The Dragon's Cave

Ahhhh sooo nice to get a good night's sleep. Even though I still feel somewhat tired, I'm feeling better today. Still trying to get rid of these coughs left over from my recent sinus infection. After I completed a full supply of antibiotics, the Doctor said that my sinuses just need to be cleaned out, so he prescribed some steroids (GUH?!).

We continue working on Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake this week. Our bug count is down quite a bit, and hopefully we can get them all cleared out in the coming weeks. Sony has also asked that we do some solid polish on the game (YAY!), so that it will shine instead of just being mediocre. It does mean some more 11+ hour days, and I'll be glad when the project is over and done, but I am glad to finally get a chance to actually polish a game instead of being rushed to get it done.

Yesterday, I was able to harvest our first batch of tomatoes grown in our own garden. I got five very nice red ones of varying sizes, and sliced them all up for the kids to try. Kimberly didn't want any (her loss, I assure you).

Ah, I LOVE home grown tomatoes. There's a flavor to them that you just can't get from the store.

I've sent some more takes to Jon Ponkivar, and he says that he likes my auditions for Seth and Norman. (see comic page for character explanations.) He asked me to refine the two characters and send him more takes.

Unfortunately, last night I came down with yet another sinus infection. Coughing, headache, swollen lymph glands in my neck. Blech. So, my voice is kind of on the fritz for the time being--I'm going to have to wait until I get better before I do any more takes. I was able to get to the doctor this morning, and he's put me on some heavy antibiotics, so hopefully I can nip this in the bud before I end up coughing for months on end...

Yesterday, I saw a blog post written by one of my favorite online comic artists, Jon Ponkivar. He wants to animate his comic series, and he sent out a call for people to audition for voiceover parts for his characters. Jon's comic is called Peter and Company.

I thought it would be fun to try, plus I enjoy doing impressions and silly voices. So, this morning I fired up my sound recorder software and went to work recording vocals for three of the characters from his comic series. I sent the finished takes to Jon when I got to work this morning.

LO and BEHOLD, within a half hour I got a response from Jon! Essentially, he told me that he liked my audition for Seth (one of the main characters!), and he gave me a few pointers on how I could alter my voice a bit so that it would fit Jon's vision of Seth a little better. He told me that if I could make those alterations, I have a "good chance of landing the part."

This is EXCITING! Heh, it would essentially be non-paid, amateur voice acting, but heck--somebody that I respect and admire actually likes my voice, and wants to hear more! He even commented on my "ability to modify [my] voice to fit character personalities," and he invited me to try doing some goofy voices for a couple of the more 'comic-relief' characters in the story.

So, tonight after I get home from work, I plan to record some more takes. Needless to say, this has really brightened my day today. :)

Swiped this from babygirl_ambi
Surveys are fun. This one is fairly short and can be done fairly quickly. It is questions that get to the point and are things that can be really helpful to know about friends.

If you are reading this that means I want to know the information from you! Please fill it out!

1. What is your full name? J Robert Wilson

2. What does your name mean? First name is just one letter. Middle name (Robert) means 'great fame'.

3. When is your birthday? November 28th, 1973

4. Do you have siblings? How many? 5 Siblings. One older sister, 3 younger brothers, one younger sister.

5. What is your favorite food? Restaurant? I *LOVE* Italian food and Mexican food. As far as restaurants, Olive Garden is good, Red Robin is good too. I don't like big fancy $20+ per plate restaurants.

6. What is your favorite Drink? (Alcoholic and/or not) Never a drop of alcohol in my life. Root Beer. Root Beer. and more Root Beer.

7. Who is your favorite author? Genre? Fiction--I have to admit, I like J.K. Rawlings (Harry Potter Series), Tracy Hickman/Margaret Weiss, and Orson Scott Card. As far as furry authors go, Phil J. Eggerding (a.k.a. Cirrel) is my Hero! Genre: Fantasy/Furry/Sci-Fi.

8. What is currently in your CD player? Nothing, but on my WinAmp playlist: Caverns of Time from the World of Warcraft sound track.

9. Are (were) you married? Yes--12 happy years and counting.

10. Do you have pets? 1 Cat--Jitterbug.

11. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough or Cookies n' Creme.

12. What do you like to do for fun? Draw, Play Computer Games, Write Stories

13. What is your favorite animal? Horses (or most any equine), Big Kitties.

14. If you had one word to describe yourself , what would you choose? Idiosyncratic.

15. What is one of your favorite quotes/Bible verses? Quote: "Truth is obeyed when it is loved." Verse: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding."

