Youtube

Downloadable copy will be up after I move

Here’s the next exciting cliffhanger episode to Freeman’s Mind. If you think the laser in this episode acts strange, you can blame that on Source’s amazing demo recording code. It will be a while before the next episode comes out since I’m going to be moving very soon, but I still plan to have a spree of episodes done at some point, hopefully in November. I’m mostly going to be working on one of the mystery video projects between now and then.

This episode uses my new microphone setup, which I’m pretty happy with and will likely be the standard for videos I voice for several years. This episode also has a new sound editor for Freeman’s Mind, Max Petrosky, who does the additional sound effects work that you hear in the game and will likely help with a lot of future FM episodes. The old editor, Otto Beumelburg, will still be helping me with other video projects however.

And in case you missed the post before this, I will not be switching to the Black Mesa mod for Freeman’s Mind.

I was going to wait and mention this when the next Freeman’s Mind episode came out (hopefully this week), but since I’ve already received 5 emails on it, I can see it can’t wait. The mod Black Mesa is coming out and will be partially finished. I’ve had people ask me if I plan to switch Freeman’s Mind over to the new game. No, I don’t. I think the graphical difference would be somewhat disruptive / distracting to the series, especially if I get to Xen before the BM team does. I originally considered switching over after Freeman blacked out since that would be a smoother transition, but I passed that point, so I’m just going

Well it’s about that time where some people are wondering if I’m dead or not again, so I thought I should give an update. I’ve been busy with lots of different things, here’s what I’m involved with at the moment:

FREEMAN’S MIND:
The next episode is underway and will be a longer one. The one after that (45) will unfortunately be delayed more because what I have planned for it presents some unique challenges. To make up for the delays, I’ll have to see how busy I am and what my situation is, but I am considering making November “the month of Freeman” where ALL I work on is Freeman’s Mind and no other projects and see how many episodes get done during that time. Also I plan on getting the downloadable copy for #43 up soon.

MYSTERY VIDEO PROJECT #1:
While I was originally planning to have the movie project be the only animated thing I was going to work on for the foreseeable future, some interesting developments came up where I will be working on an original short that will be going up sometime early December (won’t be Christmas related). It’s still uncertain whether this will be filmed using the Unreal 3 engine or in Source. If you have mapping experience in either, feel free to contact me at [email protected]. Be sure to send me samples or screenshots of your previous work. Who gets picked will be determined by previous map visual quality + how much free time the person will have. Right now I may be leaning towards the Source engine for this particular project. It will involve a forested area and will be in a contemporary setting.

MYSTERY VIDEO PROJECT #2:
In another set of interesting circumstances, I’ve agreed to help with a video project that may become a series. I won’t be directing or animating it, but I am doing the writing for it and voice acting for one of the characters. More details will be revealed later.

MOVING:
My past has caught up with me and I am moving to a mysterious location once again. I’ll be leaving in about 2 weeks, I may not have internet or a place to record for a little while afterwards, but I’ll get on track ASAP. I’ll get the next FM video uploaded before I leave.

T-SHIRTS:
Work is slowly progressing to set up an online store so that people will be able to buy Freeman’s Mind and Civil Protection t-shirts (with more stuff later). I’m hoping this will become fully operational in a month or two with more shirt designs rolling out later on.

ADHD version: Ross is working on stuff! More videos coming!

The meetups are now over! My thanks to everyone who came and sorry to everyone else who was too scattered globally to come. This meetup ended up being a lot like the North one. I think everyone who didn’t collapse from heat exhaustion had a pretty good time. Here are the results of the revised poll!

The results were pretty close to what I was expecting after the first poll (including the would-be time travellers). What I didn’t expect were a few people to meet us completely by coincidence! The other thing I didn’t expect is that out of the fans that said “yes”, one of them was MacGyver!

He still remembered a lot from the show and taught me how to make a polygraph using tweezers, a battery, plastic wrap, and some string.

The next meetup is coming up soon, the details below are pretty similar to the North one: ITINERARY: Date: August 4th Location: Carowinds – Charlotte, NC / SC 9:00am - 10:45 Meet at Shoney’s restaurant, which is very close to Carowinds Link to Google Maps I’ll be inside having breakfast or outside in the parking lot. T-shirts and prints will be available for sale outside (though they’ll be for sale all day). We should have higher quality ones this time, including Civil Protection ones. If you don’t want to pay for the cost of the amusement park, you can stop by during this time for free. 11:00 - 11:30 Arrive at Carowinds, Meet outside the south gate (not the north one). Here’s a picture from google maps:

 

WARNING: There is a $15 parking fee inside Carowinds because they’re jackals. You might want to try to park somewhere else and carpool with people.

11:30 – 2:00 Enter Carowinds, go on rides. If you still need a ticket, here’s the info to get a discount on it if you buy one online: Price: $41 for August 4th if you use this link to purchase tickets. ($36 + $5 BS “processing” fee.)

2:00 - 2:30
Meet at the Carolina Skytower structure (should be the tallest structure in sight) in case more latercomers arrive or people get lost. We’ll probably eat after this.

5:00 - 5:30
Meet again at the Carolina Skytower structure.

~10:15pm (as park closes)
Meet outside south gate again.

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Like the last meet, things will be pretty informal. I’ll answer questions, sign things, you can stick with me while I go on rides, split off and do your own thing, whatever you want. If you hang around, be prepared to have an answer for what you would do with an island if you were rich enough to buy your own. HOW TO FIND ME: I’ll be wearing a bright lime green t-shirt to remain as visible as I can. If you come late, you’re welcome to track me down “Where’s Waldo?” style.

Here’s a picture of me from the last meetup:

Once again, if you’re colorblind, you should probably arrive on time. If you don’t see me, look for a large man wearing a Freeman’s Mind t-shirt, he’ll know what to do. Hope to see more people at the meet!