Last blog of the year?!?!

So... here we are.

Happy (late) Birthday, Merry Christmas and all the best for next year.

Sorry I didn't get a chance to colour/shade things, but all i've got at the moment is this dinky little touch pad, and finishing it off on here will give me arthritus.

Obviously the right thing to do is print off and colour it in yourselves. There will be a competition next year!

Good night, Ladies and Gentlemen!

Little by little... Bit by bit...

Good news... I've been busy. Bad news... It's been with nothing to do with this blog. And some of it has been to do with playing games. And a lot of it has nothing to with anything.

But let's not focus on the irrelevant any more than we have to. So work is pretty busy, since we are leading up to releasing this week (I still don't know if I should talk about what it is we've been working on... It's not like this blog will gain us any sales anyway :P). Naturally, after a hard days work I'd prefer to come home and not do anything too taxing. Luckily, that's where new games come in. I should really write about them sometime... but not tonight. Maybe something about why Rockband is better than Guitar Hero or something.

I've done a little bit more of this thing to the left. So I thought i'd put it up. Obviously, still not that impressive.

OH... and its just occured to me its missing background details... oops.

It's a rough life...

I'm lagging behind because of my little weekend holiday. I had grand plans of filling in time with my laptop while waiting for things to happen, but unfortunately weddings tend to busy affairs... The time I did have I just messed around looking at settings I hadn't seen before (I now have multitouch contextual controls on the eee pc touchpad! Suck it Mac users... you're not so special now!).

That doesn't help this blog much though. Tonight I did a little more of this next project tho.. So I figure I may as well throw what I've done up as a token effort. More to come tomorrow.

Revenge of the Kitty Lickers

I spent most of the weekend "researching" Rockband and Red Alert 3, so I didn't really do as much stuff as I was hoping to do. I did get around to finishing my sister's bowling team shirt though, as envisioned to the left. I'm happy enough with it.

So this week, I have a truckload of things to catch up on, not to mention that I feel bad because I haven't added anything to my site lately... But at the same time, being in beta is very stressful and I definitely need the time to relax and get the anger out of my system. I'll see what I can do tho.. maybe I can combine the two: work on some project that allows me to do angry things in the name of development. Only time will tell.

The Kitty-Licker Saga, Pt.2

So not much new to report either today. Just more of this thing that I have to get done or the family will disown me. Due to the overwhelming responses, and Esta's incredible decisiveness, not only did I attempt to draw a girl cat, but it's now your only choice.

It still needs a little work done to it and the line work isn't finished yet, and then I have to work out how I'm going to get it looking ok with only 3 colors, but that's all work for tomorrow night I think.

Also, there's way too much winking going on in this image at the moment. I think I might have to make some adjustments to the ball.

I am too rooted today to be bothered with anything interesting. Everything else is proceeding in accordance with the prophecy.

You're just lucky you're family Esta...

I totally forgot that I promised my sister another t shirt design thing, so that's what I've been hitting tonight.

This ones for her champion lawn bowls team, the newly named 'Kitty lickers'.

I pretty happy with the ball (or kitty, if you will...) so far, but it's gotten way too late and I haven't had time to finish off the kitty (or cat, if you will...). Not that I'm sure I'm happy with the cat yet... I mean, there is only so many ways you can draw a ball with facial features and a tongue, but there is many more ways to draw a cat (and skin it for that matter).

So I guess this is the point for audience participation... Obviously the cat is going to be bigger and match the style of the ball, but... Should I continue down my current path, drawing a slight disgusted/angry kitty, or should I draw some kind of sexy/suggestive kitty who enjoys a good licking? Furthermore, does that make me some kind of furry if I draw the latter? And just how the hell do you draw a suggestive cat? Why does everything my sister wants me to draw involve massive tongues? Only you can decide in this bizarre twisted tale of choose your own (mis) adventure.

Ok... I'm going to count this as a win.

I hate doing things and then having nothing to show for it. Well... I'll have something to show for it down the line, but that's not what I'm trying to aim for with this blog. This blog is supposed to be all action - all the time, which means updates as much as possible.

So I've been working on some written things. As interesting as they may or may not be (it's a mystery... only you can solve it!), they make for a boring picture. Plus after typing so much already, typing away on the blog is kind of bland. These are the challenges and trials of legend, I swear.

So today's picture is just a quick little sketch because I wanted to make a post tonight but had nothing to put up. It's related to this other quick thing I was going to bash out soon. I was also thinking of colouring it, but it got late... and I've had some coloured stuff up recently so I'm not that bothered about it being black and white.

More stuff soon!

The hollowest of victories...

I wanted to have something to put up today, I really did... But the weekend didn't go as planned, and neither did tonight. The stuff I did do I'd rather leave attributed to anonymous, or in the case of tonight, pretend like I wasn't chasing my tail for hours on end to nearly no avail. But I'm too sweet (based on average daily sugar consumption) to be so bitter, so lets assess the mess.

The plan was to go back and tidy up some things I'd left semi-broken from before. I got to the T-shirt browser, promptly broken it even more, and then spent the rest of the night trying to work out what kind of state I was in when I first wrote it. The end result is that it's a little more solid, but there's not much new visible things.

Admitted, I did do a fair proportion of dicking about as well... But it's Monday after all and work was a drain. Everyone needs a little time to unwind.

