Quote

Have you ever notice how everything has a center of balance? Good and Evil, light and dark, fire and water, love and hate, happy and sad, etc. Everything has a positive and negative relationship network. For me, I find myself stuck in the middle. Why? Well, from one perspective you see stealing is bad and justice is good. However, another can see it as the opposite and therefor results in conflict. This puts me in a rough moral situation when I look at others and the world around me and have to choose my values. When the values can change on you at anytime then corruption, or misinterpretation of right and wrong, occurs.

I want to be a good person but someone can say the opposite about me. You understand what I mean by this confusing problem? If good is treating one respectively while bad is aggressive and destructive then I can easily sort it out. But as I said, the values can flip around. What is the best choice?

I feel that I may be pushing myself to the edge considering of multiple tasks needing multiple time windows. I have a Crash Bandicoot 3 walkthrough on YouTube, writing a script for Syndi Horizon (A game project of mine...), voice acting for a fan game, homework, and chores. I can lay off on the walkthrough if I have to but if I let it go for too long then the viewers wonder if I'll ever finish it at all. The script is less focused on so it's developing more slowly but I have a limited amount of time to get a draft done for the "Prologue". I'm not sure about the pace and effort for the voice acting since I haven't been requested to do recordings for about a month now. That gives me some breathing room but it may unexpectedly be taken away at some point. I have homework to do again but this time I have to do something every 2 to 3 days. The chores that I'm assigned to do are flexible enough that I can work with them but sometimes I find them to be a nuisance as they interrupt my work on a project.

Time is the ultimate nemesis when it comes to managing the many things that one person can do. That's probably why everyone works a different job depending on what they want to focus on most.

I've been helping out somebody with a video game and I have volunteered to do some voices. It's really exciting to be part of this project even though it's also going to be hard for me. If you have read any of my earlier posts you know that I don't like talking in the present of my parents. They are... not as easy going and treat me like a child in some ways. I hate that. I really do. The problem is that I can't come up with a response fast enough before one of them interrupts, mostly my mother, and I have to come up with another response depending on what they said. Ugh...

5/19/2009

I have two primary roles now, Geo, the main character, and his mentor, Pendant. (Who happens to be... a communication device?) It's a real pleasure doing both characters since they are the core of the story.  I'm working on the first one right now. The project leader and game programmer, Hepolite, and the writer, ontels, (usernames on the fourms) are having some slight trouble communicating with each other. That happens. I also had to do the lines for Geo several times just to get it right. That happens too. Right now I haven't got a clue what the storyline is and I won't tell you either. As soon as it gets quiet... and get my homework out of the way. (Another English essay...whoopie...) I'll get back to working on it.

5/13/2009

I'm positioned to play this mentor character but since there are barely any other voice actors working on the game I may have to do more than one character. I think I got a good one for the antagonist or bad guy. Just imagine someone talking while at the same time sounding like he's hacking up something... 

7/7/2009

The writer didn't approve of my voice acting for Pendant. He didn't wish for the character to sound like an electronic like voice so that much is clear. I still have Geo to voice so I'm still on board. I also have done some testing of an early beta sent to me today by Hepolite so I could find any bugs present. I'm not surprised that there were some. The way the enemies behaved was amusing at one point when they try to pile up on Geo. Here's a screenshot of it:

The animation is nothing impressive to look at but that will be fixed. A guy named PoloDewen on YouTube volunteered to help with this area and possibly will do some modeling as well. He has been doing animation with Blender 4 for 2 years and has done dragons before... in fact it's his hobby. He's obviously a Spyro and Cynder fanatic since he has made similar fan made characters.

I wonder where this story will lead... I'm still left in the dark about the whole thing so I have no idea what to expect. That's ok though; I like surprises and if someone tries to make me squeal I can't give them a straight answer about it.

I have done some concept drawings for this project I'm working on. Since I rarely draw I don't expect them to look good. Drawing 2D images have given me some frustration through since objects or body parts obstructed others from the current angle. I have to keep track of everything that might be in front or behind something or it is moving toward or away from you. In 3D, you don't always have to worry about that since the computer calculates it for you depending on where the virtual camera is. Another thing between 2D and 3D is lighting. You have to know where the light sources are and the point of impact and then draw it. Again, you don't have to worry too much about that. I find myself preferring 3D models over 2D drawings since I can handle geometry, scale, lighting and movement. X, Y, and Z is very useful unlike just X and Y with the illusion of plane Z.

