I was soloing the crowd wouldn't normally be that big. Also, it's darned hard to cut an album, video etc etc with only you footing the bill.

Anyway, this is Botts thread so I'm out.

60 people came out on saturday to party with Bott-ulism! and we didn't disappoint though some are wondering when we're going to start doing our own songs. Good question. We all made $88 bucks and the band voted me an extra $8 for in charge pay. Add seven more groupies to my fan club as well. This was a good week.

After work I grabbed some beer, scored some hash and weed and headed to the cemetary. I got enormously high and contemplated the meaning of life, mine in particular. I stayed high all day but the inspiration I gained has me pretty eager to get something on paper. I don't just yet though.

I skipped work monday but found, to my delight that they are offering me three gigs this week. Tonight, and the coveted friday and saturday night gigs. Seems Bott-ulism! is getting pretty popular these days. Adding Beth was a good thing. Speaking of Beth, we have some unfinished business to attend to and we'd better take care of it soon or I'm going to be hitting the streets looking for some action soon. So much to do, so little time.

Monday's crowd was light, only 29 folks but we put on our best show yet. We're really jelling as a band and I'm all right with that. My take home was $77 and 5 new Bott Heads. Bott Heads, that's what they're calling themselves it seems. Very nice!

The rest of the week I split time between the graveyard and work with the occasional stop in the club so I wouldn't pass out on the way to the cemetary. With death as my theme, I've found a whirlwind of ideas and by friday morning I'm ready to get some of it down.

After I get my ideas down I get Zach, the composer and Lanau, who is the one with the talent here and we hammer out a heavy pop death ballad called Deadly Lover. It's about on par with our covers but it's our very own song and our first ever!!! I can't wait to debut it tonight.

Axxon, is this game shipped or do I download?

I just piad 6 dollars but selected 'No Address Required' yet I find no link to download anywehre.

Always helps to check your email.

Nevermind.

Friday night, 61 people rocked out. Deadly Lover was the opener and it was the bomb. We were in the groove and now the crowd wants more. Our regular material is fine but leaves them lacking just a bit. Next time we switch up the order. Anyway, 8 new BottHeads and $88 a piece, $96 for me is a pretty sweet evening. Yep, I think Bott-ulism! is going places in this city.

Another meaningless Life of the Stars ranking came out. Is it that time again already? Jose Mancey will be proud to know that he is not only the best manager but the third best as well. Oops. I guess the editing at Lots has been at the hash again. :)

I stop at the store and blow my cash on some gifts. I then restock on the herbs and head home. I've got a few more hours before the gig tonight so I invite Beth over. No dice. She claims she has a headache. Man, I must be the sorriest superstar ever. I think about maybe inviting Maisie over but after looking at the time I decide I don't really have enough and I don't want to blow my gifts on a hack composer anyway. Sigh. Maybe next time.

[at this point the program decided that alt tab was the devils business and crapped out. As I had saved after creating the song this post in effect didn't happen. That's why this dynasty is going to work much better at work. It's easier too. I have the game open on the laptop and IE on the work machine. I know it sucks but it's better that way. I may still do some from home but it won't be as much fun. Still I'm enjoying the game and the dynasty too much :) ]

could someone give me a link to this game?

http://www.totalshareware.com/asp/detail_view.asp?application=30257

Is anyone else having all kinds of problems with this game? I've tried unpatched, the patch where I got it, and the patch Eilim
posted, and only the unpatched will work at all for me. The problems are that I can't save or compose music. There may be others that I am forgetting, but these two are enough to keep me from paying for the game.

Is there a way to reherse in the game?? I can't seem to find it.

To get your band to rehearse, get the second level house. You will have some extra options there and rehearsing is one of them.

Saint Anselm

You must have gotten your version of Superstar to work. I've donwloaded the patch and the original version and I'm still getting the same error you got that you posted in the GD forum.

How did you fix it? Does anyone have any suggetstions as how to get this game to run on your computer? I have a very old sysytem Windows 98, 350 processor. Going to upgrade soon but this is what I have right now. Any help would be appreciated.

Ellim: Love the Red Hot Chili Peppers reference.

