Less Video Games

Edit: (August 22, 2013) Today is my birthday. I demand many sacrifices.

In the last year, I've probably played more games than I had the 4 years prior to it. So, I've been playing a lot of games lately. However, it is safe to say that this has fallen back to what it was before, which means... my rapid development should return. It's partially why Gate 5 has taken so long to finish, though it's mostly due to it not being planned as well as it should have been. Many things had to be retuned along the way, both with discussion with the testers, and on my own with my internal build.

The release is still set for sometime in 2014. It'll get done, but the release date is still simply "Sometime around that year." I'll be able to give a better time once the project is a bit further along. Having Gate 5 finished will speed things up considerably, I'm currently finishing the final encounter. There's an escape sequence as well, but I consider it part of that final encounter.

DT3 Demo LP
Yep, someone else has done it. We've seen his LPs in the past. With this one, he's almost done. You can find ShadowSonicPSF LP here. He does voice commentary, remember, it's in Portuguese.

DT3's Easy Mode
I mentioned in a video that DT3 would have an easy mode and that it wouldn't be anything too fancy, most likely just a mode where damage to the player is cut in half. With its purpose to allow the player to either test things out a bit easier or to get through a tough section that they're having a lot of trouble with. (Like the case with the Shroud Lord. I've heard many people switched to easy for that encounter.)

Keep in mind that a few of these things may change, but here's how it is in the current test build.

• Damage to the player cut in half from all sources.
• AP gain is cut in half.
• Weapon exp gain is cut in half.
• No AP or weapon exp is gained for boss fights.
• No money is dropped from enemies.

This mode is not meant to be played until it's needed by the player and even then, it's only meant to be a temporary aid. So, it is not available when starting a new game. It's gained more in the style of DMC where if the player loses enough, the easy mode unlocks. Its UI element is added into the Game Over menu, just like DT1 utilized it. The player will be able to freely switch in and out of it at any time from that menu once it is unlocked.

Bad Video

There are now 2 birds that eat from my hand, and the one mentioned previously is even more friendly than before. She's landed on my hand a few times now as well. Still no video or even pictures, she still doesn't like the camera/phone when it's held up.

Gate 5 Stuff
Most of this is in video format. I'm not sure why the video quality is down to 240p. When it was first uploaded, it was higher. A few minutes after processing was done, the quality dropped a ton. Also I think I need a new mic. It's an old cheap one. Or I just need to get better at speaking into one and slow down. I never remember how fast I talk until I hear myself back.

So Many Musics

Edit: (July 31, 2013) A new post will be posted in a few days when I am back in town. I wanted to get a post up yesterday, but there's a video along with it and I didn't have the time to edit it.

I was wondering if it would happen or not and it did. A grackle jumped on my hand. This one got friendly really fast, it was only the previous day of this event that she started approaching close enough to eat from my hand. A picture will come if I can ever get one of this. Most of the grackles shy away from the phone. We'll see about this one though, she's got no fear. She jumped up to my hand while I was getting food out for her and waited, impatiently, but waited nonetheless.

Also picked up and moved a very young grackle, was no more than 9 days old. It looks like it fell out of the nest a few days too early, but it looked really healthy and had no injuries. I sighted the mother feeding it on multiple occasions. I just relocated it a few feet to a better spot, where it scampered off into a bush. That's a much better place than out in the open. The mother still came down into the bush to feed it, so yay for that.

Musics
So if you've followed ocremix for the last few thousand years, you'll know they've been working on a huge album for Final Fantasy 6. Originally set to be released last December, it was released just a bit ago. You can get the whole thing here for free. Been listening to it and so far it's excellent, and I've still got a ton of tracks to go. As a player of DT, you all have no choice but to go and check this out. I found Smooth McGroove's theme this week to be very appropriate. This is a good week for video game music. Oh yes, the Opera House song is divided up among 3 tracks, and that whole set is quite a listen. The Opera Sequence itself being super amazing and impressive.

Rogue Legacy
So Jeremy found something to distract me from DT3. As if I don't have enough for that all ready. This game called Rogue Legacy. You can get it in that link or on Steam. It's basically a 2D side scrolling platformer rogue-like. You take control of a character to go through this castle full of the undead and traps in search of something you're not sure of yet, but there's loot! Inevitably, you will die. You are then brought to the title screen. But this is only the beginning of how amazing this game is. You choose 1 of 3 randomized characters, all with various perks and drawbacks, and at times, quirky traits... such as being gay. (I don't think that trait actually does anything, but I do smile when it's there.) The flavor text being, "Fan of the ladies." (Or guys depending on that character's gender.) Another being irritable bowel syndrome, which always makes me giggle far more than it should.

Anyway, this character that is chosen is the next heir of the previous character that just died in the castle. There's a skill tree that you can upgrade using money found in the castle. These upgrades extend to every character you use. After all that, you're brought back to the entrance to the castle. Upon entering, you'll notice that it isn't the same as before. Every entry causes the castle to randomize rooms and layouts. This game gets a huge recommendation from me. You really gotta play it to feel how well it's designed.

An Assortment of Time

My current job isn't bad. I'm lucky to have good managers and people to work with. The job itself is easy and fairly boring and customers are of course horrid. The perks of my position is quite a bit of solitude, at least in the sense that people leave me alone. People tend to piss me off, so not a bad thing. However, I'd probably hate the job completely if it wasn't for the birds being around. I've gone over lots about the birds there that I don't think I need to go into another story about them for this. So my question; Is there something like the birds for you at work that keep you going back? (Other than a paycheck.)

Those Moments

There are times when developing where I find myself just staring at the screen. Despite knowing exactly what needs to happen next, nothing at all occurs. The next line of code just hangs there without an end, or that map remains an empty void. It's 1 in the afternoon and I've got lots of things set out to finish for the day, lots of high hopes. I look at the clock and it's suddenly 9 in the evening, so I look back at the screen, a single line of code has been finished. And then I'm angry with myself for wasting time.

Ever had one of those days where you can't get anything done? I'm not exactly sure what causes this loss of focus, but when it does occur, I know it's time to stop what I'm doing and give it some time before returning.

Because Video Games

Overtime

The birds following me around have become a thing for the customers at work. Apparently it is now well known among those that are returning customers. Also my manager knows... and doesn't care, even though he doesn't like the birds. +1

Another partial written post and the rest being done through video.

A Video and a Game

First up, this was just finished yesterday by a friend of mine. He worked hard on this, and its got an original score for it as well. His blog has been linked before, but as a reminder, it can be found here.
Game Download: Dolphin Squadron

Click to enlarge

The way you play is you gotta weaken your target and once you've done this, you suicide ram into it! Download link and a trailer are above. You gotta try it out to really understand it, but it's lots of fun.

DT3 Video
The rest of this is in video format.

Big Anniversaries

My bird has learned a new trick. When he sees me inside the store, (as rare as that is) he'll wait outside the front doors for me. Luckily he has never attempted to come inside, though all I'd need to do is get him to follow me out if that ever occurred. I doubt he will, he seems very content with the outside.

Today is the 10th year anniversary of the best mmo ever made. That being the original Planetside.

No screenshots this time, this is mainly an announcement that I may do another video soon.

Although before I close this. I'd like to ask all DT3 demo players. (Or even if you didn't play it and are familiar with the other 2 games.) If you could add/remove/change one thing in DT3, what would it be?