tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70315040496484677952024-03-12T19:23:45.427-07:00LazerBlade Blog<b>Blog</b> <b><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/lazerbladegames/home/projects">Projects</a> <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/lazerbladegames/home">Homepage</a></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.comBlogger258125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-69553858443933924962014-12-30T22:54:00.001-08:002014-12-30T22:54:29.682-08:00This Blog Is DeadReally. It's not just that I haven't posted in nearly a year. It's that the reasons that I was posting are not here anymore, and there are no new ones. So I'm going to give anyone checking this place out the courtesy of knowing that this blog is officially dead.<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-26672919580807304122014-02-07T06:48:00.001-08:002014-02-07T22:17:40.570-08:00Video EditingI've recently been studying the science of THERE ARE NO GOOD VIDEO EDITORS FOR LINUX! It's kind of annoying.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7SkpK2JFE8">LazerBlade's Funhouse episode 2 (LMMS Revival)</a> was a grotesque pain to edit, because openshot literally had a 50/50 chance of crashing every time I did <b>anything</b>. That video wasn't even that complicated. The one I'm shooting right now however, is several levels more complicated, and I'm not prepared to deal with the crashiness of Openshot or PiTiVi while trying to edit it.<br />
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And yes, I know Lightworks has a free version for Linux. The problem is, they only have a 64-bit version, which means I'll need to install a 64-bit distro alongside my 32-bit one (since I run 32-bit because a number of things have broken 64-bit versions). This completely defeats the purpose of a Linux video editor, because if I wanted to reboot every time I wanted to edit videos, I could just reboot into my Windows installation.<br />
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Maybe PiTiVi has cleaned up its act since I phased it out in the end of Music Hacker season 2? Let me try it...<br />
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Nope. It's broken to the point where it's not even arguably usable. Maybe it's just some idiosyncrasy with my setup, but the effect is the same. I now have to go learn a new video editor, and then be doomed to reboot every time I want to do video editing.<br />
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I am so miffed that I wrote a rant that was long enough that it seemed out of place for a little Google+ blip, so I wrote a small but whole blog post about it.<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-8656524445275935942014-01-25T10:12:00.001-08:002014-01-25T10:12:50.000-08:00To Split a ChannelNow I have two YouTube channels. I'll be keeping Music Hacker on my primary channel, along with any full tracks. On my new second channel, however, I will be doing a ton of stuff.<br />
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There is a high likelihood that I'll be bringing Music Hacker back to a more serious tone since LazerBlade's Funhouse should be all the onstage crazy I need. Keep in mind that both the LazerBlade of classic Music Hacker and the LazerBlade of cupcake nuthouse land are simply projected personas. They are there for the amusement of me and my viewers.<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-43411375645878189302014-01-18T09:13:00.000-08:002014-01-18T09:13:17.367-08:00Music Hacker: Aversion of Trial and ErrorI literally spent years doing this wrong before I figured it out. The point of this episode is to help other beginners spend less time in annoyed trial and error before they figure it out.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7277fVeS02g" width="560"></iframe>
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I have a special surprise planned for next week...<br />
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Also, this post gets five points for conciseness... conciseness is a very unwieldy word.<br />
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-LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-82004028205038340652014-01-11T09:00:00.001-08:002014-01-13T12:44:04.854-08:00New album and new trackI am officially making it official. I am producing a new album with a working title of "Glamtastic". The plan is to make a bunch of hot pink glam tracks infused with LazerBlade synth work. What is probably going to be the main track of the album was just released today.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/5wa_RW_H-nE" width="560"></iframe>
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This track is the first of mine in years to be produced with FL Studio. I really could have made this exactly as it is with LMMS, but with FL Studio is was much easier and quicker.<br />
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Aside from solidifying my primary DAW switch, this track has lots of fun little allegorical meanings for everyone. It would spoil the fun if I just explained all of them, so I'll just say that the main point of the track is an explanation of one of the big things I like about Glam apart from it's aesthetics.<br />
