n00bcakes need a patience frosting

Been busy the last few days with all manner of things. Character images, robes and sabers galore. I'll have a full report around the holiday. (That'd be the American holiday of Thanksgiving, where we indulge in a display of gluttony and sloth that make all the third world countries renew their hate for us annually)

Anyway, The reason I'm writing today is to explain something very important to the FNG, the n00bcakes, the journeymen. And that word is Patience.

In case you've been living in a hole, you realize that I'm the go-to guy for most graphics around the DB. My background in graphic design, my programs, and my skills all make me ideal for this job. And I think I do a reasonable job, otherwise the Jac would have booted me out of the office back in february. :P

And, you'll also note that I spend a LOT of time on the various work i do for the brotherhood. And let's be real honest. I've put in enough hours that I could probably write it off on my taxes. And I do it for free. Look at the robes. Each one of those took about an hour to develop, if not two. Look at the sabers, and again, much the same. And then we have character portraits, banners, and various stuffs all across the brotherhood, nevermind the various projects i'm working on.

And the point emerges:

Please feel free to ask me to do graphics for you.
But realize that those personal requests WILL take a back seat to any other projects i have running.

Which means that if you wanted a character image, and I said I'd do it, I will. But I'm not likely to get it done for a few days...maybe a couple of weeks.

Sorry, But if Jac says 'Muz, do this up...', I'll be damned if i do GRD NummNut's 'Custom sword' image or whatever before Jac's request. Thems the breaks.

So the moral of the story is: If you're lucky enough for me to take on your graphics job, have the decency to settle down and wait for me to get it done. DO NOT pester me in email, IRC, or whatever. I'll get to it when I have time. In essence, don't act like you're paying me to do the work when you're not.

And yeah, paying in compliments is nice, but not the same. ;)

projects: secret and otherwise.

I've been really busy lately, laying the groundwork for a bunch of secret projects that will make the DB about a thousand times cooler (in my estimation, anyway) and working on some of the projects already announced. So here, in a nutshell, is what I've been doing:


a.) Lightsabers! -- the lightsaber tool is cool, great and spiffy, but it's not got enough options, I think. And no one argues with me on that, because EVERYONE loves more choices. I've given a lot of graphics people around the chance to draw up a saber for me to use in the saber generator, and quite a few people did exactly that. Now, all i've got to do is standardize everything (muzify them :P) and upload them with all the shiny blade colors.

b.) Robes! -- same dance here....more options for the robes. everyone who reads my reports saw the GMRG armour in there...and yes, it'll be selectable depending on your rank in the GMRG...but there'll eventually be special robes you can get for being in the ACC (Dalthid, email me!), and in the Envoys as well. but, that's not the only new kits I'll be putting up. I'll be adding a handful of new robes styles up for mass consumption, too.

c.) Hand-to-Hand combat guide! --this is still plodding along. I've been pretty much slammed with working on this, and I hope to have it out pretty soon here. The number of martial styles in star wars is astounding... we're talking about a guide that's bigger than the lightsaber guide (which needs a few edits, while I'm thinking on it). But, with the sexy pdfs and all the cool layout skills and stuff, it'll look dead sexy. I suppose I could do some clickage here for you all. so here: clickage for 5meg teaser

d.) Secret project 1! -- this is going to need about 300 unique renders. I've been talking back and forth with our new Seneschal, about implementation of this and 'secret project 2'...which will hopefully be released at the same time. thankfully, Sildrin's a brilliant coder, and can probably write the necessary coding for this project in her sleep. i'm looking forward to it.

e.) Secret project 2! -- this part of the project is much more customizable, and will need about 600 renders. And let's just say that almost every one in the DB will love it. (except for that one guy, who'll hate it on principle. :P)

So yeah, I'm busy as hell. I do still get the time to do custom robes and such...(those two consuls I talked to should get theirs this weekend or thereabouts) but I think that my efforts will be pretty well received, as they will change a major aspect of the DB for the better. (and no, I'm not going to spill the beans on it here, so quit hyperventilating)