If you just need lots of music, most of which is quite good:

http://www.gamemusicbundle.com/

It's anything over a dollar for the five headliners, ten dollars for the full pack and some of the more interesting albums in the bundle for me, and another five if you want to add the first indie music bundle to the mix.

That said, I would have paid ten dollars for the Machinarium soundtrack alone, if I didn't already have it. Great album.

Speaking of Machinarium, the creators of that soundtrack have recently released another album:

http://store.floex.cz/album/zorya

You can listen for free there, and buy it for your MP3 player if you so choose.

Following their recommendations and inspirations:

http://sonic.eleventigers.net/album/111

Again, listen for free, and that album is a choose-your-price if you wish to buy.

Or, if you want a bundle that's less strictly instrumental:

http://www.indiegala.com/

That one gets you both games and (completely unrelated) music for varying prices. I got the middle option and, even being unable to play many of the games, feel that I got more than my money worth.

Anyway, that's some of what I've been listening to lately, and the reason I am now broke. :P
Hope something among it speaks to someone out there.

Cheers, everyone!

Okay, as I mentioned in my last scrap submission, I think I'm gonna try my hand at this PMD-E thing and see if it sparks me to draw other things again as well.

That said, my team needs a name. Seeing as how they're basically going to be a pair of smooth-talkers consisting of a cheerful, amusing hoppip and a drowzee who trades material things for favours, secrets, and especially dreams, I'm having a hard time not calling them The Dream Team.

Seriously. Save me from myself. Suggest some decent team names, please.

# I was also considering calling them the Merchants of Dreams, but I figured that might be confusing given they are applying to be rogues. 'Course, that also might make a fun running thing where they're occasionally mistaken for belonging to the wrong guild. Any and all input, different name suggestions or otherwise, would be appreciated.

To my graduation. I return to school tomorrow, at which time I should become at least relatively productive once again.

I'll worry about what happens after that closer to the finale.

Anywho, everyone have an excellent weekend.

Just saw it in 3D. I'm honestly amazed.

The style of action holds true to a cartoon, though the visuals are unbelievably detailed. My dad and I spent the entire film occasionally noticing the tiniest details, like Tintin's freckles, or the wrinkles on the captain's face, or little fragments of dust stirred up and floating around after moving something long undisturbed. Even more broad things, like the general framing, were great. Action scenes feel intense, but not through obnoxious shot changes or anything like that. They're just genuinely great, exciting, and immersive, especially a chase scene that really makes you feel like you're riding along with the characters.

My only real complaint with it is, on occasion, the sound. Specifically, Snowy the dog makes some kind of noise every second he's on screen, which can get kind of tiring. Tintin has a habit of thinking aloud too, which I suppose is fairly true to a nostalgic style of adventure based on a comic, but it feels somewhat misplaced among the stunning, modern visuals.

All-in-all, though, the film is just immensely fun from start to finish, and I'd highly recommend it.

Oh, also, happy Christmas to the lot of ya.

Humble Bundle 4 is availible now!

You know the deal, go here, get great games for whatever price you're willing to pay. This bundle currently features:

-Jamestown
-NightSky
-Super Meat Boy
-Bit.Trip Runner
-Shank

And, if you beat the average:
-Gratuitous Space Battles
-Cave Story+

Jamestown: Pretty fun vertical scrolling shooter, with a quirky re-imagining of American history. Reminiscent of Tyrian and the like. Graphics are pretty (again, in that 16-bit, rolling shooter sort of way), the music is quite nice as well (and soundtrack comes with the bundle). It's just generally fun. Also, there is multiplayer coop, but it is sadly hotseat only. Still, if you can get a couple friends who like that sort of game too, it could make for a fun evening.

Nightsky: Beautiful, atmospheric, 2d physics puzzles. Enough said.

Super Meat Boy: I hope you like fast-paced platformer action! :P If you played the original Meat Boy flash game, then you know what to expect. If not, think N: way of the ninja, but faster, angrier, and with more absurd visuals made to bore through your eyes straight into your brainmeats. Frustrating as hell, but fun and all the more rewarding when you're successful.

Bit.Trip Runner: Pretty standard rhythm game, that lulls you into a false sense of security with fascinating worlds in the background, then smacks you in the face with a giant worm or something. I'm not a tremendous fan, to be honest, but a lot of people seem to really enjoy it, so I s'pose it's worth a shot.

Shank: Not an indie game. It's just not. Anything with EA's logo within twenty yards of it is no longer eligible for that status. Go, creators of Shank. Go cry in your corner of shame. Your skinny jeans have fooled no one.
That out of the way, I'm just not too into Shank. It tries to seem sort of unhinged and different, but does so in the same fashion as film by Quentin Tarantino or any of the various 300 or Watchmen style films. Hell, I'm pretty sure the plot is even exactly the same as the film, Machete. I've never been too into the whole over-the-top-violence-and-nothing-else angle, and that just seems like all this game is. Furthermore, it's 2 whole GB and comes with no bundle extras. I'm not gonna lie; I will not endorse Shank, though you are free to try to enjoy it regardless if you get the bundle.

Gratuitous Space Battles: The name tells it to ya straight. You make ships, you line them up how you want, then you pit them in battles against other armadas and watch the lasers fly. Quite fun, if you're into that sort of thing. Little dull if you're not, or would like to take part more actively. The bundle copy comes with none of the DLC. Bear in mind you can probably get the DLC cheaper on the game's sight than on Steam before binding all of your games to it.

Cave Story+: Oh boy! It's like Cave Story, but plus an invisible integer! Look, guys, if you don't know Cave Story yet, something's gone awry. For those of you who don't know, you can get the game for free here. Yes, that's just the basic Cave Story, but the base game is essentially the same, far as I can tell. I believe Cave Story+ has some updated graphics and music, maybe a new weapon or two, and a handful of new game mode add-ons, but you deserve to know you can lop off the + and get it for the nominal price of free instead. If you're a long-term fan, or have never played and are willing to pay above average for the bundle anyway, by all means, Cave Story+ is the way to go. It's still as fun and charming as ever.

I was walking home from town after taking care of some chores today, when a guy approached me specifically out of the crowd of people, handed me five dollars, and asked if I could buy him a beer from a certain establishment. He looked fairly clean, well kept, and clearly of age... So I had to ask "why don't you buy it yourself?"

He danced around the question, mentioning that he got in an argument with the owner before rambling about how girls love a bad boy and how he allegedly gets all sorts of tail for being falling down drunk, even going so far as to oogle a passing probably-freshman to make his point. By this point, something seemed clearly amiss to me... Or in the very least, he seemed like a creep/asshole. I probably should have just said I wasn't feeling comfortable about this whole situation...

But instead I took the money, walked into the shop, and bluntly told the clerk the situation. He walked outside, identified the man (who was the only person seemingly waiting outside), and essentially told me "well, I don't know why he wouldn't be allowed in here... But if he says he's not, I guess he's not. Sorry, I can't sell it to ya." I nodded and walked back out and gave the guy his money back and told him that cashier wouldn't sell to me.

The guy seemed calm, if slightly disappointed, but interested in why they wouldn't sell to me. I just told him the guy at the register walked out and saw him and said he could sell to me (all true, mind you), then I walked away.

Cut to five minutes later, walking down the road on my way back to campus... I suddenly recall the stings my boss told me about in the summer, where cops disguise as civilians and ask someone of questionable age to buy something for them for whatever made-up reason to see if they card or not. Suddenly, it made more sense why he picked me, a male of dubious legal age, out of everyone around town. It made sense why he wanted it from that specific place. It made sense why he seemed clean, had a shaky story that the actual clerk at the store didn't confirm, and was so interested in why they didn't sell to me... I could be wrong, of course. But if I'm not... Whoops. :P

It struck me as this interesting, twisted web of deceit the more I thought about it.

Anyway, just wanted to share but a shred of the strangeness today held for me.

Also, at risk of jinxing it again, I'm feeling much better since my last journal. Thanks again to those of you who have been so understanding and/or supportive of my prior situation. Now I just need to rekindle my drive to do stuff, and I'll be golden. :P

After that update yesterday, I developed a massive headache.

It's still persisting today.

It's so bad, I've had to resort to Advil just to function (those of you know know me know how rare it is that I will actually resort to any sort of medication instead of just letting my body sort itself out).

