I've abandoned LJ and have moved everything over to Dreamwidth. If you wanted to continue following the progress of episodes and other randomness that ends up in this journal, it'll be in Murderous Angels.

Right now the site is still in beta, and as such, new accounts can only be created with invite codes or by buying an account (for as little as $3). I've already given away all of my invite codes, but feel free to check out DW codesharing in to get hooked up with one if you're interested.

However, you don't need to create an account at all! What's fantastic to me about Dreamwidth (aside from just about every damned thing there is to the site) is how seamlessly openid works with it. There's more information about how that works here.

I'll be posting actual episodes of Deception Pass on there from now on, but thanks to the spiffy auto-crossposting feature, that's one less thing you'll have to worry about. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with communities, otherwise I wouldn't even bother making this post.

That's it for now!

While not strictly Sims related, this is at least somewhat Deception Pass related. The links beyond the cut are just some videos I took of the Rock Band 2 version of This Velvet Oblivion. I was originally going to post these on youtube, but holy shit... it not only took forfreakingever to upload, it destroyed the quality as well. So instead, I just threw them in .rars and tossed them up on mediafire.

Yes, I'm the one singing on these, but no, you cannot hear me aside from the occasional 'woo' to get into overdrive. Ignore those. No, these aren't meant to be serious, and please try to ignore my occasional lack of editing. XD

( Linkage | avi format with divx codec )

Anyway, watch if you want. I'd uploaded them for gelydh and thought I'd toss the links out there in case anyone else was bored.

I'm finally done rewriting the first chunks of Deception Pass. It went from about fifteen pages or so to ... 52. :X

I want to do a couple of custom poses for this, but I've gotten pretty quick at those. Then I'll be able to get this all simmed and done, which is good, because I'm itchin' to work on something new now.

x-posted on inksome

( To-Do List. )

(Feel free to read things early over here, but keep in mind that things posted in there aren't in the final draft.)

I still don't have my new hard drive. It's been almost a month since I've had access to my sims at this point. I'm starting to get twitchy, and even went so far as to make This Velvet Oblivion in Rock Band 2 in utter desperation.

As an aside, I want to sim just about every outfit in that game.

[ small collection of this velvet oblivion pictures from rb2 ]

I have just about finished up the rewrites at least.

Sooooo...

The hard drives in my desktop computer are (once again) fried. The good news is I'd put all my writing on this laptop before I went out to MI over xmas, and have actually gotten nearly 50 pages done on the rewrite project. The bad news is that I didn't do a backup very recently (stupid, I know), so I've lost an insane amount of sim-type stuff. I'd built several sets, redone skintones, etc., and all of that is gone.

I probably won't have a desktop again until after Monday, though at least the parts I need have been ordered. In the mean time, I'm going to keep working on the rewrites. If I finish those, I'm probably going to get to work on writing a Brand Spankin' New Epic Episode of Epicness.

If you'd like to take a sneak peek at the rewrites/resims, go over this way and scroll to the bottom.

Also, progress post.

You know, I really am having fun rewriting the oldest parts of this thing, but a few days ago, a tiny doubtful thought got planted in my head. It sprouted roots; roots that have started to embed themselves deeper and deeper into my brain. I'm starting to wonder if my rewrites are turning into little more than 'Blah blah blah and then A happened, blah blah blah and then B happened, blah blah blah and blah some more.'

I can console myself with the fact that at least Mary has a lovely first meeting with Chris at the end of the whole thing. And the simmed parts look good... Oops, a spoiler!

Tonight I tried to build a 7-11, and gave up in a fit of rage because I didn't have anything to put in it aside from the hilarious Slurpee machines I made. Now I'm considering rewriting the scene and making it take place at a coffee shop instead. At least I know where to find coffee shop related downloads.

There is some good news. For the first time ever, Chris has a non-maxis hair style! Well, to be fair, the mesh is from the K&B stuff pack, but the texture is custom!

( got no human grace... )

*end babble*

I just wanted to post and babble about how progress is once again being made on 'Project Destroy and Rebuild' (though part of me wonders if I shouldn't be melodramatic and call it 'Project Phoenix' instead :P ). I had family in town for a couple of weeks and didn't get much done because of it, but today I finished simming the new Gallery Indigo scene.

