February updates

Well judging from the comments, people really want an update, so here's what happeneing. Steady progress is being made on the next Civil Protection episode, but there's still a ways to go. I'll get started on a new Freeman's Mind episode soon to try and make up for the delay. I lost a couple days to doing some additional contact work, but that's done now, so I'll back to work on everything else. Progress on the website is going very well and I think it will be done quite soon. My plans are to get it up before the next video is released. Finally, some initial work has been started on a "pilot episode" for something new I want to try. Without spoiling anything, it will be in the Source engine, but will not be Half-Life related. You'll definitely see the next CP and FM episodes out before this however.

FREEMAN'S MIND: EPISODE 8

Youtube

640x480 WMV (87MB)

Well here's the latest episode of Freeman's Mind. I got lucky with this one and demo recording worked without the barnacles going crazy. This is good because I was able to swap out some lines for the scientist at the end, something that wouldn't have been practical with just raw video recording. The barnacle problem is NOT SOLVED however, I simply got lucky with this map. My offer of getting in the credits for anyone who can solve the problem is ongoing. Also, the cattle prod story mentioned in this episode is not even an exaggeration, I knew someone who used to do that.

I plan to go back and focus on the next CP episode for now, but if the rest of production ends up taking a long time, I'll get another FM episode out to tide you over. Hopefully the new website will be finished before either one is done!

New year updates

I know people who come here like updates, so here's a post on what's happening. Unfortunately I'm behind in pretty much all areas, probably because I'm focusing on several different things. I've gotten some additional help with the new website, which I think is helping things move along faster.

The next CP episode is growing more elaborate than I originally intended, which is adding to the production time, but I think it's going to make the episode that much better. Unlike the last one, which was meant to be different, I think this next one will have something for anybody who's a fan of the series. Once it's done, then work will resume on "The Tunnel".

Finally while I'd prefer to focus on CP, I know a lot of you like Freeman's Mind, so I'll do my best to have another episode of that out sometime next week (assuming I don't run into more problems).

EDIT:
Freeman's Mind is looking closer to Friday or this weekend because all the shouting retakes wears my voice down some and there are only certain times I can record. The good news is it will be a longer episode.

FREEMAN'S MIND: EPISODE 7

Youtube

640x480 WMV (44MB)


Well here's the next episode of Freeman's Mind. There's no motion blur in this one due to problems mentioned in the last post. Due to the recording method, it's a little twitchier, but hopefully shouldn't be too disorienting. 

This is going to be the lastr video release for this year, but I will be working on getting new stuff for January over the winter break. Right now I'm going to be focusing more on the new CP episode and the website. Sorry I didn't make anything Christmas-related this year, but I'm still kind of catching up on everything. Things are starting to fall into place though, it's my hope to produce more videos in 2009 than all my existing ones combined

bugs again

A lot of you know that bugs in the source engine are nothing new when it comes to my videos, but I honestly wasn't expecting them to affect Freeman's Mind. Lo and behold, Half-Life Source has a bug where if you're recording a demo, it causes the tongues on almost all barnacle models to shrink up, even though in-game they're still hanging down, just invisible (try it yourself). This interrupts my usual production method, so I've contemplated the alternatives:

1. Ignore it (which isn't a great option since there are a lot of them in the game)

2. Use fraps to record footage instead (not a good option for me since I always get SOME stuttering this way)

3. Record the game in Half-Life original (not a bad option, but the effects won't be quite as nice, plus recording will be more of a pain)

4. Export the footage in-game without using demos (best option, but no more motion blur)

So what this comes down to is demo recording in Half Life Source is bugged, so I won't be able to rely on it for all the episodes. So if you're wondering why there's no more motion blur in the next episode, this is it. Also as a standing offer, if anyone can FIX this problem with barnacles and demo recording, I'll add your name to the credits of every future episode of Freeman's Mind that has barnacles in it, which will probably be a lot.

FREEMAN'S MIND - EPISODE 6

Youtube 

640 x 480 WMV (62MB)


Well here's the latest episode of Freeman's Mind. I'm happier with the pacing on this one and it doesn't feel quite as crammed as the last one. This one has a little more language, but Freeman has to put up with more in this episode too. As long as people are interested in it, I hope to keep doing a lot more of these. I plan to have another one out sometime this month, then a new Civil Protection episode either at the end of the month or else early January. 

Updates

It's been a while since I posted anything, so I wanted to let you know what's going on right now. As of now I have unofficially finished the Noesis guides. I'm still kind of in shock over the whole thing. They may still contact me about any needed revisions though, so I might get an email like:

"Ross... we need you to redo the camerawork section. You were supposed to cover camera motion, but these are bomb instructions..."

and I'll have to adjust it accordingly. For now though, I've done everything on my end. Anyway, what this means is that I'm going to start producing much more machinima now. Right now I plan to be focusing on Civil Protection more, but I'll be working on Freeman's Mind whenever I have to wait on getting material back from other people, so I'll be working on something either way. For the next CP, I'm actually thinking of postponing the scary episode just a little bit. After the last episode, I want to get more of a "normal" episode out first, so there's not any confusion about what direction the series is headed. It will be a shorter one, but I think everyone will like it. After that, I promise the next CP episode will be the long scary one. 

Finally, things aren't going well for the new website. I've sent him a couple emails, but I haven't heard back from the guy helping me with the code since October. I'll give him a little bit longer, but I may need some more help with this if he's completely MIA since I don't know html myself.

EDIT:  I've just heard back from the website guy.  Turns out he was in the hospital for 3 weeks, so I guess that's a pretty good excuse.  I was actually just joking earlier when I implied he might die, but it looks like that wasn't too far from the truth.  If he does die I'll have to dedicate the next episode to him I guess.  I dunno.