05.10.2012 - Terrence Marks:

What have I been up to lately?

Among other things, playing Dungeons of Dredmor. It's a Roguelike I got from a Humble Indie Bundle a little while back. Now, the humble bundles are a thing where they've got five or so games. You decide how much you want to pay for them, and what portion of that amount should go to charity. Roguelikes are some of the earliest computer games. They're a form of old-school High Geek that I'd heard about for the longest time but never played. You are an adventurer in a randomly-generated dungeon. You need to get to the lowest level and kill the boss. It's turn-based. You level up. You have attributes and hit points and an inventory. They've still got a very enthusiastic following that made them sound appealing except, well, they look like this. So I never figured I'd be able to read the glyphs. I have no idea what's actually going on in the screen there. The games are complex and full of easter eggs, which is very old-school High Geek. They're also unforgiving with a very steep learning curve, which is also very old-school High Geek. So I always wanted to play it and be one of the cool geeks, but not enough to actually devote the time to figure it out. So I was pleasantly surprised by Dungeons of Dredmor. It's got graphics. It's got random dungeons full of random stuff that may or may not prove helpful. You can see screenshots here. Note the character sheet with six primary attributes and eighteen secondary attributes. It's complex. You'll get a lot further if you pay attention to them. But you can get away with taking a large sword and hitting things with it, at least on easy mode. Anyhow, I've spent a while playing it and I've enjoyed it. If you missed the bundle last year, it's available for $5. Who's your favorite vampire? Alucard 204 (38%) Barnabas Collins 33 (6%) Bill Compton 6 (1%) Blade 61 (11%) Count Strahd 7 (1%) Duckula 46 (9%) Grandpa Munster 85 (16%) Hsien-Ko 30 (6%) Miyu 41 (8%) Vampire Darkwing 27 (5%) We'll catch up on the older polls as things go along, but for now, part two of the vampire poll. Alucard is the clear winner here. In Castlevania, at least, he's the half-vampire son of Dracula. That makes him a Dhampyr according to some traditions. I think that Alucard should be considerd an Eripmav, but that seems to be the minority opinion. Bill Compton is from True Blood, which was adapted from the Sookie Stackhouse books - I figured that he was the symbol of the modern resurgence of vampires and would've done better than 1%. He even lost to Count Strahd, who was a major part of the Ravenloft setting in D&D. Barnabas Collins was the lead in Dark Shadows, which I'm led to believe was a soap opera with monsters. They're making a movie based on it, and if it got fewer votes than Hsien-Ko (a hopping vampire, from Darkstalkers) that may be a bad sign. In retrospect, Duckula and Vampire Darkwing may have split the comedic vampire duck vote. Vampire Princess Miyu is a manga and anime. I've got a few of the comics but haven't gotten around to reading them. I've had them since, well, back when they printed manga in comic books instead of just collections.

05.01.2012 - Terrence Marks:

Comics are up! We're sorry about missing Monday, but we've had a weekend full of busy stuff. We're working to make up for lost time, though. New poll! You only have five days to vote this time, since it's kind of a companion to the Namir Deiter. It's just been a horror show over here, hasn't it? When I think about the zombies I've seen, it's amazing how few of them have names. Most of them are just "The neverending hordes from". But that makes sense. That's kind of zombies' thing. If you want something with loads of individual personality, zombies might not be the best choice.

04.27.2012 - Terrence Marks:

Firstly, we've got some awesome new fanart of Tipper from Kelvin Challenger, who does the webcomic Rascals! Go check out the art and the comic! Secondly, poll results! Who's your favorite vampire? Dracula 165 (26%) Count von Count 60 (10%) Marceline the Vampire Queen 65 (10%) Angel and/or Spike 82 (13%) Lestat 49 (8%) Mordney Present 2 (0%) Count Chocula 37 (6%) Edward Cullen 4 (1%) Sally von Humpeding 21 (3%) Bunnicula 146 (23%) How can you tell we do furry comics? Well, Bunnicula got second-place in our vampire poll. That's a better showing than I had anticipated. I really liked those books when I was in elementary school, and I have no intention of revisiting for fear it won't be as good as I remember it being. Speaking of which, I'm surprised Sally von Humpeding (of the Discworld series; she shows up in the more recent City Watch books) got as many votes as she did; I figured she'd have even less name recognition. I considered putting Otto Chriek (the photographer in The Truth) in instead, but I honestly didn't care for him. Count von Count is The Count from Sesame Street. Marceline is from Adventure Time. Angel and/or Spike are from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (or My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, depending on which Angel and Spike you voted for). Lestat is from Interview with the Vampire (and I can't for the life of me remember if he was the one they interviewed or what the other vampire's name was). Bunnicula is from the Bunnicula series of books. Dracula is from everything; I declare that it's Dracula from Castlevania because dude, Castlevania. Edward Cullen is from Twilight. I don't think I need to explain Count Chocula. And Mordney Present is, I think, too complicated for me to properly explain. Anyhow, we've got

04.23.2012 - Terrence Marks:

100% Cat is back! Isabel started this comic about a year ago but it's been on hiatus for a few months. Now? It's back with a vengeance. Go check it out.

Thank you for your vampire voting! We've got even more vampires up now for a second round! Do I hear a third round? No, probably not. That'd get old. But vote! I'll have the first round's results up later this week! [Round 2]You wake up in Sherup. You are a... Dog 148 (35%) Hedgehog 119 (28%) Panda 154 (36%) Slug 5 (1%)

04.16.2012 - Terrence Marks:

What have we been up to lately? Awesome. Isabel's got a video over at NamirDeiter.net. She filmed and narrated the drawing of that day's sketch. See it drawn before your very eyes. Also, we have a poll! Vampires! Because it's more than just a cool name. Vote for your favorite vampire. Or at least for the vampire you like most from among the choices offered. When I look at lists of vampires, two things pop out at me. Firstly, most of them are named Dracula. So he's on there. Is that a vote for the Dracula from Castlevania or the one from Young Dracula or the one that Abbot and Costello met? Whichever one you like most. Secondly, there are a whole lot of vampires who I haven't heard of. I'm sadly out of date when it comes to vampires. So if your favorite vampire isn't on there, let me know. If I get enough suggestions, maybe we'll do another vampire poll. [Round 1]You wake up in Sherup. You are a... Cat 179 (40%) Koala 36 (8%) Mouse 41 (9%) Fox 194 (43%)

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