16. What do you do for a living? Video game developer

17. What is your favorite color? Royal Blue

18. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

19. What is your favorite candy? Sour Gummi Worms

20. What do you do to relax? Read, Draw, play Computer Games

Sigh... I just spent the last 6 hours trying to fix a bug. The reason it took so long is because I ran into *another* bug that was preventing me from fixing the first one. Though I never was able to figure out the 2nd bug, I just found out from a co-worker that he fixed the first bug about a half-hour ago, so now my effort is moot. I'm grateful that he fixed the bug, but gosh... I feel like my day was wasted.

I also just got a call from my 8-year-old son, tearfully asking when I was going to come home. Though there is still a ton of work that needs to be done, I feel like crap now and I don't think I'm going to be much use here tonight. I'm going home to hug my son and actually be a daddy.

Last week, my parents and Kimberly's parents drove down from Utah to be here for Bryce's baptism, which took place last saturday. We had a great weekend, with lots of time spent talking to my parents and parents-in-law, catching up on things that we've all been doing since we saw them last. We also had a lot of really good food, and I'm afraid I'm going to be paying for it for the next little while.

I now have two children that have been baptized. Two! That means I'm old enough to have two children that are at least eight years of age. Does that make me feel old? Not really. :) I just realize how much time has really gone by.

The service was very nice; there were five other children baptized on the same day. One of the traditions in our particular stake is that the father/brother of each baptismal candidate go before the congregation and tell them why they think that the candidate will make a valuable member of the church. I know that Bryce will be a valuable member of the church because he has a good mind, he learns quickly, and he has a strong desire to do what's right.

How do I feel about all of this? I am very proud of my son for his decision to be baptized. I am also proud to see how much he has grown and learned in the eight years since he was born. To be honest, I feel humbled that I was given the opportunity to participate. I, a man who is prone to impatience, frustration, and a preference for 'just being left alone', was given the sacred opportunity to baptize my own son. I hope I can use this event to help me review where my life priorities truly should be.

Both sets of parents left to drive back to Utah this morning. I was sad to see them go, because it was so nice to have them in our home for the weekend (even though Kimberly and I ended up sleeping on an inflatable mattress out in the garage).

WORDS meme, Yoinked from kathrishali Kath posted five words that he thinks best describe me, and I am required to post them here and explain what they mean to me.

Dragon: My online presence is a dragon persona, so this one is pretty obvious. The next question is, however, "Why a dragon?" I have always been fascinated with dragons, and the dichotomy often presented by popular fiction about them. Some portray dragons as evil, destructive beasts, while others portray them as wise, stoic, powerful creatures who often stand somewhat aloof from humanity, while still others portray a division among dragons where some are evil and some are good. I find that I identify with dragons being stoic and standoffish; willing to help out when needed, but otherwise keeping to themselves and their close circle of kin. Dragons are often not trusted nor accepted within civilized society; they feel that they don't fit among mainstream cultures. Yet when they come to the aid of others, they are honored by those who were helped.

teddy bear: I've always had one teddy bear or another for as long as I can remember. I no longer sleep with a teddy bear (my wife is more cuddly after all), but I still have my teddy bear from my youth, sitting on the head of the bed next to my wife's teddy bear. :)

kids: I am proud to be called father by my children, even though being a father is one of the most challenging things I have ever done. I love watching my kids grow up, learn new things, and make new discoveries. I just hope and pray that I can be the father that they deserve.

gaming: Gaming has been a part of my life since I was old enough to use an Atari 2600 controller. I was much more of a player when I was a child, but when I first saw the movie TRON, I realized that I could have a career doing this kind of thing! After a few years in the field of Information Systems, I was able to land a job in the gaming industry, and I've never turned back.

zebras: I'm certain that Kath put this one so that I could sing my praises for Lauren, his Zebra alter-ego. Even so, I have always had a deep love for equines, Horses and Zebras in particular. They are noble, beautiful, powerful animals, and I cannot help but feel a sense of awe and love when I come close to one. I think this likely came from my mother, who also has a deep love for horses; she talked about them often while I was growing up, and even took me horseback riding when I was around 8 years old.

Well, I haven't posted here in far too long. Long & short of it is that work has really picked up lately, and I've been working 10+ hour days for more than a month now. Here's the news in a nutshell:

1. We are now allowed to announce what game we're working on. I'm part of a team building a PSP version of a fun little game called Fat Princess:

IGN Article

2. Went to E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), the biggest video game convention in the world. It was a lot of fun, but very tiring. Our game was demo'ed at the convention, and it was awarded one of the best at E3!

