Archives - March 2009
Mar 27th, 2009 - Delays, Costs And The Concept Of Impossibility
I went for the press check
of TRT3 this morning.
And disappointed is probably
not even where I am right now.
I'm not gonna blame anybody
for the results I saw today because
it doesn't really do anything.
It's probably not the printers' fault
that they haven't encountered
anybody who demands the kind of
output specifications I require.
Needless to say, the book has been
delayed (possibly on indefinite hold),
and I'm pretty much down 5 grand
for this mistake.
Why?
Because I would rather incur the cost
and NOT put out anything,
than to produce something that
I have issues with.
It would be disrespecting you
as a consumer and fan.
Which brings us to the concept of impossibility.
Is it too far fetched to believe
that a lot of brick walls really
aren't the brick walls they claim to be?
I don't think it is.
Maybe I'm just too high on drugs.
So where does that leave us?
The printers are now seeking advice
from a consultant (which probably means more $$$)
on how we can correct the problem.
Basically, the plan is to prove that
what I want to do is impossible
here in Singapore.
It might cost me a couple more thousand,
but at least there will be no more doubt.
What about the book? Well, I haven't ordered
a complete discard as yet.
So at the very end, I can still output
the less than perfect product.
But should we even do it?
I mean, I won't be happy with it.
And we know it's gonna be pretty damm hard
to even break-even, assuming nothing
screws up, which of course is moot now.
Even if I put it out, I'll now be losing money
for every copy I sell.
It's no longer a matter of whether I can
recoup anything.
It's a question of whether to keep
my standards up.
I really don't know.
Mar 23rd, 2009 - The Road To 825HP! (Part 2)
Ah. The Monday after the school holidays.
Time for the kids to be in class.
Time to take my mind off the very
tedious pre-press process for TRT3.
The arcades should be all clear.
Right?
WRONG.
I woke up early thinking
I could have the cold, empty
amusement center floor to myself
only to hear the violent jerking
of shifter knobs on Wangan Midnight
cabinets as I was walking in.
Is school like not mandatory anymore?
After scavenging for an empty machine
with a half broken steering wheel
(the rubber grip was falling apart),
I managed to get in a few games.
I gave up after 5 stages.
It felt really pathetic.
This is what I have to put up with
these days. (But I'm up to stage 92.
8 stages more!)
So I guess I should play catch up
with the manga next. I've currently
re-read till vol. 24, the beginning
of Garage Ace's story.
Hey, have any of you watched the anime?
They cut out so much stuff!
Masaki's arc is gone. And so much
of Kei and Kijima's story got truncated.
Some random otaku: You dunno meh?
Anime is like dat one. Wah lau, so suah koo.
Mar 17th, 2009 - RE Journal: Day 4
Been playing Resident Evil 5
for the past 4 days. It's that kind of game.
In fact, it's like an arcade game
with a memory card and the weapon
collecting and upgrading and
the treasures and the BSAA emblems
and the PS3 trophies...
Despite the complaints of the Chinaman,
the online 2 player co-op is great.
The matching system is not that clear.
If you want to invite someone, set up as
a host and when the person on your list
shows up, press the PS button and scroll
to that friend and press triangle to invite.
Anyway, back to gaining money and
beefing up my weapons.
Oh, I'm playing Professional mode now
if anybody wants to join me.
Then there's Mercenaries mode which
also has co-op and the DLC coming soon.
And the quest for S-ranks and
speed runs.
This may never end...
Haven't been eating...
Not sleeping...
.nOT drAwINg... coMics...
...hungry for flesh...
.....
(somehow, Loti still gets updated)
Mar 12th, 2009 - Finally Made It To The Arcade
Look!
Beatmania IIDX 16: Empress is really here!
It's really been too long since
I put tokens into a IIDX machine
and the folks at Virtualand Bugis have
apparently modded their Empress rig.
The turntables now have a more
rugged surface and the bass floor board
has been taken out, which actually makes
playing the game slightly easier for
people like me.
Ha ha. I'm not that tall.
But it's...really better!
Hmm...is it possible to use eAmusement
on DJ Troopers if you already transferred
to Empress? I didn't dare try.
Oh and what's this?!!!
Initial D Arcade Stage 5 is here too!
We still don't have online play coz
we get stuck with the Asian Export version.
And guess what?
The text is now back in Japanese with
the Japanese voices (i.e. no more
Americanized names like Iggy), which is good.
HOWEVER...
I was wondering if the IDAS4 cards
could be transferred over.
NOPE! You can't.
So I guess you're gonna find a lot of people
hogging these units, assuming the game
is not horribly broken like part 4 is.
Well, I tried it and it is
completely different. I was crashing into
the outer walls because of insufficient braking.
You really have to reduce a lot of speed
to clear those hairpins now.
I'm gonna have to play a few more rounds
after the kiddies have gone back to school
to test the new mechanics.
Ah, one last thing.
The item shop can be accessed when you
start a new game now. Thank goodness.
Mar 10th, 2009 - Tourist News: Proofs Are In
The plotter proofs are in!
But I'll probably still need
some fine tuning and calibration.
Aargh.
The printing process is scary.
So many little mishaps are just
waiting to jump you when you think
you've got it all down.
We're one step closer though,
to getting the final product out.
I haven't even gone to see the
latest Beatmania in the arcades.
I hear Empress is out in Singapore.
Maybe I should go today.
But I have to work on Loti.
Those kids refuse to stop!
Mar 3rd, 2009 - Tourist News: The 3rd Book
It all started a month ago.
I was entertaining the thought of
getting Part 3 into print,
so I emailed my publisher about the status
of his previous endeavor.
Based on his count, I think he may have
just broken even or is just shy of it.
It's good and bad at the same time.
Good because some people actually
bought the hardcopies.
(Thank you very much if you did!)
Bad because we know any future number
that will sell will probably be LOW.
It isn't exactly a robust time
to get books out to market either,
especially with comic books like
The Resident Tourist, which is
available totally FREE here online,
and this recessionary mood
definitely isn't helping.
The responsible thing to do is to prevent
any further loss of other people's money
given the uncertainty
of any sales.
That being said...
I'll be funding this from now on.
Simply because it has to be done.
And since I'm probably gonna
lose money on this, I've decided
to be a little irresponsible.
Yup.
Instead of going for the cheapest print run,
I'm upping the quality of the book.
If you are going to buy something,
you should get the best possible product
even if my per unit cost is high.
Oh, my editor and I have made some changes
to the narrative as well. Subtle changes.
You can consider this Ver 3.1.
We think it reads better.
Anyhow, I just thought I'd give a shout out
to all you Dreary Wearies out there.
I'm gonna need all of you to help make this
something special.
How do you do that?
Stay tuned to find out!
