Alexander Shen's Art Blog

"Fine" Art

2008-08-26T22:11:00.000-07:00

Listening to: Margot and the Nuclear So and So's - Jen Is Bringing the Drugs

These are some digital attempts at "fine art". It's more like someone being dragged to a gallery and forced to add some culture into their lives. Then, because they were forced to, they say, "Fine, art."

Time to be like a true artist and make myself a screwdriver. Sober up, you drunk!

BioShock

2008-08-25T22:54:00.000-07:00

Listening to: The Spill Canvas - Gold Dust Woman

I decided to play some BioShock this past weekend to see if I could get back into it. That special feeling never returned and we parted our ways. BioShock on the Xbox 360 has made me realize a few things about the game as well as things about myself:
- The graphics (the water especially) are amazing.
- The mood of the game is wonderfully rendered.
- The voice acting is top notch.
- The story, from what I've seen of it, is mysterious and well-paced.
- The game scares me a lot.
- For some reason, I'm a terrible shot in this game. I couldn't hit the broad side of a wall if I tried (I know the saying is "barn", but there are no barns in this game). I think the closest I ever got to shooting someone was when they were lying face down in the water, on fire, and I walked up behind them so I could shoot a shotgun into their back. I may have missed at first. I don't remember. My eyes were probably closed and my hands were on my ears. This, ultimately, makes for a very enjoyable-less experience. It's not to say that I'm bad at FPS games or I dislike them (I do enjoy Call of Duty 4 very much). It's this specific game that makes me shoot like a blind quadriplegic.

I guess it just didn't work out between me and BioShock. I hope it can move on and just remember the good times.

It's a pun.

2008-08-19T23:25:00.001-07:00

Listening to: Justin Nozuka - Mr. Therapy Man

My friend, Shannon, has a friend whose husband works at Wolf Camera. I had forgotten this fact and asked her if he was the "Wolf Camera Man". This image then came into fruition.

A pun! A-ha!

This coffee...

2008-08-18T10:30:00.000-07:00

Listening to: Alexander Shen - Eternal Sea: Main Theme

I was at work on Friday and decided to have a cup of instant coffee. I'm not sure why I didn't just have a cup of coffee from the coffee maker, but that point is irrelevant now. All I remember was that it wasn't any good. In fact, it tasted like poo. Hence, to oust my frustration with the world and its line of poorly created instant coffee, I had to cross-stitch it this past weekend.

In other news, I've gone and updated my little Demake Competition game some more. I wrote two songs for the game. For those who've missed out on the last update, it's basically taking Endless Ocean for the Nintendo Wii and porting it in the same style of an older, last generation system. I've provided some screen shots and a download link. Thanks for lookin', folks!

Screen Shots

Title Screen

Gameplay

Encyclopedia Mode

Download Link
Eternal Sea (3.5MB .ZIP)

(Poor) Photoshop Friday

2008-08-14T23:32:00.000-07:00

Listening to: Nothing.

Mr. Peterson don't take no crap from no one.

The original photo.

Why Do They Say That?

2008-08-12T23:06:00.000-07:00

Listening to: Sarah Blasko - Always Worth It

Why do people say things like that? I don't need my mother telling me, reminding me, to make sure that the haircut I get looks good. It's not like I was going to go to the barber and tell them, "Here's $15. Do as poor a job as possible and there may be a shiny nickel in it for you." To be honest, I am also guilty of this type of comment and line of questioning.

A co-worker took me out to lunch today and while we were on the way, I asked him, "Is this place any good?" Immediately following that I realized what a silly question that was. Of course this place was good. Why would my co-worker want to take me to a really bad place? That's just absurd.

In any case, it was pretty bad. [frowny face]

In other news, another co-worker Photoshop'd this image of me and sent it around work. It's pretty awesome.

Viva The Weekend

2008-08-10T22:48:00.000-07:00

Listening to: Duffy - Mercy

I finished a ton of freelance work this past Friday and was actually able to enjoy this weekend without any large projects looming over my head. It was relaxing in that sense, but I ended up running many an errand all across the Bay Area instead. Amongst those things I was able to catch the film The Band's Visit with Josie. What you see above is the leading man from the film. I wouldn't say it was an incredible movie that opened my eyes to things I've never imagined before, but it certainly was a decent movie to watch about different cultures, regrets, loneliness, music and love.

