On Making NFR...
I started writing Neon Force Runner on Thursday 16-dec-2010. I only expected it to take 2-3 days to develop [a estimate of 16-24 hours]. In reality, it took twice that, not including a break for Christmas weekend. I dont have a more accurate breakdown of that yet.
-The engine/base graphics took less than 2 hours to develop. You push one button, the Y velocity changes. That's easy!
-The menu system more-or-less already existed from other games I've worked on. They were somewhat re-written.
-The sounds were created with SFXR, Audacity, and DECtalk. SFXR, is a cool freeware "videogame type" sound generator. Audacity is an opensource audio editor. DECtalk is an old Text-To-Speech hardware conversion box, this is a software version of it.
-Audio conversion [from "any type" to 48k-56k MP3] was done with LAME Encoder in Audacity.
-Title theme was done with Reaper, a cool and inexpensive DAW. Maybe not as cool as Cubase, but well worth the price. The VSTi's were from ComputerMusic. Those VSTi's were available only via the magazine.
-Graphics with good old Photoshop. Version 9/CS2. A classic, but it works.
-Explosions were created with Explosion Texture Generator 1.0.
-Bitmap fonts created with Codehead's Bitmap Font Generator
[CBFG]. CBFG is a TrueType Font to bitmap conversion software application.
-Ant Renamer was used to quickly rename the graphics for the buttons. As there are 42 [21 buttons with 2 states], this saved me some time typing.
The music is from a friend's band called dbk. Check 'em out and tell 'em ill13 sent ya!
Originally I wasn't going to use a tile-based engine, I was going to use PNG images and use pixel-perfect collisions. That failed, as the transparent part of the PNGs still counted as part of the image [duh!].
I expect version 2 of Neon Force Runner to contain "pickups". Gold rings in this case, that give point bonuses. They will be placed in harder to reach areas as I refine the paths/levels in the game.
by ill13/davids: 31-dec-2010
[WIP] NFR-Neon Force Runner
This is a work-in-progress of a one button game. "Choppah Time" is getting too serious, so "Neon Force Runner" is my take-a-break game
To be released *REAL SOON*
Like days!
If you are interested in a version of this game *CUSTOMIZED* for you and your family or business, please get in touch with me here
by ill13/davids: 19-dec-2010
[WIP] Choppah Time
This is a work-in-progress shot of "Choppah Time", a sort of "Choplifter" variant set in a fictionalized country somewhere in the Middle East
To be released *SOON*
by ill13/davids: 01-dec-2010
Macbook keyboard [or trackpad] is dirty or yellow?
1] Get a "Kneaded Rubber Eraser".
2] Open the "Kneaded Rubber Eraser".
3] Using a corner of the "Kneaded Rubber Eraser", rub said corner on your dirty keys or trackpad or case.
4] Enjoy your now clean Mac Book.
5] Send me a thank you at davids at ill13 . com?
by ill13/davids: 16-aug-2010
Red Lobster
Went to Red Lobster in North Haven. I had been clamoring to go to a RL for my birthday for some years now, but the nearest one was in Bridgeport. However, on 08-dec-2008, a RL opened up in North Haven and a week later, we were there.
The service was great. As a new corporate store, the staff that wanted to be there were falling over each other to go a great job [or at least not get fired]. However, as it was busy, we were stuck sitting in the "last-resort tables" in the bar section. These tables also seem to be the "chew out/train the employee" section. A male waiter towards the latter end of 25-35 was being chewed out for some offense he caused, not but two tables over. After working a chain restaurant's grand opening [Hello, Domino's. Pickup or delivery?] when I was fifteen, I can recognize the type of manager required to police the new staff. Not a position I envy.
The food? Well, it's a chain and they are owned by the Darden Group -who also own Olive Garden and a few other chains. The food is...passable. The prices though? Not good at all -we ended up spending $55+tip on a meal that I could [and did] replicate in less time than driving there and getting service -and for less than $10 [well, add $6 for 2 glasses of wine]! On top of that, for that price we could have eaten at almost any restuarant in New Haven. But I *wanted* to go, and so we went!
by ill13/davids: 12-dec-2008
Some Pictures
Like the caption says...
Bunch o' pics. Will label later...umm...maybe
Again all images taken with my phone. Technology has come a long way. Now I have one little box that gives me GPS, the internet, a camera, an alarm clock, a DIVX player, an MP3 player, a c64/SNES/Genesis/Gameboy emulator, and a phone that fits in my pocket
it's fricken cool!
by ill13/davids: 22-oct-2008
Some B&W Pictures
All taken with my phone -an HTC Tytan II, otherwise known as the AT&T Tilt. Minus the rocky one [titled "The Baths" from BVI], that one was taken by my girlfriend's mom.
All images are from around downtown New Haven, CT [excluding the aformentioned rocky one]. The house one was taken from our Achilles in the New Haven Harbor. You can see the backside of this house/building from the Tomlinson Bridge on Water St. The SNET/SBC building was in the background, so I removed it.
The decrepit building is only accessible from the water. Unless you wanna climb some fences. Might have to go back for some more shots. Especially of the scary shiny purply-blue leaky substance leaching into the waters of the Quinnipiac River.
by ill13/davids: 22-oct-2008
Scott and Kate's Wedding/Trip to Maine
Some pictures of Scott and Kate, plus the wedding party.