If you look at my hand drawings you can see that the lines are wobbly. That is because the way I hold the pencil and my inability to hold it properly due to my high metabolism causing my hand to shake. How can I get my visions across if I can't even draw it clearly? *sigh* It's a real shame. I have this great idea but it's so complex that putting it into words is almost impossible. That is, in terms that most people will understand. Well, when I have my Computer Media & Animation class next year then maybe I can try making a demo reel of it.

I remember the first time I played the demo for Spyro the Dragon for PS1. When I was young, somewhere about 5 or 6, my older brother had Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped and there was a demo of the game on it. I played it and I didn't really find it interesting at first because I didn't knew much. In fact, I was not that smart at all. Then came Spyro 2... my brother beat it before I did. I played and played that game alot and one time I actually came up with this cheesy song about it while I was visiting my grandparents.  I know you want to hear it... or just look away.

Spyro--The Dragon

With superflame--of the night.

When I sing it now I wonder what on earth was I thinking?! That didn't make nearly any sense at all. Next is Spyro 3 and I wasn't as attached but some of the levels when I first saw the game at a friend's house I was in awe. My brother got it shortly after and beat it before I did again. I never really played EtD or SoI but I did replay the three games again from time to time. I still do too. I bought the game AHT myself when I saw it the last time I went to buy Crash Twinsanity. During and after the time I played and beat it...after my brother did of course... I had this idea. What if there was a weapon like a quarterstaff that can be split in two and have grapples on both ends? It was partly inspired by Darth Maul's lightsaber I admit but having all that at your disposal really took off from one idea to many.

The Legend of Spyro... the first time I ever heard of it was when I saw this advertisement on my ACT II microwave popcorn box. I freaked out when I saw Spyro's new look and I thought "What the-- What is that?!" before I saw the title above it. The New Beginning... hmm. I sort of wonder what his origin was since his first appearance of him randomly chasing sheep. I wasn't aware of the Japanese prologue from the original game so I was fine with it. The way Spyro look I wasn't thrilled with. I didn't think of him as cute looking in the original but the one I saw was like seeing his face swell up like a balloon. He now was neither cute nor attractive... more like downright ugly. Then again... do you actually expect them to look cute?

Now they are making a movie based off the first game of this "reboot" series which was at first a prequel. I preferably treat it as a prequel since I have discover loads of things that can be bridged. I guess the developers ran out of juice at the time... why not ask a younger mind for help? I can think of quite a bit of solutions. In fact, I have this one plot twist I'm saving that takes places briefly after DotD. Let me ask you this... What if Malefor can still use the link that was forged with Cynder to continue his goal? What if Cynder is overpowered and Spyro has little choice to kill her? What if... if Malefor is killed then Cynder dies with him? Here's a new thought... if a link was forged within Spyro at The Well of Souls then is there danger there as well? No... the crystal. The crystal around Cynder's neck is the link. I assume somebody put it back on her while they were unconscious after being released from the time crystal...thing.

Here are two last thoughts I have that might root a connection... actually one does but the other doesn't. What if a human was discovered by dragons after being separated for a long time? How would they react if there was a war that divided them? Is Spyro unaware of this? What if Elora came back but... a little different? What has happened in Avalar since then?

One last thing... What is Good? What is Evil? From each perspective they can mean one thing but also another thing. Does Evil see it's actions as good? Does Good see it's actions as bad? Interesting...

Guess who has the classes in Physics, Math, US History and English III full of immature 17 year olds? Unluckily...me. Yes, me and I feel more and more divine from most students from other classes than ever. This isn't the first time and I start to wonder if it won't be the last. I'm really mature and smart than most of the others I see who go "Heeeey!" here and "Yo Yo Man" there. Oh and let's not forget the "Hey Miss!" and "F*** you!" Oh boy... why me? I wonder what they have learned from their elders and ancestors before them besides this. I know life isn't all fun and games but they don't seem to know that. Not even my sister knows it. Almost everyone seems delusional and forgetting where the generations before them have lived through before the influence of Hollywood blinded their vision. There may be a way to turn things around if these things continue... turning around the blind that the media portrays on the new generation. It may have to be hidden to avoid rejection and that alone isn't easy to do...