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In Punk, Emo, Goth, or other music genre's tied very tightly to their subculture and movement, at least <i>some</i> set of ideals or messages are usually espoused by the artists and patrons of that genre and movement. On the other hand, Glam is just about the show, music, presentation, and performance. Going over the top and getting kicks out of transgressive and gender bending performance are only ideals of the show, not necessarily of the people who perform of who attend. I don't listen to David Bowie because I think he's some kind of activist for expression of sexuality, I listen to David Bowie because it's crazy and fun and queer in the sense of being odd and seeming off. Yes there can be a focus on the personalities involved (Ziggy Stardust, anyone?), but those personalities are only there for fun. I like David Bowie and his personas because I think he's fun, not because I think he's committed to the art or because of anything meta.<br />
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I guess what I'm trying to say is that most movements have posers and pretentious idiots in them, but since the whole point of glam is to be a pretentious poser in all the most fun ways, that becomes something that adds instead of taking away.<br />
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And here are the lyrics:<br />
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When you're walking down the aisle you know that you have got to pose.<br />
You need to flash your teeth and smile and put your boring life on hold.<br />
The people watching, they don't know. People watching see the shoes.<br />
The people watching want the show. The people watching don't know you.<br />
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And you're okay with that. You say the scene is cool.<br />
Sparkle time, glitter attack. The glam queen, that is you.<br />
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When you drive up to the place the people they all look so bored.<br />
The looks they give you on their faces have no hint of what's to come.<br />
All is silent as you dress with all the shock that a girl could afford,<br />
and now you're ready to impress, with a psychotic tantrum.<br />
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And you're okay with that. You say the scene is cool.<br />
Sparkle time, glitter attack. The glam queen, that is you.<br />
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That is you.<br />
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People always ask you what you believe what you think.<br />
They always want to get the scoop and know the way you tick.<br />
You've taken the task to ponder before and make your response succinct.<br />
You're only shaunty for the fun and you do the show for kicks.<br />
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And you're okay with that. You say the scene is cool.<br />
Sparkle time glitter attack. The glam queen, that is you.<br />
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The glam queen, that is you.<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-23557088952934446372014-01-04T08:43:00.000-08:002014-01-10T20:43:42.157-08:00Music Hacker - The Chippity WhippitiesA lot of people asked for Chiptune tuts, and I happen to like making Chiptune. So here's to an episode that I hope is good.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/oFn_K5MGGRo" width="560"></iframe>
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Tune in next week for my first FL Studio track in quite awhile.<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-24910531523708567482013-12-21T07:52:00.000-08:002013-12-21T07:52:55.975-08:00Music Hacker - I've Always Wanted to Do This<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/TdqfO2Kp_W8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Today's episode of Music Hacker is one that I've been wanting to do since about halfway through season 2. Now that it's here, I hope it's up to snuff.<br />
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I've been able to keep up my bi-weekly schedule so far, but it's no easy task and I will have to put some effort in to make sure I don't fall behind. Things seem to be manageable though, so I'm optimistic about it.<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-67529734542624844752013-12-07T09:00:00.000-08:002013-12-07T09:00:07.379-08:00Music Hacker Season 3 DebutHere is the moment you've all been waiting for, the season 3 kickoff episode! Yay!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/47B6VhNRW7w" width="560"></iframe><br />
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It's been challenging but fun to get this season going. I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up a bi-weekly release schedule, but I'll give it a shot.<br />
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For those of you wondering, no there isn't any overdubbing, hidden jump cutting, or anything in this or future episodes. I don't use a script either. So what you hear is basically just me making stuff I think will amuse you up on the spot and then executing it in a voice that I think will amuse you.<br />
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I hope you're amused.<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-46285209746557140912013-11-19T07:38:00.002-08:002013-11-19T12:43:02.071-08:00Art PipelinesLet's talk art! Because I make art!<br />
