Shoy Schot! nui Press Release

          Virtual Gaia Games is proud to introduce Shoy Schot! nui, an electronic card game. The game will release Sunday, December 29^th, 2013 to all PC user for free!

          Shoy Schot! is an additive, console-based, strategic card game created in C#. Starting out as a simple minigame about flipping cards and gaining ownership over the game board it soon blossomed into a full fledged card game with a mega ton of customization options and gameplay modes. And now, with Shoy Schot! nui, it has finally reached its ultimate form!

          Shoy Schot! nui retains all the features of the previous release (Shoy Schot! Stand-Alone Edition Version 2.0.1.9) which included (but not limited to): 5 main Rule Sets to play in their own Free Play modes; an Arcade-like mode called Unlimited Deck Mode; a Best Of… Mode to play consecutive matches; a robust Tournament Mode for serious play; 22 Accomplishments to earn; Stats pages that kept over 80 stats; a Personal Rank Card to share and compare with other Shoy Schot! players; 8 profiles for same computer, different persons use; and Virtual Gaia Games Matching!, a completely separate matching minigame.

          New features to Shoy Schot! nui include (but not limited to): a Custom Rule Set Maker, where players can build their own custom Rule Sets; Endless Tower, which is a survival mode; a Score Attack Mode; Arcade Challenges where players can try to conquer all 40 challenges; a single player tournament mode called Arcade Battle Campaign, a Tutorial Mode, where players can learn the basics of the game in a new, more interactive way; a new mini-game called Clementine; 26 more Accomplishments to earn; more Stats; and slew of secrets and tweaks.

          Shoy Schot! nui also marks Virtual Gaia Games’ final game made in this text-based style. Shoy Schot! nui is our swan song to this type of design. While being made in this engine, Shoy Schot! has never been a graphical powerhouse, but we think anyone who has played it in the past has had a lot of fun and we believe Shoy Schot! nui will continue this feat threefold!!

          Again, Shoy Schot! nui is a PC game from Virtual Gaia Games and will be releasing on Sunday, December 29^th, 2013. It will be downloadable from: http://virtualgaiagames.blogspot.com/2013/12/shoy-schot-nui-update-log.html for free when available. We hope you all download and enjoy our game!

Quick Information About Shoy Schot! nui

Game: Shoy Schot! nui
Genre: Electronic Card Game
Platform: Windows PC
Developer: Virtual Gaia Games
Release Date: December 29^th 2013
Price: Economical Priced [Read: FREE!]
Download Site: http://virtualgaiagames.blogspot.com/2013/12/shoy-schot-nui-update-log.html
Website: http://virtualgaiagames.blogspot.com/
Game Page: http://virtualgaiaprojects.blogspot.com/p/shoy-schot-nui.html
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ShoySchot/
IndieDB Page: http://www.indiedb.com/games/shoy-schot-nui

Download a PDF of the Full Press Release: Here

          Check out Shoy Schot! nui Complete Features List after the jump.

Shoy Schot! nui Release Date Announcement

          Hi, Everyone!

          I am proud to announce that Shoy Schot! nui, Virtual Gaia’s much delayed Electronic Card Game, is done and has entered into Final Testing!! I’m even more proud to announce the Release Date of the game: December 29^th, 2013. That’s right, Shoy Schot! nui will go live next Sunday for the economical price of FREE!!

          The next thing I want to cover is: What exactly Shoy Schot! nui? I think I’ve alluded to it in the past, but I’ve never formally announced it. After a long (very long) development and many additions that weren’t included in the original scope of the project, Shoy Schot! nui is no longer third version of Shoy Schot! Stand-Alone Edition (SS! SAE) but its own entity. Think of it more like the evolution of SS! SAE, just like SS! SAE was the evolution of the original minigame version of Shoy Schot!

          So, what does that mean? Just that the game grew big enough to warrant a separation. It feels different, it’s noticeable bigger and slicker. That said, Save Data from any previous version of Shoy Schot! is 100% compatible with Shoy Schot! nui. Also, it will retain SS! SAE version numbering and still be released as Version 3.0.0.0.

          A more formal Press Release will be issued a little later that will include more information and a full features list, but until then here is a short list of new features including in the upcoming Shoy Schot! nui:

• All Shoy Schot! Stand-Alone Edition v2 Features
•  6 New Game Modes
• Custom Rule Set
• Endless Tower
• Score Attack
• 40 Arcade Challenges
• Arcade Battle Campaign
• Tutorial Mode
• 26 New Accomplishments to Earn (48 in All!!)
• Improved, Smarter AI
• Improved Match Interface
• A New Mini-Game Added: Clementine
• The Ability to Create 8 Separate Profiles with each keeping track of their Own Stats, Game Settings, and Accomplishments!!
• A Slew of Secret to Discover and More!!

