Sonia Leong on LiveJournal

 Yo, I've been thinking about this for a little while, and I've decided to switch over to a Tumblr blog ^^ My time is very limited these days so I prefer to post little and often, with lots of pictures and the odd bit of rambly text as needed. So, I'll be posting on there primarily now. Sonia Leong on Tumblr at http://sonia-leong.tumblr.com/ I will be using it very much like a blog/diary/MY thoughts place, so I will be keeping reader comments quite limited. You are quite welcome to follow me if you have a Tumblr account or want to, but I don't intend to follow people back - I prefer to chat with and keep up to date with people on Twitter or Facebook. As such, if you already follow me on Twitter or Facebook, don't worry, all my Tumblr posts will automatically feed through and cross post there. I will probably start bringing over some of my best posts from LJ onto my Tumblr, apologies if you've seen a few of them before. I will still keep my LJ account for the foreseeable future to make big announcements, follow others and comment ^^

For a bigger / closer view at the super sharp cover image, go here: http://fav.me/d48gd8x

♥ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MRDp2RHGEc ♥

Hopefully you’ll find it interesting as I really tried to tackle every part of the game in big chunks at a time (scripted my story in one go, then re-wrote in Ren’Py, then composed all the music in Sibelius in one go, then did all the artwork). Please watch it at full size to see the tits & arse- I mean, to see the artwork and the scripting clearer.

(In case you didn't recognise the music in this video, it's from my brother's acoustic duo, WithEther ♥)

Here are a selection of stills from the process to whet your appetite.


Now for a little more rest, food, and playing other people's games :D :D :D

Let Me Save You! Your Faithful Companion
A Ren'Ai game (kind of) made in 48 hours by Nyaa (me, Sonia Leong)
As part of the Ludum Dare 20 "It's Dangerous To Go Alone! Take This!" challenge

You're given plenty of things in this game, including Cornelia. But whether she stays with you depends on what you do...

Download, unzip and play (double click ld20.exe)
♫ Windows version ♫
♪ Mac OS/X version ♪
• Linux version •

Size/Scope: 12 MB download, play time 5-10mins (unless you like staring at semi-naked anime babes, in which case, longer XD)

~~~~~~~~

I couldn't really make any posts over the weekend as I was soooooo busy trying to get all the content for this game done. But it is done!!! The competition theme voted in was "It's Dangerous to Go Alone! Take This!". My original statement of intent was that I would only enter if I thought I could justify putting some gratuitous sexy time into my game. The good news is… I could. So I did. (Actually, it’s not so racy, I’d say it’s a 12A game).

I only downloaded Ren ‘Py 5 days ago (and Sibelius First 4 days ago) so I had to teach myself how to do this stuff pretty quick! Sincere apologies if anything seems a little clunky/buggy. You can view my entry here:
♥ http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-20/?action=rate&uid=4135 ♥

I managed to get the sentence “It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this!” In there no less than FIVE TIMES XD Trust me to make the type of game that not only needs some (simple) coding, but tons of graphics, music and some semblance of a story… My husband (mjb67, you can view his entry here http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-20/?action=rate&uid=4134 ) was able to submit his game after lunchtime and he just played Mass Effect 2 all evening whilst I was rushing to churn out the last graphics on mine…

Congratulations to all who managed to get their stuff in on time, commiserations for those who didn’t (but keep trying! Always!) and for those still racing to get their JAM games done, YOU CAN DO IT!!! *lovelovelove*

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NEWS etc.

Featured on Ren'Py front page and download page:
www.renpy.org/
www.renpy.org/latest.html

Reviewed at wootfu.com
wootfu.com/2011/05/ld20-reviews-1/

Screenshot featured in Retro Gamer Magazine issue #91, page 102 in the "What's Brewing?" section:
http://twitpic.com/5htn8z (thanks to Chococat for spotting and taking photo!)

Forgot to announce these!

I've been working with Hachettes Children's Books for several years on the I, Hero series of choose-your-own-adventure books, written by the Two Steves (Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore). I'm finishing off the covers for the next two (ohohoho) but in the meantime, the last two came out fairly recently:
 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tomb-Runner-EDGE-I-Hero/dp/0749696796/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dragon-Slayer-EDGE-I-Hero/dp/0749696788/

ALSO - due for release in a few months, Chris Bradford (of Young Samurai fame!) and his new Ninja series of books... "Ninja: First Mission" is out in June. I did the cover character art and inside illustrations:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ninja-First-Mission-Chris-Bradford/dp/1842999397/

I have been involved in a few other books, but I will leave plugging those to closer to the time :)

I forgot that I hadn't yet posted on my Livejournal about this (so I apologise to my Twitter followers or Facebook friends if this gets fed through again).

It's a terrible thing that has happened to Japan and its people. Whilst myself and others hold them in our hearts and pray that as many people can be saved as possible, you can help by donating wisely. Please consider donating directly to charities with experience, local contacts/people on the ground, do your research.

Personally, I have given to the Red Cross. The British branch accepts GBP£ and will directly pass on all donations to the Japanese Red Cross. Their website is here: http://www.redcross.org.uk/JapanTsunami

Alternatively, donate in Yen to the Japanese Red Cross, and other charities via Google Checkout on thier Crisis Response page:
http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html

And if you're a bit of a fashionista, Lady Gaga has a bracelet you can buy:
http://ladygaga.shop.bravadousa.com/Product.aspx?cp=14781_42444&pc=BGAMLG88

I would like to donate some artwork at some point, I will say if/when I get this done. Good night and God Bless.