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I've developed an interesting method of creating paperware art. I start by creating digital guidelines, since adding a computer to the mix makes that much easier. Then I print those lines out and follow/interpret/trace them with a pencil on another piece of paper.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bR4-ut4dzuQ/Uopa0L_shYI/AAAAAAAABdQ/hLxQRD8VoQ4/s1600/butterfly-skanned-lineart.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bR4-ut4dzuQ/Uopa0L_shYI/AAAAAAAABdQ/hLxQRD8VoQ4/s400/butterfly-skanned-lineart.png" width="307" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scanned Guide Line Print</td></tr>
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This is the first work I used this method on. It's a butterfly, because butterflies are groovy.<br />
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After I have the guide line print, the rest is basically the same as a normal paperware art flow. I follow pencil guidelines with a permanent black marker or pen. Then I erase all of the pencil (which is easy because I don't have to worry about messing up the permanent lines), and then I do shading/coloring. In this case, there was no shading involved since I was going with a very minimal and stylized aesthetic. Also, I haven't really learned about or developed skills with shading yet.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1Ubm4BOsieI/UopdGw8cWFI/AAAAAAAABdc/azH-fp5f5rE/s1600/butterfly-scanned-finished.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1Ubm4BOsieI/UopdGw8cWFI/AAAAAAAABdc/azH-fp5f5rE/s400/butterfly-scanned-finished.png" width="308" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finished Work</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Filling in the wings of a stylized butterfly is a lot like drawing stylized circuit patterns. You're basically just streaming all of the creativity you can in order to fill very tight constraints with something complex and aesthetically appealing. I still need to create a giant image of stylized circuit patterns so that I can just copy a piece of it out and use it whenever I need to. I can't afford to spend 2+ hours drawing circuit patterns on every art project that would be improved by them.<br />
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Yes that's part of what took the music hacker season 3 stock animations so long. Yes that means that I'm pretty much finished with those. I'm working on the splash screen now, and I'm hoping to start shooting episode footage pretty soon. I'm planning on just taking a few days and shooting a ton of episodes worth, and then just editing them together as I upload them.<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-5348570392671221152013-11-16T09:07:00.001-08:002013-11-16T09:07:37.825-08:00More Commissioned WorkIt's taking ages to get the next season of Music Hacker into place. In the mean time, I've been finishing up another track that was commissioned by the same peeps who commissioned the Brahms Lullaby remix. They called for a technology alphabet song.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7pEBsig-LgY" width="560"></iframe>
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I've also been eyeing other DAWs and scoping out a new area to move my studio into, so there is a lot of cool stuff going on behind the scenes while I work on the next season of Music Hacker.<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-83505069702061992022013-11-02T08:11:00.004-07:002014-03-04T05:26:25.725-08:00Introvert Self AbuseWhile not all of my readers may view this space as a platform for psychology theories and discussion, I believe that in a way it is. I do primarily write about games and music here, but I feel that both of those media - games especially - are bound very closely to psychology. So I am officially opening the content on this blog up to some of my musings about the human mind and various behaviors I have either come across or studied. Today, the topic is a theory of mine about introverts who engage in self abuse through extroverted behavior.<br />
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Aside: I shouldn't have to have the disclaimer that this is just speculation for the interesting thought of it. There is probably merit to what is written here, but I have not done enough research and experimentation to back these ideas up as guaranteed reality.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Since I am theoretically writing for a wide audience, I think I should clarify what exactly I mean by "introvert." Introverted personality tendencies enable a person to restore themself by spending time alone or with very close friends. These sessions of restoration are usually not physically active, and may include meditative introspection, artistic creation, and typical forms of entertainment (like that one person who will never go see a movie with you, but will watch the same movie alone, or the one who always sits alone in their room reading a book while you're out partying). On the other hand, extroverted personality tendencies enable a person to restore themself through other people. These sessions may include various forms of socialization, communal entertainment (like that one person who always talks over the movie you're watching, or the one who keeps trying to get you to let them into your movie times), games that involve participation of multiple people, and big ceremonies or events.<br />