I was having issues trying to rework the part at the Xenon. Something about it was bothering me to no end, and I was ready to drop an entire scene because of it. I knew I needed that scene to illustrate certain goings on, but I wasn't 'feeling' it at all. What I'm going to try to do is attempt to rearrange some of the timeline of events so Scene Y happens before Scene X.

I've also decided to redo more of the first chunk of 'episodes' than I'd originally planned. I'm being firm on where I'm quitting now, or else I'll never stop. XD I'm already closing in on 35 pages, and I know it's going to hit at least 40 before I'm done.

Progress post here. My goal is to have this completed before I fly out to MI for xmas on the 20th. I'm painfully tempted to toss up a teaser scene or two or three...

I'm doing this because I can't stop writing. XD

These first four 'episodes' were crazy-short, and actually seem to be working much better as one unit. I think by the time I'm done with rewrites (I've already rewritten and resimmed 'episode one'), these should be about as long as a typical, good-sized episode, so approx. 30-40 pages.

( To-Do List. )

I'm x-posting some entries from my personal journal (over on inksome) here, regarding what I've been doing over the past week or two with Deception Pass. Sorry if you see this multiple times. XD

11-12:
"I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to rewrite some of the earliest parts of DP. I already did some (minor) work on the prologue, including resimming it (had to get rid of the holyshitobvious Grim Reaper), and I'd like to do a bit of cleanup on the first few parts. The problem with that is I'd have to reshoot at least the first part, as I want to write Andy out of it completely. I'm wondering if it'd be confusing to new readers to see something shiny and 2008 only to turn to the next parts and be teleported into the hilarity that is 2005 sims custom content. There's also the boys' hair to deal with... if I redo it, I'm going to be tempted to have them in their current hair, but in later flashbacks, I was (obviously) using their hilarious-as-hell oldskool hair.

One thing I noticed when rereading the entire series a few weeks ago is that it has the tendency to be a bit 'jolting' as you go from episode to episode. It's not something people reading from the beginning probably noticed, since there would be, at the very least, a week or so between episodes. When you sit down to read it all at once, things seem a little jumpy.

Whatever I end up doing, there's no way I'm resimming the entire series. Just looking at things like the Season One finale are enough to cure me of any desire to tackle a project like that, besides which I think as the series progressed, the custom content started to catch up with our 'vision.' "

11-13:
"That thing about rewriting the earliest scenes of Deception Pass? Yeah, got the first one finished last night and it's at least eleventy billion times better than it was originally. I've decided to resim and repost these as their own little off-shoots, sort of how the new proglogue is right now. That way, I don't have to worry about cc continuity. Again, like I said, I do not plan to redo the entire series. Right now, the plan is to do the first few 'chunks' that were based on the original writings from when we were fifteen or whatever.

It's been a very good exercise for me to get back into everyone's head, and is considerably more fun than it probably should be. I loved the challenge of working in the absurdity of the Triple Chocolate Death icecream. XD"

11-16:
"I've been doing so much rewriting over the last week it's insane. The more I read, the harder I find it to believe that anyone read beyond the first few chunks of Deception Pass. Honestly. Some of the writing is downright horrible, and the simming... egads. Don't get me started on all the thought bubbles and plumbbobs I've found. (Not to mention things like having the Xenon in the middle of an empty field.) I'm having a great time with the rewrites, though, it must be said. I've been able to really expand on scenes that felt so flat to me before, mostly because now I at least have an idea of where the story was headed. I also know exactly where I'm going to stop rewriting, which is also good."

Now, I realize people want to see new episodes, but I really feel this is helping me refocus on the series. I was beginning to feel as though I was struggling with the newest episode, and doing the rewrites has done a lot for my creativity. Hopefully when I'm done with this project, I'll be able to move forward again.

Just wanted to let interested in the simulation side of things that gelydh and I have started club_crimsyn. We'll be using it for random babbling about projects, shoots we do, tutorial type things, posting PSD files, whatever else we may think of to stick in there.

Anyone can stalk/comment/whatever, but posts are restricted to just us, of course.

*stares at printer*

It sure takes a long time to print 43 pages... O_o

At any rate, this is just a quick note to let you know that simming hath begun! Or rather, will be beginning after this episode finishes printing and my game starts and and and...

But yes. It shan't be long now.

