Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Jer-ry! Jer-ry! Jer-ry!

posted by John Blanco @ 9:23 PM

 

A whole lot of Congratulations to give out to a bunch of people that will never see it, but oh well. :-)

Congratulations to Air America Radio on their 1 year anniversary on March 31st, 2005! One year ago, the liberal radio station kicked things off and it's been a *HUGE* success story. They've gotten me interested in politics, and I am motivated to vote for the right, and not the Right, party. And there's millions more just like me.

Congratilations also to Jerry Springer, who was picked up by Air America Radio and is debuting on his new station on April 1st, 2005! This is good news, because I wasn't a big fan of Unfiltered, who held the 7-10 AM spot previously. But I love Jer-ry. And I *LOVE* America!!

Congratulations, also, to me! I've done a great job figuring out PHP, CSS, and MySQL almost all at once to create what is right now a functioning Chess Avatara Web site. :-) Miles to go before I sleep, but I'm proud of the effort so far.

Monkey Mural is Born!

posted by John Blanco @ 7:31 AM

 

Monkey Mural :: Murals by Michele

So proud of my Yog today...she's published her Web site, Monkey Mural, to the Internet! She did the whole site herself, learning HTML as she went, and I only assisted her a bit on the graphics. She's an official Webmistress now. Welcome to the world of code, honey. ;-)

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Slipknot - Eyeless (Edited)

posted by John Blanco @ 7:11 AM

 

Insane - am I the only muthafucker with a brain?
I’m hearing voices but all they do is complain
How many times have you wanted to kill
Everything and everyone - say you’ll do it but never will


I am my father’s son
He’s a phantom, a mystery and that leaves me
Nothing!
How many times have you wanted to die?
It’s too late for me. all you have to do is get rid of me!

I tried - you lied to me for so long
Everywhere I go, there’s a sense of it
Freak on my antics and give me a choice
Doesn’t matter if I give a shit
It’s shit that you gave me


Do you wanna feel pain? takin’ my name in vain
Caring never felt so lame inside
Anybody else got pride? do you wanna take my life?
Maybe I’ll reverse my ride
Who the fuck are you? fuck you!
Better suck it up cuz you bled through
Better get away from me
Stay the fuck away from me!

I feel safe - seems your saved

Saturday, March 26, 2005

The Lindgren Code

posted by John Blanco @ 9:58 PM

 

Tee hee.

The Yog and I went downtown tonight to see our chess-lovin' friend Jay, at his new place. 41st floor. Nice! Great view!!!

We went to the Cheesecake Factory, and enjoyed a good time. He was telling us about the Davinci Code, and now my interest is totally picqued, I need to read it.

Most interesting moment of the night: Driving home on 6th Avenue, headed West, and we passed by a car that was turned around, implanted in the guard rail, still smoking, on the other side of the street. Nasty.

Friday, March 25, 2005

Chess Avatara Underway

posted by John Blanco @ 11:14 AM

 

This project is so fascinating, I'm already underway with it! All goes on the backburner. This is the big one.

* Texas Hold 'Em moves to the #2 project. It would still be aimed at the Palm platform, although now it would be Palm 5, not the Palm 4 and previous lines. (Palm 5 introduces high-res)

* Counterpart's price has been lowered to $.99. In a month or so, I'll likely just make it free. Ah, well.

* I'm pretty much done with J2ME...it's not worth gambling on the mobile platform.

I'm totally pumped and excited about this! Tons of new technologies will be involved for me, some I've used a little before and others never. This is primarily a Java development project, but there's a lot more to it than that.

I'm sorry, but for privacy reasons I can't explain it in full detail. Maybe you'll be able to figure it out by how I talk about it. We'll make it a game. Yeah, a game! A game where you won't get any answers from me.

Now excuse me whilst a install MySQL and PHP. ;-)

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Chess Avatara

posted by John Blanco @ 7:34 PM

 

So, lately I've been studying Palm programming, as I've shared with you, following a sale-less venture of Counterpart...which is now 99 cents. :-)

Although a sales failure (as I'd expected), Counterpart was a huge success for hopeful career. It's the most advances game I've made...and it's only the start. There's so much more to accomplish. And I think I have the next idea.

For real this time.

While Palm is obviously the best portable platform for a next game, I'm thinking of cutting the portable platform short in favor of something totally different. Something I never thought about tackiling, but I'm totally psyched about. And here's the story.

