Grakus Version 2

Ok, we've done some work and I think we have a finished project. Check out Grakus on Kongregate! If you don't have an account, sign up for one, and please, please, please, rate it 5 stars!

Grakus

For the last semester, I've been in a class where we've been building a tower defense game. Check out this current release version at Kongregate.

25 Random Things About Me

Ok, I got 2 people sending this thing to me on Facebook, so I figure I can't just ignore it. Here goes.

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I feel most comfortable in front of a computer screen
2. My Life's Goal is to design Video Games for a living
3. Although I love to play Video Games myself, I'm actually not that good at most of them, with the exception of Puzzle Games and RPGs
4. I'm 3/4 Irish and 1/4 German, and I don't drink
5. I've been on a diet for a bit over a year, but After losing 50 pounds, I've found it nearly impossible to stay on it
6. I've lost two family members due to smoking-related cancer, my Aunt and my Granddad
7. I recently built a brand new computer for myself, and it costed much less than if I'd bought it pre-assembled
8. People may sometimes see me as arrogant, but in truth, I'm just not much of a talker; I've gotten better though
9. I have a bad habit of correcting people's pronunciation of words
10. While I like my job, I actually enjoyed my job more before I became a Supervisor
11. I still have my appendix, tonsils, and all 4 wisdom teeth
12. I met my wife in 2nd grade, and from the 7th grade on, I never had any doubt who I was going to marry
13. I dropped out of two schools before going to Ivy Tech, now I'm determined to get a degree from there before I move on
14. I really wish I had the time and money to get back into collecting comics
15. I cringe when I read something that's over-saturated with netspeak
16. has always been my lucky number
17. I'm not a very religious man, but I believe in God, I believe in Jesus, I believe that no one religion could be completely right, and I believe that no one religion is completely wrong; except for [withheld], that scares me.
18. I've always wanted to go into space
19. I prefer a mouse and keyboard to a gamepad
20. I don't believe in the end of the world
21. I have a tendency to feel other people's pain, which is why I could never be a doctor
22. I like things as small as they can get, without sacrificing performance
23. I tend to get along more with women than with men
24. Earbuds don't stay in my ears
25. My greatest fear is that I will one day loose my mind
    

50!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today, at 12:20pm, I weighed in at 190.6lbs, making my official weight loss 51 pounds! I am incredibly excited about this. In High School I used to weigh around 190lbs and I'm less than a pound away from this. I only have 20.6lbs to go before hitting my weight loss goal. Thanks to all the weight loss, I had to donate most of my jeans, so I bought 3 new pairs. I'm back to a 34 inch waist, but I don't think I'll go down even if I loose more weight. Your waist size can only shrink as much as your pelvis, right?

On the gaming front, I'm actually starting work on designing a Video Game. It's still in the conceptual phase right now, but it's called Spellmasters and it's an RPG. The hook is the combat mechanics. Rather than using typical turn-based combat or the real-time combat newer RPGs are using, Spellmasters uses a card-based combat system similar to Magic: the Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh. My plan is to make the first one, which I'm calling Spellmasters 0: Prolouge Dungeon, using Flash and make it (possibly) free on the web. Following that, I hope to use this as a portfolio builder until I can actually make the first complete game in the series (not that S0PD won't be a complete game, it just won't have everything I want in it). I actually don't want the game to stay on PC. I think it would be much better on handhelds like the DS, or PSP (or hell, even the iPhone). This isn't the only concept I'm working on, this is just the only one that feels like one I could acomplish before I actually graduate. I'll be taking a course in Flash next semester so expect my project to finish sometime in the summer.

Oh, and before I forget:
©2008 Benjamin J. Stanton
©2008 Infinity Arcade

So Many Games, So Little Time

You know, I really hate the fact that I have to work and go to school. If I could cut out work, then I'd be able to take the time I'd normally be working and do my homework. Then I could take the time I'd normally be doing homework, and focus on myself. I guess I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed right now. I've got to pass both my classes, keep showing up to work, stick to this diet I'm on, get a job for the Summer (because I won't be getting as much Unemployment as I did last year), and still find time to have a relationship with my family. I don't think I can keep doing the comic right now. I'm going to finish up the arc I'm on and then take a hiatus until the Summer.

Best. Weekend. Ever.

Oh my God, I had so much fun this weekend. I built a computer. All by myself. The only thing that would have made it better was if it was for me. Instead, I built a computer for my Mother. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the Rig itself, but I do have links to the parts I bought. I used Newegg.com because well, they're the best. I typically rely on Newegg and use Tiger Direct if I find a better deal, but this thing, with shipping, came in under $900.

New Computer:
Case
- hec COMPUCASE Black/Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower
Motherboard
- GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard
Processor
- Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66 GHz Processor
RAM
- Kingston HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 SDRAM Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
Power Supply
- mushkin 550250 ATX12V/EPS12V 580W Power Supply
Video Card
- XFX PVT86SYAFG GeForce 8400GS 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card
Sound Card
- Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme Audio 70SB104000000 7.1 Channels PCI Express Interface Sound Card
Optical Drive
- LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA
Extra Case Fan
- AeroCool TURBINE 3000 120mm Case Fan
Monitor
- Hanns·G HB-191DPB Black 19" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor
Keyboard/Mouse
- Microsoft S82-00032S Black USB + PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard Mouse Included

I have to be honest, If I could, I would have taken it home with me. But it's OK, because the one I build for myself will be even better.

One thing that irks me though. I sent the Zelda DS game back to GameFly (I just couldn't get into it) and I stuck 3 DS games at the top of the Q, hoping that they'd send me one of them. Instead, they send me one of my Wii games, so Now I'm going to have 2 Wii games out at a time. It's OK though, because my wife and I are seriously considering keeping Mario Party. If we do, I'll make sure I do that at just the right time to get sent a DS game.

Well, that's it for now. See you real soon.

Recovery

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I've been sick the last couple days. It started Tuesday, but it really hit me hard on Thursday. It seemed to be tonsillitis, but the last few days my lungs hurt like bronchitis. I skipped both classes last week and even had to miss a work meeting (which sucks because I actually like the meetings at my job). Anyway, I'm now back to work and classes (or I would be back to class if my class hadn't been canceled yesterday) and gaming (I couldn't stay on my computer for more than 30 minutes at a time before I nearly passed out).

I am now an official member of Weight Watchers. I joined Friday and so far I've only gone over my daily points limit once, and that was my first day. I've got to say, it's easier than I thought. The big thing I've been doing is not eating out very much, and when I need some kind of quick food, I usually just heat up a Smart Ones meal. Of course since those meals all have a lot of vegetables in them, I've mostly been eating the Italian meals. I've also discovered that, while I'm not normally a fan of artificial sweeteners, the Crystal Light drink mixes are actually pretty good.

In other news, I received Phantom Hourglass from GameFly this weekend. I gave it a shot, but I'm afraid that, being sick, I wasn't able to give it the full attention it deserved. I'm going to try to play more this week and see if I can do better than I did while I was sick. I think I'm going to send Marvel: UA back though. While the game was fun, I think it would benefit more from a traditional controller scheme. I plan on putting my upcoming Tax Rebate Check to the purchase of a 360.

Valentine's Day is coming, and my wife and I will be going to White Castle for our celebration. Yes we're both on Weight Watchers, but since we both have special weekly points, we can save those up for one night of unhealthy food, as long as it's not too often.

Winter-een-mas: Day Six

My Winter-een-mas Celebration continued when my friend happened to be online last night. We played World of Warcraft from 2 to 6 am last night. Right now I'm blogging just so I can stay awake at work. Fortunately, my job tends to take care of itself and there's nothing against me blogging as long as I check on everything every 15 minutes.

Tomorrow is Thursday, which means Visual Basic class. I still have to finish my assignment, so I doubt I'll get in any gaming tonight.

Good news is, my wife will soon be getting a MacBook, which is good because unlike her previous laptop, this one will be capable of playing World of Warcraft. This means she and I can finally play together instead of the two of us sharing one account on one computer.

That's all I have to say right now. Catch you later.

Winter-een-mas: Day Five

My Winter-een-mas plans were slightly derailed this weekend. This was partially because my GameFly game, Marvel Ultimate Alliance didn't come in the mail until yesterday, but mostly because my Internet went down and didn't come back on until yesterday either. So I spent most of my Sunday in the outside world with my Wife. It was a nice change of pace.

Unfortunately, it's back to the weekly grind now. Work, Classes, Exercise. I've got a Visual Basic assignment due this Thursday and a C++ assignment due next Tuesday. Hopefully I'll get some gaming in next Friday, but unfortunately, Winter-een-mas will be over by that time. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

I leave you with this: