Okay, so I know I might have said that I wasn't going to talk much design and such on the game until I got the programming sorted out, but then I realized that perhaps wasn't the best approach. I mean, I kinda do need to design the thing so I know what to program, right? Otherwise I could be doing a lot of rewriting. So what I thought was to get some feedback from some of you, my watchers, who are going to be the ones to likely first see this game, hopefully play it, and with any luck, enjoy it. I'm not going to go into full mechanics discussion, but do note that at it's core, the mechanics are RPG inclined.

As this will be furry based, and RPG inclined, making a character is part of the beginning. So, should race/species selection be integrated into the mechanics, with bonuses and perks and the like unique to various species, or be left purely cosmetic? The former adds a bit more depth in the mechanics, but I can only account for so much. The latter makes the programming easier as it's simply a variable and some form of selection, but means the only difference between the varied species of the fandom is some text in how you're addressed/described, no statistical difference between, say, a mouse and a dragon.

Next, I was looking to sprinkle in a little realism into the game. Just a little, considering vore is involved. The current plans include having the vore types of Oral, Anal, CV, UB, Tail, and Engulf/Absorb (the biggest ones; more exotic forms may be added at a latter time). By my reasoning, only Tail and Oral seem really fit for a middle of combat thing, so I ask; Is this an instance where you feel I should throw logistics to the wind and allow all vore types at all times to make things equal, or actually differentiate the vore types on how they're performed? The former allows for more freedom and, to a degree, easier voring but makes the different vore types largely a cosmetic choice, while the latter helps distinguish them some but may make it trickier for those who prefer the "non-combat" forms to be used earlier in the game (as this route would eventually lead to combat capability for all types through character advancement).

Because the game has a level of continuity that lasts for a long period of time, I've been contemplating how to handle digestion (yes, the game functions of the assumptions of Soft Vore Implied Digestion, as in it's explicit that it happens, but the details are as much there as you looking at your stomach after a big meal). What are your thoughts on how to work with it? My thoughts were that digestion would take awhile; you can keep exploring, but you'll be too full to vore anything else for a while until most/all of your meal has been processed (a lot faster than realistic digestion rates, mind you, but still some time). Should it instead be instant so as to be always vore capable? Be a matter of minutes? Hours? I'd love to get your thoughts on the matter, as it's one thing to handwave in comics and sequential art when there is minimal continuity between scenarios, but that there are no such breaks in this game does make it a mild conundrum.

And lastly for now, do you feel that the grab/intake of combat vore should just be a matter of text explaining hit/miss, or should that struggle be actually represented in mechanics some way? I have a plan for the retention of struggling prey, but was unsure if the grab and swallow (into various orifices) should be a matter of mechanics or simply description.

I would love to hear your thoughts on any of the questions and thoughts above, or even share your own thoughts as to mechanics or how to best incorporate vore into game mechanics. Also, if you are interested in seeing the design so far, I may be persuaded to try to collect and organize it to display either in another journal or a submission.

Well, another project bug bit me, and actually it's an idea that's been floating around in my head for a while that I've been brushing off since it involves something I'm not terribly fond of: programming. However, I'm starting to feel that I need to branch out of my comfort zone more, and combining something I dislike with something I like may be the way to do it.

To get to the point, I'm interested in trying to make a text based adventure game (like Corruption of Champions minus the gratuitous porn, if you're familiar with that project), a D&D or Elder Scrolls-esque fantasy game that includes vore. Does anyone out there know of a good place to start with such a project? From a software point, not design one, for the time being? I've got a book on getting started with C++ (I think), but was curious if anyone else knew any good programs/engines/systems with which to build a text based game from.

Does anyone get this with any consistency? At times it drives me absolutely nuts to feel like I've seen something or had a particular chain of thoughts that I couldn't possibly have had before and yet all seem so terribly familiar.

Yep, I'm about to upload a number of old and/or unfinished pieces to my scraps, so for those of you awaiting new complete stories from me, sorry. For those hoping to see more of the CYOA, also, my apologies. I just haven't been able to get much done of late at all. I've been really quiet for a while, and I got to thinking that it would be a shame for some of the work I have done to do little more than collect "dust" in my folders, so I figured that I'd share them with you, and maybe they'll have some meaning in being time well spent for those who read and enjoy them.