Today, at work, I was sitting there at lunch with a notepad, eating my Boston Market meatloaf, brainstorming what it is I want to do. Studying Palm has gone smoothly, but I'm not feeling inspired by it like I did J2ME. Sure, it's the best chance for sales, but does it get me motivated, excited, or inspired?

The answer has so far been "not quite." Aside from the C API, which makes me want to vomit, I think the prevailing feeling is that I had so much fun with Counterpart, but felt limited by the capabilities of the platform.

If I'd written Counterpart for the desktop, I could have had the smooth scrolling that I wanted. Instead, I had to do the paging. What if I had the power of that desktop though...oh, so much more I could do without worry.

And so, I added it to my list. This was the list of platforms I could write for: Palm 4, Palm 5, Palm 6, J2ME for Blackberry, J2ME for mobile (again), PocketPC (not bloodly likely), and Java.

Hmmmm, Java. Plain old Java. Plain old, full-API Java. No stripped down J2ME. Full. On. Java.

But as is the problem with something like Java is: How to sell? Sure, you can package up a game or what have you, but there's no way I can compete in the market. For an ISV, you've got to be a top-notch game developer to compete with the big boys...and even then, it's gotta be something REAL special.

Maybe one day...but not now. No way, now. That's the point of this whole thing...to learn the art. I ain't ready now. No chance.

But that's with a serious game. What if what I was making wasn't just a game? What if it was something different? Something Internet-based? Something seen before, but never before seen?

I can't give details right now, too early and just in the possibility mode right now...but, the idea came about when I basically joked to myself about reviving a prior Java project I worked on when I was unemployed. :-)

OK...so this blog will keep its secrets, but the one thing I can say is that I'm in serious design mode right now trying to determine if I should go for it.

This would be a HUGE Java project, which is what I like. :-) it would be pure-Java, not J2ME...J2SE baby. It would require harnessing new skills, including emerging API's and skillsets that will benefit my career, especially if it takes a Java turn at InsureWorx (my current job).

This would fit into my New Years Resolution of finishing one large-scale project. This will easily take 9 months. Patience will be key. It will not be finished in 2005 more than likely. Perhaps a smaller version, as I like to code in iterations, can make it towards the end of the year. If I'm lucky.

No aspect of this project is insanely complicated. All of it offers a big challenge, but I can achieve it all. And the final result will be something fascinating, totally entertaining, something I myself would play, and a potential cash cow.

This could become huge. This could become a new full-time job.

I'm extremely intrigues right now. This is totally fascinating. I must get back to work. :-)

I Wanna Be...Promoted!!

posted by John Blanco @ 11:02 AM

 

Whoo hoo! Another New Years resolution has been met! I got a promotion today at work. :-) I'm now a Senior Developer (again). This is the second time I've moved to the Senior position.

Exc-c-c-c-cellent.

Very gitty right now. Celebration dinner, Yog!

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

My Blog: Swimsuit Edition

posted by John Blanco @ 8:00 PM

 



The Dreamcast has hit the Reserve on the first bid. Most excellent. So, I'll at least get $25 for it which is nice. 3 days to go.

PS - Admit it...you were turned on for a second...

Sunday, March 20, 2005

DreamCast, anyone?

posted by John Blanco @ 12:52 PM

 

DreamCast for SALE!

Selling my DreamCast on eBay, if anyone's interested...

21 Grams: 4 Blancos

posted by John Blanco @ 6:39 AM

 

Forgive me, blog, for I have sinned. Wow, has it been 6 days since my last confession?

It's Sunday morning, and the Yog and I are in errand mode. We have some friends coming over for some DnD-style gaming. This will be Michele's first experience with it...and I will be watching and noting in hopes of developing a future video game out of it. Innnnnnterestin'. :-)

The sodies are chilling, laundry is running, gotta vacuum, clean, and grab the newspaper outside. Much to do, much to do...

Last night, we rented "21 Grams," an Oscar-hopeful and a movie I've been wanting to see for quite some time. It stars Benicio del Toro, Sean Penn, and one of my favorite actresses, Naomi Watts (of Mulholland Drive fame). The movie was incredible, a sort of Memento-inspired, reverse-action drama. Less action. Naomi was absolutely incredible. If ya watch this movie, don't expect much comedy. An hour-fifty of serious stuff.