Also I burnt the crap out of my right hand thumb. Wasn't fun. I briefly considered taking some photos of it and putting it up as 'body art', but I think I'll wait until it forms a nice puffy blister.

So how can I do better tomorrow? How can I get back in the groove and start 'pumping out the jams' with the 'vicious ferocity' of a 'mountain lion on fire'? How can I not make the same mistakes I made tonight?

Oven mitts.

Also, please go check out Rate my lasagne. James is a very lonely guy and needs all the support he can get.

An open letter to Hollywood.

Dear Hollywood,

Please stop.

We've all had a laugh, now it's time to stop dicking around an actually make some good movies again. Furthermore, please stop pissing on video games.... You stopped pissing on comic books and look how that's turned out for you! Batman! Iron man! Money in the bank!

So when a game comes along that basically hands you a decent movie on a platter and then attempts to spoon feed it to you, don't take it back to the kitchen and microwave it. And melt cheese on top of it. And add some spices... It was good for you the way it was. It was a tasty nutritious meal! I'd stop with the food analogies but I'm a little hungry BECAUSE MAX PAYNE LEFT ME EMPTY AND UNFULFILLED.

Max Payne (the game) wanted to be a movie sooooo bad. It was like a love letter to movies of a bygone era, to a almost forgotten genre that's proven to actually be profitable and relevant in recent years *cough cough* Brick *COUGH COUGH* Sin City *CHOKE* Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang *AM I MAKING MY POINT YET MY THROAT HURTS* . Max Payne (the movie) could've been right up there with those I just mentioned. It could've been proof that games can be compelling and provide strong naratives. But most of all, it could've been an entertaining way to spend 2 hours.

Max Payne (the movie) was none of those things.

I could go on at length (At great length, with bullet points and graphs and diagrams) about what made it bad but thats been covered so many other places (terrible pacing, replacing the plot with a deus ex machina envelope, barely any action, NO NOIR VOICEOVERS - for those playing along at home; mark those off your bingo sheets) but I think It's best to just cut to the chase and say this: You don't deserve people's good ideas, Hollywood.

I mean it's like you wanna keep bringing down other forms of media so people don't realise you aren't necessarily the greatest form of modern art anymore...

This is why I never want to see a Metal Gear Solid movie.

Your's Truly,
Victim-of-videogame-movies
co-signed
No-I'm-not-being-too-melodramatic


Meanwhile. Elsewhere. I put up Virtual House on the site... It still needs some stuff (and some more up to date photos) but thats going to have to wait because I just wanna put something up. Furthermore, the house is dirty and probably wont get a decent clean til we have another inspection... SO IT'S GOING TO BE A WHILE.

This month I'm also tied for the most posts made in a month. Can I push on through and break the previous record? Only time will tell.

Finally, todays picture isn't by me, but if the shoe fits...

Tired tired tired.

Things that are new today:
<- I drew this.

I added a favicon to the site, but I'm not entirely happy with it. I'm wondering too if I can have a different one for each section. Might be something to check out for later. Also, if I could have them animate and transform that would be awesome, but that may have to reside purely in the realm of fiction and fantasy at the moment.

By popular demand, I actually added an easter egg to the site. So fear not all ye who have grown with anger in spite during the fruitless search for the easter egg, there's one there now. It's this other thing I was working on tonight. It needs some explaining but you wont be getting that from me anytime soon... Also feel free to relieve that anger in the ANGER AND SHOUTING sub-board in the forum. James would love to hear all about your problems so he can SHOUT at you. ANGRILY.

VIRTUAL HOUSE!.. AGAIN!

So sometimes, despite best intentions, things don't go as planned. I mean, I'll gladly accept responsibility for slacking off in the middle of the week last week. The call of team fortress was just too great for a mere mortal like myself to ignore. But this weekend was supposed to be 48 hours for hardcore internet stomping (with several hours of that dedicated to sleeping of course).

But alas, it twas not meant to be.

Regardless, I did a little... Not as much as I would've liked but you've gotta take what you can get.

That little was redoing the template for virtual house mk. 2. Its almost done, which means a semi-functional virtual house is just around the corner. And then, when that in place, we won't need real housing anymore. We'll live in the internets, farming datastreams and living off the blogosphere. If I was less tired I'd totally write some poem about it.

I didn't announce I put the site up?

... Looks like today is an easy post for me then!

I put the site up.













Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand on the site admittedly there's not much there at the moment, but I'm adding new stuff regularly and building momentum until somehow I become some kind of unstoppable internet force. So at the moment:
-There's my first game Capitalist to play (emulated from the Amiga 500).
-There's this t-shirt browser thing I did.
-There's basic functionality.
-There's a forum (with nothing happening in it).
-There's a wiki (also with nothing happening in it).
-There's a secret hidden easter egg.

Anyway... check it all out here.

Also, hello to my first commenter that I don't actually know! To be honest I'm taking it with a grain of salt as I'm sure you're just a bot and you're just going to start spamming me with investment offers... But I dunno, even that would be kind of special. I'm promoting you to my "No. 1 fan" position.

Things that stopped me from being very productive over the weekend.

- The movie 'From Dusk Till Dawn'.
- Being social.
- Being a socialist.
- Upgrading my computer and having parts not work and have to be replaced.
- Having the replaced parts also not work.
- Having a newly upgraded computer and a stack of games that wouldn't work on it previously.
- Freaks and Geeks.
- This really sore neck/back I've had all day.

