Awesome Cake

Sometime later... More thoughts on Skyrim

2012-01-16T11:17:00.000-08:00

Hello, my name is Albert and I play too much Skyrim.

Falmer? More like FODDER, amirite?

My first two characters in Skyrim were fun. I finished the main dragon-y questline with Kukurin the Imperial Swordswoman first and then with Jan'Ice the Mage I got my fill of mage-y goodness. My third character though, feels like...I dunno. He feels like the one. Is it possible to have a "main character" in a single player game? If so, that's what Albrecht the Nord feels like. Also, he has the most screenshots.

Lots of these screenshots are of Albrecht stabbing people.

I have definitely got my moneys worth out of Skyrim, almost two hundred odd hours later and I am still finding new places, new quests and new ways to utterly decimate enemies.

Decapitation, fun for the whole family!

I also don't know why it takes me so long to get into the main questline. Actually, I do know why. It's because the other questlines are so much cooler. The Thieves Guild definitely has to be my favorite. In discussions on Skyrim that I have had with my friends, some of them lean more towards the Dark Brotherhood, but I feel like there is a sense of satisfaction that I get with that questline that kinda beats the Brotherhood a bit.

I'm Batman.

Like I mentioned in my first thoughts, the most satisfaction I have gotten in the Skyrim is sneaking through an entire bandit camp, pickpocketing as I go and looting their entire treasure trove before heading out the back. Sure, it's not the sword swinging, magic blasting way to go (not that I completely ignored those skills, theres always a shield in my favorites menu) but its fun.

Just three gang and their badass armor.

I have my gripes with the game. That's for sure, but they are lumped into minor and major ones.

Minor Gripes (or things that probably just bug me)

-Why can't I talk more to people? There's a Speech skill. I want to be able to persuade a bandit to put down his sword and think about what he's doing with his life. At 100 Speech I want to be able to make a bandit break down and cry with regret.

Instead, I will settle for taking everyones clothes.

- People who get in my way. I am looking at you companions. I have probably played 90% of this game without using a meatshield, mainly because they are stupid as shit. Standing in doorways. Running over traps. Everyone in Skyrim is dumb except for me.

- The lack of love my wife shows me. My first character got married. We were both werewolves. I had thought that maybe we could have hot werewolf sex. But no. She just stays home and makes me pie. Sometimes she gives me money. She says she loves me...but sometimes I feel the magic is gone.

Nothing like some Falmer killin' for working off that frustration.

- Feeling like a god. Okay this is just me. There is a certain point where you become very very powerful. I have tried turning up the difficulty, switching to skills that I don't use often and even like...letting baddies hit me a few times. But this is part of the progression of power that all RPG's kind of have. Plus...I do have the bad habit of grinding a bit in single player games.

- How I have to be the leader of every faction I help. I would settle for being second in command of the Companions, or even like Assistant Guildmaster of the Thieves Guild. It kinda makes me wonder what kind of selection process these people have, when you can walk in off the street on Monday and leave on Friday with the keys to the entire place. Sure, theres always the "chosen by destiny for great things" aspect to it. But come on, the leader of all these factions? Really?

Major Gripes

As close as you're going to get to riding a Dragon around.

-Dragons. That's pretty much it. For a game where one of the main selling points is it's infinite dragons, Bethesda almost dropped the ball with these. Yes, the first fights with Dragons are epic. You panic, you die, you wonder if you're supposed to be able to beat them (or maybe I just rushed into that too early on my first go) but eventually all the dragons have the same pattern to them.

Good times, though, good times.

Shoot dragon until it's angry enough to land. Then hit dragon in face until it dies. That's what I found that worked, and that's pretty much what I stuck with up until the big bad dragon in the end. (Okay that's a lie, there was a Sho...oh wait Spoilers :P)

And some of kind of dragon lock-on so that they can strafe you with dragonfire without you being able to dodge them.

Not pictured: my inability to dodge Dragonfire.

Thankfully all of this can be avoided by not starting the first dragon encounter. Which means you are free to enjoy a Dragon-less Skyrim if you please. Then again, you won't be able to use the Unrelenting Force shout to propel bears off of mountaintops.

Do I really need to praise this game more?

What I do love about Skyrim though, are the little things. The way that you are free to level your character as you please. That you aren't overtly punished for going off the beaten track. There's always a cave or a temple or someone in need of your aid if you go that way.

And by aid I mean, help me stab these people.

Just yesterday I stumbled upon a tower, and upon entering it happened across a battle between two mages. Then I helped one of them battle through said tower, get to the top and stop her mother from completing a dark and eldritch ritual.

Then I took the old bags staff and pawned it for some sweet sweet gold.

I like the way you can get your friend to teach you new skills. Then pickpocket your gold back.

I like propelling bears off of mountaintops with the power of my voice.

And I guess what I like the most is making my own story. The Sneak Thief with a Silver Tongue and a penchant for bashing people in the face with his shield. The Swordswoman who fell from grace. The haughty elf who loves her Firebolts. Who knows what adventures await my next character?

Yo Dawg

2012-01-04T04:06:00.000-08:00

I heard you like Novice Necromancers...

One of the few Skyrim screenshots that I have that isn't of my character stabbing someone in the face.

Fan Art

2012-01-03T12:08:00.000-08:00

I spent New Years in Savusavu, which is a beautiful and quiet town in Vanua Levu, the other big island that we have here in the magical lands of Fiji. That is a post for another time though.

I made a new friend there though, a 12 year old sailor kid (seriously, he's won prizes). I did a couple of drawings for him and today I got an email of some of the drawings he did. One of which is the superhero version of me :)

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T13:50:00.000-08:00

Have an Awesome 2012, everyone! I know it's a little early for Chinese New Year as well, but I freaking love dragons.

Topping Last Year

2011-12-20T19:04:00.000-08:00

I made a mistake last year. I made what I consider to be the best Birthday card ever. I spent ages debilitating over what to draw for my friends card, and I knew I had to make it awesome. I was pretty proud of myself, and you can see the card here. Last year I collaborated with Mr Kaoskongo and the gang and it turned out pretty damn cool.

But that was my mistake. I had made the card TOO awesome. How on earth was I going to top that? I mean it had a sword! And an achievement bar! And a naked lady riding my friend drawn as a Centaur!

Then Nakita Internington had the best idea. And it hit me, I knew what I had to draw. Here are the pictures.

Cover of the card. The M is so that he figures out which way it opens.

Detail shot of cover.

And then BAM! It pops up!

Bula pattern cloaks. What all wizards are wearing this season.

Oh noes evil centipede of doom! (Or Caterpillar if you're Sharky)

That's right, you can move the lightning bolt around.

PEW PEW PEW PEW PEW

So materials were pretty much two A3 sheets of 250gsm glossy card, one sasa stick, a whole lotta glue and cellotape. I did all the art digitally this year, as I have been doing my hardest to master the wacom tablet.

We got that printed at the print shop, after working out a prototype to see how big we should make the individual pieces, then Nakita cut out all the little fiddly bits (she is very pro at that, way more patient than I am with the corners and in general)

Now...what the heck am I going to do about next year...

Workin' Progress

2011-12-13T14:27:00.000-08:00

Hey hey! So in an effort to improve my art, I've been making a lot more prints lately. It's more an attempt to make sure I put enough effort into a piece instead of just half-arsing it, as when you print it out a whole lot more detail is on display for people.

Speaking of display, I've also decided that next year I'm going to try put a couple of pieces of together for the art exhibition. Here are a couple of prints I made.

Bzzzt

Easter Island heads are awesome.

Thoughts on Skyrim

2011-11-28T13:15:00.001-08:00

I was going to have a more exciting title up there, but I thought what the fuck, let's get down to business here. Skyrim is a gigantic game, and pretty much all I've been playing for the last few days (I hit the eighty hour mark last night...so monies worth? definitely.) I will admit, I do not have much of a history with the series, my RPG needs usually filled by the ones that come out of the other side of the planet (Read: Final Fantasy, Pokemon, stuff like that), but since getting a decent PC rig together I've come to appreciate the differences from a good western RPG.

Where to begin, I wonder. The thing about Skyrim is, you can't really make a decent comment on the story. Every character will start in the same place, sure, but after that it's what you do that decides how the rest of the game will play out. There are certain plot points that could stand as similar experiences for everyone, but usually you are given free reign to do what you will. Most of the time.

No one is going to be able to kill the first dude that helps you out, which I found out after an unfortunate "accident" involving a bear and some fire. I set him on fire and he just kinda flopped around on his knees for a bit before standing up.

In a game where the majority of the NPCs are able to be killed though, do a couple of invincible ones break the game? I personally don't think so, it's the safer way to make sure that the player has something to do most of the time. Could it have been done better? Perhaps, although I can't think of a way that would be cost effective in terms of code.

My first level up looked a little like this. But the Deer was dead.

Instead of having defined character classes, the skills that you use define your character. The more you hit things with an axe, the better you get at hitting people with an axe. The same applies to magic and selling things and everything. So I guess what I'll do is tell you about my personal Skyrim experience (which most of the best reviews have done anyway).

My first character started off as one I didn't plan on getting attached to. I made an Imperial lady who looked angry all the time and was at the maximum end of the weight slider (which weirdly governs how muscular you are, not how chubby) I tried a little bit of everything at first, but slowly I got to leaning more toward the stealthy side of things. Even though I was wearing heavy armor, I could line up stealth kills with arrows if I was careful enough, and when things turn to shit, she became super good at using two one handed weapons to whirl through enemies like a dervish of death dealing.

What's that over there? ADVENTURE!

I'm also going to try my hardest to not spoil major questlines for people, so intentionally vage commentary follows.

I was having a good time helping people out, doing the main questline at a snails pace and levelling my smithing with a dude who is the best smith in Skyrim. But where I have had the most fun with my first character is the Thieves Guild. At first I wanted to be a "good" person, no stealing, no killing innocent people. But there is a certain thrill in sneaking through a bandit camp, pickpocketing their leader who's asleep in her bed, and then looting their entire treasury without anyone even knowing you're there.

That threw my whole no stealing thing out the window...then I started with the Dark Brotherhood...and man...those guys are twisted. Then that threw the whole no killing innocents out the window too. Sure, the majority of the marks that you get are kind of bad people, but some of them aren't...evil. Just mean. Or in the wrong place at the wrong time.

And that's what I like, my character went from a hero to...something else. She gets the job done, but still leans more toward the Thief than the Assassin.

Shhhh, sleeeeeep.

