Top Secret Blog X

A Good List of Randomly Generated Male Names

2009-09-30T19:36:00.000-07:00

John Robererez
Landon Davardards
Eric Cramzalis
Tristan Greenardarder
Jeremiah Martinarder
James Hogardardinart
Logan Wilserer
Dylan Hartzalrigin
Juan Robzalandin
Wyatt Mitchinges

Capture The Flag

2009-09-28T18:13:00.000-07:00

I think I'm going to make a spiritual sequel to Richard Carr's sweet game, Capture the Flag.

Here's an awesome review of Capture the Flag.

"Capture the Flag: Awesome "Lemmings" like game with really smooth
animation that mimics the popular outdoor game of the same name. This
is a turn-based game but the mouse control and animation are
outstanding. Balance your tactics and control your players wisely in
this soon-to-become-a-favorite game."
****** SHAREWARE MAGAZINE (March/April 1993) ******

The only thing "Lemmings" like about Capture The Flag is that it has graphics and runs on a computer.

I hope my version is compared to greats like Monopoly Tycoon and Space Quest IV

I knew it!

2009-09-14T19:42:00.000-07:00

(10:42:11 PM) echidnapi: well
(10:42:13 PM) echidnapi: I would
(10:42:16 PM) echidnapi: shoot a dog

That was a great speech Data

2009-09-13T08:14:00.001-07:00

Top Secret Blog xPosé: Season 2 Episode 15

2009-09-12T21:25:00.000-07:00

Woah, a new Mark/Matt episode of TSBXpose! Mainly Mark. Matt just interrupts.

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Old Time Cilantro

2009-07-22T18:52:00.001-07:00

Man I was just doing a trip down Top Secret Blog X memory lane.

Apparently, I used to hate cilantro!?

Now I love it!

What has happened to me?

Also, I used to fight ghosts a lot! But I haven't seen any ghosts lately!

I suspect a cilantro ghost got me in my sleep.

Cerma

2009-07-22T18:32:00.000-07:00

I used to read a website known only as Cerma. It was a magical website full of mystery and glory.

It revealed truths hidden and made plain great mysteries.

Like the pyramids, it is gone now. Buried away under sand and silence.

We now will shed a tear for Cerma.

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

Apparently unicorns cry blood :(

Gross!

2009-07-20T17:58:00.001-07:00

My zombies bleed now.

If you shoot the heads off they wander aimlessly.

Spooky! Scary!

More Zombies

2009-07-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

Now zombies chase around a guy who can shoot at them. Parts fall off. Scary!

ZOMBIES

2009-07-12T17:22:00.001-07:00

Right now my screen is full of rotating, animated pixel zombies!

What's a good name for a zombie game?

Make sure you Google it first, cause all the good ones are taken.

Run! Jump! Forever! Details

2009-06-30T17:46:00.000-07:00

Hey!

I'm done with my game! Mainly cause I'm sick of it.

Anyway. You can get the alpha at this uniform resource locator.

If it runs like junk or doesn't work let me know. If your computer is old it probably will run like junk.

Sorry!

Oh No!

2009-06-28T19:24:00.000-07:00

My laundry machine got a twitter account. Which is cool, but leads one to wonder when Nate Hogan will get one.

JELLYFISH - A Visual Poem

These guys aren't so tough.

OH GOD IT'S HAPPENING!

WHYYYYY?!

J-Day

2009-06-17T04:01:00.000-07:00

Sridhar pointed out a location of some very important pictures on Facebook the other day:

J-Day

Jared and I used to be so close.

Flying

2009-06-16T03:59:00.001-07:00

I can't seem to sit still long enough to write a blog post any more, but I'll try anyway.

Let's see... I got back from MaxFunCon yesterdayish. Which was awesome. And worthy of me writing a sort of expose (or xPose depending on your spelling prefs).

Here's a picture of a llama.

Two llamas actually.

I saw a bunch of cool people at the MaxFunCon. Some of them were even internet famous.

Time for work. Later pals.

May Video Game Meetup

2009-05-22T13:11:00.000-07:00

Hey people! The Boston Video Game Development Meetup meets tomorrow at the Au Bon Pain in Central Square. So check it out!

Top Secret Blog xPosé: Season 2 Episode 14

2009-05-17T12:16:00.001-07:00

Hey everybody!

This week on Top Secret Blog xPose we have Mayfair Business Ideas, Renaming, and Native American Cold Remedies.

Join us!

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Show Clothes

2009-05-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

It's OK Hank, we all get hungry.

And More Star Trek!

2009-05-14T18:20:00.001-07:00

For Star Trek

2009-05-07T19:13:00.001-07:00

From http://www.jandrewedits.com/

No One Says "Jesus Christ" Like Rip Torn

2009-05-06T20:03:00.000-07:00

Top Secret Blog xPosé: Season 2 Episode 13

2009-05-05T18:44:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! This episode we have pseudo-adventure chef, Mark Chat check-mark with Marky C. (my favorite segment), and classifieds!

