Behind Alyce

As planned, i went back to review the first Alyce painting yesterday morning. I did indeed find fixes that needed doing, but i didn't do them. I will.

I'll get back to those corrections at the same time i'm making another pass on the second painting in the series...

Yeah, now things start to get a little odd...

art by -3- (2020)

Been Doing Alyce

I've made mention a few times of work i've been doing this past week. Allow me to elaborate a smidge.

Every now and again i like to make myself a new "Alice" for some paintings in various 'Wonderlands'. And that urge seems to be upon me once more, as you may have already deduced. So this week i've been building Alyce and working out some initial tests for the current Glass Wonderland to explore. 

Most of the last 18 or so hours has been spent cramping my hand with the first test painting in the series (with a few breaks to eat and put together this morning's post). I may go back and make some small changes after sleeping and looking upon it fresh, but for now i'm willing to proclaim it as 'Finished'

As noted, this is the first in a series, so please pardon that the focus of the piece is as yet unseen. This is, of course, greatly reduced from the original 20"x30" version -

art by -3- (2020)

Stupid Is As Stupid Says

It's no surprise that very own Nero doesn't grasp the difference between a President and an Emperor. But somehow he still manages to surprise with feats of astounding stupidity, ignorance, and outright foolishness. 
Would someone tell the ignorant frellnik that Captain Bligh was the villain of the story?

Let us turn to the comic book for a summary that all can understand...

...and when it went to trial, the villain was protected by his rich buddies in the courts, but even they were forced to admit that he should NEVER have been allowed to lead in the first place.

So at least the villain got one thing right with the comparison. (Not the part about having authority to be usurped, of course. That's purely his typical delusion. Just the part about being completely unfit for the job and incapable of handling the pressures.)

summary from Mutiny On The Bounty (1962)

Curious Glitching

Well, isn't that ... interesting?

I went to post the answers to this week's puzzle pages and found that most of the puzzles themselves are gone from the original post. In fact, most of the pages from the posts that are labelled Trump Flu Blues Prevention all seem to have disappeared from the server.

Strange system glitch? Or are things getting uglier? We may have to make some posts to test and see what happens.

But, not right now. And i'll refrain from posting the answers just yet. Later i'll go back and repost the images that have gone missing.

In theory, we'll have a real post later today. 
Meanwhile, have yourself a groovy Mel circa 1970 -

Trump Flu Blues Prevention IV - Puzzles Pages

Okay, campers! We've got things to keep your brain busy today - a dozen puzzles for your amusements. 

Hmm...
Are Connect-The-Dots puzzles? 
Maybe only 10 puzzles, depending on one's definition. But we do have the most interesting Connect-The-Dots i've seen. They found a way to totally hide what the finished picture will be. You'll see what i mean.

But first, let's start with Spidey -

yes, answers will follow - but not today.
Hopefully, none of these ran previously on Friday Fun & Games. They're hard to search for double-checking.

pages from here & there (see answer credits)

Trump Flu Blues Prevention III - Colouring Continued

Winter must be in full retreat. My body seems to have cycled around to waking at, or before, dawn. Last week i was barely to sleep by the time i wake this week. Has the Trump Flu isolation been affecting your sleep patterns? Do you find yourself becoming untethered from the clock?

Anyway, we've got more idle entertainments for passing the hours while hunkered down to avoid Trump Flu.

This morning we've got another dozen and a half colouring pages for an assortment of amusements ranging from Acid Archie riding a dinosaur to a Gil Kane pin-up of the Lone Ranger to the Surfer's Prayer to poster art for the never made sequel to Flesh Gordon. (Not to be confused with Flesh Gordon Meets The Cosmic Cheerleaders, the made sequel to Flesh Gordon)

As i indicated i would do last time, they're a tad smaller - sized to print 8"x10" at 200dpi.

yeah, i suppose i should have paid attention to where these pages came from, eh?

If you want to know about some, ask, and i'll try to track the source(s).

