Apr 28, 2007

Apr 28, 2007: YES!!! "The Interactive Animation" has now been released in C, but may not be able to run and there's still a few other downsides due only to limitation of knowledge. Another case of recalling 3 dreams in one night occurred... on Easter even! I worked on my 2D RPG game very intensely and now The Supernatural Olympics is next. A new record is set with music - FF6 World. Another hardware failure occurred, this time the "cursed" printer.

#1 The Interactive Animation released in C!: I've finally done it! Download my program here. As of May 6, 2007, the program is now in working order and should run on any computer. Just download it, unzip it and double-click the EXE to try it out. If you encounter any problems, feel free to report them.

First though, let's get a background. Let's take the clock back to around 1996 or so, I tried getting into programming, but found it very confusing. It was with Borland Turbo C++ and I was using Windows 3.1. Yeah, that's a long time ago. DOS was still quite common and Windows 98 wasn't even in stores yet. Many years later, I got Gamestudio for Christmas (of 2001?), A4 Standard. Again, it was programming that I didn't like but I figured I could get into the level design stuff. That went quite well but lost interest over time. I returned in 2004 and got further, but ended up losing interest as my project was far too complex. Using the law of easy rapid ability learning, I knew I should start with something simple.

By around July of 2004 or so, I thought of a program that would explain the effects of background scaling as it is in the animated GIFs I've been making for years. I came down to 3 unexplained errors when attempting at using a javascript and no one bothered to help resolve them. I then thought of Gamestudio around December or early January of 2005 as I could learn basic programming things while making something extremely simple. The program was finished and I released it making it the first program I ever released. This was in late January of 2005, about 2 1/4 years ago. This program was called "The Interactive Animation". In it, you pressed the "T" key to change the scaling of the trees, "M" for the mountains, and "H" for the hills. You also used "S" for setting the speed of scrolling and "A" for setting the acceleration rate. The scenery was of mediocre quality and quite unrealistic. The program, however, served its primary purpose - explaining the effects of background scaling as it's used in my 2D animations.

My first program of all had a simple interface and simple graphics.

My first program of all had a simple interface and simple graphics.

What my first program was like in Jan 2005

Fast forward to August of 2006 when I released my first game, "The Supernatural Olympics". It was quite advanced in terms of programming, but it was Gamestudio's limitations and annoyances that frequently got in my way, especially the single variable type that seriously lacked in precision and range preventing me from adding well-wanted features. The graphics were much better than my first program (considering they was redone many times), but still had some considerable weak points, most notably the lighting (as I used the wrong formula and I didn't know trig functions (the cosine in particular) at the time). There were many features I really wanted to add to it - slopes (run up and down slops the way it is in my mind game (care to float run up a mountain then speed blast back down reaching phenomenal speeds?)), pitched gliding (glide at any angle rather than level-only (but not forward/backward), objects (like using a light pole or a building to gain extra height or glide distance with), and going beyond 46,600-something feet of height. By the time I finally finished my first game, I was really getting annoyed over Gamestudio's limitations and annoyances and figured I'd wait for Lite-C to come out. I was also able to implement pretty much any feature I wanted.

Months later, Lite-C still hasn't been released and I thought I could take another stab at C programming. I figured that, by the time Lite-C was released, I'd have gained enough skills with C programming to already do more than Gamestudio could offer. The first part went along well until I hit a serious snag - accurate timing and telling if a key was pressed. I stalled for months from this due to my motive going negative (-3.2 at the peak minimum). I knew that, once I could get past these (and other future issues I ran across), practically any 2D game is within my reach, whether as simple as my "The Interactive Animation" program, or as complicated as a full-fledged RPG game. I then got and played Final Fantasy 6 and along the way, I kept getting visions of a 2D RPG game that bothered me a lot. Combined with gradual neutralization and these taunting visions, I returned to game design and came back with a bright light leading the way. I gave up on the timing issue, but got the solution to the keyboard issue - GetAsyncKeyState. Without the accurate timing, games are still playable, but there would be jerking motion as my 2D game currently has. Still, the timing is more accurate than Gamestudio's, but not by much. Then, along comes another issue - how to draw into a back buffer. Still, this didn't deter me entirely. I could still work on the scenery. Unlike with my first release, the new replacement scenery is much more realistic, even more so than my 2D game. Unlike my 2D game, the lighting is extremely accurate now that I know some trig stuff. My 2D game, as it was in August of 2006, had a smooth band all the way around the object. This is unrealistic (even for two suns). With my new-found trig skills, two cosine functions are used to determine the lighting. The cosine of the sun's azimuth (compass direction) multiplied by the cosine of the sun's elevation (height above the horizon) gives the end result. Basically:

MULT = cos(SOAD)*cos(SOED);
MCOL = COL*(MULT+(AMB*(1-MULT)));

MULT is the multiplier value. "cos" is the cosine function. SOAD is the sun-object azimuth difference and SOED is the sun-object elevation difference (0 if the surface is perpendicular to the light source, 90 if parallel). MCOL is the mixed color. COL is the color value of the pixel in question. AMB is the ambient, from 0 to 1. Both SOAD and SOED would be 0 if the object's surface was perpendicular to the Sun. The cosine of 0 is 1 and thus MULT would be 1. Multiplying a color value by 1 doesn't change it. If either SOAD or SOED were negative, mult is 0 instead. I'm not sure what AMB really would be, but it seems to be from 25 to 40%. My 2D game used the 0.25 value (25%). I'm using 1/3 (or 33 1/3%) for my newest designs. This is the most accurate I have for the lighting formula. Prior to making "The Interactive Animation", I made this test program:

My first Windows program with Windows Task Manager behind

Click the screenshot to view full-size version (in a new window)

Shortly before release, I got the solution to more accurate timing. The problem was, if I didn't use Sleep, precise to 1/64 second, I'd have 100% CPU usage making things difficult to work with. If I did, I wouldn't have the high CPU usage but no matter what clock I used (even the one precise to just 310 nanoseconds (or 310 billionths of a second)), I'd still have the 1/64 second precision. The solution was using the "timeBeginPeriod" function (with a related timeEndPeriod function at the end) and using timeGetTime to get the clock. This also made sleep much more accurate. After testing it and working out the bugs, I got a precision of a very tiny 1/512 second. No that doesn't mean 512 frames per second, I use a system to increment the actual time and keep delaying it with Sleep(1) until the required time passes. For each frame, the actual time increases and the update is delayed until that actual time is reached. The only downside is that it uses 28% CPU, but even then, it could still work (in my theory anyway) on a system using a 1 GHz processor (or a bit less). On April 23, 2007, I finally released the program.

screenshot of The Interactive Animation Version 1.1

screenshot of The Interactive Animation Version 1.1

What the remade version of my first program was like (on Apr 24, 2007)

However, upon releasing it, I encountered 2 other problems, one currently unsolved (which msvcr80.dll file do I need to have?) and the other uncertain on if it's fixed. Without this DLL file, the program won't run on any system without Visual C++ 2005 installed*. The other problem was that the program wouldn't close by using the X button in the top right corner of a window. I supposedly made a few changes to fix it, but don't know if the fix has taken effect. The closing problem wasn't present in either of my past versions and without the correct msvcr80.dll file, and that it works fine on my computer (even the first release version), it's hard to tell if it works now or not.

Edit (on May 6, 2007): I have now fully resolved the issues with getting the program to run. The first paragraph with the download link above is the only thing modified (and the inclusion of this notice).

#2 Up next - The Supernatural Olympics!: In August of 2006, I released my first game, The Supernatural Olympics. Today, the scenario is much different. Gamestudio is almost a thing of the past for anything 2D and maybe even 3D. Think about the current version. The ground is level with no slopes or anything. The scenery has flawed lighting and a not-so-natural fog color. There were 8 challenges but otherwise not much to it other than a bunch of configuration options (and Molebox causing odd artifacts). Today, there are so many enhancements that I can add, many of which not possible with Gamestudio at all. This table sums up everything very well.