I've done a little, but not enough to show anything off, so please except this hastily editted picture!

Punk rock ain't dead, it's just recycled.

I didn't really plan on doing this. I just figured I should have a second shirt there, just so I could have some interactivity.

So tada! The browser is here. Everything still needs more work, but its up and that's a start.
Tomorrow night I'm going to try and drum up an article, I haven't fully decided on what. I saw that GameCareerGuide did a feature on why comic book games suck... So I might do something on that considering I like comic books and have now even had some experience working on one.

Anyway, that'll do for now I think. Good night!

Tshirt browser blues.

The plan tonight was to have this all done. Originally I was just going to find a basic t-shirt template on the net and just paste in the designs... But that was all a little less than spectacular, so instead I decided to make my own kind of t-shirt browser deal. Sure, I only have one T-shirt up at the moment, so I could put it up and claim the lack of interactivity is intentional, but that's cheating.

Anyway, this does look a little better than the original plan at least. Still needs some tweaking etc but that'll do for tonight. Pig.

I'm not used to filing

The plan has adapted! Take note!: I'll be attempting to post everyday and put up at least rough working of what I've done (or at least, rough excuses of why I haven't done anything). It also means smaller posts and less rambling fluff.

But not today... Today is about catching up. Today is the midseason clip show version of this blog. And today, we recap the missing episodes of the last couple of months.

So, Imagine this in montage form. I had a job. Then due to internal industry-giant dickery I lost a job. I purchase some webspace. I get another job that's basically the boss of my old job at a different company. I put some stuff on my webpage. I buy a tiny tiny laptop. I clean my room and refile everything. I race NASCARs and fight nazis on the moon. And then, the music wells up and suddenly everything is moving in slow motion and I'm typing on this blog.

Where does this leave me now? We'll in a pretty good place actually. My new job isn't necessarily better than my old one, but it has its advantages. Considering I've basically been promoted over the course of less than a year though, I'm willing to count it as a win. My previous New Years resolution is looking a bit broken, but considering that was only part of getting a job, and here I am now all jobbed up I guess its not too bad. And I at least managed to post once per month so that's something too, right?.. Right?

Todays picture is the relative hotspots of my room at present. I figured if I was going to put so much effort into cleaning it all I should at least keep some photographic proof.

Punk Rock Ain't Dead...

And neither am I, baby...

(Also I really wish they'd hurry up and release Rock Band here).

Jumpin' Jack Flash (It's a gas gas gas)...

Day 2 in the saga: I fixed up the centre a little more... I tried having white highlights around the knot but it didn't look that great so I settled with what I had and then just tied up so of the stray lines left around. I was happy enough with it so I moved on to phase 2.

This was the annoying part, since I switched to another program so I could get everything the right size. Apparently the Tshirt place needs an A3 sized thing at 300 dpi. Anyway, I had to use a different program, so I took the tongue from flash and went about doing the words in Fireworks. The arc of words wasn't as hard as I'd previously imagined, but I experienced a fair bit of difficulty adding new fonts, so I had to settle with what I've got here. They'll change before the final shot though.

The last issue was that it wouldn't let me save...:S I imagine that it was because the file was too big, but whatever... I managed to at least export this jpg, so all was not lost.

Tomorrow... I'll probably start work on the back, or maybe iron out the last few things with this.

I can't get no satisfaction.

My attempt to make up for last week is as follows:
I'm pretty sure I have something thats going to keep me working pretty much every night this week, so every night, I'm going to post what I've worked on, whether its finished or just an update. This is in no way going to be my new plan (although I think maybe my plan needs some tweaking), but it's just going to be until I feel comfortable making up for dropping the ball. It's like punishment :P

So projecto numero uno is something my sister asked me to do, and then I forgot about it, but then got reminded. Her speech pathology buddies are going on a pub crawl and she wanted the make sure they had the 'Bestest Pub Crawl Shirts Ever'(tm) so naturally, she turned to her talented and totally not overworked (and currently pretty sick) brother. I naturally obliged, even though I wont get anywhere near the pub crawl, or the speech pathology girls (as they are all in Adelaide) (and mostly taken) because that's just the kind of hero I am. I hero who does things for people over the internet.

So anyway, Esther's given me the basic design... I've started, and mostly finished the logo for the front. They work with speech defects so its supposed to look kind of tongue tied. I'm not too happy with the knot in the centre.. the whole outlining thing doesn't match the rest of the logo and the mass of dark lines doesn't work either, but it's enough for me to happily retire for the night.

Seeing as this is the only thing that really has a deadline, expect me to be knocking over this before moving on to other things later in the week. See you tomorrow!

Boring post Monday

I had meant to have something better and more interesting go this post, but things got out of hand... and other things came along (*cough* No more heroes *cough cough*) so I was forced to rely on something I'd already done.

I mean, I was planning on using this eventually, but since I already did a map post a few posts ago I felt I should mix it up a little. Maybe I'll do an extra post this week or something, but right now it was more important to actually make a post.

So here is my second map for CnC: Generals.... Crater. It's not really a map I would've considered making myself, it's only really because a friend of mine wanted a massive map with a ridiculous amount of resources. I couldn't willing just make a big flat map though, so instead I made a big depression. All the map is passable, so there is no choke points or anything like that. I felt I had to add something, so I put a bunch of derricks in the centre and and a few on the outskirts of the bases, so at least there are some soft targets to go for at the start of the game, but considering the stupid amount of resources available theres really no need for them. Well... accept maybe as a perimeter monitor.

