A quick Halloween special: the angry witch and a horrible way to love one's loved ones

By David

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And now a word from the bros:

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The Side Profile Club

By David

Women didn’t want us anymore so we started a side profile club. The rule was simple: always display the side profile of you face, and no other angle.

The movement started with simple Facebook profiles pics, but then it evolved into something else. Soon, men would only ever communicate with others with their side profile. It didn’t matter if you had to walk sideways – you were more handsome with your side profile. It didn’t matter if you could only ever speak to one person at once – you were more handsome with you side profile. It didn’t matter if you had to never face people ever again – you were more handsome with your side profile.

We became so good at only displaying our side profiles that we fooled women into believing we were all extremely good looking... until they saw us the next morning. This made women sad. “This isn’t fair,” my ex girlfriend said. “When you’re in public, everyone only sees your side profile, but when you’re with me, you’re so fucking lazy you show me your actual face. Why don’t you put effort into trying to please me anymore? Why don’t you men care?”

And so she beat me up and started a war. There were tanks and guns and men were shot in the street.  Men fought back by making women feel guilty about everything, like it was all their fault. We did this by not talking to them for days and making them jealous through Facebook (side profile) photos and status updates. In the end, the women apologised. They sent us the sweetest “I’m so sorry baby” text messages in the world. 

This made us happy until they started their own club, called the we get paid more than you club.  

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And now a word from the bros:

We're building an awesome video game app, so we need cash bad! Please help this nutso project of ours come to life by making a small PayPal donation. With your donation, you'll be able to help us hire developers and put a bright new game into phones and tablets worldwide.

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Making a Video Game - Part 4 - Writing a Plot Guide

By David.

A lot of people ask me, "David, what the hell do you do in your spare time besides feel sorry for yourself?"

I work on our plot guide!

Now that Alvin and I have agreed on the main characters for our app game and are both happy with its general plot, it's now my turn to work on a more comprehensive plot guide. My screenshot won't be as interesting as any of Alvin's work, but here's a snippet of what a draft version of a Night Time Brothers plot guide looks like:

You'll notice that it says, "Diverted path 1..." blah blah blah. That's because our game branches off into several paths, depending on what choices the player makes. My job is now to write, in detail, what happens when the player makes every decision.


So how do you make a plot guide?

If you do it how we did, then it's easy (well, it's "easy" if you're doing it small scale like us). Firstly, you have to define what a plot guide is. To us, a plot guide is something you write as an aid for you and the team to understand not only the overall story of your game, but also the personality of its characters and the scenery that holds them; it also provides a more detailed essence of the story in comparison to what you would normally find in a general summary. It also makes the script a lot easier to understand.

The tedious part of plot guide writing comes when you're someone like me. I like to make sure everything is clear, so that if Alvin or our future developers can read it and think, "Yup, I agree with that," or, "Fuck off, this is wrong," and there will be no confusion and we can discuss the issue with peace and love and man love. In the plot guide, I make sure to have:

• a table of contents that makes reference to each and every path of the game,
  
• a diagram that shows all plot variations and finally,
  
• a detailed plot guide (like in the screenshot above) that sort of reads like a novel: it includes a more detailed story, it includes the subtle mannerisms of the game's main characters with snippets of their dialogue, it sets the mood of the scene; it also sets the background of each event. 

Of course, writing a plot guide in this format is only applicable if you're doing a more story-based game like Alvin and I. If you're creating the next Fruit Ninja, then you better forget everything you've just read.

After the plot guide, I'll then be writing the game script and narrative script. But more on them on later posts. Then Alvin will be illustrating the whole lot! Yey.


Time to get back to it. Bye!

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And now a word from the bros:

We're building an awesome video game app, so we need cash bad! Please help this nutso project of ours come to life by making a small PayPal donation. With your donation, you'll be able to help us hire developers and put a bright new game into phones and tablets worldwide.

