*brushes off cobwebs*
Whoo. Why, hallo there. o_o
If you're wondering where I've been, let's just say that work has been hell in a handbasket as of late. Try putting a
billion kids with A.D.D. that has been fed a steady diet of sugar, Fruit Loops and nitrous oxide into a small building and then stick me in there to try to teach them a million things at once, and you've got a recipe for sheer
chaos. Thank GOD it ends on Tuesday.
Also, I've been occupied with work on a local board game.
Yup, you heard right....NEO's been working onna board game.
And, after three weeks of hogging the front desk's computer and enduring a lot of nagging customers, employees who want to check their e-mail and lots and lots of caffeine in my bloodstream, the board is finally finished:
This board game was done as part of the "One Book, One Community" programme at the library where I work, and I was called upon to be the lead designer for this project, based upon the novel by V.S. Naipaul. The game board you see before you was done completely by me.
Here is some information as to what went on during the making of this game:
- The game board was going to be fairly big, so I drew a rough draft of what it would look like. After showing it to my boss, she told me to change around a few things here and there (such as the location of George's Pink House, which should be more centrally located), and add more characters from the book.
- The game was digitally coloured over a period of 3 weeks, which one page taking about a week or so. The very last page was what gave me some serious horrors, because 1) it didn't scan properly, and 2) I forgot to do the Brightness/Contrast thing before I jumped on colouring it. I'm such a DITZ.
- Towards the later stages of this board's development, I added some more 'hazards', such as missing turns or being sent backwards through the game.
The game is played like a cross between Pictionary/Charades/Snakes and Ladders. Players must guide themselves through Miguel Street, where they will encounter many of the strange (and fascinating) people who live there, such as:
- Man-Man, the madman who later becomes a "prophet";
- Mr. Popo, the carpenter forever working on the 'thing without a name';
- George, the sharp-tongued drunkard;
- Titus Hoyt, the professor;
- Hat, a man of the world who has a comment for every occassion, accompanied by his nephews, Errol and Boyee;
- Bigfoot, the big boxer;
- Laura, the mother of 8.
Along the way, you may run across hazards, such as "Wha De Scene?", which is a charade-like game where your teammate has to guess what you're trying to say, and "Bacchanal!", where you draw and try to get your teammates to guess the correct answer. Be warned....you may need to read the book to get some of them!
*cough* Ugh. What a cheesy thing to say.
So, long story short, that's what I've been working on for the last few weeks.
Also.....
A while back, (three years ago, to be precise) I did a fanart piece for "8 Bit Theater" by Brian Clevinger, of White Mage, one of my favorite characters from the strip. At the time, I was pretty proud of it, not just because I had branched out into something new, but because it was remarkably easy to pull off (just how much of a challenge is it to render white?)
Just recently, I came across that same picture, and I figured that, three years later, I could definitely improve on what I had done so long ago. And this is the end result.
Well, until next time, amigos....