Best of E3

3. For those of you who may not know yet, Kimberly is pregnant with our fourth child. We are VERY excited about this! Though we'll be happy with either a boy or a girl, we're both hoping for a girl (after having 3 boys, ya know...)

When I first found out that Kimberly was pregnant, this image popped into my head, and I had to draw it out:

Well, I have now completed con badge commission #3, this time for my friend Richard Renard. His character is a Tiger/Fox crossbreed who loves to play the Nintendo Wii.



I'm pretty excited with all of the art opportunities I'm getting recently. I've had a lot of chances to flex my amateur art muscles. I hope (maybe?) I can start working on doing my own online comic in the near future. Heck, enough friends are telling me that I should go for it, what am I hesitating for?

I'm just nervous, I guess. I've seen plenty of bad online comics; poorly drawn, poorly laid out, poorly written. I'm sure I can do better, but I worry that someone out there is going to see my work as 'just another poorly done comic'. I want to rise above that. I don't want to have fame & fortune and be placed among the best comic artists of the day, but I do want to be 'good enough'.

I just saw this picture on my kitty's blog--this is a date we had earlier this month, when we went bowling.

We haven't been on an actual 'get out of the house and go do something' kind of date for months. I'm afraid the two of us are home-bodies; we'd much rather just stay in and do fun things at home than go out and spend money. However, this was a really fun experience for both of us, and I think we ought to do actual 'go-out' dates more often.

The other night, I came home to the smell of pizza. I heard my wife cry out in dismay as I came in the door, and I saw her pull a blackened pizza out of the oven. Apparently, the cooking timer had gone off, but she hadn't heard it until it was too late.

So, she pulled another pizza out of the freezer and popped it into the oven while she let the burnt one cool so she could throw it out. While it was cooling, I snuck a pinch of the toppings, to see if it was still edible. It was!

SO, I told my wife that I would be eating burnt pizza for dinner. Turns out that it was really only burnt on the outer surface, and it was just fine underneath the blackened exterior. While my wife & boys ate the good one, I set to work eating the blackened one. Here is the result:



Believe it or not, it actually tasted pretty good! My oldest son Jeffrey even asked for a slice, but he wasn't brave enough to finish it.

I've recently had the chance to see a few movies that I've been wanting to see for a long time.

Bolt, the new movie from Disney, continues Disney's return from movie mediocrity into the realm of enjoyable and memorable films. Many of us were somewhat turned off by some of Disney's 'flop films' in the past, and we had decided that Disney's glory days of excellent filmmaking were over.

Bolt restores my confidence that Disney knows how to make a good movie. They are not nearly back to the standard of excellence that they had long ago, but they are certainly on their way back up.

The movie tells an intriguing story of a dog who was brought up in a TV show world, with such care taken to convince him that the TV show is actually reality. In his world, Bolt is a super hero, with fantastic powers given him by the father of his owner, a young girl named Penny. Using Penny's smarts and Bolt's amazing strength, speed, eye-emitted laser bolts, and shockwave-inducing super barks, the pair struggle to stay out of the clutches of the Green-Eyed man and his minions, while trying to rescue Penny's captive father.

When one of Bolt's TV show plots leads to Penny being captured, Bolt's rescue attempt mistakenly ends up getting him shipped to New York City, where he is left to fend for himself in the real world. The remainder of the film follows Bolt's grapple with the reality that he doesn't truly have super powers, and his struggle to return to Penny in Hollywood. Through his self discovery and the aquisition of a few unlikely friends, Bolt discovers that he can still be a hero.

I was intrigued by the new and different storyline in this movie--it was a fresh take on the self-discovery plotline. I was also very impressed by advances in computer-generated animation; Disney has done the fur in this movie extremely well. I was particularly amazed by the realism of Bolt's wet, dripping fur during a scene where he was caught in the rain.

Another thing that excites me about this movie is the fact that it was not done by Pixar. Of course, now that Disney owns Pixar, all of their movies are published under the Disney label. However, Pixar's stories and characters are developed entirely in-house, independent (as far as I know) of Disney's oversight. Bolt, along with Chicken Little and Meet the Robinsons, marks Disneys triumphant entry into the world of computer generated films, showing that they can still tell a good story while mastering the new technology at the same time.

