syntheticgerbil

So I finished this game finally about a week ago. I finished the regular game before that, then did the secret level, then got the trophy for playing the game in five deaths or less. I mean, what can I say? I love all the cinematic type platformers with the puzzler stuff. Where terrain is used organically. This is one of the games I love. The downside is like most people said in this thread, it gets pretty boring the last third. Then the twitch stuff is not so interesting. Crate puzzles grate. There's not the type of ingenuity in Abe's Exoddus for instance. I don't get some of the animation praises in here either because that's actually one part I was very disappointed. It was good but not really something that wowed me. It's just tween stuff in silhouttes and the kid has ragdoll physics where his limbs just fly out and some blood particles. Every death is nearly the same save for a few. I mean, I could be biased because I do the tween stuff everyday, but it's not amazing like Heart of Darkness that has some of the most ridiculous kid death animations I've ever seen. But man, the Limbo secret level was insane. The checkpoints were varied, but that was cruel in the most fun way ever. The end parts where you are just going by sound in stereo was brutal, but I finally got it by turning the volume up loud. That was definitely worth getting all the eggs for in a relatively short game (Think I was doing less than an hour playthroughs trying to get the five deaths or less one).

Thank you for all of that, it's been such a stressor the whole year, and it's good to hear I haven't messed big time alone. I think I did end up burning bridges and while some of these people have worked at Harmonix and have some major contacts, I think I can still do okay on my own, especially my new work friends. The lead designer is at least not too mad, for now I suppose. I definitely did not see a future for myself in the project above all. Haha, the neat thing is while the game that was created before I got here was a Farmville clone, it seems that the strategy right now for the company is to make JRPG type games and dominate that market. I think they are still testing the popularity of that idea. Unfortunately, I don't make anywhere as much money if I were working at Zynga instead. It was great! Unfortunately I did not visit his bedroom... er, boardroom! Re: The girl, in general, Speedy, I think if you can't be yourself around someone without stressing out, it might not be the right girl. However, it's probably more like you should be yourself, she probably loves it, and you can stop second guessing your personality!

So I'm going to put this long post here to get this off my chest because I really like you guys and I have a sort of anonymity here. I just resigned from the (really bad) indie RPG game I posted about a few dozen pages earlier after promising for months that I'd finish up my end. I thought I was nearly done but then I finally got a paying job at a Facebook game company that still produces crap I'm not that into, but I get paid and work with artists I can really learn from and who I appreciate very much so far. They have all been great to me since starting and have introduced me to many new people in the city and I fear (in a good way) that I may have actually become friends with people I work with for the first time ever. The indie game was just too taxing. I hated the art direction, I was unhappy with the art I was doing for it the last six months, the scope of the project was just out of control, the game never became better or more playable and I was supposed to care all the while at the same time doing 60-80 hours a week at my new job (a cram that is supposed to stop after next month... hopefully). Before that, being unemployed, I was struggling to finish my work on the project even still, dealing with a bunch of ridiculous personal junk exacerbated by my inability to find a job. This was at the same time of fishing for connections and trying to be professional and show my portfolio at the same time of being extremely mentally unstable. I was out to really hurt myself in last April and checked myself into a state emergency psych ward May. I ended up diagnosed with bipolar II and had to hang out in a strange clinic to be monitored for a week with some strange people, homeless people, helpful people, and sad people. Some had hope, some were beyond help. It was incredibly eye opening and made me feel like such a brat while at the same time realizing there's not a ton setting us all apart as people emotionally. I bonded with another artist my age who admittedly wasn't that good and had a ways to go. He really did not understand my frustration with my own lack of ability. He was still really wanting to find a job and put an end to his homelessness. I hope he's okay... Things seem to be more stable now than ever in my life, but I've gotta start doing things for my own enjoyment and reduce whatever anxiety possible. So I left that project and I've probably burned some bridges now. I hope this doesn't hurt my credibility too much with these programmers I worked with and people they know, but my heart is not into it. I definitely realized this when doing minor work for PiratePoo on his iPhone game (hope you don't mind me naming you!) and enjoying myself the whole time. It was short and incredibly sweet. There was also a Facebook RPG released by my company shortly after my employment started there and it is eons ahead of the project I was doing work on. I just felt like such an idiot for contributing to a game that was at the level of a bad Windows 95 game. So maybe my future free time will be spent finishing this animation I started with intent to finish or starting some comic and scanning the pages online for fun. There's a designer at work who does a bunch of little experiments for games in MMF which I offered to help with art on at some point. He assured me he had no grandiose schemes of getting rich or making things with a huge scope, so maybe that'll be worth my time.