The main questline though, with its Dragons... to be honest I could use a little less of them. The first ones are tough as nails, and before you get their pattern down they are tricky. But then, that's all they are, patterns. Like any boss fight, once you work them out they lose their difficulty. Plus...once they land I can literally kill a dragon in three seconds. I showed my sister who is playing a mage-y character that once and she swore at me like a sailor on shoreleave.

And the horses. Shit man, don't get me started on the horses. They are crazy bastards, who will throw themselves at badguys with no regard to their own safety. And I have lost so many to fall damage now that it's silly. And it wouldn't be so bad if they weren't 1000 gold each.

Slight spoiler, I did manage to get a special horse as part of a questline who is actually useful in that she is much stronger than a regular horse, so doesn't die as easily. And that made a difference. But then she died thanks to glitch that moved her exactly 200 yards to the left once I dismounted. That 200 yards happened to place her in the air on the side off the side of the mountain we had just galloped up so of course, she falls to her death.

Buggy Infinite Dragons? Yes.

Oh, the glitches. I have seen flying mammoths, Dragons that don't give me their souls, floating people, a bug in the main questline that took ages for me to fix.

But in spite of all of that, I have had fun. It's a sandbox that I really enjoy playing in, and I am pretty sure I have at least a couple more playthroughs left in it before I am thoroughly sick of the snowy province of Skyrim. But first of course, theres that main questline to finish... after I help end the civil war...and maybe do some more Guild quests...perhaps level my enchanting...

Oh, and those helmets are everywhere! I was a little sad about that.

Breaking Radio Silence

2011-11-21T17:44:00.001-08:00

Why helloooo there. (Read in George Takei's voice for maximum impact).

I haven't posted in a while, mainly due to busy-ness at work, and then I was on break...and then more busy-ness. Christmas is the busiest time of the year, so if it's not one thing it's another. Although, I did have to catch three birds that had flown into the office yesterday, and that took forever. They are slippery bastards, birds are. Mainly because they can fly and are really fast. Also, I got stung by centipede in a region that is quite unmentionable. Okay, it was my butt. In case you were wondering about other unmentionable regions (Don't do that).

Also, I've been playing a lot of Skyrim (which I simply must write about at some point, I am enjoying it a lot!). So that's in the pipeline once I put a couple more hours into that, although a lot of my time was just spent smithing armor. For some reason I really wanted to get my smithing maxed out and make some armor out of the dragons I had been killing. So look forward to that!

In the meantime, enjoy this picture I drew of a fairy and a spider.

The Minecraft Posts: Part One

2011-09-28T16:30:00.000-07:00

So a while back I was pretty into that whole mining and building game, also known as Minecraft. However, I reached a point where I began to get a little bored. My fortifications were awesome, I had a decent stockpile of minerals and ore, and my mine was so vast and expansive that I would frequently have to just dig a brand new tunnel so that I wouldn't get lost.

I vowed I would give it a break until another substantial update to the game. And lo and behold, that time has come. The Adventure Update meant that it was time to once again dig into (ha ha ha) that blocky world and survive.

Piggy photobombed my sunset shot >_>

It also meant I had to start again from scratch, but there was something cleansing about all that. It had been long enough since the last time I played that it was a welcome return. The first day in Minecraft is quite frankly, the most stressful. If you don't find a seam of coal you're going to spend the first night in darkness and terror.

Unless you play on peaceful, but that's for old people with weak hearts and fraidy cats.

An Enderman, one of the new mobs. This was pretty scary.

There were a couple of things I was hoping to find this time around. The update added random villages, abandoned mineshafts and ruins known as strongholds to the game. The villages interest me the most. What I liked about Minecraft the first time around was that sense of loneliness you get, and I wondered if adding Villages (and later NPCs) would change any of that.

As luck would have it, upon spawning in a brand new shiny world, it wasn't long before I found a natural ravine near a lake. Cutting straight into a mountain, it was pretty fucking foreboding. But I had some coal, and I had a flimsy wooden sword, and I thought hey, half the work of digging down is done for me, I may as well start here.

That was when I found the mineshafts. A maze of networks that ran like holes through swiss cheese. There were rail tracks (which I immediately stripped for later use) down there, and cobwebs and sweet, sweet ore.

I've explored an entire map worth of overland, with nary a village to be seen though. And the ruined Strongholds still elude my loot happy backpack. Perhaps it is time to venture into the Nether, and see where else I will pop up.

The current layout of my home base.

Anatomy of a D&D Session

2011-09-21T17:05:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, someone mentioned they wanted to play D&D.

Oh boy, I thought, I'm going to be asked to DM again. Sure enough, my skills were once again called upon to get an adventure together. Since the last time we played (which was a few months ago) I have gathered more materials than before. I now have not just one, but three D20s.

Hold up though, I hear you asking, what exactly is this Dungeons and Dragons you are going on about?

Dungeons and Dragons is a roleplaying game played with imagination, dice, friends and some pencils and paper. One person is assigned the role of Dungeon Master, who is responsible for creating the adventure and playing the monsters and characters you meet on said adventure. Everyone else is a player (or PC) who creates a character that will face the various challenges set upon by the Dungeon Master (or DM).

Wow, that sounds like a rip roaring good time! How do I go about playing this Dragons and Dungeons?

Whoa there sparky, you're going to need a few things first.

- Victims...er...friends to play.
- A whole bunch of polynesian....er...polyhedral dice.
- To read the books.

There are a lot of D&D books out there, but what you'll basically need are the Players Handbook, Dungeon Masters guide and the Monster Manual. They will give you a pretty thorough rundown of the rules, races, classes and ideas on how to roleplay. There's also a crapload of stuff that is a simple Google search away, you lazy bum.

Anyway, I'm here to tell you about how our D&D session went.

This was to be the fourth time that I have ever DM'ed ever, and I really wanted to try and write an adventure instead of using an existing one. First of all, I had to come up with a name. This is probably not how real writers write an adventure, but I needed somewhere to start off. As I was looking around my room, I saw a lego set that my sister and I bought in Australia. It came with little lego spiders.

And thus, the Web of the Spidermancer was born in my brainmeat.

I wrote the campaign outline, designed some encounters and wrote a whole lot of fluff for the players to go through. Then I tried to find some maps online for the adventure. No dice there, I could have pieced together some tiles or something, but then I thought what the hell, I'm a dab hand at photoshop, I'll just make some maps.

Not pictured: Hours spent agonizing over whether or not more skulls were needed.

The adventure was intentionally written as a small as possible. The PCs arrive in a village in the arse-end of the world, the problem is obvious and there are way too many rewards. I also tried to keep it as fun as possible, with little mini-games like a drinking contest and a sidequest to collect spider eyes.

I also prepared way more than I needed to. In total I wrote about seven encounters, and the players managed to finish in three encounters. I'm pretty sure they had fun though, and there was some groaning when I showed them an encounter that they could have done, had they gone a different way.

Yes, there were actual girls

Things that I learned? I need to prepare more. Sure, there are some things you can't prepare for, like a PC who goes on a totally different tangent from what you have written, or horrible rolls which mean that your miniboss misses every single attack it makes, but these lessons will hopefully make me a better DM.

And next time, I am totally going to cheat if Gargantua the Spider misses three times in a row.

Why Final Fantasy Tactics is Awesome

2011-09-12T15:15:00.000-07:00

Pixelated men riding pixelated chickens? I'm so there.

The first time I saw Final Fantasy Tactics, I was visiting my stepmothers family. Her brother had just bought a couple of new games and asked me if I wanted to check them out.

He popped in the disk for Final Fantasy Tactics and started up a new game. After the game went on about how history is written by the victors of war, it asked him for his name and birthday.

Then, it started. Little sprites marched in time, waiting for their turn so that they could go and beat up other little sprites. I still remember the first thing he said, "Man, they look like little children." Then he turned it off and put in Resident Evil 2.

Yes, I gave myself the right birthday.

He also let me take the disk home that afternoon.

Final Fantasy Tactics is one of those games I come back to every once in a while, like several of the games in the series, but it's definitely one that is different every single time. This is mostly due to the intricate battle system, that is simple enough to work with, but rewarding for those who dive in and fiddle around with it. (Just like your first time -Ed)

The first few rounds are important for buffing, I like to let the enemy come to me.

Battles are played out on a 3D isometric field, where units are placed and wait for their orders according to a Charge Time meter, which fills up depending on their speed. You can affect the flow of turns by using different techniques, so it's not entirely turn-based, and placement of units is important to avoid being pummeled to death by enemies, since they do more damage if they attack you from the side or behind. (Just like...never mind - Ed)

Thats only half of the game though, the other half is in the setup of your units. Like a lot of Tactics games, FFT has a class based system, where each class specializes in different areas. Wizards are long range magic users, Priests heal and buff units and Knights are close range fighters who can destroy enemy equipment. Each character though, can change jobs between battle depending on what they have unlocked.

Mike never was able to unlock the Ninja class.

Heres where it gets interesting though, skills that a unit learns can be still be used provided that you assign them beforehand. What this means basically, is that you can turn a Knight into a Wizard, and still have access to the skills he had as a Knight. You wouldn't actually want to do that, but it's in trying out different combinations that you make the best units.

Look at all these classes. LOOK AT THEM!

One particular example that springs to mind is my hero unit for my last playthrough. He was a squire for his base class, with battle skill as his secondary. But! He also had Two Swords from the Ninja class as his support ability, which meant that when he countered (A reaction ability from the Monk class) he would hit TWO TIMES. (I can see the eyes of your readers glaze over, talk about something else - Ed)

But what about the narrative, I hear you ask. FFT is set in Ivalice, the setting for quite a few Final Fantasies, in a time known as the Lion War. The main story takes place seemingly in the background of this huge medieval war, with various plots, backstabs and demonic influences. I will admit, a lot of it went over my head the first time I played through, but now that I'm older it kinda reminds me of Game of Thrones, in terms of political complexity.

You play as Ramza, who grows through the story from a young idealistic cadet to a hero of the war, but is remembered in history as a heretic and traitor. Through the game you learn how this happens, and of course, that history is written by those who win. Or at least, backstab enough people so that no one is alive who knows you're a bad guy.

Tonight, we dine in Hell!

There are a lot of characters in FFT, but enough memorable ones to keep you interested. Ramza of course, is a solid piece of character development, but there is also his best friend Delita, who kind of takes the "ends justifies the means" route. Even during my third playthrough though, there were a couple of times when I had to look up who someone was.

It's raining shards of Ice, Hallelujah...

Graphically, the game does look somewhat dated. Okay, it looks really dated. But the majority of the game is made up of sprites, with a lot of pretty painstaking animation for some of the cutscenes. In that sense, it still holds out. The spell effects are also pretty, with lots of glow and sparks. The sound is also top notch, with appropriate music for battles, and sound effects (particularly the death cry units make when they die) that have lodged themselves in my brain.