I also was blessed to have the opportunity to do laundry. While waiting for our clothes to dry, Josie and I made our way to D.D.'s Discounts, which is essentially a Ross. While walking through aisles and aisles of discounted bricka brack, I passed by a woman wearing a pair of earrings that prominently displayed the word "SEXY" on them.

I believe that the people who wear earrings that say "SEXY" usually are not "SEXY". I feel that it is one of those things that you don't have to tell everyone. How would someone feel if I wore a shirt that said, "SMART" on it all the time? You'd probably think the opposite or at least expect the phrase "AND A DOUCHE" on the back of the shirt.

Anyway, she was not "SEXY". She was actually more turquoise than anything else.

I Compare...

2008-08-06T23:41:00.000-07:00

Listening to: Some song Josie has on from Pandora.

A friend was asking me what kind of music is played during poker games and I jokingly said Kylie Minogue. After that statement, I decided to do a search on Kylie Minogue to verify her age. That is how I came about this two-panel strip about the aging of Kylie Minogue and the aging of another pop star similar in age, Madonna.

I am tired.

Eternal Sea

2008-08-04T10:16:00.000-07:00

Listening to: Co-workers in the distance.

I had a nice relaxing weekend. It was the first weekend at the new place with very little moving of furniture and home accessories. I think I ended up hanging out half a dozen frames and picked up an Ikea chair (the one that looks like it will break when you sit in it) from someone off of Craig's List.

The folks over at TIGSource are throwing another game making competition (always for fun). This time it's called the Demake competition where you essentially take a current generation game, like Super Mario Galaxy or Shadow of the Colossus, and make it for an older generation system, such as the Nintendo Entertainment System or the Atari 2600.

I've decided to take Endless Ocean for the Wii and remake it for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. You essentially swim around, take up to 30 photos of any ocean creatures you run into, and it records which ones you have seen in the encyclopedia.

The extra little feature is that certain creatures only show up a certain time of the day and year. Some are rarer than others and they also swim at different depths. Talk about increasing hours of gameplay!

You can download the first demo. You can swim around (arrow keys) and take pictures (spacebar). The only fish you can see is a school of three clown fish in the beginning. That's all. Check out that parallax scrolling!

Download Link: ZIP File

I'm all moved!

2008-07-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

Listening to: Coworkers type.

Here is the first page to a short comic story about two Mormon pandas and their journey to locate a lost backpack and stolen bike. The story was inspired by a coworker whilst we were eating at a fine establishment in Milpitas called Pepper Lunch.

In other news, I've moved! The move was a long and arduous one (I have one more trip to make with my car), but we're practically moved in. The place is nice. It's 900 square feet and there's a lot of room for Mr. Peterson to run around. I think there's too much room, actually. He doesn't know what to do with himself it seems.

While you're here, why don't you guys go treat yourself to a new game: Soul Calibur IV (XBOX360)

See you later!

One Hour Game - Mary Poppins

2008-07-17T16:37:00.000-07:00

Feeling: Somewhat tired and restless.

This is a game I made at lunch today. It's a very simple shooter with no real goal except to the get the highest score possible. It stars our favorite English nanny, Mary Poppins. She's been transported to the 21st century to defeat UFOs.

The controls are simple: arrow keys to move Mary, spacebar to shoot and collect five (5) sugar boxes to unleash the Sugar Barrage.

Scoring: 10 points for a UFO, 100 points for a sugar box. The more sugar boxes you collect, the more points a UFO is worth. For example, you have three sugar boxes so a UFO is worth 40 points.

Download: ZIP File (1.7 MB)

Immortal: Naked Skull Man

2008-07-16T18:11:00.001-07:00

Eating: A tiny bag of Cheese Nips.

"The first condition of immortality is death." -Stanislaw J. Lec
Story: Before a spirit is able to take their place as a demon or god, they must complete the Oni Gauntlet at their journey's end. This gauntlet is a right of passage. It is comprised of 20 floors filled with traps, dangers and other unspeakable things. The catch, however, is that when the spirit is defeated in the gauntlet they are not left there for all eternity. No. They are resurrected at the cost of a human life. The number of lives claimed at the end of this trial determine where this spirit will be and what their place is in the universe.

Gameplay: Essentially this is a platformer where you try your best to get through the 20 floors, dying as little as possible. There are no enemies, just traps to avoid. Each floor will pull from a database of 10 stages, so there are 200 different stages to see. Every time you play it will be different. At the end of the trial, a document will be created that lists the number of lives you have claimed. This will contain their full name, age and country they are from. All names are randomly generated and any relation to an existing person is completely coincidental.

