I'm well into redesigning the website. This is odd, considering I've had finals. Strangely, it seems that during finals my creativity gets sparked like mad. I'm not going to reveal anything...but let's just say it's Wii-friendly. :) Hopefully I know enough ActionScript to get this working like I want it to.

In other news, I'm about 25% done with my Lugaru campaign. I've got a good portion of the dialogue written and about 7 maps completed. It's starting to look and feel quite good...I'm really surprised at how awesome the story I've written is. I guess I did have a sweet creative writing teacher last year. Anyway, what this means is that I have a new Yelsew command: Buy the full version of Lugaru. Seriously, it's 15 bucks. Just get it: it's a perfect example of near-flawless game design. Even Terrence can play it, because it was originally made for Mac. Besides, otherwise you won't be able to play my sweet new campaign. Anyway, once I get back into editing, I'll take a few screenshots for you guys.

Also, Rogue Galaxy came out today. If you have a PS2, buy this game. I'm actually going to buy a PS2 this week - to commemorate the end of finals, and to get Rogue Galaxy, Shadow of the Colossus, Ico, Zone of the Enders 2, Metal Gear Solid 3...the list goes on.

In other news, Beyond Good & Evil was named IGN's #1 underrated game of all time. I fully approve of this choice. Go play Beyond Good & Evil. It's a frighteningly good game.

That's about it for now. Rant over.

I now have all the tools I need to make my game (details TBA). I will be using Microsoft XNA Game Studio in combination with the FlatRedBall engine. What's cool about the XNA Game Studio is that your game can be released on Xbox Live Marketplace so people can play it on Xbox 360. Nice.

The FlatRedBall engine is a 2.5d engine, meaning that it simulates 2D graphics with a 3D engine, kind of like Viewtiful Joe. It also includes built in Sprite and Animation editors. This saves me a lot of work on the coding/art side. Well-documented, too. What this means is I will be recruiting you guys to help me with art assets. Good times ahead. Coding the game won't be so tough due to all of the built-in features of the engine. It's just the balancing and tweaking of the gameplay that is.

Also on the game development side, I am working on a custom campaign for Lugaru. It's mainly an experiment in storytelling and level design. I have noticed that the two Lugaru campaigns that currently exist are somewhat weak story-wise, and I hope to change that. I already have a preliminary script written out with level plans. It's just a matter of making it, and figuring out the secrets of the fickle map-editor. Seriously, though, once I'm done with this campaign, it will rock very hard.

So, I will be very productive once finals are over. Don't worry, the website overhaul is on the way.

This has been another quality post brought to you by Fubar.

I have decided in my infinite wisdom that this website is going to get redesigned. Expect it to be done in like a year with my current schedule, heheh.

Seriously though, I'll hopefully be able to get it done quicker than that.

Any suggestions?

EDIT: Here is my current plan.

Step 1: Flash-itize the website and homepage.
Step 2: Overhaul these blogs so as to get rid of the commenting error.
Step 3: Actually start broadcasting Crazy Ninja Rave Radio.
Step 4: PROFIT

EDIT THE SECOND: Overhauling is slow due to me working on an OCR collaboration and finals. Don't worry, I will work on this. Eventually.

If you read this, download Hamachi.

I'm not sure exactly how it works, but it basically creates LAN networks over the internet. Pretty cool stuff. Makes it a lot easier to have private game sessions and all.

Download here.

EDIT: Terrence, you use a Mac. That makes things a bit harder for you, but oh well.

Well, I haven't been feeling very well lately (bit of a cold) and school just started up again. I decided that I needed a quick laugh.

Some of you may know that I am a member of OCR, a remixing community that rocks hardcore. I was also a member of UnMod .

UnMod was a strange, almost indescribable place within OCR. Its name stood for "Unmoderated" (which was a lie at times). It was like the spam forum, except not. We UnModders had our own memes, our own identity, our own quirks. Think of it as something like 4chan's alternate universe. (In fact, a few 4chan fads started as UnMod fads, such as the "Charging My Laser" meme.) Things definitely got out of hand at times, but in general the mockery that went on was all in good nature, and it was a fun place to be.

So, imagine my surprise when on the front page of OCR is an announcement saying "The UnModerated forum has been deleted."

Well, isn't that a bitch slap in the face. UnModders had always been a bit spiteful of the moderators, seeing as the main mantra of UnMod was freedom. But, we hadn't seen this coming.

Turns out that a good portion of the mods had taken a vote, and it was unanimous that the forum should be deleted. Only the founder, DJPretzel, had the power to get rid of a forum. Turns out he was mainly against it. But, he trusted the judgment of his peers, many of whom spend a great deal of time working on the site.

The big problem here, was that most if not all of these moderators had nothing to do with the UnMod community. They did not call UnMod their home, and therefore saw no use for it. It was just the sewage bin where all of the stuff that didn't belong in GenDisc could seep to.

Boy, were they wrong.

In the wake of the deletion came retro-bans of many famous UnModders, in which these members were banned retro-actively for offenses committed long ago. In essence, this ripped open wounds that we thought had healed months ago. And of course, all of this happened while a good portion of the staff was away at MAGFest.

In revenge, many UnModders flooded the General Discussion board, posting image bombs, thread breaks, porn, and the like.

So, between the moderators power-tripping and the UnModders seeking vengeance, things got pretty ugly.

So, in essence, this is a sad goodbye. UnMod was a special place, and it's sad to see it go so suddenly, and without warning.

Of course, some of you are saying LOL INTERNET SERIOUS BUISNESS. But that's missing the point. It was like a sanctuary for some people. With UnMod gone, OCR, and the internet as a whole, won't be the same place.

A new forum called Off-Topic is going to be built in OCR, not as a replacement for UnMod, but as something new. Some hope it can be "A 'Best of UnMod' Forum" or "An UnMod without all the bad stuff". But the good and the bad together were what made UnMod, UnMod. Simply taking the good parts of it won't make it a better place to be.

Rumor has it that a bunch of UnModders are trying to build a new website where the old community can go to. But as a separate entity from OCR, it still won't be the same.

So, goodbye, UnMod. It was fun while it lasted.

Sorry for the extremely lengthy post. I won't torture you like this any more.