Updates Archives
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No, of course we can't do anything new! Why would we expect that? We can, however, take something old and turn it into something awesome, which is exactly what has happened with Escape the Dark Legion!
Which, for the month of July, is available for donations of $5US or more, which is half off the normal price.
A few of the changes, all affecting the full version (Hopefully an updated demo will be coming soon):
What are you waiting for? Can't/don't wanna donate $5 to the "let's make awesome stuff (and not starve)" fund? We're still willing to accept some kind of useful service instead of money--voicework, documentation, coding, translations, various forms of art, etc (don't forget that The Legend of Lu Chao is still in development!). Perhaps drop us a line at the forums?
The Legend of Lu Chao is coming along just wonderfully! And by just wonderfully, I mean "Gaaaah Amazon why won't you accept my account information!!1!"
April Fools aside, yes, the Legend of Lu Chao is in development, and yes, we're running behind, and no, it's not going to die, because even a one-person show can only stay in the pit of doom for so long... and this one already has some awesome people helping behind the scenes.
This does, however, bring us to our next point: not only have we updated the audio games page, but took the plunge of pretension and added a donation button, because we haven't managed to create a Kickstarter page yet. Also, kinda accidentally released two things today:
A quaint little sword fighting game, in which you, using only your ears and your choice of keyboard or mouse, must fight off a never ending supply of pointy-thing-wielding enemies. Not only can they kill you, but they can also mame you! Enjoy! The Jeqocon Console has an update that adds braille display support (for NVDA and Jaws, at least), and makes the movement much less clunky and more mainstream-like. This also involves the ground work for a possible new game or two. And no, I'm not linking it on the home page, because it's the most common cause for bandwidth explosions. (Hmm, I wonder how we could possibly afford more bandwidth...).
So, there you go. If you're blind or can tolerate not seeing what you're doing, we have some digital toys (digitoys?) for you to play with. And if you're feeling generous, you can hop over to the audio games page, scroll to the bottom, and help us afford actual graphics. Or buy DLE, whichever. :P
</begging>
This isn't content so much as a firm schedule-setting.
The Jeqo production schedule for 2012/2013 is now posted. If this succeeds through the end of 2012, consider it highly likely that we will see the release of The Legend of Lu Chao next year.
No, we are, in fact, not dead!
Remember our old friend, Escape the Dark Legion? Well, this game (can we call it a Jeqo Classic?) has been majorly updated... to the extent that we feel slightly ok with the three versions (one for $10.00 USD) on its very own page!
Just in case you're wondering why, exactly, a paid version of something you've been able to play for free for nearly five years is available... well, the differences between versions is pretty significant! The online version is still prompt-and-alert-based. There is a beta of the commercial version available, and you should notice the differences right away! The full version includes roughly three times the content, and several additional features, such as learnable skills, more character history hiding throughout the world, and... did we mention three times the content?
For anyone familiar with Extreme Clashers in any capacity, that means that the full version covers more than the first book (we're running about eight years behind on that, aren't we? Hey, I gave you the ok for angry mobs years ago!). That is, what was planned as three installments, plus the intro to another, and hints at even more, all for what would doubtless be less than what authorhouse would force us to charge for a paperback of the crappy 2004 version of just the first part. Of course, it's only $10 for a couple reasons (my general hesitance to demand money being one, the mixed quality of some of the sounds being another. Also, it's a game targeted more toward visually impaired users, and I'd rather avoid the trend of making things ridiculously expensive when they're aimed at a disabled market).
Oh, and on that note, there is now an audio games page. This is separate from the main games page, because... well... the main games page was supposed to be targeted toward people who can see (and look how that turned out? -_-). Audio Games are interesting in that they are meant to be accessible to anyone who can hear (how well a player needs to hear will depend on the specific game), but don't go for the tons of pretty pictures that are practically a requirement for most sighted gamers. Maybe, one day, when audio and video can stand together as one, big ball of gamey funness, the two pages will be merged. Until then, I don't want a repeat of what happened the last time I tried introducing an audio game to a picture-heavy community.
On suggestions from the fine people at Audiogames.net, Escape the Dark Legion, better known as DLE, has been updated. Mostly with things that make gameplay more user-friendly. Of note is that the stats window now only displays minor enemies that are nearby (but lists all DL members, still...), and that 'C' and 'T' function as generic talk-to-people commands.
... What? Something new? I... ur... hey, look, Alligators! *Ninjasmokebomb*
Odds are that most visiters are already familiar with "Alligators Die at Dawn", but eh, it's on Youtube now. In fact, look out below:
Oh, and ... the next arc of Taoe is written. Guess that should be posted, eh?
(... What? You want an MP3 download of the song? Oh, fine...)
I'm gonna use a blockquote+list for today's stuff!
TAOE Episode 24 Is out, completing season 1! All of the music released thus far has been compiled into a zip file, including two season 2 songs and some alternate versions of Season 1 songs! And Jeqo Legends has seen a huge update!
JL probably won't see much else in terms of updates because of its shere size. The next section of Taoe will likely make it, and if sequels to PS and EC ever see the light of day, they'll probably make it. But a text game doesn't need to be that huge if it's this style.
Have fun; low on time!
Will be out of town for the weekend, so getting in this week's astounding two episodes of TAOE up early.
Episodes 22 and 23 of TAOE are indeed available. It looks like we're in a big mess this time... oh, and some huge flashbacks. But they're awesome and explainy! And there won't be any in episode 24... so stay tuned for next week!
Oh, and there are two new songs as well, one old one, and one new one.
In addition to the conclusion of this season of TAOE, next week you should expect to see JL updated with the whole of the season, along with something on the music side of things...
And with Taoe Episode 21, we enter into the four-part finale of this season. Yeah, originally the episode list said 23 episodes, but another episode's-worth became necessary to cover everything.
The previous twenty episodes not been big enough a scale for you? The secondary cast been too annoying and pointless for you? Well, the scale just got bigger, and... well... I'll leave the rest to the readers to decide.
Expect not one, but two episodes next week. Mainly because they're both dominated by a lengthy flashback, and because the ending to 23 should remind us of the present crisis. With any luck, episode 24 will come with a JL update, but if that's not done on time, expect a few other bits of content to go along with the dramatic conclusion!
Time for Taoe Episode 20, in which a bunch of stuff goes somewhere. But it's just getting started... After all, the four-part finallli begins next week! Oh, and there's a song that has nothing to do with this week's episode, too!
Might have some non-music extras coming soon, I dunno. Would move the past updates to the archives, but timing continues to be against this...
Taoe Episode 19 is out. And a new song, too.
We're aware that there are some typo-like things in there. They'll be fixed, but since part of the concept of a virtual series is to treat it as though it's on a tight schedule (*cough*), corrections will wait until season1 is completed. ... Not that a couple things in the first four episodes weren't swiftly corrected, or anything...
Taoe is back on schedule with Episode 18. Ok, so reallly this was mostly padding, but there's still enough important stuff to make it worth skimming (though I tell you to read the whole thing and comment and leave feedback!. :P ).
And hey, more music!
Not hanging on to the schedule by a thread anymore, so things should be far more stable for the next month, at least.
Authorhouse keeps trying to get me to release something in E-Book format through them. Wait, didn't Planet Seva have an E-Book release? Yeah, I'm pretty sure it did... Eh, that's marketing for you.
There was a problem with Taoe episode 15. Fixed it! No time to say more, sorries!
Behold, Taoe gets two episodes today, along with two songs.
The songs have a bit of backstory; why not check out the series blog to read on that? (Wait, you want me to write a more coherent explanation? Oh, hey, look, a parenthesis!)
Oh, let's go ahead and have a little contest. There's something special about episodes 14, 16 and 17 of Taoe. If you think you know what it is, or want *cough* more details, pop into this forum thread and post something!
And in case anyone's wondering, I have, in fact, not forgotten about the other five Jeqo series. What that means in the short-term... I don't quite know, but... keep it in mind.
Ouch, what... but I just... ur... *hickup*.
Remember that TAOE? It's been updated, even though I haven't mentioned it. Episodes 13, 14, and 15, in fact. And episode 14 got a song, too!