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According to someone I have a lot of respect for (who may or may not be myself), introverted tendencies are inversely proportional to extroverted tendencies. This does not mean that the variance is 1 to 1, or that these tendencies cannot change over time. A 40% extrovert can be a 80% introvert, or a 50 % extrovert can be a 40% introvert. It merely means that more prominent extroverted tendencies mean less prominent introverted tendencies, and vice versa. Introversion and extroversion have nothing to do with shyness.<br />
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So now that we have that out of the way, we can move on the the concept of self abuse. For the purposes of this discourse we shall be using self mutilation -specifically of the superficial cutting type- as part of a parallel. In this case, one who becomes addicted (or forms a compulsion) to cutting themself does not engage in the act for the act itself. They do it because of its effects. They may not even like the shock, the pain, the expression, or the blood (even though self mutilation victims have cited these, and they are valid parts of the motivation). By the time the compulsion or addiction has formed, the victim has not only tuned in to the <a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dissociation">dissociation</a> (A psychological defense mechanism in which specific, anxiety-provoking thoughts, emotions, or physical sensations are separated from the rest of the psyche) or... resociation (whatever the opposite of dissociation is), but tuned in to the state of light shock that the body goes into. This shock includes the rush of energy, the release of pain relievers, and even the stimulation (direct or indirect) of the pleasure part of the lymbic system as a counteraction to the pain/trauma.<br />
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In a similar way, an introvert can stand up in a crowd of sitting people and intentionally give a boisterous address, throwing them into a state of panic. As in self cutting, an introvert can inflict something that is negative overall on themself because they want the side effects that the resulting panic brings.<br />
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Just like a self cutting victim may do it partially because it helps them to dissociate, extreme extroverted behavior may force an introvert to dissociate due either to fear of expending all of their energy or actual sudden loss of much of it. Have you ever heard the advice given an introvert or shy person to "Just pretend they're all in their underwear," or, "Just act like you're not in front of a crowd?" These pieces of advice endorse the kind of controlled dissociation that is considered beneficial by many, but I posit that when put through situations like this the results for an extreme introvert can border on full <a href="http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/derealization">derealization</a> or <a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/depersonalization">depersonalization</a> because of a defense mechanism similar to (or the same mechanism) that which is related to physical trauma. And in the same way that the body can release adrenaline when cut by a self abuser, the mind and or body can get a similar "rush" from a similar mechanism when suddenly forced into a social situation that is very negative or "dangerous."<br />
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Of course, there are many more similarities. Self mutilation victims sometimes do it because they've shut themselves off from feeling and the cutting is enough to make them feel something again, like how an introvert who has dissociated from social situations can engage in extreme extroverted behavior to force themselves to pay attention to one and thus feel like they're connected to the environment and or the people there. A self mutilation victim may do it because they want to be the one in control of when they're traumatized, and cutting themself is a choice they make, thereby asserting their control, much like an introvert who engages in socially detrimental acts of extreme extroversion to put themself in control of their social exposure. A self mutilation victim may do it because they need something urgent to concentrate on to distract them from something they don't want to think about or feel, much like how an introvert may act so extroverted in order to force their mind and feelings away from more disturbing issues. The list goes on, but I will stop here so that we can move to the next topic.<br />
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Perhaps I have shown the connection I believe to exist rather well, but that connection brings up an interesting problem. All observation indicates that when a person immerses themself in extroverted or introverted situations for an extended period of time, their tendencies sway in the direction of whichever they are immersed in. First they stop losing energy in those situations, and then they eventually begin to gain energy in those situations. The human body can become accustomed to various levels of trauma and require more extreme action to bring about the same panic (which is why so many self mutilation cases end in such an ugly way), but the mind adapts much more quickly to panic level extroverted situations than the body does to such invasive trauma, and the upper level of extroverted situations tends to be reached relatively early on in these cases. That means that in order for this connection to be useful the introvert in question must be a very strong introvert (so that these actions are sufficiently traumatic or panic inducing), have minimal extroverted tendencies, probably also be extremely shy, and have some kind of recovery period between outbursts that may lead to an identifiable cycle. Additionally, people tend to find self mutilation much more disturbing for some reason. I don't cease to be amused by the fact that everyone can tell there is something wrong with someone who intentionally hurts their body, but they openly endorse intentional wounding of the mind.<br />
