Knuckles Dawson

Some of you may have noticed hints I've dropped about the current site design not being final. Well, you're right. And the rest of you need to pay more attention. In any case, I'm prepared to show you the direction I'm taking this. Mind you, all the coding isn't done yet, but the design elements are in place, and close to being final. So, what better way to show you than an undoctored screenshot?


Well, not completely undoctored: I did change take the rest of the URL out, since it eventually will look like that when you go to knucklesdawson.com. Those of you wanting to see a full resolution screenshot can also do so. You can get a taste of what's coming down the pipeline for site ideas, including a message board, clan section, and what looks to be a store.

For those of you curious of my source materials, the only 1280x720 picture of the dashboard I could find on the net was one of the Marketplace at Wikipedia. Geek Squad's article about the Xbox 360 also has a lower resolution picture of the Xbox live blade, but was helpful in getting everything in proportion to eachother. I really wanted to have the Carbon blades in my design, but as you can see what limited resources I had, I basically had to rebuild the colour scheme for each blade configuration, and make it look similar enough to Carbon.

Anyway, hopefully you like the way this is going, and will continue to stop by to check up on the dealings in my world. Once the forum is up and running, sign up and join the community to voice your opinions.

Posted by Knuckles Dawson at 09:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So, Saturday there was a Tae Kwon Do Tourney for someone in my --- extended family, I guess would be the best way to put it --- in Lynnwood, WA. This makes it the second time I've gone to the States in the same year, the first being of course, PAX '06, and this won't be the last, either, as I'll be in the Seattle area again in late November. People on my friends list who actually talk to me know what for, but I'll fill in the rest of you sometime when things are a little more concrete.

But, back to the story at hand. So, we drove down to Lynnwood, and went to the rather large Alderwood Mall, which is far more enthralling than watching bad Martial Arts. They had a lot of stores, but not much to look at, the only things of interest was an EB Games, a Gamestop (which isn't in Canada, or at least my area), Sharper Image, the food court and the Apple Store (can be found in far Eastern region of Canada, and only 4 of them too).


The Food Court had an Orange Julius, and at the time was thinking "It's no Jamba Juice, but it'll have to do." About an hour later I found that a Jamba Juice was there, outside, not 30 feet from the Julius. Oops. In Canada, we have Booster Juice, which if you compare notes, has a strikingly similar logo (at least the "tornado" bit).

With still plenty of time on our hands before the TDK was done with, so we went to see Gridiron Gang, which was really good. The first 20 minutes reminded me of gang gameplay found in GTA:SA and Saints Row. It was actually kinda, eye-opening, to see that. I mean, for me at least, seeing a drive-by in either of those games is one thing, but seeing "real people" get shot down and run over in a movie? It feels completely different. But, to say the least, it got my attention, and the movie, again, was really good, and apparently, according to the documentary-style footage shown during the credits, is actually quite true to source material.

On the way back to the Great White North, eh, we stopped at the Seattle Premium Outlets, where I picked up some more shirts. After that we saw a place called The Fudgery, where they make a show out of making their fudge. On duty, by chance, was a fellow in his late teens by the name of Patrick. He was very entertaining and outgoing, and was readily able to laugh at himself for the crowd. His sobriety at the time came into question for others watching, but I just felt he had a similar personality that I do: Outspoken, Outgoing, Outrageous. Or something.

In any case, I was participating with the show, in true KD style and kept him on his toes, cracking him up and leaving him speechless/without a retort a few times. After his show, he and I chatted a bit, and hung out for about 10 minutes in the parking lot, looking at his car, talking about games, his grappling hook that he found and finally telling him about my little streak thing. Rather than give him my MSN, I gave him this URL and he posted up a comment a few entries back. I'm sure he'll have something unique to say about this one.

Anyway, we went home with little hickups, and watched some movies. Still, a cool day, and it sure beat staying at home doing jack squat.