Yep, 26 years down. Where has the time gone? This last year isn't one I can say I'm proud of, because really, I've done little of note and feel like I've let more than a few people down, including family. Not to mention myself. But I got myself here, and I can get myself where I want to be. I'll make sure my 27th birthday really is something to celebrate. For now, I'm just going to enjoy my day off from work as much as I can.

Okay, previous journal is still up and I'm still open for questions, but I've got a burning question to ask all of you. Lately I've had inspiration towards the pages of a comic, but I have the visual artistic skills of an elephant (if that). What came to mind, however, was that for character anatomy/positions/poses, I would take photographs of myself in the poses I wanted, trace them in an illustrator-esque program, and then refine the trace to the character in question (specifically, a sci-fi armor wearing ocelot). However, would such a "trace" be against AUP, or even against any sort of "artistic integrity" standard? I had every intention of detailing how I made such pages in the description, but is such a tactic one I might be better off avoiding? I'm not sure if I can do my imagery justice with just referencing, but it's not as it I'm copying another's work (as I'd be photographing myself, so every part is my own work), and the base trace would then receive modifications and not be left as is.

Thoughts? A part of me really wants to experiment here, but I'm not sure if my chosen path might be a slippery slope.

So I've seen my fair share of these and I thought, why not? I'll make an "Ask My Characters/Me Anything" journal. I may end up regretting this later, but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

So, is there anything you'd like to know about me?

Anything you've wondered about my characters?

Anything you'd like to ask them directly and hear an answer in their own words?

Feel free to ask anything, and though I promise to reply to everyone, how I answer is up to my discrepancy. You can ask a personal question, but I may not answer the question in my reply, depending on the nature of the question, naturally.

Also, if you need a refresher as to who my characters are, just ask, and I'll point you to them. I haven't gone into detail on a lot of them I suppose, but hey, if you're curious to know more about them, ask away.

I thought about writing a rather depressing rant/journal on my current lows in my mood and state of mind, but I think I've written enough and really, while psychologically I may have depression symptom (and maybe even full blow depression for all I know), my life's pretty good, all things considered, so I'm just going to have to fight through it and figure out how to get back to the person I used to be back in college; energetic, creative, motivated, and just, I guess, happy to be alive or something. Seems I've misplaced something important in my life, and like many of the things I've misplaced over the years, I'll find it eventually.

But anyway, if you're interested in free art (and really, who isn't?),  tidmatiger is holding a little casual raffle to sometime around August 11th. I think I've pimped his/her work before, but hey, nowadays it's all about networking and getting your name out there, so I guess I'll play my part.

As I can't really introduce a new character with an image, which method of introduction would you prefer? An introduction story that uses narrative to explain the major aspects of the character in a natural narrative, or a straight up character bio that lays out the details in a straight forward explanation, either as simple informative or flavored by a personal perspective. I've got a few character kicking around that I'd like to introduce to FA, but I'm not really sure how to go about it, so I thought I'd get your thoughts.

A story is likely to be a more interesting read, but I can't likely put all the pertinent, and some of the potentially oddball, facts in there without it sounding contrived, and while a character bio may give all the information, it may not be all that appealing to sift through, especially when there's no image to tie it with.

So, thoughts?

I bought something online that has packaging dimensions of 3X3X2.25 inches. It was shipped in a 12X12.5X5.5 inch box.

Really? That was the smallest shipping box they had? Really?

First, I’m still a little scatterbrained at the moment. Been having a hard time focusing on the CYOA, but for those of you watching it and participating, rest assured that I have every intention of maintaining it. Just…updates will be sporadic. Mind’s been all over the place and it hasn’t really been easy to focus on any of my projects, of which I have too many. I hope to rectify that, but haven’t quite figured it out yet.