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Balloon Girl: A School Holiday Short Story

By David

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And now a word from the bros:

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My Sonic & Knuckles

by Alvin


I actually wasn't happy with Sonic (& Mario too for that matter) in the previous post.. it was more of a warm up.  so here's one I'm more satisfied in - Knuckles thrown in as a bonus, hehe..

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My Sonic & Mario

by Alvin

last night the idea just came to me - & I had to do my own take on the famous rivals from my high school days..

how I wish there was an actual next gen Sonic the Hedgehog game that wasn't terrible; sucked; underwhelming, *insert dissapointed synonym*.. I reckon they should base any new remake on the awesome cartoon series; not the slapstick kids fodder, but the almost dark & story driven series where doc robotnic was an actual badass..

anyway.. enjoy!

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And now a word from the bros:

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Making a Video Game – Part 3 – a Preview of Sugar and a Call for Donations

By David

After months of plot and gameplay conceptualisation, we’re finally down to creating our characters.

Here’s a sneak peek of Alvin sketching up one of our characters, Sugar, on his laptop. I’m sure he’ll reveal a bit more (and maybe provide some drawing tips) in a later post. 

Like with our other soon-to-come stories, the game is set in the city of Old Majesty. Sugar will be one of the main playable characters.  

Just to remind everyone again, Alvin is an illustrator/writer, and I am a writer. This spells one word: poor. 

This poses just a BIT if an intensely massive hurdle for us as we need to hire the expertise of an app and web development team to produce something truly game worthy. 

If you would like to spare a dollar or two to help make our dream project happen, feel free to make a PayPal donation by clicking on the little piggy in our signature beneath every post. 

Bye (and thank you)!

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And now a word from the bros:

We're building an awesome video game app, so we need cash bad! Please help this nutso project of ours come to life by making a small PayPal donation. With your donation, you'll be able to help us hire developers and put a bright new game into phones and tablets worldwide.

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New "Donate" button!

by Alvin


David may have hinted upon - in an early post - that amongst our endless project opportunities, we're working on a game app for the iphone.

We've kept things a bit vague; a bit secret squirrel on the matter - but because you've passed the ancient ritual test of friendship, I have no reason not to think of you as fellow petrified stones.  David & I are working on essentially a digital comic book app - but with a twist!: interactive gameplay elements interwoven within the story & panel navigation.. I know right, exciting stuff!

Okay, I recognise Square Enix brought out a similar app - but I promise you we didn't hear any word of its development prior to it being released, so in our books we're still creating something revolutionary, hehe..

And here's where our friendship comes in - it takes a few chests of cursed spanish gold to get this off the ground, & we're working on the pre-production requirements; accumulating all the hidden treasure maps we have to find the funding we need, along the way.. but we wont look down on any helpful hand.

Any spare doubloons or ancient solidus' you have from your plundering days - that you wish to part with, to help us finish our dream project for you (our fans, friends, family, fellow gamers; geeks, & connoisseurs of all things awesome almighty).  David & I will appreciate to the high heavens your contribution & will reward you with an awesome app ready for your hungry iphone.

The Donate button is on the right, below our profile - or underneath this in case you want to see how sexy it could be without our profile pimping it up..

In advance: Thankyou.. if you subscribe to our blog, you'll get word via our chimpanzee delivery service: updates on how our app developing is going - it's hard work creating a game, but it's hella fun!


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And now a word from the bros:

We're building an awesome video game app, so we need cash bad! Please help this nutso project of ours come to life by making a small PayPal donation. With your donation, you'll be able to help us hire developers and put a bright new game into phones and tablets worldwide.

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Mutant Ninja Turtles

by Alvin

Even more so than the Transformers, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are my favourite retro property ever!