A Post Before Posting

Odds are that folks who read this blog like old comics. One of the groups mentioned here from time to time that helps to preserve and archive the old comics and culture is TwoMorrows Publishing. 

Perhaps it comes as no surprise that they're being hit hard by the economic side of Trump Flu.

Meanwhile, many folks are slowly (and not so slowly) going stir crazy and are in desperate need of entertainment to keep their minds distracted from the Trump Flu furor. 

Well, maybe you folks can help each other out. With distribution channels closed, the only way for TwoMorrows to do business is via online/mailorder. To encourage those orders, John has announced a special 40% Off sale. Visit the TwoMorrows site for more info and to see how you and they can help each other out in these times.

Now i'm off to dive into some of those old comics and i'll be back later with today's post.

Trump Flu Blues

One thing about a Crisis - it gives the worst elements in power a chance to strut their stuff and get even worse. In our government, crisis is seen as opportunity, and they're grabbing it left and right.

One glaring example is using the health crisis to force through an agenda that could never pass in normal times. Such is the EARN IT bill attached to the relief package. Not only is it evil in nature, allowing tyrants to be tyrants and giving the government Still More power to see everything everywhere, it also breaks security on everything from your love life to your credit cards to corporate finances.

But that's okay, because Fuck You - we're the government and you exist merely to serve us.

And to show how disgustingly evil it, and the framers of this bill are, they spew lies about it not being about encryption at all.
The Word Encryption Never Appears, they bloviate. 

That's right, it doesn't. They knew that their evils would never be tolerated if they spoke it's name directly, so they Voldemorted it.

You might think that some would be fighting against including non-related power-grabs into the relief bill. No, it's supported by both sides. They're only arguing over how little they can get away with spending, not how much power they can steal. But such is usually the way of the two-party "Freedom Lite" system. 

And, as usual, our government continues to operate in this century under the premise that the USA was always wrong; that the Nazis and Soviets got it right on how to do things. The government belongs to the people? What a stupid, foolish idea. People belong to the government, didn't you know that?

Unless things change dramatically, you'd better get real damned used to that idea because we've been at a tipping point and now they're really started to push things over the edge.

Good luck.

While we brood, picture in your head and ears Will Smith and Martin Lawrence singing their song...

Trump Flu! Trump Flu!
Whatcha Gonna Do?
Whatcha Gonna Do To Avoid Trump Flu?

I'll try to be back later with a real post.
(And we won't even talk about all the military troop and equipment movements going on in this country while everyone is hunkered down. I'm hearing that from truckers on the road, not voices in my head like the rump.)

But it was nice to see our president admit that he's not man enough to accept any blame.

A Brief Aside

I've got to leave the cave and head out into the plagueworld to forage supplies. So just a quickie for now -
 

I get my main propeller-head fix from the Arrowverse tv shows. How far we've come from ol' Jeff asking to put the Flash in a jogging suit instead of that weird costume.

But, i've given up on Supergirl. 

And that's sad, because not only does the show sometimes feature my lifetime favorite superhero group (the Legion Of Super-Heroes), but Jon Cryer has been giving us the best live-action Lex Luthor the world has seen in a Long time.

But, i just can't watch the stumbling stupids any longer. For a year and more we've watched a silly soap opera storyline about how Lena Luthor is going to the dark side because she feels betrayed by Kara and friends over Supergirl's secret identity. Soap Opera dreck has always been the Berlanti shows' weakest point, but this whole thing has just been too moronic. It all hinges on nobody bothering to mention that Lena did know Kara's identity but had to have it wiped out for security reasons, by her own request. We were warned that just flat telling them that they're memories were purged could be damaging, but each recovered the knowledge over time until only Lena was still in Forget mode.

One stupid sentence and the entire year is mooted. But nobody can bother to mention it, and now they don't seem to remember either. By the time they hit their "It's A Wonderful Life" episode i couldn't watch past 5 minutes. The alert on the stupidometer was ringing too loud to pay attention to anything else.

If the writers have to dig that deep into frelling stupid, they obviously don't want anyone with intelligence to be watching.