Taoe episode12 is out. I half feel like giving my thoughts on it now, but that's what the blog is for, yes?
Updating the main page every time a new episode comes out really should happen, but so far we've missed two such updates. But the RSS feed is typically up-to-date. So go ahead and subscribe.
No idea what extra will go with next week's episode. Does a JL update sound good? Sure, noone cares about Jeqo Legends, but by the same token, noone is likely to read this before next Saturday.
Despite the lack of an update, Taoe episode9 went up as scheduled. I won't describe this any further than "Crazy Fieron Shinanigans, and someone else...".
And Episode 10 is also out. It would seem that Taoe is needed to investigate a place that has been inexplicably pumped full of gamma rays (never mind that one doesn't pump photons...). This can only lead to trouble... read to find out what kind!
And this might count as the most horrible bit of "music" to come out of C. A. E. Jones ever. That ridiculous thing from third grade wins everywhere but "raa!".
Guess what, Taoe episode 8 is out. Dramatic climactic struggle for survival? The Keys Arc coming to a head, with lots of epic action? Go read it! :P. It turned out to be a lot of fun to write, so hopefully it's as much or more fun to read.
There might be something else coming this weekend. It probably depends on how cooperative the server is.
Back with Episode 7 of TAOE. The Keys arc approaches its climax, the Kro reveal their agenda, and Taoe gets into a very painful situation...
This week's extra... a short midi from 2003 inspired by a bandmember's reaction to a part of the first version of a scene in today's episode. You can tell it's one of the earlier midis I made because of how disorganized the percussion is, and how the rhythm falls apart in the last section. Among other things. XD.
Episode 5 and Episode 6 of TAOE are finally out!
... That's it. ^^. I suppose the updates for January and the first half of February have been archived, if anyone cares. And I got tired of links opening in a new window from this page, so I changed that.
As mentioned in a Blog Post a few days ago, technical problems have delayed the release of Taoe Episode 5. The episode is written; it just can't get to the internet. So expect episodes 5 and 6 to both be released next week.
But we do have something new!
Remember our (not) Award-winning 2005 text game, Jeqo Legends? It's finally been updated to cover the first four episodes of Taoe, including ten-ish new characters and a jq (Some manner of story-mode-type thing) for this arc, as well as three new arenas. Check it out, perhaps. Just be aware that since it's javascript, you might have to poke your web browser a bit (In IE7+, you can just press alt+n > space after the page loads and the "allow blocked content" menu comes up.).
Until next time... Jump 3!
Computer's being difficult, so just letting you know that Taoe episode 4 is out. And there's a song in the extras. Gotta run!
Taoe Episode 3 is out (blog post). And there's a song, too.
That's... it. But there might be more coming soon...
Behold: Taoe is coming along right on schedule, with episode1 and episode2 virtually availible to the virtual public! And there's a song, too.
Expect there to be updates every week as new episodes are released, but that doesn't necessarily mean nothing else will happen... *says no more for now*.
What are you still doing standing around here? get reading!
Hi, expecting-new-layout-five-years-ago Fans!
Want free Jeqostuff to come out on a weekly basis with some manner of oquality control? Of course you do!
Well, starting this Saturday (January 23, 2010), the TAOE Virtual Series will launch!
Don't get too excited... it's mostly screenplays, though there will be quite a few other things to go along with them (and we'll leave it at that).
In preparation, we've put up the episode list on the series main page. (There may still be some dead links there that should be filled in soon). For some reason, we also decided to create a series blog, and hopefully there will be an RSS feed to go along with the first episode, so that you can subscribe and be automatically notified of new episodes and content!
I meant to archive the Halloween update, what with it being a new year and all, but time runs short, somewhy. So... Happy Newyear?
Umm, BOO!
So still no layout update, no re-release of Planet Seva, no Extreme Clashers release, and no... ur.... Hey, where are you going? There's stuff!
Not blockquote/list-worthy stuff, but Let's do that anyway. :P
• Jeqo 2009 Halloween Special~!. With some random not-during-storylines events that conveniently result in a few characters a few people might recognize doing random stuff. ^^. Painfully long-winded, but it's writing, right? • Media page Updated with a bunch of stuff! Since Geocities is closing, we threw up a .wav version of ... This. • And there's a fun Jeqo / Herendil Halloween 2009 song-thing!. Well, I had fun with it, anyway. ^___^. More fanservice than anything. And An instrumental version is up as well!
And before I lose my ability to update... Happy Halloween!
This summer kinda died. We've really got to stop letting that happen...
Well, Putfile kinda exploded, and the podcast has vanished in the confusion. The original recordings still exist, though; just... probably not on the internet.
While tiny things have been happening here and there, nothing that constitutes news. Well, ok, if losing yet another bit of something doesn't count... but it wasn't really mensioned or anything, so no... losses... right? ...
And as you can see, the layout update is still ... still. Boo.
Avast! Time be scarce!
No, really... if it wasn't, the new layout would totally be up. (On that note, Any manner of comments on how you'd want that to look will be appreciated...).
But hey, there's something significant about this day, right? (Well, as I understand it, this day got landed with a lot of significance... .........).
So since TAOE Volume III is... "finished", I'm going to go ahead and put upt the majority of what remains to be posted from it in the members' area.
I am planning on doing some format changes with TAOE, revising the first bits to be more serious (since the script thing wound up being the whole story...), and maybe doing some more fun stuff with it. But for now, just another 25 pages of text. Bwahahaha! (And another 20 pages isn't getting posted yet. With any luck, you'll discover why soon enough.).
Anyway, that layout update. I'm not telling anyone to expect anything, but were I to guess, if it's not this week, it's probably not until the first couple weeks of May. Ooh, ouch...
Site redesign is now in progress. Sorta.
Basically, all of the *cough* major pages (in the planetseva.com/ directory, anyway) have been copied, and soon (hopefully as soon as I save this update) the process of making versions with a consistent layout will commence.
Don't get your hopes up on it being done this month, though. (Heh a week and a half =P ). Yeah, we've got the structure template (templet?) made, and with one or two details I forgot in the past ten minutes, we can start using that as a base for updating pages. The stylesheet isn't complete, though (A wonderful time to decide I can't decide on how the navigation should be colored...), and the goal is to have enough of that done when the update goes live that the new layout can be field-tested, so to speak.
But hey, it's been a good three months since the last update (again), so surely this isn't all we have to show for it?
Well, no, it isn't, but...
• Planet Seva rewrite? Not so much. • Extreme Clashers? *pokes review team*. I said it'd be out this time last year. Well, no, I didn't say it quite like that, but yeah. (What's wrong with this is that noone trusts someone who puts out deadlines and fails to meet them. Which is kinda why I phrased it like I did in the podcast. :P. ). • The Legend of Lu Cha~-what? Um, progress! There was progress! Really! Um, except that we started over after the great... umm... Well, There's a podcast on it.... Seriously, though, it's not dead. Been on break for a few weeks now, but... • - Taoe? Well, the whole Volume 3 thing isn't moving quickly, but something else is... and that's all I'm saying. ::sneak:: • Does anyone really want me to upload that "I got bored over the summer and threw this together" Jeqo/Firebird fighting game whose graphics are far from intuitive? XD • Oh, I put up a podcast somewhere in there, but I don't think I linked it outside of the forums. (Well, more than one forum was involved...). Technical issues and *cough* occupational hazards have put this show on hiatus, but I'm hoping to get it going again soon (though, say, one or two thousand US dollars would certainly help. ^^ ).
That's all I can think of for now, and time is of the essence. With luck, when next we meet, this place will be prettier.
Smeershkahoovin to all!
Not much to report, but since there's no telling when the next update will happen, we've gone and squeezed one in at the last minute.
Well, other than some secret projects slowly but surely coming along, little has happened. Extreme Clashers is still awaiting final reviews, the Lost Episode of Taoe hasn't reappeared, and everything else is pretty classified. (And as you may have noticed, no stylesheets. Boo.).
