Scarygirl: 2d needn't be a bore

Scarygirl Game Trailer from Touch My Pixel on Vimeo.

What a job. Part of my work right now involves Unity3d a gorgeous gaming engine. As a result I've been kicking around in gamedev circles more than ever, especially indie games. Some of my favorites are those with 2d graphics that pull out all the stops. This trailer for Scarygirl showcases an endless variety of stylish designs. The characters are lovingly detailed and produced, the colors incredible. I'll be posting some more of my faves this month so stayed tuned if you're into that.

Android Roundup: Joey Chaos

You gotta love Hanson Robotics: it's an art school hi-tech mashup creating ironically lifelike robots. Ironic because the thing people expect in a perfect robot is perception, yet it's something we rarely get out of another person. Joey Chaos' self centered ramblings seem more lifelike than any android searching for something appropriate to say. If you build a personality with a certain aspect of selfconciousness, like that hair, and the piercings, you can get away with less responsive or intelligent answers. Let me be specific: you can build a dumb blonde with a nice rack, and it'll seem more realistic than a nerdy Asian chick. One thing I think could have helped out Joey is more slang (though he's all over it in terms of 'cool' vocabulary) and some well placed vocal crutches such as 'like, man...'. But the well place 'Yo,' is an excellent start. He'd also fare better as a tenor I think, with a regional accent of some sort. Love the politics, nice touch.

Arduino Percussion with PureData

I wonder what the neighbors think about all that tapping on the pipes? What I love about this thing is the objects are chosen so astutely for their sounds: I think it's a lampshade making that gong sound. Nice work.

The Land of Lisp

Really. I have the soundtrack to Why's Poignant Guide to Ruby, and now I'm dancing around the house to this. Of course one reason to learn Lisp is Impromptu, the live coding app developed by Andrew Sorensen for Mac OSx. He writes in Scheme, and the tutorials on his site are great. Lisp has got my attention for other reasons too. Expression is critical in modern multimedia coding, where applications are developed and practically thrown away. I really just need a language to build from point A to point B, with out developing a pile of supporting code.