Scenery details
Feature	Usage	Gamestudio	C programming
Sky	The blue sky fading to the fog color at the horizon	Must either use a lot of separate BMPs or have one setting only	Can be dynamically altered to whatever the fog color is, even the sky color can be altered! Want a pink sky, yellow sky, or white sky? Go ahead and do so!
Fog color	The color of the fog for objects at a high scaling value (distance)	One set color and it cannot be modified without creating an entirely new set of images	Reload the original BMP or TGA and modify the colors based on the fog color and dynamically. Want pink or yellow fog? How about blue or green? No problem!
Fog intensity	Hard to see objects in detail at great distances	One set intensity for the objects and cannot be changed, even if made extremely close or at the edge of visibility	Intensity changes with scaling dynamically by merely reloading the original and adjusting the RGB values (alpha not affected)
Ground fog fade	Gradual fogging fade toward the horizon giving a strong 3D effect	Layers had to be toggled individually creating integerical steps only (54 to 27, 18, 9, 6, 3, 2, and 1 only)	Up to a set amount, depending on how many layers are used, but 256 is easily possible.
Movement	Changing the position of objects	Restricted to whatever the var could or the frustration adding more precision causes	Highly accurate and more realistic. Slopes, pitched gliding, and other things not easily possible in Gamestudio with the needed accuracy are made possible with C with easy calculations.
Lighting	Gives a sense of perspective	Possible but not dynamic	Possible but could be dynamic (dynamic would cause a huge memory increase or sudden stalls in the program to update it - not worth it)
Special effects	Adds realism as from distortions	One set image can only be used, but can be made visible/invisible	Effects can be created and/or altered dynamically.
Font design	Displaying text	Even width only for bitmap fonts or variable with for true type fonts*. Variable-width bitmap fonts can be used, but is very tricky to do and requires heavy programming to work around the limitations.	Variable width fonts for any type, but bitmap is preferred* due to their ease and unrestriction of creation.
Font colors	Text colors	Either using true type fonts or using multiple bitmap fonts	Just change the pixel color values at will to whatever is needed
Scenery movement	Background objects move as you do (obvious, isn't it?)	Limited by the var	High precision allows for fine movement
Textures	The scenery and the images making it up	Power-of-2 rule must be followed	No power-of-2 restrictions known
Slopes	Terrain isn't always perfectly flat infinitely in all directions.	The limits of the var forbid this feature	Easily added with easy programming
Objects	Light poles, signs, cars, and whatever else could be stood on top of	They can be added, but the range of the var is too low to allow it.	No restrictions outside memory are present
Water	You splash in it, glug away, and can get other unseen or unmentioned effects with the abilities	Possible, but very limited	Easily possible with numerous enhancements (wanna change the water color to, say, white, black, yellow, or a more standard blue?)
Programming, debugging, and distribution
Ease of programming	Programming provides the fundamental "rules" a game goes by.	Easy, unless working around the limitations and annoyances where it gets very frustrating	Moderately difficult - so many functions, so little time!
Frame rates	Displaying the rendered scene a certain number of times per second	Varies from 63 to 66 fps or to 263, usually 64	Anything the computer can handle**
Ease of debugging	Fixing bugs is essential or strange things can happen	The debugger is easy to use and simply displaying temporary variables on a panel to show their values makes things easy	I have yet to figure out how to use the debugger in Visual C++ 2005 Express to constantly monitor variables, before getting the function to display text onscreen, displaying message boxes was the only way of monitoring a variable (using the MessageBox function) but I currently use message boxes to display results one time only. Once I got the text to be displayed, I could monitor variables in real time.
Distribution	Distributing the program for downloading	Molebox required (which damages the program (causing odd artifacts to occur)), and can only be zipped up	I can make my own utility to compress and decompress files, even my own installer.
Installation	To install the program and use it	Extra files needed for license agreement acceptance indication but merely unzipping or double-clicking the output in the folder saved to	I could make my own installer program. This would create icons on the desktop as shortcuts, and added in the start menu as well for much easier access.
Abilities
Gliding	The glide ability allows for high speed and acceleration with the greatest of ease	Level gliding only allowed	Glide in any direction, except forward and backward. Try gliding from mountain peak to mountain peak once!
Float run	Run at great speeds with the greatest of ease	Possible	Possible but can be enhanced further with slopes added (care to go for 950 mph or even faster horizontally?)
Flash attack	Quickly gain 100 mph in any direction	Possible, but best at only 8 directions and lots of if statements	Possible in any direction with a very simple formula (a sine and cosine)
Bounce stomp	Quickly gain extreme height with ease	Limited by the var's low accuracy	Far greater precision is possible, and with slopes, much more enhanced in the way it behaves.
Pound stomp	Land quickly generating a massive shockwave	Shockwave not possible due to being unable to change layers	Fully possible in every aspect
Fall-glide	Ease toward the ground slowly	Fully possible, but the var's low accuracy limits it	Much greater precision is possible, and with slopes, far more enhanced.
Bounce	Cuts speed based on slope angle (up to half when perpendicular) bouncing in another direction	Possible, but highly restricted	Get the full experience (try impacting a 2:3 slope going stright down and see what direction you get sent off at and what kind of speed reduction there is).
Leviburst	Levitate in the air and zip around with extreme acceleration	Possible, but never thought of at the time	Easily possible with high precision motion
Speed blast	Blast off at extreme speed, has 2+ variations	Possible without too much trouble, outside the effects	Possible, but the effects are much more easily enhanced.
Jumping	Jump into the air off the ground	Limited only because of lack of slopes	Made far more enhanced due to slopes and objects which can greatly influence the behavior (jump when float-running on a 1:4 slope at 200 mph to find yourself going 250 mph going straight up or jump on a 4:1 slope to go straight across at 250 mph, or some other speed and slope type going off at who knows what angle and speed (Yep, I've got that formula)). The 6-jumps limit still applies though.
Maximum speed	Speeds can get very extreme with some abilities	800 horizontally limited by flat ground and the abilities, and 14481.547 mph vertically	No limits (speed blast down the highest hill and 1200 mph horizontally is well within reach, but even that can be exceeded by nearly triple or more when a well-placed and well-used bounce stomp and fall-glide-hop! are used.
Other features
Menus	Starting the game, changing configuration settings, and various other things	Limited only by what the var doesn't limit	Limited only by my ability and knowledge
Challenges	Providing challenge to make the game more worth playing	Limited only by limited amount of variations possible	With slopes and enhanced abilities, much more variation is possible allowing for even 24 challenges for 3 different tournaments.
Worlds	The scenery theme	Most anything is possible, but being unable to tile textures restricts textures to being simple only	Any world is possible, limited only by time and my abilities
On-screen data	Information displayed on screen	Tricky to get certain types of things to display, but otherwise not much of a big deal	No restrictions known
Measurement units	Usage of both English and Metric units of various types	One set unit only - the var restricts it without very complex values used	Easily converted (feet per second, miles per hour, meters per second, kilometers per hour, inches per second, coordinate units per frame, anything (not just for speed though, but distances as well).
Resolutions	The amount of space occupied for the game window	Easily adjustable	Adjustable with knowledge-limited restrictions***
Display mode	Displaying the scene in either windowed or full screen mode	Easily togglable	I have yet to find out how to get full screen mode without using DirectX
Time control	Speed up or slow down time	Either decreasing the frame rate or calling the movement functions numerous time	High precision and anything is allowed (including oddballs like 73.198042) from 0.01 to 100x time, all with the same smooth motion!
Frame advance mode	Advancing game frames for far better timing on actions	One set amount only	Any amount of time can be advanced, to up to the refresh rate multiplied by the time control setting.
Feature	Usage	Gamestudio	C programming
Special effects
Flare effect	Just a general special effect as seen in my mind game	Limited to only a few colors	The true effect and accuracy is available (Gamestudio's limits are even affecting this), especially the colors which is the easy part
Puffs	Dust clouds caused from stopping	Some restrictions, mainly in image usage	More flexible
Pinball effect	It allows for bouncing off things at a slightly faster speed making escape from any enclosed area possible	Limited only to the level ground which hardly is enough for the full effect	Fully possible with no known limits (even enhanced with slopes too!)
Character	The character the player controls	Limited only by the images	Limited only by the images
Shadow	Objects that block light cast shadows	No known restrictions outside being unable to change the image and my skills	No known restrictions other than my skills