Finished Prince of Persia Revelations on PSP, the gimped handheld version of Warrior Within that is twice as long. About half of the new areas/levels were great while the other half was a mess of graphics that looked like they game from the N64 era and collision broken messes. Eh, worth the experience, I suppose, but the regular version is the one to stick to.

:eek: WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME THIS?!:frusty: What dimensions are real anymore?!;(

Why is this fucking Texan so popular? What the hell?

I see you've seen Kemonozume which I still need to watch. I would guess you could watch Kaiba or Tatami Galaxy, two other Masaaki Yuasa directed series, but I have no idea if they are any good or not.

I'm here because there's no where else to go.

Hmm, I have only lived in central Texas the past year and I think while it happens sometimes, it's never been on this scale. From what I hear from coworkers it doesn't usually happen around Austin either. I used to live in Houston where floods where the most common thing you could get during hurricane season. I prefer lots of rain. And man I have always disliked Rick Perry so much.

So I had to go home early from work today because of a power outage caused be an apartment complex five miles away burning up. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

So I thought Ninja Gaiden was about ninjas? What is this even advertising? I guess spin offs will be happening soon. I think breast physics though are in general good for naturally looking 3D animation, because you would draw it when animating traditionally, but it's really can get carried away to the point of just looking unnatural and strange. I also have never understood the jiggle appeal outside of just nice looking breasts, so oh well. But man, using the six axis to control... something... that is inside the boob... what? Ninjas?

Well I just completely give up this whole thread then.

So parts of Texas are burning from this stupid drought and I'm kind of afraid. A city about 40 miles southeast from here has been on fire since yesterday. I don't think it's hit the main area, but nearly five hundred of the homes in wooded areas are destroyed now.

It's asking me to register, arrrgh.

I gave up reading news, following news, listening to any kind of politics (outside of this forum), or checking worldly updates as well. I guess that kind of makes me ignorant and sheltered, but there's so much news as it is going on in things I'm interested in or people I know. Worldly news and politics just makes me feel so helpless, angry, and ineffectual. I give up.

I keep reading this thread as, "Thinking of Stepping on my video card." I guess now you can though.

ROCK OF AGES ROCK OF AGES STILL ROLLIN' KEEP A ROLLIN' ROCK OF AGES ROCK OF AGES STILL ROLLIN' ROCK AND ROLLIN'!

Offhand, I always felt like to make a Grim Fandango 3D revampe worthwhile, the backgrounds would need to be made realtime and sometimes move slightly with the camera (still fixed). I think that'd be neat. I really doubt the original model files for the backgrounds are still around and available.

I want to see that cartoon even though I think my girlfriend will hate me for it!

Give book to turn on.

Shit, this thread is falling to the second page, so I'd better post quick! I finished Cloudman and man that was fucking great. The weakest part was putting a bunch of money into a machine to get some action figures. I'm not even sure where I got money to buy things with suddenly in my inventory in the first place. I also really fucking hated a certain screen with giants that fall on you. I think I've died in this chapter more than any so far. I could never get the trick to aim fast enough to hit the giants in the eye. I did on the first time you encounter them from far away with Kaede, but the next area had them coming after you with way too many at a time. Luckily that was all kind of counteracted with the goofy jogger Heaven Smiles who seem content to just jog right past you, waiting for you to kill them. The animated scenes in this part and the atmosphere were great. Really wasn't like Texas much at all, or if so a mash up of a ton of cities or places at once. Nice there was a lot of space nods. I'm a sucker for 2D animated sequences and it was nice to be treated to so many this time around. So much more pretty. The boss transformation was just jaw dropping and the car scene before had some great drawn poses. I think I'm really getting the hang of this game now, aside for some FPS annoyances still. What a strange game.

Oh yeah, Warrior Within! I guess it was worth it, but see my anger and somewhat joy in that other Clunky Ass thread!

Wha? Word Meaning Arguments, etc. Eh, still works.

I think I will play all Forgotten Sands, even the DS version, but I'm guessing that won't even be until next year. I've sort of gotta work on Killer 7 a little bit now.

Actually, now that you mention it, he seemed rather disinterested in both of the available scantily clad, gravity defying women in Warrior Within. Hmm... I know Farah is coming back in Two Thrones, but I'm getting the feeling it's not going to be that interesting or focused upon. Too bad, I really liked their banter.