I did throw up a few midis in the Multimedia section. Actually, these went up back in October, but the update was interrupted (Which is trying very hard to happen right now... >.<). Also, a couple broken links were fixed, so pretty much everything in there should work (although some of the mp3 and wav files periodically don't work (Freeservers~!), and a couple things are externally linked, so I can't say much about their reliability). Anyway, check that out, and maybe we'll finally get that bloody book we've been talking about for four years released... :(.
It seems we owe people a bit of an update, as a fair bit of stuff has been happening.
First, the big one: major revisions of Extreme Clashers are pretty well complete. Our review team is currently picking the final draft apart, which means some more stuff needs doing (Hopefully a lot less than three years worth this time. ^_^). So we can expect this thing sent to the printers ... within the year, at least. ... right? Review team? *nudge nudge*.
Now, the explanationing. EC was actually finished back in July. The podcast has been on hiatus since the previous update in May, and on June 13 our primary computer kinda... malfunctioned. Only this week have we got an alternate means of internet access that lasts more than ten hours a month and isn't on dialup (Hey, the early days were all from dialup!).
So long story short, we have huge technical issues that might be tough to fix in the short term. (That, and the malfunctioning of our "internet conference and audio" computer makes it easier to work on actual content stuff, as I will explain in the following paragraphs). And I was kinda hoping to work on some manner of redesign for planetseva.com as a whole over the summer, but that didn't happen.
But wait, there's more? Well, a little, anyway. Lots of notes stuff. But we have come up with a few halfway tolerable systems for a couple different styles of *ahem* electronic software games. Essentially this started out as "I am so sick of taking notes and never finishing these big high-quality projects. I want something I can make and add to easily and actually do something with!". And that's pretty much what happened, resulting in a quaint little fighting game (No, it isn't going online in the incredibly near future), some manner of failed RPG system, and some manner of Planet Seva / Herendil crossover sidescroller action thingy that's... hmm... half complete, maybe? (pending graphics. . .).
But I suppose if that's not enough for you, I _could_ put up some new midis (or upgraded stereo versions of old ones... though those are still not online, so they're new anyway. :P ). Getting any different format at the moment is a bit treacherous due to our technical problems (I'd not mind putting up a comparison of the four or five soundbanks I have access to...), so no MP3s today. On that note...
Yes, CAEJones and Wolfstar have recorded a podcast for the Fall 2008 Season. Yes, it's on the malfunctioning computer. No, I haven't had success at so much as trying to edit it sense recording. So despite that I had every intention of relaunching the podcast by this month, circumstances resist.
We're not done yet.
This website needs fixing! Which most likely involves CSS. Which... CAEJones doesn't like. The website isn't exceptionally easy to navigate, the main page isn't functioning properly, and darn it, there isn't that much useful information here (the updates are the most interesting thing, other than maybe the stuff in the Members' area).
In addition to this "Redesign if you want to take your work seriously" rennovation thingy, it's becoming increasingly apparent that we're going to need some manner of reorganization of resources, technologies in particular. As You may recall, finances aren't our strong point. (Psst: anyone read Planet Seva? Compare that to this enormous post...).
So, what does this mean for those of you who are kinda hoping for stuff to speed up again?
Honestly, we have no clue. Presumably we've got some manner of reliable network access for now, and we can keep you posted as things develop. Various things are approaching releasability, but various other setbacks are showing up. So it may be a bumpy ride. CAEJones isn't immensely patient over here (There's a somewhat funny story in that involving 12 hours of audio, the magical return of the internet, and a Chinese holiday... but we won't go into that...), so the Jeqo goal for now is: get stuff released and get organized so that we can claim some manner of quality... before Spring 2009! (Gotta love the extremely open-ended non-specific goals. ^_^.).
So, until next time... The power is yo--*Hides from lawsuit*
PS: Don't email us. Guest post on the forum or something instead. Fixing this will be part of our redesign, whenever it happens...
Podcast episode 0016 is now available. ... Go listen. :P.
Though, several things have happened since said recording... well, not several... but... umm... yeah... ............. lots of progress with Extreme Clashers. Progress on Taoe was also in existence, then got eaten by technology.
(Psst... anyone here abouts that is decent at computer graphics? Visually impaired author + java3d/flash/Etc = very little productivity... )
Ok, ok, so we anounced EC like four years ago... and then said it should be out first quarter 2008 (If I had to guess, I'd say this is the second quarter...). Well, no, we didn't actually say it would be out first quarter 2008... only that anything after such would be open for complaints. (Complain~!). Do I expect it'll be done this month? Bwahaha, of course not! Best outcome would be this round of rewriting is done this month (if not this week), and then final proofreads/revisions/etc in June, then release in time for school to start back... but we've tried optamism before. (*tries it again anyway*).
So much for proffessionality. . .
(Oooh, new poll idea! Wait... ... ... that requires that the rest of the site is fixed...)
speaking of fixing... I think I'mma gonna go try and track down all the comments forms and modify them so they actually work. Which probably means robots will start attacking like mad. Oh well...
Seems I wasn't kidding about that delay. Nevertheless, Podcast episode0015 is out! (Ok, so we had it yesterday... and Tuesday... but there was a three hour drive... and a concert... and a radio shack... and Marvel Vs. Capcom without a memory card...)
*ahem*. So Episode0015 starts a discussion of how character development, origins, and other stuff has changed over time (So maybe it's another saga of the "How our writing has changed" series? With some twists?). Sticking to the usual trend... this episode is long and rambly. I can predict that the next one won't be, though... And should come out on time...
(Anything after episode0016 is pretty uncertain, though. So... There you have it.)
Is that all? Well, the remainder of Taoe Vol. 3 (That needs a website other than the members' area, doesn't it?) is coming along... nicely? (And resulted in sunburns. =P ). Once again, no idea when it'll be done and online. I do, however, suspect that something is going to change format/style/something-wise after this volume, which may well lead to the previous volumes being declassified (and revised; the first two lines of dialogue in Volume one are brain-bleedingly out of character...).
In the meantime... the Podcast email address is back up? (I guess I should go check things... maybe there's something else to update with...)
Ok, enough crappy rambling. Until next... week?
Hey, umm, hi! So it seems the podcast got put up a few days late this week... No excuse, other than perhaps the paranormal...
Egh, 14 isn't a good episode, anyway!
There's news! But first, I will say that Podcast episode 0015 will probably be late, given that these next couple weeks will be loads of hectic for the hosts... but we'll hang in there if you will!
And now, to the news!
First, more Taoe up in the Members' area! This winter, as has been mentioned before, pretty much disappeared from the spacetime continuum, so we've only got... less than 9000 words for this installment. (Though that keeps the plot for this one pretty self-contained, other than references to the previous two volumes, of course...). It is sort of two-fronted, but we think both parts fit together well enough... but hey, what do you think?
In other news? EC's... not dead. (Planet Seva's big re-release would be coming along more quickly, too, if not for the whole geographical separation between computers thing...). So I guess that Angry Mob warrantee is... kinda... expired... Hehehehe... though... it'll get done this year, most likely... and... ... *ninjasmokebomb*!
Mildstone? I actually wanted to update on Saturday, because it happens to have been the fourth aniversory of Planet Seva's original publication. Celebrationing? I dunno. Think of something, and let us know!
On that note, I think I have the main email address up and running again... not sure, because I avoid the "new and improved" email system like the plague (shouldn't do that if I want people to give us feedback, huh? Hehehehe...). Maybe I'll go add the podcast address again (since Freeservers ate it) after posting this. It ate a couple others, too, but those were more obscure, anyway. (either the fanfiction or pics addresses. Meh. For now, cajones, then an at symbol, then planetseva.com should compose the email address of contactness. I don't even know if I can respond, though, so private inquiries might be best sent elsewhere... Nah, this site needs a contact page.).
Main page, site layout, all of that good stuff... needs an overhaul. Is it going to happen? We'll see.
It seems I forgot to update when the previous episode of the podcast went up. Oopse...
But as a bonus, we get today's episode too, so go check out episode 13 of the Jeqo-Firebird podcast! This week's episode is less than fifteen minutes in length, and it seems like most of it has something happening (even if said happening is just... strange... carrot-hating muscles...). And hey, check out the first ten seconds, at least! (well, 10.7, but...).