This is also the first map I added AI waypoints for. It was a lot easier than I expected.

The really funny part is that we wont even get a decent game out of this map, since these big ones where you build mass units always seem to lead to early deref nulls. Oh well..

Whoa, close one there...

So... I'm desperate not to fail my self imposed schedule of death, and despite my transgressions so far, I've done pretty well. Admittedly, it's been two weeks, but its totally the minor victories that count.

So here we are, friday night, I've been having 'A good time(tm)' and it's almost like I don't have anything to show for it. It's not like that though, not at all. I mean, since my last post I've made another map for Generals, I've worked on the script for Johnny a little more (but still not enough that I'm comfortable showing other people) and I've tried to draw character studies for the characters in Johnny but to no avail.

I put in the effort, dammit.

But still, that doesn't make for a good post, and the character studies didn't turn out, so here we are, with me scrambling with what I've got, attempting to make it seem like It's all part of the plan....

And with that heady admission, the plan for this post is to analyse one of the only good things I've seen on TV recently, and try to work out why its good, and how I can apply that to my future endevours.

So, behold this thing of L from Deathnote I drew sometime. I think I drew/painted it after seeing the live action movie, and I've gotta admit, it's ruined the anime for me (thank you, Tasha). It's really (REALLY) out of character, but I was pretty happy how close it looked without reference material.

Anyway, the greatest thing about this anime is the back and forth between the main character, Light, and his would be foil, the enigmatic L. Seeing the live action version, with surmises the anime in ~4 hours has ruined the suspense, but for a few weeks there I was willingly tuning in weekly to see just how things were going to turn out.

I mean, originally, I was willing to ignore Deathnote. The fans were rabid, and there's nothing that ruins anything like rabid fanboys, but this series went above and beyond my expectations.

I mean, for a start, It's played out from the perspective of the villain (well, misguided hero) of the series, which is something I consider to be an important consideration for every story, i.e. proper motivation for the antagonist must be examined. It's something thats ignored by most games these days, the villain is simply the villain because he happens to be on the opposite side of the hero, but, as the old science show states, 'Why is it so?'

Secondly, the difference between the hero and the villain is trivial at best. I mean, both have similar goals and beliefs, it's merely the execution that differs. Neither is truly bad (ok, that's a lie... :S) but the point is, they are equal. They are both mere men (albeit extremely intelligent men) that are pretty evenly matched. It's not like Superman, where its an unstoppable force of good versus an incredible mind for evil (which in itself conjures so many issues regarding brains versus brawn... that's right kids, being smart is bad :P) It's a battle of wits, with constant shifting of power and redrawing of the battlefield.

This specifically is what I feel is missing from video games of this generation. It's never just a guy who's better at applying himself who is the bad guy of the game, its an infinitely powerful (and bad ass) demigod, only interested in something as base as destroying the world for reasons that only sound plausible to an angsty 12 year old amped up from listening to linkin park, or whoever angsty band of the moment is.

It's hardly ever (and there are exceptions here) a bad guy who could technically be right. Games, and gamers have progressed through the age were such petty actions are justifiable. I hate to bust out buzzphrases and crap like this, but if games are ever going to be considered a justifiable art form, this has got to chance.

And now, it's time for bed.

Zero hour, 9 AM...

No, nothing to do with that song 'Rocket Man'...

I'd been playing a fair amount of Zero Hour recently, and considering that a) It comes with a free mapmaking tool, and b) I am really sick of the standard 8 player maps my friends only seem to want to play, I thought I might try my hand at making my own. After all, its the game designer thing to do.

So after a first failed map (the supply docks were off the map, the start points were half off) I made this one. Its hardly a masterpiece, but it still plays fine and I did put some thought into it's design. The primary thing here is that you'll need to expand into the centre, but doing so will put you into direct conflict with your neighbor. Furthermore, do you rush for the supplies, or attempt to take the artillery and use it too secure the centre early?

To be honest, I have no idea. I've tested it in game, but I haven't put in AI waypoints yet, so it wasn't that much of a challenge. I've also realised that for three players, as is the way we play at the moment, its going to be awfully unfair on who ever gets stuck in the middle.

Maybe I should focus more on only three player maps?

Arrrgh... quick quick... before anyone notices!

So I'm a day late.. I have my excuses. I mean, it *was* done and I *was* ready, but then I got sick. And then I though I needed to colour it up a little considering how much of my stuff is black and white. And then I realised I really need to work on my colouring.

But here we are; Part man, part machine, all whisk. When I was drawing it I was pretty happy with it, but now looking back on it I see so many errors. It's always that way though.

Little time to talk at the moment because I managed to pick up a few games cheap on the last day of the EB bigtime saleathon, but I might see if I can fit in one tomorrow.

Everything else is going swimingly.

Triumphant return!

Life has been busy, what can I say...

To the left, you will notice a screen shot from the upcoming Starlight game I've been working on. Co-incidentally, the same screen shot I promised some month ago. My dog ate my computer, OK?

Admittedly, I haven't really been doing as much of my own stuff as I had planned. I have been getting valuable insider experience, which is great because I'm learning new things everyday and piecing together old stuff I didn't understand from before, but I still feel like I'm letting myself down by not running my own show as well.