Warpin' time back to 1998.

I'm going to be honest, I partly look at this game through rose colored glasses. It was the first videogame I actually started copying art from. I can do the first four battles blindfolded because for one entire long weekend it was all my friend Ryan and I would play, because we didn't have a memory card and the fourth battle is a fucking bitch to finish.

But it's also so very, very solid. I seem to learn something new about it every time I play through (Like that lightning spells become more powerful in the rain, or that when choosing a healer, make sure their zodiac sign is compatible with your attacking units).

There's a reason that it has attained cult classic status, and also why when they remade it for PSP they didn't just port it over, but added beautiful cel-shaded cutscenes with voiceovers.

It might not be everyones cup of tea, but FFT definitely deserves it's place in the series, and it's earned in the blood of a hundred slain enemies and spells rained down from the heavens.

Where have YOU been?

2011-09-04T19:01:00.000-07:00

Visual aid. You know, in case you needed reminding.

My mummy was adamant.

"You are coming with us, everything has been arranged. All you have to do is arrange for a week off of work and that's it."

She travels a lot, my mum does, but this time she wanted to take both my sister and I with her for a holiday. In Australia.

I will admit, I had to have a bit of a think first, but due to the fact that everything was pretty much organized, and my mother would disown me if I turned her down, I went to Melbourne for a week.

Now, technically, only I was on holiday. My mum was there on business and my sister also had work to do. It's not easy being a feminist, don'tcha know. However, because she is my mother, she managed to pack a whole lot of shopping into the schedule.

Also, I don't particularly mind shopping, it is an artform in itself. But man, when you're stuck in Suva and have been pretty much everywhere, nothing prepares you for a proper first world country CBD. The people, the cars, the variety of stores. It got a little overwhelming, but luckily I had prepared beforehand. With my trusty Google Map of Melbourne and a list of stores I had to check out, nothing was going to stand in my way.

And this place was like a treasure trove. I felt like a fucking adventurer discovering a lost civilization.

Apart from the shopping, it was also a good bonding experience. Family time and all that. I learned that the work that mum does means that she has an amazing network of people who both respect and want to work with her.

Forum panel that my mum was on. She was very, very good.

I learned that my sister is really good at giving speeches, and that she can make a grown woman cry. Granted, this particular lady has been known to cry at the drop of a hat, but that doesn't diminish the impact of my sisters story telling.

Finally, I have no idea why, but this trip I was struck with chapped lips, horrid sinus troubles and an inability to sleep properly. I have my own theories on this but it may have been that fact that Melbourne is FUCKING COLD. And also, that our room was on the 15th floor. We had an amazing view of the backside of an even larger building.

And so, with a bag full of goodies and Aussie loot, I returned home. And that's the thing about holidays, at the end of the day you come home, with stories and memories and youtube videos of your mum representing Fiji.

Loot List (A list of the things I picked up, so you can be jelly)
- Blade Runner: Final Cut Blu Ray (for this feller)
- Dead Space: Martyr (for this feller)
- Penny Arcade: book 7
- Cyanide and Happiness book (For the sister to put on her shelf)
- Terry Pratchett's Unseen Academicals and I Shall Wear Midnight

The night I found Jesus

2011-08-12T16:10:00.000-07:00

I was out at the clubs with a couple of friends, as befits a Friday evening. We had just been to watch the Laughing Samoans give a benefit performance for the WOWS (not World of Warcrafts). They were hilarious.

It was early saturday morning, when I met Jesus, outside of O'Reillys. I had escaped the hot, gyrating mob and gone outside to have a quiet smoko. You know that a nightclub is packed when you have to do that.

He was crossing the street with a couple of ladies, about to go and perform miracles, no doubt. I stopped him with a tap on the shoulder.

"Hey Jesus, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, hey Albert! Having a good night?"

"Um, yeah I guess. But seriously, aren't you supposed to return for that Rapture thing? What's going on with that?"

"Oh, yeah. Totally gonna do that soon, I guess. Maybe. Probably not, anyway, I gotta go take these lovely ladies and show them the Lords Love, if you know what I mean."

"That's cool Jesus, that's cool. Mind if I get a picture with you for the ol' blog?"

"Awesome Cake? Sweet ME! That would be would all kinds of cool."

Arts!

2011-08-03T18:14:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in over a month. Usually I would just vomit forth some banal thoughts to remedy this, but lately I've been feeling like I need to up my game a bit in terms of writing. So, I went with the old adage, if you can't find anything to say, don't fucking blog.

That's an adage right? You guys got the memo?

So instead, I'm going to post some pictures I've done over the last few days. If you're following me on the old Twitter-thing you've probably seen these, but I felt that they were good enough to post twice.

I've been fooling around a lot more with layers of lighting than I usually do. For example, if I were to draw a character it'd have a layer for the colors, one for the shadows and another for spots of light to give it some highlighting. With these I've tried a bit more layering, and I'm pretty happy with how they came out.

This is Varric from Dragon Age 2, done for a friend of mine from a twitter suggestion. (Jeez, I spend a lot of time on there) I tried to get the lighting similar to the scenes where Varric narrates the games story, there are a few licenses taken here and there of course.

This dude is on fire. Why is he on fire? Why is there a crab on his belt? Why can I never seem to get pauldrons done in the right perspective? So many questions that will never be answered.

I am extremely lazy when it comes to backgrounds. They take an eye for detail that I have yet to master. Photoshopping one in is pretty lame, but at least it looks kind of cool.

That concludes our post!

How games made me Awesome

2011-07-04T18:38:00.001-07:00

This is a short essay I wrote a while back, for no particular reason other than I felt like writing. It rambles a bit and is never serious, so it's pretty much a standard Albie essay.

The first videogame I can recall playing was a first person shooter called Wolfenstein 3D on my fathers ancient Macintosh II. It was a fairly simple game, in which you play a Allied soldier trying to escape Nazis in the aforementioned Castle Wolfentstein. I was also about six years old. Sure, maybe letting a six year old shoot pixellated Nazis wasn’t the best idea in the world, but it did start something that I’m sure my parents regret. It got me hooked on videogames.

My God, it's like a movie!

From then on, I’ve pretty much played games whenever the opportunity arises, except with the hearts of others (Backstreet Boys reference, terrible, I know).

Nothing good on TV? Play a game.Not near a suitable place to play games? Draw something (probably game related). No paper? Think about how much I like games. Sure, you could call it obsessive. In fact, you’re probably thinking theres something wrong with me somewhere. But there is a reason why I love games so much. They made me awesome.

Games have taught me not to give up. The boss is too difficult? You failed at that jump in Super Mario? The fucking Angry Bird flew too high over a pig? Try again. And chances are, you’ll learn how to beat that problem, and you’ll be rewarded. Sure, it’s a virtual reward, that isn’t tangible, but the lesson remains. If you can learn to apply that lesson, there's nothing you can't do.

I am a huge RPG (Role-playing Game) fan. I can go on for hours about Final Fantasies, Dragon Quests and Star Oceans, and for a good reason. The first RPG that really blew my mind was Final Fantasy 7, a little game that came out in 1998, and that I picked up about a year after it was released (Fiji Time, you understand). It was the first time that I played a game with characters that resonated, a plot that spanned everything from environmentalism, to love, to corporate greed and sacrifice.

As you can imagine, it blew my little mind away. Through that game, I realised that videogames have a way to teach lessons that most other media can’t. Interaction. You can read a book, or watch a film, but these stories are presented to you to watch. You’re not responsible for the outcome, you’re kind of just along the ride. It doesn’t make them any less important, don’t get me wrong, but videogames should be up there with them.

So there I was, chugging away at this game when out of nowhere, the girl that I had been travelling with for a dozen hours is cut down by my arch-nemesis. My happy go lucky, cheerful friend was slain, and there was no way to bring her back. I had to carry that, through the rest of the game, until I finally bitchslapped the last boss to oblivion, and it made it that much more satisfying. Like I said, the fact that I had to interact with the game, through pressing buttons to progress the story, making decisions in battles and planning ahead, invested me in the story that much more.

And I will admit, I cried my eyes out when she died.

Still get misty-eyed sometimes :(

Which brings me to another reason why games made me awesome. The fact that I had to press those buttons to progress the story. Yes, it’s just pressing a button, but you have to press the right ones, in certain ways, and at certain times to get it work. Right now, I’m touchtyping this essay without even thinking about it, and the reason I know how to touchtype is because I play a lot of videogames, and had to learn that particular skill in order to succeed. Sure, I didn’t think about it at the time, I just wanted to able to communicate faster in order to tell my friend Mike to get that dragon away from me, but now that I know how to do it, it’s pretty damn useful. And I can impress secretaries.

Computers and technology are everywhere nowadays. Most people carry one around in their pockets. We use them for work, you can access your money from them on every other street corner in Suva, and we pay good money to people to get them fixed when they break. Now, I’m not an IT guy, but because of videogames I found computer science class in highschool a piece of cake. Heck, I spent most of my time using the Basic program they tried to teach us to make text adventures. I’m also pretty sure that it was my highest mark, but I’ll have to get back to you on that (it may have been Geography, but that’s a different essay entirely).

They’ve made me read more too. An old mentor of mine once told me that there are no original ideas, and the same is true for the stories in videogames. They’re all based on something eventually. Ancient mythologies, religious ideals, heck, even Shakespeare has influenced some of my favorite games, and I usually ended up looking these things up and liking them because I played it in a game at some point.

Case in point, I would never have read anything about Norse Mythology unless I had played Final Fantasy 8. In it, you get a spaceship called the Ragnarok.

It's red, therefore, goes faster.

Sure, you may have heard the word a couple of times before (they use it all the time in bad sci-fi/ fantasy movies, usually from the 80’s) but I went and read about it because I wanted to know what the reference was. Okay, so it turned out that it was pretty much just a cool name they chose for the airship, but now I have some extra knowledge floating around in my brain that, you never know, might come in handy one day.

Quick, the Ice Giants are coming!

So what does this mean? Simply put, if you’re reading this, and haven’t played a game in your life you should try. You may end up being as awesome as I am. And at the very least you won’t spend an evening vegging out in front of a television screen. Granted, you’ll be vegging out in front a screen, but at least your brain will have to work to solve a problem or two. And if you do play games, and I’m preaching to the choir, use these points the next time someone gets on your case.

Because when the world ends, and those dragons mutate from mokos due to insane amounts of cosmic radiation, we’ll be the ones who know how to beat ‘em.

Also, don't just take my word for it, there are other people who believe that videogames can make you awesome, and make much better cases for it than I do. If you're interested in gaining some knowledge, the best place to start is this TEDtalk here. Educate thyselves.