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Every Conversation I Have

2009-05-04T18:39:00.000-07:00

(09:36:24 PM) thenmattfsays: good thing today's xkcd explained who nathan fillion is
(09:36:29 PM) echidnapi: yeah
(09:36:30 PM) echidnapi: really
(09:36:32 PM) echidnapi: what the @&$#
(09:36:34 PM) thenmattfsays: really
(09:36:38 PM) echidnapi: is he trying?
(09:36:40 PM) thenmattfsays: there's no joke on this
(09:36:41 PM) thenmattfsays: at all
(09:36:49 PM) thenmattfsays: it's like
(09:36:53 PM) echidnapi: like, if he didn't say mal from firefly
(09:36:57 PM) echidnapi: it wouldn't be his worst comic
(09:36:59 PM) thenmattfsays: premise, beat, premise, premise
(09:37:09 PM) thenmattfsays: and I was joking
(09:37:27 PM) thenmattfsays: when I said it was good when he said "mal from firefly"
(09:37:36 PM) thenmattfsays: I know who nathan fillion is
(09:37:38 PM) echidnapi: haha
(09:37:40 PM) echidnapi: right
(09:37:44 PM) thenmattfsays: and so does everyone else in his audience
(09:37:46 PM) thenmattfsays: come on
(09:37:46 PM) echidnapi: I understand that you were joking
(09:37:49 PM) thenmattfsays: ok
(09:37:51 PM) thenmattfsays: just checking
(09:37:59 PM) echidnapi: because its ridiculous that he says that
(09:38:00 PM) echidnapi: like
(09:38:05 PM) echidnapi: its confusing
(09:38:08 PM) echidnapi: is the person saying that
(09:38:08 PM) thenmattfsays: yeah
(09:38:15 PM) thenmattfsays: I could see the person saying that
(09:38:15 PM) echidnapi: or is that meta talk
(09:38:25 PM) thenmattfsays: but that assumes the boyfriend is kind of not really into firefly
(09:38:27 PM) thenmattfsays: which is unlikely
(09:38:30 PM) echidnapi: also
(09:38:33 PM) echidnapi: with parenthesis
(09:38:33 PM) thenmattfsays: cause the boyfriend is randall
(09:38:39 PM) thenmattfsays: and obviously he knows

Week in Review 4/26 - 5/3

2009-05-03T17:27:00.000-07:00

Wow. This week was nuts. Saw Radiolab! Fixed a template! Just crazy.

Not much project progress, but what can you do?

Mark says he's working on the last xPose episode, and we're recording a new one tomorrow.

Oh and @cockerham wins twitter this week.

The Rasters!

2009-04-30T20:33:00.001-07:00

It looks like CMU finally took down my college page, which I thought would persist in perpetuity. This of course slaughtered my custom layout. Do not fear, reader, we will add new rasters post-haste.

Update 5/2 - Look rasters! Just like on twitter.
Update 2 - 5/3 - ~~Still working on this... Anyone a CSS master? I'll pay you $20 if you fix this for me.~~
Update 3 - 5/3 - Ok. Looks more solid now. Leave your thoughts.

Until then:
I always love a good Boy on A Stick And Slither

Want

2009-04-28T17:14:00.001-07:00

You could just blow some dudes mind if they didn't see this coming.

Week in Review 4-19-09

2009-04-26T15:03:00.000-07:00

Lots of progress on Run! Jump! Forever! over the course of the week. It's getting almost to the point of release. It just needs more content now: more monsters and more levels.

There's an outstanding xPose out there somewhere? Mark? Are you editing this or me? We didn't record one yet but hopefully we can do one in the middle of the week. It's kind of up in the air cause I'm doing overtime and I have to go to the Radiolab Listening Party. Wooo!

This coffee is too hot!

Required Reading

2009-04-14T20:05:00.000-07:00

Read the Psalm 46 Lecture by Brian Moriarty, several times. Via Jonathan Blow.

Week in Review 4-5-09

2009-04-12T17:48:00.000-07:00

Whoa missed a week there!

This week:

I made Run! Jump! Forever! have infinitely long procedurally generated levels. Now, to make it interesting.
Are you in Boston? Do you like videogames? Then you should come to this meetup!

Top Secret Blog xPosé: Season 2 Episode 12

2009-04-07T17:55:00.000-07:00

Tonight on the show we have a very special episode of adventure chef, followed by some new Comcast plans, and, finally, Mark tells us about new video game he bought!

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Top Secret Blog xPosé: Bonus Episode!

2009-04-01T16:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a special xPosé bonus episode. Just for you, my favorite listener.

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Week in Review 3-22-09

2009-03-29T18:14:00.001-07:00

My stupid computer died this week! But I got a new one, so I'm back up and ready to rock.

We recorded and released new xpose episodes this week. I also did a bit of work on Run! Jump! Forever! That's it!

Top Secret Blog xPosé: Season 2 Episode 11

2009-03-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

Nature poems and computer stuff are the topics this episode.

I think we're up to four weeks in a row here (but I didn't check so that may not be true).

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The music in this week's episode is 8 BIT Junkie, by George Wood.

Week in Review 3-15-09

2009-03-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

Big week this week!

First of all I released the alpha of Under The Earth. Try it out, if you like, and let me know if you have any issues! I think it's kind of boring. If you have ideas to make it more exciting let me know. It might just be that I'm bored of it.

Ever since I wrote that algorithm last week, that's all I can think about. Sooo... I went ahead and wrote it. Check it out. I'm going to make a game out of it called (tentatively) Run! Jump! Forever! If you have better names, I'm all ears.

Finally here's a new xPose episode + we recorded another one that I need to edit.

Here's the video of the current state of Run! Jump! Forever! Cause I feel like posting it here:

Top Secret Blog xPosé: Season 2 Episode 10

2009-03-22T09:29:00.000-07:00

In this episode we give birthday props, talk about Nate's drawing class, discuss Mark's trip to the bakery, have two automotive storied, and much, much more.

