I haven't posted here in a while, but I have been working on more music, be sure to check out my soundcloud for the latest, if any of the public domain content suits your interest, feel free to use it. And if any of the other content interests you, feel free to contact me, if I like the project I will surely agree you can use it :) With credits, of course.

With regards,
~Vivid.

Arcade console

I am saving money for an arcade console, I am gonna build it myself, it's gonna cost me around 200 euro's, it has a AMD Phenom x2 Proc (2.8GHz) 4GB Ram and ATI HD 4200 graphics card, should suffice for an arcade machine. The mobo is a mini ITX one, so it's slightly larger than the CPU. The case is slightly larger than a CD drive (22cm * 6 cm * 31 cm), as seen on the picture of the critter.

The case has two front USB ports, so it's enough to play two player games with each their own controller. in the future I might add more controllers from the back if needed. The Mobo has several outputs, Composite video, HDMI, and DVI. it has 2 3.0 USB ports and one Sata port for fast external hard drive. So what is gonna turn this into an arcade machine? I am gonna install an highly customisable emulator frontend, which combines all the emulators/media and executables on the system in to one application. Which is ofcourse pretty neat. Also it is compatible with any video/audio player, for instance, you can browse to a video folder in the frontend itself, and run them in the application you defined for that specific folder.
As I said the frontend is highly customisable, this means: custom skins, custom applications, custom intro, custom behaviour. There are plenty of default skins, but how cool would it be to make your own.

 Here is a video of the default skin:

 

This is basically how it works, the coolest part is, you can make an intro movie for the sofware, like a real arcade machine would do. I have made a basic setup for an intro movie, I am very happy with it, the only thing I miss is animated text saying  "Press start", I am not sure how to do this as an overlay for the video, but I am sure I will manage to do so. Here is the current intro:

(Music by Philip Linde)

So in the end, I will have an Arcade machine/Media center, which is pretty awesome, I COULD add keyboard and mouse support of course, that would give me the ability to go online and use IM or Firefox, but I am afraid that it would ruin the idea of the arcade machine. Altough it would be pretty neat to move the cursor with a Wii mote. I'll see. :).

Made a new public domain song, check it out!

Tales of Nimmerdor Public Domain by Vivid by VividReality

Feel free to download, edit, and use however you wish. 

Public Domain Music

I've started a set on Soundcloud with public domain music, why I do this? I collect public domain stuff from the internet so I can work on my own games, music, and other stuff. I love the fact that people share their work for free. And I want to keep that scene alive since it is so small. Now I am not the best artist there is. I know that. But I think my music and other art make great placeholders. And if you like the song as it is, feel free to use it even for commercial products, but I really would like to see the result, so feel free to contact me if you do so, maybe I can even change some things to your likings. Well, I hope my art and music gets usefull for at least someone, if so, I am a happy guy!

Here is the set.

Public Domain Music (Suitable for Games) by VividReality


Cheers,
Vivid.

Made a new song

I really wouldn't know how to describe it, just made a little tune for the sake of experiment, fun, and a tiny bit of boredom. At least something fun was created I think. Feel free to tell me what you think ;).

Vivid17-6-2011 by VividReality

Enjoy!

This is how I paint.

Here I have some pictures from the way I paint, it are some old figurines, so they are still dusty, I can't seem to get it off of it. Maybe I have to wash them carefully.

Gijs Gieskes

Gijs Gieskes really makes the most awesome hardware, I don't know how he does it. But it's great. I love all of his video's but this really is one of the best:



Enjoy!