I'll honor their wishes.

So long, Kara. 
See you next Crisis. 

2020 Calendars - Week 12

I don't know how things are where you're at, but outside the hermit cave we got a few inches of snow dumped on us for the weekend. That prompted me to open with this piece from Knute Munson for our Classic Pin-ups Calendar -

For our Covers Calendar, we're going to triple up on a single artist again. This time Peter Driben returns with a trio of covers from the late '40s -

That cover is a bit beat up, but we've got the pre-cover art in much better shape -

One more to complete our trio...

...and the uncluttered art for it, as well...

Y'know - I'm still feeling the chill from that fresh snow. So let's let Earl MacPherson give us a bit of warmth for this week's Blue Calendar -

Since this image contains nudity, you'll have to step into our adult content back room if you'd like to warm up. Here's a direct link to the uncut version of this post.

Oh, yeah. That's better.

As always, the calendars are sized to print 8"x10" at 150dpi, with 1" square spaces for notations.

One For The Game Makers

Sit back; we gwyne get wordy today. 
Ye Be Warned -

As you may know, i spend some of my time noodling with games, in recent times using the RPG Maker MV engine and creation system. The system has a very mixed reputation. Some absolutely loathe it and any games made with it. Others love it and devote themselves exclusively to it. 

I like it well enough, obviously since i'm using it. But part of what i like is the extensibility of the framework. There are hundreds upon hundreds of plug-ins for RMMV (the shorthand name for the system). And since it all runs on javascript, one can add custom scripts to the game. Frequently when some players complain about the games, they're usually complaining about the default system. And those complaints are often very valid.

Probably one of the loudest - "The games are too small! And they're all the same!"

And, by default, they are hideously small. But plug-ins take them to 1080p and higher. I'm working at 720p simply to reduce resource size and make it more laptop friendly. (I suspect there will be a ridiculous amount of artwork as it grows. Especially since i allow considerably more wardrobe freedom than most games, so many more variant images to multiply the count.)

Many of the complaints are not actually about the system itself. They're more a result of the system. The big problem is that it's so easy to use, and it provides basic default assets. Of course, that's the strength of the system, but the by-product is that Anyone can make games. That's both great and terrifying. And it creates a glut of games with the same look, many with only the most basic 'game' in the game. The signal to noise ratio can be daunting. 

But there is gold in them thar hills.

Let me pause to note how it's amazing that one person can do so much so easily these days. And it's possible to create something so great that other's can't see it, so how does a young creator get their vision out?

Back in early days of computer gaming, one guy created a Whitetail Deer Hunting game. when he brought it around to Interplay, we fairly unanimously thought it was a completely daffy idea. Who wants to play a game about waiting? He kept soldiering on and eventually found another company to publish the game. It was, of course, a monster hit. 
I hope he made a ton of cash off of it for his faith in his own vision.

When trying to achieve your own vision with RMMV (or any system), remember that the defaults are only a starting point. So many things can be modified quite easily, as well as adding your own custom images and sounds.

The map graphics for the system are tilesets contained in simple PNG files. They are easily editable or completely replaceable. They're also scalable, as are nearly all of the art assets.
For example, the default walk sprites* for the game are 48x48 pixels**. For The 3rd Colony i decided to double that to 96x96 for larger figures with more detail. To accomplish this, no elaborate programming is necessary. I just used a larger image file. The system cuts the sprites proportionally, so if you use a bigger picture you get a bigger picture in the game. Stupidly simple.

*(A Sprite is a visual element appearing onscreen on top of the background in a game. Characters, creatures, chests... generally anything that can move or animate)
**(A Pixel is a PICture ELement; the single dots they count to get the screen resolution)
(You probably knew these, but when i'm reading i hate when relevant information isn't included.)

Eileen Sprite - default vs. custom:

(Note that while i doubled the sprite size to 96px, her sprite stands 75px tall. This allows for varying heights among the cast; Eileen is only about 5'9"/1.75m. But you could just as easily use the full frame for larger base figures.)

