Motor Books

Now I don't like ads, like... I REALLY hate ads, BUT... A close friend of mine has a book series he's been writing. Not my current roommates. (Though he was a roommate in college.) The link on the side, 'Buy Firestar' is a link to his first book. I just wanted to inform everyone of what that was and to let them know it's there.
He's still a fairly new writer and if you like to see how writers grow and refine their writing skill, I definitely recommend checking out this book series as this is his start in published work.

Firestar is actually a 6 book fantasy series, of which there are two published so far.
Firestar: Deloran
Firestar: Advent

His writing writing style has evolved a lot between the first two books, so I'm interested in where he goes with his third book, which is currently being written. The books are pretty detailed, the first being close to 500 pages, and the second going a bit over that.

DT3 Stuff
It's not a DT post without a bit of DT information... right? I guess sometimes posts go by without it. A whole Maverick stage has been finished! These are a lot more in-depth than the levels in DT1's Metropolis. Here's a screenshot as well!

Vroom vroom??

The screenshot above is a testing ground for the bike to make sure all its little nuances are working correctly.

The Shroud Lord

He's quite a thing. Some time ago, a guy found a really nice exploit for him which... well I'll show you.
Shroud Lord Exploit
This exploit has been fixed for quite some time and Jaimers91, the man who found this, was awesome enough to keep this unlisted.

It was possible to pull that off even on Distorted, though the Shroud Lord had a way of making it hard to do properly.

And... yeah, that's all for now. I'll have another bird story some time in the future.

Cream Soda

Has nothing to do with anything, except that I still have a bit more.

Today I watched a bird feed her fledgling, which I noticed when it started making noise at its mother, who proceeded to do her thing. Afterwards, she searched the area close by for more food, never getting too far from her fledgling. If she got more than a few feet away, it would follow her anyway, so that was probably less of a concern. The two of them were on the ground next to a tree and some bushes, though there aren't any grounded predators in the area. The fledgling looked like it was about ready to start flying, probably within the next few days, and its wings looked pretty well developed.

DT1 Update
It updated again today. This update fixes that switch bug and has a few minor cosmetic touch ups. The biggest change is to Stalagmite Ruins, where the second room was slightly revamped. That... and a different surprise awaits at the end now. It's goofy, but it's not. Certain LPers will cover it, so... yeah. If you're thinking, no WAY am I going back through that level just to see some changes, you won't have to. :P

Flying Cookies

Edit: (June 21,2012) Got something kinda special and goofy for the next DT1 update. It will make up for some sadness and despair. Smiles are much better than frowns.

Edit: (June 20,2012) Some of you have been loading up save games and then brought to a black screen, which is fixed if you transition to a new room or Game Over yourself. The issue there is coming from the anti-aliasing settings. Using them during play seems to have no issues, it's when loading the save file that seems to be the issue. If you turn your AA setting down to 0 before stopping your play session, the black screen should no longer occur. That's a bleh workaround though. For now, I recommend using the pause menu's Game Over option to fix the black screen if you don't want to screw around with your AA settings all the time. I'll look into a method of stopping that from occurring.

There are still birds, not one, but many, in the building. I found one that had a little nest up in the ceiling of the grocery side of the backroom. She's too high to see if she has any eggs, but she definitely either does or is about to lay them. Another bird has a nest with babies in it on the other side of the store. She's figured out the doors and knows how to get into and out of the store with no problems. I've seen her go out, grab food (crickets) and come right back in. One of the associates has put water into a vase and left it up high, which bird seems to enjoy. Someday an unlucky shopper is going to try tipping that vase to look into it for some reason...

Two days ago, I watched a bird make a nest, of course not the entire time. It was interesting to see her flying and searching for loose strands of grass and foliage that she could use to build it. She'd take a piece or two, go to the nest in progress, and secure it. Without fail, she'd look around from her nest every time before flying out to find more materials. I didn't figure out the reasoning for that. My guess is she was scouting for her next material or making sure nothing got too close to her work. Some of the birds out there get defensive of other birds and will dive bomb them as they fly by if another gets too close. 99% of the time, they're dive bombing a male grackle flying by.

She was constructing that nest all day, I know she had started before I first caught sight of it and was still going at it 6 hours later. An insane amount of work and determination went into crafting that nest. It wasn't perfect and never will be. But when it's finished, it will serve its purpose in the way the creator intended.

DT1 Stuff
I did see the switch bug with raocow's latest DT video. It'll be corrected with the next update that will be released... sometime. Among the changes, I took a second look at that second room in Stalagmite Ruins and did a teeny bit of touching up. A single elemental door was removed and things were spaced out a bit more to give the player more room for error on that section with the spike ceiling. I'm sure someone will complain that it was made easier or that I'm pandering to specific people. Not even going to care about that. :P I'll give an internet cookie to the first person to send me a complaint once the update is live.

The Data Segment is not changing though... not ever.

