Hey Newgrounds!

So it seems that the game I had been hired to work on by my school for the Vectren Gas & Electric company has finally been released. Me, a couple of other students, and a select few professors had been picked up to work on this safety enforcing kids game. We've been working on it since the beginning of this year. I was given the job of lead animator, so any animation you see would have most likely been done by me. ^_^

Energy Safe

One game focuses around gas safety, the other focuses around electric safety.

Check it out. Enjoy.

-Flecko-

I just got done submitting a piece that a couple other of Newground's finest artists have collaborated with me on. Back in the day when Zombie-Pimp and I were planning this out, we really wanted to the best from each genre of flash to help out. We started out with 9 strong, but dwindled down to 5. It's alright though, I'm proud of the quality of everyone's parts. We were also wanting this to be a surprise for Tom, but I guess it wasn't THAT much of a surprise...surprise Tom! :D

Pico's Portal Party

NogFish: I can't begin to estimate how much time and work you've put into this PicoDay by submitting two flashes this year. LOL. You're something to be admired for that. Kudos and thank you very much for attending this collab!

LeafWorthy: I loved your animation, Dood! You have great technique in your animation style and it makes your work seem effortless, but at the same time extremely appealing. I see you as an epic animator and someone I would love to work with again in the future. Kudos and thank you for joining this collab!

Zombie-Pimp: My man. You never seize to impress me with your animation. You're really able to capture some techniques I've seen from some of my favorite animes. Even when watching them frame by frame, I can't figure out how you're able to animate the way you do. Each frame seems awkward as hell, but then when you play it through, it totally works. Whatever it is you're doing, hold onto that, sharpen you're art, and you'll be pro. Kudos and thanks for helping me put this collab together!

De-Line: Sorry I'm not able to get you on the co-authors list as of now. I'll message Tom to see if I can't get that fixed. You're animation was very off the wall and obnoxious; something I felt ashamed of for laughing at as much as I did. LOL. I think that was your whole intention. Kudos and thanks for being a part of this collab!

As for everyone else out there, go watch our flash already! It's PicoDay! Enjoy it!

Happy BirthDay, Tom and Pico!

-Flecko-

Well hey all ya Newgrounders, a lot of stuff has happened since my last post, so I might as well update everyone with what's been going on.

Okay well first off, I got myself a job (a REAL job), as a part-time, sole Flash Animator for an advertising company called MediaSauce located just North of Indianapolis. (Thank God gas prices are down, else I'd be spending a bundle to drive there most days) You can see their site here I'm not personally on their cool "character select" feature they have there on the front page, but who knows, maybe you'll see me on there in the future. Anyways, they seem like the lively bunch; more of a family atmosphere than work...though I'd hate to see what they're like if I ever were to fall behind on deadlines...so I try not to...I just got the biggest paycheck I'd ever gotten in my life a couple weeks ago. So I'm happy with it. (26 hours of my week + 4 hours driving time)

Then we have my classes, of which I'm getting into 3-D material now. Maya is still too unfathomably expensive for me to own personally (I have Blender, similar, but different), but I'm learning that in class from a professor whose only job is to learn the program inside and out. So it would seem I'm in good hands. In another one of my classes, we are dealing with the Unreal Tournament 3 engine/editor, and our ultimate goal is to create a custom interactive level...then have a giant death match on it. I was able to make a padded room just the other day that I could walk around in and "frag" myself. (NERD VOCAB: LEVEL UP!!!) I was giddy. I'm also taking an Advanced Sequential Art (or "Comic Books" for all those that didn't know, lol), but that's mostly because it's the last semester it will be offered, and the professor that teaches it makes these classes fun. Lastly, I am taking a class covering Adobe Flex? I'm not sure what is gonna be involved in the class, but I was under the impression that it was gonna be a Flash AS class. So, I'm a little leery about that, seems like a whole class for a program similar to Dreamweaver, of which I see no point, being that they make the program so freakin easy to understand and use. Anyways...giddy about classes (12 hours a week + unknown hours of study/projects + 4 hours of driving time)

Another project bestowed onto me, is working with my animation professor (John Ludwick, 13th gen wise man animator, used to work for cartoon network, makes crazy dough for his animations, yadda-yadda) to animate a game the school is creating for a well known company. I'm not sure how much I'm legally allowed to talk about it, so I'll just stop right there. (20 hours a week)

And last, but certainly not least (In fact, it's the topic I think of the most), is the company me and PresidentZen are slowly but surely building. If this is the first you've heard of it: basically: He's the experienced business savvy writer with a dream that wants to make video games, and I'm the "anything art related, I'll do" hard working talent that wants to make video games. Match made in heaven.
Anyways, we are coming along. We are getting more and more of an understanding of what it's going to take to create a video game company here in Indianapolis. We are organizing a student group here on campus with the help and sponsorship of one of our professors, Matt Powers (Much love, Matt). From there we plan on recruiting as many students as we can to work on some game ideas. The idea is to have a group "capstone" (a "prove what you've learned" ultimate project here at IUPUI) to present as we all graduate; to ensure that the students involved have experience, to perhaps catch the eye of any investors, and to maybe even gain a few dedicated iZ employees. We're thinking of a few manageable projects, some of them 2-D or Flash based (sorta like The Behemoth. Shout out!). It will depend on how many people we can get involved. Plus, we just made business cards! (The company will probably take up the rest of my time judging on how dedicated I already am to it)

So anyways, I figure if I limit my sleep time to the optimal 8 hours a day, I should have 112 hours a week to work on whatever I need to be doing. Subtract the 66 hours that I am guaranteed to spend and I'm left with 46 hours a week to spend on school projects and whatever I can to keep myself sane...The tougher the battle, the greater the reward!

Just lettin' you all know my situation this semester cuz I know you all worry about me! ;)

Humbly Always Your Servant,
-Flecko-

Well, here I am again to present the 3rd and final game I have made for TESSONAS, for THIS year anyways. It's rather difficult, so I'm told, but take a swing at it!

Trever's Street Walk

I hope this series has quenched the thirst for all of those out there that are waiting for TESSONAS ep 3, if at least for a little while. The project continues to be pushed to the back of the "to do" list because of school projects and other projects that arise. I'm hoping I can work on it again soon.

On a different note. I put together a simple animated logo for the beginning of this piece to maybe introduce a few viewers to the company PresidentZen and I are continuously working to get started. All details can be viewed at his site and his passed user news blogs.

Also, I thank Tom and Newgrounds for seeing fit to grant me a new Wacom Tablet! Newground's generosity is never taken lightly in my eyes. I just got the tablet today. It's sleek as sh*t. I feel like James Bond now when I draw. Thanks again. And Happy Holidays!

-Flecko-

Hello, everyone. I just submitted a new ridiculously awesome flash game that I made in my 2-d Interactive class. Being that I had just gotten done with my Halloween flash, I only had 2 days to make it.

Roger's Magic 8 Ball

Of course, I went over it a little bit and buffed it out a little, but yeah, it turned out great. I hope all of you enjoy. This is the second in a three part game series revolved around the T.E.S.S.O.N.A.S flash series that I am going to release this year. Being that I don't have any other urgent projects to work on before this next game is due, you can bet your sweet candy that this next one is gonna rock.

Thanks go to NG for being so kind as to award me with 4th in the Halloween contest...

Even more thanks goes to President Zen for helping me write the flash. Many more projects from us, I'm sure.

That's it, go play my game!

Thanks!
-Flecko-

So I finished up Flecko's Halloween last night. I gotta admit that I was a little disappointed that I wasn't able to add in some of the stuff I wanted to add in. But for about a week now, I've just been scrambling to get it done, and I had to cut my losses. I submitted it an hour late too because I couldn't get the damn buttons to work for the main menu ( I ended up cutting the menu out completely), there were some issues with audio (yeah, screw you, Flash...No, I'm kidding, I love you! Come back!), and well...a person has to sleep SOMETIME. Hopefully I'm not disqualified.

I'd like to thank PresidentZen for writing the thing. In the future, it looks like he and I will collaborate to produce much more and better material.

Otherwise, I've just been truckin' along. Kind of brain dead. Maybe I'm just in the aftershock of getting another project done. I have a game due in one of my classes next week, so be on the look out for that.

Halloween is over, but I'll say it anyways cuz I never did get to: Happy Halloween!

-Flecko-

I'm very grateful to of won first in the MGS Collab contest. I was a snudge worried that I might of come across as an over-achiever, being that my submission was pretty lengthy. It was a project that I really did just have fun with and I may of gone a little overboard. But, meh, it all turned out well. I give a special thanks to Rina-Chan and Lucien for their help as voice talents.

I gotta say that the other submissions that I did enjoy were Stamper's, MindChamber's, and whoever did the piece right before mine where Snake gets his head blown off (I dunno why, I'm just morbid like that).

As for you that are wondering where I've been or what I've been up to: I've still been fighting back and forth with school projects and such.

I'm currently working on a few Flash games that will be focused around the TESSONAS series for my 2-d Interactive class. Those won't be anything ground-breaking (whack-a-mole, breakout, etc), but I'll try to make them as interesting as I can make them. All for you guys....and a kick ass grade*cough*

That aside, I am planning on making a little something special for this Halloween...Mwha hah hah hah hah....

Also, me and my buddy, PresidentZen, have been coming up with numerous ideas for flashes, comics, games, etc that we can create to further gain attention to our company, industrial Zen. (We actually got it signed off as an LLC over the summer and we have a few volunteer employees already. Pretty awesome feeling) Any support anyone can send our way would be most encouraging. Go see PresidentZen's posts if you want to know more about us.