Your main character is this Naked Skull Man.

I have a working one level demo of the mechanic and game. Check it out!

Controls:

Left - Moves Naked Skull Man left

Right - Moves Naked Skull Man right

Up - Makes Naked Skull Man jump

(you can double jump)

Download Link: ZIP File (1.2 MB)

A Typical Evening

2008-07-14T23:19:00.000-07:00

Listening to: John Mayer - Comfortable

I've actually never had pink eye before (knock on wood, friends). I know my older brother did at one time. I forget how long ago it was. The only information I have/remember about pink eye is that you can get it by farting in each other's eyes. I believe that fact was bestowed upon me by the wise and interesting movie, Knocked Up.

This is a typical night with Josie. That girl has the "stay awake" capacity of an 80 year old woman. She's actually sleeping right now. There was a volcanic eruption outside and thousands of people were screaming at the top of their lungs. I don't think she stirred at all. I wonder what it's like to be able to sleep through almost anything. I've got this weird affinity to sound where I will be able to hear the most minute detail in a cacophony of sound. However, it's not like I have super hearing and will be able to hear everything... on the contrary, I will most likely ask you to repeat something multiple times because I didn't hear you the first seventeen times.

It's something about the wiring in my brain. It's probably somehow related to the problem I have where everyone looks like someone famous.

Time to go check out the Too Human demo I just downloaded!

Just Ordinary

2008-07-13T23:35:00.000-07:00

Listening to: Okami OST - Shachimaru's Theme

So, I forget if I've mentioned this to anyone but I've been contacted to do some of the art for the upcoming graphic novel anthology called Secret Identities. It's coming out in Spring 2009 and is going to be an Asian American themed superhero graphic novel/anthology with many talented contributing artists and writers. It's an honor really and I'll do what I can to do what they need.

Josie and I checked out Hellboy II: The Golden Army this afternoon. I would give it a decent rating, like something along the lines of, "Sure, go check it out." I mean if you enjoyed the first one, you should, theoretically, enjoy the second one. I felt it was a little long-winded at times and there didn't seem to be enough moments of "Oh snap!" like the first one did.

I did appreciate all the actors reprising their roles as well as George Bluth Sr. portraying one of the federal officers in charge of Hellboy himself. Very entertaining. I was expecting some folks to pop out halfway through and make rooster sounds.

So, three point five stars out of five?

Oh, and on an additional note, my neighbors are pretty lame. I dislike them and however many dozens of people they have crammed into that apartment. It's like a siesta and the only people invited are me putting a bullet through my eye.

New Gamepro Video: Mr. Shen Buys a New Car

2008-07-11T10:42:00.000-07:00

Recently Saw: Stomp the Yard

The new Gamepro.com video is uploaded. Go check it out and make sure to give it a ridiculously high score, even if you did more frowning than laughing.

[Alex weeps openly]

Mr. Peterson's 4th of July

2008-07-08T23:24:00.001-07:00

Listening to: Nothing.

Custom Toy: Pikachu Black

2008-07-07T18:38:00.000-07:00

Feeling: Still nauseous.

There quite a number of things to chronicle regarding this past weekend, but I'll just focus on one of the more creative efforts. I was at Target the other day and picked up a Pikachu toy on clearance. I thought to myself, "Sure, this would look neat in my cubicle and it's only $5. Hmm... I haven't done custom paint jobs in a while..." and with that, I went on my journey to customize this Pikachu to a color scheme that was more to my liking.

The first thing I did was primer the thing black. I like to use the Games Workshop primer because it has a tendency to adhere to the surface very well and keep small details apparent. Bad primer will just gloop together and destroy any traces of detail in a model piece. I guess this is why Games Workshop primer is used specifically for the Warhammer minitures.

The next step was applying the color. If you don't water down paints very well it will often lead to very heavy paint coats which, in turn, lead to very uneven drying. So the first few coats with the thinned paint will look really ugly. They'll show the color from beneath (black especially). You just have to apply around five or so coats to make it look even.

The color plan: black Pikachu white stripes, red eyes, red cheeks and white nose.

After some patience and somewhat steady hands, this is the finished product! I'm actually really happy with how it turned out. I think I'm going to go to the store and even rummage around in boxes at my parent's house for old toys that could really go for some updated colors.