Earlier yesterday, we went down to Castlerock for Cinnamon's Adventure Club! It was the Yog and I, the Adron, K, Erica, Lerri, Ramon, Cinnamon, and the Grinka. We went to Castlewood Canyon and did some art as inspired by nature-artist Andy Goldsworthy:



It was a fun time. We all did our own nature art, at a much smaller scale. I think the other hikers were disturbed that there was a scattering of people walking around with leaves, rocks, etc. K had the most public demonstration, erecting a "bird's nest" right by one of the bridges that only a rockhopper could attempt.

Michele and I did a leaf trail, as did Aaron. Minka constructed a boat which she floated as we ran to keep up with down the stream. It went as far as it could go, then got sucked into a cave. I wonder how long it will stay there? :-)

Greg did snow writing, Lerri did an icicle sculpture, Adrianna did what looked like a loaf of white bread -- in snow. :-) Cinnamon had the cutest one, surrounding a little plant with equal-length leaves to make a sunflower effect. Erica made a rock-man statue.

I have pictures of each one, perhaps I'll post a few to give you an idea.

As for this past week, I've been working hard on Palm OS programming. I've got my own little version of a bare-bones structure, an Ant-based build-system, Eclipse set up as an editor for C/C++, and the system for running the emulator in place. Now, I'm studying Palm OS GUI programming. While I won't be doing much GUI stuff, I *will* be doing it, and I need to get an idea of the "feel" of Palm OS programming.

OK, well, time to run. I promise not to be away from my blogging for 6 days ever again. :-)


Monday, March 14, 2005

Monkeys and Qdoba

posted by John Blanco @ 7:58 PM

 

Today, I bought Michele the most sweetest, thoughtful, caring, loving, how-to-show-her-you-love-her gift a guy could get his girl:

A Web site. :-)

So, Michele is the proud new owner of MonkeyMural.com, the new home of her muraling Web site. This will server as a way to display her work...her portfolio if you will...and an easy way to advertise her services.

I hope she has beeter luck with her new startup than I am having. ;-)

We enjoyed dinner at Qdoba, featuring FREE CHIPS AND SALSA! I also picked up a book on Palm. Oh, the joys of C++. I'll have to see how I feel about this new gig. I miss Java already. :-( But, I haven't chosen between Blackberry and Palm just yet.

Now, it's time to decompress the mind. I sleepwalked through the day, didn't feel too well. Driving sucked, too. Damn snow. It was nice on a Saturday evening, but dreadful on a Monday morning. :-/

Sunday, March 13, 2005

The Subliminal Mindfuck America

posted by John Blanco @ 6:59 PM

 

Wow! We got like 8 inches of snow today. It was incredible! Yesterday it was gorgeous, we were driving with the sunroof open...it was beautiful...then this morning, tons of snow!

Whew...anyway...at 11, went to Kevin's house to help Adron paint his new digs. :-) He's moving in to the upstairs of K and Shawn's house, so we offered to help them paint. It was the 6 of us, plus Minka, and the room looks so much better.

How does one explain the previous paint? Hmmm, I wonder...



Also today, was playing with Palm OS API's. There's a chance I may switch to Palm development. It's a long story. :-)

Saturday, March 12, 2005

Loosen the Bra that Binds You!

posted by John Blanco @ 9:50 AM

 

The weekend is here. :-)

Last night, the Michele's parents treated us to "Simms Street," a snazzy little restaurant with some really nice food selections. I had a half-rack of ribs, and their mashed potatoes were amazing! Michele had lobster tail.

Afterwards, we went back to their house because I was hired into labor with that meal. :-) Her dad's computer had poop'ed out (yick, there's a term for ya) and after unsuccessfully trying to ressurect the sound cand printer capabilities of the machine -- the OS had some corrupted files going on -- we spent a couple hours and reloaded the entire machine fresh. The reload went very smoothly I have to say, and everything is not only back to normal, but better than it started!

Today, Michele is finishing up the murals in the future-baby-room and I;m going to write a little code while she does so...the Texas Hold 'Em game is coming along nicely. Just the engine for now. I'll report on it later.

Another little thing that's going on...I've always had trouble swallowing pills. You see, when I was young, I was either terrified of them or my mom never gave any to me. So, when I hit my 20's, I just couldn't get used to it. Very unnatural. I've tried practicing with vitamins, but even that got hard.

So, a week ago, I bought One-A-Days's, and unlike the last time I tried this years ago, these are not "easy swallow" pills. In fact, they are "horse pills" to me. :-) Though, likely not to you.