          Again, Shoy Schot! nui will release next Sunday, December 29^th! While Shoy Schot! may not be a graphical powerhouse by any means, it's a load of fun! So... Get excited! Tell a friend! The last game of 2013 is Coming Soon!

          Seeya when we release!!

General Information

Game: Shoy Schot! nui
Genre: Electronic Card Game
Platform: Windows PC
Company: Virtual Gaia Games
Release Date: December 29^th 2013
Price: Economical Priced [Read: FREE!]
Download Site:  http://virtualgaiagames.blogspot.com/2013/12/shoy-schot-nui-update-log.html
Website: http://virtualgaiagames.blogspot.com/
Game Page: http://virtualgaiaprojects.blogspot.com/p/shoy-schot-nui.html
IndieDB Page: http://www.indiedb.com/games/shoy-schot-nui

P.S.:
Check out screenshots of the game after the jump or go to our Flickr page: Here.
(Go to Options in the slideshow and uncheck embiggen)

Best Quote of the Week ~ [6/16/13]

          "Regardless of all the places I've been, and the place I've yet to go...Right here...Right now...This moment is MINE."

~Stephanie Brown, The Third Batgirl (from Batgirl (2009-2011) #24: Unsinkable; page 20)

Disney's Paperman And The Tech Behind It

          I found this great Disney short today and thought I'd share it with everyone. It's an amazing blend of traditional 2D animation and 3D animation. Also, a good story in classic Disney fashion. Watch it below.

Paperman, Disney’s Oscar-nominated short film from Shon on Vimeo.

          I thought I'd also share the behind the scenes video of some of the amazing tech that went in to making this impressive short.

Bosnian Rainbows' First Single: Torn Maps

          Bosnian Rainbows released their first single as band earlier this week: Torn Maps. This song also serves as the first single to their debut album of the same name which is due out this summer. Torn Maps is an electric, noisy, groovy, energetic rock song. You can listen to the song below and buy from it Band Camp for $1: Here.

UPDATE 1 (2/19/13):
Torn Maps might not actually be the name of their debut album. I just assumed. Also, the group released their second single last week: Turtle Neck. Check it out below.

More Music by Bosnian Rainbows

Turtle Neck

On The Run

I've Been Published...

          Sort of. Castella In Theory: The Worst Of Derek Russell (We Always But We Never) has been turn into a printed book thanks to the brilliant guys and gals over at Blurb.com! Blurb allows people to publish myriad types of books from photo books to novel and more with various options on paper, covers, sizes, and the like. A really great site for up-in-coming writers or oldhands. Blurb.com allow content creators to keep full rights to their works as well! Found here and here. And you can also sell your book in their bookstore and earn profit off it! It's free to join and add stuff so give it a try!

          That said you purchase a physical copy of Castella In Theory: The Worst Of Derek Russell (We Always But We Never) here for only $8.45 (softcover). The Worst of Derek Russell is a character drama about high school delinquent Derek Russell trying to manage through the all the boredom and problems of his life through music, drugs, and sarcasms. The story is divided into to two parts, with the first half opting for a dialog/monologue-only style and the second half in a more traditional style.

Buy: Castella In Theory: The Worst Of Derek Russell

• 52 page
• 6x9 inches (15x23 cm)
• Softcover Price: $8.45
• Hardcover, Dust Jacket Price: $22.45
• Hardcover, ImageWrap Price: $23.45
• Warning: Crude/Explicit Language and Drug Use

P.S.: You can still download a the pdf version of the story from my blog here or find the other Castella In Theory stories archived here.

UPDATE 1 (11/23/12): My book came today! In retrospect, I should've moved the title to the center of cover or used the above picture. Just a horrible use of space right there, well, next time. I've added pics below.

Still Here After Wednesday Night Update 5.1.0.0 Now Live

          Version 5.1.0.0 is a huge update for Still Here After Wednesday Night. It adds two major features and well as a slew of additions and fixes.

          The first of the major features and most visible is The Little Sheep Arcade. The Little Sheep Arcade house the fully featured Virtual Gaia Games Matching! minigame and maybe even more(?). The additional of the Little Sheep Arcade now only bring with it an entirely new and different gaming experience from the main game but also increases the overall playable content of the game by over 65%! And that's taking into account the Main Game + the unlockable Epilogue (which you should play)!