The early 90's cartoon was entertaining, but too kiddy for my liking - it was the original comic & it's subsequent media versions that I love the most.. I guess I'm too engrossed in my cynical age, but dark, gritty, violent & realistic are my tastes these days, & I remember the first ninja turtles movie being the best thing ever - not as dark as the original comic, but on par with realism and the spirit of the original that I appreciate it even more now.. the reboot of the franchise with the 2003+(?) cartoon series was also excellent - there's actual action!

I've been trying to do my take on the ninja turtles for quite some time now, & it's only recently my hand followed my brain & came up with something decent:  my versions aren't teenagers anymore, they're in their early or mid-twenties & have gone through a lot of maturity but are still at their core the characters we know and love.. story wise, I did have a synopsis but I think it needs a lot more thought & work.. I've decided to give these brothers a family name - seeing as how Splinter was a pet of Hamato Yoshi, I figured he'd adopt his surname in memory of him.  So the turtles would be sons under Splinter Hamato's family, hence: Leonardo Hamato, Michelangelo Hamato, Raphael Hamato & Donatello Hamato..

It's been real fun, so I'll definitely carry on with more re-designs of turtle characters.. at the moment I'm excited to do my take on The Shredder & Splinter.. so watch this space peeps!

p.s. If you want to know more about the turtles in a half-shell - turtle power!  I'd recommend checking out their wiki & just losing yourself in the richness of the characters & story.


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And now a word from the bros:

We're building an awesome video game app, so we need cash bad! Please help this nutso project of ours come to life by making a small PayPal donation. With your donation, you'll be able to help us hire developers and put a bright new game into phones and tablets worldwide.

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My Super Sentai!

by Alvin


Did you miss me?

I know its been yonks since my last post (my shiva like arms applaude David covering for me), but my 3rd semester of TAFE has been hell: the largest workload so far on top of a certain a-hole of a teacher = the eleventh circle of hell where I'm not as satisfied with my overall standard of work as I was last year..

it's been challenging to say it in "lame-man's" terms (hehe).. but at least I've come out of it with some bruises on my ego, repairable, damaged limbs & a love for deserving procrastination..

sleep & health are 2 things I've siphoned back into my life now that I'm on my semester break.  & during that time; alone in bed as I try to fit in a few moments of imaginative indulgence.  I've grown obsessed with trying to come up with a unique concept for a tactical, squad shooter game, ala ghost recon, mass effect & maybe even as far as calling MGS an example..

you won't believe how many concepts have fleeted in and out of my mind, & how many that have been chosen - only to be scrapped the next morning/night of pre-sleep imaginings, for another that was scrapped previously before this was scrapped or chosen before it was scrapped.. gaaah! the world just exploded!

you can see I'm not as good at this as I was when I was younger, but for fear of getting trapped in a cycle of indecisiveness - one idea has always been an underlying theme: a Super Sentai type of concept, whereby the members of the squad aren't hardened marines, or a task force of special agents.. but rather a team of "Power Ranger/Gatchaman" sorts fighting against an invading alien threat.. no camp, cheesiness or light hearted drama either - I'm thinking a bit of appropriate grit & realism that can be afforded for such an outlandish setting/theme, mixed with violence, headshots, aliens consuming humans, blood, gore, character development & adult themes.. think of gatchaman before the US took it's censorship scalpel to its beautiful brain..

I know you can see it as vividly as I can:

• imagine a mix of tactical, cover based shooting, with transitional melee based action
• on the fly ordering the other members of your sentai group to use their skills to shoot or melee attack.. 
• then add an experience point system where you can purchase "perks" to augment your combat & survival potency
• the levels you've racked up with said exp. - unlocking new "weaponry" to use/add to your arsenal
• full weapon customisation & equipment outfitting of your sentai force

 .. then imagine having robots too in the mix!!!  OH MY!

lucky for me, I started conceptualising my own sentai force for a comic I didn't end up putting anymore effort into - which was good, because I constantly reworked the designs; becoming more realistic than being a qute XD type of style..

being out of touch with drawing for a while: this pic of Falcon-O - the leader of my "gatchaman" type force, took all day to do..

his other 2 team-mates are in similar garb, so you can get a feel for their designs as a whole (& I'll release new images of them as time progresses) - but they'll specialise in different "things".. sadly I haven't thought off a proper name for their group or any villains or a story or ANYTHING for that matter - the XD version of them was called "Super Ninja WingMen".. which I want to change into something less tacky; more catchy & serious..

now, hopefully I won't lose interest in this indulgence of mine.. but we'll see how it goes..

