Gonna be heading up to GDC in San Francisco soon. Don’t know if that means I’ll be posting more or less for the week, heh. I’ll try and keep you guys updated if anything interesting happens. If anyone here is awesome and going to be there, let me know!

Hopefully this is the first in a series of progress reports on World 3. I know I never post as much info about the development of World 3 as I’d like to, so I’m going to make an effort to consistently post updates on development. Hopefully I’ll be able to make these on a weekly basis.

To start off, we have:

- Advanced pencil combat and movement techniques.
- What exists so far of the sword fighting pirate baddie.
- Combat with flying enemy concept
- First video of Squiggleville

Next video should be much more interesting, got a few things I’m working on that hopefully everyone will like.

View the video from YouTube to watch it in HD!

Yo,

Sorry for being so absent as of late; with removing wallpaper and painting + refinishing floors my time has been limited. Please do not be angry with me *whimper*

I just wanted to ask all of you a question, please answer in any way you see fit (rant, outlined format, etc). Brad and I are attending GDC this year and there is a panel that’s addressing “Are Girls the New Hardcore Gamers?” Brad has issues, as do I, with the term “hardcore.” I, personally, do not consider myself a hardcore gamer. I lean more towards the retro historical aspect of games and most of my experiences are directly effected by my previous experiences. I do not sit down and for five hours straight perfect my Halo technique, although I believe L4D2 and Uncharted 2 could potentially suck me in rather easily (one of the reasons I’m afraid to start playing them, hah)

So what do you consider “hardcore”?
AND do you believe that people tend to be more loose on the application of the term “hardcore” when it comes to girls?
Don’t be worried about making comments “too long” I really want to know what y’all think.
(and please don’t be worried about offending me)
Thx guys =)

Edit: Love the comments, I have another question to add on inspired by the comments. Are you more likely to avoid going after someone who identifies herself as female (to go easy on her in a fight), have you seen this happen?

It would make a bit of sense, I know that I had to knock a few males down before they took me seriously in different male dominated pastimes. However, I had a tendency to go easier when I was playing against girls because I was afraid I’d hurt them.

Thoughts?

Update: WOW.

I will say, first off, that anyone who says this game is better then Phantom Hourglass better check their water system because something in there is affecting their brain. While a decent game, Spirit Tracks is in no way better then Phantom Hourglass. I know that a lot of reviews claim that it is, I began to question my own view of this game because so many reviews were all gung ho about it, then I talked to someone else who was currently playing the game and they agreed. So I felt much better about my stance.

While I will admit that the dungeons were pretty cool and the extension of the phantom dynamic was pretty awesome, the whole thing felt short. I was hoping that the sidekick Zelda would be just as awesome and entertaining as Midna or Linebeck, she ended up being a bit more like Navi, complete with the “Hey!” (I’m not kidding.) Zelda is cumbersome, she’s annoying, and her character development is just off. I mean, you barely see Zelda in so many of these games but this one just fell so short. It was disappointing. The two characters I was MOST interested in had barely any part in the game, the character I go to know the most was some dweeb that was obsessed with trains! *facepalm*

There are a few relatives of the characters from The Phantom Hourglass, I was hopeful, I was disappointed. I was psyched about the final boss fight because the boss fights leading up to it were . . . well . . . really NEAT. The sand realm boss was by far my favorite, but the final boss . . . disappointing. The ending was empty. I have no idea what to say about the game. I guess I just had such high hopes for it because everyone was saying it was better then the Phantom Hourglass. I was complaining about the game after the first few hours of playing it and Brad told me that reviews said it picks up as you get further in the game. I beat the game, there was no pick up. The sand realm was pretty freakin cool, the first part of the final boss fight was awesome, annnnnd yeah. It was all hype and no delivery!

I did appreciate the thought into the side quests. I had a blast toting people around in my awesome train and having them get all upset when I passed a sign without doing the appropriate thing. Oh, I also appreciated the fact that I could blow up the signs with my cannon. I had fun with that one for quite a while. They could have given me side quests for the entire game and I probably would have been happier then what I ended up with!

And train cars, I do wish that they would have pointed out earlier that you do not BUY the train cars you trade treasure for them. Luckily I hadn’t saved when I realized this so I could restart the game and go back. Always ALWAYS remember to save your game because you never know what’s going to happen or pop out. There were so many bad guys to FIGURE out how to kill. You would think it would make this game all the more entertaining but meh.