So I've been practicing with my horse pills. One try a day, if I fail, I give it up for the next day. My record right now is 3 out of 5. Not bad, I started 1 out of 3. I found that taking them with OJ this morning was easier than with water. Hopefully, my gag reflex is getting accustomed to the swallowing. These are the biggest pills I've ever swallowed!! (Hey, no swallow jokes...)

OK, now time to code. Asta!

OH, wait, one more thing. Fans of the Randi Rhodes Show will appreciate this sound clip of Sam Seder (of Majority Report fame) singing the "Bounce Your Boobies" song as Randi did. Hilarious!

Bounce your boobies, Sam!

Thursday, March 10, 2005

King of Vegas

posted by John Blanco @ 6:58 AM

 

Handango Mobile Software: Java Phone Software - Counterpart

Well, Counterpart sales have been dissapointing thus far. I'm a little bummed, but it's only been on sale for 2 days, and half that time it was pulled from the list because I modified some details on it. None of the other games released at the same time have sales, so I'm not the only one.

Just don't know much about this market yet.

What I do know, though, is my next J2ME project. :-) The idea came quickly after Counterpart, and I was going to use the month to decide on my plan...but, this goes beyond J2ME...this is an exciting project!

My next game will be "Texas Hold 'Em: King of Vegas" (tentative title), which will be based on the wildly popular card game.

Funny story, the idea came from me thinking about what might sell well. The card games seem to do well, and especially Texas Hold 'Em. But, I'd never played the game or even knew much about it! I talked with my buddy Steve (an avid player) and did a little research on my own and fell in love with the idea.

Now I'm playing on Yahoo, have a book by Ken Warren on the subject, and have already started working on the engine! Mind you, real development won't start til next month. But, in my spare moments, I've been working on the rudimentary engine:

* Card class
* Deck class
* Hand checker (what's the best hand of these 7 cards?)

This will be an interesting experiment in optimized code. Because a Card class just won't work out in the end. I'm going to have to abandon class structure for parts of this engine in favor ultra-optimized, if slightly obfuscated code. The reason is, there's a lot of effort in finding what the best 5 cards of a 7-card hand is...and before that, figuring out what *could be* the best possible hand before the Turn and River cards are seen!!!!

It will be great fun, although a great challenge in AI. But I look forward to it. :-)

As for Counterpart, the game ain't going away and I have some ideas for simple improvement. At any point, I can add smooth scrolling back into the game (for phones that can handle it) and/or smaller tile modes, so smaller-screened phones can see more at once.

There is also one small defect that Sean found, which is easily fixable...but I'll wait on updating the application for now. If sales start to pick up (or, start, period!), I'll determine my course of action. As it stands, if no one buys it, I won't have to address any complaints! :-)

OK, then...that's all for now.

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Counterpart On Sale!!!

posted by John Blanco @ 6:29 AM

 

Handango Mobile Software: Java Phone Software - Counterpart

Monday, March 07, 2005

Clean Sweep

posted by John Blanco @ 7:50 PM

 

Whew...quite a productive day, but a bit tiring. Still have 2 hours left, too. Maybe I'm too productive! Or maybe I have plenty of time to play some Harvest Moon and relax. ;-)

This morning, got another blog read on the Jerry Springer show. I was referred to as "One of our regular bloggers..." which I knew would happen cause the guy seemed to like my 'ZaBlanc' handle the first time. This time, I posted the definition of Socialism, as righties like to call lefties that, even though the definition doesn't fit at all. But, that's what happens when you vomit up old Limbaugh lines.

In the afternoon, I ran a final test of Counterpart on Senthil's phone at work and decided we were good...so I hit the shiny red, candy-like button and Counterpart is pending sale. :-D Which means, in a few hours (or less, or more), Counterpart will be selling on Handango.com!!! Very exciting. :-) I'll give word, and a link, tomorrow when it becomes official!

After I got home, and had dinner by myself because my cute wife had dinner with her friend from work and is SO MEAN for it (*wink*), I had to do some work with Subversion. Subversion is a Version Control System...basically, it allows you to save revisions of files. So, for example, a software developer might use it to, say, save revisions of his source code...which might be important after, say, releasing his first J2ME cell game. ;-)

Along with Counterpart, I also Sub'ed by Maze and Tetris demo's, some Pixel Art I'm working on (more later), and all our digital pictures. :-) YEAH! This is very important, for if my laptop were to become...errr...fried...then all our pics would be lost. Here's to a CD-RW and Subversion to turn all my backups into a one-step process!

After cleaning all that up, I decided to clean my bathroom. Just finished that...and now I'm here blogging my day. Mike Malloy is on repeat, so it's quiet.