So about Starlight then?

It's a sci-fi puzzle type deal, inspired in a game sense by Portal and in a musical sense by Muse, loosely tied together by a tale of intergalactic love and exploding stars. In all realism, I'm just one guy. I'm not expecting this to rival Portal, or indeed any game. That's not the point. The goal here is to produce something I'm proud of and learn from in regards to game design.

The basics that I want to learn, and emulate with this game revolve around guided thought. Each puzzle, or star system, is supposed to build on the last. The puzzles aren't supposed to seem random, there should be some logical link between them and previous ones. This in itself isn't remarkably tough, but I do think that also having a balanced difficulty curve on top of that will be the kicker. More on that later though, no doubt when I'm finishing up levels I'll have learned a little more and have a more informed view.

My reference to 'Eastern Game Design' in the previous post might have to wait a little longer to be explained. It's cold here and my hands are starting to freeze up. Basically, it's in regards to control scheme. Take Super Mario Bros for example; in the old ones all you had was movement and jump (and shoot I guess). The game required you to take these basic moves, and slowly increase your understanding of them and use them in progressively difficult ways. That's the kind of aim I was taking when I was thinking about Starlight; simple base control system that gets employed in different ways as the game goes on. But as I said before, thats a bedtime story for another night.

Meanwhile, my current plan will be to update this blog on Mondays and Fridays. I've got two different projects on the go, my nights divvied up and a brand new determination to ROCK ON THRU.

Bets on me keeping that schedule are currently sitting at 15:1.

Arrrrrgh... I hate it. I really do...

So once again; behind the eightball, breaking my promises, incapable of knowing if this is the correct usage of ";"...

But its not all bad news! Sure, I've been super busy with work the last couple of weeks. Sure, I've had to endure the terror that is my parents coming to check up on me (and I do mean terror, trust me on that), but not everything is a total bust up.

With my one free day these last couple of weeks, I managed to clean up this engine I had sitting about my hard disk, wasting space. I've managed to iron out the immediately visible bugs and create something of a pre-pre-alpha version of the game I wanted to make together. Please note that not only is this incredibly early, but it's supposed to be this easy because I'm deliberately leading you to the answer. Every time you understand whats going on, It makes me feel just that little be more superior.

Anyway, check it out here.

This is really an exercise in eastern game design. It's fully a topic I intend to write about in depth (when I'm warmer and more in control of my fingers) but until then you'll just have to work out your own what the hell I'm babbling about. Until then... Rock out.

(Note: There is no picture or anything because I am hammered and I have nothing relevant to show. This is a test to see if I can convince myself that posts can consist merely of words without the need of images. Who knows, I may wake up tomorrow feeling guilty and have to google image search an appropriate image out of shame. Only time will tell.)

Slapdash Efforts.

Work has been ridiculously busy this week, so I haven't been able to keep to my plan. It sucks majorly, but I guess this is what you've gotta do to be in this business.

I felt bad though, so I quickly painted this picture. I saw a breakdown of Ubisoft's artists painting character shots for the new Prince of Persia game and thought it didn't look so tough. This is what about an hour of time and an outdated copy of Fireworks can get me... Not too bad all things considered.

This was originally going to be Ryu from Streetfighter, but as I was doing the pose I changed it to Mitsurugi from Soul Calibur. Then I decided I'd make it Genjuro from Samurai Showdown. All those samurai types are the same anyways...

The good news and the bad news.

Lets start with the good news first, followed by the bad news, followed by meandering paragraphs of wankery.

So, the good news: I got an awesome job at a very awesome video game company. It's not the greatest job, and it's not what I want to be doing for ever, but it is most definitely; a start.

The bad news: This blog, as I intended to use it, doesn't seem to be as possible as it did when I started it. Back when I had stars in my eyes and lofty ideals and such I had a lot more time on my hands, and a lot more tolerance for giving up other things of leisure. These days, it's like I need the spare time to do other things I hadn't previously considered. And play video games.

The wankery: Well, it's not really all that bad. The whole purpose of this blog was to use it as an 'Experience Lite' substitute anyway, and since I'm now working in the industry and gaining real +1's to experience I guess its not as important for this blog to function that way.

That's not to say I want to stop with this thing, but it means my current work plan needs an overhaul. Working on one project is tough enough as it is, so instead of the one comic/one game, two posts a week OR DIE thing I was going for before, it's just going to be one project/one post a week definite. Thats not to say I wont post more (I entirely plan to post extra if I can or indeed, have something interesting to post) but the plan is to ensure quality, to you, the reader, my greatest fan. Don't say I never do anything for you.

So yes, the current project shall be: Johnny Lovebaby buys the farm: The comic of the fictional short movie based on true events. This is mainly because I have more of this finished at the moment, but I'm also thinking I'll be leaning more towards short comics and such anyway, since I'm getting my games exp. at work anyway.

I do intend to do games stuff as well, but as I've found previously, doing all the work by yourself sucks. I'm thinking if I try my hand at making maps, or using free game engines I might have better results, but only time will tell. Also, for extra posts I might start writing design docs for games ideas I have, so then there's a record of them and I have a free ride to sue anyone else who managed to 'have the same idea' down the track. To those types of people: I live with a lawyer.