...as in meaning the limited Endorphin behavior and camera control. I have played the demo of it before buying it and I found an odd game behavior including the Endorphin engine. You can Force Grip enemies and throw them around but what if you beat them to death and still hold their corpse? What I found out when I did this is that they still flanger around and attempt to shoot you and grab things even when health particles are dropped. Once I let the enemy drop to the ground then they go limp. Weird...but I would expect that since the Endorphin engine is still relevantly new in the interactive media field. The camera control is done the same way with most games by using the right analog stick. However, due to the chaotic combat and critical targets that the player has to keep in sight makes things more difficult than they should be. This would include the area with the three rancors and other enemies coming at you and your a dead man if you can't even tell where everyone is at including the big guys. That is disappointing... why can't somebody be smart enough to have the game control the camera instead of the slow rotating manual control? Just have the camera stay mostly behind the character and tilt the camera up or down if they jump or fall. Simple. The game story is pretty good and the two endings are really cool. I ended up doing the bad ending first. I can't shake the feeling of déjà vu through since the endings are very similar to the ones in Star Wars Episodes III and VI. Well, what did I expect? At least I got to yank down a star destroyer from orbit.

I bought the game Star Wars: The Force Unleash for the Xbox 360 yesterday and I usually am eager to try a new game out right away. Unfortunately, my older brother had loaned the controllers to a friend of his and they haven't been returned for about three weeks now. I bet that if I tease him with the game then he will be provoked to get the controllers back. Heh heh heh...

You know, I have been talking about some basic stuff left and right so I think it's time to shake things up abit. Have you ever played old school DOS games? I have played some games such as Commander Keen 4, Terminal Velocity, Battlechess 4000, and my personal favorite... Descent. For those who haven't heard or played it before then let me summarize it for you. Descent is a 1st-person space flight sim arcade shooter in which you fly a ship through tunnel like levels in zero gravity. You main objectives are to collect three color key cards, destroy as many robots as you can, rescue hostages, destroy the main reactor, and last but not least, find the exit before the mine blows apart. Sounds simple, right? No it isn't because since your in zero gravity you can move in any direction you want and so can the enemy robots. You have to always know what is going on around you since you don't have a radar to help you. Now I bet you want to play it now... unless you want a gameplay video of it? YouTube it.

It's really an interesting concept that you can have 6DoF but what if you could do the same in gravitational environments? I know you can't just jump off the ground to go up because of gravity yanking you back down so...maybe with the right tools...like grapple cables... it might work. This idea isn't relevantly new to me since I had this for awhile. Imagine you had two grapple cables that are launched from gun-like devices. (Batman's grapple hook for example) You use one to draw yourself toward a wall but in mid-transit you launch another grapple to another wall at a lower altitude to change your trajectory and release the first grapple. Knowing how physics works your velocity and altitude will change while you swing down in a horizontal arc until your feet land firmly to the wall. If you were smart, this and many more possible maneuvers can be quite handy especially when you are unable to get back unto your feet but instead drag yourself through a closing door. That's hard to picture isn't it? I find it easy and I could probably do it in my sleep. Now what about the enemy? From my experiences with A.I. behavior in video games I haven't seen things that blow my mind since I can pick up their patterns easily. Having them do the same can keep you on your toes forcing you to keep the enemy guessing. They should have an arsenal of moves at their disposal at least as much as the player has in a arcade fighter game. In fact, most enemies don't ever counterattack when they could. THEY SHOULD! I mean, come on now... some are not that stupid to fall for the same thing twice. If there are enemy bystanders then they will adapt to the player's technique and pop' em for such carelessness.

Math and Science... really amazing how it can effect combat. I might one day seize this opportunity for a video game before someone else does. Until then, they can try but they won't ever know what I vision it as.

I won four 1st place ribbons and two 2nd place ribbons for Garland Career & Technical Education Exhibit. I happen to find out about this when my artwork, which was entered from Comm. Graphics class, returned to me Friday during my US History class. Mostly everyone including my parents and teachers are going crazy about it...but I'm not. I was amazed at first, sure, but I don't think I deserve this much praise. All I did was modify images in different ways using MS Paint, Paint Shop Pro, and Photoshop. It's not that complex logically so I don't get what the fuss is about. I guess the previous generation can't seem to grasp the in's and out's of technology. I find it fairly easy to understand when it comes to that. However, there are some things about math and physics that I don't get... I might figure it out.