Ugh... slow going

Well, it's another update here on my blog. There's nothing much to report at the moment... I've been sick for a while so several things were left on the back burner. Meh.

Anyway, for some quick updates... The game's progress is, again, stalled. Most of that is actually based on the lack of artwork for the characters and the like. My buddy, who was originally doing some character designs for Rad, has been busy and has not had time to update the rest of his look. I guess, it's not much of a problem, but it does slow things down quite a bit when I was hoping to be getting somewhere. I guess it's a good time for me to start drawing again in the hopes of getting some work done; whenever that happens.

Next, I'm still working on chem-halo's trade picture and the associated 3D model. Getting sick slowed down that process, plus, I'm having trouble making the structure the way I want it.

Also, I've re-read Baha's story for the request images he's asking for. I really think the first images is off the mark and it too will need to be redone.

So, that's it for updates. If there's any artists out there that would like to assist me in the design process for my game, just let me know!

It's December!

Woah, it's been a couple of weeks since I've updated my blog. Gah! I need to get on the ball.

Anyway, obviously, Thanksgiving has come and gone. On my end, it was a pretty decent day; my brother and his fiance came over and ate with us, then we all ended up playing Monopoly. Needless to say, the night ended on a pretty decent note, but my sister ended up winning the game. lol

In other actual news, the game project is still underway. I received another sketch of Rad from Shin-Kensou wearing his armor, but it needs to be updated to fit his personality and overall ability. Other than that, I've been trying to construct the world and areas that I'd want the game to take place in, but in Neverwinter's game engine Aurora, it appears to not want to do the same sort of things I'm trying to do. If things don't pan out as expected, I will more than likely end up modeling the zones by hand, then possibly export them back into the game engine. IF that doesn't work, then I'll just use Blender's internal engine.

And in a previous entry, I posted a finished work that's part of a trade with chem-halo. What I ended up failing to notice was that the other scenes I had rendered in the set DO NOT WORK! I say this since after looking at them for several hours while trying to post-edit them in the same manner as before, and not getting the same results. Plus, I realized that while it was on topic for what he asked for, it doesn't really work out properly. So, to make a much longer explanation short, I've begun working on a different image with a new 3D model that I'm working on to fits the scene better. It's about 70% complete and only needs a couple of details and textures before I can import it into Poser 6 to finish the scene itself. When that's all done, then my portion of the trade will be done! WHOOT!

And man... I really need to update my profile image. The one that's there just doesn't work for me.

Another project update!

It's not much, but thanks to another online buddy of mine, Shin-Kensou, work on some character concepts have been produced! This one in particular is of Rad, with a mustache! lol

What I've decided, with the prompting on Shin-Kensou, is to make a smaller project that uses some of the characters in a way to explain their past, or their reason for being part of the story. As it currently stands, Rad is the furthest along in character development, and yes some of his information that I had previously posted here has changed. The next step will be to get some further in progress shots of him and finally get started on some plotline for him and a 3D model worked up.

I know it isn't a very large deal to many people, but work on my game project is finally underway!

Yay! Updates!

YES! UPDATES and a portion of my projects on the way to completion! For chem-halo, the first in part of our image trade! Look above to see it n full. You can also view what he drew as part of our trade.

Project Update

It's more of a small update really.

Anyway, I finally got Neverwinter Nights up and running, and I even managed to get my hands on the community expansion kit. Thankfully, the patches and other software were easier to install than they were to get. Ugh... I really need to get some high speed connection again.

Other than that, the tool set appears to be simple enough to at least plan around what goes where in the game world, and even easier to see if it looks alright before you setup the module. Thank goodness building landscapes are not as brutal as I expected them to be. At least not yet anyway. lol All I'd need to worry about would be making sure the scene at least closely matches what I'm working on.

The characters on the other hand are going to be more of an issue since the game has a weird way of generating characters that suit the ones I'm designing. Plus, it's not like the original game was designed with Asian flair to begin with, so costumes and looks may take a backseat until the next stage of the game is in progress. That, or I'll need to invest in Neverwinter Nights 2, maybe even Dragon Age when it comes out. I'll worry about that another time since that means extra money I don't possess at the moment.