Anyway, I think that does it for this post. Picture is almost entirely unrelated; It's from this site called Mojizu that people put characters up for voting on. It's all a massive popularity contest though, so feel free to sign up and vote for anything I put up!

Long over due post (Bruce Lee single-room beat-'em-up "homage" game-thing)

So, now it's come time to actually write this post, I've lost my train of thought from last week. My plan was to have a definitive character style sorted out, and maybe some basic animation. What I have is 4 possible ideas (out of about 7 others, 3 were really poor :P).

All of them need tweaks, but my favorite ones are the two center ones. The first one is good, but I think it may be a little too detailed for me to animate/flash to handle. The last one, on reflection, looks pretty crappy too. I should've used a bigger palette I think. I think I might try and combine the middle 2 somehow for the actual sprite. I really like he pixel one, in fact I have a gigantic soft spot in my heart for anything pixelly, but the only other game I've finished was pixelly so I want to try something different now.

So basically, I want to make a simple little beat 'em up. Influenced not so much by Bruce Lee (and his movie Game of Death), but the more the crappy Hong Kong knockoff copycat movies that got made to cash in on his success.

I'm still tackling the creative decisions of it all, but I'm thinking something dumb like "Bruce Lo and the Tower of Doom" or "Bryce Li and the Temple of Deadly Games of Death..." Basically, the plan is to have a one room battlefield. You have enemies in that room that you have to dispatch with kung fu awesomeness before you can climb up the stairs to the next floor, where you repeat the process, but a little harder this time. For me, it means I don't have to worry about annoying things like scrolling... and I can save on backgrounds!

I also hope to implement some basic physics to it, so you can throw enemies into other enemies, or furniture, and pull off crazy floating combos. I don't think it'll be hard to find inspiration for the moves, but I think its more important to make something that is easy to pick up and kick ass with rather than something more technical, a.l.a Street Fighter 2. I don't really plan for it to be competitive in anyway... just something you can pick up and play for a little while and be entertained. Maybe if it works tho, I could beef it up a little to allow for the combo freaks to show off... I think I want to try and sort out the graphics first tho, considering thats where I normally seem to stall.

Anyway, return next time for more internet frivolity... possibly even back in regular intervals!

Kung Fu Killers- ATTACK!

So... I got commissioned to do this pic today... But since I'm getting a whopping ZERO dollars for it I figure I can do what I want with it. So here it is, an update for today.

Other news.... I've been thinking about stuff, and to me, trying to get into games development, maybe I should be thinking more about, you know... making games. So I think I've gotta organize some kind of schedule and limit myself to certain things until they are done. I mean, Virtual House counts as a game.... but to a casual observer it wouldn't look like one (and thats what I'm aiming for) but I don't think people would get it unless it looked and played like a game. I think thats something I've gotta take into account. I'm all for making games that are "more than the game", or making games that are different form the normal but I think the gaming industry, particularly in the state that they are in now, just wouldn't get it.

So anyway, working out a schedule. One short comic and one game at a time. Sort my time out so I'm not just working on the comic in my lunch break in my car at work. Also, update virtual house at some regular interval (or indeed, get it up somewhere first). For those playing at home, the comic at the moment is "Johnny Lovebaby Buys The Farm", and the game is yet un-named, but I've got an idea and I'll probably elaborate on it next post (also, somewhat related to todays pic. Kind of).

It's still a post... I guess...

So I didn't really get around to doing anything post worthy today or yesterday. Things conspired. I slept in. Excuses Excuses.

Anyway, I'm still going to post today regardless.. If only to update on a few things. The first of all being Virtual House Mk.2, or as it stands at the moment, VH Beta. The reason being that the main framework for the first stage is complete, but the actual bits that make it a game aren't done yet. As it is right now, I'd still be happy to put it up, but I currently have no space anywhere for it. This is a problem I'm going to have to sort out soon... I wanna have somewhere to put up stuff that isn't pictures.

Anyway... Also something to add is the Infinite Canvas Jam archive still does exist! For some reason the "last" button doesn't work though, so be weary of that. It's not the greatest comic in the world, but it was fun doing the occasional strip.. and I think its one of the longest jams ever on the web (apparently these things happen often but die early). Check it out if your bored and aren't afraid of getting boreder!

Lastly, the picture today is another thing I've scavenged from the crappy facebook graffiti superwall thing. It's relevant because I'm a freakin' Mastermind. Trust me on this.

Snake?.. SNAKE?.. SNAAAAAAAKE!?! NO SNAAAAAAKE!!!

Today totally didn't go as planned, but I couldn't go to bed without posting something, so behold: Solid Snake.

I think I did this sketch in my car at some point. It just happened to be on something else that I scanned in and it looked alright, so I figured may as well post it. So after coming home from a crappy night at work, I resisted the urge to play LOTR or watch Jericho and speed painted this pic.
Metal Gear Solid is quite possibly my most favorite game ever... But I'm too tired to gush about it in this post. No doubt I'll do something proper sometime and I'll have my chance then.

Those following my other stuff, I've done a redo of the Johnny Lovebaby cover that I kind of like... But I'll reassess it in the morning with rested eyes. Also, Virtual house is still on track to be finished by the end of the weekend... Providing its not too busy.

Virtual House Mk.2

Virtual House was a project I worked with Drew briefly on in the past (It's no longer online though). However, a new house demands a new Virtual House!