Other news? Uh... songs... and... music... and... programming ideas... and... first half of Taoe Vol. 3 might go up soon? (I finished most of the first half today, though there's one important bit that still needs doing. I'll warn though that this part will feature a good bit of multi-scening... :D.).
Internet Explorer 7 randomly stopped playing embedded sounds a week or so ago, which... made trying to play certain games difficult. (Not impossible, I just don't like playing without sound. You can if you'd like. :P.). In my quest to fix the JRE plugin, I discovered what the problem was (though not how it happened), and I think this might be useful information for people that want to check out some of our JS-based games either with or without sound (loadtime on The JF IM adventure TAG is pretty huge... not so much if sound is disabled).
So, you simply need go to (in IE7 mind you, though it might work in other versions): tools -> manage add-ons -> Enable or disable add-ons. For sound, you'll probably want to look under "add-ons that have been used by internet explorer", though if you can't find the right items there, other pages will do. In particular, you'll be looking for ActiveMovieControl (the <embed> object likes to use this), and then the AUDIO__WAV Moniker (And probably go for AUDIO__MP3 Moniker as well). All three of those should be enabled if you want to use sound; disabled otherwise.
... We'll get to the feedback problem eventually! In the mean time, yell at Freeservers for screwing up our Email!
Finally, the podcast is on the road again. Kinda had it for an extra ... two weeks... in there... but... there we are. Decide if it's worth the wait! Umm... It's not. (But hey, the delay... might mean we're less likely to miss another week until May?)
Naturally, the podcast covers a lot of news... and very little such news has come out since (Wah, February and January... Tsk Tsk. March could go either way at this point...). I suppose the most important piece of news... well... I don't want to spoil it.... But, that kinda requires things to happen this week that... aren't so far.
Hey, but stuff has been happening! A lot of behind-the-scenes notes stuff that you aren't interested in, though. But still got the Jeqo RPG (AKA the legendary stalemate project) developing... this time, it looks like we might have some serious upgrading compared to the old plans. (No screenshots yet. :P. Though graphics for both java and javascript are being worked on... (and will still suck).). Well, yeah, the plan is to make it more than a mere text game--more indeed, even if we don't get the sub-spidercm graphics we're shooting for. Turns out there were still some javascript querks to be mastered (and still are, I suspect), and mix that with some ActiveXObjects (which incidentally favor Windows and IE), and even if we take the javascript route, you can expect (some browsers to support) a wide range of ... sound and voices and crappy graphics. (Blah, we might even throw in an immersion plugin and add another category of details! ... no promises.).
Ok, ok, so the hype is getting old. But the JF TAG demonstrates how much easier it is to get things done in a scripting language like Javascript as opposed to Java or c (both of which are far more powerful and cross-platform). We'll see, we'll see...
And... might we be seeing the next installment of TAOE sometime soon? Eh, more hype, I say! Though for preview purposes... the next volume of Taoe will be far more focused than the first two, though will be divided somewhat between two (codependent?) fronts...
Ok, I'm done now.
As predicted, Extreme Clashers ... isn't coming along very quickly. And as for TAOE... see the previous entry. :P.
But wait, we're not updating to say that nothing's happened...
Because there happens to be a new game! This was just kind of started on a wim, and wound up getting finished (well, mostly finished) in just a couple days, so... here you go!
Last March, Wolfstar started talking about a random idea in an IM conversation, and eventually it turned into a full story of sorts. So over the past weekend, it got turned into another Javascript text/audio game! Featuring a party system, vaguely puzzle-like tasks, and something resembling a coherent storyline, this seriously-in-need-of-a-title game is entertaining enough if you have an hour or two to waste. Though it does reference several Jeqo and Firebird things in a " you should already know what's going on " manner. Still, our non-existent fans might just have fun in this crossover-ful vaguely RPG-like adventure of ... action... and strategy. Rated E-10 for use of the word Crap and a requiring of reading skills. So maybe just rated "Everyone that can read and has a browser that won't explode when trying to play it".
And just in case you're wondering... The podcast is on schedule to start back up this week. Don't expect an episode before Friday, though.
Guh. Stuff's still happening, I assure you...
First: Podcast. It's definitely a two-player or more show at this point... so... that's all I'll say.
In other news... DLE finally got that update. I still won't call it completed, but most of the important stuff is there. But if the intros and such are too annoying, the old version is still online somewhere...
Remember our old friend, Jeqo Legends? Well, we haven't quite added anything yet, but since the original way the game starts makes "blaaaa security!" browsers spontaneously combust, the page has been completely remade. (So, no more of this infinte loop nonsense just by starting the game...). We also have an updates section at the bottom of the page, so... umm... look there to see what's in store. :P
A bit of TAOE news... first, the first bit of volume 2 is up in the members' area. That version's actually been done for some time... but the plan was to include more stuff that wound up being completely remodeled halfway through (hopefully our nonexistent readers will agree that's a good thing when the next section finally comes out).
The TAOE "card game" still isn't done. That's right... two months, and it's still not done! (Hello, I'd like to report a missing sanity...). Most of the character-specific things have been setup somewhat, though? Actually, there's a lot left to deal with, but what we have is significant enough to warrant a characteristic ambiguous mention.
A couple more things I'd much rather anounce on the podcast... which isn't continuing without a second person (I don't have a life and still don't get things done? Something's very wrong here...).
The most immediate item of interest may be the Extreme Clashers revisions are finally taking place. It seems impossible to stay on schedule... but things are still coming along. Let's see if psychology interferes here... if we set a target date, we usually wind up late by anywhere from one to ten days. So, let's say... revising should be done on February seventh (at this rate, that would be miraculous), final reviewing sometime in the next three or four weeks, and then we turn it over to the ever businessy authorhouse for printing. There's a lot more going on in the background, but I'll hold off until the time is more appropriate...
Email: Freeservers, our otherwise user-friendly webhost, took the liberty of melting their email service and replacing it with a gimmicky "click on the shiny stuff! New (useless) features! Who uses a keyboard with email, anyway?" program that I'd consider checking for legal problems had I a lawyer. Instead, I must inform you of several... changes that have occured as a result of our otherwise nice webhost's idiocy.
Our more important email addresses (cajones and podcast) have randomly disappeared. This screws up ... well... a lot! The comments forms, for instance, can't reach anyone now. With any luck these will be fixed shortly, but... yeah, drawback. Now, we could recreate these accounts. Or we could just forward things somewhere else, as I already said that the new email system is an accessibility abomenation. And Freeserver's alias system only forwards to internal addresses--so no more planetseva.com email addresses, as they just aren't worth checking.
So, for the time being, podcast comments should be directed at the forums, and meanwhile, we'll try to clean up the comments forms (though there are so many of them floating around that it's entirely possible that we might miss some...). So if anyone sent comments in the past two months and happens to be reading this... I'll probably open up guest posting on certain sections of the forums again for a while.
Speaking of the forums... minor cleanup efforts are occuring to pave the way for the stuff that is supposed to come out this year. Hopefully at least some of our reality-defying plans come to fruition.
For the first time this season the Jeqo Firebird Podcast is a day late... :( Well, blame it on having a lot of stuff going on earlier in the week (as Tuesday's update well indicates... :P). So we catch up on the news and discuss a few things; including a good deal concerning Firebird 2008 and some TC, so What are you waiting for?
More stuff! More clips up, this time the eleven minute and seven second Japanese Planet Seva intro... will we do the entire book in this format? Egh, who knows; but go ahead and check out this one...!
DLE: We have some issues updating the online version; the browser keeps crashing when saving is attempted. It will be resolved; but it will probably wait a bit for a few things to be wrapped up in the game (so yeah, less broken stuff for you to deal with).
With TAOE vaguely reveal'd and LC on the way, wouldn't it make sense for Jeqo Legends to have an update soon? Hmm...
Wait, is that all? :(. Well, DLE has been worked on since the last "update", and there is a good deal of stuff in store. That's... all I've got right now.
(*cough* voiceactors?)
And one more notice!
Our email service has undergone some serious overhauls with the start of december, so the fate of a great many things there is unclear; in the off chance that someone sent something in the past week, we apologize, but definitely haven't seen it yet. The system is completely different, and unless the remodeling was stupider than it looks already, things should fall into place soon; in the mean time, the forums are the best way to contact us.
Survived the Legend of Lu Chao demo day! Though not with much real progress (see the Forum thread for details...). But, we do have a few screencaps from the demo for those who want content, so for the first time since march 13 2005, the image gallery has been updated! Yay!
But hey, this site is called PlanetSeva.com, right? So how about some Planet Seva-related content? Well, that may have to wait until after the podcast, but there is a nice little barrage of new Jeqo audio files... In particular, a fifteen minute project for Japanese wound up being sort of a double feature, incorporating an EC clip, as well as the first two and a half chapters of Planet Seva, with a completely unrelated clip in between (which managed to confuse people with the transition. ^_^). These are abridged, of course... but considering how many times we've recorded the first few chapters of Planet Seva, there's no point in hiding it (that, and it's in Japanese, and not the highest quality in terms of... many things; these were rushed projects, after all, but may still be worth a look!). The EC clip covers an abridged version of the first chapter of Extreme Clashers and is only three minutes in length, so if you're pressed for time or just don't like big files (or putfile), go ahead and listen! Subtitles may or may not be forthcoming.
Podcast episode 0010 ... hasn't been recorded yet. If it's coming out tomorrow, it should be started like, as soon as this update goes online (there are quite a few things left to be done this week... I have to provide the answers to life, the universe and everything by 4:30pm... ^^). So, be on the lookout!
How about a DLE update? A lot more story elements not only exist, but flow better now! And there is a slight update to the controls--talking to people can be done with one command (any word starting with 'c') instead of a blank item or something (the item method is still available; old habbits die hard, after all). But it's not done, of course! The main issue is... Yesterday I was able to complete the entire story from a certain characters Point of View, without going past stage 1... which is a problem, because higher stages mean more goodies. And, I don't like having to restart to play another character's story (it takes a while to get through the whole thing, especially since the random maps get bigger the higher the level you're on). So there are three things that we should expect in the next update: the characters and their stories should be completish, the flow between the story stages and the overworld stages should be less disconnected, and a few other features should be added/cleaned up.
But if you were beginning to worry, Episode 9 of the podcast is indeed available! (No, I don't have spellcheck in notepad. :P). Naturally we mention the DLE update, and try to figure out what exactly it is (and... don't succeed). The Taoe Card game saw some editing over the break as mentioned in the podcast (not enough, and it won't be editable again until mid December). Oh, but that's not all... After all, Legend of Lu Chao presentation day is the fourth of december (next Tuesday!), and that's about the time the 2007 awards for Firebird's Baddest should close... so please, Check it out!
Umm, yeah, about that Taoe Card Game. For the most part the only addition was the battle engine, but it isn't quite complete (especially considering that no character specific attacks exist yet and the Enemy AI is non-existent).
Oooh, and something that wasn't mentioned in the podcast: the Jeqo RPG? Remember that? Umm... minor work on it over the break occurred. Still no promises, of course (The system is fairly complex now). It does give us a few options on how to distribute it, though; a Server-side or MMO format might even be possible (don't count on it, but maybe...).
Anything else? Not yet! But this Members' area artifact seems to be working again. (Declassified? waaa! This month's updates are getting archived with the next one, so this will probably be the only time it appears...)
So until next time... Umm... Catchpharse!
So, the Legend of Lu Chao game had its final pre-demo checkpoint on Monday. It looks like things are going ... smoothly. But not fast enough for us... What's that, more detail? Well, you might find that in this week's podcast! Or maybe the forum thread. Or if you just want to know now: Umm, the main menu works, sound works a lot better than expected, and we can move around in a room and sidescrolling ensues. Other than that, content is sorely lacking for this project, but that will change, what with a demo needing availability by December fourth.
In other news, DLE is seeing some serious updates, but those aren't online yet... no point in breaking a great flood of improvements until it's completed, right? Hopefully by the time it's over, the "story events" won't turn out to be super secret eastereggs of death (though, that doesn't mean there won't be any SSEEoD ®).
And for the record: the TAOE digital card game is lagging, as expected. But maybe it'll get done this weekend. Only time will tell...
As always, another episode of the Jeqo-Firebird Podcast is up. And... pretty fillerish and draggy, but we do hit some important points. Actually, quite a bit in Wolfstarland is making steady progress. That, and the Tralos Conspiracy and the Tralos Conflict are just plain awesome. So please, go read them!
As mentioned in the podcast, next week (either the 19th or the 20th) is the halfway checkpoint for the Legend of Lu Chao game. Which essentially means the mechanics of the world need to be working--not only does that not require the majority of the identifying elements to exist, but they almost definitely won't exist in any extreme form. Whether or not we'll have results by the recording of the next podcast ... can't say just yet. But expect nothing more than being able to walk around and not go through solid objects. Woohoo...
November is going slowly, as you may have noticed. So what oh what shall we do? Well, you could always tell us, or hope that eventually this insanity cools down enough for some serious content updates. Afterall, there is a Database of Jeqo information that is seriously lagging (Notice the last update ... date?). Actually, all of the information pages need a solid overhaul. And for that to happen, we need some schedule organization. In the mean time, though, we'll be satisfied with hearing what you think we should do with the main page. (Hmm, remember when the updates where in a tiny frame at the bottom of the page? :P ).
What's that, a new podcast episode?
Most of the news can be found in episode 0006 of the podcast, but in recap: LC is coming along slowly, NaNoWriMo isn't really happening in jeqoland, and... that's about it, oher than the tales from the Jeqomart store.
Hey, a comment! Ok, so since these are like, an average of 0.8 per year, viewing the whole page for one comment is kinda impractical, but... full stuff, along with old comments. In brief: we get asked if we have anything to do with another website that we've never heard of. Googling Seva can yield some...interesting results. ^_^
As usual, another podcast episode is out. Halloween and we get attacked by demons? Oh well; we still cover the news! Mostly Tralos and Herendil this week, which are well worth checking out!
As for Jeqo news, yesterday was structure presenting day for the Legend of Lu Chao game. Essentially this was just going over how the program will be structured, what files will be involved, class hierarchy and such. Now all we really need to worry about is... you know... actually finishing things. ^_^. Which didn't quite happen yesterday despite *cough* efforts.
And the Department store activity in Japanese is today. Hmm, how can we get a Jeqomart store into that while still utilising as much Japanese as possible? (the proboards Terms of Service forbids website sections in non-English languages for reasons of moderation... I.E, you can't moderate in a language you can't read. Though somehow I doubt they read anything here often, that little catch makes working in alternate language pages a bit difficult... though mirroring the site in another language wouldn't hurt, I think... Oh, right... this parenthetical happened because I was going to talk about what the Depaato already has.). We have a Keikiya (Cakery. ^^ desert-style bakery), housekiya (Jewler), Denkiya (Electronics store), and I'm not quite sure what the others are doing. "Jeiko maato" just doesn't fit the trend, but if you take a look at the banner and the cover (Where is that, anyway? Here, perhaps?), you may have an idea of what the Planet Seva bookmarks look like... (We're out of business cards. ^^. Or are we...). And a few other Cheap-Jeqo products can be pulled out of the air in the next 10 hours, which would force us to use more than just an office supplies store (naturally the shop whose japanese name escapes me at present)... egh, if anything interesting results, expect an update! ^^
Egh, and we might as well mention a little challenge on CAEJones' live journal (which hasn't been linked previously for reasons that may become apparent to anyone that has the patience to read the whole thing). The level of difficulty involved varies largely with what one knows, so I won't mention anything else here... (Only that a certain Wolfstar would be cheating to try. :P).
For now, that covers it. Remember that NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow... what does this mean? Only time will tell!
Episode 4 of the podcast is ready for playing! Catching up on last week's news commences, followed by a (not so) brief rundown of the history of Jeqo and its series. What are you waiting for?
There is little else to report on at present, but since the rest of the updates from this month are getting archived, we'll mention again that The Legend of Lu Chao is seeing a full game released with a release date (demo) of December 4 this year.
With NaNoWriMo a week and a day away, is it possible something Jeqo might happen? Let's not get our hopes up... but they can go ahead and exist...