Nothing about this game seemed inspiring, nothing about the game was inspirational. I kept trying to figure out why in the HECK people were raving about this game. Brad was blunt and told me that Zelda obsessees have to be somewhat delusional, otherwise they are constantly disappointed. I was a bit insulted until I realized he was telling me I wasn’t delusional, I expected MORE, and there was no more. If this was how the franchise had started out, I probably would have never played another Zelda game again. I mean I was so bored I was noticing how annoying the characters’ FEATURES are! What kind of game makes me bored enough to wonder why Link’s nose is about 400 times smaller then it should be!? Or why in the heck Zelda is wearing all that makeup!? These aren’t things I should be thinking about AFTER finishing the game.

The music wasn’t interesting, except for in the tower. It was pretty cool because it builds as you run up the steps. Too bad they didn’t do that with the rest of the music . . .

The weapons were pretty cool, as always, my comfort weapons. I DO appreciate that there is repeated use of the weapons even after you finish the temple they are in. I hate it when you find this ultra cool weapon and can only use it in one place. HOWEVER, the cool weapon/item thing I got drove me absolutely mad because it wasn’t reacting where it was supposed to. You’d think that they would be extra sure to get the perception right on it, but it DOESN’T work that way. Blah.

There were a few allusions to things that were in Twilight Princess and in Ocarina of Time. I wasn’t uber happy with the flute pipe thing. You didn’t use it a whole lot, and in some ways it was TOO much of the primary focus, but not enough of the primary focus. It’s a magical flute and when you discover tunes Zelda dances around in the air, wheeeee . . . eee . . . e.

I mean my GOSH what were they thinking! They could have totally incorporated the train more, it’d be awesome if there was some way to be derailed not just run into things. I mean why isn’t there some annoying pirate giggling by the train tracks ready to throw a giant penny or something and send you off into the grass or off a cliff.
When I driving the dang thing I’d take turns at full speed and NOTHING would happen. I get that it allows you to do whatever you want without being punished but geez, couldn’t we make it a BIT more difficult? There was no “Geez how do I do this?” or “ARRGGHH” or “GRRRR” unless it was ME being mad at the game for being so stupid. Throw a curveball or something! Something new! I mean my gosh, it drove me mad. The game didn’t challenge ME, I just tried figuring ways to make it challenging for myself!

*sigh* So yeah, if you are a huge Zelda fan, buy the game, play it, figure out if you like it yourself. If you’re not but curious, buy it . . . I’d suggest buying it used . . . at a lower price . . . it’s a decent game but not jaw dropping amazing.

I mean, my gosh, are they just going to live off the fact that Zelda is a BIG NAME! Why not? It’s what Final Fantasy did (one of the reasons I stopped playing that game.)

*bangs head against wall* WHY WHY WHY!?

Blah . . .

On the bright side though! I’m finally playing a game that Brad has been telling me to play for a while and I’m utterly addicted! I’m resting my thumbs right now because I think I damaged them in the last fight =/

P.S.
Isn’t FPM’s pencil awesome?

Remember, it’s just a teaser! There’s no baddies yet that actually take advantage of the combat, and very limited audio, but I wanted you guys to be able to check out the bunch of animation I’ve been working on for way too long now.

Sometimes you just gotta go a-stompin’…

———–

Video Q&A (to make this easier on me, gonna try and answer the more general questions here):

How does sheathing the pencil work?

- He does it automatically during normal levels, after running a bit, or jumping. No separate button, but for now, ducking forces a sheath.

Does this mean that old levels are getting redone for World 3

- Maybe, maybe not, I just still like the first level of the first world of FPA, haha. Soooo much better with the newer physics, too.

Should FPA carrying the pencil on his back instead of it disappearing?

- Probably, I’ll have to do some tests, as long as it’s not distracting.

Is there a separate key for using the pencil?

- Yeah, it’s A or D right now. All the moves are done by either tapping or holding one of them. So it’s only one button, just set to either of those right now.

Can the ricochet scratches hit other enemies?

- They better, would be a wasted opportunity if they didn’t Might have to fiddle with the trajectory to make that easier.

Parts that take specific advantage of the pencil? / Many baddie sections

- Absolutely.

Bring back those hideous and terribly drawn flying dog / dragon things from World 1!

- I really should, huh? Man, those were embarrassing…

Will there be a running attack?

- There certainly should be, there isn’t one animated now, though.

XBox Live and/or PSN?

- I’d sure love to. But yeah, that’s a full port there. Regardless, I want World 3 to be as good if not better than most games that come out on either of those services

Separate post on pencil fencing?