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So that's it. The application of this article is more than just that you should think about a bunch of interesting things though. You will hopefully see how people should be more open to some introverted or shy people's refusal to use certain popular coping techniques or enter certain situations, and you will hopefully be more open to the idea that mental self harm -not only of this particular type- can be every bit as wrong and or serious as physical self harm.<br />
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I would like to conclude with a quote from someone I was in communication with. My interaction with her triggered the creation of this article, even though I'd been kicking this idea around in my head for awhile. (I can't tell you who she is. Patient confidentiality and all that... even though she wasn't my patient and I'm not a registered-SHUT UP) She was a recovering self mutilation victim who had started out with the same type of introvert self abuse explored in this article before she turned to self physical abuse. When refusing to enter an extroverted situation and confronted with an example of a different introvert who had already done so in a very boisterous manner, she said "I'm not doing that. I used to do that, but it's just too much like cutting yourself."<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-26976919972286246872013-11-01T09:26:00.001-07:002013-11-01T09:26:15.296-07:00Theme StuffI just realized how small the text was on this blog and overhauled the font choices, sizes, and colors. It should now be less of a pain to read. Feel free to leave comments about these changes on this post.<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-91966839804968129822013-10-26T09:57:00.000-07:002013-10-26T09:57:04.550-07:00Beep Boop ReleasedToday I uploaded the last part of my newest EP, Beep Boop, to YouTube. You can check the page for it out <a href="http://lazerbladegames.blogspot.com/p/beep-beep.html">here</a>, wherein there are links to the YouTube playlist and a download containing the EP. I know I'm running behind in work on Music Hacker, but it's super hard to keep up with school and music and webshow all at once. It's coming, but I can't promise when.<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-12507479321835114812013-10-05T13:05:00.000-07:002013-10-05T13:05:16.572-07:00Music Hacker Season 3I am officially planning on running a third Music Hacker season. I don't have any promises on when it will launch, or what schedule it will be released on when it does. My current estimate however, is that it will launch a fortnight from today, releasing new episodes biweekly.<br />
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I am working on the soundtrack, intro/outro titles, style, episode/topic schedule, topic research, and production pipeline efficiency. Here is a little chip of all of that.<br />
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/P-ckmN-y78M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-82754620204888180672013-09-28T18:07:00.000-07:002013-09-28T18:07:05.732-07:00Project Good RobotSo Shamus Young, author, videogame pundit, and programmer, has been working on a pretty groovy game project for the past month-ish. It's called <a href="http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=21172">Good Robot</a>, and I've really been enjoying following it. Recently, an open call was extended to anyone wanting to offer music tracks to be used in the game. Naturally, I followed up by producing these two tracks.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/LgjAtgSM4EM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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It looks like they are good material for the game, and will probably be incorporated therein....<br />
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*this is me fan squeeling*<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-23064727975197393722013-09-21T13:39:00.001-07:002013-09-21T13:39:40.312-07:00Random Music ContentYa'll know that I've been busy with <strike>arson</strike> school, but I have put out some music content you'll probably find interesting.<br />
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/vxraBuUnsH0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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This here is my first track with a guest vocalist. When I write synthpop songs, I usually have a female voice in my head, but end up rewriting to match my voice. It was creepy and awesome to have the voice in my head manifested IRL, and I enjoy the resulting track.<br />
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/3gVTJVgnWgU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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I decided to enter a contest 24 hours before the submission deadline for what was two weeks for everyone else. The result is a very formulaic but fairly enjoyable track that didn't win.<br />
