Updates

Shirt Update:
After revising and submitting three times, it seems as if the ducks design is a pain for Spreadshirt’s process. I do not like the results for the digital printing and the vector art is getting rejected because I’m stubborn and I want it to come out a particular way – which they are telling me they can not do. Fair enough. I’ll work on a design later that might be agreeable for the both of us. At least this has been a learning experience.

Where’s the Beef:
Or rather pangolins. Through one of the social networking sites I participate in, I had one of my friends pick an animal and five different places/scenarios for that animal to be in. I’ve managed a cute little series that I have only one more to complete. It is a fun and lite exercise - and a nice thing for one of my good friends. That should be up soon.

Random Thought:
I often hear a good game referred to as being fun. Fun is applied no matter what the experience really is. It could be Super Mario, Resident Evil, or Call of Duty. However, when we tend to watch a movie, we rarely walk away from a drama or a horror movie saying it was fun. Why can’t we skip the fun and just have a different meaningful experience out of it if it fits?

I thought about this while checking out “The Last Express” (the semi-official game of IdleThumbs.net). I’m not too far in but I think my experience is something I don’t quite label as fun. Now, don’t get me wrong – I am enjoying myself and will continue to play it. However, at this point I find it suspenseful… and I’m okay with that in a game. It’s as much of an element of the game as the characters themselves.

Sometimes I think all the fuss about games having to be fun gets lost in focus of what the game is intended to do (besides sell units to pay employees and give back to investors if applicable). Did you intend for people to have a traditional “fun” gaming experience? Does it fit with the overall vision?

If you can be honest with yourself, your goals, and your limitations and create something that is not considered “fun” but fulfills your audience’s palate in a meaningful and entertaining way – I say go for it.

Playing Games & Doodling

Right now I’m playing Plants vs. Zombies, Musiac Box, The Path, and a bit of WoW here and there. Considering there have been cricket noises coming from my guild lately, I’m going to check into Free Realms this weekend. They’ve gotten a million players in less than a month and that’s pretty impressive. I’m curious to check out what they are doing right.

And in the meantime I’m drafting my own mini-campaign and back to doing wallpapers and doodles. It’s been a rough start to May for me so far and I’m hoping to harness that and turn it into something other than focusing on the loss in my heart.

Testing Out Shirts

UPDATE 5/20: After reviewing one of the shirts via ordering one, I'm not as happy as I could be with it and I am in the process of simplfying and sending a vector image to be approved. I will keep this area posted on the process.

So I thought I’d try throwing out a shirt or two and see if anyone likes them/wants them. I don’t quite know how this Spreadshirt thing will work, it seems odd that the basic charge is 12.90$ for the shirt but yet they charge you another 4.50$ to use your own design. Then they ask you how much you want to make off each shirt. I capped it off at 7.59$ to bring the total to 24.99$.

I just thought I’d share the math for those who like that kind of thing.

If you are interested in buying one, please go to http://telka.spreadshirt.com/

If there’s a different type of shirt/bag/smock you’d like, let me know and I’ll throw something together for you. I’ll consider art suggestions too.

Random Images (after a long deserved update)

I could go on and on about things that have happened but instead I’ll just update with some images that I’ve worked on in the meantime. I feel like less is more right now.