Hi everyone! I haven't been around much lately, but I used to be super active on here. You don't get to be a Sup. Commander with a Deity whistle by accident, after all.

I'd like to introduce you all to something I've been spending my time on recently: writing and sudoku. Which is technically two things, but I have managed to smash them together in a unique way that nobody's ever done before. It's basically a National Treasure-style adventure told in second-person, so instead of "he does this" it's "you do this", which makes the reader the protagonist. Whenever the Protagonist encounters a puzzle to solve, the reader has to solve a puzzle to gain access to the next part of the adventure. It's incredibly immersive in that way. I call it an Adventure Hunt.

After the first one was well received by fans of Cracking The Cryptic, I ran a Kickstarter campaign to continue the story, which was also successful. After that campaign concluded, I created a website so that anyone who missed the campaign can still contribute and get the same rewards. As it stands, the unlocked rewards are:

1. A bonus sudoku hunt, which is a series of connected sudokus - released
2. The first Adventure Hunt, The Jewels Of Osiris (based on Egyptian mythology), revised and updated
3. The campaign Adventure Hunt, The Tidings Of Minos (based on Greek mythology)
4. A bonus puzzle hunt, which is a series of connected puzzles
5. A third Adventure Hunt (details not released yet)

If you think this is something that might be of interest to you, or if you just like a good story and solving puzzles, please do check out the project's website dimono.ca and consider backing the project and joining the community. I'm very excited about where this is all going, and I hope some of you will join me on this journey.

Onward!

After an intensive weekend of training, I am now one more weekend away from being a certified SCUBA diver. And that was pretty much my entire weekend.

On Christmas Eve, I had to turn down nookie because of the setting. It was a good season.

I'm giving him something that I'm re-gifting. It originally came to me from him. I am the ballsiest son in the world.

On Saturday I participated in and completed Tough Mudder Toronto. My left knee looks like a war zone and my left big toenail is almost fully bruised, and I have bandaids on both elbows, and I couldn't be prouder of myself.

Yesterday afternoon they pulled my friend David Dreger's body from the river in Vancouver. He will be missed.

Anyone in the Vancouver area, a good friend of mine named David Dreger (Knuckles Dawson online) went missing on Sunday. Police are out searching for him, but every pair of eyes is helpful. If you're in the area and want to do some good, visit the Find David Dreger Facebook page for current information.

So if you read my previous entry, I laid out a bunch of personal rules for instances where I'd give a submission a zero. Mostly that was just to get it off my chest, because I was frustrated at seeing yet another crappy "beta" submission, and no, you shouldn't adopt the list as your own; each submission should be judged on its own merits, because that's how the portal is meant to work.

But.

When you come across a submission that matches one of those criteria, pay attention to its quality. My news entry was me venting, but I didn't pick the things I included there at random. With the exception of the work-in-progress one, I'm pretty sure you'll find that the vast majority of submissions that match one of those criteria - and damn near 100% of submissions that match more than one - are bad. Don't take my word for it - never take someone else's word for something you can test yourself - but pay attention. The trends are out there.

I've come up with some personal new rules for how I judge submissions.

If you go out of your way in your submission description to point out that it's your first one, I'm giving you a 0.

If you submit a video (not Flash) submission that's less than 2MB, I'm giving you a 0.

If you submit a "teaser" or a "work in progress," I'm giving you a 0.

If you submit anything non-html that's smaller than 100KB, I'm giving you a 0.

If you say in your submission description that you made it in any amount of time less than 1 hour, I'm giving you a 0.

The Portal should be for finished, polished works that are high quality. If you're just fucking around and uploading the results of it, or you're posting to get feedback before continuing, that's what the NG Dumping Grounds are for. Use them. Only upload things to the Portal if they're finished and you're proud of them, because that's what it's for.

"Be nice, this is my first animation."

Or artist comments along those lines.

If it's your first ever animation, it's probably garbage. And it's probably going to be blammed, or else end up with a score of about 1.3 after it passes judgment. Not only that, but you are fully aware that it's garbage and will probably be blammed. So why are you bothering to upload it at all? If you want tips and feedback, put it in your Dumping Grounds. Seriously, it's literally what it's there for.

Look, I get that you're excited about completing something in Flash and you're eager to share it with the world. But I also know that you are acutely aware of whether it's terrible. And that line in the artist comments about how it's your first animation and please don't judge it harshly? I guarantee that only makes people reflexively give it a 0, because it lets them know that you think it's bad and they will actually vote on that assumption without even viewing your submission.

If you really want to put your first ever animation through the Portal, you're absolutely allowed to do that. I think it's a terrible idea, but nobody's going to stop you. Just leave out the pity request in the artist comments. Let your submission be judged on its own merits, without trying to sway that judgment either way. By including it, you're only being unfair to yourself.