So earlier today I installed Apartment Life and have had some time to poke around a little. I'll say up front that it's got some really fantastic items in it, especially in build mode. There's a lot of little cluttery things, plus industrial-type pipes and vents. For me, this EP is worth it just for the ceilings and the nifty new thing where you can move wall objects (including lights!) up and down without needing an entirely new mesh. Also, as an added bonus it was a totally painless install.

There's not much in the way of new interactions that I've seen so far, but I haven't done much digging yet either. There's a ton of potential in the clothes and hair, plus a lot of stuff for elders and kids/toddlers if you're into that sort of thing.

I'm glad I held off starting to sim the next episode because now I can get some serious use out of the new ceilings, etc.

+ Gallery of Randomness This Way +

I suppose this is sort of an 'update on the progress' type post, mostly so I can sort of touch base with what's happening with the next episode.

At this point, I'd say I'm about 80% done with the scenes that need to be written. There are only about two or three scenes that need to be done, and of those, one is pretty close to being completed. I wrapped up two or three other scenes today, and I'd be doing even more writing if I weren't about to head out the door for a tattoo appointment that will keep me busy and in pain the rest of the night. My muse has poor timing.

After I get those finished, I'm going to have to go through and do a second draft of this episode because I know I have a bunch of contradictions happening all over the place since I didn't have a clue where this episode was headed when I first started out. This shouldn't be too big of a deal, but I thought I'd let you all know what was going on if you happened to look at the progress list and wondered why everything was crossed off with nothing happening in the simming department. ^_^

Sadly, I will not be attending DragonCon this year. It's therefore my goal to get this episode simmed and online by the first week of September if not sooner.

And now I've completely jinxed myself. XP

*looks around sheepishly*

Ok, since I need to get my ass in gear with this episode, I'm making this 'To Do' list now even though I'm nowhere near ready to start simming. I've been spending way too much time thinking about what needs to happen instead of just jumping in and going where I'm taken.

As usual, the list will be updated as things get done.

( To Do - 207 )

Dear Behind The Name,

Your random name generator is once again failing me. Though I'm amused, and do appreciate that you've not given me any more 'Gerasim Stef Notorious Funk Randal'-s, I'm not getting very far with my writing.

Please try a little harder.

Love,
Me

I have to change the name of a character in this episode to something other than 'Brendan,' because I can't type that at any reasonable speed without typo-ing it to death every. single. time. Every time the RNG gives me something normal, I either can't use it because it's the name of one of my brothers (Brian), or the name of Emily's newold car (Oliver).

*several minutes pass*

Oooooo ok got one!

It's a little hard to believe, but today marks three years to the day that I posted the first 'episode' of Deception Pass. Honestly, I didn't expect it to last this long at all.

I'm still busy working on the next episode, but I had to do battle with an extreme case of writers' block on top of all the other goings on of the last couple months.

In the mean time, I threw a party for the kids today. You can see the result of said party by following the link below.

+ 67 pictures | gallery +

Chris couldn't attend due to a horrific accident with his skintone, which I'm working on updating. Let's just say he and Ruth are out causing all sorts of ruckus.

Those of you involved in the Sims side of things may be interested to know that gelydh and I have started up our own site for random simulated goodies.

We've named it "Club Crimsyn", and we may or may not be serious.

Enjoy.

(And yes, progress is being made on the next episode of DP... no worries.)

March 6, 1862

Happy 146th, Tristan!

I hope this makes up for that brick I got you a couple years ago. (six pictures)

( Pair of Tristan-related videos this-a-way... )

And now I'm off to finish simming the last two scenes in the next episode. (Muwahahaha... finished.) I still have two more to write, but those shouldn't take me long at all. The ep should be up very very shortly now, less than a week. I have a bit of clean-up to do just to make sure everything's where it should be.

At the risk of completely jinxing myself, I've successfully installed and tested Free Time, and am now ready to get back to work on the next episode. I should be able to really sit down and focus on that tomorrow afternoon.

I've uploaded some of the usual 'New EP Odds and Ends Pics,' as well as some more posed shots of Tristan with the violin. And... Jacob stealing said violin and running off to frolick with it. :/ Markus and James stopped by at one point, but were scared by the chaos on the lot and thus left.

Gallery | Twenty-Five

I'm doing this now because while there is still much to be written (this will be a fairly long episode), I'd like to get started on simmage ASAP.

( To Do - 206 )

As an aside, I've uploaded a small set of 'props' I made for this episode. They're available here at Exnem in case anyone wants them. They're moderately spoilery!