Posted by Knuckles Dawson at 08:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

So, I was playing Time Pilot on XBLA, trying desperately to Survive to 2001, which I can do. I've completed each level individually without dying, but haven't done the four consecutively, obviously. I came so very close (within mere seconds of the 1982 "boss" coming on screen) a few times last night. If I get a good score going by the time I complete 1982 I'll keep going. And one time that I did keep rolling, I got a whopping 332,600, managing up to around level 11 or 12. In any case, that completely blew my 253,000 score I had prior (ranked 631). So much so that I got exactly 100th on the Leaderboards. Not a bad increase, and I plan on getting in the double digits, and the Perfection achievement, as soon as I can.

Posted by Knuckles Dawson at 06:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So I've been working on a KDE logo on and off for a while now. Original I made the concept in Bryce 3D, since my logo was a 3D design, constructing the initial draft in a 3D rendering program made sense. The following is what I've been working on in Adobe Illustrator, which can make pretty good 3D objects, all vector art, which is handy.

I made a bunch of versions to show the natural progression of the look of the logo, and without further ado, here it is:

Note that that's a reduced thumbnail, the full sized version is about twice as big. So, tell me what you think, any suggestions or comments, etc. And after I get some constructive criticism, I'll start integrating it into the site design. I'll also dig up the original Bryce versions and show you those.

Posted by Knuckles Dawson at 05:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So, I've been playing a bunch of Saints Row, and on the weekend I completed the main single player storyline. The ending(s) were good, but I'm surprised they don't have a 3rd ending for when you complete the game 100% and play the last mission. That would have made sense in the context of the game.

I'm still pushing through the activities now, having completed the Snatch and Insurance Fraud and currently working on the Escort and Hijacking. I recommend completing Snatch and Insurance Fraud as soon as you can, as the rewards for completing them are very helpful in making the game more entertaining. I have yet to play online yet, but iEyeCaptain and I probably will get some co-op/multiplayer on sometime this week. So far, the only radio station I've listened to is 89.0 Generation X, but I find its music to be quiet catchy.

In terms of a comparison to the GTA franchise, I find both have their advantages. Saints lets you save on the fly, and even lets you make the conrols more GTA-like (Scheme B for Walking/Driving is for the most part better, except for missions where you're a passenger with unlimited ammo, then switch driving to Scheme A). At the very least, this gives me a taste of how awesome a sandbox game can be on Xbox 360, even if its not in a mall infested with Zombies. After all, it's still another year until GTAIV drops. So, what do you guys think of Saints Row?

Posted by Knuckles Dawson at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sure, the domain name is just "knucklesdawson.com", but I wanted to give some of my like-minded friends a chance to voice their opinions, which may often vary from my own (no one's perfect), help spruce up some content, and of course, do some grunt work on the site. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, the KD Entourage:

APK Jester: From the opposite corner of the continent, hailing from Apopka, Florida (explaining the APK for those not keeping score), comes Jester with his nonsensical banter and unique perspective on various topics. We met on PDZ during launch day for the 360, and hit it off, with our "full personalities", as he originally put it. I really can't see working on any project without having him be a part of it in some way. You may have seen some comments by him so far, but that is a mere glimpse of what he brings to the proverbial table.

iEyeCaptain: Also here in Vancouver, BC, is iEyeCaptain. We crossed paths at the Game Winners Forums, and had a unique initial conversation, which actually sparked the motivation to get this dormant domain up and running. He's got a good head on his shoulders, and works for G4TV as video editor/review writer, so he's got an inside scoop as well. I'm grateful that he gave my the initial push to get this little ditty going, because without it, it would still be the standard "Under Construction" page supplied by the hosting company.

APK Godfather: Jester's longtime close friend, whose location should be obvious, is on board to bring balance to the playing field. He and Jester, as spending a lot of time hanging out would suggest, are very similar in their attitude and outlook on things. With that said, I don't expect there to be much butting of heads on much, anyway. Not only that, but we need to have an Italian mobster in the Entourage, who else is going to break the thumbs (far more poignant to the gamer, eh?) of those who oppose us and stuff them into the trunk to slumber amongst the aquatic creatures? I say we look no further. Oh, and don't oppose us.

