A blog by Ego about tabletop games, video games, movies, music, art, and more. Home of Legend of the Elements, The Shining Void, and Learning Pixel Art.
WEEK THIRTEEN: RAC - CHEAP SUNGLASSES FEAT. MATTHEW KOMA
I don't know anything about RAC, but I know that I love Matthew Koma, and this is one of his best songs in the past year. It's not quite my favorite song of his (I think that's Years by Alesso) but it's right up there.
End Recording,
Ego.
It's the eve of Comicon, which can only mean one thing - that I'm going to have a very fun time tomorrow! Oh, wait, that's not what I was gonna announce. Oh yeah, Comicon means a new release of Legend of the Elements! Or should I say the first release, because this is the first release that isn't Avatar-branded!
This release is, of course, a complete overhaul of the writing. There's a bunch of new art, and there will be an update within about a month filling in yet more art. There's three all-new playbooks, and a great new chapter at the end full of all sorts of fun information (including a page of sample names!) There's no Example of Play yet, but that will also be coming in an update to this version within a month.
Seriously, it's good stuff. Check it out. And save a copy, because there will not be a version 1.8, because after version 1.7 is the Final Version. And the final version? It's not free. So get it while the gettin's good!
If you like the game, please consider donating! I don't charge for my
beta content, but some support goes a long way to making the final game a
reality!
Calming fakebit tunes to ease the end of a journey? Yes please.
It's taken months, but my book tutorial of pixel art has been officially released for sale! It comes to a grand total of 207 pages, with 8 full lessons ranging from clusters to contrast to starting a piece, as well as three appendices containing a wide array of challenges, references and links, and a handy glossary of terms! All of this for the low, low price of $0.99!
Here's the blurb:
Pixel art is an intricate and precise
form of art famous for its legacy in video game art of years gone by.
However, it continues to thrive today as an art form of its own, and in
mobile game development. Many people try to enter the world of
pixel art underestimating the depth of the medium. This book is meant to
remedy that, taking you from knowing absolutely nothing to being
well-versed in the medium and ready to make your own art. You won't find any step-by-step
paint-by-numbers tutorials here. This book takes you through the
techniques you'll need to make your own art. It explains why certain
techniques are important or problematic in clear language, not jargon.
It is furnished every step of the way with illustrations and diagrams to
help both visual learners as well as those who prefer to read. With a wide array of exercises to help you practice your skills, Learning Pixel Art will help you reach your pixel art dreams! Learning Pixel Art can also help
existing pixel artists! With in-depth discussion of techniques in the
context of the modern cluster-based view of pixel art, even artists
who've been making pixel art for years can learn something about how
techniques are connected and significant. Learning Pixel Art also
supplies a set of terminology with which to discuss pixel art with
others. If you'd like to sample the book before
you buy it, two previews are available: the entirety of the first two
(of eight) chapters discussing What Is Pixel Art and Clusters, the basic
unit of pixel art, as well as the whole appendix of Exercises to see
what skills you might be missing!
So why charge a dollar for this? In a word, "exclusivity." We're pretty well-trained to be hesitant of free stuff on the internet because it's so easy to put anything up there. With even a minor cost though it makes the product itself seem worth more. I'm not doing this to trick people: I genuinely think I have something valuable to offer the new pixel artist (and some veterans too!), and I want people to be drawn to it! It also adds an air of legitimacy to the book.
Plus, well, I worked really hard on the book, so I'd like a little back on it, even if it's really really small.
Click the button on the header bar to access the book's page, which includes a link to buy the book, the free resources folder, and two free previews of the book!
Alternatively, just click here to go straight to Amazon!
There was this fantastic playlist labeled "Southern Gothic" that made it to the front page of Spotify sometime last week and I never knew I was missing out on this particular descriptor, but I love it. Usually I have to dig through some reaaaally bad country and folk to find stuff like this, but the playlist is just full of gems.
