This is originally a WAV, and I added a few more parts to it later and saved it as a WAV, and attempted converting this to MP3. Apparently Newgrounds thinks that this is "not a valid MP3 file".

I'm not the only one having upload problems; quite a number of people are...

My Lenten abstinence from Newgrounds was a success!
It's Good Friday today, and Easter is coming soon. I am happy to be back on NG after so long.

Thanks to SirLoineStake and HFX for keeping in touch. It was great! :D

NOW CAN I HAVE SOME MOAR AWESOMENESS PWEEASE.

...after quite a bit of hesitation. My first chat with her was on Monday, and my, she is really nice! ^_^ We talked for hours, sharing audio, sharing thoughts, telling a bit more about ourselves. It's wonderful, speaking with her. I can't help but think once you take the first step and the other person responds, you see that the other person is just as much of a person, with perhaps as many follies and foibles as you. I can't explain it... but... one thing's for sure: speaking one-to-one takes me beyond the surface and leads me deep into the heart of the person. This experience has humbled me a great deal, and I'm absolutely thankful for that.

In case you aren't sure who HFX is, she is the soundtrack writer for all Epic Battle Fantasy games starting from EBF2. I have indeed heard that EBF4 is under way, as well as a little something about her most recent track, Fallen Blood.

I'm just going to hint at a few things being done together, but what they will be, I shan't be telling yet! All I can say is this: "two game projects very dear to us will have just that little bit more input" (and I sound like Waka from Okami). Right now, even though my fingers and my mind are itching to spoil things, I shall not do anything more. Regardless, it's great to have a collaborator!

--------

Today, I shall be working on a bit more boss artwork for Project Chaplaincy, and if I do have the time, I may perhaps try to handle the rest of the player chibis. Mark is already beginning bullet patterns for the different enemies we've got, and Christo is taking care of the script. I guess the best course of action, for now, is to release that bullet hell shooter and see where it takes us!

Also, for your enjoyment, here's a Muro-drawn Kirby picture.

That bullet hell shooter in progress? I'm not just the OST writer anymore. I am now also art director.
I'll admit, I took up the artistic work at a time when I wasn't confident about myself, but now I'm going to do my very best!

What you see in that recent artwork I posted is the first batch of enemies which we released, and the only ones we're sharing for now. I'm not sure how we're going to go about this, but I trust we will make it - God willing!

EDIT 10.02.2012 14:47 GMT : Before I forget, here's a logo, just beacuase.

*big smile*

I know I don't post on NG about the time my audio is featured, but I'll make this an exception.
Not one, but TWO of my songs are on the Audio Portal.

In case you're wondering which ones they are, they are Westminster Tune ~ Preuve de foi and Whispers in the Rain [NSJ].

I must say, I'm quite pleasantly surprised, and really happy. <3

Thanks to whoever made that possible - technically speaking, A-Bot puts the submissions there, but had no one reviewed it and/or voted for it, I wonder where it'd have ended up! Seeing those features was a good boost to my morning! ^_^

Also, just for fun, here's a Project Chaplaincy chibi which I did yesterday. You'll see her in gameplay if you pick her.

I suppose this is nothing new - I imagine people have been talking about this repeatedly on the Forums. But then again, the more people address critique, the better we'd be.

Someone said some important things about it, and I guess it'll be nice to see how many people have had critique in these many styles.

Constructive Criticism
The kind of critique that brings both the positive and negative - some do it in a sandwich (positive-negative-positive), but some do it half-and-half (positive-negative). This is the kind of critique that most people want, although they don't always get it. Shall I say they don't often get it?

Destructive Criticism
Objectively speaking, this is a form of criticism which dismisses a piece of artwork as junk and doesn't substantiate why.

Some people (and I'm afraid I have to say this) - of the thinner-skinned variety - would assume that destructive criticism is either one of these two things: 1) critique that focuses on the flaws, or 2) critique that doesn't offer advice. Even thinner-skinned varieties think that constructive criticism is destructive to them. One can only shake his head in sorrow, send him off with a polite message and bid him farewell, perhaps? : (

Sucking up to others
Spot something where someone is giving a piece of work seemingly endless praise without stating why or what in particular has moved him? Spot something that suggests that "one's work is the best thing since sliced bread"? I smell an oxymoronic critic. Or rather, a rat.

NB: Bear in mind that it is always best to see the spirit behind the person's criticism or response. Just going through a rigid formula of what makes criticism constructive might just not help the situation at all. It could be that someone you know has good intentions of making your piece better, but just doesn't have a way with words - he'd say, "This is utter crap". Whether critique be in text or in real life, it is hard to see the person's intentions unless you know from what point of view he's speaking. Trust all the seasoned users on Newgrounds. We've been there.

Rating Reviews
There are the reviews which will be deemed as 'useful', 'useless' or 'deleteworthy'. Axman13's celebrated review "Dot, Dot, Dot" was popularly deemed to be deleteworthy, though some people might call it a waste because people didn't see that little bit of constructive criticism.

And this is where question time comes in!

I'd like to know -

1) What constitutes constructive criticism in your opinion?
2) What would make you rate a review as 'useful', 'useless' or 'deleteworthy'?
3) How do you generally respond to reviews?
4) If there's a review you don't like, how do you tackle it?

Happy New Year 2012, everyone!

Some beautiful things are coming up, and even beta soundtrack listeners are quite happy about them. That is all for now.

It's the final week of Advent, leading up to Christmas, and I am quite anticipating the day! :D I haven't cared enough about shopping, décor and the like - all I got was tinsel and table confetti for the house and crackers for the housemates, but other than that, nada. I'm looking forward, more than anything, to midnight Mass, the actual joy behind Christmas, sharing that joy with my friends, and my trip to Stonyhurst College three days after Christmas. I'll have every reason to rejoice over the next week.

I haven't submitted anything to Newgrounds or even YouTube over this month due to 1) coursework, 2) Merlyne (Christo), Mark212 (Mark) and I recording the music video for lyrical Arise Once More, 3) the fact that I have been working on a bit of OST and artwork for Project Chaplaincy.

I've released a few 45-minute samples onto Newgrounds. There are seven in total, and they can be found here -

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen /461846

The full OST is going to have 20 tracks, and well, this is what I'm able to preview for now. Feedback will be much appreciated!

Also, before I sign out, I include a thumbnail I made of four characters in Project Chaplaincy. The one in yellow is Fr Marcus Cohen, and the other three are unnamed for now. All of them began as oekakis, but I edited them just because I wanted to give them some sheen.

Alright, bye for now.

I'm also aware that I might not be writing anything on Christmas Day, so... have a happy and blessed Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Happy birthday Mark212! ^_^ We at Kingdom of Herts love you! <3

* * *

Some time ago, I introduced a project that Mark212, Merlyne and I are working on: a bullet hell shooter game. The project title, as you might have seen a few posts ago, is Project Chaplaincy.

I'm updating to let all of you know the progress of this project.

All three of us are contributing to the story. I'm doing the OST and artwork. Mark212 is doing the programming, and all three of us (and possibly more?) are going to do voiceovers. Some projects can run concurrently.

Three cutscene images are finished (out of sixteen, maybe slightly more.)
As for the OST, the full thing has 20 tracks; I have finished 12.
The background images have been assembled, pretty much. Some may need to be made tileable, but well...

Once these are done, I'll have to design enemies (I may need Mark's help for this), and Mark must then get on to designing bullet patterns. Then once all this is done, we may be very well out of alpha!

I know my artwork is nothing much, but here is one piece of concept art that I shall release. You may see this picture in the final work, who knows?

That's it for now. I'll update when more things happen.

Toodles! x

Hey guys. TroisNyxEtienne [say trwa-nix-eh-tien] here. Alternatively, you may call me TNE.

After having submitted my track for the Newgrounds CD project and after having contributed a T-shirt design, I do realise that it's awfully late, and we have about 1 hour and 15 minutes before the results are announced.

I place it all in the good Lord's hands right now - whatever the outcome was, whether or not the track got in, I resign myself. I'm aware that by the time the results are announced, I'll be fast asleep, and I'll be checking those results at 9:00-ish across the pond (which is 4-something in the morning for you guys). I can say this for sure - making the track was fun, and not solely fun: it was something I looked forward to, and doing this with the help and support of my friends from the university, from the chaplaincy and from Kingdom of Herts has been wonderful. That song stretched me to the limit, at least at the time I wrote it.

I remember how, when in the midst of completing the music on FL Studio 10, my PC had this awful overheating problem (dusty hardware -___-), and I had to rely on my friend's PC instead... I was glad when I got mine back, though it took me a week and some £45 to get it sorted! Then came the point where we had to find a place to record the voices. We started in one of the group study rooms in the library. Then when we realised how bothersome it was to us and to others, we proceeded to Merlyne's room, where I did the rest of the vocals for the song.

Now, I listen to it and I feel it's a mixed bag. But I guess people who are either self-critical, or want to constantly improve themselves, may feel the same way. May. I'm not saying they will. There's always the possibility is all. I can't say I'm self-critical, but in hindsight, whatever I do now seems to be better than whatever I first did. Although this isn't always the case.

My song is the song of Kingdom of Herts. Our song is called Juventud.

It's almost time for me to lay me down to sleep. If anyone should come across that track at all (in any manner possible), please, do be so kind to let me know.

I bid all of you cheerio and goodnight.
May the best men in the NG CD project win!

UPDATE 12.11.2011 1:36 GMT : I did not get into the final Newgrounds CD project, but I'm glad I at least tried. I'm glad Christo, Mark and I at least tried.