Conclusion: While still not up to par with some of their classic movies (Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Robin Hood), Bolt was a very enjoyable film, restoring my confidence that Disney can make a truly memorable movie experience.

I'm here at work just for this morning. At noon today, I'll hop in the car and drive the 7 hours up to San Jose to attend Further Confusion.

I spent last night packing and finishing the tail for Xaqtly, and didn't get to bed until 12:30 AM. UGH... and I wanted to make sure I had a good night's sleep. Do the best I can, I guess.

Regardless, I'm VERY excited to go up to the convention! I'll get to see lots of friends, comic artists, artwork, shows, and more. Plus, since I'm on the staff this year, I get to eat for free, and I only pay half for con registration. Not a bad deal at all. :)

I'll be up in San Jose though next monday, and I'll drive home that afternoon. I'll be posting pics when I can.

During the months following our company's separation from Green Screen, we have been working diligently to secure game project contracts. As of last week, we had two definite, signed contracts, and a 3rd that looked like it was all but a done deal.

Yesterday, however, our company owners gathered us all together and informed us that the 3rd project fell through over the weekend. As a result, our company only has two projects to work on, and thus cannot afford to pay the full staff. Six of our employees were let go yesterday, out of the blue.

Our company owners looked really haggard, as if they had been up all night agonizing over this decision. I don't envy them the choices they had to make, and I ache for my co-workers that had to be let go yesterday. This has got to be one of the worst times (that I can remember in my own lifetime) to lose a job! It appears that the gaming industry isn't so "recession-resistant" as experts once thought.

By some miracle, I still have a job. I honestly don't fully understand why my team lead Mike was let go and I was kept on. While I am very grateful to still work at SuperVillain Studios, I am very nervous about the future. Granted, with two definite, signed contracts, the projects will be there and the money will come in. Furthermore, with a leaner staff, we are in a much more sustainable position to move forward.

Lay-offs always make me nervous, though.

On a more positive note, I have nearly completed the arctic fox tail that my friend Xaqtly ordered for the convention. I closed up the main body this morning, cut and formed two belt loops out of denim, and was stitching one of the belt loops to the tail when it came time for me to go to work. I will finish it this evening, for certain.

I'm pretty happy with this tail--it's thick, soft, and fluffy, like a fox tail should be. :) I hope he likes it.

I have just completed my very first convention badge commission! This is very exciting for me, and I feel like I did a fairly good job on it. Xaqtly is pretty happy with it too.

HOLY COW. So much has happened in the last few days as far as art goes; it's left me blinking in disbelief.

Over the weekend, I decided to make good on my new year's resolution to be more consistently productive. So instead of playing games all day Saturday, I pulled out my sketch book and pencils, and went at it. After a couple of hours, I had drawn my character Brewster in four different expressions.

I scanned it into Photoshop and began the whole ink-by-mouse process again, only to get frustrated. Once again, I was reminded how difficult it is to hold the mouse steady and re-trace the lines that I had just sketched, and how the inked lines never ended up looking as good as the pencil drawing. I decided to forego the inking process and simply used the straight pencil lines for the picture. Another hour later, I had it all colored, and I was pretty happy with it.



It got me thinking. What if I had a digital pen and tablet (like a WACOM)? Then I could sketch directly into photoshop, and I could ink using the pen instead of the mouse. I had thought about using a WACOM tablet before, but for the first time, I started seriously thinking about it.

I resolved to ask the artists at work if I could borrow one. As luck would have it, there was one lying around at the desk of an artist who had left the company last month. The art lead said I could borrow it as long as none of the other artists needed it. So, I now have a WACOM tablet at my desk (Intuos 3 model, 8" x 6").



I was a bit apprehensive at first--I didn't know how it would feel 'drawing' on a tablet while focusing on the computer screen in front of me. Some folks have told me it's hard to get used to. However, as soon as I started using it, it felt completely natural! I was pleasantly surprised.

As a test, I asked my good friend Leonato if I could use his character as a test subject for my first WACOM project. I happily sketched, inked, colored, and shaded all in Photoshop, and came up with this:



It was just for fun, and to learn how to use the WACOM. But shortly after I posted it, my friend Xaqtly dropped a bomb on me. He asked me to draw a convention badge for him!

For those who may not know, badges at these conventions are often highly elaborate and professionally done by skilled artists. Fans have been known to pay upwards of $30 for a con badge commission. How could anyone consider me to do a con badge? Needless to say, I was flustered, nervous, and excited at the same time.