So, besides all of the fun time to be had on this project, it looks like everything is proceeding full steam ahead! Expect some future posts relating to character profile updates, looks, envrionments and enemies as things progress further.

Moving Along...

I know, I know... I promised to update the blog in a more timely fashion; but, I just haven't done so as of late. BLARGH!

I've also been putting off other things, such as the requests, art trades, and game projects due to my unstable mood. I know I should not be doing things this way, but I have no idea on how to bring myself out of this rut. All I can do is move on and hope things get better.

Aside from that, I've updated the art trade I've been working on! They're test renders for the most part, but it shows that I'm on the right track. If nothing else, it's been keeping my spirits up just working on it. So, without any further delay, take a look at the 3 shots below.


So, when it's finished, it should prove to be an interesting image, or set of images.

Next, I previously stated that I would be building my game project using the Blender Game engine, which is part of the recent version of Blender. I've been thinking hard about that and may experiment with either Blender or Neverwinter Night's Aurora game building engine. The case of using NWN's game building engine would allow me to test out the branching storyline I want to create for the finished product, get a general view of where and how the game world would look like, and even test out some of the gameplay elements in a similar regards to how RPG Maker XP does. Granted, I haven't booted up NWN in a couple of years; but it does give me a reason to reload it on my laptop. lol! Plus, I've been playing Bioware's Jade Empire for the past week or so and how found a new found appreciation for how the developers craft their stories. That, and I've read in a recent Game Informer that their next game, Dragon Age, used the same game builder for a similar purpose of fleshing out the story for that game. It makes sense, so that may be a possible route for me to take.

So, I think this is it for the time being and I'll make another post soon!

Later!

Meh...

Well, it's been a while since my last posting. I'm still getting used to posting more than every few months and about anything other than stuff for Deviant Art, but I digress.

I've started rewriting some of the character information, mainly for visual descriptions and personality. Reasons being fairly obvious, if I want to hand off this data to an artist, then they would have the necessary information to create the look from my description of them. Granted, I did this already to some degree; but, looking back at the notes, the information on those characters were not fully fleshed out. That, and my buddy is thinking of helping out by drawing them. I'm still wondering about that since he's working on a couple of other projects right now. Meh...
Also, I've given some thought on changing my first iteration of game to that of Blender's built in Game Engine. That way, all of the character models and environments are completed in 3D, and I can actually have a playable test for others to work with. Upside, if I can get Blender to compile and work under the PS3 Linux environment, I can even test everything out there as well. Downside, it locks down some of the work to that piece of software and all of the programming involved will be handled via Python and not C+/C++, like I eventually want it to. I guess it could be good or bad, depending on what's all involved in making everything work in Blender and what the final product could end up being like. I guess I'll work that out as I go.

In further news, I've worked out some further details for the art trade I'm working on for chem-halo. The test render is unsuitable at the moment to be posted here, yet I'll most likely have an updated one sometime this week. So far, so good; even chem-halo's half of the trade looks great! I just hope that I can upload the finished copy to Deviant Art when it's finished. The site is still giving me grief. Ugh!

Enough about that. I guess, this blog is currently over until next time.

Later!

Putting Around

Well, another time, another post.

It's been a couple of days since I've last posted anything of importance. I still haven't fleshed anything out for the other characters, nor have I done much of anything but loaf around the house. And Deviant Art is still messing with me on my home connection. So uploading and responding to anything of importance will have to wait until I go somewhere else. With that, I can see that all of this is pretty depressing, so I'll move on.

I drew a mock up of what I'd hope will be an enemy for the first zone the group goes to. Judging from the looks of it, it's not going to be the first one they meet; it looks pretty strong and may end up being a sub boss of sorts. I'm still working on it and after some cleanup, I just may go ahead and scan it. Meh.

I also had my friend, Tallgeeseneo, take a look at some of my earlier written works and some of the story material for the game. For whatever reason, he seems to think that they are written out, more or less, like comic pages. I think I asked him by what he meant, only to receive a comment pretty much telling me that the way I write sets his imagination up to view the story in they way a comic book does. I guess the way I describe they setting, people, and their reactions seems a bit strict, to some degree. I think he even mentioned that I needed to write more along the lines of the way I talk. I wanted to laugh on this as I think he doesn't realize that I DO talk that way! Then again, I have loosened up over the years, just not too much. If you want to check out what I'm referring to, you can visit my old, but sometimes updated, website or use the link of the right... Whenever I manage to get time to set it up. lol!
Anyway, if my friend is correct though, it should still be helpful to me to fully envision the story and location, not to mention the characters. I'm still reeling on the fact that I'll need to add a ton of non player characters with varying things to say and do during the game. Gah! The madness! And, this only becomes more complicated when I think of adding AI on top to complicate things! *Smacks self* I'll worry about that later... <_<>_> -.-;

Any who, that's all for this merry update! Take care!