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The music in this episode is Kubasaki Ha'i by Lejeune

Special programming note: Anyone really smart about RSS? Our mp3 feed, which goes through feedburner has been limited to the most recent 5 items. Anyone know how to fix it? It was fine before Google changed Feedburner around recently. Leave a note in the comments, if you have any ideas.

Really Great Platformer Tutorials

2009-03-19T20:57:00.001-07:00

Here are some nice platformer tutorials by pymike, that are nice, and may be useful for you (me) when writing random Mario.

Algorithm for Procedurally Generating 2d Sidescrolling Platformer Levels

2009-03-16T19:43:00.000-07:00

I just figured this out and wanted to capture it before I forget.

Allow me to draw a picture

=
=
=
=
X

Above = means air and X means ground.

This is the most basic template. Every level is a selection of connected templates. Templates may take up multiple squares. For example a basic stair looks like:

==
==
==
=X
XX

Ahead of time you're going to want to define all of your templates and assign weights to them based on the level you want to construct. You'll want a lot of these. You'll also want to define monsters here. Trust me, I speak from experience..

For example

a
X
=
=
=
=

a here is a goomba standing on a platform high up.

So now you have your templates ready to go and you're ready to generate.

The first step of generation is creating a set of rules. Some of these will be based on your physics. For example, say Mario can only jump 2 squares up. Then the level:

==
==
=X
=X
=X
XX

Is not valid. This is one of the important rules. This has a sibling in the horizontal rule: I.E. Mario can only jump 5 squares lengthwise + 1 for every down square.

So

========
========
========
X=======
X======X

Is invalid.

Ok now the fun part. You need a good starting rule. For example all levels start with

=
=
=
=
=
X

Ok so now you do the actual algorithm. The main trick is to maintain a list of legal positions. Start by seeding that list with all positions available in the first template (probably just one).

Now pick from your weighted list a template to go next to the first one.

If any positions in that template are valid positions from the previous one add them to the valid positions list and keep the new template in position. Push the old entire level into a stack (along with all valid positions). Now you want to do one more tricky thing at this point. Check from right to left for any new valid positions that weren't previously valid. For example.

1====|==== 2
=====|=====
XXXXX|=XXXX
X====|=====
X====|=====
XXXXX|=XXXX

Selecting template 2 based on the top valid positions of template 1 may validate the lower positions in template 1. You then need to reevaluate from these new valid positions, all positions in template 2 to expand your list. This seems like something you want to do recursively, but honestly the more I think about this step the less sure it matters, unless your rules are extremely complicated.

So the other case is if you get stuck. At this point you just need to pop from your stack and try again.

You can stop this process when your level reaches a desired length. Then it's flag-pole time.

I want to implement this now, but first I need to learn how to write platformer physics.

Update:
I made a quick demo to try this out. It doesn't have a lot of templates yet, and it doesn't feature the whole algorithm, but has a simplified version of it. Also the graphics are eye-bleed quality. But, anyway, check it out

That Larry Sanders Thing

2009-03-16T16:14:00.000-07:00

I found this if anyone's interested. It's Youtube, so it brings the pain, but at least it's available for a couple of seasons anyway (or until it goes away).

Anyway, it's available, and it's good. I mean: Rip Torn saying "I killed a man in Korea who looked just like that woman" is level 10 funny.

Week in Review 3-8-09

2009-03-15T14:42:00.000-07:00

Not a terribly eventful week, but still a success. In shoe related news, we have a winner (through ballot stuffing). It's shoe A. A fine choice, now only to figure out what it is so I can order it.

In Under The Earth news, I think this tweet sums it up well:

Also, a new episode of xPose was recorded so that's something too.

I'm doing more overtime next week so you probably won't hear much from me.

The Larry Sanders Show

2009-03-15T13:56:00.000-07:00

Did anyone ever watch the Larry Sanders Show? If I wanted to watch it how would I go about doing it? I've seen DVDs available for the first season and also a collection of selected episodes. Am I missing something? Can I stream it from somewhere.

On a somewhat related note, this article (from history) makes almost no sense to me. I thought I had a fairly decent understanding of talk shows, but this makes me feel totally lost.

Week in Review 3-1-09

2009-03-08T17:22:00.000-07:00

Not as much progress on Under the Earth last week, as I would have liked. I took two days off, one to see Watchmen, and one for the purpose of not programming and editing xPose. Hopefully this week will be more productive.

I've been head-writing something about Hearts of Iron 2 for Hooray Videogames, but I can't get it to come out write. Maybe inspiration will strike.

New xPose episode though, and it's really good!

Also, vote on some sneakers!

Top Secret Blog xPosé: Season 2 Episode 9

2009-03-08T13:22:00.000-07:00

Dracula attacks, videogame reviews, deli stories, drawing, and Brazil are all topics on this weeks episode of Top Secret Blog xPose.

The music between segments is Charles Potts Magic Windmill Band's "I Live in My Car".

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Sneakers

2009-03-06T22:23:00.000-08:00

It's shoe buying by committee time. What shoes should I buy? You vote, I buy, no one dies. Also, write in suggestions are legal, as long as they are not for Optimus Prime.

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I

Week in Review 2-22-09

2009-03-01T12:18:00.000-08:00

Aside from installing Ubuntu on a laptop this week, an xPose episode was released, I wrote about Gravitron 2 (which rules). I also refactored the weapons design of Under the Earth.

A new episode of xPose was recorded. I hope to release it by next weekend.

Installing Ubuntu on An Acer Aspire 5515

2009-02-27T17:39:00.000-08:00

Hello. This is my write up of installing Ubuntu Linux on my Acer Aspire 5515.

This is a 64 bit computer so the first step was to download from the 64 bit version of Ubuntu.