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I've got some more concrete ideas for both video and text article content, but they aren't quite set in stone yet. So keep your eyes open, 'cause I'm hoping to revive this baby.<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-3379429292152178482013-09-07T13:24:00.000-07:002013-09-07T13:24:13.461-07:00Let's Play FinaleI know you're all just on the edge of your seats waiting for my next bit of serious content to be released. I know I'm setting the suspense pretty high by taking so long. The thing is, I've been really busy lighting the ugly looking houses in my city on fire so that they can have a beautiful sendoff of gracious flame before being replaced with something more aesthetically appealing... Also school. I've been doing that too.<br />
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Anywabork, recording this let's play didn't take much time or work so I'm glad I had it to help keep some form of content going.<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-22284507923570945802013-08-31T14:30:00.000-07:002013-08-31T14:30:03.265-07:00More Let's Play<br />
<iframe width="480" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/GR40jCPSu6o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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I hope I'll have a decent music/comic buffer together by the time this LP's run finishes.<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-24475647452094854342013-08-24T12:20:00.004-07:002013-08-24T15:22:55.781-07:00AbuseSo I've been talking a lot about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abuse_(video_game)">Abuse</a> both online and IRL. It is really interesting from a number of perspectives, and there is a lot to say about it. After mulling it over, I came to the conclusion that covering it on this blog would mean the start of a multi-part series, and I wouldn't be able to point some things out as well without actual gameplay footage. I eventually hit up my friend CyberCrash and sat down for a let's play.<br />
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<iframe width="480" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/QSEfzLKGv00" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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I'm not guaranteeing to see this game all the way though, but if we keep coming up with stuff to say and people are interested, we might.<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-38719165692212018092013-08-17T12:44:00.002-07:002013-08-17T12:44:41.436-07:00Cognitive Observation #42<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-34B1GqfY5QY/Ug_Sbrkj8KI/AAAAAAAABY4/FaG5SM_BKhg/s1600/42.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-34B1GqfY5QY/Ug_Sbrkj8KI/AAAAAAAABY4/FaG5SM_BKhg/s320/42.png" width="234" /></a></div>
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Beat panels FTW!<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-63163265874991426602013-08-10T12:00:00.000-07:002013-08-10T12:00:00.729-07:00Offline AgainSince I'm offline for a few days again, back by popular demand is more automatically posted content.<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-73635610027676686882013-08-03T09:46:00.000-07:002013-08-03T09:46:18.480-07:00Hotline Miami And Story GamesAny cursory exploration of my game analysis/design content should reveal that I am really into artsy story games. <a href="http://lazerbladegames.blogspot.com/2012/04/making-gameplay-feel-relevant.html">I like a game where you have a reason to be doing what you're doing</a>, and I don't have a lot of patience for games with a pretentious storyline or hours of filler gameplay devoid of context. This is an interesting thing about <a href="http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/9276-Context-Challenge-and-Gratification">Yahtzee's triangle</a>. It's not just about how games are balanced, but how people's tastes are. I like context above most else in a game, and you've probably heard me ranting about how game X had a dumb story, or game Y had repetitive gameplay, but none of those personal partialities keep me from really digging <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotline_Miami">Hotline Miami</a>.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Hotline Miami is an example of a game that leans so far onto the challenge and gratification legs of the stool that the context leg doesn't need to bear any real weight. This is good, because the story is paper-thin, and the game is unabashedly aware of this fact. Even when I pause to consider the context, the psychedelic style that I have such appreciation for presents me with a self-aware and successful plea to just have a good time and enjoy the poorly justified chaos.... <span style="font-size: x-small;">Kind of like real life actually. </span>Not to mention, the game doesn't drag on with a lot of repetitive gameplay. It's short and sweet.<br />
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I have to admit, if you said, "Murder people by the building full" that probably would not ring noteworthy to me as a gameplay premise. However, "Get funky on LSD" and <i><b>then</b></i> "Murder people by the building full" is much more enticing. I would like to add my cheers to the crowd applauding Hotline Miami for its psychedelic visuals and pulsing electronic soundtrack.<br />