OK, so with Counterpart done...I look forward to the break from "Release Pressure." As planned, I am going to take a little break to see how Counterpart does sales-wise, so I can figure out what my next step is. Some possibilities:

* Counterpart completely fails. Sells nothing. What I'll try to expect so unrealistic dreams aren't dashed. :-) My next course of action would be to seriously reconsider what I want to do. I might give the cell game market another try, or I might pursue another game market, or I might just quit altogether and wallow in the sorrow which is what to do with my life. :-
* Counterpart sells decently. I'd likely take this as a sign as there are possibilities in the cell gaming market, and pursue something bigger and better for my next project. I'd be a lot more inspired to do the second one with the hopes of improving sales.

* Counterpart sells well. A complete shocker! It'd certainly be nice, I tell ya what. :-) Obviously, this one's easy...I'd definitely pursue the gaming market again with an unrelenting fervor to do something even better! Another serious option would be to begin development on Counterpart 2. This, of course, would be a simple matter of designing 25 new levels and adding some more gimmicks and some sharper graphics to the game (and sound?). Would be a nice option to have!

* Counterpart sells through the roof!!! First, I'd wake up. ;-) But, if it happened, and some games on Handango.com have really sold well, I'd of course immediately set to work on Counterpart 2 without any hesitation. While it might not be as fun as a whole new game, the $$$ would make the decision quite easy. Plus, I'd have *fun* anyway.

So, whilst I rest and sit back and wait for sales numbers and market analysis, I'm going ahead with my plan to study the art of Pixel Art. This is something I've been looking forward to for, well, all my life! Shall I explain?

Yes, I have time and am playing chess online right now, so might as well. :-)

When I was about 13, I started playing with computers. Of course, then, I was young and into something not many people knew about. My parents had bought me a Tandy TRS-80, and I was learning to code in GW-BASIC. I'd written some text-based games...all very simple...but that led me to my first year in college when I began my quest to learn how computer games were made.

I learned about it on my own, and actually wrote two games whose structure looks an awful lot like the way games are "really" written. I was pretty excited about that. :-) I wrote Spacewar and Pong, both obvious reproductions of existing games (Spacewar was written at MIT and may be the first game ever written). The graphics were simple, all primitive-based, and I wanted to do something better.

A little while later, still in my first year at College, I started learning some more advanced programming languages. I still remember going into a CompUSA (back when there weren't so many computer outlets) and buying a C++ compiler. :-) How excitin'! With that and Pascal, I wrote a small series of...ahem...rather risque text-adventures. They were text-based, sure, but they were rather extensive...heck, even a coding effort I'd be unlikely to attempt today...and the games had REALLY nice-looking graphics.

Ahem, I mean *really* nice-looking. ;-)

In my second year at College, I had this psycho roommate who's only redeeming quality was that he could do some really nice computer graphics. In the first week at the dorm, we got together to make "Pong II: The Shift Into Hell." Par-ty sweet. Unfortunately, I hadn't acquired any kind of gaming development skillz, so my choice of game was awfully boring. Still, to this day, it's the best-graphicked game I've made.

I worked on some other games since then, one also in the dorm called DTM, which is likely the most fun and interesting game I've made so far. It was like the old Snafu game on Intellivision, with the twist being that you could choose from 6 individual worms, all with special skillz. The game had a nice balance of skill vs. skill, which I find the most intriguing aspect of game development by far.

For example, remember Street Fighter II? The thing that made the game great is that no *one* fighter dominated the game. You'd always find some player who could use Zangief to completely kick your ass. Many people preferred Chun Li and Ryu/Ken, but they were all defeatable. It came down not to the opponent, or the player, but the player's mastery of the opponent. Great balance...geat game.

Up until Counterpart, all along, I've always pursued making a game that was not only a cool (and original?) game, but one with sweet graphics. I've tried with my own hand, but no. I've consulted with Michele...which was very successful, but only in the Flash realm. Michele will definitely be an integral part of my gaming future...but her style of art won't work on a mobile phone.

That's because the mobile phone demands what's called Pixel Art. It's the same thing for the games I wrote years back. It's not about drawing the pretty picture. It's about graphics "in the small." You have to be able to draw a nice looking character in only 16x16 pixels...it's not easy. It's a black art.