This took about 5 minutes. I'm not quite sure how to burn an ISO. I used Winrar to extract the files from the archive and just put them on a CD through Windows. I am not sure if this works.

I burnt the CD. While I was doing this I booted the Acer for the first time (into Vista) and connected to my network. Looks like everything is working.

I put the CD in the laptop and it told me that I'd just need to reboot.

I did this and also, on the next reboot I swapped the boot order in the BIOS so that the first device on the list was the CD drive. Restarted again.

This time I heard the CD spin up before booting, but then windows took over and booted itself. No! That's not what I wanted. After a few more tries, I let windows boot and selected the "help me get Ubuntu to boot" option.

Restart!

This time the CD spun up, then a menu appeared that said Windows and Ubuntu I selected Ubuntu and hit enter. The Ubuntu logo appeared and the mysterious status bar bounced back and forth happily. This took a minute or two. Then the window disappeared and the following message appeared.

[ 126.479212] end_request: I/O error, dev sr0, sector 1436132
[ 126.479257] Buffer I/O error on device sr0, logical block 357908

The CD drive continued to make noise so I let it continue for a bit. I wasn't sure what was causing this. Was the CD bad? Was everything actually OK?

I did some googling. This seemed to indicate either it would go away or I needed to cahnge some jumpers from slave to master. Not terribly excited about that.

While I was typing, it got past those messages and went to

* Setting primary keymap...
* Preparing restricted drivers...
* Setting the sytem clock
* Starting the kernel...

More errors then.

Then more stuff happening that seemed to work. Hmm? Maybe it was working? Althought this is worrysome.

A lot more messages went by. One looked like it said WIFI didn't work. Oh no!

Ok finally the loading screen went away, and..., a scrambled looking video screen popped up. Then! The spinning ubutntu loading hourglass guy. And a pinkish brown screen of joy! Hmm.. it seems to want me to enter a username and password? I don't have one. I tried to make one but it didn't seem to work.

Maybe if I were to just let the countdown go down everything will be OK.

Guess so! It seemed to work. Got a black screen. Weird kind of loading sound played. Good that means that the sound card is working. And... I'm at the desktop. Ubuntu probably has the worst default wallpaper. It looks like a cave-art of a skull.

Next Halloween I'm going as Ubuntu default wallpaper.

OK! Time to try installing. I double click the install icon on the desktop. I'm not used to double clicking with the tracker mouse thingy on the keyboard. I try again.

This time an Install screen pops up! Yay! I'm tempted to pick Esperanto as my language, cause I could go for a biskvito right now.

I went to pick my location for time zone, and accidentally clicked somewhere I shouldn't have. It thinks I live in Thunder Bay! I don't, but now I'm considering a move.

Got some USA keyboard options. No Dvorak for me!

Yes! Time to name the computer. Keeping with my Achewood theme, this laptop is now named Teodor.

The computer came with windows installed on one partition and had another data partition. I chose to reformat into one drive. Hopefully nothing goes wrong!

32% done installing. What to do. Time to play some Under the Earth!

Uh-oh, got half way through and screen went black! What's happening! Cd is intermittently spinning, probably should let it go.

Haha, I touched the mouse. The screen just had went off. They should disable power saving features on boot from CD. Like, seriously.

75%... (It says less than a minute remaining, but I don't believe it)

And now detecting hardware ( A good step ).

99% - Running post-installation trigger libc6. One of my favorite libc triggers!

And done! Now, let see if it boots!

Logo! And finally! Finally! ... Nothing much happens :(

Just kidding that was a Space Quest 4 quote.

Actually, it had been debooting, or unbooting, or bootlessing, sandaling, you know, the usual.

Ubuntu logo appeared, and brown/pink joy screen, and scary skull guy! Looks like it worked!

Now let's get the wireless going. It didn't magically work, cause I'm not magically online. My network has WEP on it, so that would be shocking. A magic window appeared suddenly that said that they were proprietary.

Oh the horror. What to do? This moral conundrum will take days to ponder. Quick to Slashdot!

Just kidding. Wait. It looks like it's already activated. Hmm. Not sure what to do.

I right-clicked on the network icon and the the wireless tab. I guess you have to type in all of your info. I give it a try but it doesn't seem to connect. It is set to connect automatically, but the area next to the network name says "never". I don't know what to do.

Aha. This page indicates that networks would be shown if they were found. This indicates that my network card is failing. Look at a clock, it's Google time!

I tried out this next.

The guy downloaded some updates. And some more updates. Rebooted and drained a Doctor Pepper. Uh-Oh! I connected to my Network but now something is wrong with my video. I have noise or something! What is going on? [Updated: See appendix A for more info, below]

I'm going to try to go with the proprietary video drivers. Maybe they will fix it?

Uh-oh. Now when I rebooted it stopped at "checking battery state" What in the world!? This website seems to be addressing this...

I launched into recovery mode, assuming I could make some heads or tails of this in there. I selected xfix, cause someone said that might work, and then resume. I ended up at a terminal. I tried startx, but it seemed to crash. I don't really know what I'm doing on linux.

Restarted again. Same thing happened. Ended up at a terminal getting signal 11's at recovery mode. I'm going to try booting the previous kernel version from grub. I think this will revert back past whatever updates I installed. Maybe that's the wrong approach.

Got to a the pink screen though! And booted. Does Grub auto-select the previously working configuration? I hope so!

Now, of course though, my wireless doesn't work agai. It's like some kind of Linux pergatory, and Vergil is nowhere in sight!

I'm going to try to install the wireless drivers again, maybe they will solve the problem. I know... fool me once and all that.

Hold on, going to try #4 on this page.

Rebooted again, just to make sure the video problem wouldn't reoccur first. It seemed OK. I guess it booted from the image (or whatever) that I had just used.

Oh no, #4 from that page was what I previously had done I think. Uh-oh, well hopefully when I reboot all will be well!

Ok, got in, and enabled one of the wireless drivers and now I'm connected to Basestar, my wireless network Hurray!

One more reboot to make sure, and it works!

Hurray.

Next time on screwing with Linux: installing Python, Pygame, Eclipse, and Pydev. Sounds like fun!

Appendix A: I got the video noise on one of my boots the next day. To fix, I just changed the screen resolution to 1024x768 and then back to 1280x800. To do this go to System->Preferences->Screen Resolution. Hopefully this will not happen often!

Top Secret Blog xPosé: Season 2 Episode 8

2009-02-22T19:21:00.000-08:00

This epsisode, Matt describes celebrations around the world that are kind of like Groundhog's Day, but aren't. Nate discusses the finer points of the Grammys. And Matt has a conversation during a haircut. Exciting stuff, that!

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Week In Review 2-15-08

2009-02-22T14:42:00.000-08:00

Lot's of progress on Under the Earth this week. Not much else going on.

Has anyone out there tried writing music for a video game? I mean like 8 bit style. I don't know the first thing about composition, so all the songs I try to write are about 10 measures long.

How do these peoples do it.

Wormwood

2009-02-22T14:41:00.001-08:00

I've been listening to the podcast Wormwood: A Serialized Mystery. This is pretty good, and it certainly has lots of episodes. It's kind of like listening to episodes of Buffy. Which is fine. The cast is pretty good, but some characters are incredibly annoying. If you're going to make a podcast where you have characters that are supposed to be annoying, you should just delete them.

Week in Review 2-8-08

2009-02-15T14:56:00.001-08:00

This week I wrote one new article on Hooray Videogames. I had a lot of progress on Under The Earth.

Sorry for ignoring you Xers, but we're recording a new xPose tonight, so that should be up, hopefully sooner than later.

I drove by a store yesterday that claimed to sell "Hoo-Haas". I did not stop.

Week in Review 2-1-09

2009-02-08T13:28:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posting over here, but I have been pretty prolific (if I do say so myself) elsewhere.

I made a lot of progress on Under The Earth. I'm excited about how that's going a lot. If the following weeks are productive as the past week, maybe I'll finish before 2150.

I also started Hooray Videogames which is going to be my attempt to try writing some new games journalism garbage. So read that if you're interested in games.

On the xPose front, we had some technical difficulties, so it looks like our last episode is probably lost to the wolves. We lost Nate's audio track in the bit bucket. Two out of three ain't bad, unless you're talking about parts of conversations.

Even if you don't care about games at all you should play Aquaria, cause it's like eating candy with your eyes. Also, don't do that, cause eyes don't eat well.

Under The Earth

2009-01-31T10:30:00.000-08:00

I decided to name the new game that I have been working on Under the Earth. You may read the development journal here.

Untitled Pygame Project Part 1

2009-01-26T20:19:00.001-08:00

YouTube mangled this, but it's what I've been working on lately. Pigskin Panic is on hold for the time being. This will be better anyway.

It's going to be like if Gauntlet was turn based and made friends with Nethack.

Cave Troll encounter!

2009-01-22T16:43:00.001-08:00

Sometimes the funniest stuff is the simplest.

Top Secret Blog xPosé: Season 2 Episode 7

2009-01-11T14:48:00.001-08:00

The Christmas episode. You'll hear some podcast reviews, soup guessing, and holiday chat.
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Music bits are from Tall Fiddler by Deyo, found randomly on podsafeaudio.com.

Pigskin Panic

2009-01-02T17:13:00.001-08:00

Welcome back, me. I started programming a new game called Pigskin Panic. You may read the development journal over here.

Footprints In The Sand

2008-12-17T18:14:00.001-08:00

OK I think I plagiarized this, but I'll say it anyway:

I dreamt I was walking the beach of my life alongside God. Two sets of footsteps went to the horizon in front of me. God explained that He was always at my side throughout my life. Eventually the two sets of footprints became one.

I asked God where He was at this point in my life. He said, "My son, you were not alone, for this is where I did the worm." Then I noticed that where the previous set of God footprints had ended, the sand was all mushed up, so I knew it was true.

Top Secret Blog xPosé: Season 2 Episode 6

2008-12-13T13:08:00.000-08:00

This episode we interview Mark's friend Willie, who claims to be a low level Obama volunteer but I am convinced is David Plouffe in disguise.

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Top Secret Blog xPosé: Season 2 Episode 5

2008-12-06T13:05:00.000-08:00

Halloween in December!?

With our patented "can't promptly edit a podcast technology" you can have Halloween anytime, especially a month and a week late.

In this episode we talk about Halloween and voting and imagination.

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Mario Paint Party

2008-12-02T04:05:00.001-08:00

Mario Paint is the most precise instrument created, and YouTube user DominoAndReglisse is the Rachmaninoff of Mario Paint.

Yesvember (Ben Bernanke Can't Dance Like This)

2008-11-30T16:21:00.000-08:00

The lyrics to a new song by Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserves entitled, 'Yesvember (Ben Bernanke Can't Dance Like This)'

When it comes, you know it gets so chilly.
When it comes, you know you want it to go.
But you got to just give it another shot.
You got to just make a yes out of a no.

Well the month for me is Yesvember.
Cause it's the time I can get my groove.
And in case you just can't remember,
Alan Greenspan will show you the moves.

Ben Bernanke can't dance like this.
Ben Bernanke can't shake it.
Ben Bernanke can't dance like this.
Alan Greenspan knows how to make it.

Ben Bernanke can't dance like this.
Ben Bernanke can't shake it.
Ben Bernanke can't dance like this.
The Feds will turn your debit to credit.

(guitar solo)

You'll look back and it will seem so silly.
Recessions come and depressions go.
But with November seeming just so dreary.
Yesvember will make you dance even so.

Ben Bernanke can't dance like this.
Ben Bernanke can't shake it.
Ben Bernanke can't dance like this.
Alan Greenspan knows how to make it.

Ana Ng

2008-11-16T07:39:00.001-08:00

They Might Be Giants have the best music videos.

Surprise xPosure

2008-11-02T08:28:00.000-08:00

Hey all xPosers (iTunes), listen to the latest episode of Ask Mr. Biggs (episode 20) for a surprise appearance of Mark and I, at the end.

It's the kind of surprise where you shout, "Damn it iTunes, I was listening to Mr. Biggs, why did you just switch to an old episode of Top Secret Blog xPose".

Anyway, awesome.

Gizmodo Wins Google News Headline Challenge

2008-10-31T08:10:00.001-07:00

Nothing more to see here.

Top Secret Blog xPosé: Season 2 Episode 4

2008-10-25T11:40:00.000-07:00

I tell the world my Harry Potter stuff. Nate has criminal intent.

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On Super Gork!

2008-10-20T19:56:00.000-07:00

Response to comments about Super Gork!

Alan says:

Wow, pretty rough. I managed to get to lvl 5 once, but then ow. Interesting mechanic if a little too much luck. Maybe have a shadow or something to show where the teleporter will jump to after it's used, so you can plan a little farther ahead.

Super Gork! is tough. The Robots I played never showed the teleporter. I think you had some limited amounts of safe teleports and (maybe unlimited) risky teleports. When I was writing SuperGork! I basically wrote Robots in a cave, and decided I'd add some twist at the end to make things different. I'm not sure why I decided to make the teleport location visible, but I like that it makes things seem a bit fatalistic. Super Gork! is probably too difficult and a little too random. I hate when I start a level and feel like there was no way for me to survive. Then again, I think the argument could be made that all levels would be like that.

On the other hand, the thing I like about Super Gork! is that it's the only game I've played in a while where luck is a real factor. Luck, as a game mechanic has been really overshadowed. Don't get me wrong. I really like games where I can plan an effective strategy and see everything come together in the end. But when playing something like Civ or even like Diablo, luck plays such a minor roll because it all becomes averaged out. Luck as a central mechanic is something I'm interested in exploring more.

If I ever go back to update Super Gork! I'll probably make it a bit more forgiving, especially in the start of the level, and perhaps more difficult in the end of the level? I'm not sure exactly what changes would need to be made to achieve that though.

Echidnapi says:

I'm not convinced a robot should be able to kill you while you're standing on top of robot corpse. Is that the standard robot mechanic, or the gork twist we've been looking for.

The technique of ducking under a junked robots legs is known as the Super Gork Side Slide. Murder Robots are evil and giant. They'll destroy themselves on a fallen robots junk heap just to get you any time of the day, even between 5:30 and 6:45

Uh-Oh!

Super Gork! Released

2008-10-17T11:09:00.001-07:00

You can learn more and get it on the KOPA.

Super Gork! Preview

2008-10-16T22:40:00.000-07:00

Super Gork! (the game I'm working on) is almost done. I will probably upload the final version. Here is a preview screenshot gallery.

Super Gork! Gallery (on the KOPA)

Dyatlov Pass Incident

2008-10-13T13:50:00.001-07:00

Possibly the scariest movie of all time and all places.

Go Rasters Go!

2008-10-04T19:21:00.000-07:00

I can make that in an X11 console, if I want. And I want.

I'm making turn based randomly generated pac-man. The perfect game?

Playlist

2008-09-25T18:08:00.000-07:00

I want to listen to Textbook Love by Fleet Foxes

Followed by Roscoe by Midlake on endless repeat.

Top Secret Blog xPosé: Season 2 Episode 3

2008-09-24T16:55:00.000-07:00

After a long wait xPose Episode 3 of Season 2 is up.

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Mark says that we talk about conditioner, monologue to your opponents (political), chat about assyrian kings, [reveal] terrible secrets from my childhood, [and have] a segment I'm not sure what its about, eating dirt... and more.

Polyglot Gambit Release

2008-09-24T04:06:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention this. I released a new version of Polyglot Gambit. It lives here now. I will not be updating this for a while...

Heroes Liveblog Season 3 Episode 2

2008-09-22T20:12:00.000-07:00

I didn't realize that there were two episodes of Heroes back to back. Oh well, here we go... Hint: Spoiler alert. Flair = Clair

00 oh damn it there's another hour of this

00 flair's relation with pain is best expressed as a bad 80s song

01: I'm pretty sure it's the prime directive not the butterfly effect

02 surresh just tried to pull off a spiderman kiss

Commercial - very much needed, thanks

08: matt on the fields of gold

09 sylar is kicking out the jams

10 oh yeah I forgot veronica mars is in this

11: nikki makes me so bored. Sorry I'm tired so I'm going after the easy targets.

14: hiro owns the mona lisa? Maybe it has a secret code

15: I can't figure of out - peter is sylar right?

