I was going to skip doing a front-page post this week because I don't have much Super Chibi Knight progress to report.

It's busy back-to-school season and I've been doing some freelance stuff to stretch the Kickstarter funds a bit more, but last night I had a long struggle with one of my freelance projects and thought, hey, maybe I can share the solution here for those who might be interested...

PAAAAAYYYPAAAALLLL!!!!

I've been working on a shopping cart for a freelance website and getting it to communicate nicely with PayPal (without paying for a 3rd-party solution) has been FUN-STRATING!

The reason I share this here is because I see a lot of potential for game developers to integrate payments into their games using widely-accepted payment systems like PayPal to do micro-transactions and WHATEVER else you can think of like offering a FULL GAME paid download, paid game-pack downloads, extra level paid downloads, etc. I'm sure you can think of more creative ways to "monetize" than I can. 

We tried with decent success ($2.48 eCPM) to do something like that with Abobo's Big Adventure.

The nice thing is that you have a high level of control and flexibility with PayPal's IPN system to really get creative and "brand" what you're doing because it mostly uses your own webpages hosted on your own site.

If this kind of thing sounds interesting to you, then check out this article and get started with PayPal's feature-rich "IPN" system. You may think you have no skill with PHP or programming outside of Flash, but it's actually not that bad once you get going. If my uneducated, thick-skull can figure it out, then I have no doubt ANYONE can :-P

http://pestoforce.com/paypalipn.php

Question of the week: What is a new, creative, unheard-of, way to make money on your game?

Also, go help fund the MADNESS Kickstarter!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/500655604/madness-project-nexus-2

Oh, I guess there is something to look at from Super Chibi Knight:

Update y'allz:

I'm working on Super Chibi Knight like err' day hoping that some day it will be done.

My goal was August, but that's unlikely with the amount of work left.

CREATIVE REVELATION

The ideas for what to add to SCK are revealed to me quite piece-meal. I have an overarching story with some important landmarks along the way (and I know exactly what the final boss battle will be), but there's lots of content to create to fill in the empty spots.

Every night I go to bed thinking about tons of options for a specific part of the game and it's just a jumble of ideas and images and tidbits of games I've seen or played + whatever I've been interested in lately (just finished reading Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" and am starting to read Herbert's "Dune")

This continues for a long time until my actual work progress starts catching up to the part of the game I've been thinking about. Then, on more than one occasion, there is a moment of clarity and I can somehow discern from start to finish exactly how that part of the game should look and play. It always comes "just in time" and feels so good. It helps re-ignite my excitement for the project.

I don't know what causes that "gel" factor in my brain and why it waits until I am almost right upon it. Perhaps the pressure of the deadline... who knows? But I really enjoy that moment. It feels like revelation.

Here is a pic from something I just added, kind of inspired by the basketball part of Dad N' Me.

Also, something exclusive just for NG followers: Splish Splash

If you want to get in on Beta testing, sign up at the official site: SuperChibiKnight.com

Tell me, how do you winnow down the infinity of possibilities in your brain to decide on what to finally produce?

I finished the Ruby Mountain Relay! It was a 12 person relay over 184 miles. We finished in 32.5 hours (about 10.5 minutes per mile) Each person had to run 3 "legs" each spaced out by ~10 hours. We finished #27 out of ~35 teams.

I was runner #3 and did 3.25 miles, then 5.7 miles, then 4.2 miles. I felt pretty strong and ran faster times than I was expecting, but the 5.7 miler was a real killer uphill and into the wind.

Here are a couple pics from the race:

Pre-race team picture!

In the support van, we got to know each other very well after spending 30+ hours in a row with little-to-no sleep

Crossing the finish line... wooo!

In other news, work on Super Chibi Knight continues! If you would like a detailed update, check out this link:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pestoforce/super-chibi-knight-a-cute-spicy-rpg-adventure/posts/949850

Here is a pic from a background I just finished drawing... doing backgrounds is really sapping my will...

Don't forget that there are extra Super Chibi Knight t-shirts for sale for a limited time here:

http://superchibiknight.com/products.php

Much <3

My cousin had someone drop out of his relay team for the upcoming "Ruby Mountain Relay" event and he asked me if I wanted to fill in. I haven't been doing cardio exercise for a while, but it sounded like a chance to outsmart my future self with a commitment, so I said YES!

I've been training for the past 4 weeks and am finally feeling a LITTLE more comfortable running, but it's still a test of my willpower every time I go out.

There are 12 people on the team and each takes turns running a "leg" of the race. So I will run 3 times over the course of 24 hours.

Run 1 - 3.23 miles - 8:16 am day 1

Run 2 - 5.72 miles - 7:04 pm day 1

Run 3 - 4.2 miles - 7:25 am day 2

That second leg is very likely to destroy me... someone finish Super Chibi Knight for me if I don't make it.

I recently uploaded a Newgrounds art portal submission as a sneak peek at some new stuff in Super Chibi Knight, check it out here and leave me a comment.

Which beastmaster is your favorite?

Good big news!