Bad Journalism

2011-06-26T20:04:00.000-07:00

Every so often, there are bad articles in the newspaper. It's to be expected and they happen all the time, usually because there's space that needs to be filled.

Anyway, let's get down to business. There was an article published in the Kaila! section of the Sunday Times (26/06) that was brought to my attention today. It's an article called "Gender Disorder: Confusion." It's rare that the horridness of an article can be solely blamed on the writer, since there are so many people involved in the production of a newspaper. (Okay, by that I pretty much mean it wasn't edited)

You can sort of tell from the moment you see a typo in the first sentence which reads: What do you do when a primary or secondary school student starts behaving like a girl when is a, a boy or a tomboy if she is a girl?

The article pretty much goes on to state that homosexuality is a choice, and that people should be happy with their God-given gifts of being male or female. I know, I gagged a little as I wrote that out too. And that's not even the worst part, but let's look at that for a moment.

Homosexuality as a choice, right. What I like the most about it is how straightforward the writer is. It must be great to have such conviction about something after doing so much research and taking into account the fact that there is no answer to that question. No simple one, at any rate. And yes, she did do research! In fact, she gives you the website from which she copy pastes entire chunks of writing.

The website in question, is actually at the center of some controversy for it's views on homosexuality not having any basis in medical or scientific studies. Whoops.

I was going to get started on the religion bit too, but that may be an entirely different kettle of fish. Let's just say that it's my personal view that using religion is a little bit lazy when it comes to writing. It just doesn't make for good media. It's like if the weather report consisted of "Today we had rain because God made it so", instead of an analysis of weather conditions.

People read the newspapers to be informed and to make informed decisions, and if you don't give them the right facts, you are taking advantage of your readership. In this case especially, the audience in question are children. Teenagers in primary and secondary school.

Teenagers are already confused, let's be honest. There is so much going on with hormones and new and exciting developments of the bodily kind that half the time you live in this perpetual land of ups and downs. And that was just me as a heterosexual teen.

What this article does is tell you that you're wrong if you have thoughts about someone who is the same sex as you. That there is, in fact, something wrong with you and that you have to be fixed. Teenagers already have such fragile egos, they don't need to read stuff like this.

And on top of all of that they have to do exams too!

My favorite part of the whole article though is halfway through; just before it dissolves into a frenzy of copy-pasting, where it actually looks like the writer attempted to well, write something.

Yes, I'm talking about the part where the writer gets personal. "For most of the young women I knew, these were confusing times for them, but they later got married and lead a happy, heterosexual life today." There is no basis in fact for any of these statements.

And I challenge you to find me a happy married person (Ba bum pish! thankyou ladies and gentlemen).

All in all, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But when you're a journalist for a newspaper, you need to give people facts that you've properly researched.

And okay, if it was an opinion piece, that may be legitimate. But you can't present your bigoted opinion as fact.

Because that makes you a fucking idiot.

And that's my opinion.

So Damn Witchy

2011-06-22T20:58:00.000-07:00

Was slightly traumatising to be honest. Haven't had much playtime with The Witcher 2 yet, but once I do, I'll write some thoughts down, don't you worry!

500

2011-06-21T19:19:00.000-07:00

So here we are, the 500th Awesome Cake post. Don't ask me why this is suddenly a big deal for me, it's just a strange feeling I had. Even though the blog has never been anything more than a place to deposit words and pictures I've made from my brain, this somehow feels like a milestone.

I probably need to get out more.

My first post was pretty bad. As were many of the following ones but give me a break it was 2007. To be honest it's really whiny, and I can't read it without getting a bit of a headache. The first ever drawings I posted were a set of three images I'd drawn after getting sick. Here is one of them now.

Yeah, I know it's awful, but I was so proud of it. Seeing as how I have tagged 238 posts with "awesome art" I guess Awesome Cake is mostly an art blog. As well as a place for me to shamelessly tell stories about my life. And videogames.

But hey, that's what blogging is all about. It's not journalism or deep meaningful pieces of writing (although they can sometimes look similar depending on the light) it's opinions written in a little corner of the internet. A way to catalogue your thoughts and if you write 500 posts, look back and go, "man, what a tosser."

Now, let's see how long it takes me to get to 1,000.

Special thanks to Lawrence, Wilson, MJ, Sian, Sharky, Chels and you! You're the reason I write, draw and otherwise make a fool of myself in general.

Vampires, Fairies and Dragons. Oh my!

2011-06-20T19:34:00.000-07:00

It's not like Fat Vampire was even that gross. I mean, I could have drawn him fatter.

Not always nice

2011-06-20T14:06:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I like drawing grot stuff just to remind myself that I can, and that it's not all unicorns and rainbows. One day, Imma draw some grot stuff with unicorns and rainbows. And it will be awesome.

Better than Gold.

2011-06-12T20:27:00.000-07:00

Click to make bigger!

According to the stats page, I have hugged one hundred and eleven people. That's a lot of hugs.

Fable III done!

2011-06-11T06:38:00.000-07:00

If you don't count all the quests that unlock once you finish the main story I guess. This is by no means a comprehensive review of the game at all, mainly because it's twenty to two in the morning, but more of an excuse to post these screenshots I took.

Don't be a drag, just be a Queen.

It was good fun, I'll give you that much, with a couple of moments in it that were surprisingly emotional, and a definite contrast to the whole tone of the game. Sure, Fable has always been about morals and making decisions, but mostly the tone is lighthearted and self depreciating. I mean, one of the real "moral" quests is to decide the fate of a flock of chickens.

I also can't remember a lot of the specifics of the reviews that I read were, but I do remember listening to a podcast where someone pointed out the endgame and how it's a serious drag. Yes, I guess I did find it slightly dragging as well, and perhaps even an extremely artificial way to extend the length of the game, but once again, it was optional.

Balverines. God, I killed SO MANY BALVERINES.

Also, I have to admit that everything was extremely streamlined. There's no life bar, instead you get a Call of Duty-ish border when you take too much damage, and you can either gulp a potion or wait to heal. There's a lot of handholding in Fable, (literally, because sometimes you have to take people by the hand to get them places) but I don't think that it suffers for it.

The combat mechanics are simple, but I found them deep enough to be enjoyable. The only thing I wish I had was some sort of way to switch weapons faster, because if you want to switch weapons you have to go to the sanctuary, which replaces the traditional menu screen with a 3D environment. Sure, it's different, but here I feel that Lionhead was just being different for the sake of it, and at times it's extremely clunky.

Just like Red Bull, finishing the main quest gives you wings.

And I think I'll leave it at that, more sleep is required before I even attempt to form an opinion and write it down :P

What? I'll be right there!

2011-06-03T18:05:00.000-07:00

Me receiving the call for the shoot.

So I have been pretty busy lately with work and such. Methinks it might just be the season, but that's all good. It's all life experience :P

But I did have an enormously fun time last night with the cast and crew of the new short we're working on for the Kula Film Festival. I was just going through some of the "behind-the-scenes" stuff that we have, and some of it is video!

The producer and I in our epic car chase scene.

Seriously though, this years production is shaping up to be epic, we have another day of shooting to do, and then the production stuff will start cranking out things.

Which there will be links to from here, of course, so stay tuned.

Gnoll Worries

2011-05-19T17:27:00.000-07:00

Ah Gnolls. Like Kobolds and Goblins they are the crux, nay, the foundation of any starting adventurers list of baddies. And that's all I got. Seriously, what do you want from me, it's just a picture of a Gnoll I drew.

Gawrsh.

Unicorns

2011-05-18T20:53:00.001-07:00

Click to embiggen

This was the exact brief as per mike:

mme: I want to make a comic today

what should I make it about?

Mike: hrrmm

unicorns

me: =_=

Mike: unicorns that aren't magical at all & just lead regular lives

me: hmmm

might work

Mike: & are annoyed when people think they are magic

they just want to go to work

do thir own thing

me: this sounds like an epic challenge

Mike: but people keep getting in the way, lauging & getting excited

Was good fun. Also, it gets a bit cut off in the comic, so here's the Unicorp logo.

Exxxtra

2011-05-17T20:56:00.001-07:00

True story. Except of course, in real life it ended on the fourth panel. I am not that confrontational in real life. Also, I think that the third panel is probably the most accurate face I have ever drawn of myself.

This is a short post.

The Slowest Hour

2011-05-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

Click to embiggen

It really is the slowest hour isn't it? Unless of course there's work. In which case it's OMFG where did the time go. And then let's not get started on work that comes in at 4:59PM. But! Truth be told I do love my job, and most of the time I do manage to get some drawing done everyday. Which is awesome.

Click to embiggen

Dragon Age 2. I drew a comic that kind of had spoilers and since one of my friends hasn't finished yet, and we all hate that feeling you get when something is spoiled for you, I made a non-spoiler version for him. The full version, you can see here if you want.

Yes, I played a female Hawke. I'm not entirely sure why. (At this point my friends would probably yell out "boobs!") But it was good fun most of the time.

Without going into spoilers, some things irked me about the main storyline, particularly towards the end, and the lack of visual variety kind of dissappointed, but the combat and companions made up for it. Oh, and Varric, who is just the coolest Dwarf ever.

Speaking of spoilers, I actually managed to spoil the ending for myself thanks to my sister. She was playing what I thought was a pretty cool battle, so I ended up watching her finish it, only to realize that it was the penultimate battle of the game.

I then had to finish the game that night, because if I didn't, it would mean that my little sister had finished the game a full day before me. As it stands, we finished on the same day. She is not the winner. We drew.

Overall, it was more Dragon Age, and I will definitely play any DLC that comes out, I'm actually doing a second playthrough because I finished the game without Sebastian (a DLC character).

And now, I return to the internet to find inspiration for drawings.

Drawin'

2011-05-05T13:32:00.000-07:00

Meh, not too happy with this one. There are a couple of things I didn't have the time to go back and fix, and I'm not going to. Ever. It's a preference thing I guess, but I don't usually return to a drawing once it's done. I do like the (somewhat lack of) clothing though. Once again, it was because of the new inking technique that I get to play around with clothing.

This is a wallpaper I made out of a drawing request on Twitter. Sometimes I do these things, but they are rare and ominous events. Like the arrival of some sort of dark god. So, if you have a request...I guess you could always try sending an at (@) at me.

There were a couple of really awesome ideas last time, but work caught up with me (It has been almost double busy at the office. Some might even say, triple busy) before I could get to them all. And now, back to it!

Young Ramuh

2011-04-28T22:01:00.000-07:00

Just a random thought I had.