Episode 3 of the Jeqo Firebird podcast is available! I think. Putfile's being a little stubborn with the demon known as Internet Explorer 7. This episode gives us a glimpse at the Jeqave, teaches us about motivation, and talks about Herendil and Jeqo Games, so check it out!
The Taoe Digital Card Game has made only minor progress, and since it only gets updated every two weeks, it probably won't be out for a month or two (But with consistency in order, it's not going to turn out like all of the other "coming soon" anouncements...). So far we've got the items engine apparently working, but a few things still need touching up, and fighting still isn't up and running. In the mean time, though, you can look around for the secret entrance to the members' area to read volume I in sarcastic script format!
Another Jeqo series may be on its way to the public; The Legend of Lu Chao, which pretty much lacks artistic value of any kind in its past incarnations, has a game in the works so it can be released without being a lame excuse for literature. What's more, it will almost definitely involve graphics and sound, and needs to be presented by December fourth of this year for academic reasons, so we might as well anounce it. In fact, we might just give the project its own page... but you're probably better off checking out the forums, since an LC section will likely appear by the time you read this. That's probably where we'll put up general information on the series (at least until we remodel the info pages), so check it out!
And we still need to do something with the screwy main page, so why don't you cast your vote, or tell us your thoughts!
episode 2 of the podcast is up! This week CAEJones and Wolfstar get into a discussion about one of Wolfstar's series, Atomic Blast Man, and speak a little about Extreme Clashers.
Some minor things have been added over the past week. The poll is still looking unused (=P), the Members' area version 3 or so is up and running, the multimedia section has a new item courtesy youtube, and it seems that some of the audio files that were corrupted last year are working again.
And there is that little question of what to do with The forums in terms of general cleanup; there's a topic over there for just that, and it's currently an anouncement so you don't have to look hard to find it.
That might just be all for this update, though something TAOE related should be on its way (should being the key word) in the near future.
A bit of Planet Seva related news: one of Authorhouse's relations people (Who does a pretty good job, I might add ^^) sent out one of the customary quarter offers; since Extreme Clashers has been on hold for quite a while, I decided to ask if this offer would extend to it. As expected it doesn't (applies to new contracts, which EC isn't), but I also got information on Planet Seva's current availability, which I'll quote below...
With the first book you published with us, if you let the DCAF (renewal) Fee lapse, it will not be available for orders at this time -- either the softcover or the e-book version. However, you can always reinstate it by paying the $100 reinstatement fee, and it will be available once again. If you are seeing listings for the book at online sites, that's not really an indication that it's available. They simply did not update their listings, which is something that's out of our control. There may be a handful of used copies that people are reselling online, but it's difficult to tell, as most such listings are really for new copies that 3rd parties are selling at a discount (they take the cut in profit, not you).
So it looks like we're at a roadblock of sorts. After recording this week's podcast (Which should barring catastrophe bee up by Wednesday), Wolfstar took a look at the listings for PS at Amazon, and confirmed that most are being sold by yet other distributers (most of which I've not heard of before..), so unless they somehow obtained those used copies they're claiming to be selling, most of their claims are probably out of date.
Wow, a POD book going out of print... sounds kinda backward, doesn't it? :D . Though don't expect this to go unresolved; there are plenty of options still remaining, and PS is indeed need of revisions... so who knows, maybe we'll see Planet Seva: Edition2 in the near future.
At any rate, stay tuned, and be sure to check out the podcast!
(Oh, and a bit of house-keeping: The version of DLE that went online apparently had a little error due to a last-minute addition. Should be fixed now.)
WE'RE BAAAAACK!!!
The past year has been amazingly hectic, but don't despair, Jeqo fans, because stuff has still been happening!
First, you'll notice a new podcast. For a number of reasons, CAEJones and Wolfstar decided to start a new series, this one incorporating not only Jeqo, but Wolfstar's stuff as well... Definitely check it out!
But hey, it looks like we just wrote one thing and started playing the web game for a few years, so let's prove that wrong real quickly...
The Members' area is seeing another overhaul (You know, since we actually aren't javascript n00bs anymore). And yes, our primary web browser is now in the Firefox/IE7 age, so we get to see all the annoying blocks thrown at JS programming in this "everything is a security threat" era.
On the topic of JS programming, Extreme Clashers has itself a new game that has evolved into the Tetsuo of text games... but any version that goes up with this update will be in demo form, because its insane mutant expansion has left a lot of things to be completed... but there is still enough to be playable! Originally a text version of a generic beat-em-up wander-around-the-map game, "Dark Legion Escape" has evolved into an adventure of bizarre proportions that could probably qualify as RPG/Adventure/whatever you want to call it... it's different every time you play it! Got some free time? Check it out!
As for EC, you probably know by now that Wolfstar has finished reviewing it, and during the *ahem* Writing Convention in June, we were able to get the five missing pages scanned (Though not without typical scanner mess to clean up... ^_~). Of course, none of those reviews were actually saved (Their still in an inbox somewhere...), but if Extreme Clashers isn't out in some form by Spring 2008, angry mobs will be welcomed.
And there's this little thing called TAOE that is being released in a simplified "Here's-what's-going-on" bad-writing scripty version... as such, you shouldn't be able to find it without The members' area! Don't expect a premature official section of planetseva.com for TAOE until it's a little farther along, though; after all, the Extreme Clashers site is a bit dead for that very reason...
And one more bit of TAOE related news: Back in 2005 when we were still testing the latest bits of JS we could get on IE4, we started a TAOE digital card game project. This turned out a little weak, but a lot of programming education later, the TAOE Digital Card Game has been revived, and may be available by the end of this month... on CD. :P. Ok, maybe it will show up online as well. After all, it isn't quite worth shipping and handling. ... yet.
And it looks like the Planet Seva audio project is dead, but we still have act 1 somewhere... it may find its way online with a podcast episode, so ... stay tuned! We're not giving up... just restrategizing... (we do that a lot, don't we?).
And while the rambling refuses to end: the planetseva.com main page is probably in need of an update. The layout turned out pretty well, but it's got two major flaws: the hotspots aren't positioned properly, and it isn't in a very good format for updates. I don't know, maybe we'll hold a poll to decide what to do.
On the forums there is now a program designed to help in the creation of maps for use in Javascript games. The main function of this program was originally to simplify the production of the Jeqo RPG and other projects; it has been made available to the public both for public use and to make the construction of maps for the Jeqo RPG an open-source project (assuming that finances won't be involved).
Speaking of text games, there is a random text adventure on the site. It is a prompt/alert based game that builds a completely random maze with various weapons, armors and people, and your goal is to find your way out in one piece. Primative, but a means of wasting much time...
Another episode of the podcast has been recorded, but needs major edits before it can be released.
And unfortunately NaNoWriMo isn't speeding up Jeqo Releases!
the multimedia page is updated with the latest two-part episode of the Jeqo Podcast! It's kind of late (as a reference in episode5 well indicates), but better late than never!
There is now a Jeqo Wiki that operates from the forums. It's somewhat empty at the moment, but that shall change at some point; that's the point, afterall!
Planet Seva has been confirmed to still be available from amazon.com, and Authorhouse seems to have pulled a "Not sellin' enough" and removed the cheaper versions from their website. (We still don't know if the E-book is still available, but it's much cheaper than the paperback, and Cajones gets more... win-win!).
And we had Downtime in the middle of last month, but that's all sorted out... Yay freeservers! And putfile. And... we're back, so be happy!
A fair bit of news today, so a blockquote is in order!
- Jeqo Legends has been updated! The motion system seems to be fixed, a few features have been added and old ones have been improved (for more, see the forum thread). Also new is the introduction of "Item points", which can be used to access a new array of items for use in the game. And there's more hidden stuff... - Despite numerous technical difficulties, the Planet Seva audio play is coming along nicely! The cast for the first three acts has been chosen, and Act1 is close to being completed (though, not close enough that we can predict a release date). For more information on the progress of the project, how to get involved, or what characters have been cast, see this page. - A big addition to the Multimedia archives! Introducing the "Jeqo Podcast!" (Ok, so getting it on an IPod would be difficult...). Three episodes are already available (click here), and hopefully more will come! Be warned--this show is filled with randomness! (Remember that we have a comments page if you have something to say!). Each episode is around 26 minutes in length, and content tends to be entertaining without crossing the PG13 line.. is it possible? Find out for yourself! - Planet Seva doesn't seem to be accessible on the Authorhouse website. We still aren't sure what this means for retail venders or E-book purchases, but this is still news... important news... Stay tuned!
That about sums it up. Any questions should be directed at the comments page or the forums. While guests have been blocked from creating threads in an attempt to stop the adbot problem, guests can still reply to topics, and are welcomed to do so so long as the rules aren't broken in the process.
Auditions for the PlanetSeva Audio project are open at the VAA. While progress on casting might be posted there, most information on the project will appear on this page(click to view).
Additionally, guests have been blocked from creating threads on the forums "Common Area". Guests can still reply to threads, but cannot create them.
After some research, it seems most likely that the guest viewing the members' area was a searchengine "spider". Simply put, "Oopse...". Nonetheless, say no to incoherent adbots!
The lack of updates in the past few months has been because there has been nothing to update with. But that is finally over!
On our forums, there is a rough draft of the auditions post for the Planet Seva Audio Project! This project is mainly intended to be a radio play of sorts of Planet Seva. Currently we are reviewing this post and hope to have it posted on the Voiceacting Alliance in the next 48 hours. All help would be greatly appreciated!
In other news, a Planet Seva Text/audio game (Js) is in development and should be completed by August (though we do not make promises on the release). This game will be completely text and audio, however it will use a more graphical interfase, using a display composed of nearly touching buttons that can change background colors to create a map-type display with variations in background color. While this isn't as good as it could be, it is definitely a step up! This game will also incorporate keyboard input in the style of standard computer or console games, and will feature not only the main storyline of Planet Seva, but storylines from the perspectives of other characters! More will be announced as development continues.
The ever-updated Jeqo Legends has not been updated today, however there is something in the works. The display glitch with the new motion engine was noticed pretty immediately and corrected, but we decided not to update the online version until the new features are added. And of course we don't want to bore you with nothing but news on this one game, so it has been saved until now. Hopefully there will be another JL update in the next few weeks. Unless there are major glitches, this will be the last update until there is new material to add (which probably won't be for a while).
In the past several weeks there has been an ad bot, or group of them on the forums. There are rules on the forum, however since this was up until this week an issue, we will address this problem here:
There is an advertising section of the forum. This is the only place on the forum that posts that are 100% promotional material can be posted. However, these bots--and by default their owner--are guilty of not just advertising, but blatent spamming. What has been posted is utterly incoherent gibberish that doesn't advertise anything, doesn't help anyone, doesn't do anything but irritate us. What's more, a guest was observed viewing the members' area! This is possible only by bipassing the board's programming.
At the best, the presence of these bots is a violation of the rules we have set forth. At worst, it is a violation of the proboards Terms of Service and possibly laws (Proboards disputes are bound by the laws of the state of California, at least in the last version of the TOS we know of). We kindly request that whoever is responsible for these inappropriate actions put an end to it. We have done all we can short of blocking guests from posting, which we wish to avoid if at all possible. Several bot IPs have been banned, however the same IP address is never used twice. If we haven't blocked all available IPs, they can come back. And this is the last request: don't come back unless it's as a ligitament poster. Coming from a very offtopic forum background, we understand fun--this, however, is bad.
And in the event that the owner of these bots does not comply, any human viewer of this page with information or advice on how to block bots is encouraged to share it (try the comments page!).
A neat little addition to the information database, and one of the links is fixed. The main information page for Planet Seva should link to the database in the next update.
Like usual, Jeqo Legends has been updated! This time the Mazilla conflict should be fixed (but it hasn't been tested, so no promises). And a few things have been corrected, bugs and such, along with the option to view the fighting area in a nifty diagram. Kind of confusing, so we'll work on a guide, since the game is big enough for one. (if anyone wants to help (LOL), it'd be welcomed; would love to see what others have observed! That's the fun of it!)
The ever-alluded to members' area should be working perfectly now. Granted there's prompts and such, but they're easier to work with than forms. Only forum members are elligeable for it, if you didn't know. (Or if CAJones decides to let you in... but that'd be all eliteist now wouldn't it?)
Not much else, other than the new page linked to the database.
Have fun! Hopefully the next update will be better.
And after a three-month hiatus, planetseva.com returns with glory!
We finally have a main page layout that is close to the original vision. We also have another planet, which is slightly more interactive and cross-browser than the others: Yrekcom. Note that the planets and asorted interactive places are planned for a major renewal sometime soon. (meaning this place will be a little more fun for a while).
In addition, we have a nice list of content things. I will first draw your attention to the information database, where we hope to link every informational page on this site. Granted, a lot of the pages linked in this small newborn version don't exist yet… but a fair few do.
Now on with the content!
• Another update to Jeqo Legends; hopefully this is the last one you'll have to reset your files over! The save feature is greatly improved, you can customize character items, and a new arenas system is in place. Oh, and some old glitches have been fixed! Some arena things don't work properly… but for now they're not too important. (They're worth fixing though!).
• The members' area is looking realistic now! A halfway decent registration/logon/custom list method, which will hopefully make it work right at last!
• And there's an addition on the order of 12+ MB in the members' area; not the best, but should fill in some gaps.
• There's an addition to the literary archives, in the official section. A short read related to… well, look for yourself! click here.
• some more informational pages; the most complete being the planets page, which contains astronomical, geological, biological, and cultural info on the major non-earth planets.
• And we have a new game: a Planet Seva digital card game! (can we get a LOL?). It's based on a quaint little card game CAEJones came up with shortly after finishing the book that was made digital. (Note that the physical version is a lot easier… :P). Just check it out on the games page.
… Isn't that enough?
And if anyone's interested, at this point, the number of books sold is somewhere in the twenties. Of course, it's not amazingly cheap or easy to find, now is it?
So if there's anything else, we'll pick it up in the next update. Enjoy!
As you may have seen, the frames layout has been replaced with a new, and hopefully user-friendly "splash page" of sorts. If the old version is deemed better by enough people, we can go back, but since the only real complaint (other than some formatting junk and my freedom with color schemes) was the frames looking screwy, the new layout seems like it's worth trying.
And now we get to the content update, which will be presented in a block quote!
• The next release from CAEJ is ready for final review and formatting. Check out the Extreme Clashers page for the full story.
• Jeqo Legends has been updated with :
- Ten(10) characters from the upcoming book.
- A file system that lets you save your progress! Click here to learn more!
- You might see some other things… ;)
• An alternate, less abstract, less extreme, and all around better intro for Planet Seva now appears in The official literary section. Unfortunately for narrative fans, it's in script form.
• A new text-game has been added! This one is a somewhat confusing mystery game that creates a group of people from scratch and gives you the task of finding out which one is a murderer. Quite a bit more on its page.
• The members' area is once again renewed. This time we can let people log in with their own passwords and user names, and hopefully we can get a"my member area " page going without me having to learn php or cgi. Check out the changes (and new content?) here, and here.
So there you have it, merciful (and probably bored until today) surfers! On to another year! Let's have fun now, 'mkay?
Presenting the un-puns page, where we stray greatly from the style of the rest of the site and attempt to provide an explanation for some of the most obvious puns in names of people and places that you can see in these parts.
And we are pleased to announce the addition of the Jeqo Legends text-battle game. Though it uses the same dialogue-box format as ascii_battle, the similarities end there! Jeqo Legends includes both one and two player battle modes, the choice from multiple characters (currently twenty from Planet Seva, more to come when there are more stories released!) that can fill any of three slots on each team! The game also includes various items that can be used for various purposes during combat, and we've added a "jq" mode, which allows you to play through the actiony parts of all available stories!
The game will be continually updated until either the destruction of the internet or the completion of all of C. A. E. Jones's tales, whichever comes first! Expect more than just characters and jq stages in the early updates; there are still a few features worth adding!
Update in progress...
There is now a library page that will contain links related to all publications from C. A. E. Jones. Note that the library doesn't direct link to the publisher(s).