Commercial

19: peter - teach me Kung fu

20: nikki should add more lipstick

21: did nathan really think nikki + lipstick isn't nikki

21 guess.not

22 with all this talk of gods plans you kind of get the impression you're watching battlestar

23: bennett & veronica mars wooooo!

24: sylar can kill with one shot with that golden gun

Commercial! Why is this fat guy impersonating donald trump. Tv is dead.

28: that bald pudgy guy isn't really peter right? Hard to say.

30: hiro makes a forced batman/catwoman reference. It's forgiven for hiro.

31: peter from the future should be called PETERX cause of the face slash

32: nathan's political career is confusing

33: this is the coolest reporter ever. I didn't intend for that to be a pun but it turned of to have chilly accuracy. ICE COLD JOKES HERE PEEPS.

Commercial - the way that they say puerto rico on tv uses previously unknown phonemes. Stop and Shop
is rocking the Dorian scales

39: mrs. Petrelli's power: condescension

41: NEMESIS!

42: I like that hiro now has super gadget power too - well honestly I just like hiro.

43: surresh is the hulk????

Commercial - no! Robot brain!!!

47: matt looks uncomfortable - christmas came early this year.

48: heroes - it's good to see heroes is still propagating racial stereotypes. Come on it's 2008, not every african doesn't have sprint.

51: how come nathan listens to invisible Ldawg

52: it's good to see magneto will be making an appearance this season.

54: Clair's mom makes a hand fire the second time they see each other - a hug would suffice.

57: is everyone on heroes related?

What did we learn? I can tell a joke so cool it freezes you. There are a bunch of mutants lead by magneto stealing Escalades. Everyone is related. Surresh tries a spiderman kiss but it fails so he turns into the hulk.

Heroes Liveblog: Season 3 Episode 1

2008-09-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

I decided to liveblog during the Heroes episodes from my iPhone. This was a mistake and very not enjoyable. But sacrifices must be made for you, dear reader. Hint: Spoiler alert. I did not edit this. Daniel = Nathan. Andover = Ando. Flair = Clair Other mistakes may have been made.

03: missed intro; what happened in season 2. Did clair become a gunslinging catwoman?

04: good to see that peter has kept his super power - angst.

06: and Daniel (is that his name?) kept the power of being a zombie.

Commercial time! Since when did microsoft gain the super power of whining about macs?

09: hiro! Oh yeah that's why I watch this show. Hiro should buy spare time travelling katanas with all of his money.

11: hello clarice... I brought tacos...

12: I forget his name too. Slater? Sleater? Bueller? You know, the guy who eats brains and breathes heavily with his mind?

15: I thought the south American lady with the poisons eyes was dead. I was wrong.

16: surresh figures everything out finally, instantly.

17: takei!

19: do not open the safe! Do not seek the treasure!

20: hiro is attacked by some kind of slime

22 if you ever need a gun matt will help you out.

Commercial! Iphoning this is exhausting. I just remembered that
Matt's power is that he's actually deanna troi who has come to the past that can also shapeshift and time travel. Also sucking is his power.

28: Daniel sees his magic power suit.

28: jesus Christ: the real hero

29: wait I was just kidding before. Stop stealing my ideas heroes!

30: surresh is putting on his super science moves... Move over dr. Venture.

32: what happened to clarices gun?

33: huh, didn't see that one coming

Commercial - woah iPhone on iPhone action.

37: took bathroom break. Sleater wants to make love - gross.

38: yeah eating brains is disgusting when you think about it, but that doesn't make it less delicious.

40: surresh got put his colored water science props to impress maya

41: oh yeah his name's sylar! Thanks maya (last time I say that)

43: this year's election theme will be nathan for pope

44: no way not the L-dash

45 what is mirror lady doing. Apparently mainly lounging in underwear. One of the many things we have in common

Commercial break - thank god. Why is Ashton kutcher selling expensive cameras?

49: matt's new nickname: scorpion face

50: ando's face - amid of pride and outrage.

51: in the future ando is... Palpatine!?

52 surresh: scientist or heroin addict?

54: with all this time travelling and clones this is becoming more and more like harry potter

55: I'm pretty sure I saw Bennett again pretty sure he's dead

56: surresh poetry slam

56 a poet and a warrior

Woo one episode through. Main thing we learned. Future Ando = Palpatine. Harry Potter time travel party is happening.

Time Jump Photography - Harvard Lampoon Castle

2008-09-21T15:32:00.000-07:00

The Harvard Lampoon Castle door is probably the best door ever. Wikipedia tells me that

The Lampoon Castle is also home to the Harvard Lampoon Social Club, a social organization guided by principles of humor and ingenuity, rumored to exist several floors beneath the Castle. The club is highly secretive, and reportedly maintains ties with one of Harvard's oldest secret societies, The Med Fac, founded in 1818.

And also that

The Lampoon is known for its bacchanalian parties, which can result in smashed plates and furniture.

Too bad everyone can tell that some sort of wild secret party is happening beyond a door like that. If anyone can get me into these parties, let me know. I am all about secret parties.

The oldest picture I could find of it is this drawing by Barbara Eastman from the Harvard Lampoon's website and dated 1979. This is surprising cause the building has been around since 1876 or so.

1979:
2008:

Hurray Internet

2008-09-20T09:23:00.000-07:00

www.kindofprettyalright.com has been born. More to come.

New Phone Number

2008-09-12T16:09:00.000-07:00

I got a iPhone named Philippe. It's number is 617-513-1980.