          The second major feature to the update is the Ability to Back-up and Retrieve System Data. This feature can be found under the options menu. What this means is that when a future a future update rolls around you no longer have to sacrifice your hard earned Accomplishments or reset you configurations over again. Now when a new update comes, all you have to do is go to this option, back-up your system somewhere, install the new update, and retrieve your old system data from the new version of the game. This feature can also be used to set this game up on different computer. No need to unlock things you've already unlocked.

          Finally, and like always, there been fixes to small issues, such as grammar/spelling errors, a minor fix to the cheatcode input, and a fix to the quicksave (Sav##)  error at the end of the Epilogue (seriously, play it--it's not that hard to unlock).

          Have fun with this new update (which become about 1000 times bigger than it was suppose to be). Still Here After Wednesday Night Version 5.1.0.0 can be found here. Or below:

• Download Link Rar (Contains Both Install File and Exe File)
• Still Here After Wednesday Night (Version 5.1.0.0) [7-12-2012].rar (320.04KB)
• Download Link Zip (Contains Both Install File and Exe File)
• Still Here After Wednesday Night (Version 5.1.0.0) [7-12-2012].zip (402.70KB)
• Download Link 7z (Contains Both Install File and Exe File)
• Still Here After Wednesday Night (Version 5.1.0.0) [7-12-2012].7z (288.67KB)

UPDATE 1 (7/13/12): Reuploaded the files. I had to make a quick fix.

UPDATE 2 (7/13/12): Production Log for Update 5.1.0.0: Here

Artist Find! Loish

Find Loish's work at Loish.net

          Yesterday night I found this really amazing Dutch artist, Loish (a.k.a. Lois Van Baarle). Her artwork is really beautiful and she uses color to great effect, often using a variety of different colors in the same piece to create a vivid and unique look. The color never clash, creating a wildly creative world that you want to be in. If you would like to see more of her work visit her site, Loish.net, or her tumblr page: here. I'll provided a good number of her awesome artwork after the jump. Check it out and visit her site!

Two New Pictures From Pixar's Brave

          Here are two new pictures of Pixar's and Disney's up-coming movie Brave. The movie is set to hit theaters June 22th.

UPDATE 1 (5/10/12): Brave Mother's Day Added. Watch Below

Still Here After Wednesday Night (Version 5—Final Version) Is Done!

          I’m finally done making my Text-Based Adventure: Still Here After Wednesday Night (Version 5). I want to give a very special thanks to my Quality Assurance Team. Thank you very much fo helping me out. To keep this short here is the features list:

• New Game +
• 33 Accomplishments!
• Redesign Main Menu
• Filing System! Keep Notes and Letters With You!
• Game Options
• Ability to Manually Change Save Location
• Unlockable Epilogue With Multiple Endings
• Secret Events And Hidden Features!
• A Ton of Secrets
• Check for Data has Evolved! Now Shows Save Information!
• Has a Real Icon Now!
• Improved Error Checking
• Improved Balancing
• Special Messages from Creator
• New Actions Added
• More Think Monologues
• Time Errors and Other Related Problems Fixed
• Switched Room Error Fixed
• Hole Error Fixed
• A Ton of Minor Fixes and Additions

UPDATE 1 (5/15/12): Production notes are up: Here.

           Have fun with it. If there ae any lingering problems: DO NOT TELL ME UNTIL JULY 28, 2012—I’m serious. I need a break from this. Anyway, I hope you all like it. Here is where you can download it:

DOWNLOAD LINK: Still Here After Wednesday Night

          Last few notes. To the QA Team… Remember that idea you had about the Creepy Doll. I added a special hidden scene. Also, to everyone. I might upload all my notes to this page to show all that went in to this little thing. Production notes are up: Here.

          Production Time Frame: October 21, 2011-April 23, 2012. Main Game ~ 3 to 7 weeks; Epilogue ~ 3 to 4 months

Uniqlock: Have Fun While Getting The Current Time

Let's Have Some Fun!!

          I found this really cool site today called Uniqlock. It a really cool Japanese site that I believe makes clothing, but the reason why I think it's cool has got nothing to with designer jeans. The site has this really unique flash based global clock that is set to music and highlighted by Japanese dancers. It's really quite mesmerizing. Have a look for yourself. I've embedded its video after the jump and also place a small version of it on the right hand side of the blog under the radio. Now, know what time it is in style!

Best Picture I’ve Ever Taken!

On a very beautiful night in East Cleveland I caught someone going 88mph!!