- Nope! Hence the magic of the edit button! Love you honey! ; )

Who knows if anyone actually cares about a review of the movie, but since it’s broken all box office records and finally topped “Titanic” as the top grossing film, I figure it was worth an article.

I have one main complaint about the film, and it’s not even about the film itself, it’s about the man who made it. I hate, HATE it when people make a movie all about their politics. I would like to simply go watch a movie and just not THINK about it, I want to take away from the movie what I think, not think about what someone else meant it to be. It’s one of the big pet peeves I have with certain English teachers as well . . . or Literature professors, they like to take their interpretation and force it on their students. I’ve experienced this several times and it drives me absolutely mad. I’ve also taken lower grades because of it. Yes, my professors have written in their notes that my personal interpretation is “wrong.” I’m not sure how a personal interpretation can be “wrong”, but whatever.

Anyway, now that the rant is over, ON TO THE MOVIE!

Brad and I loved this movie. I was EXTREMELY skeptical going into it, so the fact that I liked it says a lot. However, I will take the non-chick route and say I wasn’t a huge fan of the love story in many ways. It might have just been the dialogue though, the dialogue was lacking. James Cameron has a thing for throwing chick flick undertones into high energy movies. I don’t know how I feel about that, but it works for his numbers so more power to him.

The first time we went a saw it was in the 3d, IMAX theatre, I suggest seeing it this way if you can. If you didn’t see it in the IMAX I suggest you go back and give it another try. The visuals are AMAZING. We actually saw it a second time, 3d, no IMAX and I got a headache, go figure. Still breathtaking, but not AS breathtaking And yes you should see it in theatres, I demand it. Yes, I am demanding it.

So why was I skeptical? The hype, for one, the politics, and the fact that there were blue people in it and it reminded me way too much of Fern Gully + Pocahontas + Smurfs. You can see why I might be worried. I didn’t want to see this movie, I went because Brad wanted to go. Why did Brad want to go? The technology. The cameras and methods used were invented specifically for this movie and he desperately wanted to see the new facial rendering in action. He wasn’t disappointed. Neither was I. I came out incredibly impressed, the “Na’vi” (everytime they said that I immediately heard “Hey! Listen!” in my head, it was torture) were neat, the animals on the planet, Pandora (wheeee free radio of all your favorite songs!) pretty cool. The animals basically looked like earth animals skinned and with more teeth . . . and occasionally more legs. The main actor saved this movie, I give him props. Sigourney Weaver was amazing, and the “bad guys” were pretty darn cool too. Some of the dialogue was a bit cringe worthy though, I mean people don’t TALK the way these people do. Some of the dialogue seems a bit forced but that is kind of thrown on the backburner when your mind is just going “oooo pretty” at all of the surroundings.

Favorite scene, definitely, is the marine’s first scene in the Avatar body, and his first time experiencing Pandora. Basically he is just running around poking things and feeling the earth under his toes. It’s pretty cool because you are thinking in your head “Oh dude, I would TOTALLY be poking that plant!”

So yes, amazing movie, dialogue is saved because of the amazing visuals and a few of the supporting characters that really make it work. I ENCOURAGE everyone to see this movie in theaters. It won’t be the same on a regular TV, guarantee it. I mean COME ON!!! It’s PRETTY!!!!!

I will be posting a review of Spirit Tracks soon. My DS died before I saved (Stupid STUPID) so I lost a good deal of data and there are a good deal of side quests that MUST BE FINISHED!!!
Oh and I’ll be posting another “nostalgic” game article soon, Promise.

Be awesome to each other!

Mirror’s Edge 2d won the ‘Best of Casual Gameplay’ 2009 award over at the awesome JayIsGames.com!

Thanks to everyone who voted!

http://jayisgames.com/best-of/2009/action-or-arcade-results/

Should be a good year for Fancy Pants Man!

Rural Squiggleville. I’m still experimenting the exact graphic style of World 3, so this is still pretty rough, but I’d love to get some early feedback from everyone out there. The idea is to refine the style and art, but keep everything looking handdrawn, which is no where near as easy to do as I had hoped it would be. I know I’m a much better animator than background artist, but hey, might as well try, right?

And remember, that’s 5 independently scrolling backgrounds there, just like in the swimming videos. Far more work, but I’d say the parallax effect is worth it.

Squiggleville Mark III:

Season’s Greetings from Squiggleville! Hey, that should be a Christmas card…