You can remember that easily
617 - the 23rd prime number
513 - The year in which Vigorous becomes Bishop of Bayeux
1980 - The year John Lennon Died.

Coincidence?

Mythbusters - Fun With Gas

2008-09-09T16:24:00.001-07:00

Today on Matt posts funny videos from the internet, awesomeness. via boingboing.

SFIII

2008-09-08T16:00:00.000-07:00

This review of Street Fighter 3 is perfect.

If you are unaware of this issue it is a good thing, because it is probably the most boring topic ever, but lately there is a relatively huge outcry against some forms of game journalism. That review is what games journalism should be.

By @heathercampbell via @Jordan_Morris and posted on the venerable ActionButton.net.

San'wich in Sixty Seconds

2008-09-07T09:22:00.001-07:00

Speaking of videos my brother is in: I think I posted this before, but second time is a charm.

MaxFunCon

2008-09-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

I just bought my tickets for MaxFunCon, "a convocation of awesome people who seek to become more awesome."

So you should probably go and hang out with me in June 09. Plus Hodgman will be there so that's something.

Top Secret Blog xPosé: Season 2 Episode 2

2008-09-05T16:58:00.000-07:00

The second episode of this season of the award winning podcast, Top Secret Blog xPose is titled: Edited Beyond Recognition.

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The Fall of Reason

2008-09-04T20:32:00.001-07:00

My bro made this. It's in the Top Secret Blog xPose cannon though so, consider it episode -1, the inspiration for all the other episodes. Plus blooper reel.

The Secret

2008-08-30T08:29:00.001-07:00

I had a dream last night where I overheard two people discussing The Secret.

I promptly and thoroughly berated them. I woke up feeling refreshed.

Top Secret Blog xPosé: Season 2 Episode 1

2008-08-26T16:48:00.000-07:00

Ok, here's the first episode of Top Secret Blog xPose Season 2.

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Gorilla escapes from Zoo

2008-08-22T20:57:00.001-07:00

This is my favorite clip from trigger happy tv ever.

State of The xPose

2008-08-22T17:27:00.001-07:00

Top Secret Blog xPose just recorded the first episode of its second season. In order to get any of the jokes you need to listen to all of Jordan Jesse Go, Ask Mr. Biggs, and You Look Nice Today. Also you need to listen to the video below and all of our archives. I'm guessing this will take about 200 hours. Oh well... We do not apologize.

Or you can be Nate and not listen to any podcasts, which is OK, cause he is on the show.

We will post the show after we edit it.

Edgar Oliver

2008-08-21T18:52:00.001-07:00

Could we get Edgar Oliver to be the announcer on our podcast, and maybe like, bring him to parties that we go to, and he could tell us stories?

Mirror's Edge or Whatever

2008-08-21T16:56:00.001-07:00

Yeah, I haven't played Mario before. Come on, some originality people.

Ah Mario 2

2008-08-16T22:14:00.001-07:00

Comic Time

2008-08-05T17:20:00.000-07:00

This is it:

From PFSC.

Zot

2008-07-27T19:18:00.001-07:00

I did not know that Zot! was a book:

But it is, because I bought it today! Perfect for anyone who loves Scott McCloud.

Top Secret Blog xPosé: Episode 20

2008-07-24T16:00:00.000-07:00

On this, our twentieth episode we debut a new segment called Mark Chat, Check Mark with Mark C. Yeah. That's about it.

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Top Secret Blog xPosé: Episode 19

2008-06-24T15:23:00.001-07:00

This episode Nate's mic keeps dropping out.

Sorry listeners...

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What should I work on...

2008-06-16T19:42:00.000-07:00

I want to get back into the amateur game development thing but I don't know what to work on.

Here are my choices:

ChuChu Combat - Turn based ChuChu Rocket meets Combat.

Polyglot Gambit - This is actually getting somewhere and might be finished at some point.

Turn Based Capture the Flag in Space with Robots (working title) - A combination of Carr's Capture the Flag and Crush Deluxe.

Tell me!

Top Secret Blog xPosé: Episode 18

2008-06-08T15:37:00.000-07:00

Another episode of the podcast:

This time Mark no-shows, Matt kayaks, and Nate Nate's around.

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Top Secret Blog xPosé: Episode 17

2008-05-23T14:48:00.000-07:00

In this episode we talk about capitalization, indiana jones, and more ninja turtle characters. Hurrah!

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Top Secret Blog xPosé: Episode 16

2008-05-16T20:49:00.000-07:00

Woo episode 16!

This week we have AJ on, Nate's brother. We discuss Ikea, current events, and Iron Man. Oh and Red Alert 2.

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Top Secret Blog xPosé: Episode 15

2008-05-02T15:55:00.000-07:00

This week Top Secret Blog xPose completes the 10 Megaton Burrito Challenge. We also enter a cave of mystery and learn about saving the Earth.

Hooray!

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iTunes: slam and jam

There may or may not be an episode this week.

Podcast: Podcats

2008-04-25T13:50:00.000-07:00

Due to the nice weather we're not posting a regular Top Secret Blog xPose this week. Instead we're bringing you the latest episode of our sister podcast from Dusseldorf, Germany, Podcats.

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Tune in next week for the next episode of Top Secret Blog xPose along with the 10 Megaton Burrito Challenge Results.

In the meantime you should also check out Ask Mr. Biggs; because it is really amusing, and I listened to all of them in a row.

Top Secret Blog xPosé: Episode 14

2008-04-18T15:38:00.001-07:00

Today it's the Megaton Burrito Challenge! Hurray!

Which burrito is best? Let us know.

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Mark:

Matt:

Nate: