I realize updates have been scarce, i apologize. I've had my hands full with a few projects, along with trying to nail a job for the coming months. But i've had fun, a trip to MOA is always nice (made better with the charming company).
HeroesofMightandMagic.com announced a contest for fans dream heroes 6 town, Heroes 6 being the next heroes game to be released(The only reason we know this is because heroes 5 is out, and we assume 6 will follow 5 though Nival has yet to announce ANY plans whatsoever of there actually being a Heroes 6. We can dream, can't we?) The mechanics of making such a town had minimal appeal to me, but the idea of revamping one of my favorite towns that languished in HOMM 5 was too much fun. (i'm talking, of course, about the Necropolis) I decided to turn pencil to paper and redesign the artwork for the Necropolis, which i may scan and post of the Heroes Forums once finished, and perhaps here as well. The problem was attempting to make them a true casting town, and though Magic fits the PREMISE of Necromancy, the creatures themselves suffered to the degree of needing magic present in virtually every conflict to support them, lest they be overwhelmed and get their bony undead asses kicked. This not only breaks the root ideas of Necromancy(Magic abounds OUTSIDE the battlefield, being used to summon bad-ass creatures to do your bidding, not sniveling whelps who need to be walked through every battle they fight.) but also breaks the Necropolis town of HOMM 3, the game considered the golden standard by which all other Heroes games MUST adhere. The challenge that came with this was to fix the art. In heroes 3, the designers were FAR from hung up on looking sexy. Many creatures looked downright goofy/ugly/foolish, as did many a hero portrait. But this went unnoticed by many players, so blown away they were with fact that the game ROCKED like none before. And players grew to love their hideous creatures and ugly heroes like children, and now observe them with fond memories.
But in Heroes 5, the designers made the mistake of trying to make their creatures cool, sexy, awesome. While some creatures have been changed for the better(or at least, they still look good) many could look better. With Heroes 6 hopefully on the way, people are remembering how often the developers take a serious look at fan sites for input and ideas, with Heroesofmightnadmagic.com being one of the big ones. One can only hope they do so again (and that i have something worth presenting by then).

My other project has been what is still unofficially called "Tabletop Magic."
The idea arose from my interest in commanding hordes of creatures across landscapes to meet and engage enemy forces, executing pincer movements, sudden ambushes and brutal charges. I scoured the internet looking for games of this ilk, that i might pick up on one and have something new for my free time. Sadly, many games were out of my scope for a variety of reasons, not the least of which were cost, complexity and availability. I wanted something simple, and better yet, close at hand. It was at this point i turned to my Magic cards, a hobby i have been active in for many years and always enjoyed whenever i could play. Unfortunately for me, Magic has of late been taking the same sci-fi pills WOW seems to have overdosed on, turning away for european and Gothic fantasy based styles and embracing that campy 70's "War of the Worlds" feel. In small doses one could accept it, but having it rammed down your throat gets a little old. Anyway, i had soon devised a system of play style taking into consideration physical location on a pre-set battlefield and using my vast collection of old magic cards as the creatures, spells and general forces of the new game. I was helped in no small part by my friend Colin, who has always harbored an interest in the same battlefield commandeering around which i was building the game. We played several games, and i've been wrestling with rules and kinks ever since, trying to make a fun game we can all play. So far, we seem to have met with success, and gained a newfound respect for the people who work R&D and any other field of gaming. I hope i can continue to improve on the play style and make a winner.

I also recently began mixing my own music, something i've not done for years, my old mixes lost to time and general chaos. But i've stumbled on some truly nifty software programs, so hopefully i can begin were i left of on that little snippet of interest.

And finally i launched my WOW guild, the Celtic Legion, which is slowly, thanks mostly to the overwhelming generosity of Mith, one of the guilds co-founders.
Truly a great guy. But thats happening, so i've guild matters that require a bit of attention now and again.

Side note! True celebration over the new Warcraft 3 patch, which FINALLY negates the the need to have a disc in the computer to launch the game. Which is good, since my group of friends were passing around one single disc among three people, and it was wearing a bit thin, coupled with the fact that my TWO copies of the game mysteriously vanished some time ago.

Sooo, I may try so set up some artistic projects soon with Izabeth, if only to post something while killing time waiting for Starcraft 2 to come out.
But seriously, works in progress and all that. I'm out.