I agreed to do the badge, and I've been working on it quite a bit today. (We're waiting on a code/asset drop from the developer right now, so work is sort of in a holding pattern at present; I've had some time here at work to draw.) I was amazed at how much of a difference this tablet makes! It is so easy to sketch right into the computer, then ink with a PEN instead of a mouse. It is a simple matter to vary the width/weight of my inking lines, simply by applying/releasing pressure on the digital pen.

So far, I've been able to sketch, ink, and apply flat color to Xaqtly's con badge. Here's the work in progress:



NOW, great big sigh. I don't know if I could ever go back to scanning a sketch into photoshop and then inking with the mouse. I want to get a tablet for myself now... Time to start saving my nickles and dimes, I guess.

Happy new year to everyone! The general consensus I'm getting from everyone I've talked to is that 2008 was a bummer of a year, and that they hope 2009 will be better.

Hope nothin'. 2009 will be better.

That said, I wanted to send out my happy new year wishes to all of my good friends who take the time to read my inconsistent babblings on this blog. It's great to know all of you and hear from you!

Here are a few of my resolutions for 2009:

1. Be more productive and *regularly* productive. I can be really good in spurts, whether it be writing, composing music, making artwork, or other such, but I was really inconsistent during 2008. I want to discipline myself to be more consistent.

2. Be more outwardly focused instead of being selfish. I think that is probably one of the biggest reasons why I find myself getting frustrated with things more easily lately. If my goal is the happiness of others, instead of continually seeking to make things comply to my own standards, then I think I will be a lot easier to live with.

In other news, we're doing a bunch of new projects at work. The one I'm most excited about is a Dungeons & Dragons game for the PC, hopefully to be released in 2010. This will be the first PC game that our studio has worked on. HOWEVER, there's still a slight hitch--while we've been working on this project for a little while already, we still don't have a formal, signed contract with the publisher who has asked us to do it. We keep hearing that the contract is thiiiiiiiiis close to being signed, but we still haven't received any news that ink has been put to paper.

So (sigh), there's still a chance that this project may not work out. In the mean time, we've halted work on it until we receive something more definite, and I've been put on a smaller project to do a fun, team-based downloadable game for the PSP. Yes, BIG SIGH that I get to work with Sony again, but hey, it's a project, and this contract is actually signed.

This past weekend was pretty good--got a chance to see some friends of ours get married. Congratulations, Will and Caley!

Saturday night, Kimberly and I took the kids out to Corona to see my great Aunt and Uncle, Sally and Keith. Sally is my grandmother's little sister. Well, to put things in perspective, my grandmother passed away back in 1991, and Sally is still going strong (she's 91, while Keith is 94). We don't know how much longer Sally and Keith will be with us, but for their age, they are remarkably healthy! Walking around just fine, no problems communicating, Sally doesn't even wear glasses, and Keith is still driving a car.

We had a great evening as they took us to Mimi's Cafe for dinner, and then we went back to their place to chat for a while. We had some great conversation while the boys played outside in the backyard. I was amused at what happened when they found out that there was a bowl of chocolate-covered raisins on the coffee table--every few minutes or so, one of them would come back in, take a handful, and go right back out to play.

Sally and Keith are such sweet, humble, friendly people. They're the kind of couple that I hope Kimberly and I can become when we get into our twilight years.

Yesterday (monday) was a day off from work, because our company had their annual Christmas party on sunday night. The bosses knew that the guys would be up late (and some would likely get drunk), so they told everybody to take a breather on monday. Even though I didn't attend, I was given monday off along with everyone else.

I spent most of yesterday playing World of Warcraft, getting my hunter up to level 73. I'm really liking the Wrath of the Lich King expansion! The quests are varied and interesting (I was using a hunting hawk to nab turkeys yesterday), and the new continent is rich with story, characters, and plot. For those of you who may not know, I'm a sucker for a good story, especially in a video game, so I'm having a ball. :)

Also, my birthday present arrived yesterday--bought 'Advance Wars: Dual Strike' for the Nintendo DS. :D

*siiigggghhh....*

Our year-old male cat has been missing for two weeks. After being gone for a week, I feared the worst, but still hoped that he would show up at our back door some morning.

However, yesterday, a neighbor found a black cat paw (just the paw) out behind her backyard fence. We had secretly feared that he had been caught by the coyotes that come around at night, and it looks like that's what might have happened.

My poor boys were heartbroken, and both Bryce and Jeffrey fell asleep with us in our bed last night (never done that before).

Poor Maxxie... I hope he didn't suffer.