This time, I'm going to try and follow through with some ideas I had previously. I'd like to make it into a Myst-Style puzzle adventure game, that updates overtime... Kind of episodic. Not only do I hope to show off my house and my game skillz, but the plan is to make it kind of layered, so that each layer employs different web-based programming techniques. I figure I can also use it as an elephants graveyard, dumping other things that didn't quite work out into it and using them as clues/red herrings.

I don't have a full story worked out for it yet. I have a rough idea of how its going to start, but I think I'm going to take it JJ Abrams/Lost style and make up most of it as I go along but claim that it's all been planned that way all along. It's up to you to choose what you believe!

I have a design plan worked out for the top layer (basic html) but I don't know how long it will be till its finished. At the moment I'm planning to have it done by the end of the weekend, but even then, I don't know where I'm going to put it up... Only time will tell.

Free love was too tame for him...

I love Jet Set Radio Future, I own a copy of it, even though I don't own an Xbox. To me, it's one of the most well designed games ever and its a shame that Sega hasn't done more with the franchise. Although gameplay wise it can get a little samey, so many of the other components that make up that game are excellent. For a start, it's got one of the funkiest soundtracks I've ever heard for in a game.

Secondly, it was one of the first games to use cel-shading. The introduction of this graphical technique hasn't been the greatest advancement in videogames, and it also lead to some stupid genre redefintions (I've seen videogames reviews treat cel-shaded games as a seperate genre, which is retarded and only serves to strengthen the new videogames mantra that is "graphics over gameplay"), but here it's used well and in the right context. The cartoony graphics match the character designs and bright locations of Neo-Tokyo perfectly.

Thirdly, it has this awesome "The Warriors" style feeling, full of crazy stylized gangs and this "one gang against all" mentality. All the character designs feel interesting no matter how big their roles, from the narrator, DJ Professor K, to the Christopher Walken inspired police inspector. Everything in this game ties in to this same funk future theme.

The 2 characters in this are Gum and Beat, veterans from the first game, Jet Set Radio. It was drawn entirely digitally in Flash.

Infinite Canvas Cast Pic

Just scrounging through my documents folders and I found this picture. At one point last year I was participating in this online comic jam (lots of artists working together in an unorganised fashion) at The WebComic List. It was a pretty successful thing too, we actually ended up getting past 100 separate strips. So as a celebration of that 100 comic milestone, I drew this massive cast picture, and also decided to color it as well (it was the first time I'd colored something I'd scanned in).

I think it turned out pretty well... Theres too many people to mention, and I've forgotten most of their names anyway but if you did wanna check out what it was all about, check this thread here. Sadly, a lot of the comics are now missing (including mine), since people probably lost their online space. There was an archive of it, but that's no longer their either.

Coincidentally, I ended up submitting this one 14 strips late, so it was originally 114, but because I also put a fake one before it, its was really 115. So hooray for the failure there :P

Also, I was going to try and stick to a Tuesday/Thursday update schedule, but I felt guilty about a somewhat crappy and rushed post. Plus, I guess if I can post more, I probably should...

Johnny Lovebaby ProtoCover

One of the things I'm working on at the moment is a short comic called "Johnny Lovebaby buys the farm". It's inspired by the song "Russian Roulette" by British India.

This is the protocover I've been able to work on now I have my computer working again and my scanner hooked up. I'm pretty happy with the pen work, its a lot cleaner than my older stuff, but I'm still not in love with the logo/ the blahs in the background. I'm running out of time today though, so this is going to have to do for the moment. I think I can fix the logo with some more time, but the blahs I think I'm going to have to do over again. I think if they were smaller and closer together and more of them it might look a bit better.

Other things I should be doing at the moment:
-Linear Roofing site.
-Karen Michelle Photography logo redraw.
-Virtual house mk. 2.
-Get a job.
-Get a haircut.

Day whatever - Whatever whatever...

...Or Whatever whatever whatever.

Honestly, saying that I'm going to get this updated daily again is a curse. I think from now on I'll just do my best to get something up.

Todays pic is a sketch of Ryu from the classic Street Fighter series. I don't know why, but I was a little excited when I heard that they were making a 4th game. Well... 4th in name anyway. I kinda missed Street Fighter 3 entirely, due to a lack of arcades in my town, and not very many (if any in Aus) home conversions.

However, I've always had a massive soft bruised spot for fighting games. Even though I kind of lean to the SNK/King of the Fighters side of the genre, I always thought Alpha 3 was a blast. I even dug the EX series that everyone seems to hate. When it came to it, Street figher has always been one of the more balanced and competitive game series there is.

It's this fond nostalgia that's saved SF4 for me so far. The teaser trailer looked unbelievably awesome, and it was a massive dissappointment that they didn't keep the same stylized graphics for the game. But street fighter has never really been about the graphics, its always been about the characters and the fighting.

And as far as characters go, I can't think of many that has been as much of a posterchild for the many different facets of videogames as Ryu. That's not bad at all considering his costume is pretty much just a white karate gi. I guess it just shows sometimes simple is best. It's also kinda weird that he doesn't look right unless you draw him ridiculously bulky, since he's the "average" character of the bunch.

This sketch was done in my car on a lunch break. At the moment it's my favorite place to draw.

Day 42 - Back on the horse...

... Or I dunno if i can keep writing these things...