I Dream of Djinni

2011-04-28T18:46:00.000-07:00

So I finished drawing and coloring Ifrit. I decided to do a Rule 63 on him. So, heres the final product.

And here's a bit of a layer progression, so's you can see how much effort I put into my cruddy drawings.

And finally, here's Ifrit just kinda hanging out with Shiva. As they do

Sketchy Sketches

2011-04-28T14:56:00.000-07:00

A beer induced sketching session at Traps last night.

Ice Queen

2011-04-27T18:22:00.001-07:00

I been draw Shiva, from Final Fantasy. Not any particular version, but kind of what she looks like in my hand when I think about the summon. I always wondered if the developers got the name from the fact that she is an Ice elemental, and when you're cold you shiver. Coincidence? I think not.

Anyway, tried a new inking technique with this one, involving scanning the pencils and then using the wacom to get the lines, and then pathing said lines. Was handy for the armor-bits, as I could get the figure down, and then put the armor on.

No promises for the next drawing, but I have been looking at a lot of videos of Ifrit being summoned.

DM (Deep Meaningful) Thoughts

2011-04-18T15:12:00.001-07:00

(l-r) Memnoc, Mikhail, Ananya, Kongo, Derpbear

Here is a picture I been draw of the party. I think my favorite one is the one of Kongo Frost the Shaman, he's one the far right there with his Totem Spirit, Derpbear. It's the implied motion I'm really proud of, because it's not like the usual pose-y pictures I draw.

Here is also some never before seen sketches, to give you some insight into how I work.

Fwahahaha!

2011-04-14T18:41:00.000-07:00

Is it just me, or are these fan art drawings getting better as they go along?

That was me attempting to write something because there isn't much to say about Yuffie. She's a materia hunter. Who is also a ninja. It is entirely possible to miss her as a playable character, which is what my sister learned today, during her playthrough. (I'm like a drug dealer...but I deal in vidjagames)

Last night we had a impromptu session of DnD. It was my first time being a Player Character, and I played a Human Rogue named Locke (yes, named after the treasure hunter from FFVI). Who ended up being pretty damn cool. I also gotta say, that DM Cass was great.

He put a lot of effort into his adventure, and it simply oozed (sometimes literally thanks to his monsters) atmosphere. I've actually got to step my game up a notch now, and probably write a bit more before we start the next chapter of my campaign.

And if there's one thing I learned from last night, it's that we don't let the Shaman talk to Elder Gods. Ever.

Lucrecia!

2011-04-13T18:23:00.000-07:00

Ahhh Vincent. I was careful when drawing this one, seeing as how one of the ladies I live with is a big fan of his. Which has always surprised me, the amount of fans that Vinny has.

I chalk it up to his mysterious and silent nature, women love the strong, silent type I guess. Regardless, his story his probably one of the more depressing ones of the main party.

I mean, the he loses the woman he loves, who then gives birth to the penultimate antagonist of the game, so...yeah that's gotta leave a dude with some emotional baggage.

The first time I finished FFVII, it was Vincent who dealt the final blow (not counting the last "you can't lose this even if you are retarded" fight at the end) , and it was quite meaningful to me, in a way.

Also, I've been spending a lot of time on the Final Fantasy Wiki lately, and had no idea that he's not a particularly strong character, stat-wise.

So that's Vincent, the character whose fanservice went so far as to have an entire game devoted to him in the franchise. Not bad for a goth.

Also, I have to add an addendum to the write up I did on Barret. I just finished the first part of his story, when you return to his hometown and have to fight Dyne. That guy has been through a lot of shit (well, both of them did, they just handled it differently).

After that chapter, I got a little more respect for the dude. Also, that fight where Barret goes solo against Dyne was totally easy this time. Although, that may be because I'm a bit overlevelled, and made sure that Barret wasn't the lowest level character in my party this time >_<

We're the Turks, yo

2011-04-12T16:28:00.000-07:00

Ahh, the Turks. The weird thing about the Turks is how they become almost another group of heroes in a way.

I mean, in the beginning of the game you're at odds because you're working against Shinra, but as the game goes on both the main party and the Turks are working towards the same goal.

There's even an option to avoid fighting them at some point.

But here's the thing, I never do. Mainly because even though they're cool characters, THEY STILL KILLED HUNDREDS (THOUSANDS?) OF PEOPLE.

Yes, it was on the orders of their superiors, but it was still Reno's hand on the button. Anyway, I'm reading too much into this game again.

From left to right, Tseng, Reno, Rude and Elena.

AVALANCHE, foo's!

2011-04-11T13:24:00.000-07:00

Ahhh Barret. The man with the gun-arm. Barret has always been an example to me of taking a stereotype of a character and then giving him so much that he becomes his own.

Starting out as simply an angry black man who kinda looks like Mr.T, Barret he eventually becomes your right (gun) hand man. You learn that although he wants desperately to be a leader, he has so much self-doubt that he overcompensates by rushing headlong into things.

And in the end, his motivation is to make the world a better place for his daughter, the child of a friend he feels guilty for losing.

So yeah, even though he's a foul-mouthed, guns blasting, walking tank of a man. He's still, at the end of the day, a man.

Final Fantasy & Dungeons and Dragons

2011-04-10T21:11:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last post. Let me assure you, that things have been going pretty well for me lately. Keeping busy with work and all that. Now, you can all sleep easy.

I recently got Final Fantasy 7 again, after a sudden bout of nostalgia hit me. I play it every few years when I get the urge, ever since I first got it in 1998. It was one of the first RPG's I ever played and finished, and left a huge impression on me, I think. Recently, I've fallen in love with it again.

This time around, I've started looking at the characters a little differently. I've always been a Tifa fanboy ever since my first playthrough, but this time around, I find her to be even more faceted.

I mean, not only does she punch monsters right in the face, but she has emotions. I always found her to be the "better" love interest in the whole Cloud/Aeris/Tifa love triangle.

Plus, she can totally rock a miniskirt.

In other news! I DM'd my first ever Dungeons and Dragons game last saturday, and while I was a bit nervous at first, things quickly got fun and the game started to flow. I was so impressed with everyone, the characters they chose, the roles they played and how they jumped right into it.

But what impressed me most, and what no amount of reading could have prepared me for, was the way in which they played. These guys did things I didn't even consider when setting out the adventure, forcing me to really keep on my toes when it came to the story, characters and events.

I think I've managed to get them back on track with the actual planned adventure, but we'll just have to wait for the next session. And I've got a few surprises planned that should make things interesting.

Just got back...

2011-04-01T21:01:00.000-07:00

And boy do I feel good.

Slightly hungover. But good :D

Who?

2011-03-10T13:21:00.000-08:00

Trying something a little different. Was doing some storyboards and I liked how they came out after I scanned them in.

Bleurgh

2011-03-09T12:58:00.000-08:00

Lack of content lately, my apologies, internet. Here, take this extremely politically incorrect comic I made instead.

Fruit Puncher

2011-02-27T14:03:00.000-08:00

I got into the office this morning and found a half-finished sketch from last week on my desk. Usually, I don't finish off sketches that I started a while back, but I kinda liked how the perspective was working on this one. It's not perfect, but at least it was an attempt at perspective.

So I colored it. Yay! Then I printed a whole bunch out and cut them out. I am now looking for interesting places to stick them. Well, for as long as my attention span holds out anyway.

Pomegranates deserve getting punched. Any fruit that has a "gran" in it does.

A Sucker for Trailers

2011-02-23T19:22:00.000-08:00

Sucker Punch! I thought I'd link the trailer and a lazy comic with my thoughts.

When it comes to style, I'm pretty sure Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen, That movie with the Owls) can do no wrong. But, there's me getting excited before I see the actual film again.

Red, Red Wine

2011-02-22T12:29:00.000-08:00

So I went to a wine tasting last night. Not being much of a wine person, it was quite the educational experience. And I got 6 out of 12.

There are a lot of things to learn when it comes to wine. I have gathered a couple of things over the years by watching films and such, like sticking your nose in the glass and smelling the "bouquet" and swishing the wine around the glass to check it's "legs" but I haven't had a chance to compare a whole bunch of wines to see the actual difference between them.

I even circled a few that I found interesting.

Anyway, they have these things monthly, and I am definitely colored interested to go again. Although this time, I will probably refrain from drinking afterwards, my head is not thankful right now. I mean, would you look at the alcohol content on some of those things? It's crazy, son.

But not next month, because I have a prior engagement.

Latvia? Really?

2011-02-09T19:03:00.000-08:00

I thought that was a fictional country where Doctor Doom rules with an iron fist.

But apparently, that is Latveria.

Oh no, what do we do?

2011-02-08T16:25:00.001-08:00

So, I have the house to myself for a week. The women of the house have left on a fantastic voyage of feministic purposes and as such, I have had to fend for myself for the last few days. It's actually very lonely to be honest. The house seems so quiet at times, especially since I don't usually watch television, or require more than a couple of lights to be on.

This week is also the first week of THE NEW PC. We went down on Saturday and purchased a pretty shiny new computer for me to work and play on. I'll tell you one thing, it's a fucking godsend to be able to open photoshop and not have to wait for 5 minutes while it loads. Now, I just click the icon and wa-hey! There it is.

I was also surprised to find that it came with a semi-decent graphics card. Not the best mind you, but it has enabled me to play Fallout: New Vegas. On high. As recommended by the game itself, so there.

Sometime soon, there will be a New Vegas post, most likely with screenshots (which I really have to figure out how to do, I keep getting a black screen when I paste them into photoshop).

Initial thoughts though! A lot of the other reviews I've read pretty much sum it up. If you wanted more of Fallout 3, here it is. And boy, do I want more of Fallout 3, seeing as how I played the entire campaign in a net cafe. I don't know about the main questline in Vegas though, it's not as compelling at the point where I am at, but the sidequests. Oh my, the sidequests.

But more on that when I've had more time out in the Wasteland.

TASTE THE FLAMES OF SULFURON!

2011-02-06T15:58:00.000-08:00

They were delicious.

Now in Living, Breathing Color!

2011-02-02T19:32:00.000-08:00

One of these days I'm going to submit a comic to the WoW fan comic thing over on Blizzards website. Not this one though, it's not good enough. Which has no implications on the healing abilities of Mr. Kongo at all, he's the awesomest Shaman I know. Apart from William Shatner of course.

KKMD

2011-02-02T15:47:00.000-08:00

Just a quick comic I made about maces.

More Lazy Comics!

2011-01-30T19:38:00.001-08:00

Yeah, so I shaved this weekend, after about 3 weeks of growing my beard. Went through like 3 of those disposable razorblades as well to do get it done too.

Ah well, that's good thing about beards and virginities. They grow back.

