So many times, it happens too fast...you trade your passion for glory. Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past, you must fight just to keep them alive.
My home office somehow became the dumping ground for everything in my house. So much so, that I started working in my living room on a TV tray.
This situation lasted about a year, until this weekend, when my wife and I decided to reclaim my office! (she was tired of me working in the living room too)
After cleaning and taping and painting we moved in some furniture we picked up on Craigslist that's been waiting in the garage for just such a day.
Most importantly, I finally got to put up the huge Chibi Knight boss posters Jouste made for me and Renaenae printed.
Picture of the amazing wall below and an interactive virtual tour here.
So, I love playing Settlers of Catan, especially the expansion scenario "Seafarers of Catan" where you can explore islands with boats.
My uncle is an even bigger Settlers fan and just recently retired, so I thought of a neat retirement gift for him: Gold Settlers of Catan pieces!
Most companies give you a gold watch or something when you retire, but these will be something he can actually use!
My friend Matt is going to precision cut the pieces for me on his CNC machine out of aluminum, then we're going to anodize them to be gold colored (no I'm not using real gold)
I couldn't find any dimensions for the settlers pieces, so I got out my trusty school ruler and drew up some plans (someone out there might find these measurements useful):
I'll be attending the Flash Gaming Summit on the 27th in San Francisco. I figure since I live within driving distance and Chibi Knight was nominated for an award and last year's event was pretty fun, I'll head over again.
If you'll be there, let me know and we can meet up for a glass of milk or juice (did I mention this event is well-catered?).
Every day since the middle of December, the sun rises a little earlier and sets a little later. I can feel the extra minutes of solar power invigorating me and replenishing my energy nacelles.
Please take a sec and vote for Chibi Knight as "peoples' choice" at FGS. If it wins, I'm taking my daughter (who was the voice of Chibi Knight) out for a banana split. http://www.flashgamingsummit.com/award s.html
I was really surprised to find out that Chibi Knight has been nominated for a couple "Best of 2010" awards. So I'm assigning everyone who likes my stuff to go vote and help me win the praises and accolades I DESERVE :-P
In honor of Chibi Knight's nominations, check out these huge fan-art posters Jouste made. Renaenae was super kind and printed them for me. My wife then found a great deal on some giant frames! These will go up on my office wall once I get around to painting. (Meatboy pictured to show scale)
Fairly good pay ($15 per hour) and consistent work. Learn while you earn!
At my day job, www.woogiworld.com, my right hand artist just gave his 2 weeks notice (today) and this right when we've had a huge influx of projects. I need some artists to pick up his slack and make sure we hit our deadlines on some big time stuff. If you turn out to be a good team member, this could give you employment for years to come.
I love being a member of the NG community where I know there are vast pools of talent just laying around reading front page posts....join meeeee on the light side of children's educational flash games :-P
FYI: I'm doing a short yoga routine every morning, eating right, trying to get some sun every day, and trying to keep a healthy balance between work and relaxation, I'm also working out 3 or 4 times a week and playing basketball with some church friends on Saturdays. I'm also over my flu, which helps a lot. Thanks for all the advice and help with the blue funk of my last post <3
Do you ever get a feeling of emptiness around this time of year?
I feel what equates to writer's block in relation to many things I want to accomplish, I know what needs to be done, but can't seem to bring myself to get in gear.
I want to exercise, but can't get off the couch.
All I want to do is eat terribly unhealthy food and desserts even though that's all I've been doing over the holidays.
I find it extremely frustrating that it gets dark outside before the end of my work day.
I finally watched the last season of Lost.
I have a nagging dry cough that sometimes brings up disgusting chunks of flem, and other times is so relentless it makes me feel like I'm having a brain aneurysm.
On an intellectual level I know I have many things to be happy about, but I'm just not feeling it emotionally.
Newgrounds, can you get me out of my nasty emo funk?