To add to that dilemma, recently I’ve got an RPG itch again. I really want to sit down with a group of friends and make up characters, worlds, plots, and roll some dice and such. Problem is…I don’t really have any real life friends to gather and do such, so I’m left kinda stewing. Can’t really say I really know many people on FA well enough to comfortably ask if they’d be interested, and finding an online site for such (which I do frequent one) is so hit-or-miss on quality and survivability and I’m not really interested in trying my hand at such a crapshoot right now. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, I’d love to hear them, otherwise, well, that’s just where I stand at the moment. I have given serious consideration to finding a way to tabletop RP with others via skype and screen share, but that’s still just a maybe, mostly because there’d need to be a lot of scheduling workings considering different timezones and such, but the real time would be preferred over posting, it at all possible.

Also been working out on coming up with characters, just to try and exercise my brain again. I’m almost satisfied with the continuation of the piece for my character Xevren (part one was posted six months ago…sheesh, I doubt anyone even remembers that piece anymore), I have another in writing/development of another character, and I still need to develop some of my more “generic” characters, characters who don’t have a setting they belong to, and exist in something of a vacuum, who can fit just about anywhere because they don’t have an established setting they inhabit, namely Isaac (my fursona) and Damian.

And along that note, was wondering if I could get a little input from some of you. I’ve been thinking that doing a little character development from a blank slate and focusing on something new for a bit might help me, instead of continuing to stare at my default works. What I’d like to know from you is what you think are some under-represented species in furry works? Species you think could use a little more love. These could be real or mythological, just things that would fit that you just don’t really see at all.

...being a vore watcher, you take the time to mathematically figure out how much a stomach would hypothetically bulge out if a person of your mass were digested to the density consistency of water. Yeah...that curiosity got to me and I went and did the calculation. Turns out it'd be around 3.4 decimeters.

There don't seem to be many 3D artists here on FA. Oh sure, there's a handful, but not many. Recently came across another one today who's going to be opening up for 3D commissions, which I certainly haven't seen before, and he's looking for a model to show off his commission level 3D work, so he's holding a raffle for it.

If you're interested in getting a 3D render of your character, stop on by and have a look. He's ending the raffle at the end of Sunday, his time, so it might be over by the time you read this, but if you catch it quick, you might nab a unique work of art.

The artist is  talrion, and you can find the raffle here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/...../#cid:33959657

For those of you who remember, I tried to do a Choose Your Own Adventure awhile back. Well, for those of you hoping I would pick it back up after its hiatus, I must apologize, but I am not continuing it. While some of you may have liked where it was going, I felt that I was not doing it right at all. The most telling sign was in addition to their vote of the next action to take, people commented that their choice was based off of “that’s where the plot seems to be going”. I was essentially leading you all on a railroad track by the second story choice, and that’s not how a CYOA should work. I guess it devolved quickly from you choosing how the story went to just decided what narrative I wrote next with little impact on the story. That’s not fair to you or what I wanted to do.

Rather than try to salvage it and quite likely make a mess out of it, I decided to start with a clean slate, taking lessons learned from the first attempt and what another friend has been doing. Nothing is planned in this, and I’ll be making it up as I go as you all participate. It is whatever you choose to be at large in a grand city. I know this city well, originally created to be the centerpiece of an RPG campaign, and I know well its inhabitants, going ons, and mysteries. The city itself is all but a living thing with no set plot, actually making it so that your decisions are what drive the plot, as opposed to me driving you. I would like you to join me to discover the city of Belnaraid.


The City of Belnaraid

Okay, so some of you may know and some of you may not. I don't know very many of the details myself, but I feel I must share.

Two bombs went off at the finish line area of the Boston Marathon. At least two people are dead and many wounded, many having lost limbs in the blasts. My brother ran, and my father was there to watch. They were only a block or block and a half away when the bombs went off, close enough to distinctly hear the "Bawoom" of each, my brother having already finished and the two just about ready to head to their hotel. They are both fine, but it's still a rather scary situation as one cannot help but imagine what might have been, considering they were close enough to hear both blasts and wonder what was going on, and close enough to hear the sirens begin to sound and people running their direction in fear.

I was at work, but heard it was all over pretty much every news channel, and I can understand why. Just got the news from my mother as I returned home from my shift, and, well, just felt I had to pass it along. If you weren't aware of it, you should be. I guess that's all for now. Makes you wonder, how life can change in the blink of an eye when and where you least expect.