The Super Chibi Knight keychains arrived! Hooray! Now I can send out the last few Kickstarter rewards packages. What a relief! Here are some pics:

Important Question? If you follow me on Newgrounds should you get some kind of reward? Like special access to stuff that I haven't posted anywhere else yet?

Love,

--Nick

Last week I promised I'd show you and only YOU what flipping the switch in the teaser image from last week does.

Check out this top secret video!:

In other news, the keychains are SO CLOSE to being done. Once they are, I can finally button up the physical rewards stuff from the Super Chibi Knight Kickstarter. That will be a relief. Here are a couple pics (we're deciding on what kind of finish to give the keychains, they have the Kickstarter logo on one side and an image from the game on the other):

My friend's company, http://www.kittadyne.com, does fantastic work. If you're looking for stuff to be manufactured, I'd suggest sending him a message through his website. He can do near any kind of physical object be it metal or other material (CNC, Billet, Machining, Lathe, Blown Injection Molding, Anodizing, etc.)

Question of the week: What are you hoping to see in Super Chibi Knight? What are you excited about doing in Super Chibi Knight that you've seen already?

I'm getting my mojo back for Super Chibi Knight... less than 2 months left to finish it! Can I do it? Will I do it?

Follow me here to stay abreast of new developments!

Here is a top secret video from SCK, I like how HOT the lava looks:

And here is an ULTRA TOP SECRET screenshot:

Would you flip the switch despite the warnings? I'll post a video of what it does NEXT WEEK, so FOLLOW ME to make sure you don't miss it!

Speaking of breasts, I am anti-circumcision. It's a religious/cultural relic that is equivalent to genital mutilation. Not necessary at all and the hygiene/health arguments are bogus (we don't give girls double masectomies when they're born just cuz it lowers their statistical chances of cancer!)

On a recent trip with my friend, we spoke long and hard about this touchy topic. Eventually he came around to my point of view because he then went on to evangelize his sister who is having a baby soon. He was able to convince her not to circumcise her son, and she's even a registered nurse!

In honor of this, he has named himself the "Schlong Savior." When he told me about it, we came up with a few more honorific titles for what he's done:

Anaconda Advocate

Ball-buddy Bodyguard

Cock Conservator

Dick Deliverer

Dong Defender

Flesh Flute Fighter

Foreskin Friend

Hero of the Hung

Manhood Messiah

Mohel Moderator

Nad-Neighbor Negotiatior

Pecker Preserver

Penis Protector

Phallus Freedom Fighter

Rod Redeemer

Scalpel Squelcher

Wang Warrior

Wiener White Knight

Can you think of any other good ones to add to our list? Try to fill-in the missing alphabet letters!
 

[ FOLLOW ME ON NEWGROUNDS ]     [ BETA TEST SUPER CHIBI KNIGHT ]

Just got some pics from my buddy at Kittadyne who is CNC machine milling the aluminum keychains for Super Chibi Knight Kickstarter backers. They look VERY nice, check out these photos (the lines will disappear once the pieces are polished):

For game news: I'm still hammering away day after day, hoping it'll all be worth it. I bought some Steam games for the summer sale that I've been curious about and was encouraged that SCK will hold up well in comparison. Fingers crossed!

Italy was eliminated from the world cup and, coincidentally, a fan in Italy posted this picture of the packaging his t-shirt came in on the same day. I thought it was very appropriate. Translation: "Always forward friends, and on to VICTORY!"

Do you wish you had pledged more on the Kickstarter now? :-D

Visit www.Kittadyne.com if you have a project you need cut out of aluminum! He's my BFF and does great work.

Watching this video brought many pits to my stomach. Most of his mistakes coincide with problems in Super Chibi Knight. I'm guessing lots of game designers can relate to what he's talking about when they've tried making an "EPIC" game. At least I'm "failing fast" instead of wasting 13 years on SCK (unlike Abobo's Big Adventure :-P)

But SCK will be good... don't worry! It will be worth your money!!! :-D

I downloaded his game and it was fairly bad, but had some flashes of brilliance. There's a puzzle where you use a paintbrush to paint the walls in a dark room with glowing moss so you can see the platforms well enough to get to the exit. Dedicating time to code and perfect a gameplay mechanic like that, that will likely only be used once, is what makes indie games special.

Here's a screenshot of exactly what I'm working on at 1:05 PM Pacific Time on Thursday 6/19/2014 (the time of this post).

Can you relate to that video?

I feel a bit of writer's block going on right now with Super Chibi knight. SO MUCH LEFT TO DO!

To try to deal with it, I switched strategies and am just busting stuff out with placeholder art to eventually go back and re-do with final art later. It seems to be going ok, but I'm still feeling slightly overwhelmed.

What do you guys do to work through that "blocked" feeling?

Here's a quick video of something that's probably over-done in video-games but I always enjoy these kinds of levels. I did some pseudo inverse-kinematics on the wheels to make it feel more realistic:

Reminder to answer this question: What do you guys do to work through that "blocked" feeling?