DT3 Stuff
It lives!! Also the demo may get patched again. I don't know yet. Most of the problems seem to come from Gate 2, most of them are super minor or nit-picky, but issues that I've fixed up nonetheless. They're good concerns regardless of the scale of the issue.

Aside from that, making decent progression on the pew pew levels.

Saw this comic and laughed way way too much. It helps that I do this when drawing.

Wrong Doing

Did I already have a post with this title? I can't remember.

The DT3 demo was updated. Had a little issue I found due to the bomb detonation time changing. VIDEO GAMES!! If something can go wrong, it will go wrong... especially if I'm involved.
The drill bots will now continue on after destroying a wrench block instead of stopping. A youtube man pointed that one out to me, which is where I realized the level that used the time sensitive aspect of the bomb was now off. Thanks ShouAmaterasu for that one.

I HAVE CREAM SODA AGAIN!!

At least one bird is still in the building. I saw her flying around today. The birds I'm talking about are these: Grackles
I find it humorous that the wiki article mentions Austin, TX specifically. There are definitely A LOT of these birds here. The article says their song is harsh. That may be a stretch, it's by no means the most pleasant, but no way would I consider it harsh or annoying. Crickets on the other hand, are annoying, which Grackles eat. Yay!

Anyway, now that demo preparation and such is done, DT3 is moving at a decent pace again.

Birds, Lots of Birds

Edit: (June 15, 2012) The 3rd room in the Control Center (Ch.5) has a 'puzzle' which involves using your bombs. In the old version, bomb detonation time was 90 frames, in the new, it is 85 frames. While this change doesn't make those puzzles impossible, it does require one part of it to be a bit TOO precise as it was made for the old bombs. A patch will come sometime which changes that room to reflect the bomb change. I simply overlooked that level when making the change for the bombs. It also makes a slight change to the drill bots after they destroy a block. (Currently they're remaining where they are. In the patch, they'll continue on after destroying a block.

Another Edit: Often times, I tell the birds at work that they like to cause trouble, because they do. The same goes for the birds in DT3. Some of them found ways to crash the game. Luckily I gave them a firm talking to and they're no longer acting up.

Edit: I'm going to be reuploading the DT3 Demo in a moment. There's an issue... I knew there was 1 more thing that needed to be fixed.

Edit: And there it is! Enjoy! :3

The final demo will be released later on today. I've been running through the game and the code; Everything seems okay now. I'll make an edit of this post when it's uploaded. Probably in about 4 hours.

An update on those birds mentioned in the previous post... They're still in the store, which pleases me. Speaking of birds, there's a lot of them in DT3. I suppose this is my recent obsession. The birds at work are my solace these days. I'd say a good 90% of my time is spent watching them because they're far more fascinating than the job itself. Plus I want wings and those birds do some pretty hilarious things. :P

If you want to keep your save data from the previous demo, simply copy your 'DT3data' file over to the new folder and BOOM, you're set. I don't foresee any major problems with not starting new. Though don't say I didn't warn you of a few minor oddities here and there. A few damage charts may be very slightly off because they'll still be working off the old set if you're not starting new.

There's a lot of subtle and not subtle changes from the previous version.
- If you got all the items in Gate 2, you no longer will. (Though you will have one from a Ch.7 map.) Two items have swapped locations.
- You may remember a blocked off map in the Control Center from Ch.5. That map is now reachable. (Holy snap, 'reachable' is a word according to spell-check.)
- The mainland no longer has bottomless pits unless a conveniently placed sign informs you of their presence.
- There's a lot more birds in the game. Treat them with respect!
- There are ways to boost your wallet size now.
- The bottom 2 abilities from Jerry's second Ability Set lie in their damage values. (Not that it matters, those are unobtainable in the demo.)

And last, have fun losing a few times in Gate C... and you all thought Gate A was rough...

Not a Moment Too Soon

Or too late.

So I'm doing all these tasks I had set for myself for the final demo release of DT3, and then something happened... I ran out of these tasks! Somehow I got everything done. (Aside from one sound file needed.) Hooray for prioritizing! Or something.

I'd release it now, but I'm always afraid I overlooked something crazy important, that and I've been super busy during the times that I'm able to talk with the testers, so Wednesday is going to be the release date. If there's any issues that suddenly arise, whether it be from the game or life punching me in the gut, Thursday is the latest. It's all done aside from making sure the entire game doesn't explode on itself due to me just not knowing how to program. (82.44% chance that it's going to be Wednesday.)

I'd have a story to tell to keep with this new story telling gimmick I've got going, well, if you don't count last post. But yeah, my feet are so incredibly tired as I've been on them for the past 4 days, and there are 2 more consecutive days of this particular task. My feet being somewhat sore and very tired totally has to do with my fingers typing up a story.

A short story instead. I was responsible for approximately 4 birds breaking into a store. Birds not being a code word for anything, but actual birds. And by breaking in, I mean flying in. That was pretty fun. Took the workers awhile to catch all the birds from what I heard.