No, not the music kind. I'm in something of a funk right now. I get eight hours of sleep (which is actually unusual for me) and still wake up tired and sometimes with a headache. My subconscious goes through all sorts of thoughts and ideas that seem good, but the moment I try to record or articulate them, I'm lost. It's like I have no mental energy to do anything and I just can't get the drive going. The motivation is there all right. I want to be doing a lot of things. But the moment I sit down to do any of those things, I'm spinning my wheels; the gears stop catching; there's a void were my thoughts used to me. But when I walk away all the thoughts are there. It is frustrating like nothing else. There is just so much I want to flesh out, to articulate, to share, but I sit down to do them and suddenly it's like I go brain dead. I can play the entire thing out in my head of exactly what I want to right, but translating it into words is failing miserably.

So if I stay rather quiet for a while yet, that's why. I'm also going to say that my Guide the Adventure series is going on hiatus for the time being, as trying to force that is going to derail it more surely than anything. I apologize to those of you who have been enjoying reading and participating, but I can't continue it at this time. I may try to do a little experimenting, try things I haven't done in a while to see if doing something different will help break up this funk. Maybe try doing some character journals or share with you some of the world building stuff I've been working on on and off. I don't know.

Anyway, just thought I'd share with you what I'm going through right now, for those who care, which I know there are those of you that do.

Okay, I recently got a contact request from someone for Skype, and I don't know who it is, and I'd rather not ask here because it's rather bad form to use someone's real name on a site like this. If you know who you are, please let me know. Otherwise, I don't know who you are, because if you're from FA, I either don't know your real name, or if you've told me, I do not remember the connection anymore (as I'm terrible with names), and I'm not going to add someone to my contacts if I don't know who you are.

For future contact requests, please tell me who you are in a format I'm likely to recognize, namely your FA name, in the contact request message, if your Skype name doesn't match your FA name or you don't use an avatar that's the same as or recognizable from FA.

I've been bouncing this around as an interesting creative exercise, and I thought, why not share it with FA and see what they think.

The premise is simple. Take a character of yours and ponder, "If he/she had a personal soundtrack, what songs would be on it?" That list alone could say a lot about a character for someone who otherwise knows nothing about them.

Can't say I'm really sure of the precise soundtracks for my current characters would be, but I have thought about the soundtrack for a protagonist archetype I find myself playing around with a lot in my imagination. It's a work in progress, but it goes something like this (song title - band):

Welcome to My Life - Simple Plan
Gotta be Somebody - Nickelback
Monster - Skillet
Animal I Have Become - Three Days Grace
Me Against the World - Simple Plan
Move Along - The All-American Rejects
Bullet in My Hand - Red Light King
Someday - Nickelback
Hero - Chad Kroeger; Josey Scot

Okay, if you're not reading the webcomic Freefall, you really ought to be. I feel it is rare for a piece of literature, especially comic literature, to be entertaining, genuinely humorous, and thought provoking, and Freefall fits all three. There are even solid words of wisdom in there too, as well as more than a few quote worthy lines, including the one I use as my footer. It starts out more on the silly side of things, but eventually blends both humor and serious subject matter in a rather elegant way without using much satire or really anything potentially offensive. In all honesty, you may even be able to draw comparisons with some of the characters to people you actually know in your social or work life, which makes it all the more engaging.

So give it a read, if you will. It really is a gem that shouldn't be missed.

Freefall - Strip 1

Okay, here's one for you car owners (or commercial connoisseurs). I'm looking to get new car insurance, since I'm paying $1,300 every six months at the moment, and I've yet to talk to a person who didn't think that's really high (I'm 25, drive a Ford Focus, and have a clean record, so nothing interesting there). What I'd like to hear from you is what insurance you go through or other companies you know of, just to make compiling a list of places to call and get quotes from a little easier.

No, not done by me. Sorry. This is pimping a fun little free rafle by one  DiceWolf. He's commissioned for a line only comic (aka not colored) from  corriezodori and is looking for others to play the roles of an adventuring party banding together to combat an infamus goo wolf (aka, dicewolf). So, vore? Yep, interested. Goo stuff? More interested. Fantasy RPG themed? We're three for three now. It's like thestars are aligning.