I was only able to get the unpatched version to mostly work.

ive had no prob. with the unpatched version...Is their any way to view the stats of my friends...all i see if their star rating and picture...like does beth have an attractive rating or is this assumption by her image?

Anyone want to give any hints on things to do during gigs. I can't seem to get higher than 20% approval.

I can't compose anything greater than 0 stars, either.

During gigs its really tough to keep the fans up with your starting out stats. I never really found any method to it (even though at times it appeared certain patterns worked.) . The biggest thing is your fatigue, the higher the fatigue the more liking a chance at "failure" at what you try to do to boost it. As my alter ego's stats got higher later on it was much easier.

Having said that, the star rating of the song seems to play a big part in your general approval. 2 star songs will tend to get an approval in the 20's, 3 stars in the 30s, etc. even with horrible "performances".

As far as composing, try and meet and befriend a decent poet and composer. I buy a set of lyrics and a composition before going into the studio for the bonuses. Then its a matter of what it seems to be matching the genre to your bands current skills at(including instrument bonuses) the three stats (Rythym, Heaviness, and Comp.) Then you can tweak the theme and theme intensity to fit the current trend (I forget which, but I think any manager who will talk to you will tell you the current trend even if not hired.)

I've still yet to master composing, but have put out some decent 4 star songs in the early game. Song length seems to play a big and somewhat screwy part of the star rating as it seems song a minute and a half long almost always gather the big ratings. Also tweaking which instrument gets play with multi-instrument members, and adding in solos can help (or hurt) the ranking. Its pretty much play with the sliders till you see something good early on. Oh, and remember to check your bandmates current instruments, you can always buy upgrades and then give them to them through chatting.

Anyways, thats my impression so far. I'm just about to start over as my "Freakee Stylee" project got to the world wide concert level and I screwed up big time on a few decisions. Once you start doing even the lower level concerts and tours the game dynamic changes alot.

-Eilim

ok i feel pretty silly having to ask this but how do I go to my job once I've taken one? I took a job as a taxi driver that started at midnight but I couldn't figure out how to go do my job... and, great read, I'm enjoying following along :)

dola. You know how asking a silly question in public where other people can see how dumb you are ALWAYS causes you to figure out the answer to your dumb questino 5 seconds later, no matter how long you've been trying to figure it out already? Anyway, Yeah, figured it out ;)

Ok, I think as I put the finishing touches on Deadly Lover, it's fun to dream about success but tonight I'm really going to have to make it so. I head on over to the club and enjoy a quiet restful vodka filled day waiting for show time. Owen Farrow, a reasonably respected producer comes in for the show.

I could certainly see him producing our first video so we have a little talk. He seems receptive but I think he's already on something because when I ask him about the trends he says "this moths trend is death." I'm not sure what moth he's talking about but I do know that this is the third month in a row with a death trend so I imagine living in the city must just universally suck. Enough said and it will only help Deadly Lover so we'll leave it at that.

The debut was not to be. It certainly fell far short of my dreams. A whopping 8 people were in attendance and we decided to hold off doing more than the cover set as we don't see the point. Still, we did a good job on that and 2 of the fans are now BottHeads and I picked up 60 bucks.

Tomorrow we'll see how it goes and give the song another shot. I just know it'll knock em dead and they really seem to like that.

Life of the Stars voted Jennifer Sanders the most sexy female. Given their editorial sloppiness I find myself grateful that I didn't make the list. I'm sure Beth is on there somewhere but she didn't make the top three. Jennifer Sanders is the top choice. No argument here.

Saturday is a repeat of friday, at least during the day. Amelia Mitchell ( 5* vocalist - rock/daredevil ) shows up with her entourage. She looks identicall to Beth but she's smoking a cigarette. The thought of having two lookalikes is tempting and we need a vocalist but she won't give me the time of night. Anyway, it's gig time.

Now thats more like it. 55 strong and the place was electric. Unfortanately, dreams aren't quite reality and we spoiled the Deadly Lover debut and to make matters worse, we played it long. It ruined a masterful performance of our cover material which we now know like the back of our hands. Still, we each gained 6 new BottHeads and made over 80 bucks.

I kinda wished we'd tried the number out on friday but we'll be ready for our next gig that I can tell you.