Table footnotes:
* There aren't any free true type font creation programs that don't have trial restrictions and FontForge, the only one I could find, involves having to install an extremely confusing program in order to even use and it's design is very awkward easily taking any motive away for something I rarely do anyway. Bitmap fonts are easily created - just take out MSPaint or whatever graphics edittor you use and start doodlin' away. I use The GIMP though so I can make use of the alpha channel.
** So far, it's accurate to only 1/512 second allowing for 512 fps at most, but there's no need to go with that many frames per second. Anything beyond the monitor's refresh rate is just wasted CPU time. Much above even 120 fps is not really needed so 512 is optimal. The highest I've seen allowed is 160 Hz (but that's if you run at 640x480 fps and have a large monitor).
*** I can have it set up so that the resolution is adjustable, but at a cost of greater memory consumption. Using 1024x768 resolution would require 4.5 MB of memory, but changing to 640x480 would require the same 4.5 MB of memory. I don't know of any solutions to this outside linked lists (and these are confusing to work with as I don't understand them). If I could dynamically create global arrays to do so, then more possibilities open up, a lot more.

I've worked out a system for making the slopes. The system could even allow you to make your own terrain map! As I have it planned, the terrain is 81.92 miles long. The second-closest mountains in version 2.4 of my 2D game, for comparison, loop every 85 1/3 miles, roughly as long (about 3 1/2 miles extra). That gives you a sense at just how big the terrain map really is. As of this update, I finished 2 1/2 miles of the terrain and I've included the possibility of lakes and 4-mile mountains along with it. The slopes are accurate to just 5� and each point is spaced 60 pixels apart (just 3.3 feet)! By halving the slope change values (i.e. 5� instead of 10�), they become four times as smooth.

Just envision this once. You start in a rather smooth area, but you can already see small changes in the elevation. You can see water waves flowing right to left below but you can't touch it because the ground is there. As you get the float run going where the rate of speed change varies with the slope grade and slope direction, you can run across the water without going in (even whole lakes 10 miles long). As you head away from the start area toward the right, you encounter some small rises and falls and a few shallow pools of water. Further to the right are hills and mountains. When going down hill, the speed of motion increases but when going up hill, until at 200 mph, the speed decreases. At 200 mph the speed stays the same. When float-running up a mountain near the clouds you watch the clouds up close whizzing by. When you stop (making puffs) on a near level part of the mountain and jump immediately using the flash attack toward the clouds, the character could almost jump up into them and using a bounce stomp will send you back to the left some but at a high speed, and using the flash attack could counter the horizontal speed adding a bit more to the vertical. As you head toward the top of the mountain, you can overlook the clouds while standing at the snow-capped peak. You charge up the speed blast and blast off at near the maximum and really get cruising on the way down the other side of the mountain, breaking 1000 mph in a mad dash. After a few mountain peaks, you run across a lake that is very deep and you decide to use the mountain at the other end as a source of height, jump at the right slope and timing (using frame advance mode to enhance the accuracy) to get up extremely high (easily breaking 30,000 feet, even with 80 mph per second downward acceleration), then using the bounce stomp and fall-glide-hop to get 480,000 feet high to see the stars and a dark day time sky, then a massive pound stomp exceeding hypersonic speeds and a shockwave like you wouldn't believe upon impact. You then jump in the lake and watch the scene get dark as you head down. When near the shore using the speed blast, an extra burst of speed is added, but the ability is more touchy. Of course, you can do whatever you want whether trying to get high enough to see the stars or just drift along the clouds using the leviburst ability. The slopes are so smooth that you almost couldn't tell any boundaries without carefully looking. Oh, and did I mention a 3D-behaving lake? I've had that vision for several months now. It's basically a lake that behaves far more 3D than any of the scenery and I already know how to do it (and with the dynamic fog, it's easy to do it). Then, with pitched gliding, who knows what other challenges are possible. Some of the previous challenges, due to slopes, won't be possible, but in a future world I intend on making which indeed has a lot of level land, they are possible here.

#3 3 dreams in one night again - what! So early!?: I orignally thought recalling 3 dreams in one night had a 300 in one chance of occurring. On Easter (what a coincidence too!), I recalled 3 dreams in one night for the second time. This puts the odds at about 1 in 200, roughly that of rolling 3 6-sided dice and each all showing 4's (this is a 1 in 216 chance). More impressive than that is that I recalled 2 dreams in one night right afterwards without a pause meaning 5 dreams in 2 consecutive days. That's a new record! Previously, it was 4 dreams in 2 days. 7 dreams in 4 consecutive days is also very impressive, but not sure if that's a new record or not. There's a 70% chance (to the best of my knowledge) that it is a new record. My usual average is 15 dreams every month, but 7 in just 4 days being sustained would yield about 53 dreams in a month, 3 1/2 times as much (or 77 and 5 times as much in the case of 5 in 2 days). Another 200 or so dreams later, putting it around June of 2008 given my average, I'd have another instance of 3 dreams in one neight. It may be into the 2500 area (about that of rolling 4 dice and flipping a coin at the same time with all dice being 5's and the coin being heads (about a 1 in 2592 chance for this), to put this in perspective) before 4 are recalled in one night, and this may not be until around the year 2018 or so. How do I get this? Patterns, calculations, patterns, and more patterns. 1 in 2 for at least one dream recalled during the night, 1 in 15 for at least 2 in one night, and 1 in 200 for at least 3 in one night are the known values. Given the accelerating curve this seems to have, it may actually be about 5000 or so instead, so remote that roughly 24 2/3 years would pass given my average rate (4440�182.62, 4440 due to disregarding all current dreams)) is a bit less than 25).
#4 2D RPG game - I can program everything!: During the early part of this month, I set up the plan for every aspect of my 2D RPG game that I was envisioning during the last update. While writing the plan, everything in the game is something I already know how to program it. Yep, character development, battles, menus, field navigation, world map, and other things I thought of that are currently classified as to what they are. I spent a while making simulations (screenshot-like images that give a rough idea on what the game would be like, at least for 3 areas of the menus (main menu included) and the battles). All that remains for the planning is finishing the world map and the basic story line (no character interaction, but just the general concept, the base plan as I refer to it as in my animation-creation). I'm focusing moderately on graphics (I want them to be decent, but not ultra-high detail), moderately-high on gameplay (self-made challenges can keep me at games for hundreds or even thousands of hours, but general gameplay is also focused on), moderately-low on sound effects (this I have yet to practice with in any form - need FLStudio first), moderately-high on music (my rule: 100 or bust - no lower than 100 compatibility allowed (no, 1000 would be ridiculous and meaningless to go for as extremely few songs I've heard even make it to 100, disregarding those with lyrics which rarely sees much above neutral (or 1))), and very highly on player freedom (do whatever, some aspects classified). Why make it 2D instead of 3D? 2D is far more within my realm of knowledge and anything 2D is within my reach. In fact, I can make practically any 2D game - a platformer, shooter, puzzle, RPG, strategy, almost anything. 3D requires DirectX and is unfamiliar territory, even playing, but I'm not entirely leaving out 3D - what do you suppose George Game 13 and my abandoned 3D RPG games are? They aren't 2D as from the screenshots, they are real 3D! My 2D game, The Supernatural Olympics, is "pseudo-3D" since it somewhat accurately mimics 3D using only 2D objects in a 2D environment. My 2D RPG game, of which I have yet to name or give a title to. Put a big fat red X on The Supernatural Olympics as being the first commercial game. Instead, put the honor of being the first commercial game towards my 2D RPG game instead as it's much more suitable than my 2D (pseudo-3D) game. Before I can work on the actual game (of which has had some progress in terms of the graphics (elemental symbols (no they're not the ones on my website, they're far better looking especially that of fire and earth) and the fonts used, a consequence of making those simulated screenshots)), I first need to resolve all programming issues and gain skills starting with simpler things (as from my law of experience - "you gain experience the fastest and easiest if you do things at your own level and no higher or lower"). "The Interactive Animation" is the next one with a revision or two of "The Supernatural Olympics". By even the first release of my 2D game in C, I'd be skilled enough for making the 2D RPG game. Even at the time I wrote this (Apr 14, 2007), I'm already skilled enough for practically every aspect.
#5 Possible vacation in September: The last vacation I had was sometime in July or August of 2000, almost 7 years ago. My mom mentioned of possibly taking me to Minnesota in September of 2007. She wants me to get over the mirror thing beforehand and this only has 1% chance of happening. Because it's only to Minnesota, I'm not that attracted and since it's September, rather late in the year, even less motivating, not enough positive affectors to counter it. Sure it's been almost 7 years since I last had a vacation, so long that I forgot what they are like, the degree of interest is not even a quarter that of what is needed. If it was elsewhere than Minnesota, even in October when it's even colder, there'd be still enough motive. From Mid July to Mid August is the best time. If it does actually happen, I wonder what method of transportation will be used. It's either the train or a long drive. I've been in a train twice. Going in an airline is highly unlikely and I've otherwise never been in one. The closest I've been is in one of those small planes, a Cessna, with seating for just two. At least one other attempt or mention has been given, but it failed. There may have been another case or two beforehand but no action was taken in either.
#6 21 new dreams and some dream journal enhancements: With 570 dreams now, 21 new ones, I think I've now returned to my normal recalling rate. It started off slow, but by the time April 6 came, it all changed, especially with April 8 (Easter) where I recalled 3 dreams in one night for the second time then 2 dreams in one night right after setting a new record. The dream on April 1 is so well-recalled, it's a story (at 88% in tact, far from the record). Then, on top of that, for several nights in a row, I recalled the night's dream and it happened twice. Just on the day I updated my website, I recalled 2 dreams in one night, both of which quite well-recalled. My usual average is 15 dreams every month, or one every 2 days. 21 is much better than the average. Earlier, I was only getting 8 to 10 new ones in a month, often going a week without one.