Brother Nephi's Ultra-funtastic Point and Click Adventure Chapter 2
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Official Walkthrough
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Hints
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1. Hot Dog Salesman - Lemuel ate all of his toppings, he's looking for something special to offer, namely "MUSHROOM PASTE." How could you combine some items in your inventory to make MUSHROOM PASTE?
2. Camel - Rumor has it that this camel is afraid of felines.
3. Girl by the Well (Camille) - She's obsessed with falling in love. What romantic item might she be interested in?
4. Hippie/Dreidel guy in the bar - He's the owner of the camel parked in front of the bar. He's so much of an animal lover that he wrote a strangely romantic poem for his camel. Defeat him at a game of dreidel and he'll turn the poem over to you. Word on the street is that he's under investigation for animal smuggling.
5. Dreidle Game - The camel guy is a cheater, so maybe you can even the odds by preventing his evil table slamming.
6. Under-cover cop - He's staking out the bar to try and capture an animal smuggler...
7. Bartender - A stoic figure who runs the "Red Yamaka." He won't say much, but you might be able to get one of the pretzels on his bar counter.
8. Hobo - This guy is always up for a trade...as long as that trade involves food. Try out any edible items you find on him to get something special in return.
9. Jacob (Kid by the kitty) - He seems harmless enough, though he's mighty interested in whatever's sparkling on the cat's collar that's stuck in the tree.
10. Kitty - A cat in a tree. It's likely that Jacob had something to do with getting him stuck up there. What might get a cat's attention enough to lure him off the branch?
11. Pirahna plant - This fella grew from a strange block with seemingly radioactive soil. No wonder he's so vicious! If you can get rid of the plant, that soil might be the perfect incubator to grow something special.
12. Mud Pit - What an inconvenience! You need something to lay across it sturdy enough to get Nephi's "large-in-stature" body to the other side. Some people say that the attic of the Red Yamaka has a bunch of junk that might do for somethin like this.
13. Laban's Guard - This character thinks he's so funny with his shadow puppet act. Fortunately his achilles heel is his penchant for wine drinking...you might want to try out something "X-tra strength" on him.
14. Laban - Your uncle is drunk in an alleyway...he's stolen your stuff, and tried to kill you and your brothers...we think you know what to do...
15. Turbo-Anti-Korihor 2000 (laser security system) - I wouldn't touch it, but maybe you're carrying something reflective you could stick in the beams...
16. Bloody Clothes - Zoram, Laban's personal assistant, won't let you into Laban's house with bloody armor on. It seems like there was a bunch of water around here somewhere where you could wash those clothes off...
17. Plates Choosing Game - Only one set of plates is going to be useful to you and your family in maintaining a history of your ancestors!
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Video (This contains spoilers, only watch it if you're REALLY stuck!)
It was my first ever "sponsored" game. I was so blown away when I contacted Tom about increasing the old NG file-size limit and he offered to sponsor it.
We (me on art and saxmaestro on code) started working on a sequel almost immediately afterward, but then got pulled into various other projects and life in-general. Occasionally we'd go back and tool on the game, but it was mostly completely relegated to "back burner" status. Fast-forward 4.5 years and we've come back to it with renewed vigor. We've been busting our buns finishing it off for the last few weeks and it's turning out wonderfully.
The game is about 10 times bigger than the original in gameplay (and file size lol). The graphics are all updated and it's full of nice mini-games, cut-scenes, and humor. There will end up being around 400 voice acted lines in total so you can count on lots of entertaining dialogue branches to go through as you help "Nephi" solve puzzles and complete his ultimate goal. Here are some highlights about the game:
- 16 NPCs to help you on your quest
- 11 areas to explore
- Completely custom soundtrack
- 400 + fully voice-acted lines of dialogue
- Lucas-arts-esque Point and Click Gameplay and Humor
- Mini-games
- In-game animated shorts
- Animated cutscenes
- An engaging set of puzzles to solve
We've got big plans for this since it's one of the most polished and BIG games we've ever made. Keep an eye out for it in the coming weeks :-D