After the gig I head downtown and purchase many gifts for use as bribes. It's about time to get serious about the future of Bott-ulism!. I have one piece of fresh business to attend to.

I went back to the hotel and invited Victor Cartright over. Victor is a very talented vocalist and will put the serious finishing touches on Bott-ulism! as we know it. I plied him with liqour and cigars and all the hip flasks in the state. You'd think I was trying to score or something but my goals were more noble. I invited him to join the band.

'You aren't famous... But you're my friend. I'm in!"

Victor is a freethinking vocalist who has studied the Root style of performing. He gives us the options of adding words to our songs. Words are good. Life is good. I am drunk and out of hip flasks. I think I'll smoke a cigar!

What? No, we're NOT going to change the name of the band to the Ponderosa. I don't thnk so Vic. I don't care that your last name is Cartwright, no. How many people even remember that show any longer?

Yes, Beth, I realize that you think it's cute but thats not the point.

No, Lanau, we're discussing, not arguing. I know that Victor is the draw and the most experienced but a band is a family. We need to think like a family.

I AM THINKING LIKE A FAMILY AND I'M THE FOUNDER OF THE GODDAMNED FAMILY. I'm the Vito Corleone of this family.

I know he died but what the fuck is with this town and death anyway?

No, Lanau, it's all right. Geez. We're just talking. No one's going to do anything rash.

Uhm, Beth do you think you might get your hand out of his lap. NO? Ok, no biggie but just remember a band is a family and incest is bad, mkay.

*************************************

I wake up in a cold sweat. I'll admit that I'm a bit, lets see, apprehensive about the big signing and I've pretty much got to admit that I'm not the top dog anymore but that's fine.

Victor has been acting like, well, a friend, and he doesn't deserve my paranoia but I've been working at this band thing pretty hard and it's always unsettling to hook up with a legitimate star. Still, I do what I must for in the end it will be me at the pinnacle of the music world and others will marvel at my presence and pray that I'll join their pathetic bands. I'll be more than Victor Cartright, star; I'll be Davey Boy Bott, SUPERSTAR and that's the name of the game in more ways than one.

Now, if you'll excuse me, Mr Cartwright needs his mineral water.

We are only given wednesday and thursday night gigs and I've about busted myself hiring Victor. With no cash to throw around, I spend some time out at the beach and the old graveyard just interacting with nature and getting extremely stoned.

I come into town in time for the gig and I'm about ready to write another song. I'll have one by friday tops. I'm looking forward to involving Victor in the process as he's an old hand and has the knack for good tunes.

I know it is a midweek gig so I'm not expecting much in terms of a crowd. Victor says not to sweat it that they'll be here but I'm not so sure. Note to myself; trust Victor.

200 rowdy fans came to the gig!! Yikes. We were great. Well, mostly we just played our instruments while Victor took care of the entertaining. It was our best show yet and he didn't even look like he was working.

I continued in my normal routine of chatting with the crowd between riffs and this works well. In all, we gained 22 BottHeads apiece and earned $171 each as well. I don't even notice the extra $17 we kick in to Victor as our leader. Doesn't seem right to complain.

After the gig, I again get the surge of good feeling that comes with a job well done. My performing skills and my charm are winning people over on stage and it's recognizable.

"Nice work, chameleon" Landau said to me with a grin that spoke of our newfound good fortune. I acted mock upset with my newly acquired nickname.

I have always had a knack of blending into the background when it suited me but lately I had taken to wearing a pair of black sunglasses on stage and Landau said it was nice that I was finally admitting my chameleon roots.

There's some truth to it, I'll admit. I've always been very conscious of my image and as an up and coming star I feel that keeping up ones public image requires handling ones private one with kid gloves. I've worked hard on that and it's now noticable.

Obviously, I now await tomorrow night eagerly.

Bott-ulism! forever!!!!

Just a question, how long did it take for you guys to receive the registration code? I ordered the game last night and 24 hours later I still haven't received and e-mail with the code. Is this normal or did you guys receive it right away?

I received it immediately.

Radii, I had the same problem. You go to your job DOWNTOWN. There will be a 'go to job' listing there when it is time to go do the job, or soon before.