The multimedia section has ceen updated with a new sense of order and a new file (more to come as soon as we can get the files to a connection that can handle them).
And, you may find something else that is reasonably large. however, we'll save details for a more appropriate time.
there is a short addition to the Games section, involving the first two chapters of Planet Seva (The majority of this game is already available online). There is also an entry in the games' pages for Ascii_battle.
The Games section has been completely renewed. Expect more content to come with it. Currently, searching (though there is nothing to search for) is enabled and everything is set up to start taking submissions of codes, reviews, guides, Etc.
There is the beginnings of a Literary section that will house various things. Currently only the main page is up, but you can look at it to get an idea of what will come in the near future.
The current pole will close on May 20, 2005.
The pole now concerns the text color on the main page.
The pole will now close. The results are: maybe100%. So maybe the page will change when the opportunity is more inviting.
There is also an addition to the Comments page, and in the case that it hasn't been mentioned before, there is another lengthy piece of new Planet SEva information somewhere on the site.
The lack of updates in the past three weeks can be attributed to: The first week-little time or content to use. Second week-Technical issues. And this week-up until today, things have been rather active (though this site has apparently not gotten much out of it).
Also, expect the link to Faceless Productions to once again be updated sometime today.
The current pole will be closed on April first, 2005. To view the working demo of the proposal, click here.
And in case anyone's interested, there is now an account to deal with pictures. pics@planetseva.com
Now available on this website is our dialog-based fighting game, Ascii Battle. (Instructions)
Note that this game has nothing to do with Paul Litherland's "Ascii Fighter".
A link to the site pole has been added to the Main page. Also, the banner on the main page has supposedly been fixed. (If it doesn't work, you're supposed to tell us.)
To view a demo of how the proposed index page will work, Click here.
There is now a Pole on the site that you can access without being a member of theForums. The current pole concerns the new index page (The one that puts the main and news pages in frames. THe new layout would redirect to the main page without frames.). Now, it is the job of the site visitors to choose whether it is to change or stay the same. If you have any cosmetic ideas or suggestions, Send them in. (When you are brought to the confirm page after the comments form, click continue to send it. Otherwise it won't be received!).
Character profiles
The Characters page has been redone, complete with eleven character profiles from Planet Seva! Currently the pictures on the character pages won't display, primarily because they don't exist yet. Hopefully, there will be some pics available soon.
It's been three days, and still no votes on the new design! Expect a sample to be linked in the next update!
And for those of you that are interested (I have been asked this question on numerous occasions), the sequel to Planet Seva will not be coming out until at least one hundred people have read the book and seem interested. I do have a completed draft of the sequel, but it will probably undergo lots of changes. We can, however, expect a new book (Unrelated?) some time in the near future. No more information will be released as of yet, since it isn't entirely ready, but rest assured that it will probably be available in the next few months.
The link to the Updates archives in the head and the bottom of this page have been fixed.
A new proposal for the index page (the one reached by going directly to www.planetseva.com) has been posted on the Message board. (Written in a very casual tone, I might add). The post also contains a pole that Registered members can use to vote on whether or not the new design should be used. Only registered members may vote on this pole. To register with the message board, Click here. You will need an e-mail address to do this. If you do not have an e-mail address, you can try a popular service such as Yahoo!, MSN, Hotmail, and many others. There are also a few hundred planetseva.com mailboxes that are not being used. More information can be found on the Message board.
Please note that it is not necessary to be a registered member to view or post on the message board. Only the staff area, the members' area, and categories that are not complete are off-limits to guests.
Planet Seva preview online!
There is now a short preview of Planet Seva available on this site. To view this exerpt, click here. Remember that just because it's on the internet doesn't mean it isn't still protected by intelectual property right laws!
The "Library" and "purchase" links on the new layout have been completed. The links page has also been updated, primarily to renew the link to Faceless productions.
And anyone that's interested in helping with the creation of the RPG, you might want to check here.
The Planet Seva main page has been completely redone, and we hope it is for the better! If something isn't displaying correctly, please let us know!
The comments page has been moved onto this server, as we are having difficulties accessing the Geocities account. You can still send your comments using the comments form, and they will be posted promptly. (As you may have noticed!) Like always, we encourage feedback of all kinds! (Just don't be excessively vulgar or use anything we could get sued over)...
Production will begin on a RPG set in the universe of C. A. E. Jones's work. Currently, the production staff is incredibly short-handed. If you'd like to contribute, please contact us! And be sure to check the forums (probably under "Designs and Technology") for anything related to the project. And remember that you might be able to find your way into members' area.
January 24, 2005, 08:55A M
The comments page has been updated and moved. Also, the main page has been reformatted. It still has some kinks to fix, and we apologize for any visual difficulties. More information will hopefully come later today.
The past updates have been moved to the updates archives. Also, a frame break has been added to remove the frames for those of us who are annoyed by them. There is a link to the updates on the main page if you wish to view them after breaking.
Tomorrow will be exactly one year from the beginning of Planet Seva's legacy on the internet and the beginning of the journey toward publication. Although we haven't grown to phenomenal proportions, there has still been great progress made thanks to some hard work and plenty of help. Little else is happening at the moment, but that will all change soon enough.
And for those of you that have read the book, check out the Planet Seva basic quiz on the games page. More in depth quizzes to come! And for those of you that haven't gotten a look at the book yet, click on the "library" link in the navigation controls on the main page.
And to the survival of planetseva.com, we have to give thanks where it is due!
Check out Faceless Productions, owned by Justine, who is responsible for the planet seva banner and some design assistance.
And don't forget to stop by Subject 21 to check out the work of The Raven Queen. Goodness knows we wouldn't be anywhere without her!
Thanks to Lissa for some useful tools in coding (more to come soon!).
And we can't forget the webhost, Freeservers. Everyone has their flaws, and Freeservers is no exception. But unlike some other hosts out there, we were actually able to use this one! Thank you!
And we can't forget the most important people of all... you! Despite how redundant this must be, we probably wouldn't be anywhere if there was no one visiting the site, reading the book, or visiting the message board. As always, it's the fans that make the mountain! Thankyou, everyone!
Happy holidays!
November 8, 2004, 7:34 A M
The Planet Seva FAQ has been completely redone. The new FAQ focuses more on answering general questions you might have about the book that the other sections on the Information page might not answer. The original FAQ still exists, and will eventually be available to members of the Members' Area.
November 4, 2004, 9:16 A M.
The comments page has been fixed. You may now use the form to send in comments, suggestions, questions, or whatever you like, which will then be posted here.
It should also be noted that the review submission form for games is not working. If you'd like to submit a review, you can do so using the comments form (Please indicate that you are submitting a review) or you can Submit them via E-mail (Be sure that the subject indicates the submission type!). Reviews that are submitted should appear here.
There is now a Members' area of planetseva.com! The members' area will contain information, files, and other exclusive material. There is no fee and no unsolicited advertising for joining! To learn more, Click here, or you can Click here to register! Remember that the members' area is an "exclusive" area, and while we will be accepting of new members, it is important to maintain security.
The planet Seva website is finally up, running, and better than before! I can't say that there's all that much here at the moment, but look around anyway! There is a lot more in the works!
If you're looking for the book in stores, you probably won't find it there! Why? Because unfortunately, there is a refund policy required for shelving at major chains, and it's a little pricy. Sometime in the near future, we hope to have a substantial surplus with which to purchase the package. However, you can ask at Books-a-million, and they should be able to bring up the book on their database. My understanding is that they can have it ordered for you, but be warned that the retail price isn't necessarily pretty.
Still up are the forums, and hopefully the PS (Planet Seva) forum is still up here. You can also view a synopsis of the book here. Also check the image gallery for any available images, such as the cover of the book (More pics hopefully to come). We've also got a multimedia section, that will hopefully have a use as things develop. Also check out the new games page to see what's up there. And remember; most games will be loaded with spoilers! (As I keep putting a D in that word, I hereby make that spelling acceptible on this web site). As things progress, there will be pages for the sequels and other things, but these pages will not go up until more people have read the first (at least more than the single-digit number we've got now).
And that's all folks!
