http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/ Design, Games, Reviews and such en Copyright 2011 Sat, 20 Aug 2011 17:52:40 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Commander Cookie (in Space!) was one of my first games written in ActionScript 3. I wanted to do something simple to help me get up to speed with the new language. I figured making a clone of a classic arcade game Asteroids would let me focus on the programming without getting caught up in gameplay issues. http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2011/08/development_notes_commander_co_1.html http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2011/08/development_notes_commander_co_1.html Development development flash games Sat, 20 Aug 2011 17:52:40 -0500 There's a great post on Daniel Jalkut's Red Sweater blog called [Invest In Yourself](http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/642/invest-in-yourself). >But many of life's investments are risk free precisely because we don't expect anything tangible in return. So be sure to spend at least some of... http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2011/07/investing_in_myself.html http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2011/07/investing_in_myself.html Article Reviews learning Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:01:29 -0500  Another tutorial for [TutsPlus](http://www.tutsplus.com). This time I show how to create an airport-style flipping countdown timer. The effect requires some complex layering of the graphic elements to make everything look right. It was a lot of work... http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2010/05/flash_tutorial_countdown_timer.html http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2010/05/flash_tutorial_countdown_timer.html ActionScript actionscript Flash programming tutorial Wed, 12 May 2010 17:31:52 -0500  I wrote this tutorial to show how to create an RPG-style text system. This method is similar to the one I used in the Vermonia [Guardian Quest](http://www.vermonia.com/games/index.html) game. Check out the tutorial here: **[Make an RPG-Style Text... http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2010/04/flash_tutorial_rpg_text_system.html http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2010/04/flash_tutorial_rpg_text_system.html ActionScript actionscript Flash programming tutorial Wed, 14 Apr 2010 18:23:56 -0500  In this tutorial I show how to separate a graphic into its three component color channels. I then animate each channel individually to create a retro style CRT distortion effect. Check out the tutorial here: **[Create a... http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2010/03/flash_tutorial_retro_crt_effec.html http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2010/03/flash_tutorial_retro_crt_effec.html ActionScript actionscript Flash programming tutorial Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:59:45 -0500  For my second tutorial on [TutsPlus](http://www.tutsplus.com) I show how to create a reusable score class that 'counts' up a new score when players earn points in your game. I also show how to create the graphics for... http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2010/02/flash_tutorial_pinballstyle_ro.html http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2010/02/flash_tutorial_pinballstyle_ro.html ActionScript actionscript Flash programming tutorial Sun, 28 Feb 2010 11:45:00 -0500  I wrote a tutorial for [TutsPlus](http://www.tutsplus.com) that shows how to create the the static distortion effect that I used on the buttons in [Plant Pong](http://www.thepencilfarm.com/games/plant_pong_deluxe/?id=1). This was my first tutorial, and I'm really happy with how it... http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2010/01/flash_tutorial_static_distorti.html http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2010/01/flash_tutorial_static_distorti.html ActionScript actionscript Flash programming tutorial Sun, 31 Jan 2010 11:28:27 -0500  _Codename: ULTRA_ is a game concept that I entered into the [game design competition at SXSW](http://sxsw.com/interactive/screenburn/competitions) this year. The game was selected as one of the casual game semifinalists, which means I won a free pass to... http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2009/07/codename_ultra.html http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2009/07/codename_ultra.html Game Ideas games old SXSW Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:27:41 -0500 I still get asked about what happened with the Olympics stealing my game last year. I'll try to bring everyone up to speed here. http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2009/04/beijing_olympics_update.html http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2009/04/beijing_olympics_update.html Site News games old Olympics Snow Day theft Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:53:04 -0500  Body Mailin' is a game I made based on some jokes from a podcast I listen to called [You Look Nice Today](http://youlooknicetoday.com/). It would be too difficult for me try to explain the nuances of the game concepts... http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2009/04/body_mailin.html http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2009/04/body_mailin.html Games Body Mailin' games old YLNT Wed, 29 Apr 2009 09:36:35 -0500 I have a backlog of unfinished blog entries that I'm going to try to push out over the next week or so. Some of the stuff is quite old, but I'm going to publish it anyway. So don't be surprised when you start seeing posts about things that happened over a year ago. http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2009/04/old_news.html http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2009/04/old_news.html Site News old Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:17:56 -0500  I recently had the pleasure of working with the nice people at [Little Lives](http://www.littlelives.com/) on a reskinned version of [Witchcraft](/games/witchcraft/?id=1) to celebrate the Singapore National Day Parade. In addition to all new graphics and sounds, we added... http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2008/07/singapore_national_day_parade.html http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2008/07/singapore_national_day_parade.html Games games old Witchcraft Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:21:16 -0500 You may have noticed I've been on hiatus for a bit, but I'm back and I'm starting on a new project. I don't want to give too much away but it should be good. Stay tuned. http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2008/05/somethings_cookin_at_the_farm.html http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2008/05/somethings_cookin_at_the_farm.html Game Ideas old Mon, 12 May 2008 18:58:27 -0500 I had a bit of trouble getting my new Airport Extreme (802.11n) wireless router to work with my Nintendo DS when I first set it up. Hopefully this post will help others who are having the same problem. http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2008/05/airport_extreme_nintendo_ds.html http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2008/05/airport_extreme_nintendo_ds.html Miscellaneous Airport Extreme Nintendo DS old Wed, 07 May 2008 14:13:03 -0500 The Olympics stole my game! They downloaded the swf file from my site, decompiled it, swapped out the little guy for the Fuwa characters, took my name off of it and republished it as their own. http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2008/02/snow_day_at_the_beijing_olympi.html http://www.thepencilfarm.com/blog/2008/02/snow_day_at_the_beijing_olympi.html Miscellaneous copyright infringement games old Olympics Snow Day theft Mon, 25 Feb 2008 21:17:39 -0500