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-