It's good to be back at least..


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And now a word from the bros:

We're building an awesome video game app, so we need cash bad! Please help this nutso project of ours come to life by making a small PayPal donation. With your donation, you'll be able to help us hire developers and put a bright new game into phones and tablets worldwide.

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How to Create a Unique Vampire

By David

What can be more alluring than a bloodsucker that can jump really high? What can be more alluring than a dude who sleeps in coffins and can turn into a fruit-eating bat? What can be more alluring than a vampire who just, like, really really loves a girl who happens not to be a vampire?

Vampires sparkle. Vampires bite. Vampires whither in the sunlight. They kill. They suffer. They take pleasure in the misery of others. They’re either young or old or somewhere in between. Sometimes they’re white, sometimes they’re black. Whatever form they choose, there’s one thing for sure: they rule our commercial world. We love spending money on vampire merchandise, and vampires love how our cash is helping them live forever. 

But there’s a problem. Vampires are everywhere. There are way too many of them for any new interesting stories to come out. It's as if companies looked at Twilight and decided to create a damn factory that mass produces vampire scripts like they do iPhones.  

I’ve been reading this Vertigo graphic novel (written by Stephen King and Scott Snyder) titled American Vampire. In his intro blurb, Stephen King starts, Here’s what vampires shouldn’t be: pallid detectives who drink Bloody Marys and only work at night; lovelorn southern gentlemen; anorexic teenage girls; boy-toys with big dewy eyes.

How can you create a vampire that will stand out of the clutter? Here are some ideas for vampires that, to my knowledge, haven’t been overly used before in mainstream media:

Make the vampire really ugly in human form, but extremely good looking in evil/monster form.

Every time we see vampires shriek, they turn all ugly on us. I’m sick of shitting myself every time I see them do that. 

Next time, when the vampire gets hungry or angry, it can turn into an extremely good looking person with perfectly normal, non-threatening eyes. 

Make the vampire a homosexual.

No, not sexy, porno “lesbian” girls dancing together in a night club. I mean vampires who are genuinely into man-on-man action; I mean female lesbians who legitimately love other women outside of the camera and outside of drunken party dares. Make a vampire that’s genuinely gay. 

Make your vampire say no to drugs and alcohol.

And not just because drugs and alcohol are bad for vampires, but because your vampire believes it’s bad for EVERYONE. “No thanks, I’m having an orange juice tonight.”

Give the vampire a positive outlook on life. 

It’s as if vampires have never read The Secret before. Make a vampire who laughs and enjoys coffee with friends; a vampire who wakes up every evening, stretches and sings: I love myself, I love my friends, I love my family and I love this night – life is great! I’m getting laid tonight!

Make a vampire that gets beaten by a werewolf.

I feel sorry for Jacob. 

Make a vampire that will never win the girl. 

Vampires have always won the girl. They’ve enjoyed hundreds of years winning attractive women over, but still, they complain and look sad all the time. It’s time to make a vampire that isn’t seductive for once. Make a vampire lose a girl to a much better looking human – hands down. Make a vampire that texts but never gets a reply. Make a vampire who looks at a mirror and thinks: why do they see right through me? 

If the vampire is female, give her a moustache. 

There simply haven’t been enough female vampires with moustaches. I see human girls with moustaches all the time – why can’t female vampires grow moustaches? They’re old enough not to be insecure about it. 

Make your vampire fight aliens.

Enough said. 

Give the vampire a fake tan. 