In addition to a lot of new dreams recalled, I added an enhancement to my dream journal. At the top of every dream page, you can see a list of noteworthy dreams. I actually had this feature before, but it was only on the first page in each category and it wasn't getting updated at all. I figured I'd use SHTML to have this displayed on every page within the category of the dreams being viewed, not just the first. The feature is also enhanced further. Before, I mentioned of category uncertainty. Now, I don't include that, but include a few rare comments instead (such as if I want a dream to recur). A few other changes were made to the dream journal. The "dream extremes" part of the FAQ has been redone with two new questions. I've also explained what the effects are when scenery isn't recalled well (or at all) for a particular area and how I truly see it (FAQ question 2.6 on the dream journal). See the update summary at the top for details.

#7 No Rice Lake this year - uh oh!: For a few years, I've always liked going to Rice Lake as it was mainly the only way I could go swimming. Now, the car club doesn't even have this possible now which means that I'm even less likely to be able to go swimming. 1 year without it is already bad enough, but without this, I don't have any other chances and about the only chance I'd probably get now is either spending $50 for a taxi and whatever a day pass is for the YMCA, or, it's somehow getting my family to spend a day at the lake. This could mean 3 years or even longer without it. However, things may change and there may be another case of it.
#8 Another hardware failure - the printer: I never liked that printer when I first got it. It seemed somewhat cursed. First, when I bought it on September 4, 2004, I unpacked it and almost got it hooked up. I then realized that a USB cable was not supplied and I had to go back into town in order to get one. On my way there, I got into my first car crash. I went a bit later shaken up and got the cable I needed. I returned home and finished hooking it up. I printed my 324-page story out with it and ran into a few paper jams. Not only that, but when colors were printed, they were far off from what they actually are. The greens were half as bright as they should've been and the blues roughly 2/3 as bright. The reds were much closer to being correct. Worst of all, it didn't have a "print in grayscale" option, a feature I find extremely important. The scanner, however, was about the only major plus side to it. It was rarely used due to these defects, limitations, and annoyances. I tried contacting HP (the manufacturer) about the color issue and I was told I had to pay $30 in order to get support. Asking on the forums didn't help either so the only fix I had was spending hours doing experiments to get a formula to get the colors to print out more accurately. The formula was quite complex. Then, even with one page being used, I was getting paper jams with it and it was a pain to fix. At other time, it took a whole stack of ten sheets (!) and printed with all that going through. Then, just a week before the update to my site, when I tried to print a one-page document, I got unexpected errors I couldn't get rid of. It said that the black cartridge was an unrecognized device. It was just working a few days beforehand! Even the color cartridge had it. I managed to get the color cartridge one fixed but the black cartridge would never get fixed. I removed and reinserted it 4 or 5 times and it just wouldn't accept it. I was forced to print using only the color cartridge since it was the only thing working. The only thing that works now with that printer is just the scanner. I was once thinking of getting a replacement solely for printing and use the "cursed" one for scanning only.

With all these problems that printer had, and my debate on whether I should get a replacement, it was this last one that made my decision up. I got another HP printer, one a lot like the previous one, but unlike Sep 4, 2004, I had much better availability of choices (several dozen instead of about 6 to 8). Not only that, but I could also look at reviews, specs, and various other things as well. I looked for a printer that met my needs, was high-rated (4.3 "eggs" in Newegg at minimum), and had good reviews for the major important things. I found the HP Photosmart C4180. Although it didn't come with a USB cable, I figured I could just use my old one that I had so much trouble getting back in September of 2004. I hooked it up and ran a few tests printing the second screenshot in news item #1 above (the most colorful and realistic-looking one) as a test. Unlike the old printer, this one matches the colors without the need of any alterations. The blue is slightly darker, but it's far, far closer than the previous printer, so close that only experiments can tell what offsets there are. I tested the scanner and some other features. It has nearly ten times the number of options that my previous one including the long-wanted "print in grayscale" option. It wasn't cheap, but it had a big sale so I got it while I was at it. That previous printer made me dislike HP, but this new one changed it to the opposite with renewed interest. Because it's so new, it's very hard to get an accurate compatibility with the new one, but with what I've seen so far, it's unlikely to be returned. The previous printer was -30 compatibility (10% margin of error (MoE)). The new one is the opposite at +30 compatibility (40% MoE), nearly 900 times better. That's a huge different and it made the compatibility with HP jump from -12 at the time (-25 with gradual neutralization factored out) to a +8, almost 100 times better. Yep, Newegg definitely rocks so hard it brings down well-built houses! My compatibility with Newegg is standing at a monster +350, higher than any other store. Wal-mart is next at +200 which is still phenomenal. They were once at -6 until the supercenter opened and that was because they blocked 99% of the entire store with mirrors. Considering the effect compatibility has almost a full impact on motive, it has a huge influence and even a small 10% increase is more than enough to change decisions.

With all these recent hardware failures, I've only got to wonder what's next on the list.