It was a beautiful wedding. It was held in Thomaston, ME, at Scott's parents house. I got to catch up with a lot of people that I had not seen for years -and met some new friends too! We crashed in a nearby cabin, I believe the cabins were owned by friends of the family and loaned to the wedding party guests. It was a grand time with great people!
Dint take crap for pictures of Maine itself.
The last two shots are of the passenger rear tire of my Expo, one with a quarter for scale. After leaving Boothbay, ME. and going about 80 miles down 295, we hit a rolled up plug of metal that tore the crap outta my tire. So after some serious finagaling of a rusted 19mm bolt holding the doughtnut/spare underneath the car we got the spare off and mounted.
The time was about 4:30, the day was a Sunday, the spare was 15 years old and very low on air. We limp to the next exit, then meet some nice people in uhh...somewhere in Maine, named Freddy, Juliet, and Kathy who direct us first to the nearest gas station, for air in the spare, then to the the nearest Sears Auto Center for a replacement tire. Thanks, guys!
However...
It's now 5:06.
Sears Auto Center tire section has closed at five o'clock. We are told that they will open at 6:30am
Every other store that is tire related is also closed.
So we limp down Route 1 for another 150 miles [at less then 35 miles an hour], then check into a scary motel, just outside of Worcester, MA at about midnight [we have been on the road since 1:00am], then get up at 5:30am, and limp back to New Haven via a combination of Rte. 1, Rte. 169, Rte. 44, and Rte. 15, with us finally arriving in New Haven around 8:30am. Although we did consider just taking Rte. 1 all the way back, my 8125/HTC Wizard/MDA PDA phone with TomTom and GPS kept us from what would have surely been an arduous and untimely, yet pretty ride home.
So we are home...
Ashley gets ready for work.
However, she has a flat tire on her car.
We decide to go back to sleep.
by ill13/davids: 24-jul-2007
Ashley's Dinner
Like the caption says...
Was gonna make gravlax, but wasn't sure if the salmon was fresh enough [to cure? yeah, i don't know either].
by ill13/davids: 18-jul-2007
Mercedes for Sale 1986 190e $1200
Sigh...I gotta sell her.
So pretty!
Link to Craigslist listing
More photos on my website
by ill13/davids: Tuesday, July 17, 2007
No pics, but a freebie CMS added
Testing, testing, testing...
mic 1, mic 2, mic 1, mic 2...
can you bring the level up on mic 1?
Thanks!
by ill13/davids
Under the Bridge in New Haven, CT
These are a few of shots from under and around the Quinnipiac Bridge [now known as the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge]. The light was failing and all i had on hand was my cell phone, so forgive the poor quality of the shots.
According to some local patrons, it seems safe to launch small boats from this area, so i will try to do that later this week. I would love to explore up the Quinnipiac river, to glimpse the industrial grime and detritus that has built itself, layer upon layer upon her banks for the last 360 years.
Mebbe I should register my boat or something.
Nah...
by ill13/davids
The car, the boat, and the girl!
The boat is our little practice row boat, built in 2006.
The car is a 1992 Mitsubishi Expo SP AWD and she's a bit busted, but she does go forward and backward - her brakes seem to work too! However the right front strut is busted and the AC does not work [sight glass is empty].
The girl...Well...All i can say is that she's perfect.
Oh yeah, we took the little boat out with my Tanaka 3hp motor. I've decided the boat needs a keel, she is very "flighty" [or extremely maneuverable, depending on who you ask ;)]
by ill13/davids
1986 Mercedes 190e -Cracked Exhaust Manifold
The silver gunk is some crap I got off of the internet to repair cast iron cracks. It sort of works, in that tends to last around 4-5 days before blowing it self out. Probably because I didn't quite follow the instructions about grinding the edges of the crack. Well, hole really -about 3/4" high by 1/8" at its widest point.
Anyway, the interior of the car was cleaned a few days ago. Soon it will be sold on craigslist. Oh yeah, it's hard to read [well, impossible, actually] but the mileage is 213,135.
by ill13/davids
Tiny sailing punt
This is a small sailing punt that i saw in some place in CT. It's used for training kids to sail. I like the size and shape of this punt as it's short, but beamy. And, i can build one out of 2 or 3 sheets of plywood. After all this wedding/trip stuff is over, hopefully I'll have enough money to throw one together before the chilly bite of autumn gets me.
by ill13/davids
Mmmmmm...Food pics!
My homefries and eggplant parmigiana. One day I might even post some recipes. But really, right now I am just populating this page and testing CSS styling
by ill13/davids
Things in The Rain
Some things in the rain. Testing for triple inline images. Seems usable, however there are some spacing issues. Oh well.
by ill13/davids
Martini Flyer and Flowers
Some images that are not 320x240. The martini was for a flyer I was doing for BAR, dunno why it wasn't approved. I bought martini glasses and spray painted them with glass paint, built a light box and shot probably 75 pictures to get the shots i used.
The flowers were taken in LA a few years back when I first got my Canon GL-1 [which I still have and use weekly] I love dat thing.
Now why the heck are my image locations hosed? Oh well. Hey the email address no longer functions!
Meh! i'll fix it later.
by ill13/davids
Welcome
how much luck is in your rainbow?
I like cheese and crackers -also reislings