Projects Update

Well, I'm not to sure if this is an update. It's more of a what's happening... I guess.

First off, obviously, I'm currently revising some of the characters, their actions, and etc. so they don't clash and outshine one another. The reasoning behind it came from a discussion I had with a buddy of mine about one of the character's event scenes being fairly cooler and more interesting during that event than in most of the game. I concede that; and, as a result, will retool how each of them work together and separately from one another. Silly enough, the whole process is not so far off that this would take very long to do. It's just a small tweak, if anything. I'm also playing around with other names for Salaria; her name currently feels like how one would say Malaria. Ack!
The other issue that I'm currently working on (and after a talk with my friend again) are expanding the characters in a similar pattern with Rad. In writing him, I somehow managed to work out a ton of stuff specific to him and then neglecting the other characters, namely the main one Maya. I guess she should be more of a newbie to the world, rather than know it all, or something to that effect, and is capable of growing as the story progresses. Technically, all the characters will grow and change over time, but none to the extent of the main character, as it should be.

I'm still working on other projects such as the Poser renderings. I'm not totally sure why I'm stalling with them; but, for whatever reason, I will get them done. ARGH!
I'm also trying to figure out how to redo my blog page. Ah, I may make a picture or something, I'm not too sure. Maybe a logo for the game, whenever I get around to naming it.

I guess that's it. This isn't much of an update, but meh. I'm still trying to figure out what to post here since I'm fairly new to this and I'd hate to ruin everyone's opinion of the game with TMI (to much information) and loads of promises that I may not be able to deliver on. It would be great to get more reactions from people on this, but I figure this will not be the case.

Later!

A Small List of Characters

Hey everyone, it's me again, posting another small update on some of my projects over on my side of the globe. Today, as if the title has not already give that away, are a small sampling of characters that are going to be available for play. There's a good chance that most of these characters will change quite a bit through the process, not to mention once I get the overall look for them some things could be tweaked visually as well. Oh yeah, majority of these characters have, at one time, come from a Chinese styled monestary that has yet to be named. I'm still working on it and will update this blog as appropriate. And away we go!

1. Maya Naress - This is obviously going to be the main character of the group. During and after a brief tutorial, she's playable throughout most of the game. I say this as the plan is to let the other playable characters take her place at certain plot moments where it makes sense to do so. Sadly, she's also the only character that has a preliminary visual mockup available. Not that I hate it or anything, I just believe it needs to be changed before I can actually say "it's her," if you know what I mean. A visual of what I am talking about can be seen here. More details on her backstory, abilities, and etc when finalized or properly typed up.
2. Salaria Tesmit - This character is the second one to be introduced in the game and will be playable only until after the first dungeon/adventure area. She's also going to be the first candidate to a name change as I just realized that her name rimes with Malaria. lol That and her last name is that of a character from Final Fantasy 8. Sad how things just click when you are reading the lengthly notes you wrote a couple of days ago. Saltes, the nickname I made up for her may be a better alternative and a new last name.
   Besides that, she's to be Maya's close friend and, usually, a walking tome of info, especially in the area of archeology and of things that make no sense to anyone. Also, she's a part-time instructor at the monestary that they both attend, or attended. More on this later.
3. Sarin Tao Ming - She's to be your semi sterotypical prodigy. I say semi only in the regards that she does not always appear to be that way and for good reason. She is the best friend of the next character, Eneko, since they were children and are often seen together while out adventuring. The plan for them to meet up with Maya is to introduce them while one, or both of them, are in a predictament thanks to Sarin gettin in over her head. Once again, more on this later.
4. Eneko Matashi - My ninja girl, who has also trained in the way of the monk arts at the same monestary that my three previous characters have. Best friends with Sarin since childhood and her ever frequent adventure companion. She's also to be a bit more careful than Sarin and tries to keep her out of trouble, when possible. Obviously, when Maya meets up with them, things did not end up well. Work in progress...
5. Radderic "Rad" Yanis - He's techincally the third character to be introduced in the game and only becomes playable after an event or dungeon/adventure area. He's supposed to be a "Jack of all trades, master of some" type of character, but if anything, he's to be more of my mouthpiece on the way RPG's are made and some of the silly, random crap that majority of them force you to do while playing them. For this reason, he is extremely aware of his environment, story/plot elements, and other random things in the game; often to guide the player to a different line of thinking or action, rather than to force a linear approach. Think of him as a walking, talking walkthrough, with a very sarcastic view of things.