Plug-ins extend that further. The walk sprites use the most basic possible animation - three frames for each of four directions. (Left leg forward, Legs together, Right leg forward) To make that work, they play in a 1-2-3-2-1-2-3-2... yo-yo sequence. It works, but at a bare minimum level. That's by design, not an error - the intent was to make everything as small as possible while allowing potentially unlimited expansion.

There's a  plug-in that lets you decide how many frames are in the walk cycle, and then plays them in a loop sequence instead of yo-yoing the frames. Unfortunately, the system isn't coded to handle a separate standing sprite, so one must plan the sequence carefully when choosing your stop frame. 
There are also plug-ins to allow you to expand to 8-directional movement if desired.

Of course, you don't actually have to use the maps and sprites at all, Nor do you need to use either of the combat systems in the game, nor anything else of the default assets. It can be used as a framework to present whatever you want to show, as long as you can envision it and provide the visuals and the story telling. (Or even as a training/teaching application with no story telling involved)

Okay - you could just do a black screen and text with no visuals, but there's probably a simpler way.

For me, make it old school. I want the map and the sprites and the characters walking around. I like building new tiles for the map system. I would have loved these tools way back in Wasteland and The Lord Of The Rings days. SO much more fun doing the work now.

But the default assets are merely a starting point. As you saw above, when i changed the size of the sprites i decided to change style completely. You can replace them with anything you can imagine and create. Make a game of Binary Wars with nothing but 1s and 0s fighting it out onscreen. Make some VaporWare with the character being a drop of water trying to not evaporate. The beauty of the minimal system design is that you don't need to create (or coax someone to create) a whole lot of resources. That only-3-frames-for-each-walk-direction limitation can suddenly seem real appealing.

I've got an advantage being a veteran on the art & animation front, but do what You can do to avoid just the generic assets. If you're using the basic style sprites, don't use the provided character sheets. Use the built-in generator to create new characters so they don't see the same people they just saw yesterday in another game. And before you do that, look around - find Generator Parts to expand your library so you can create a wider variety of NPCs.

Absolutely do Not use one of the provided title screens. Players have seen them all over and over before. If you can't create a custom title screen, you can use any PNG file you drop into the img/titles1 folder of your game directory. A kid's refrigerator drawing of lizards feasting on the undying corpse of honey booboo is going to go over better with the players than one of those tired default pics.

Look around for Tilesets. Lots of artists make them and offer them up for creators to use, and new ones appear all the time. Try to learn to use a free art program with Layers at least enough to be able to cut and paste parts of different sets together to create what you want. And remember that you can expand the Maximum number of tilesets in the game to as many as you need - separate sets for every map if you want to go crazy. Use that to customize and create your own distinctions. But remember to make sure it fits neatly into your game world. Don't break the flow of the game just for something you like - save it for the right time. (Or the right game if need be. Do it the L&I way and keep a SOG* file. (*Some Other Game))

And definitely, absolutely, visit and browse deep through some plug-in archives. Get an idea of some of the tools that are available while deciding what you want to do and how you want to do it. And then Use them.
Many of my favorites come from Yanfly and from GALV, and here's a collected list of MV plug-ins to start your search.

First and foremost is the Yanfly Core Engine or an equivalent. Something that allows you to override the system default game size and expand your limits. BTW - nearly all of the Yanfly plug-ins have excellent tutorial vids to accompany them, no matter how simple they might be to use. Others offer tutvids, too - i just like the style of Yanfly's. (Especially since i'm half deaf and they exclusively use large subtitles instead of speech to instruct and explain.)

Hmm...
We seem to have segued into Tips from an Old Retired Pro -

One of the first things to remember is that this isn't the old days when people sat waiting desperately for new games. Indy games are everywhere and in constant states of release. The potential player of your game likely gathered it with other titles and will be sampling to see which, if any, they want to play. 