A Mysterious Engine

2011-01-26T16:50:00.000-08:00

Still working on Free Candy. Was kinda proud of this panel though. I don't usually work hard on things apart from characters and such, background drawing has always been something I needed to work on.

Short post is short.

Free Candy (or Lollies)

2011-01-24T12:06:00.000-08:00

What is this? What's going on here? It's a page from a new Nameless and Aimless comic. What is Nameless and Aimless you might ask. Well, way back in High School I made comics in my spare time. I say spare time, but it was actually most of the time. During class, Sports Days, lunchbreaks, cultural dances. One of the series that I made was the adventures of a couple of aimless idiots with no names. Hence, Nameless and Aimless.

Writing it was like, mental expulsion. I would do pretty much whatever came to mind and as such a lot of the time they would be on completely random adventures. Like, entering Beauty Contests, Battling the Lord of the Bling, or taking over the airwaves with their awesome musical stylings.

Anyway, I don't think I'm rebooting the series or anything, but just continuing where I left off. And it's kinda nice to write these two again, like meeting old friends after a long time.

While I was doing the pitch for the comic to Jon Michaels (as I do) he mentioned that it sounded like a very...kiddy story. And yeah, I guess it is. I don't think Nameless and Aimless was ever meant to be a mature or adult comic. Mainly because I was 16 when I wrote the first ones. Besides, I want to have fun with this one!

The Faraway Tree

2011-01-19T13:09:00.000-08:00

Because if they made a modern adaptation the Saucepan Man would be a badass and Moonface would be a cynical, yet loveable, arse.

Oh, and I didn't even remember their Fairy friend from the books. Her character would probably get cut.

Man, I read a crapload of Enid Blyton when I was growing up. Never the Famous Five ones though, I would read the ones with like...the Faraway Tree and Hop, Skip and Jump the Brownies and stuff. The mystery books never really appealed to me at all.

Enid Blyton was good up until I turned eight, i think. Then I started reading stuff with swords and dragons and thought, these are the books for me. Give me a battle against the forces of evil over the Land of Birthdays any day.

And don't even get me started on Beatrix Potter.

When in doubt...

2011-01-17T19:15:00.000-08:00

I think I want that to be my epitaph. When in doubt, draw boobies. And weapons. And armor. I really gotta try some new poses out or something though. Hehe...poses.

Anyway, I've been chugging along lately. Work is not as busy as the holiday season was, but we still have a lot of stuff to do and prepare for. I'm looking forward to a couple of the projects we have lined up, which is pretty much all I can say about them right now.

I do want to get a comicbook done this year though. I feel like...it's the right time. Then again, I've always felt that. I just need to find someone who wants to write.

This is turning into one of those posts with no actual point, isn't it?

I've been listening to a lot of The Fratellis lately, they're very very good, and you should listen to them to if you have a chance. Apparently they are Alternative Rock.

That is all for now.

Don't Panic!

2011-01-13T13:43:00.000-08:00

Birfday card for Mr. Mortis.

Was a bit rushed though, I really need to draw up like a timetable of everyones birthdays and get them done in advance.

Outcast

2011-01-11T18:13:00.003-08:00

No, this isn't the Codex post, just another birdman drawing. Have also posted inks and pencils!

Short post is short!

More like Axo"lol"tl

2011-01-09T16:46:00.000-08:00

Been working on the next Codex entry, (my god has been seven months since the last one?) which concerns bird people. Or, since they don't have wings, as my sister pointed out, beak people.

Here's a sketch I did of one riding an Axolotl-type creature. Had a serious "ohmahgawsh" moment this morning when I realised that I had created a nomadic people...with no mount in mind.

Sure, you have some nomads who just wander on foot like the Native Americans, but the majority tend to have some sort of pastoral relationship with animals. Hence, the Sandwalkers (or Kaz'adir in the tongue of the beak people).

Edit: I should have mentioned, Native Americans before the introduction of Horses by the Spanish.

So once I have a bit more written, I'll make another codex entry. Believe it!

Spirit Beast

2011-01-04T15:51:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine recently started playing a Hunter in World of Warcraft. In a few short weeks he's pretty much become the hunter expert of our group (No John, Fleas is still 60), and has the coolest stories about the different beasts that he has tamed. There was one though, coveted by many a hunter for it's rarity and badass-ness.

The Spirit Beast, Loque'nahak. This extremely hard to find pet is the goal for many a Master of Beasts, and my friend tamed it.

So, to congratulate him (and his now growing collection of Spirit Beasts) here's a drawing of Virgil, the name he gave to his own Spirit Beast.

And here are the inks, in case anyone's interested in seeing the difference that touching up makes :P And finally, a wallpaper version. In widescreen though :P

For all you Hunters out there take heart and good hunting!

Burning Ambition

2011-01-02T04:09:00.000-08:00

Couldn't sleep, so I did a drawing. Also left my wacom at the office, so I had to color it with the mouse. Wow, how about this new year aye?

There are so many things wrong with this picture I have lost count...but it has made me sleepier, so I guess it has done it's job. Meh.

A Very Bera Christmas

2010-12-26T16:10:00.000-08:00

Yes, yes I know that this is extremely bera, but I have been at work over the last couple of days working. No, not non-stop I have taken breaks to spend Christmas time with the family and to see my friends and such (I even managed to squeeze a viewing of Yogi Bear in there somewhere, but that was more to get out of the Christmas heat than to watch the film) but yes, most of my time has been spent feverishly sketching animation frames and then inking, coloring and animating them.

I don't have too much experience with animation, but thankfully, we have the internet to teach me the basics, for run cycles and such, as well as lipsync. This time is interesting because I don't really have anyone to tell me if it's any good >_<

The last animation project I worked on (waaaay back when) was with Mr. Kaoskongo and thankfully I had his expert guidance behind my hand. And also his ability to annoy me by repeating Fat Boy Slims "Bird of Prey" while we were working. I cannot listen to that song nowadays without feeling a pang of stressful worry. Strange really, how we associate music with feelings, but there ya go.

Anyway, that's what Christmas was for me. Time spent mostly in the office, or sleeping.

And although it's late, I do wish all of a Very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Festival of the Dark Elder Gods of Frost.

Ka-Ding!

2010-12-21T11:37:00.001-08:00

Mike gained another level yesterday (in terms of yeaaars) so the gang put their collective thinking caps on and we made him a card. And had dinner and beers and such, we're not that cheap :P

Mr. Kaoskongo is the man who made that awesome achievement bar, I drew the centaur. I could feel my inner furry trying to get out, but I punched him in the head so hopefully this doesn't awaken something in me.

Derezzed

2010-12-20T11:33:00.000-08:00

Tron Legacy OST is win, by the way. Drew this yesterday while trying to get through an artists block. When in doubt, draw boobies. And swords. Short post is short!

Puncher of Suns

2010-12-19T17:12:00.000-08:00

Lazy comics. They're fast, they're dirty and they in no way represent any effort at all on my part to make the art amazing. But, there's something fun about them.

Comic based on my awesome adventure on the Uto Ni Yalo this weekend (thanks Oceanic!). I did, however, get sunburn. It's no joke people, make sure you slip, slop and slap!

And it's weird how that sounds like it should be a sex technique.

After you ding 85...

2010-12-18T22:23:00.000-08:00

I think you'd probably want a smoke break.

So yeah, Seedus is 85! Did I mention that I bought Cataclysm? That world (of warcraft) shattering expansion?

80 to 85 was good fun, the quests were rad, the zones were fresh and the gear was...let's just say I dropped my tier 10 like it was hot. Anyway, that's the lazy art/update post. Was considering making a seperate mage-y blog (a la Soul Fire Blues) to keep the art and the WoW seperate. And also because I haven't been able to find a mage blog to read that keeps me updated on the things I need for Cataclysm.

You know, apart from WoW Insider.

Changing Vocations

2010-12-14T23:11:00.000-08:00

A totally lazy comic about changing jobs in Dragon Quest. I was wondering how someone would feel, after after getting used to being a certain class for 20 whole levels, about changing for a new job. I imagine it would be like a dude who has worked for 5 years after high school as a plumber, suddenly becoming a salesman.

But maybe, that's just me reading too much into things again.

A wall of text and pictures appears!

2010-12-12T18:36:00.000-08:00

So I've had a little more time with DQ9. Since the game came out ages ago, this is not a review by any means, but more my thoughts on the game.

First off, I like how it's almost a back to basics sort of RPG. There are no flashy over the top attempts to disguise it for what it is, a hearkening back to the days of SNES RPGs. Battles are turn based, and if you're not regular about grinding levels or upgrading your equipment, monsters will stomp your face harder than an elephant at a breakdancing competition.

I've also already mentioned in earlier posts how much I love the fact that each and every piece of equipment you buy or make shows up on your characters. This had a slight drawback for me at one point because there was a pair of pants that were really well suited for my Mage. Unfortunately, he never got to wear them because the model was a pair of briefs. Bright. Blue. Briefs.

DQ9 also has a pretty extensive crafting system. Sure you can buy equipment from the store, but if you take the time to scour bookshelves for recipes and the wilderness for ingredients, you can easily make gear that surpasses what you can buy for your level. It helps to give you that extra edge against monsters and bosses and well, theres nothing like making your own stuff.

You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned anything of the story though. I will admit, it's pretty generic fantasy, but the NPC's and the way they are written make up for this somewhat. However, the story in DQ9 is merely an excuse to get you from Town A to Dungeon B and then on to Town C.

All the while, however, throwing wonderful loot and goodies at your face. Eventually, you get the ability to change a characters Vocation, and from this point how you handle battles depends on how well you can balance your characters skill points, abilities and strengths. For example, at the moment I am levelling Mikey as a thief. However, he still has his bonuses from the time I levelled him as a Warrior, and as such, is not as squishy as a regular thief. Basically, I don't have to worry about him too much.

This will probably not be the last post about Dragon Quest IX, seeing as how when I get this far or invested in an RPG I usually end up finishing it. (Except for Warcraft... /cry)

All in all though, it's an awesome game for fans of old school RPGs and probably also people who like dressing up little people in matching outfits to fight monsters.

So mean!

2010-12-09T15:40:00.000-08:00

The Adventure Continues

2010-12-07T22:01:00.000-08:00

So, while my progress in Dragon Quest IX has been slow, there has been progress. Thought I'd just post what my party looks like at the moment ^_^

I love how customizable the party members are. Although I haven't changed any vocations yet, since I still have the basic ones.

Omega is the partys Mage. His job is to stand in the back and throw spells at people, which sometimes decimates an entire group of foes at once! You kinda have to keep an eye on his MP though. He goes through it like a hot knife through butter if you're not careful.