If these things interest you as well (heck, if you're watching me, ten to one you're interested in one or more), why not check it out and throw your hat in? You never know, you might get lucky. You can find it here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4379533/

So, one  negativeTHEORY is looking for contestants for a vore tournament. Some of you may know this, some of you may not. Now, I’m sure those who aren’t familiar with it are likely groaning about it. After all, there have been a number of vore tournaments on FA, many of which didn’t go over very well because they were often little more than popularity contests. The Vore Vie is different. The Vore Vie does not use a viewer vote or other purely subjective forms of victory. Instead, it is a combination of objective comparison of abilities and a little bit of die rolling to determine the outcome. Now, sure, the cynical of you may think that the whole thing is purely subjective and there is nothing random behind it, but I believe it is the real deal.

The other huge difference with the vore vie is that it is not simply a matter of X eats Y. There is quite a large overarching story that encompasses the tournament, some of which I’ve learned of through talking to the man himself. In a sense, every participant is a part of a cast of characters for this massive story, whose plot centers around a tournament of vore. Not only will there be work written with your character, you’ll have art done too, and perhaps not even a one shot deal. There’s the opportunity to get more lit time, more art, a short story focused on you, or even have a side arc following alongside the main plot arc. There’s a lot more going on than just the rounds of the Vie itself.

A thing to note is that Theory is one for more permanent, lethal vore. However, for the vie, one’s fate is a bit more nebulous. Things are not explicit as to the final result, so if you are into permanent death, you can interpret the vore scenes as such. If you are into reformation, you can imagine that the losers reform back home. The fates are not explicitly stated, so one can interpret it as they choose.

Sound interesting? Know someone who might find it interesting? Then check out this page for application forms and guidelines.

Okay, I get home from work after a 12 hour shift. It's 11:30 PM. I go through my usual routine, and pour myself a small bowl of snack mix to munch on at the computer. I shut the lights off like I usually do and make my way to the hallway.

My mind on some topic I can't remember.

I didn't give my eyes time to adjust to the dimness.

I smack right into the wall edge where dining room becomes hallway.

Yep, walked right into the wall in the dark. Worse, since it was only my right half, I pretty much nailed my right eyebrow, and a took a few seconds of dazed confusion to realize I wasn't wearing my glasses anymore. Turns out I hit so hard it not only knocked my glasses right off from the semi-angled blow, but seperated the right support from the lens. Fortunately it looks like I can screw it back on, but the plastic got bent all to heck in the process. And those were pretty new glasses too, and a little pricey. Figures. Once I felt my head I found that I was bleeding, and an inspection in the bathroom revealed exactly where and how may head connected with the wall, given the vertical wound amid my eyebow hairs.

Also, the only munchie to stay in the bowl was a single pretzel. Everything else hit the floor.

Yeah, what a way to wind down after a 12 hour shift.

Heh, seems I've been making a lot of these journals recently, but what the heck, I'm in a talkative mood it seems.

Anyway, thought I'd share with all of you a game that I've come to enjoy. It's an App game (for IPad, IPhone, and the like), called Guardian Cross. Interestingly enough, it's made by Square-Enix, and while clearly a small thing for them, I think it's pretty well put together. It's free, simple to play, features some amazing art, and features a multiple PVP coliseums for different levels of players. While the goal is to create the strongest team to climb the ranks in the coliseum games, how seriously and competetively you take the game is up to you; you can play casually, slowly building up a strong team, or you can spend money to speed the process along. Unlike other "optional cost" games, all of its features are attainable free; there is no content that is pay exclusive, and you can take the game as seriously as you want. Plus, they seem to be pretty tight on cheaters and hacks, which is great for the community (or at least, that's the impression I've gotten so far).

So if any of you have any app devices and are looking for an easy to play game with great art, why not give it a look and a try? It's not like it'll cost you anything. When you start up, use this code:

CD95578

To get started with a free rare card, as an invitation bonus (if the invitation system doesn't give you a free card, I sincerely apologize for my misunderstanding). Who knows, you might just find the game a fun little gem like I did.

Hey everyone,  Jaydom is doing sketch requests for the holidays. If you haven't seen her before, go check her out. She's a great artist and person, so show her some love.