See below for a few more angles of Pikachu Black.

Team Toast: Saviors of the Universe

2008-07-02T23:16:00.000-07:00

Listening to: The Spill Canvas - Lay It On Me

I recently completed the game Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness. I must say that with all of the deaths that occurred throughout the game and the approximate investment of 20 hours into the dungeon crawling itself, I am thoroughly satisfied. I've never played a Roguelike before and thought that this was an excellent introduction to the genre. However, I most likely will not explore other Roguelikes since they are, for the lack of a better word, stressful.

Never have I so slowly walked through a dungeon, afraid of the next turn because of the fear of having to face a slew of monsters that would beat me down until I bled tears (or cried blood, whatever floats your boat). I suppose that is why, in the end, I felt like I had accomplished something much bigger than, let's say, completing Grand Theft Auto IV (which I'm about halfway through). I think the last time I died that many times in a game was when I played Dragon's Lair for the very first time.

Anyway, I beat the last boss with my characters at Level 40. The ending got me emotional, but not worthy of tears. The only thing that's made me tear up significantly and on a semi-regular basis is the swashbuckling manga, One Piece.

Now it's time to play something new. I wonder what's waiting to be opened on the shelf of Mr. Shen...

Open Mic Hero - Link Working

2008-06-28T01:27:00.001-07:00

Feeling: A bit tired.

The link is now fixed for Open Mic Hero version 1.0: ZIP file.

Now that this is done and on the shelf, time to work on new things! You can find the link to the game in the gallery section too.

Open Mic Hero - Version 1.0

2008-06-26T10:21:00.000-07:00

Should Be: Dead.

I've been staying rather late at work the past few days (weeks, even) to finish up this project. I hate to say it, but the code has inexplicably imploded on itself and engineering is trying to finagle some sort of scientific contraption to rescue it out of this mess. All I can do it stand by my troops and provide whatever they need to succeed. I think Ho Hos (see: cylindrical, frosted, cream-filled cakes that are made by the Hostess company) and cowboy hats may be the answer.

In other news, when I should have been sleeping, I compiled version 1.0 for Open Mic Hero. I ultimately decided against a full-blown RPG type adventure and decided to keep it as a simple toy/application/game that lets the user do whatever they want with it.

I do have plans for Open Mic Hero II... but they are merely ideas. I have many more other fleshed out ideas in the queue and are waiting to be created.

I'll have the link up soon.

Oh, there are some updates in the gallery too. Two of the recent drawings I did for a freelance gig.

Mr. Robot

2008-06-23T10:15:00.001-07:00

Feeling: Abnormally tired.

I recently finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It was a pretty good read, but I had hoped the end to be a bit more fanciful. I mean, don't get me wrong, there's nothing specifically wrong with realistic endings and in a way, I suppose it may have even been considered a happy one given the circumstances. However, I just wanted something crazy to happen. I wanted them to dive deeper into why things happened the way they did. That what transpired was not just "some thing". I guess it just gives me something to think about for the story I'm planning out. I think I'll stick to the original title from the skit, The Longest Night.

Keep your eyes peeled for the next video I'm working on too. It should be on the Gamepro website within a week or two. It's about Mr. Shen purchasing a pre-owned vehicle from the local CarStop.

Employee: Welcome to CarStop where you can pre-order the 2010 Civic Hybrid, how may I help you?

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG... Tiger Sauce.

2008-06-20T10:21:00.000-07:00

Feeling: Absolutely fantastic, even though my game at work is shipping late. Oop!

I can't believe my eyes. The folks over at TIGSource, a wonderful blog and forum that covers some of the independent games development circles, just posted a post (that was redundant) about Open Mic Hero .002a! That's right! My video of me demoing the game and singing "Sea of Love" is now plastered on even more websites so I can feel utter embarrassment! Hooray!

I have never felt more proud in my entire life... since a few weeks ago when Josie and I bought cherries at the farmer's market.

"The project, which is still in early development, was created by Alexander Shen, who I am proud to say is also happily abusing a technical degree from Berkeley by working on comics and video games (and music)."

Article Link: TIGSource

Bread 'n Butter

2008-06-20T01:50:00.000-07:00

It's Feeling: Uncomfortably warm.