And up until a few months ago, I was not aware it had a name. :-) All these years, I've tried to explain to people what I need. Graphics artists just don't come with the skillset. And actually, since the advent of Nintendo 64, 3D graphics are "in" and 2D is "out." The only problem is...Game Boy Advance is "IN," and it's 2D and people love it. And, of course, there's the cell market, which is also 2D for now. The way I see it, there's probably at least 4 good years left for 2D, and then maybe the future GameBoys and cell phones will be powerful enough to go 3D.

Let's hope not. I love 2D, personally. :-)

But now I know about Pixel Art! And with simply that name, it will help to understand more about this art and to help me learn it.

So, for at least March (which will give Counterpart time to dictate my plans), I will study Pixel Art and Isometric Art (an offshoot) in all its forms. Hopefully I'll actually get good with it. But, above all else, it will be great fun and I look forward to the challenge.

OK...this has gone on quite long...and no one is moving on Red Hot Pawn. And I keep reloading Handango.com looking for my game and I really want to get off that. And I have a really cute Yogi behind me who needs hugging. :-) So, I'll go.

Tomorrow...the verdict on Counterpart. Oooohhhh...

Sunday, March 06, 2005

The Baby Room!

posted by John Blanco @ 8:23 PM

 



As I've been finishing Counterpart this weekend, Michele has been finishing painting the future baby room. :-) She's made huge strides over the last 2 days, and she only has the lighthouse to go.

The picture above is the baby room as of yesterday. She's added a lot more, too. Lots of Winnie the Pooh on those walls, but on the other side are TONS of other stuffed animals, a HUGE tree which got leaves today, and the lighthouse, which is only in sketch right now.

Very productive of us. :-)

Also, last night we saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. EXCELLENT MOVIE! Anyone who knows me knows I'd love that movie. It twists around time, is *very* weird, and features Jim Carrey. :-) Kate Winslet was also good...lending another quality to movies I love: weird hair color (blue this time, along with red at other times) Add it to 5th Element and Run Lola Run. ;-)

OK, off to bed.

Counterpart Complete!!!

posted by John Blanco @ 1:47 PM

 

Sweet Jesus! Mercy! Yes!!! Counterpart is complete!!!

All development, QA, and playtesting is now complete...all I have left is to verify it on a couple of other phones tomorrow at work, and then hit the shiny red, CANDY-LIKE button to Activate sales!

It will be on sale at Handango.com directly, and I believe they forward their services to other site. I'm a little stessed as this is my first cell game release, so some common potential issues are a bit out of my radar. I'll learn a lot from this one.

The game will sell for $3.99. :-)

That's all for now. Bunch of other stuff going on, but I'm buzzing right now...can't wait for tomorrow!

Saturday, March 05, 2005

Big Push II: Counterpart

posted by John Blanco @ 6:38 AM

 

OK, here's the big day! I did some coding last night, but not too much. Today is the day I finish Counterpart!

All the code is done. Here is what's left:

* Add "Mack" screens (dialogue from your boss) for about 5 more segments
* Add "Mack" screen to end the game.
* Verify that all levels are solvable.
* Verify that none of the levels as a simpler, "cheat" solution.
* Playtest, playtest, playtest..

I'll be doing more playing than coding today. :-)

Also today, going to Bally's and gonna watch Eternal Sunshine with the Yog tonight.

The Yog will also be busy. She's doing her Yoga today at 11, then she's going to try to finish painting the baby room (sans baby). The mural is almost done! I'll post pictures when complete.

Thursday, March 03, 2005

Counterpart Days Away!

posted by John Blanco @ 8:09 PM

 



I'm nervous and excited all at once! :-) Counterpart's 25 levels are complete!!! I've sorted them by difficulty, categorized them by terrain, and am beginning the playtests -- which are going well as I'm finding bugs and fixing them.

In the last few days, I've reviewed all the levels and have increased difficulties, added twists, and more. The levels are very fine-tuned now. :-) In fact, along with a coupld defect fixes...the coding is just about done, too! One more sitting should finish out the play-along-instructions and I'll be done!

The plan now is to finish up all development on Saturday and spend the rest of the weekend playtesting. A final confirmation will be reserved for Monday, and then Monday night I will release it to the world!

Gimme one sale, pleeeeeeeeeease?!?!?!

The screenshot above is the "peace" level. Level 13, ironically.

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

I Got Mentioned on Jerry Springer :-)

posted by John Blanco @ 11:19 AM

 

I had a blog entry on Jerry Springer's radio show read on the air today. What a thrill. :-) You can hear it here.

Fast forward to the 00:27:10 mark.