Are you a 3D or 2D artist? Do you want to be involved in making an iPhone game?

I'm making an iPhone casual game on the side to try my hand at the market. While I've got the code and concept figured, I'm no great shakes at art.

If you're interested in working with me on an iPhone app as a foot in the door to future work (either with me or other companies) give me an e-mail at zephyrsun@wideband.net.au. You can message me here but since I don't check that nearly as often, I'd recommend the e-mail.

And send me a sample of your work! A picture or two is literally worth a thousand words.

Sooo... about christmas Ortus - well that didn't happen. *cough* Looking more like a July beta thing nao. Now I know why Game Devs change deadlines so often, so very hard to calculate =P

That said, holding off and releasing a complete game is a hell of a lot better than releasing a half-assed game that doesn't begin to live up to the hype we've been giving it. As it is living up to common RPG expectations + is a 24/7 job, I have to keep slapping my wrist not to write in more and MORE on our workload. Unfortunately when you're trying to create a whole world, there's never enough time. Since you know, real worlds are infinite.

I can't wait for the day (most likely long after I'm dead - so literally 'cannot wait until') when we can put on a shiny tin foil helmet with wires, then digitally reproduce a world conjured in someone's mind to play in. Not only would it make game development faster and more accurate, it would make GMing a tabletop session even more awesome-er (it's a word, trust me, I'm a doctor).

That said, a direct brain feed would probably also capture all the other freud-like issues that we all have nesled in our grey matter... that sort of technology would probably come with impossible complications.

Or you know, a very long beta phase.

So how 'bout them nicks, huh?

Well it looks like we're aiming for a Christmas release for Ortus, I'd say it'd be a `santa-jazza' delivery but he shaved his beard. I'd be watching our facebook site closely, since it seems that's the place to be at the moment =)

As for me, up to writing the final chapters of the game - idly playing Chrono Cross in my off hours (I'd say it's game research, but I've just been putting off playing it for about 10 years). I have to say, Ortus is still the biznatch of multiendedness. So much so that I'm spending half my time writing additional NPCs if you kill essential ones to keep the game going... you murderous bastards!

A lot more NPC companions were returned to the game a few weeks ago, so now it seems you can all look forward to much more than the nine NPC companions predicted at the AvCon showing a month or so ago (barring some sort of emergency). Which is good news for all of us who loved those NPC characters that got cut for practical purposes.

That said, now I've got to write oodles of script for their dialogue so they're not two dimensional... sort of like many of the companions in Chrono Cross *coughcoughcough*. Those companions, btw, are a pain to notice and collect! (Oh, and Kid rules... especially if you've played Radical Dreamers). Still doesn't hold a torch to Chrono Trigger's addictive gameplay.

Also starting to realise how dark and gritty some aspects of our game is. If you like neat, clean G-rated Kingdom Hearts stuff... trust me, Ortus will blow your sensitive little mind. (Not that there was anything wrong with KH, or KH2... cough =3 )

Now I'll go back to listening to the Ortus soundtrack as I write dialogue... oh, evil folks can look forward to the alignment/reputation system flipping at some point in the game - some people act positively to a poor score in these areas. Reap the rewards of being a jerk!

It's been seven months since I started working on Ortus's script on a 9-5 basis, slaving over the different character choices and plot developments. I've been playing RPGs since I was 12 (27 now), and I can say without a doubt that I've never seen a game with this many endings since Chrono Trigger.

That said, the endings for Chrono Trigger were sort of a bit hit and miss - it's not like you could turn Chrono evil or anything. Though exactly what Chrono would say as an evil villain would probably be the same. How do you make "..." sound evil?

I digress; unlike most games, these endings aren't simply a last minute choice - the entire game takes several different paths. So in essence, we're making several different games - which is why the entire thing is taking so long =)

Today I decided to put in some dialogue where you're taking to generic evil guy A, and you decide to talk about the eating habits of chickens. What other game gives you this sort of option? And this is a flash game! Revolutionary, I tell you.

A lot of people have compared BWK to Diablo and Dragon Age - I was a bit surprised since I'd never played Diablo, but Jazza showed me a few screens. I think the RPG market has stagnated a bit lately - there's only a handful of fantasy RPG titles around. This might also have something to do with the demise of the PS domination towards XBox games, and therefore the lack of JRPGs on the market. I'm just glad nobody ever compared us to Fable =)

My one lament - If only Jack Frosts were not copyrighted by Atlus, I'd throw one into Ortus - who can resist their awesome hee-ho'eyness =P See ya later, hee ho!

Hey guys! Don't know if anyone's reading this, but if you are you've probably got here from my work on Battle for Wayland Keep, Ortus, and the occasional Larry comic =D

I'm the head writer for Ortus, so most of what you read will be my brain-scramblings - things like romancing prostitutes and ferrus leaf smoking soldiers from Wayland Keep might give you a clue of how my brain works ;) You wouldn't believe the work we're putting into this flash game for you guys - a dozen of us get up, work from 9-5 or longer then crash day in and day out on this game; and have been doing so for MONTHS.

We've put extra-special effort into replayability, diversity of choice and depth of playing experience - which have made my writing soul all very happy. If you want to kill someone important and still finish the game, go right ahead! There's nobody you can't attack in this game, and you'll still be able to finish the plot.

NPCs, romances, alignment (though there are tons of actions that are not black and white - sorta like life, really), reputation - all these things are in Ortus. My job consists of making this stuff happen. xD Headachhheeee... dream project!

So yeah, that's more about Ortus than about me - but in the end, you'll be playing around inside the development team's brains, so you'll learn all about us eventually =D