Side Quests

Are sometimes extremely uneventful and meaningless.

The Chapter 7 update for DT3 should come soon, especially now that I have fixed up what was bothering me about Gate C.

Other changes that are going to occur in this update are (but not limited to):
- Link's bomb explodes a few frames sooner, (5 to be exact.) and the bomb flash makes it easier to read when it goes off.
- A few minor physics changes to both characters involving run speed, friction, and dash mechanics.
- The cursor in the map menu now starts on the location you're at.
- The first equipment slot is active from the start. If you're using an old save, you will not have those Internetz refunded. :P (The first bottle still has to be bought.)
- Using consumable items will go back to the way DT1 handled them.
- NPC text boxes no longer go off-screen.
- Ability level requirements have been changed and a few abilities have had their power slightly adjusted as well as how much power they gain per level. (If you're using an old save, this will not auto-correct itself, but for the demo, this is not an issue.) The same has been done to AP level requirements. Instead of letting an algorithm handle this, it is all done by hand.
- The boss at the end of Gate 2 was changed a bit. Its attacks aren't so chaotic and has been made a little easier.

The duel at the end of Gate 3 is NOT changing! I can give a tip though.
Never run from him, and try to stay about 3/4 of Claire's hair length away from him. The further the fight goes on, the more he'll try to zone you and the faster he'll be at it. It's up to you to keep up with that. It's not a good idea to go after the health pots at the edges of the room since you'll probably wind up taking more damage trying to get to them. It's better to lead him to the sides and grab them when, and only when, you have a good opening.

Seems appropriate to me!

Confrontational

I am wildly confrontational these days. Both online and in the real world, ESPECIALLY in the real world. It's a good thing I wasn't like this when I worked customer service, as people are asses A LOT, and I am liable to point it out to them when I'm like this. People really don't like being called out I've found, which reminds me...

I witnessed something the other day in a parking lot that is both humorous and aggravating. I stopped to talk to a friend real quick who is a cart pusher. Just a quick catch up and such, cause he was on the clock. Just as he goes back to work, he sees something that upset him. So... this guy just wants people to be decent human beings, he doesn't ask much. He can't stand ignorance and laziness. What he witnesses is this guy leaving his cart next to his truck, which tends to happen in parking lots, whatever. However! The man in the truck closes his door and unrolls his window. He then proceeds to dump his trash in the cart, which he has no intention of throwing away himself, then rolls his window up. My friend doesn't put up with shit... ever. He's pretty awesome like that. I'm a bit more apathetic and would have let that go. SO... he walks over to the truck and taps on the man's window, then rolls it down. My friend, who from this point on, will be named Bob. The guy in the truck shall be named Douche.
Bob then says, "Do you want your trash back or should I take care of it?"
Douche bellows out, "I have guys who will take your fucken head off!" I'm standing about 25 ft. away and can hear this guy clearly threaten my friend, even over normal parking lot noises.
Without flinching or missing a beat, Bob replies, "Why not just do it yourself?" Bob then sees the pointlessness in all this and starts to walk away, he's got a job to do.
Douche gets out of his truck. It was at this point that my gut clenched up a bit, Bob would have beat Douche's ass, but still, witnessing a fight can be nasty. Douche then performs the 'come here' hand motion accompanied by a, "Come over here." in an attempted threatening tone. Bob doesn't actually want a fight, so he puts his hand up and says "I've got a job to do." I'm not sure what that company's policies are for things like this, but I'd have vouched for my friend. Luckily Douche gets back in his truck and drives off. I approached my friend one last time before leaving, saying, "Wow, that was special."

People piss me off. Its been a looong time since I've been in a fight luckily. I might be long overdue to vent frustration. Maybe the next time someone robs me at gunpoint, I might have to not only break their arms and legs, but in this state, I might just take the entire appendage... Okay maybe not if they have a gun. I've found I can stay pretty calm even when a gun is being pointed at my face. Fun times. A special tip for anyone who ever finds themselves in that kind of situation. Just do what they say.

So yeah, this is a video game blog
I know, I know. I said I'd stop updating the first game, but people found things that needed to be fixed. One of these was a very very humorous... thing. Which the clever guy who found it has decided to keep it secret for now. I'll reveal this hidden gem in about 1 month from now, unless he makes it public first. It's his discovery so he may do with it as he pleases. (I apologize if said person is actually female, I tend to use male oriented terms till I know otherwise.)

DT3 is moving at a decent pace again, yay! I figured I'd have the Chapter 7 update ready by now, which technically it is, but there's some things which must be fixed up first before I release it.

-Of those, I know of the key issue for Gate B, which has been fixed. For those who have unfortunately run into this bug, Gate B will be available again to you once the Chapter 7 update is up.
-The bomb boost is far more responsive and easier to pull off.
-STUFF!!
-No screenshots this time, cause I'm mean. :(