Woohoo!

I've finally done a new game/interactive thingy. I started doing it before Mum's birthday, and put it aside because there were bugs and errors. Now, after painful testing and de-bugging, I've got it done. It's called An Insight Into 'The Teddy Times'.

It includes:
A beginner's attempt at lip sync (matching a voice-over to the animation),
photos,
a lot of effort,
George,
and... more effort! (Lol)
There are 6 different things to click on, especially the magazine - click anywhere on the front page to open it, then click again to close.

Turn up your sound, and Enjoy!

-link here-

oh, and I must stress that it is a 6mb file, so please be patient and wait for it to load.

Dawn of the Giants

is the name of my upcoming animation. It should be done within 5 days (yes, animating takes a lot of time).

Here's a couple of screenshots that I took.

The main character

The title and play button

Notice the nice glowy effects on "The title and play button"? Well, those are called filters.

No, not the kind of air filter that Darth Vader uses, or a parental control website filter, that's not what I mean.

Look:

(Pic)

(Pic)

Filters are special effects that you can use. All the pro animators on Newgrounds use them.
Newgrounds is a massive site where loads of Flash users go to upload their flashes. It's the original, and the biggest.
I'm going to host my animation on there, so when I make it I'll just link to it, OK?
When you host flashes on NG, you run the risk of it getting BLAMMED. Basically that just means that your flash gets deleted on NG. Ouch. I doubt mine will get blammed, seen as I'm putting a lot of effort into it.

I'm hungry, so I'll explain the plot of Dawn of the Giants later (maybe). MMMmmm, chicken fajitas again today for me! Mum makes the perfect fajita - she's probably got a photo of one on her blog. *drools*

Tappi

Is the name of our new kitten.
Me and dad first secretly planned to get Mum a kitten 2 days before her birthday. After looking in corner shop windows for a "free kitten to good home" notice (and having no luck), Dad rang up the place where we had got two of the cats that we own. So, after waiting 6 days for the kitten that we chose to have her immunisations and get chipped, we have finally brought her home.
On the journey back from the Woodland Animal Sanctuary she ripped my thumb from inside the cage with her sharp little claws. She didn't mean to hurt me, she was just desperate to get out.
She is a beautiful tabby, I just love her huge ears, and she has a rather pathetic meow - it's more of a sqeaky hiss.






She's crying at me all the time. I think she's found her new master. Mum has Buffy, so we secretly decided that Tappi could be sort of mine. Awww. A second ago she tried to scrabble up onto the chair I'm sitting on too.

So anyway, we've made a bed out of a Walkers crisp box, and because I love her so much I've donated a sheepskin rug for her, and she can have my teddies Hester and Fudge to keep her toasty warm in the night. OK, I'm going to bed now. See you tomorrow, Tappi.

One less cat

My darling Boots is gone. We decided to let him go. I thought it would be best to watch while the vet put him to sleep. But at least I know he's playing side by side with Jaffa, and Minky riding on his back, with all the Gerbils and Rats following him. He can eat all the steak, mince, and chicken that he wants to. And he's waiting for me - in 90 years time we will be reunited, but I'll be young again, and we'll hug and I'll say how I missed him, and all that. Now I need a tissue. I'd like to get a kitten, but I think it's best that we leave it for a while.

The way he looked at me in the waiting room. The way he reached out his paw, and was comforted when I held it tight. I love him. Loved. Have loved. Did love. Still love.

Boots

Gotta be quick, but, in short, Mum is taking boots to the vet. I'm going with her. Things look bad.

Funky Flowers

I've not posted for a while - I've been trying to think of a flash game, and when I've not been trying to think of a flash game I've been making this one. Not that that's all I ever do, you understand - make flash games.

So, anyway, I've been working on a flash game called Funky Flowerz. It's 100% flower aranging fun! It took longer to make than the dress up game, but works on the same principles.

http://img361.imageshack.us/my.php?image=flowerpowervc9.swf
Heh, I always put "RicardoStudios presents...", just in case "rumtoggled scroungebuckling dimbells" steal my flashes. I sound silly, but it happens. A lot.

Dress-Him-Up

That's the title of my new interactive dress up "game".
http://img357.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dresshimupaq7.swf
I took a screenshot of some of the code -
http://img457.imageshack.us/img457/2582/codeur8.jpg
Confusing much? It's not that bad once you get to know it - Actionscript, that is.

Flash uses a coding language called Actionscript. I wouldn't call it easy to learn, as they advertise it, but once you know the basics, it's not as difficult as it looks.

Quick interactive thingy

I whipped up this little interactive display thingy in flash. It needs a bit of tweaking, but I'm fairly pleased with it. It wasn't too difficult to make - it only has a small amout of coding in it, meaning I didn't need any internet tutorials.

http://img159.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cattypicsmf0.swf
You need to wait 10 seconds for the images to load.
If you like it, I could make one for you.

“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like… People think it’s this veneer - that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”

Steve Jobs.

A very valid point. Why have I quoted this, you may ask? Well, I think that design is vital for creating good flash games and animations. When you design flash games, you don't just plan how a game looks. What's the point of having a super-fancy game with great graphics, if you didn't consider where to put certain pieces of code, or you didn't think about the controls for your game, eh?

Anyway... I "turned" eleven in may, and along with my eleventh birthday came...
Flash. Yup!
Now, making games is no simple matter, as I soon learned. You need knowledge of actionscript, patience, a calm mind, and a lot of imagination! (Unless you are one of those rumtoggled scroungebuckling dimbells that copy other people's ideas).
I've already made a game or two, but published none of them anywhere.