You know how great your game is, but they don't have a clue. And telling them won't help, the most feeble of game makers is out there telling them the same thing. Be wary of long set-ups and introductions to the game world. Get the player into the game as quickly as you can, and fill them in along the way. Don't make it feel like you're teaching a class before they're allowed to play.

This should be a simple and obvious rule, but that's not always the case: Name your file or folder in a way that people can identify the game.  If someone gathers a bunch of games to check out, the one labeled GameData tends to get pushed aside and lost because the player doesn't remember what it is. They know what those others are, so let's go look at them. If you've got a long name, use an identifiable abbreviation or condense it to an acronym.

Cool Features.
Whenever possible, make them optional. A simple example is the typing noise available (and set ON by default) in popular Message plug-ins, like the excellent one from Yanfly. While a large part of your potential audience (perhaps a majority) won't care either way about the feature, the others will be split into two camps - those who love it and those who can't listen to it. If you choose to use such a feature and don't provide a way to disable it, you're telling a fair chunk of your players to Go Away! before they even see how good your game can be.

This can also be very true with visual features. Atmospheric Overlays can be great mood, but use a light hand, and use them sparingly so they have effect. Constant use reduces them to mere distraction which can become aggravation for the player. Ask yourself "Is this useful, does it provide immersion, or is it just a 'look at me! look at me!' feature?" 
Use Transparency/Opacity levels. Drop the strength down to 20% or less and see what it looks like. Does it still convey the desired effect? If not, slowly work it up until the minimum needed. A lighter touch creates less visual confusion, allowing the player to sink deeper into your game. Adding visuals merely for splash and overusing features can cause your game to feeling like the RMMV equivalent of a '90s Blink-Tagged webpage. Flashy and 'kewl', but soon painfully annoying.
Try to not slap the player's eyeballs.

Another related area - Sound & Music.
By default, RMMV provides sound level settings. Some menu set-ups disable that Very Important feature. Some don't allow access until the game is underway. When your amazing theme music starts blasting out at 100% volume, the player starts desperately looking for the sound controls. If they can't find them, they're just as likely to shut down the game and delete it as to mute their system. There's a good chance they downloaded a dozen other games to check out at the same time, and never even looked at yours because the blasting sound drove them off.
If you have introductory screens, production logos, and such opening the game, don't start the music playing until they get to the title screen and options menu.

On Sound - Level your files. Which is to say, when you're adding in custom sound effects, balance them to play at the same sound level. You can do that either by editing the sound files or by setting the volume level at which they're played within RMMV. Too often i've seen things like combat with one gunshot sound effect at triple the volume of the others, or even louder. People have neighbors! And some other poor bastard was wearing earphones when you assaulted him with those shots. Just a few sounds that are unbalanced in that way can break a game and make players abandon it.

Don't leave your player hanging. Sure, that NPC told them what needs doing, but then they had to break for dinner and it's been hours or days later when they can get back to the game. You don't have to use a full quest journal/log (though there's a few available), but give them some way of sorting out what they're supposed to be doing. Sometimes games will give a scroll or token bound to various quests. The player can check their inventory to see what's up.
Or simply having the player character speak up to remind themself what they're doing, or an NPC if the player is leading a party.
Even in a Sandbox game, a sense of direction can be important.

Try not to obscure your map. HUDs, Overlays, Character Figures - they can all be useful and perhaps even necessary to the concept of your game. But when the player is moving around, anything that blocks part of the map from view can quickly become a frustration to the player.  Especially if wandering encounters are present.

The two main ways to avoid this problem are to allow any overlaid graphics to be toggled, or to make a frame for the game so the data sits outside the map. The latter option works much nicer than it used to with widescreen aspect ratios being standard now. The same information presented outside of the map avoids the distraction and annoyance factor, and allows the player to be drawn into the world of the map view while playing.

Of course, all of this applies only if you're looking to share your creation with the world. (And goes especially if you're looking to use it as a demo/resume in seeking a job in the industry) If you're just making something for yourself, then forget all of that unless it suits you. 

The only rule you need is to remember that fap games should be able to be controlled with one hand.

<pause for crowd response>

Well, that what certainly a big drendump of wordage, wasn't it? And only one measly little image?

Yeah, it's not gonna get much better, but here's a few quick shots from the current state of The 3rd Colony.

First, for those who've yet to meet her, here's Kelly's introductory onesheet -

(Yes, i know it was Eileen up above. There are four character choices, including Ben and Gene.)

While the frames are merely placeholders currently, they show you one of the two options i was talking about for presenting information without interfering with the map itself -

As you can see, i'm sticking with the old school conversation format, though tweaking it to fit my screen presentation. Yanfly's Message plug-ins make that easy.

I'm in the process of scrapping that lighting set-up, though i'm sticking with the system. Since the main areas are essentially constructed caverns, they're filled with dark corners. Again - a plug-in makes this easy. (Terrax Lighting)

Of course, i have no problem with partially obscuring the map when the player cannot move around -

If you're working with renders or other art style to present characters to the player, try to go past the basic set-up. Above we have Moon stepping back as Teela leaps onto Kelly. Once you've got your basics, what else can you convey?

In the pics above and below, note that though Kelly is startled she casually absorbs the leap and the weight of someone hanging onto her. While Moon may look more buffed, Kelly has denser tissue and greater inherent strength. If Kelly pumps up those pipecleaners (which she can over time), she can make her preferred ranged weapon an SUV.

Note the look on Moon's face above. She's not startled or concerned as she steps back out of the way. I take advantage of her introductory shot to hint that she is gay and enjoying private thoughts. Every image can always say a little bit extra with body language, expression, or background details. When there's a background.
And as a bonus, you give your characters more life when you move past the "default" pose (to keep the theme going). Even if you don't convey what you're aiming for, the figures will usually seem less stiff.

(Poddie = Podmate / Roomie. Pods are private & communal living areas.)

Moon, by yon by, is a Security Agent and is indeed quite buff for a non-super. Buff enough to take on a pack of zombiedogs with only a plastic practice sword -

(She was headed to a Cave Rave, hence the outfit in that location)

And for those trying to keep count of how many are in the crowd, here's the current edition of the ever-growing & changing title screen -

(No, that's not a deranged Carrottop. Yes, that other guy is a drugged out Alfred E. Neuman. No, that's not Spider-Man. Yes, it is Night Monkey. No, that's not where his hand is. Yes, he is the only one that can see her. It's called Wawa Aba. No, she'll never admit to bleaching it. Yes, he does have a cybernetic hand. Of course not, he works behind the scene. And, of course the Velvet Frog slipped right between one of the greatest heroes and one of the greatest villains for his slot.)

stuff by -3- (2020)

2020 Calendars - Week 11

Bloody Hells.
I went to post this week's calendars, and find that somewhere I lost a day; it's already Monday evening. You probably knew that. I'm still reeling. But here's the planned post that should have gone up at 12:03 this Ante-Meridian:

Y'know - i may be digging a hole for later me, but i feel like tripling again. So let's do 3 of each of our 3 calendar artists this week.

For our Classic Pin-Ups Calendar, please welcome a newcomer to the roster - Mr. Art Frahm. Art is one of those artists who has something to say...

...well, perhaps not 'something to say' exactly...

...but he definitely offers his own distinct views... 

Of course, he'd be greatly handicapped by modern wardrobes.

I think i may have said i'd try to move away from Enoch Bolles for a bit on the Covers Calendars.

I failed -

Someday i'd like to see a count of how many magazine covers he painted.

For our Blue Calendars this week, let's return to one of the true masters of the form - Gil Elvgren -

These calendars contain nudity, and so they are tucked back behind the age check in our 'back room'. This link will take you to the uncut version of this post.

This next one i find oddly intriguing. Mr. Elvgren seems to have been trying a little something different, slightly more stylized, reflecting other art trends of the time...

...and back for a classic Elvgren end -

As always, the calendars are sized to print 8"x10" at 150dpi, with 1" square spaces for notations.