#9 2-year anniversary of DSL: 2 years ago on this day, I first got DSL. At the time, it was 1 Mbps for $30 a month. It took a while to convince my parents to switch as, according to my calculations, DSL was actually cheaper than dial-up. Dial-up was something like $16.95 a month at the time and an extra line to prevent tying up the voice line was $13 a month, but later increased to $19. That totals $30 per month ($36 with the increased extra line fee). DSL, however, was $29.95 a month for 1 Mbps and there was a $4 DSL modem rental fee in addition. That combines to $33.95 a month. It had numerous advantages as well. Instead of my parents asking me if I wanted to go online or not (or me asking them), they could just go online at free will. There's no extra line to bog down the voice phone, and for 23.3 times the fast typical speed of dial-up, it was worth it. The only downside was the need to buy a router. A while later, after computer troubles (processor and hard freezes in the BIOS (see the Jan 2007 blog)), and returning, I found that I had 4 Mbps for the connection speed with no change in the price. That's roughly 93 times faster than dial-up. I found this out accidentally as I was downloading a 250 MB file (Visual C++ 2005 Express). The file was so big that I expected a 40-minute download. That wasn't what I got. Instead, it was only a ten-minute download and averaging about 490 kilobytes per second. That's how I found out that I had 4 Mbps. 10 minutes for that at that high speed would mean 900 on dial-up (that's 15 hours). I've been with DSL ever since.
#10 Mom and cleaning my room - getting annoying: Whenever my mom comes into my room, she keeps saying something like "this room has got to get cleaned up - we'll do it this weekend". Yet, 5 times now, the weekend came and went and nothing happened. I get annoyed over her doing that. My usual remark is that she complains too much. Over time, my compatibility will get out of negative territory (which would still probably be another 2 more years) and I'd do it myself. Whenever I go grocery shopping with mom left at home, I get worried that she would sneak in here and clean it. Given I've had a few dreams showing this as well, it further adds to the effect. I'm using more of my tricks to prevent it. It seems like a mess to most, but it doesn't bother me that much. It's only when I'm after trying to find something that it gets messier, but this is a rare case, once in several months rare.
#11 ex[rest of word] = X[rest of word]: This has been going on for about a week or so. What is it? Well, let's take an Xample like that. Lately, when speaking to myself trying to figure out Xtremely fine details, I say the "ex" part normally, but insert an Xtra half-second pause. It goes something like this Xample:

"Now, if that's 110 pixels and 8 miles wide, what's the scaling? [punches numbers into the calculator] Excellent, (mumbling) or is it (normal) X-cellent, fractions. Oy! 260 seems a bit too low. 280 is expected (mumbling), or is that (normal) X-pected."

Where the hyphen is, I have a half-second pause. I just find it entertaining. Or, wasn't that supposeded to be "I just find it Xtraordinary"?

#12 FF6 World - Uh oh, here we go again (and a new record)!: Ever since I first played FF6, I've been highly involved with FF6 World, but I changed songs to the battle music and FF5 Castle along the way. However, when I was messing around with different speeds on my MP3 player, I gained a strong interest in it and ever since April 3, 2007 at 1:00 AM or so, I've been involved with it, hovering around 115 to 125% true speed. Most impressively, I can shove the 12-day record of the same speed and equalizer settings for the same song to the second place position as I've now logged 13 consecutive days and as of this update, I'm still going at it strong! The compatibility is 2300, quite far from the two record holders (at 2850 and 3190), and so far, I've logged 25 days at it. It's the first four measures of part 2 (measures 17 through 20 out of 35 total) that really boosts it (spiking to 2700 at the highest (and twice)). It's part 3, however, that ruins it dipping below 200. This graph (logarithmic scale for compatibility) shows the overall compatibility "layout". Green is the average and red is the spike. Note the locations of the spike at 2700 and that there is a 10% margin of error for the actual values.

graph showing FF6 World (version 1)'s compatibility overview at 125 percent true speed

graph showing FF6 World (version 1)'s compatibility overview at 125 percent true speed

Note that part 1 is mentioned twice. This is because the set of 8 measures within the area are exactly identical. Part 1 is actually 16 measures, but it has two loops before part 2 starts. Part 2 is nearly identical to part 1, but there are distinct differences which sets it apart. Measures 25 and 27 at the moment beat 2 starts (assuming a 4/4 time signature) is where the spike at 2700 actually occurs. This is based on 125% true speed, almost right in the sweet spot. From 115 to 125% true speed is where the song sounds it's best. It's a somewhat relaxing song and given my theory that faster-than-normal speeds sound the best, I got involved with the faster-than-normal speed. At first, I was more into around 80% true speed (65 to 70% on my MP3 player), but once I tried the faster-than-normal speeds on my MP3 player, I got hooked with them and from 115 to 125% true speed was found to be the best area. In fact, I remained at 125% true speed for 13 days in a row. My previous record was 12 days, with Battle Zone, but now I've gone on with the same speed for 13 days as of this update and I'm still craving for more of the same speed and equalizer settings.

#13 American Idol on CNN = TV muted to hear "better" music;: When I'm watching CNN Headline News, sometimes things involving the show American Idol come up. I have yet to hear anything from the samples actually getting above 2.5 in compatibility. The average is about 1.6. Ignoring lyrics, a very strong negative affector, the highest is about an 8 but averages about 3. As a result, I almost always mute my TV to hear "better" music - FF6 World. At 2300 compatibility, something rated even 8 stands practically no chance at all. Any more than about 3.5 seconds is too much for the best (lyric included), but 3 weeks (and still counting) isn't for another song. With a huge difference of 287.5, sustainability is roughly 82,500 times as long, or about one second to a day, and that's the best disregarding lyrics. With lyrics, the sustainability is about 850,000 times longer, about 10 days for every second. To my record spike, 3190, the sustainability is about 160,000 times as long without lyrics and a monster 1 5/8 million with lyrics included. Then again, going on with the same song for 46 days in a row (that's 6 1/2 weeks), even within a very narrow speed range (55 to 65% true speed, mostly 60%) is far out there. Even the second-place record of 42 days (6 weeks) is also far out there.
#14 Mind game sky diving act - new enhancements: I've mentioned of the sky diving thing in my mind game many times, ever since 2003. It happens to be the top 3 favorite events of all. It basically involves sky divers in an airplane jumping out of it. I, instead, jump going up and use the flash attack to be going up at near 150 mph (faster than free fall going down). After nearly 2 seconds I start heading back down and by about 5 more seconds, I see the sky divers coming up at almost 400 mph. I whiz past them at almost 280 mph faster than they're going. I keep accelerating until I reach about 1210 mph (remaining at 999 mph for the speed in my mind game; almost 5/3 the speed of sound), then bounce up at about 605 mph, just shy of the speed of sound. The bounce doesn't get me high enough to get through the sky divers, far from it (I can barely even make out where they are, if I do (bouncing on nonlevel surfaces causes me to get flung off at other directions as well, and I'm still over a mile away from them), and I keep bouncing until the impact speed is below 100 mph (in the enhancements to my 2D game, you can see this behavior). That's the old version.

The new version has the same start. As usual, the sky divers jump out of the plane and when I'm heading out, I jump and immediately use the flash attack. This is where similarities end. I then carefully line up to fall onto the airplane's propeller and upon impact, I get shot straight up at around 830 mph (well, almost straight up). The impact energy is dissepated out in all directions not affecting the propeller at all. It takes just over 10 seconds to finally come to a stop and when I look down over a mile higher (from just shy of 20,000 feet), even the airplane is barely visible. I aim my fall toward an area just a little behind the airplane and by the time I get to 700 mph, I can make out the airplane and tell that it was one (I'm still 1/3 of a mile from it) and only 1 1/2 seconds later, I'm level with the airplane whizzing past it at 830 mph. This is 24 1/3 seconds after jumping out of the airplane. By then, the sky divers have fallen about 4000 feet (now at 9000 feet), of which I fall in just 3 seconds, enough time to get and remain at "999" mph (for one second) as displayed on my mind game's speed. The sky divers whiz past at about 950 mph, so fast that you wouldn't even know they were there and it's until I reach about 1470 mph (5 seconds later) that I finally impact the ground. That's only 53 mph short of twice the speed of sound. The bounce speed going up is 735 mph, just 27 mph short of the speed of sound. The bounce gets me just shy of 5000 feet high, just 1500 feet lower than the sky divers themselves who are at 6500 feet, half of what they started with. From there, I just bounce to a stop taking another 9 seconds to do so and by the time I fully stop, the sky divers are at 5000 feet.