The Civil Wars are one of those gems. Country / Alt-rock, with a pretty unique vibe punctuated by their obvious vocal talents.
Seriously, check out the playlist.
https://play.spotify.com/user/spotify/playlist/6jOKJ9uMXxnGM9Bh3rujY3
Some standouts? Well, most folks know Hozier now for their breakout hit Take Me To Church, but the rest of their music shares that laid-back dark-inflected instrumentation. Ben Miller Band might interest you if you're a KONGOS fan. Snake Song by Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan is good, as is Psalms by Vudu Sister. Monica Heldel puts a little less country on the vocals, but definitely is still the same sort of vibe. Ain't No Grave by Crooked Still is one of my favorites. Johnny Cash and Tom Waits are both classics, of course. Trouble by Bellstop is good.
There, that should be enough to give you the sense of what I like about the Southern Gothic style.
This week was a pretty hard pick! I've been listening to stuff I've used before, so I needed to dig around for something else. I've always liked The Veldt, more than a lot of Deadmau5 stuff, but the vocals just detract from it for me.
However, the actual instrumental mix is long and a bit monotonous. That's why my real favorite version is: THE GANGNAM VELDT
You can thank me for not setting that as the primary video today. But for real, this is one of those cases where the non-English language and odd repetitive and creative editing that usually comes with Gangnam mashups really works to blend into the instrumental to make a truly interesting background music track. It's one of the treasures from Gangnamcore!, bless Triple-Q and metrosexualthug and of course Deadmau5 for allowing this piece to exist.
(if this is your first introduction to the world of Gangnam style mashups, welcome! There's a whole crazy world of them out there!)
Project update:
LotE's text is done. I'm now on the job of creating the peripheral documents and the new art. This version has almost double the art (77 versus the old 45, meaning there's a whopping 32 new illustrations to make! Lucky me! *dies*)
Shining Void will be at Emerald City Comicon! If you want to play, come by Games on Demand and ask when Max Hervieux is running games!
LPA will be done when the editing's done. I swear it won't be too too long, but I've been saying that for two months now. Seriously, this isn't me being slow! It's out of my hands!
This will also be a difficult class week, but I'll try to get an update of something up this week, just for y'all.
Picking these Sunday Songs are getting easier, it's just whatever song I've listened to like five times per day that week.
Easily Delong's biggest hit, I really enjoy this song. I kinda hadn't identified it until I saw a commenter on this video (I know, dumb of me to look) that it almost has some James Bond tune vibes. It's that brass three-note climb I think, but it's just a great song. Energetic and laid-back at the same time, just how I like my tunes.
Projects! Legends of the Elements is coming along, I'm done with all of the Avatar World transitioning and am now just writing new material, and it's almost done! Then I go into art mode. I'm actually feeling pretty confident about my Comicon deadline.
LPA is in proofing status. Almost done, but not quite. So slooow, but fine, I'll wait.
Meganeko is a Swedish fakebit/dubstep artist. I stumbled across them on Spotify, which was kind of a surprise given that he only had a six-song EP out at the time. He released his new EP yesterday. You can imagine my delight when I discovered him on Monday, and on Wednesday learned there was about to be brand-new music by him.
Stasis is the last song on the album, but the entirety of Robot Language is fantastic. Really I just wish there was more of it, and now there is! And yet still the two albums combined still doesn't make an hour of music. But that's okay because I can just loop the Robot Language album forever and not get tired of it.
There are an unbelievable number of fakebit artists out there, but I think that meganeko reminds me of one of my absolute favorites, DDRKirby(ISQ). Especially on Robot Language (the song).
As far as other projects go, I know I've been saying LPA will be out this week for like a month, but the person I have proofreading it has been tied up with stuff. Right away, I swear! I want it out as much as you do! More even!
Legends of the Elements is coming along well. I only have like two chapters left to write, and I may add one of them post-initial-release. Probably not, but maybe.