So I was wandering around the internet and I happened to stumble upon this online game called Bread 'N Butter. It's hosted on one of those online game sites where the games are free to play, but totally want you to spend money a la microtransactions. I hate to say it, but something about this game intrigues me to the nth degree.

The game mechanics are quite silly, to be honest. It's actually not the most intuitive game and game menu system in the world either. It took me a good poking around and stumbling in the dark to figure out what I was supposed to do (it's like the first time I ever touched a woman). Anyway.

You play little mini-games to gather ingredients for your bakery. You can only start off by doing a few of the games because other facilities, like the milking area, are things you have to eventually purchase (which takes an abnormal amount of time to acquire the money to do so). Buying those facilities means you can create more products, which in turn make you more money. You continue this cycle until you see all the facilities, all the baked goods and practically have to bury your money in an abandoned mine shaft.

I love it.

In other news, I finished working on the freelance comic strip for Squaretrade. It's for a postcard mailer they're going to send out later this year. I'll upload the full sized version once everything gets settled in regards to my deliverables to them.

Here's a screenshot of a tiny game that I'm working on in my free time. I suppose I'm trying to do something with it so I can pitch it to the company I work at. It's a simple "click by group" game mechanic (check out Casual Charts for more information regarding the over saturated casual games market). It's nothing revolutionary. It's just something that took me a few hours to get right. I'm actually happy about it because I'm learning which angle to approach these puzzle game ideas from (coding wise).

I'm also reading a book called The Road by Cormac McCarthy (the man who wrote No Country For Old Men). From reading this novel, I started thinking to myself that I really wanted to write a novelette of sorts. It would be based on this skit that we did in Theatre Rice (an old comedy/drama troupe in college) about an endless night.

It was dark outside. It was always dark. I can't remember the last time it was ever bright. As hard as I try, I don't have any memories of what the sky looked like--well, outside of the pictures you see in magazines and picture books. People say that those images are real photographs taken with real photography equipment. I don't really believe that, no. I can't say that I do.

Anyway. Maybe I'll get this done by year's end, eh?

Open Mic Hero v.002a

2008-06-18T10:13:00.000-07:00

Listening to: Star Trigon playing in the background.

Hey folks! I've got a new update on the Open Mic Hero game that I'm working on. This morning, in my half-awake state with the cat insistently meowing, I coded a few nice add-ons to the program. For more information, you can download the game and read the "readme.txt" file. In the meantime, here is a list of changes since .001a:

Added button icons that show which button you're pressing on screen

Added two modes of sound playback (Chord Mode and Lead Mode)

The ability to load your own sound banks Shocked

Keyboard support! (use the F1-F5 keys and Enter to strum)

The same old ugly graphics from before (which will be updated)

I've included two template sound banks: acoustic guitar and drum kit

So for those with PCs (sorry Brad, Shannon and Jerry... mew mew mew), you can download the newest version to see how it plays.

Download: Open Mic Hero .002a

In other news, I'm continuing some work with a friend and client of mine. I think I may start coloring more of my comics from this point on. I mean they really do look nice. Even if it's just the main characters. I'm sure somebody would care about a new Gashapon Shop comic or at least something with Rainee, Trevor, Elite and Alex in it... probably not Alex.

Open Mic Hero

2008-06-12T10:34:00.000-07:00

I was able to get: 4 hours of sleep.

Open Mic Hero - Tech Demo from Alexander Shen on Vimeo.

I am currently working on a project called Open Mic Hero. It is essentially a toy/game for the PC that allows your to play different sounds with your Guitar Hero controller (I haven't had a chance to see if a Rock Band controller works) on your PC. It's like Frets of Fire, but with no streamlined structure and you can play whatever you want, as poorly as you'd like... so like a real open mic. In the case of the default settings, it's just guitar chords that I played on my guitar.

I'd like to keep it completely open too, so people can create and use their own sound banks. Can you imagine someone playing a Hip Hop beat on their Guitar Hero controller? Ya, it'd be pretty nerdy, but I think it'd still be neat to see... live... at an open mic.

I'll get to user profiles and being able to jam at different venues like the coffee shop, college campus and your friend's apartment. There's no win or lose conditions in the game. It's just play and the more you play, regardless of skill, the more famous you're known locally. And with fame, you can jam at more places and maybe unlock more sound banks or even have jam sessions with a band... ooo, ideas!

Anyway, if you have a 360 Guitar Hero controller, you can try out the demo too.

Demo Link: Open Mic Hero Demo