A really obvious fake tan. And boob job. And nose job. And botox job. And lip job. And thigh job.

Make the vampire a talking robot dog from the past.

Yup. I’ve run out of ideas.

How about you? Do YOU have any unique vampire ideas? Feel free to send us some!

(All images in this post were not created by us - they were taken from the graphic novel American Vampire).



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Woman's Love Story

By David

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Happy 137th Birthday, Mr. Houdini

Image of Houdini from Wikipedia

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Making a Video Game - Part 2 - How to Write a Creative Plot and Where Good Ideas Come From

By David

Believe it or not, we didn’t need cocaine to come up with creative stuff. All we needed was a giant jug of water.

Giant jug of creativity water.

Writing the plot for our new game made me realise why sitcoms need teams of writers, rock bands need a posse of misfits and Snow White needs seven dwarfs: sometimes going solo isn’t the best way to produce something cool. 

 

This video by Steven Johnson on where good ideas come from may explain what on earth I’m talking about:

So there you have it. Find some creative people. Bounce ideas off each other and add to them. Tap on each other's resources. Enhance each other's talents and tweak each other's dreams. Drink from a jug of water and build something brilliant.

Bye!


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And now a word from the bros:

We're building an awesome video game app, so we need cash bad! Please help this nutso project of ours come to life by making a small PayPal donation. With your donation, you'll be able to help us hire developers and put a bright new game into phones and tablets worldwide.

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Praying for Japan

By David

I love Japan. Japan is the country where I experienced my first extreme drunkenness, the country with the tight cities and the great buildings and the flashing lights and the peaceful towns and the friendly customer service and Judo and Naruto, the country with the park with the small statues and the giant tower where I looked out towards the grey and orange horizon of the world. The pain it’s enduring right now is definitely a tragedy.

One thing to expect out of life is that death and suffering will come at you from everywhere. Muggers, dictators, terrorists, murders, accidents, natural disasters, all that other nonsense. We live in a world where we can die from speaking back to someone; we live in a world where we can die from eating food – we can even die from sleeping. There’s a giant invisible ball out there, and although we can’t see it, we can certainly feel its pressure.

SUPPORT JAPAN THROUGH DONATIONS (from Yahoo):

Click here. 

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And now a word from the bros:

We're building an awesome video game app, so we need cash bad! Please help this nutso project of ours come to life by making a small PayPal donation. With your donation, you'll be able to help us hire developers and put a bright new game into phones and tablets worldwide.

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Making a Video Game - Part 1

By David

Yup, that's right. We're making a game for the iPhone/iPad.

As a kid, I loved playing games. I loved eating mushrooms while riding Yoshi in Super Mario World. I loved perving with Leisure Suit Larry. I loved shooting my team members in Counter-Strike. Who the hell would've thought that Alvin and I might end up making a game one day? I wouldn't have.  

Right now, we are in heavy discussions on the plot.

SPOILER: It may or may not be about a diamond necklace and it may or may not involve a dead guy.

Here's my Microsoft Paint sketch of a diamond necklace (Alvin's illustration will be much better).

Stay tuned. Bye!


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And now a word from the bros:

We're building an awesome video game app, so we need cash bad! Please help this nutso project of ours come to life by making a small PayPal donation. With your donation, you'll be able to help us hire developers and put a bright new game into phones and tablets worldwide.

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What if Star Wars was Real?

By David

Image from ifstarwarswasreal.

I love looking at vintage photos. I was looking through Cool Hunter and found a link to ifstarwarswasreal.com - a site that posts vintage photos blended with some good old Star Wars.

Now where the hell's Jar Jar?

Check out the website here.

Howard Hughes working on a Starfighter. Image from ifstarwarswasreal.

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And now a word from the bros:

We're building an awesome video game app, so we need cash bad! Please help this nutso project of ours come to life by making a small PayPal donation. With your donation, you'll be able to help us hire developers and put a bright new game into phones and tablets worldwide.

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