Current Happenings

by DesertDweller

So, what's going on in DesertDweller's world?

Hm...one moment, lemme ask him real quick.

*Picks up telephone and dials number*

Hello?  Yes...um...yeah.  Aha!  That's right.  Now I remember.  Yes, thanks, goodbye.

*Click*

 

Sorry about that.  You see, DesertDweller is so busy these days he's hardly done anything in the indie world.  He doesn't even have time to blog, so he hired me to write this thing for him.  As you can see it's quite difficult as I have to write about what he's been doing.  Anyway, let see...things he's up to.

 

1.  Music

Yes, as always, DesertDweller has been giving music priority during free time.  He even works on it during his 30 minute breaks while working!  The guy is near crazy--he's gotten this VST plugin called Symphonic Orchestra FREE by East West/Quantum Leap.  Basically it's a free version of their extremely high quality orchestral samples, including strings, some horns, cellos, and some reeds to boot.  Of course, this has made DesertDweller extremely excited about making orchestral pieces; once he has $1000 to spare he wants to purchase the Complete Composers Collection, giving him tons more samples like choirs and chimes along with fuller effects.  He's also been eyeing lots of keyboards on craigslist, hoping to snatch a decent one at a bargain deal so he can more efficiently knock out tunes.

Of course, DesertDweller's also been putting his passion to good use.  He's involved in 3 separate game projects doing music for the developers.  We'll see which ones (if any) pan out eh?

 

2.  Improv on the Piano

Believe it or not, DesertDweller loves to spend what precious little free time he has at home fooling around on the piano trying to mimic some tune or come up with a unique one of his own.  He's been spending hours playing Cave Story, Legend of Zelda, and Spirit Engine II pieces, converting the sounds to piano and whatnot, then taking the music wherever it leads him.  The ocarina likewise has been used quite often lately.

 

3.  The Spirit Engine II

OK.  So maybe DesertDweller isn't THAT busy on weekends, and a lot of time has gone into playing through The Spirit Engine II, but it has been worth it.  He's already beaten the game once on Easy, and is currently playing through on Normal now that he has half a clue about the battle mechanics and core strategy.

More on this game later; there's a lot to learn from it.

 

4.  Work

Yes, DD has a job as a math, physics, and now...chemistry and spanish?  That's right, DD has recently subbed for missing Spanish tutors and took up some science hours to tutor chemistry...and technically bio, anat and phis, ochem, and others but he's really quite useless in there.  Why he took those extra hours I don't know.

He has almost definitively decided his major is going to be electrical engineering!?  That's a knew one, I certainly wasn't expecting to hear him say that.  Apparently physics II: electricity and magnetism has been really easy for him, so he's been all excited about how everything at the atomic level has been working, something many other engineering majors don't get to focus on.

 

5.  NOT Zelda

Sadly, DesertDweller has momentarily lost interest in Link's Awakening, his current project.  Progress will pick up soon as the busy part of this semester is near over.

However, what he has been doing is participating wayyy too much in online discussion about possible Zelda theories, especially concerning the meaning behind the whole concept of Link's Awakening.  (no spoilers!)

 

6.  NOT Sports

:(  Yes, a sad consequence of DesertDweller having a job is that he has no time to play sports anymore, with the exception perhaps of ping-pong.  He does however play his ping-pong religiously nearly every weekday, winning quite often.

 

7.  NOT Happy Little Ditty

This I don't understand.  DesertDweller was on a roll and was near done with the AI.  Once he finished that part he would be all inspired again and be able to work on HLD for several weeks to come without losing enthusiasm.  What happened?  I honestly don't know, you'd have to ask him yourself.

 

 

I hope this has been enough to entertain you for 5 minutes or so.  I'm not sure how well I communicated his current interests and doings, but hey, it's better than nothing right?

 

Until next time,

Mo Zanzabar

Public Relations Agent for The Game Maker Desert

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