Even though I went to the beach to hang out after the gig and work on my upcoming song, I didn't quite have the time to put pen to paper and by the time we hit the club thursday we were all pretty wiped our emotionally as well as physically.

Our show was flat compared to last night but the club was still packed at 200 strong and our show was still strong. Rack up another 22 Bottheads and $152.

After the show Zach Bridges ( 4* - director ) dropped hints that he'd love to work with us on any upcoming videos we might make. I file his number in my wallet and carry on.

Before any of us have a chance to leave, I fire up a bowl of hash and we have a composing session. We really need so professional help to rise above our current level but we did compose a 2 and a half minute Goth heavy anti humanity number called Everyday Decay. We've still got 26 minutes to fill before we can cut an album so we have our work cut out for us.

I decided to head downtown to get ready for work but found out once I got there I had been fired for not showing up lately. Oh well, I can live on 2 gigs a week I suppose. I do check the help wanted service and see that they need a bouncer for 4 hrs paying $4 per.

It's almost job time so I figure what the hell and take it. I don't expect to be doing it again tomorrow or anything but I suppose I can survive for a few hours and I do.

Now, it's off to the suburbs for some drinking aqnd carrying on. Nobody worth carrying on with though so finally I head home for some much needed sleep. I haven't done that in a while.

I wake up refreshed and decide it's nigh time to take care of other "pressing business." After a quick wash up I call Beth and see if she's interested in coming over. She says she'll see me at three. I practice a few licks while waiting for her.

Beth is looking fine. I hit her with all my best lines and she laughs, maybe a bit too politely but it's clear she's not in any hurry to leave. I show her the expensive music box(es) I had bought for her and my left over cigars. She smiles slyly taking those as no doubt she's heard about the adventures of our fearless leader.

Just when I'm ready to make my move, Beth says she has to cut out for a while. I'm a bit confused but she's been here all day and she says it's really something she has to do and she'll be back.

SIGH. It's back to the old acoustic as I wait for her return or whatever happens next.

Around 6pm, Beth finally returns and melts into my arms almost immediately. We wasted little effort on speech but we caressed and kissed and explored our way into the bathtub where she warmed my heart by asking me to warm her with my hands. Needless to say I'm a gentleman so I did...more than once.

It was electric, it was amazing, it was about damned time. After our initial burst of energy we ended up in the bedroom for more traditional fun.

After Beth left I began thinking about what I'd really done. She isn't really a great trumpet player and doesn't play the style Bott-ulism! was used to but I'd still jumped at the chance to bring her into the band. In other words, I'd jumped at the chance to jump at the chance. Had I really hired her just to get her in the sack? Not exactly but mostly. Thinking about this fact makes me feel so much like....a SUPERSTAR!!!!

Axxon, I've been playing the game a lot this weekend due to a lot of free time. If you or anyone else has any questions about it, I'd be happy to help.

I have the rest of the week to kill so I spend it hanging out trying to find somebody, anybody with some talent in composing music to even talk to me but it's no go. I do a lot of hash though so it's at least a pleasant waste of time.

Monday, I realize that I still can go to the bouncer gig so I earn a quick $16 before I hit the club. I guess we're pretty popular as we book every night expect thursday and friday. I'm already pretty beat so I'm not expecting to leave the club all day. I call up the band and everybody seems excited that we are going to have a full week of work.

I decide to kick it on the couch where I hit the hidden stash left behind by some guy named Freekee stylee or something and again bless his good name. Victor seems to find the name familiar but can't remember why.

The gig is again sold out and we are getting better all the time performance wise. I have another 22 BottHeads and $176. Pretty soon part time jobs are going to be a thing of the past but I'm not rich enough to pass up free money yet. There's still an album yet to cut.

Thanks for the offer Patman, I'll surely take you up on it as needed. Don't worry too much about me, I'm no expert but I'm playing this one as a role playing story not necessarily for a powergame experience. Sometimes it's more fun to be inefficient. :D

I hope you're enjoying the game and the story by the way.

But...

if you happen to be a 3 star or better poet or composer then see me at the club, any night this week. I would sure like meeting you.
:D :D

Did some shopping after the gig. Imagine, I'm only $1,999,606 dollars short on the price of a Jet. Maybe next week. Shoot, I'll settle for an old car and a bachelor flat. I'm only $2,606 off there and that seems more managable somehow.

The new superstar rankings are out and Bott-ulism! has risen from the bottom to the 118th spot. Fie on you, Metaphysical Lullaby and you too Tropical Lips. You are the first victims on my path to superstardom. Don't feel bad though, we might even let you open for us one day. Maybe.

After a quick nap I begin realizing that I really need to upgrade my standard of living. Nothing extravagant, I'll still be thrifty but my days of living like a beggar are a thing of the past. I know that it makes sense for a superstar in the making to at least try and live up to a higher standard so my decision makes sense. Still, I blame the jet.

The gig was great. We are still showing improvement working together as a band. Another sell out too. 22 more BottHeads and a nice $180 for the effort. It's becoming pretty obvious that we're at a ceiling here and need to start doing more. We all recognize this.

After the gig I work on my interview technique. It seems like the time is right to begin practicing this much needed skill. I also bone up on my style lessons as well. We're decidedly more public now and need to take ourselves too seriously pretty soon.

I can't seem to get the game to work.. i wanna play it, but i get a blank screen when i try to load it.. hmm.. any ideas? :)

Try downloading the patch. I kept getting an error message until I got the patch, and now it works perfectly...

Played to another sold out house. We weren't at our very top form but had them eating out of our hands nonetheless. Again there are 22 new BottHeads but a more meager $162 to show for a job well done. Now it's off for two days. Time to see what I can get done in the meantime.

I was feeling sufficiently motivated to write another song. I went a different way with this one. It's a cheery soulful love ballad called Give Me That Feeling. Pure syrup but catchy nonetheless and it gets us closer to the studio. Also, if the city ever lightens up a bit they may even like the darned thing.

I head back to the great outdoors and on thursday come up with an anti war song. It's a bit country and I call it Retooling the Combine. I'm really reaching now but Bott-ulists are getting antsy and I can't get any reasonable help so I'm winging it so we can get an album out asap. So far, our work has been on par with our covers and as long as we keep to that level we'll be fine for a debut.

Just after midnight on friday night I write a song about existance called Cradle of Doubt. I also notice that I've been hitting the hash a bit too much and it's becoming harder to write without it. I'd better lay off for a while.

Still, the time has been productive and I'm a third of the way to a new album. I head into town and rest at the club. Tonights a big night after all. By the way, the bartender has a note for me telling me not to bother coming in for my bouncer gig. Like I was planning to or something.

I really must be losing my mind. I was sure we had a gig tonight but they tell me it's tomorrow night instead. Oh well, I decide to have a few drinks and cut the rug a bit but none of it lifts my mood. I'm missing the smoke filled haze of my outdoor solitude. Things have gotten a bit more serious than I thought but I called the rehab clinic and they tell me it'll be 3K to dry out. Not any time soon. And they said it wasn't addictive.

It was with little enthusiasm that I went through my next day. I spent most of it on the cot at the club sleeping. I was simply going through the motions at the gig and I had to endure the curious stares and awkward questions of my bandmates. Only Victor seemed to have enough sense to give me my space but I caught him shaking his head when he thought I wasn't looking.

The gig was still our best ever. In the absence of my usual banter Victor and Lanau really shone and the crowd loved it. I'm glad and I'm grateful for the 22 new Bottheads and the $191 but more than ever I question my usefulness to the band. I need to cut out of here and score. That's what I need to do.

We've found work on monday, tuesday, thursday and saturday. I write the dates down this time. I promptly lose the paper. Doesn't matter much anyway does it? I'm pretty beat and even moving makes me more tired. I decide to get some rest before tonights gig.

[ note - this game has very strict and unusual rules on addiction and even a hash addiction means no mood increases and everything MAKES you tired except sleep. ]

The gig goes great and what with Victor's dancing and Lanau's solo skills playing off of each other and keeping the rest of us resting we are hitting new highs every show it seems. Add 23 more BottHeads and $216 to my tab if you will; I'll be in the back resting. Fortunately our show skills keep anyone from dwelling too much on my down mood.

After the show, I again need to take the time to work on my skillset and I work on becoming more charming. I fucking think it's working damn it don't you assholes?? I spend some time building teamwork too then told my bandmates to piss off. I longingly eye the stash I now keep under the cot but decide it's better to just say no for a while.