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While you're playing through a level, you get into a special mindset. You have to be conservative yet aggressive, and methodical yet adaptive. One bullet will end your fragile little life, everyone is on their toes, and you are vastly outnumbered. If you're not aggressive enough you're never going to close the distance between a shotgun wielding guard's jugular and your knife in time to avoid losing your guts all over the room. The only way to come out on top is to analyse enemy behavior and carefully plan your next moves, but there is a level of unpredictability that means that you're sometimes going to have to make lightning speed changes of plan while fighting for your life, surviving by the hair on your eyelashes if at all.<br />
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Combat is gratifying in that intangible way that is symptomatic of good kinaesthetics and levels are challenging without being overly punishing. This game has gameplay in aces and style in spades, and having the music stop and the wavy, grainy, color...y filters fade away at the end of a level before having you walk back through all of the chaos you just unleashed always thunks into your psyche like a voice saying "Yes, you seriously just did all of this."<br />
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The point I'm trying to make is that when I say that I want games to be more about story or complain that a game has a poorly justified story (Like Fallout 3), I'm not calling for the abandonment of interesting gameplay in favor of storytelling. I'm just asking that games know where they stand and what they're about, and that we have more story driven options when choosing games. A game about cathartic challenge and gratification can turn me off with a pretentious story, but a game about cathartic challenge and gratification with a self-aware minimal story and awesome style turns me on like showing up at my door with red roses and dark chocolate.<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-85370901989662068002013-07-27T09:38:00.000-07:002013-07-27T09:38:21.534-07:00Direction In Game DesignWhen I was a kid I started several novels. I managed to finish only one of them, and that by gluing together several different pieces of writing I had done separately. I didn't fail because I couldn't handle the level of writing or storytelling required, and I didn't fail for lack of creativity. I failed because I would start and write half of a novel without knowing <i>why</i>. Once I was halfway through and directionless, the realization would hit me that everything up to that point had been nothing more than a bunch of disconnected ideas that I thought would be cool.<br />
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At this point, traditional wisdom dictates that I draw a connection with the reader by asking the question, "What does this have to do with game design?"<br />
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<a name='more'></a>What does this have to do with game design? I've seen and played my share of games that suffered from this same problem, lack of direction. And this isn't just about artistic integrity. Big budget games flop on a regular basis because they're imitating only the surface elements of other games without getting at what really makes those games successful. The original DOOM was a run away success, while RAGE pretty much clarified the fact that ID had lost not only its artistic integrity, but also its market foothold. (More on this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVFrAsxjxLs">here</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMdJhP9UWcE">here</a> if you're willing to put up with a bit of "lewdness" for more discourse on DOOM vs RAGE)<br />
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All of this points to one concept. If you want a good or successful game, have some semblance of a direction. "Steal other peoples ideas and do them better" is still a direction, but "Oh, and this would be cool, so lets add it in with everything else for no reason" is not. I'm not saying that a game or book cannot be made up as you go along, but I am saying that the lack of a fundamental driving ideal will destroy a product of this nature.<br />
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If we put an artistic spin on this, one takeaway is that we shouldn't steal other people's ideas. We can learn from them, be influenced by them, and borrow mechanics used to express those ideas, but a work that is merely a regurgitation of other's works will always ring hollow. Another is that we need to have more than just ideas for surface elements. We need to understand if or what makes those surface elements have meaning or belong in our work.<br />
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From a business perspective, either do something novel or do it right. If you want to play the catch-up game by copying other successes instead of finding your own spot in the market, you need to understand what really made them successful. Mere attempt to resemble the surface elements of your competitors will be much less likely to turn a profit, not to mention the likely size of the profit in question.<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-42032737061974205032013-07-23T09:20:00.000-07:002013-07-23T09:20:49.753-07:00Why I Don't Love FalloutI know it's not Saturday, and I know I've been inactive for weeks. I've been, like, busy, okay? I don't care about trying to stick to a set of specific set game analysis concepts to discuss anymore. I'm going to write about what I like, gun blammit. Maybe that way the content will somehow get less sporadic and stop bleeding to death.<br />
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Ahem.<br />
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So I've played a ton of Fallout: New Vegas. It scratches a few of my videogame itches really well. While it gives me a massage and provides me with mugs of melted dark chocolate to slurp. I definitely love the strategical aspects and the character building. I love exploring a big world full of interesting characters and choices. I love roleplaying different characters and having them all deal with these choices differently. I love the atmosphere, aesthetic, and depth of the game. But I don't like the original Fallout.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>I played the original Fallout about halfway through before I finally just stopped. I couldn't put my finger on why I quit playing. According to the above list of why I spent over a month playing almost exclusively Fallout NV, I should have been totally consumed by the original. It took me a number of weeks pondering our falling out before it hit me. I didn't like the original Fallout because its kinaesthetics were annoying as all bork.<br />
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It wasn't the combat system that turned me off. I really enjoyed the methodical, strategic, and intelligent yet suspenseful and intense combat. That is, I would have enjoyed it if the field of view wasn't so constricted while being so fiddly to scroll. I would have enjoyed it if the engine made consistent decisions about when walls need to be invisible or partially transparent to allow me to see what's going on. Instead, I have to waste precious action points dealing with perspective issues, like trying to get the engine to decide that because I'm looking through a window, I should maybe see the inside of the building. This is while I'm trying to get the perspective that is just the small enough to slowly eat away at my patience and sanity to be where I want it to be which is just a slow enough process to make make me want to pull my beloved hair out after a few hours of play.<br />
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This reminds me of Abuse. I've picked Abuse up several times, each time remembering it as really cool and each time rage quitting. The field of view is far too narrow considering the scale of the game, and the framerate is low enough while the enemies move fast enough to make actual dodging and aiming barely impossible. (Also, the levels were borking stupid.) This is another great example of a good game being ruined by just a few kinaesthetic failures.<br />
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Both games get a partial escape from guilt in that the somewhat limited technology used to create them necessitated these compromises. Back in the days of Fallout, if you wanted good kinaestetics, you'd go play DOOM or Mario, or Descent, or some game that had good kinaestetics as a focus. Thus, the people who loved the original Fallout when it came out loved it because they didn't care enough about how the game felt to play compared to the other things it offered. This is why I like Fallout NV for the same reasons fans of the original like the original and NV, but I don't like the original. I like universe, story, characters, symbolism, unique and interesting visual design, roleplaying, and choice, but I'm not willing to put myself through an experience that <i>feels</i> annoying to play for as low a concentrated dose of those things.<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031504049648467795.post-6476569390879730672013-07-06T10:20:00.000-07:002013-07-06T10:21:35.046-07:00Chiptune EP Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yqitSbP27dY/UdhDvKtr1kI/AAAAAAAABX8/z844n53w-EU/s1600/Cover5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yqitSbP27dY/UdhDvKtr1kI/AAAAAAAABX8/z844n53w-EU/s400/Cover5.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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After a bit of deliberation within myself, I decided that my Chiptune EP would be stylistically modeled after the Commodore 64. This was partially due to the discovery of <a href="http://tonebytes.com/bleep/">bleep</a>, an excellent VSTi that models the SID pretty well and has replaced Synth1 as my go-to Chpitune synth. All of the tracks on this EP will be recorded directly from bleep output, except for The Adventure Is Over, which is pure Synth1 output.<br />
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As you can see, I've got some nifty preliminary cover art. I've also come up with a rather fitting name for this EP, Beep Boop. The art was meticulously hand pixelled in GIMP by yours truly, including the 3D text, which was enjoyable.<br />
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I'm not sure how many tracks this EP will have or when it will be finished, but I know that 5 tracks is my upper limit and that I've got at least 1.5 of them done. Of course, I will keep everyone posted with any further progress.<br />
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--LazerBladeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18138205856634039766noreply@blogger.com0