Mikey the Warrior has the highest strength, the best armor and the most HP of the party. And he also costs the most to outfit Kaos is a bit of an enigma to me. He's the priest...but he's also reeeally good with his spear. I guess since he doesn't have any offensive spells, he needs some way to kill monsters. I don't question it, I just let him do his thing.

And finally we have the Minstrel Albie. No, that's not a hand-me-down suit of armor, it's actually got awesome stats, it just looks the same as the level 10 chestpiece that mikey was wearing. I made it through Alchemy...and it took ages to farm the Snakeskin required for it. Was totally worth it though!

And that's how the gang in DQIX is doing so far!

Fiji Loading Screen

2010-12-02T16:02:00.001-08:00

Next time, I'll remember to add the actual content before hitting publish >_>

How to Win: Barrel Nights

2010-12-02T13:03:00.000-08:00

As a veteran of many a Barrel Night, I thought it would be a good idea to share some knowledge on the subject with you. Herein you will find several hints and tips at surviving and getting the most out of a Barrel Night.

What is a Barrel Night?

First of all, the basics, a Barrel Night is a fundraising event usually held in a bar or an open area. The purpose of which is to make money. I don't have any tips on how to organise a barrel night, I can however, tell you how to make the most of your time at one.

Upon your arrival, you will be given a cup and pointed in the direction of the bar. Hold onto this cup, because you should only get one. While there are kegs remaining, your cup will be refilled when you have emptied it. This is the basic rule, try not to forget it on your journey down drunkenness avenue.

Tip One: Scope out the Situation
Observation is an important part of things like this. If the place seems crowded near the bar, you can bet your sweet pajamas that the kegs are going to run out quick. You have a couple of options here, if there are people walking around with jugs mark their faces and try and keep them happy. They will fill up your cup, ensuring you have a steady supply of alcohol. Otherwise, you have no choice but to try and get as close to the bar as possible.

Proximity to those sweet beer spewing taps will ensure that you will get your beer, and will soon be spewing beer yourself.

Tip Two: Observe the competitionThere's always a couple of really heavy drinkers at barrel nights, it's important to make note of where they are, and at what stage of drunkeness they have attained. If they are swaying slowly or relatively sober, then chances are that the kegs have not been drained. If they are deadly quiet, then they are probably really wasted and might punch you in the face if you get in their way of the bar. Take note, it's the key to survival.

Tip Three: Get your monies worthThe average price of a barrel night ticket is $10. If you take into account the size of your cup, and the available alcohol, it should be easy enough to work out how much you need to drink. For a barrel night with 3 kegs and normal sized cups with a ticket price of $10 this would be 4 cups. Anything after that is bonus, and will put you on your way to winning.

Tip Four: Keep your friends closeYou shouldn't be going to these things alone, by the way, there is safety in numbers. Also, you may find it handy to take turns returning to the bar to fill up those cups, if there is a huge crowd. Also, it's no fun drinking alone, and can be quite dangerous if you get too smashed. Watch each others backs and keep each other safe. Real friends don't let friends drink alone.

Random bits of wisdom:

If there is chaser provided at a barrel night, it is a win.

Always know where the bathroom is, especially if you're going somewhere new.

Keep tabs on the amount of beer remaining. It's as simple as asking the bartender. Review your tactics as necessary.

And try to have fun, your binge drinking is helping some raise funds! It's for charity!

Disclaimer: Awesome Cake is not responsible for any hangovers, bar fights, illegitimate children or random people calling you a douche for following these tips and hints. However, if you do manage to win a barrel night, we will of course award you with a very special imagi-prize.

2010-11-25T17:17:00.000-08:00

Things have been happening. Not all of them happy. Once I have some coherent thoughts on the matter, and when I'm not in the middle of putting work related things together, I will probably write a bit about it.

If you're not doing anything in particular, and are looking for some warlock related goodness, you should go here.

That is all, be on your merry way.

Dragon Quest IX!

2010-11-19T17:41:00.000-08:00

Been playing Dragon Quest 9 a bit. It's so old school I feel like I'm ten years old again when I play it :P

This is my party so far. Albie the Minstrel (no choice since thats the default class for mainboy >_>), Mikey the Warrior, Kaos the Priest and Omega the Mage. Can't wait to try out different classes for these guys! Will probably write some words about DQIX after I have a bit more time with it.

Did you know?

2010-11-14T15:09:00.001-08:00

That I have a certificate for doing cartoons? From a university? For this?
For real real, not for play play.

Totes Forgot to Title this Post

2010-11-08T12:37:00.000-08:00

Quick card I made last night for a birthday. Not completely happy with how it turned out, but methinks it did the job.

Anyway, I have had like, 7 hours of sleep in the last 2 days. Work + games + thoughts = lack of sleep.

In terms of productivity...

2010-11-07T11:13:00.000-08:00

Warning: WoWSpeak ahead!

Look at your main, now back to me, now back at your main, now back to me.

This weekend might have been what you would either call a waste of time or fucking awesome.

Why is image so small? A wizard did it.

All I know is that Seedus had a hell of a lot of facetime with me this weekend. He managed to get his Red Proto-Drake (rawr!) a couple more iLevel 264 items and thanks to Arjay he scored Quel'Delar (also known as the 5000 gold sword).

Part of the reason why I think I've been playing him a lot is because Fire (which was my levelling spec, ah good times) is now as viable as Arcane and also totally awesome.

Before the 4.01 patch (strokes old man beard) every Mage and his dog was Arcane. I had an off-spec. It was also Arcane, that is how bad it was. Now I can throw fireballs and pyroblasts like a giddy schoolgirl once again.

Just don't look at the crummy offhand. I TOLD YOU NOT TO LOOKS!

The Quel'Delar questline is also pretty freaking Epic, especially if you're a Blood Elf (remember the Sunwell!) I have never seen the bloody Battered Hilt drop, and Arjay had 3 in his bank that he had forgotten about. THREE! I jokingly said that he should give me one and god bless his heart, he sent one to me in the mail.

Most of the quests are solo-able, but I did have to recruit a mighty shaman, stoic warrior and diabolical warlock for some of them. And in the end, the Blade that was shattered was made whole again, a testament to the tenacity of the Sin'Dorei.

Eww, I think I had a little geek-gasm there for a second. Anyway, before I sign off I better also follow up with the fact that I still suck at fixing girls and that I drink way too damn much. But hey, at least this weekend I was productive.

Dragon Ninja!

2010-10-30T17:01:00.000-07:00

Halloween this year was good fun! I was really impressed with the costumes this year, some people went all out and that's always fun when people make an effort :)

I went as a ninja, it was a last minute costume (as usual) but it came out all right. Also, I didn't have to talk much to people, coz like...that wouldn't be ninja-like.

John came as a pretty cool pirate! Although for some reason he kept reminding me of Tim Minchin.

Lawrences doctor costume was also really rad, because he managed to snag one of the actual surgical gowns from CWM Hospital. That my friends, is authen-fucking-ticity.

And now that the photos are all up and I've drank about twelve bottles of orange juice I think it's time for a well deserved nap.

Stay Spooky!

Meet my treacherous friend.

2010-10-27T12:28:00.001-07:00

Consider it my emo drawing of the month. (Emo-nth?) Anyway, Halloween is coming up! I have to start working on my costume.

Coloring Between the Lines

2010-10-24T19:19:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's fun to take a break from coloring your own work. I'm serious. When you put together pencils and inks and then have to color, shade and texture them it can be a bit daunting. So when I saw that our very own Lawrence Cass had put up a few lines on his blog, I thought I'd do some coloring today.

I'm way more happy with how the Rock ones turned out than the Soul Reaver one, but I will still give them equal love in my heart.

So if you're of the arty persuasion, have a go at coloring someone elses art, or even find someone to trade lines with!

Forsaken

2010-10-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

Work in progress of MJ's Forsaken Warrior, Numskull. Still want to go through, texture it, fix up the shadows and glows and then add a cool background.

But this took a while, so here's what I've done so far :P

FOREVER ALONE

2010-10-21T17:19:00.001-07:00

My apologies for the crappy art. But it had to be done.

Big Red

2010-10-14T21:59:00.000-07:00

Today I made this! If you want to get technical, I have had the sketch since wednesday, but I got to sit down and color it today.

That's the sketch there, and below, I've posted a progression sorta thing. Because those are fun.

If you click this, it will embiggen!

I really should clean this up

2010-10-12T20:37:00.000-07:00

Those Screens!

2010-10-12T13:13:00.000-07:00

I remembered them today! Here are a few screenshots of my short (yet awesome) time in Minecraft. A pretty early shot of my base at night. I spawned right next to a lake sort of thing, so I got in a boat and did some...boating around. (While of course, playing Lonely Islands "I'm on a Boat")

One of my first projects was to construct a skylight in my mine. It has the advantage of letting me know what time it is before I reach the first floor, and also burnin' up any skeletons or zombies that might follow me. If I run out of arrows or swords...

And this is one of the latest iterations of the base. The upper fortress is pretty cosmetic at this point, but is still a nice place to chill at night. And the tower is for sniping creepers for their gunpowder. Also, ch-ch-check the Diamond items maaaan!

Pretty Happy with This

2010-10-11T21:52:00.000-07:00

/Movie Trailer voice on
One Man...must survive...the wilderness.

But he doesn't know...that at night...danger awaits him.

Echoes from Underground

2010-10-11T13:16:00.000-07:00

The Unfriendlies by ~Turnthephage

Right, so I've had a decent go at Minecraft (but forgot to bring the screenshots I took to work, d'oh) and I had a few thoughts I wanted to write down. First off, if you want some extra reading on what exactly Minecraft is, here are a few links.

Right, so first off, the graphics are not the best in the world. They do however, do the job. What that means is that rock looks like rock, you can tell that that brown thing with the green stuff on top of it is a tree and that that pink thing jumping around is supposed to be a piggy. Eventually you stop noticing how blocky everything is, and some of the randomly generated landscapes are quite impressive.

Minecraft reminds me of when I was a little lad playing in my room with my legos. I'd build castles and towers and space stations and then have the little yellow dudes play out their adventures. Often, smashing some of it for dramatic effect. The game is kind of like lego, but you play the perspective of the lego men. Well, a lego man.

That's another thing, apart from the animals and monsters, you are all alone. There are no friendly humanoid non player characters, and anything that vaguely resembles a man is either going to shoot arrows at your head or try and give you the zombie death hug. I really get the feeling when I'm playing, that the world is out to get me, and the only way I can survive is to rely on myself.

Conan the Mineventurer by ~Shinedog

So you build defences, you never venture out at night (unless you are feeling brave) and you learn to listen out for the telltale sounds of a zombies moan or a skeletons bones rattling in the distance. And spiders...don't get me started on the fucking spiders.