So, that should be it. We'll keep the quantity low, until site popularity justifies growth. But why refer to them as my "Entourage", you ask? Well, aside from the WordNet definition, the group following and attending to some important person, all sections/aspects of knucklesdawson.com will have the initials of KDE.

Initially (pun most definitely intended), it stood for my company, Knuckles Dawson Enterprises. But, as concepts grew for the site, I thought it would be neat to have "E"s for all of the features that we'll be producing. Finally, you may have noticed my unique way of articulating myself thus far, and can see how I would find conjuring "e" words to convincingly capture the message behind something would be entertaining.

So, welcome the new faces, and we shall be sure to make things more enjoyable on your end in the meantime.

Posted by Knuckles Dawson at 07:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

So, after work on Friday, I come home to two pieces of mail. A Canada Post notice that I was not available to receive a parcel, (at 9:50 AM, no less, when everyone is chilling at home on a weekday.), and an express package from Redmond, WA. I'm not sure if you've heard of this "Microsoft Corporation", but it's this small, upstart company that deals with computer software and various IT/Entertainment related products. Anyway, I already know what's inside: An Xbox Live Vision camera. Free. From Microsoft, or more specifically, from Bastelyon, the Community PR Manager at MS.

We met at PAX '06, he gave me his card, and was rather impressed with this little streak I got going here, and was kind enough to accept my friend request. We talked a couple days after PAX ended on Live, and he asked if I had a camera yet. I told him I didn't, and he said he's been sending them to Community MVPs, so they can essentially show them off to everyone else and build hype. Then, get this: He tells me to email him (provided on the business card he handed me at PAX), and if they have any left he'll send one to me. And so I did, the next day. Then messaged him a few days later and he said he shipped it Friday and for me to expect it sometime this week. And so I did. And come Friday, it arrived.

I was fortunate enough to run into Bastelyon on the same day and thank him "in person", and he and I talked about another cool little idea that I'll save for another post. I then did some video chat with friends that got the camera at Toys R Us, and played Uno.

Saturday saw me Playing through some Prey and Saint's Row, taking advantage of the beautiful weather and biking around Vancouver/Stanley Park for about 4 hours, then checking out the parcel notice I got with along with the camera. It was billed as $15.06, so I figured it was for something I bought online. A pair of Soap Shoes were waiting for me, and I'll be messing around with them on Monday most likely, as I started to build a "training rail" on Saturday, but need another wood support in the middle before I can use it.

Finally, Sunday had me watching Donnie Darko, which is a great little film. It's similar in concept to The Butterfly Effect, but is its own story. I also finished the Vice Kings missions on Saints Row, and messed around on Uno. I relaxed most of the day because of the overcast/rainy weather, and my leg muscles were sore from yesterday's biking, which was good.

All in all a good weekend, and I even brainstormed some design things for my site, while getting the go-ahead from Bastelyon regarding my borrowing some "elements" on stuff. You'll see. And while I got you here, send him a message and thank him on my behalf for getting me a camera. He'll like that, especially while he's currently in Tokyo prepping for TGS. Still, I'll catch you all around later.

Posted by Knuckles Dawson at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Well, first of all, welcome to KnucklesDawson.com. I, as the domain name would suggest, am Knuckles Dawson. But you can call me Knuckles, Knux, or KD. This will become, in time, a central hub for me, to organize all my various side projects and what not. Then, should a community arise out of the ashes, like that of a phoenix, it too will become a central hub for you as well, for you to hang out with other cool gamers/individuals, and give me a chance to communicate with an audience, etc. So, I admit, it doesn't look like much at the moment, but so long as I haven't shot myself in the proverbial foot with MovableType, I should be able to customize it to match a UI that most should be familiar with.

Posted by Knuckles Dawson at 05:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)