By using the flash attack immediately after getting hit by the propeller, going 930 mph up, I get about 21,100 feet of height instead, another 1300 higher (a quarter mile), but that's only enough to get to 1520 mph, about twice the speed of sound and bounce up at 760 mph, roughly the speed of sound, a bounce getting 5300 feet high (a mile plus a two-story house), but 600 feet short of the sky divers getting only 470 feet short of them at the closest.

Another variation has the same start as before. The sky divers head out the plane and I jump and use the flash attack right away for extra height. I then line up for the outermost part of the wing and the plane suddenly turns rapidly just before I impact it, which swats me back up at about 110 mph, just fast enough for the bounce ability to work. The plane is unaffected as a result of the impact and from there on, it's a high-speed fall downward whizzing past the sky divers at about 600 mph (480 mph relative to them).

There has been a time where I've actually impacted a sky diver from the propeller version which sent me 100 mph going up and about 850 heading straight for nearby mountains. The sky divers, like the plane, are unaffected from the impact. Still nearly 1 3/4 miles high, it takes reaching 960 mph vertically to finally impact the ground. That's 13 1/4 seconds later, enough to have travelled 3 1/8 miles toward the mountains and there isn't enough room to come to a full stop either.

Perhaps, in my new remake of "The Supernatural Olympics", I can have this commonly-depicted mind game event included.