Well, that's all I have for the moment; the rest is being cleaned and typed up inbetween other things in my life. If I get a chance, I also plan to draw out the characters on my own, until I can find an artist interested in helping out. This may take a while, but like I said previously, I have plenty of time at the moment.

Oh, and if anyone is waiting on a request or trade via DeviantArt, I am letting you know that I cannot get into my account from home to check my messages. It appears that DA does not like my dial-up connection and until DA fixes it on their end, I'll just post updates here on my blog.

Till my next post, take care!

Random Musings

Well, I don't a whole lot to talk about here. Never been much of one to post a blog. lol

Aside from that, I will be using this blog to report the status of some of my projects. Some of them are requests to create images via renderings in Poser, an art trade, and a video game project!

On the side with the image projects:

1. one set is partially done or should I say 1 of 4 are done. The characters have been created and properly textured, I just need to setup the rest of the actions to accommodate the request itself. Bleh! I think I'm just being lazy or depressed since I could have done it sooner.
2. The second request requires a rendering of a female centaur caught up in an odd situation. I believe it's more on the bondage side of things, but I'll need to finish some tests to see how to make one from scratch or via DAZ's V4 and their Millennium Horse. Some sort of weird morph may be in order.
3. An art trade with a gifted artist, you can see his web page on Deviant Art. This one is really intriguing as the request is along the lines of some of my older works; which is VERY cool to begin with. Also, I've finished about half of it (look just below for a sample) or so. I think all that's left is the need to work on a character and add SLIME! BWAHAHA! *cough* Anyway, so that's on it's way.
   

On the side for my other projects:

1. GAMES! Well, playing some of the ones that I have yet to finish are on my to do list as well. I just have WAY to many to list here at a time. So, next game up is probably Shin Megami Tensi: Nocturne and Person 3/FES. Awesome games and great study material, especially Nocturne for it's ways of using the story and game play elements to change varying outcomes with your enemies and random encounters.
2. My video game project! Technically, it's #1 on this list, but they are both related since I'm in the process of making a Role Playing Game (RPG) in a similar vein. Well, to some degree anyway. What I really am shooting for is something close to Kingdom Hearts as for game play and Jade Empire, or Mass Effect, for story and/or branching process. The reason for this is I want a more combat focused rpg with a great story. I'm not knocking the great stuff that has come out over the years, but I feel that the standard way of rpg gaming needs a boost, or change of pace. Granted, the test run of the game I'm working on is planned for a 2 dimensional version to workout various areas of the game, like characters, enemies, plot, overall story, and so forth; it's the goal I want to reach with making this game. And, in another journal posting on Deviant Art here, the game and story development will more than likely be done solely by me. It's not because I am some sort of arrogant bastard that wants to alienate people, it's due to people usually not wanting to work with me. A wide variety of reasons can be given, but at the end of the day, I'm usually alone on how to approach the idea. I'd love to work with other people, and I may, or should, be contracting out some of the character and enemy artwork with some artists that do commissions. It sounds silly to suggest this line of thinking, but who the hell is going to do any work for someone that's usually broke or for free? The answer is that NO ONE really will! The same will be said for the music, which I may just pull out my sister's digital synthesiser and make something usable or contract out for. Meh... not much else to say about this, until my next posting. That should contain some sneak peeks on some of the characters.

So, that's all I think I have for the moment. Like I said about, be on the lookout for some upcoming details on some of the characters for my game project and the other things I'm working on.

Till next time, I'm out!
Ayane Matrix