So, I finally have net access again, which is good, but I still don't have a proper computer. I've managed to rig up an old laptop that's screen doesn't work to my moniter using blutack and a rubberband. It's a work of art, and I intend to use a photo of it for another update.

Today's update is a cover for a comic idea that I had a while ago. Its only about the 3rd thing I've properly tried to paint, but I still think it turned out ok. Originally, the part of his head filled with shadow was going to be filled with "techology", but no matter how many times I redrew it, it didn't look right. Eventually I just ditched it and left it like this. It's still not ideal, but I'm no picasso at the moment anyway.

Anyway, I think I'm going to give this posting everyday thing another shot. It's tough, and I'm not as niave about it as I was a month ago, but I think I can do it. I've found my motivation again and it's totally going to happen this time.

Day 11 - What happens when you lose everything?..

...Or You start again, you start all over again...

Soooo this year has gotten off to a pretty bad start. Everything keeps breaking on me and I'm suddenly in debt again. My resolution has been broken (thanks James, winky-smiley-face) before I'd even reached a week and my plan to get somewhere with my life has stalled. I can't even post old stuff since my comp is currently unpowerable, a casualty of the move.

So I've spent the last couple of days taking stock of what I don't have anymore, which is fine, but it doesn't get me anywhere. I've gotta start thinking about what I still have, and what I can still do.

Since this blog is supposed to be somewhat involved with computer games, I think I should maybe try and look at it from that kind of position, and hopefully I'll get some clarity from it.

So, basically:

Someone hit reset, and my save game corrupted. I lost all my cool power ups and have to start waaaay back at the first level. I now have to play through all the missions again, gaining my old power ups as I go along and possibly unlocking a few secrets I missed on the first play through. Eventually I'll get back to the save point again, and hopefully get past it, and onto the glorious endgame content.

Well, when its put like that it's not so bad. Just like playing Metroid or something. I'll be rolling around shooting missles in no time.

Pic is courtesy of Mspaint on Mrs. Watkins' computer. I told you all my power ups are gone :S. Also, for some reason, formatting doesn't seem to work properly on this comp, so bear with me.

Day 5 - Day ? - MASSIVE FAIL...

Two days in a row with nothing + My computer dying in the move = Fail in the first week.

This is something I painted for James using the crappy facebook superwall graffiti thing.

Day 4 - It's not looking good...

...Or Cheat MkII.

Ridiculously busy day today again, so I didn't really have time to do anything. Luckily, heres something I semi-made earlier.

I made it about a month or two back to use as a front page for an online portfolio. It's still coming along, but for the moment I've cannibalized it and wrote on top of it. I saw a site about a guy who actually builds steampunk machines, so that was the inspiration for it. I guess, when I talk about a site, it might be nice to link to it. I'll try to remember in the future.

Anyway, I was going for a medieval kinda feel, so I gave him arms that are also guns, but have sharp edges that can be used for hacking. Also, drawing the legs made me realize how retarded I am, but the same can be said of whoever did the designs for the transformers movie. I mean, a battle robot shouldn't have all its inner workings open like that. It's like one big weak point. Plus, branches and stuff would get stuck in there. I guess it would look a little boring if it was just armor though and having all the gears and pistons on show is the steampunk way. Thats my excuse anyway.

Day 3 - Cheats!..

...Or I really started this at the *wrong* time.

So today has been really busy again, with all the packing and sorting and house-inspecting and what have you... So I haven't had time or even been inspired to do anything. Expect this kind of theme to be common for a little while.

Anyway, I've decided to cheat, and use a picture I've prepared earlier. Its a self portrait I made from a photo, showing off my new head phones. The text in the background reads "Enough of your words, I demand action". I don't think it's from anything in particular, but I may be wrong.

Day 2 - Electric Boogaloo...

... Or how I learned to stop worrying and love the blog.

So, Day 2! But that doesn't mean anything. If I can keep this up a week I think I might be getting somewhere.

Not much really happened today, just had the run around with real estate agents and packed a little more. And played some Civilization 4.

More logos today, since I'm easing myself into it, and they are somewhat quick and easy. Logo 1 is a remake of the original one I came up with. I still kind of like it, since it looks faux futuristic and reminds me of TSR (a company that I can't even remember what they produce). Logo 2 is a redesign of a logo Drew made for a Noir themed project we were working on. Logo 3 is a rip off of the BBC logo, but I couldn't find a matching font.

Day 1 - New Years Resolutions...

...Or how I'm going to fail *this* time.

So things have gotten a bit ridiculous, and I really need to start actually doing something with my life. I'm not really the type to try, let alone keep, a new years resolution, but I think now is the time. My resolution is as such:

Post on this blog everyday, and try to include something I've done today.

Now I know it's a pretty unrealistic goal to have something good up everyday, so I'm also going to include half finished stuff. At least that will give a little bit of a running development. It's also not going to be easy at the moment either, considering I'm in the middle of finding a house and moving.

I'm still not sure how I should write this either. I'm tossing up between writing it like a personal diary or writing it as entertainment for other people to read. I guess I'll work it out as I go along.

Anyway, Post for today is a Big Stompy Robots proto-logo. I'm still not entirely happy with it, but it does look pretty much as I envisioned it. The robot design was supposed to be like Mazinger Z crossed with Giant Robo, but it still looks a little Megaman-ish.