Daily Events

Apr 1: I first ate watching TV then checked forums and E-mail. Then, for the next 11 1/4 hours, essentially the rest of the day, I worked on the plan for my 2D RPG game. I occasionally checked the forums, but even then, 3+ hours would go by between checks. More spells have been added, a few more items, lots of abilities, explaining the world map, listing 6 main characters and a few details about them, and explaining a feature unique to RPG games that I've seen. Man, this game has a lot of unique things! The plan is almost done. Just get past those 2 issues and practically everything planned so far is something I already know how to do and program. FF6 World plays on my MP3 player (84% true speed) and OWTLI still plays on my computer (64% true speed). I'm tempted to write the story, but without the world map finished, it's difficult. Woke up at 8:25 PM and went to bed at 9:49 AM.
Apr 2: Yowsers! A weird dream using 1 3/4 pages of details! Again, a large chunk of the day was spent at my 2D RPG game. I worked a little more on the plan and got further with the world map. I managed to also get a start with the story. I mostly worked with the starting area. Outside eating and brief checks on the forums, this was all I did, the same as yesterday. Desert Zone now plays on my computer at 85% true speed and FF6 World on my MP3 player at 120% true speed. Woke up at 8:23 PM and went to bed at 1:34 PM (�1 minute).
Apr 3: First, I went at hecking forums and E-mail then working on my 2D RPG game. I wanted a "snapshot" of the main menu. I started working on it ironing out faults and the fine details. I then hit a snag - I needed a font. I had to form the font. I did the half-sized version then ate. I returned to do the normal-sized version. With the font done other than the monetary symbol, I went at finishing up the main base design. When finished, I went at doing my "snapshot" and finished it. I went to bed afterwards. I started with Desert Zone on my computer, but changed back to FF6 World. 120% true speed on my MP3 player was great and it got me tempted. I remained at it for the remainder of the day, or about 14 hours. Woke up at 10:59 PM and went to bed at 3:00 PM.
Apr 4: First it was checking forums and E-mail, nothing new. Then it was my 2D RPG game - the status screen. I hit another snag - the icons for the elements were extremely low quality. I finished 7 of the 10 elements then ate. I then returned to it finishing the status display. I especially like the icon for earth it really struck my attention. The one for fire and wind were the same as those made in 2002, only made far more realistic and far more enhanced. Some things, like water and earth, were completely redone. When done, I went at the "ability > equip" menu and its design and finished that as well. This may seem like a waste of time, but it lets me work out the fine details and make adjustments. Not only that, but, as with the elements, images for use in the game. GIMP had 147 million page faults while I was doing all this, a new record. Also, Winamp read 16.2 billion bytes, another record. In addition, 32 million page faults occurred with GIMP prior to eating and another 3.5 billion bytes read in Winamp as well. I'm still at 120% true speed with FF6 World. I'm also seemingly getting my sister interested in it as well and she liked the elemental symbol for fire. Woke up at 1:31 AM and went to bed at 8:07 PM.
Apr 5: I only slept 6 1/2 hours.... Another day, 10 hours at my 2D RPG game. That's like 80 hours in a week! The last time I was like this was around June of 2006. Unlike the last 2 days, this day was different. I made a few fixes to the plan and added some things I left out. I worked on the world map now approaching 30% completion. Along the way, I redid the intro to the story and made it much better. I liked the new version nearly 4 times better than the old one. Halfway through the day, I changed the speed to 115% true speed. Woke up at 4:34 AM and went to bed at 6:34 PM.
Apr 6: Goodie! A dream taking a half page of details! I was awake for 21 hours. I first ate watching TV. I then went at trying to resolve the issues with the timing and keyboard and very quickly lost interest, but did get the solution for the keyboard one. As to the timing issue, I didn't get anywhere. I spent a while on Wikipedia. I went at a little programming and swapped. With the timing issue, 60 Hz will be required. I was also wondering if I needed to return to Gamestudio (and put up with the var and other annoyances or have the difficulty of using C. C is far more advantageous. I did play Looney Tunes Back in Action for about 40 minutes, mainly to get a better screenshot for Wikipedia. I remained at Wikipedia since. Woke up at 5:55 AM and went to bed at 2:14 AM.
Apr 7: Nice! Another dream using 1/3 page of details. I first checked forums and E-mail then tackled the timing issue. I found out how to get maximum precision on the timing! Previously, I had jerky motion that was uneven. I spent a while figuring out linked lists but got confused on just how to use them. It was an attempt to get dynamic array sizes. Since it wasn't required, I went at tackling the other things. I now got smoother animation, but it's still jerky. It's not as bad (probably due to no double buffering or the low precision of the clock. Now a new problem arose - high CPU usage. The CPU usage is around 40% for only 800x600. My 2D game on Gamestudio did below 3% and it's 50 times more graphically intensive. I don't have a solution yet. At the end, I spent 40 minutes on the phone with DirecTV. I was otherwise going to go to bed only 12 hours after waking up. Woke up at 11:25 AM and went to bed at 11:43 PM.
Apr 8: Wow! So soon!? 3 dreams recalled in one night!? 300 in one chance? Try 200 in one! All 3 took a full page in details. Was this an Easter gift or something!? I spent a bit updating the program then trying keyboard input, but ran into a problem. GetAsyncKeyState only went 30 fps and had the repeat delay you see in text edittors. This is bad for games. I ate after figuring out WM_KEYDOWN for a bit. I ran backup while eating and watching "Light Fantastic" (2 episodes of the 3 since I only saw one of them beforehand). While waiting for answers on WM_KEYDOWN or GetAsyncKeyState, I made a sampler of the battle system in my 2D RPG game. My first version used too much space on the bottom and redone it. I still have FF6 World running, now 117% true speed on my MP3 player (like yesterday), but still 115% true speed on my computer. Woke up at 10:13 AM and went to bed at 3:49 AM.
Apr 9: What's with this all of a sudden!? Right after recalling 3 dreams in one night, I recalled 2 dreams in one night! 5 dreams in just 2 days (that's a new record!), 7 in 4 days. Wow! Keyboard issues resolved! Now there's nothing stopping me from making any 2D game! Well, there's only motive now. When motive goes negative, that's what'll stop me. I finished the battle preview of my 2D RPG game and later in the day, added an enhancement to my dream journal. I checked all 549 dreams mostly by the title alone and once I read the title, as has happened many times before, scenes from the dream appear. 117% true speed plays on my MP3 player and 115 then 118% true speed on my computer and it's still FF6 World. Woke up at 12:29 PM and went to bed at 4:50 AM.
Apr 10: Boohoo! No dream recalled. I continued working on my program. I'm now ready to make "The Interactive Animation", the first program I made in January of 2005. I struggled a bit with pointers - I still need practice with them, especially when functions take a pointer as a parameter. I'm very close to rereleasing my first program. The graphics need updating though and I have yet to get text. Unlike Gamestudio where it's always fixed width, I can use a more natural variable width font and I know how to do that - structs and computations. Setting up double buffering without the high CPU usage, get the fonts, set up inputs, and update the scenery are left. My 2D game is next followed by the 2D RPG game I spent nearly 100 hours working on in 10 or so days. 118% true speed plays on my computer and 117% true speed plays on my MP3 player. Woke up at 2:53 PM and went to bed at 4:59 AM (�1 minute).
Apr 11: First it was checking the forums and E-mail. Next, I set up for using a back bufer but it didn't seem to be working. I ate watching TV. This went on until around 10:00 PM or so (don't recall, 9 PM is the other possibility (30% certain with this one)). I returned to get the back buffer stuff going but it didn't work. I troubleshooted the issue and found DrawDibBegin as the culprit. I first thought it was bad pointers but seeing nonzero values in the debug message box I use, it was something else. I thought it was the DDF_BUFFER flag, but whether I use no flags, that lone, or an irrelevant one, the function always failed (it returns 0). Because of this, the back buffer is not being filled and an all-black display is shown. I got no responses for a while so I took out Looney Tunes Back in Action and almost reached $450,000. I found an even faster and more entertaining way to get the fastest rate. I gained $100,000 in that game in just one day and I have yet to see what happens when you exceed $999,999. My guess is that it'd abruptly stop increasing. When done, I still had no response and I went on to make a far more realistic lighting effect - explained in news item #1. I started on the scenery for "The Interactive Animation". I also got word that there will not be any Rice Lake this year. I'm still at the same speeds for FF6 World. Woke up at 3:20 PM and went to bed at 8:28 AM.
Apr 13: Yay! A dream! It's only 1/3 page in details though. It's Friday the 13th! That's not unlucky to me, but Sunday the 22nd is. I swapped between TV and working on my game design stuff. I found no solution to the issue of drawing into a back buffer. DrawDibBegin always fails regardless of what flag(s) are used and using DDF_BUFFER in a DrawDibDraw call does nothing. I got no answer in the forums either. I, instead, went at making the scenery. This seems like I'm not getting anywhere, but when you look at the new images compared to the old ones, even my 2D game, they're far more realistic. Unlike my 2D game when I released it, I have much more accurate lighting. I finished the mountains and most of the hills (antialiasing and finalizing remain). Unlike what I did with the hills in my 2D game prior to release, I'm not using the shrink method. I'm using the better, more accurate first method. As to release dates, I'm not doing as I did before. It's only going to be "when its done". Now that I don't have to put up with limits posed by Gamestudio, I can focus much more on realism. Yep, complex equations.... Dynamic fog (color and intensity), slopes, pitched gliding, more abilities, enhanced scenery, and many other dream features - C offers it all! I just need to get past the basics. When I watched Mythbusters, I found an interesting relationship between the sound frequency and putting a fire out. A fire 1000 times bigger in volume needs 1/3 the frequency and I don't recall the dB change, but probably 30 dB louder (which is 1000 times louder). This means "SF = 166/log(FV);" to get the sound frequency and "SA = BASE+log(FV);" for the sound amplitude. I don't recall the initial amplitude nor the output. FV is the fire's volume in cubic centimeters. log is the logarithm function (at base 10). BASE represents whatever the amplitude was for putting the candle flame out. No change occurred in the song or speeds. Woke up at 6:17 PM and went to bed at 8:45 AM (�8 minutes).
Apr 14: Nice! Another dream recalled. I finished the hills, processed the sky in full, set up the code for the font, and now I'm almost finished with the program (and so soon!). I still haven't gotten any answers with getting DrawDibDraw to draw into a back buffer. I was about to go to the grocery store but both parents had stuff to do leaving me out. I strongly dislike going on Sundays because no place is open before noon so it forces me to go while sleepy and I really hate it. It's the main reason I was awake for 19 hours. At the end, I started on my blog's headlines mentioning the 3 largest headlines. Resolve the DrawDibDraw issue and I'd have "The Interactive Animation" released well beforehand. I ate first watching TV and I'm still at FF6 World with the same speeds. Woke up at 8:43 PM and went to bed at 2:23 PM.