And then there is the mining. Why would you even bother, right? If there are things that want to kill you down there? Well, that's where minerals are. Coal for your torches, Iron for better tools, and of course the elusive azure glow of Diamonds. Sometimes it gets downright tense, especially when you stumble upon a natural cavern underground. You'll creep along, putting torches on the wall, your fingers ready to switch to your sword or bow. Sure, you could play the game on peaceful mode, but I feel like the game would get a bit boring that way.

Anyway, I don't want this to turn into a TLDR wall of text, so I'll leave it at that, and get those screenshots up later.

Awesome art by Michael Corrigan

Ssssssss

2010-10-06T21:20:00.001-07:00

Sad creepers are sad.

That's sound they make right before they explode and make you DIE. I have been exploring the game of Minecraft for the last couple of nights. It's a game where you...mine. And also Craft. Completely randomly generated worlds with no goal except to survive against the creatures that come out at night.

The first time I actually met a I didn't even see the bastard. I was outside at night cleaning up the dirt to make a proper wall for my little shelter. The resulting explosion did clear the dirt pretty quickly though.

Anyway, I will probably post a few pictures of my progress with Minecraft, as well as some more thoughts once I put a few more hours in.

Also, here is wallpaper version of Creeper!

It is left aligned because my desktop is. So there!

And feeling it too.

2010-09-23T21:25:00.000-07:00

me: you sure?

Wilson: draw yourself wearing the cap

like - all fashion and all

me: mmmmnnnn

Wilson: since you're always wearing caps

me: I doan want to draw me

but okies

That's how this whole thing started :P

I was looking for an excuse to try to do something completely digital using the wacom, to get more practice in. And trust Wilson to come up with an idea like that. Granted, I probably took it in a different direction than he was expecting.

While not exactly the most masculine of colors, pink is pretty fun to work with.

Oh my god...I need to go and find something to rip apart with my bare hands. Preferably some sort of small furry animal.

ARGH, MAN NOT UNDERSTAND! MAN SMASH COMPUT...

Wonder Woman! And a Dinosaur!

2010-09-21T21:20:00.000-07:00

Hey world! How's it going?

I had a bad day yesterday, but today is going well!

Here are some pictures what I been drawed.

Short post is short!

A-2 Policebot

2010-09-13T20:16:00.000-07:00

So, the gang (being Wilson, Mike and Lawrence) are working on a new sideproject.

It involves Robots! At some point we all sat down and had a chat about what kind of machine it would be, what it would look like and colors and such. We settled on a Policebot (in time, you will see why) and a couple of features that would be needed.

Lawrence suggested a flexible neck/spine and attachments that could be removed and changed around, so that while you have your basic mech for patrols and such, in case of riots or civil unrest it can be made to do crowd control.

Also, I love concepts with text on them, so of course I had to add my own :P

After I sent that to the guys, there was a request for a blueprint so the Mike could make the model.

And this is the rough model, which Mike says is an outline that has yet to be refined, but you can see the basic shape there.

There will be more updates and such when there is more news to divulge on this subject.

This would be an Awesome Look

2010-09-13T03:34:00.000-07:00

If I had the time. Making this took a while. But I am assuming that if I draw everything properly and lay it out well, I can cut down the amount of time I'd waste coloring this way. Also, it helps in terms of wonky pencils. Once you've laid down the paths over the pencils, you pretty much have different parts you can move around easily.

For example, I had drawn Ambrose with a head that was about 30% too big for his body, but once the paths were done I could resize it to match.

This requires some thinking.

Bluh!

2010-09-12T22:03:00.000-07:00

Elements I used for a friends Twitter page background. Was good practice for me, in terms of cleaning up my pencils. For comparison, here are the said pencils.

All this is Nature-al

2010-09-11T21:24:00.000-07:00

Went to Colo-i-Suva on saturday. As you may already know, I'm not really an outdoorsy type of person. I will admit though, that it was pretty cool to get in touch with mother nature. Although I did learn that sometimes you shouldn't touch mother nature, because she takes it the wrong way.

Ahem.

Yeah, so I saw some spiders and waterbugs and there were parrots flying around and shit. Totally a forest kind of situation. Everyone else went swimming but I was a little (very) hungover, so I kinda guised the swinging on a rope thing.

I could have done without walking all the way from the Raintree Lodge to the lower pools and then walking back again, but I guess it was all a part of the experience.

Anyway, it is ridonkulously hot at the moment, so I am going to go and put my head under the tap.

Boy Howdy!

2010-09-08T21:44:00.000-07:00

Because I have been super busy and I promised not to update with chatboxs I have decided to post the design options I made for the Bathroom Signs here at the office.

The boss was all, "Albert, we need a mens and womens sign for the bathrooms. Do something with monsters. Go!"

These are the color options!

And these are the options for expressions!

The one for the ladies took a bit of a think. Ended up going with a heart shape for her.

Yes, I gave up on color options. It's a heart!

So we got them printed out and laminated and everything and stuck em up on the doors this morning. And by lunchtime, the guys one was GONE!

What the heck?

Now I just want a Cheese Bun

2010-09-01T20:14:00.000-07:00

I promise that the next post will be more than a chatbox of hilarious hijinks.

Never bring that game up

2010-08-31T17:29:00.000-07:00

Some names have been changed to protect identities.

LAN Session this weekend (is the plan). I need to get me a new PC >_>

He's a Superstar

2010-08-30T19:39:00.000-07:00

Finished Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga yesterday after playing the crap out of it this weekend. Was very, very win.

His name is Bob. Bob Omb.

2010-08-26T17:28:00.000-07:00

The dotted lines because Mike shared this today. And the Bobomb because of Scott Pilgrim last night reminding me of how much I like Super Mario. Yes, I know they use Zelda tunes a lot, but I played Mario a hell of a lot more than I played Zelda.

Speaking on the subject of Scott Pilgrim...I can't remember being so disappointed in a movie. I guess I just expected too much to be honest. Yes, the fight scenes were awesome, the special effects were amazing and they were very well integrated into the live action but...there was something missing.

As I write this I realize I didn't touch on the music which is a big part of the movie I guess. I'm not the biggest fan of garage/grunge but according to a couple of the guys I watched the flick with, the music was pretty well done. As both of them are competing for the title of worlds biggest Nirvana fan, I trust their opinion on the subject.

The thing about the movie that is frustrating is that when it's good, it's fucking awesome, but when it's bad, it is mind numbingly terrible. I'm going to do something I never usually do, and that's list the pros and cons, only because of the range that this movie has, swinging wildly from "wow" to "ew". Like a child flailing around after being tossed off the swings.

Pros

-The Fight Scenes

Flaming Sword: +1 to Awesome

The fight scenes are straight out of a comic book or anime. With the speed line-like effects, letterboxing and shots. This makes for a visually striking movie at its best times, which brings me to:

-The Special Effects

Top notch. I did spot one really wonky piece of effects (watch Brandon Rouths hair after he loses his powers) but apart from that I couldn't fault them. They suit the film perfectly, and the integration of the sound effects and captions work very well. Sometimes you might miss them, as there are no obvious visual cues for them, but apart from that very win.

-Videogame referances

The Seven Bosses (not counting the super secret hidden boss)

What I like about the videogame references is that they don't make a big deal out of them. They're never directly pointed out, but if you've ever played anything on a super nintendo you will catch most of them. There are a lot of Zelda references, but also Mario and Final Fantasy ones. And of course, the whole movie is almost a lovenote to videogames, with the seven bosses, levelling up and extra lives.

Cons
-Pacing

At times the pacing is really bad. I know that Mr Wright (who directed Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead) has a certain style. He likes to mix really slow bits with segments of very fast cuts. And those worked in both of the movies he worked with Simon Pegg in. It just didn't work here. Mainly because of the:

-Acting

Act? Me?

Look, I know that the characters are supposed to be the loser/slacker type, but come on. The Actress who plays Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) just makes no effort whatsoever to...act. And speaking of acting...

-Michael Cera

Firstly, I like Michael Cera. I like that he's the kinda awkward, quiet guy who has the potential to freak out hysterically. I think it's kinda sad that I've never seen him play any other role apart from Michael Cera. And the worst part was that he was not a good Scott Pilgrim.

So, draw from these points what you will, as always this is just my opinion. There are people who absoloutely went batshit for this movie, and good on them. As a fan I was heartbroken.

Origins

2010-08-25T17:04:00.000-07:00

A Contender

2010-08-25T03:46:00.000-07:00

For one my favorite games, I think. Just finished off the last boss in Mother 3 and...damn it was pretty emotional. (Oh, spoilers!)

At some point I'll play through it again (probably this weekend, to get some screenshots and such with default names, I named all the characters after my friends and family :P) because it's that good. The battle system is an interesting take on the traditional RPG system, with its "rolling health meter" and it's used to full effect in the final battle, where you don't so much fight the boss, but fight the tide of your health slowly ticking away.

You can't even attack in the last battle, doing so will get you the message " can't bring himself to attack" while the emotionless thing that used to be your twin brother wails away with every skill available to him. Yes, it is all timed, so that eventually Claus (the main characters brother) regains some of his humanity, and...then came the bit that made me cry.

Someone once told me that an ending can make or break a game, it can be the most fun game in the world, but if it has an unsatisfying ending, that is what you will take away from the whole thing. Look at Halo 2, which in gameplay terms was much better than Halo, but had a really fucking slack cliffhanger of an ending.

Was the ending of Mother 3 disappointing? I don't think so, personally. It was like the end of a rollercoaster, with the highs and lows and loop-de-loops, and when the car finally slows down, you can't really believe it's over.

The entire story of Mother 3, is at times bizarre, at times hilarious and at times touching. I mean, this is a game where one of the main party members is the family dog. Where for an entire chapter you play a monkey who is forced to take orders from a bizarre Arab man with a banana addiction. It's also the game where and ancient power is protected by guardians who resemble transvestites.

I also can't pin down what the main story is, because there are several going on at the same time. You've got the loss of happiness in simplicity, where the village where you grow up becomes a part of suburbia, and eventually everyone leaves to go to the big city. You've got this time travelling Archnemesis, who creates the monsters in the game because, as he says, "The creatures aren't cool enough, mix them together and make something awesome." And then you have the story of a family torn apart by death, and a son who tries to put it all back together again. While at the same time, saving the world.

Yeah, I like this game.

Look at the Stars...

2010-08-23T15:06:00.000-07:00

A little video Lawrence put together of our weekend over at Tubakula. Never fails to put a smile on my face when I watch it, good times, good friends :)