Lose the debilitating back pains, gain debilitating head pains. It's funny in a way.
Not a ha-ha way. Mostly because it agitates it to laugh.

It's probably a pre-cold headache. Feels like it's settled in my sinuses mostly, and the back of my throat's feeling slightly less than stellar today too. Hopefully that means it'll pass in another day or two, though. If not, I'm going straight to the medic.

My back is feeling pretty much normal again today.

Quick thank you to everyone who supported me on my last journal, but was also kind enough to let me have the space I felt I needed while in my pain-induced bad mood.

My mood is still a bit muddled, but I'm feeling a bit better in that regard too. Probably try to get online later on.

I wish you all a wonderful day.

PS: Here's a pretty spiffy video as a reward for reading my journals and generally putting up with me. :P

https://youtu.be/V9AkvnSYO8s

For those of you who don't know, I have recurring back pain. When it's acting up, every step with my left leg causes a shooting pain through the whole limb, up through my lower back. Sometimes it gets so bad that the whole leg seizes up or gives out. It feels mostly fine while sitting down (unless I twist wrong or something...), but walking even a few paces out of my dorm room becomes a major trial.

Before anyone asks, I've had it looked at extensively. Even had an MRI done to see what the problem is. The problem with the problem is that there's really nothing anyone can do about this issue, short of masking it with pain meds, which I'm not willing to do. I occasionally try stretching it, which makes it feel better for an extra 10 steps down the hallway, or so. I also stood in the shower and did the best I could to just let hot water run down that leg, but to no real advantage.

I'm not asking for sympathy or anything like that, so don't get me wrong there. I just want everyone who I usually talk to over AIM and generally anyone wondering how I'm doing to know what's going on and why I'm largely avoiding messengers. Needless to say, being in excruciating pain every time I try to walk just down the hall to the bathroom is unpleasant and tends to make me quite cranky on top of killing my drive to do much of anything. I'd rather stay off messengers than risk lashing out at someone who does not deserve it.

I hope the rest of you are having a nice weekend so far, and continue to do so.

You did this to me. :C

https://youtu.be/viTkj0eu-fk
This song is so absurdly catchy. :C

I love it. :C


IN OTHER NEWS: NEW INDIE HUMBLE BUNDLE
Go surrender your hard-earned cashmoneys now. But only as many as you can/want to. Because that's how these work.

The games so far this time:
Voxatron: This game has enormous potential, especially for just being an Alpha right now. Lots of fun already, with some pretty cool moments in just this version of the campaign, as well as user created levels that you can access already right from in-game. Worth the cost of a bundle alone.

The Binding of Issac: Easily the most visually grotesque thing I own (take a moment to ponder that). The gameplay is actually a really fun blend of Legend of Zelda and roguelike sub-genre. I enjoy it overall, in spite of it being one of those games you feel slightly ashamed to play around people. XP Also, the soundtrack is decent, and comes free with the bundle.

Blocks that Matter: I adore this game, and am thrilled to see it finally start getting some publicity with this bundle, as I feel it really slipped through the cracks. The music is kind of weak, but the puzzles are interesting, the story is amusing, the art direction is charming, and I'd recommend it to anyone who has any love at all for puzzle-platformers.

Well, about a month-and-a-half or so ago, I ordered myself a brand-new Rosewill mouse. It's wasn't a big buy. Just a $10 mouse that seemed simple, functional, and exceptional for the price. And it was!

... For a while.

Over the past week or so, I've noticed that it will sometimes register left mouse button clicks more than once. At first it was occasional at most. I'd try to click the back button and it would jump back too pages instead of one. But it's been getting more severe. Sometimes it registers so many times in a single click, now, that I'll go back to the root of my window's history from tapping back. It almost never clicks just once anymore.

I have ordered yet another new mouse. When this one arrives, I will have four mice in this dorm room; two that don't work, one that's too small to be comfortable, and one that (hopefully) is fully functional. :C

If this one doesn't work out, I'm totally gonna be playing L4D on my tablet.

Go HERE: Get ART.

 Sirfy has opened for an Iron Artist. She's a good friend of mine and also does fantastic work, so you have no excuse to not fill your meatfaces with her drawpages.

Do it now!

Or don't. You are (debatably) an agent of free will.

But I'd like it if you did, and so would she, and so would you after you get the finished product. :3

PS.: This is what it would be like if Michael Bay was made director of public transportation.

That is all.

"Here's an ad for a car! is this ad right for you?"
-No.

"Hm. That must be because you just got a new car... thaaat means you must need insurance for it, right? :D"
-No.

"No? Okay, so you must have both a car and insurance... But your car is probably old and clunky! Wouldn't you like a nice, shiney, new one?"
-No. I already told you I don't want a car. I don-

"Right, don't want to switch from your old one, I get'cha. If you love your old car that much, you should make sure it has the best insurance, though! How abou-"
-NO.

"Neither car nor insurance ads are relevant to you you, huh?... Has this ever happened before...? Uhm... are you sure you wouldn't like a new Duran-"
-No, gorramit!

"Okay, then. How about this upcoming film? Interested in that?"
-NOOoh-wait a minute. Yeah, that actually looks nice. I might go see that. c:

"Alright then, let's compromise. You like films, I like cars and seeing things get wrecked with little consequence. Here's a film about cars that run into robots and wreck shit. It's got a great director.
Problem, viewer?"

-... Dear Hulu, allow me to respond to that with a clip of my own

Or, in the very least, my mind has not been cooperating with drawing lately. I think "draw" and it goes "No. Internet. Forever. :D"

So, this week, I'm just gonna upload a bunch of scraps I've had laying around instead.

Trying to keep it to three or less scraps per day. Hopefully I'll have something more polished for you guys next week.

Sony is going to try to force you to waive your rights to take part in legal action.
No, really, they are. It's in the fine print of the next mandatory update that you forfeit your right to sue or be part of any class action lawsuits, as opposed to beefing up their security or improving service in any way.

There is not electronic opt-out. You have to mail in your refusal to comply (and pray they do not alter the deal any further).

I guess it just hurts their feelings that you'd betray them like this after their fine-gorram-service.

Now, this is exactly what I'm talking about when I say these big corporations feel they have the right to trample over their customers. They feel they we owe them.
They think that we the consumers, whose money and continued support is the life blood of their economic goliath, are servile to them and their product. And, given how many people will probably not care, sign their rights away, and carry on without a second thought on the matter as they fawning over the newest copy of Bulletshoot or whatever... well, I'm sadly nodding my head and saying "maybe... maybe" like the heavy from TF2.

But for those of you who do care, those of you who are tired of this injustice, who are sick of these companies that your purchases allow continued existence to bullying you because they think they know you're not gonna take a swing back... I IMPLORE you.

Go here: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/.....on-lawsuit.ars
Or in the fine print.
Or anywhere that you can find where to mail to, really.

Go to one of those places, write that letter, mail it to that place, and let them and every other company that pulls this shit, be it EA or Ubisoft or anyone else who DARES forget that the gamers control them and not the other way around, be it McDonald's or Planters or Apple or anything... This is a capitalist system. We are the consumers. We don't -need- you, companies, you need us. And if try to wrong us, stab us in the back, or otherwise betray our investment into you, we need not take an actual swing at you kill you. We, the buyers, need only walk away and ignore you to death.

EDIT: Observe that I don't even have a PS3. It just really gets on my nerves when companies do this kind of thing.

Seriously and sincerely. Thank you so much for all of your support on that animation.

The feedback has been nothing short of staggering from everyone. Within a day and a half it topped Evoc Double as my most favourited submission, the comments were greatly encouraging and occasionally helpful, and the influx of new watchers says I must be doing -something- right.

Just thought I'd let everyone know that I really appreciate all of the kind words and whatnot. c:

So, it's been awhile since I threw anything to appease the kopelaan fans. And I'm in that sort of a mood. And it's a loooong weekend with minimal homework...

Thinking I'm gonna try to make an animation of a kopelaan feeding.
Now, animating is a long, tedious process, but would anyone be interested in this being streamed at any point this weekend? Speak now, or forever blah blah blah.

This year may actually turn out well in the roommate department.

I'm so happy with hope. C:

But I'm just too shaken to come up with one.

:D

:)

:I

But really, I was too far to feel it, but I did hear our house randomly creak a bit. Chalked it up wrongly to our resident ghost. M'bad, Leo. (That's our ghost's name.)

In other news, classes re-begin for me on Saturday. Also, Cortex Command build 25 is FINALLY out for anyone who has the game and hadn't heard, because they haven't really said much. Also, Cobalt. :D

That is all.

I'm not ignoring or avoiding you. I swear I'm not. I'm just reeeeeally, really busy. Two reasons:
First reason, work. Where I work gives weird hours that mess with my eating and sleeping schedule alike. Badly. And what's more, there are about seven people total who work at this open-24-hours-a-day-7-days-a-week store and gas station. And I'm one of them. It means lots of hours, and even more so when something goes wrong for one of my six-or-so coworkers. As it happens, this week one has been hospitalized, another is on vacation, and yet another is stranded in another state. Hopefully that explains my situation some. Othrwise...

Second reason, family life. I thought while I was at school that it seemed like my family was having a party or going out to dinner or generally doing something all of the time. Now that I'm home, I have discovered that the reason it seems that way is not simply that I have bad call timing, but that they ARE doing something. ALL the TIME. And when I'm not working, I am generally dragged right along. Don't get me wrong, it's kind of nice, but it shreds what little other free time I would hope to have. Also, they have a horrible habit of not telling me anything until the last possible second, so plans I make online to... say... stream or draw or game or just chat... Yeah, they get smashed with little or no warning. Why, just now, right after and exhausting shift at work, I'm being whisked away to a dinner party for my father's birthday that I didn't find out about until about twenty minutes ago.

Anyway, anyone who thinks I've been dodging them or anything like that, I'm really not. My life is just moving at a speed of ONE-POINT-SEVEN SECONDS PER SECOND, and I assure you, I am still spending what little time I can scrape off the walls online to see y'all.

Also, Caravan Palace is a bizarre band and I love them forever you should check them out on youtube or myspace right now and punctuation is silly and would make it sound like I took a breath while saying this sentence when I didn't I just said it all out loud to p-. Rove that.

Best wishes and I hope everyone's having a great week.

EDIT: I don't mean my parents get "smashed". Just my plans to lounge and faff about. X3

Right here: http://www.humblebundle.com/

You know the drill, name your own price, get all five games. Simple, easy effective.

The games this time are as follows:
Crayon Physics Deluxe
Cogs
VVVVVV
Hammerfight
And Yet It Moves

I won't be buying this one, as I already own all of these games. However I will vouch for it's value! VVVVVV and Hammerfight alone make it well worth at least $10 in my opinion, both are excellent games. And Yet It Moves didn't strike me as too great, but it's interesting and anyone may like it more. Crayon Physics Deluxe is fun, if simple. Cogs I can't speak for, as I haven't played it yet, but it looks like a decent puzzler. And you can name your own price for the whole lot.

Enjoy. :3

Well, the day started out pretty well. Standard day-off sort of stuff. Lounged about, tried unsuccessfully to play games...

Then it got to be a nice day, I was starting to draw again for the first time in awhile, chatting with folks I enjoy hearing from, even getting and helping with art I was in, which is always a huge pleasure... When suddenly, A SEA MONSTER ATTACKED!
Or my phone rang, whichever best advances the plot.
It was my boss. I guess someone at work bailed without a word, and he was hoping I could take their shift. Annoyed as I was to suddenly break flow of my day-off, which I was just getting into having off, I dropped my drawings and chats and went to earn some cash instead.

My day had effectively become neutral. Which is a trend that continued when I returned home to find that there was another nice little gift waiting for me on FA (thanks again, Galileo. You are far too good to me. <3 )
... upon which my first attempt to comment was hindered by my PC's graphics card abruptly pissing itself and dying. Guess that explains why my games were crashing this morning. :/ Ah well, guess this is what I have a Mac for. Y'know. -Not- dying horribly on me for silly reasons.

Even with that little issue, though, still not a bad day at all. Heck, it'd have been an amazing of a day if that hadn't happened, and the lack of balance from those always freaks me out. So... yay? My dad's holding out hope that it just needs a virus scan or a good internal cleaning, and the PC'll be right as rain again. Personally, I doubt it. Still, graphics cards aren't too pricey these days, so it's not the worst that could have happened by a long shot. Mostly, just a nuisance, and a great excuse to spend time drawing instead of dungeon-diving on Oblivion.

EDIT: Well, the PC's definitely shot to pieces. I think it might have a virus on it on top of the video card dying. Of course, dad blames me, trying to say that Steam games probably have viruses on 'em and that I shouldn't open any e-mails on there (and I don't. My mac is where I do all my e-mail stuff. :P) Ah well, these things happen. Guess I'll be spending this day off reformatting the bloody thing. X3

I love how it will insist that I change a plural to a singular when it is clearly supposed to be plural, or beg that I turn a sentence head-over-tea-kettle because it doesn't like how it sounds my way, despite their meaning being the same...
... but then, when I look back at some of my late night writing, I notice that I made some severe grammatical errors that it just couldn't be buggered about. >:/

Oh, also,  Sovhiel and  Sirfy will be visiting me over this next week or so, so my online levels will likely be reflective of that. Hope y'all have as good a week as I expect to. :3

Because I've been asked quite a few times now, I'm going to make my opinions on this matter very clear:

There are two huge differences between Terraria and Minecraft that really keep one from being the + or - one dimension equivalent of the other.
The first is gameplay focus. Everyone thought that Terraria was going to be a 2d version of Minecraft. I can safely say that this is not actually the case. Besides their both being centered over a mining and crafting pivot, Minecraft is much more a creation and exploration game with adventure game elements, where Terraria is much more of an adventure game with creation and exploration elements. That is to say, while they have the same sorts of foundations, the way they are blended and the focuses set on each are different enough to make them actually very different games.
To try to explain that better, Minecraft is a game without set goals. You're given a wonderful world to scurry through and manipulate as you see fit, and the goals are, similarly, by your own design. Yes, you can make new gear and blocks and items and such, but it would be a real stretch to say that that's the point of the game.
Terraria on the other hand gives you a world with a few set elements and, without actually saying so, essentially tells you that there are stronger monsters on different levels and that you can make stronger gear to wipe them all out without a second thought until you stand alone as the destroyer of worlds. That were created by your computer. For you. To destory. There's a whole slew of items and gear to make and find and they all form into an interesting sort of platformer RPG ala Minecraft-in-bed-with-Castlevania. Oh, and there's building too, but that's to entice NPCs to come into town and sell you stuff and build strongholds, mostly. One would be strained to call it the focus of the game.

The other major difference is compatibility. That is to say, Terraria has none. I've never before seen a 16MB indie game that not only doesn't have a port for Mac or Linux or something, but is also programmed in such a way that Wine (a wonderful application that lets Mac users run most PC programs with a bit of finagling) simply can not run it. Seriously.
On the other hand, Minecraft runs wonderfully on a full-fledged Mac version, as well as a Linux version and a PC version, all of which can play together.

In the end, I'd say it's worth trying for just ten bucks, if you've got that kind of cash laying around.
Which I don't.
On a totally unrelated note, go love  starvingsmeargle , who is generally awesome, and also temporarily restored my faith in the goodness of people with his sudden, kind gesture of purchasing this game for me.

I just got home from college to discover that our constantly problematic internet connection has decided that Cable is for conformists who want to take their lives too fast, and that 90 KB/s is a good, chill speed. Y'know, across everything. So most things are only able to download at about 20 KB/s, to avoid taxing too heavily.

Seriously?! We're paying for cable internet service, and getting lower than dial-up speeds?

Hey, Cablevision! When life gives me lemons, I don't make lemonade. I give the lemons back! Do you know who I am? I am the guy who is going to burn your house down. WITH LEMONS. I'm going to invent a combustible lemon and burn your house down with it!

Oh-ho-hoooo... But really. Screw you, Cablevision. Screw you and your useless-ass Optimum Online service.

Well, guess I'll just go play some of the single player games I had downloaded from when the service -wasn't- crap. Alone. On my perfectly functional gaming computer with the internet abilities to rival a 1992 IBM. :c

On a related note, sincerest apologies to everyone who I'd promised to play games with this summer. If this doesn't improve, that may become but a distant dream... ;_;