Apr 15: Rats! No dream was recalled. Today is tax day as well. I first checked forums and E-mail then finally resolved the back buffer issue. Now comes adding more scenery elements and when it came to transparent things, I encountered a weird bug. I ate 8 hours later. I took a shower right afterwards then left for the grocery store at about 2:30, 2 hours later than I was hoping for. I returned home then mom got me at putting a laundry center together. It had no instructions and only the image shown on the box to go by. I first sorted the pieces out then it was figuring out what went where by examining the image and using the process of elimination and some logic. Once solved, it took an hour to build it, but only 20 minutes to solve the puzzle on where each piece went. I went to bed right after. FF6 World still plays but now 125% true speed starting with the last half of the day. Woke up at 10:28 PM and went to bed at 6:25 PM.
Apr 16: Nice, another dream recalled. This one takes 2/3 of a page in details. I first ate watching TV. I then checked forums and E-mail and went at processing the transparency bug. I got nowhere. I spent quite a while on the forums to resolve this issue. I got at making the city layer and almost finished it. The issue still remains. I made a few small updates to my 2D RPG game's plan. Nope, no change in the speed at 125% true speed. Woke up at 4:31 AM and went to bed at 8:05 PM.
Apr 17: There's 2 dreams in a row! This one is only a half page. I first checked the forums and E-mail. I ate afterwards then returned to the the forums. I got further with using AlphaBlend but I'm stuck again. I then went at making the last image layer - the houses. I finished them and I was very amazed when viewing them at 200% zoom - they looked very 3D like. I really "wore out" the cosine button on the Windows calculator for that one! So many lighting-related calculations then a change in plans calling for even more. 2 cosine computations are needed for each new angle in question. Woke up at 6:02 AM and went to bed at 11:34 PM.
Apr 18: Great! 3 dreams in a row! This new one is only 2/5 of a page in detail. Eureka! As to my programming, I got AlphaBlend to work exactly as expected. I got the fog to work as expected. I finished the scene outside the city (as I want to redo it, making it more realistic). I started at the font next but ran into a strange problem (exceeding array limits and an unexplained infinite loop). I briefly stopped to watch Mythbusters but later returned. Just getting text, redoing the city layer, and setting up keyboard inputs remain! I'm still at FF6 World and the same speed. Woke up at 10:09 AM and went to bed at 11:32 PM.
Apr 19: Rats! No dream recalled. What a haul! Displaying text - check. Accepting numerical user input - check. Accepting alphanumeric user input - no check. Dynamic scenery (it moves!) - check. Dynamic fog - check. Dynamic fog color - no check. First it was displaying the text. I had a lot of trouble with infinite loops in getting the strings to display causing a fairly moderate-sized function to get more than half-filled with debug stuff (270 lines, 150 or so of which toward debug stuff). I set it up for wordwrap (that was a challenge!) and right-alignment. My function is already better than Gamestudio having more features. Now I can really cruise. With debugging - real time monitoring of variables is now fully possible. The scene moves, and accepts some user input (unfinished). I only ate pizza rolls, but twice since they're not really filling. I'm still at FF6 world at 125% true speed. Woke up at 8:50 AM and went to bed at 12:42 AM.
Apr 20: 4/5 page of details make up the new dream recalled. It first was a quick check off the forums and E-mail then eating. Once done, I rechecked the forums and resumed my programming stuff. Frame advance mode - check. Set houses scaling - check. Put cursor in text inputs - check. Set visibility range - gray check (not entirely finished but mostly). Set fog color - no check. Get main display data - check. Add controls list - check. Is this a checklist I'm reading off of? Seems like it. Reset defaults - no check. City background - gray check (done but want to redo it). Motion blur - 1/2 transparent gray check (not sure if I want it but seems easy enough). Because my printer is about to die (it's acting strange - see news item #8), I got a new replacement. I spent a while writing reviews for various things I got on Newegg. My parents, mom especially, are now a concern and it's now the weekend. I really want to get going on my programming stuff so I'm likely to use my tricks as much as possible to prevent having to do highly unwanted housework. I'm still at 125% true speed for FF6 World. Woke up at 11:18 AM and went to bed at 1:31 AM.
Apr 21: Another dream recalled, this one a half page in details. I first checked forums and E-mail then went right at programming. I've finished everything except redoing the city. I ate pizza rolls only (the bag says "60 count" on the label, but it actually had 67). I finished the gas station outside noisemaps and got a start on the ice cream store. I may have a solution to the timing as well. It's untested but what I saw looks promising. Not 15.6 milliseconds precision, but 1 millisecond. 4 milliseconds was my intended maximum target. Even at 200 Hz refresh rate, there should still be smooth motion, smoother than I get with 60 Hz now. Again, 125% true speed plays for FF6 World. Woke up at 12:19 PM and went to bed at 3:15 AM.
Apr 22: Yay! A third dream in a row! I haven't had a mud dream in quite a while. It's only 1/3 page detail though. Sunday the 22nd, my unlucky day (like Friday the 13th is to some). Anyway, as to that checklist - redo the city - check. Use method for more accurate timing - check. Test program - in progress. Release program - no check. Tune-ups - in progress. Wow! That's the end of that checklist! The motion, after minor adjustments is so smooth! Even if I was running at 1024x768 resolution (which is 76.8 pixels per inch on my monitor instead of 144 pixels per inch), I couldn't detect the jump of 2 pixels when going 1 1/8 pixels per frame with the previous timing method, but here, even with 1920x1440 resolution, the motion is so smooth that I can easily detect the jump of 2 pixels with that same speed. The only downside is 30% CPU usage, almost all of which solely due to the higher-precision timing needed. Release is right around the corner! The Supernatural Olympics is next! I'm still at 125% true speed for FF6 World now with 10,000 plays already! Woke up at 2:08 PM and went to bed at 5:53 AM.
Apr 23: Nice, another dream! That's four in a row and this one took 3/4 of a page in details. I only made a few minor adjustments to my program and tested it. It's now ready for release. I then got a start on the well-wanted slopes feature for my 2D game and worked out a nice plan. 82 miles of landscape has been planned and I can get extreme resolution (slope change and slope change spacing) that it'd appear practically natural (in theory based on simulations in my mind). There's over 100,000 plots each just 3.3 feet apart and an angle change resolution of just 5�. All that and only 1/2 of a MB is needed (jumping to 3 MB with images). I finished 2 1/2 miles of the 81.92 total, almost 3%. I spent quite a bit of time planning the fine details for the terrain system. I first need more graphics before testing - the character, background scenery, and a few others. I wrote a short program that tells me the highs and lows and my current position, done to help keep track. It's hard to visualize what the shape is. I'd like to make a map like in my mind game for the scenery. GIMP crashed at the very end of the day just when about to save a backup, a crash so severe that I had to hold the power button of my computer in to even be able to do anything. That's twice now infinite loops in The GIMP have cause this and the GIMP developers won't bother fixing it without a stack trace, something I don't know how to get or what they even are. I thought it was the GTK but apparently not. That's a class 7 bug and only 8 is higher (8 is where the bug destroys the computer, like a very bad virus). Still no change with the song played. Woke up at 4:26 PM and went to bed at 7:13 AM (�2 minutes).
Apr 25: How many dreams in a row has it been? That's like 5 now in a row and this one uses 3/4 of a page in details. I first ate then checked forums and E-mail. I prepared my program for release and released it. I'm getting told they can't exit using the X button. 2 are getting it, the first two commenting on it. I apparently have a bug I don't get on my system. I spent a while updating my website - the blog headlines and the future plans of my 2D game. I'm still at FF6 World with no change in the speed. Woke up at 5:45 PM and went to bed at 9:07 AM.
Apr 26: Rats! No dream! I began the update to my dream journal adding 2 of 18 dreams. I also made a graph for the compatibilities in FF6 World and how they change over time. The first thing was making fixes and more attempts at getting my program released. I still have no idea which of 6 possible "msvcr80.dll" files that I need to use. I only ate pizza rolls. I watched 2 episodes of Mythbusters and one scene made me think back to a dream just a few days ago. In the dream, the Mythbusters were over a pool of mud and they fell in and walked in the mud 100 feet or so to get out. In the show I saw, just a few days after the the dream, one went in a pool of a strange goo-like stuff and sunk in it very much like they did in that dream. It was related to walking on water, something the float run in my mind game is more than perfect for (at 200 mph anyway). I still don't have any change with the speed or song - 125% true speed. Woke up at 8:23 PM and went to bed at 11:33 AM.
Apr 27: Yeah, sure, another dream to add. Not 18 to add, 19. I spent most of the day updating my dream journal. All 19 dreams have been added. Now it's only a few other headlines, the daily entries, and a fix someone mentioned toward the Tips and Tricks index. I got my replacement printer and hooked it up. I ran tests and had good results with surprises. See news item #8 for details. How many days in a row has it been now!? No change in the speed for FF6 World still. I wonder how close I am to my previous record of 12 consecutive days. Woke up at 9:46 PM and went to bed at 12:02 PM.
Apr 28: Dream journal done? That's incorrect as I missed 2 more dreams, those I just recalled. The first is a half page in detail and the second is 1 1/4 pages. Much of the first part of the day was updating my site. I finished the update but still had no solution as to which of 6 msvcr80.dll files I needed. 13 days in a row for the same song and speed!? I thought it was 9 or 10! I guess there goes that record! I took a shower right after the update and went at getting a program that generated a monochrome bitmap (a 1-bit bitmap) that gave a detailed look at the scenery. I went to the store as intended next. I came back, washed my blankets, and returned to the slope scene generator program but ran into a problem - stack overflow. Now what!? No change in songs nor speeds making 13 days now the official record. Woke up at 10:28 PM (�8 minutes) and went to bed at 7:04 PM.
Apr 29: I first checked the forums then fixed the bugs with the slope preview system. I didn't like the way it looked so I changed the system and redone the slopes checking the looks every 3/4 mile or so (1200 pixels) and the height every 1/10 mile (160 pixels). The actual ones vary, but that's a generalization. I finished 2 miles' worth using the new design. The new design looks much better. In game, however, that remains unknown. 14 days in a row of the same song and speed. Woke up at 4:16 AM and went to bed at 5:11 PM.
Apr 30: 6 1/4 miles of the terrain is done. The low hills are done and I just started into the mountains. I've got another 75 2/3 miles yet to go. I swapped between the forums and working on the terrain. I, at times, had to assist mom with stuff, usually just short 3-minute things. The only oddball was measureing stuff to find out how much area walls in a bathroom used - 126 1/3 square feet is the main total I got. I'm now at day 15 of the same song and speed. Woke up at 2:01 AM and went to bed at 5:17 PM.

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Year 2012: Yet to arrive....

The news entry headlines in bold are color-coded for a reason. They tell how big the event was for the headlines and how good my day was for the daily entries. From May 2006 onward, a slightly different system is used, of which has triple the precision. For dates prior to this that use color coding, from the white color, skipping two to red and so on is used. Here's what each color represents (for updates to before May of 2006):

	Extremely major event / Very good day
	Extremely major event / Very good day
	Major event / Good day


	Somewhat major event / Somewhat good day


	Normal event / Average day


	Somewhat minor event / Somewhat bad day


	Minor event / Bad day


	Extremely minor event / Very bad day
	Extremely minor event / Very bad day

Footnotes:
None