Tuesday night's gig again was first rate. We are wasting time playing these gigs. We sell out every night and our shows are getting better. We NEED an album but it isn't happening right now. I tried for too much too soon. Anyway, add 23 more BottHeads and $207 to the tally.

Before I can retreat into the back room Bethia Hartley ( 3* -manager ) waves me over. After some idle chit chat she agrees to become Bott-ulism!'s next manager. Maybe she can help us get our big break.

Thursday, no joy in sight. 200 strong at the gig. 22 new BottHeads and $220. No end to my misery in sight but I've got some decent cash anyway.

Saturday, same thing but better. 220 BottHeads and $241. I just wish one of them was a drug councellor. I wouldn't mind an addiction when I can better afford it but oh well. Anyway, it's not hurting performance any thats for sure.

Finally met Jos Farrow ( 4* - composer ) who was willing to sell me a tune for $530. I bought it. At this point I just can't see hoarding my cash. By the time I get to three grand I should hopefully be detoxed on my own and I'll already have a composer lined up. Just need a poet now and I'll be straight.

Jos set me straight though. I couldn't let my addiction getting me down get me down so I headed out to the outdoors again and found that the cemetary was still my friend. I also headed to the water a bit and in general had a good day even though it felt weird going cold sober. Still, I just made it back into town to see the club manager and line up a gig for the night.

The final tally is 23 new BottHeads and $215. I was so in a hurry I didn't ask about other gigs until after the show so a saturday gig was all I could line up. Not bad, I need the time anyway. It's yet again skill improvement day and I work on my leadership and my media skills. I also check with one of the BottHeads who informs me that while it's sad that I have this addiction I should be happy to know I'm no Chris Farley or John Belushi. In fact, I am overdose resistant. Hey, it's something for my excesses anyway.

After work, it's back to the great outdoors after a quick stop off at home to basically clean up the phone book. I've got too many losers on the list and I wanted to drop the names of everyone that I wouldn't waste time with.

The atmosphere was pretty gloomy at the cemetary but it was inspiring. I wrote a heavy soul number about death and called it Last Dancer. It is my best work yet thanks to Jos's composing and it's also 3 and a half minutes long so it works well as a signature cut.

We now have roughly 15 minutes written and I can see the other 15 being written relatively quickly. First I'll need to drop Farrow's prices a bit so it's back to the house for me with a quick stop downtown first.

I load up on cigars, see some wild flowers which will really help mo love life and are a total steal at $1 each and head home. By the time I'm finished giving Jos cancer he's selling me a tune for $80 bucks. I spent a little over 80 on the cigars so I still saved a bundle off the initial purchase but I was too down then to care. I'll know better with my next drug habit. Anyway, gotta run. I need some sleep then it's off to the cemetary for some work and back for the gig on saturday night.

It turns out that I attend so many funerals the next few days that Harold and Maude both would be proud of me. Still, mixed in with the obligatory periods of restful contemplation I am able to get stuff done.

By saturday morning the song Natural Rot ( 3* soul,heavy, nature -5 ) is done. I scoot back to the club but not before inviting Jos to come on down. I might as well buy another work from him. You know, now that I'm dealing with it better, this addiction thing is a pain in the ass but it's not that bad. Hell, I may go smoke a bowl to celebrate. Or not ;)

After some chit chat at the club, I talk Jos down to 40 bucks for his next tune. I'll be ready to work on it later this evening after the gig. For now, I must rest. If I stay in town too long I get zapped pretty quick.

Another great show, another 23 BottHeads and another $242 each. As I have taken charge yet again I got an extra $24 and 2 extra BottHeads. If Victor didn't have 12683 fans to my 304 I might feel bad but as it is I don't.

I'll have to stop right here. The updates won't be coming very often for the next 9 days or so as I've been assigned a trainee here for the next three nights and then have six off. I'll try to put something up but it really sucks trying to write this dynasty at home.

Fret not if you are interested though. After my days off, I'm pulling ten in a row and the dynasty will be back in high gear at that time. :) :)

i keep getting sucked into the void, how the heck do you avoid that???