So...yeah, I got my hands full at the moment. I'm sure that if I didn't have school or the company, that I would have a whole lot more flashes uploaded to Newgrounds, including, yes, TESSONAS ep 3. But I hope that I'm not just wasting my time here and that later I can provide the epic entertainment that I know I'm capable of producing to not only Newgrounds viewers, but to the entire world.

Finally, I end on announcing that I have changed my FleckoGold intro (the god-aweful animation where Flecko comes in and snaps on the lights) into something a little more suitable to my new skill level. I can't embed flashes (anyone think of that?) and its too insignificant to be put into the portal (though it would prolly get a better score then some of the stuff coming in), so I'm leaving you with a screen shot. Other than that, I guess everyone will have to wait until I submit another flash before they see all of it. Sowwy!

Hey all, just givin' all you peeps out there an update on my current animating status.

Well, a lot has happened from the last time I updated. This semester's classes have been challenging me in new ways and I'm really excited by what I've been learning; nothing too animation oriented, but exciting none the less.

I've actually been able to program my first game (a platform game) using the programming language, Python, as a final project. It's pretty kick ass. I wish I could upload it here at Newgrounds, but again, it's Python, not Flash Action Scripting. Though, I've heard it's really easy to pick up on Action Scripting once you've learned Python.

Another class I'm taking is a basic comic booking class. Which, really doesn't seem all that exciting, especially when you've been drawing comics your whole life, but its been keeping me constantly under fire to pop out more and more material in a short amount of time; so my artistic skills are being sharpened as a result. I'm probably in the most panic over this class though, I need to finish drawing two comic books by the 30th, and I have barely gotten started on either. Ahhh, stress.

So on a different note, I've been recruited by one of my classmates to work on promoting and developing a video game company that he plans to create here in Indiana. His name is Doug Atkinson and he has some pretty big, unique, and awesome plans for this company of his. I back him up on it all 100%. After all, why should we all have to move to the coast to be able to get a job creating video games? Especially in our day and age, and all the technology we have available. The guy is highly experienced in all forms of business and more accurately, life in general; he's very driven and I see his potential as a great leader. If you'd like, and I encourage you to do so, his blog page is at President Zen and I'm pretty sure you can get to all of his stuff from there, as well as find more information about the kind of company he wants to create. He's also submitted some stuff here at Newgrounds, Check him out. Tell em Flecko sent ya.

Other than that, I can't say I've been able to do much with my time. My New Years resolution to dish out TESSONAS ep 3 by this Spring has crashed and burned, but I plan to pick up on it after this semester is out in a week. God, I can't wait.

Right now I'm working on a quick-produced final project website for my HTML class:

I just wanted to thank all of you here on Newgrounds for the monthly 1st. It's a real honer. I hope I was able to give all of you a treat to sort of "pay you back" with Aladdin 3150. I also thank Zombie-Pimp once again for the help with getting this movie done in time. I'm sorry I can't figure out what more to say, but I'm never really good with giving big thank you speeches.

Also, an update with TESSONAS episode 3, another scene is in the bag. Just have about 6 left to go.

-Flecko-

P.S. Heres a little picture I threw together to celebrate ^-^

Hi, I am Flecko. Once you read this you
you have no obligation to do what it says.
You don't even need to finish reading it!
As I said, I am Flecko. I am 11 years old.
I have big eyes and kinda look like Yoshi.
I am a cartoon. If you don't send this to
at least 12 people I will keep doing what
I would be doing, and nothing will happen to you.
Don't believe me?

Case 1:
Patty Buckles
Read this post. She doesn't believe
in chain letters. Way to go, Patty.
She was sleeping when her TV started
flickering on and off. She got up and took
her TV to get fixed the next morning.

Case 2:
George M. Simon
Hates chain mail, but he wanted to spread
this around for some reason. He sent it to 4
people. Fine with me, George. But,
nothing happened to him.

Case 3:
Valarie Tyler
She read this post. Another chain
letter she thought. Only had 7 people
to send to. Well, she shouldn't of sent it
to even one, because there is no point to.
That night, while she was in the shower, she
got out, dried herself off, and went to bed.

Case 4:
Derek Minse
This is the final case I'll tell you
about. Well, Derek was a smart person. But
that has nothing to do with this post.
He sent it to 12 people. That wasn't necessary.
Later that day, he didn't find a $100.00 bill on the
ground, but because he was so smart,
he was premoted to head officer at his job and
because she loved him a lot, his girlfriend
said yes to his purposal. Now, (because all of this
obviously happened within a few days) he and Katie are
living normal lives. They
have 2 beautiful children.

Don't send this to anyone,
you won't face any consequences.

0 people- Nothing will happen
1-6 people- Nothing will happen
7-11 people- Nothing will happen
12 and over- You need to stop reading chain letters

Moral of the story: Stop posting chain letters that threaten people's lives! If what was said in some of these letters was true, then there'd be massive amounts of unexplained deaths across the globe.

-Flecko-