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Music samples

Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 11:34 pm
by Musashi
These are the rough music samples I promised earlier. Both of these are played by the computer, so some artifacts are noticeable.

A Klezmer melody for Sholom Aleichem, written in 2008.
http://yesoidos.sourceforge.net/Sholom%20Aleichem.mp3

A Horn trio, depicting a prince chased from his castle. Probably good for an action-filled part of the novel. Written 2007-2008.
http://yesoidos.sourceforge.net/Flight% ... Prince.mp3

Project website Drupalization (plus story development), Part

Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2011 2:54 pm
by Musashi
Progress continues on a new project website for Sourceforge. I've been converting it to use a content management system called Drupal, so that whenever I decide to release more information, it's easy. I won't have to copy/paste the navigation menu code and change it on all the pages, or modify all the pages whenever I decide to add a twitter button or something.

Speaking of Twitter, Yesoidos has a Twitter account for new developments on the project! You can now follow @yesoidos to start getting updates!

I've been fleshing out the story more as well, figuring out how to explain the universe of yesoidos. That is partly why I am making the web site. By writing more about the Four Worlds, the Sefiros, Heaven, and the Ever-Turning Sword guarding the Garden of Eden, I can better figure out how the story should progress.

For instance, I have an idea that, while most of the basic ideas would be taught in Binyomin's school, he would learn about the mystical dimensions of the world through books. One book in particular, called Yesoidos, would explain these mysteries from the ground up, and will be Binyomin's primary guide.

I want to wrap the book in an atmosphere of mystery, hiding the identity of the author, and making it difficult to find. It will be a major element in the story.

Ok, more later!

Project website Drupalization, Part 2

Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2011 2:59 pm
by Musashi
By the way, the reason the sourceforge.net website has not been changed recently is that I have been testing the new website about every other day on my laptop before uploading it. I mostly copied the web site appearance into a Drupal theme based on Zen, but then my text editor went wonky and cleared out my style sheets. Back to square one.

I'm taking it in stride, though. Now that I have a better understanding of the Drupal theme system, I can redo my work more simply and elegantly. I hope to upload the new web site sometime soon.

Sourceforge servers restructured

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 5:15 pm
by Musashi
Sourceforge has restructured its website, so work on reinstalling the web site is underway.

Website back up and running

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 11:09 pm
by Musashi
Ok, I got the web site back up and running. Here's a link: http://yesoidos.sf.net

Some parts of the web site have been rewritten, and there is a system in place for organizing new content as I add it in. It makes sure the left navigation bar has links to all parts of the site, and makes it easier to do style changes to the whole web site if I want.

I'm planning on using the web site for writing out the ideas for the novel, short of releasing spoilers. The spoilers I'm keeping on my hard drive. Maybe I'll release these later if demand calls for it.

A while ago, I contacted someone about doing art for the novel, but our conversation was short. He basically wanted more detail about what the characters looked like. I quickly put together a description sheet about the character graphics I wanted, but I'm not sure whether it was too much detail or too little, or even both. I supposed that I needed some more work on my novel before I asked again for character art.

Today, I did some practice on my music composition skills, and learned some Chassidus.

About the mystical process of creation from nothing. About how and why hiding and concealment are necessary to transmit an idea to someone else. How that parallels Creation. And also, that a person can meditate on the Infinite Light to such an extent that he reaches into the Essence of G-dliness -- a level even higher than... well, it's a secret. I think I'll actually try to put this into the novel.

Not that I'm forbidden from revealing it. It's called a secret, because there are some things that cannot be transmitted. Unless it is hidden first. This idea of why hiding is necessary... I think I can explain later here in this forum, or on the web site (see above link). It's really worthy of a whole article.

Ok. I'm going back to work. Later, and zeit gezunt!

Re: [WIP]: Yesoidos (formerly, The Foundation of the World)

Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 5:56 pm
by Musashi
I've just come back from Yeshiva, and I'm refining and writing more text. In between packing for college and various chores, I'll try to add more to the story. Later!

Re: [WIP]: Yesoidos (formerly, The Foundation of the World)

Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:59 pm
by Musashi
I found a nice font, but then discovered that Ren'py cut off the descenders of letters like j and y. I fixed it in Fontforge after some research turned up this article: http://osdir.com/ml/fonts.fontforge.use ... 00018.html . Woohoo!

I've mostly been editing and expanding chapter 1, refining the conversation flow and sticking in some jokes. Satan(!) now has more character depth.

I've also been improving the Vim syntax highlighting file provided by Spiky Caterpillar. I don't feel like releasing that yet, because there are still some rough edges.

I feel almost ready to really write chapter 2, but I'm a bit hesitant about my outline now, because it originally called for a rather dark and sad story progression there. I guess I'll go ahead with it according to plan, and then see if I want to change it.

Kol tov!

Re: [WIP]: Yesoidos: The Foundations of the Universe

Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2011 4:25 pm
by Musashi
I've been on the road for two weeks, on the way to college. It took so long because Dad wanted to see the national parks along the way. I didn't realize until the last park that this was a good opportunity to get background photos for Yesoidos. Oh well. At least I have some forest pics now.

I have also gone over chapter 1 a bit more, to make Pinny more idiosyncratic. I like the flow there now, and I think after some tweaks I'll release a binary for people to test, even though there isn't any music added in yet, and many graphics are missing.

Chapter 1 now has 3586 words. I've really got to get to Chapter 2 now.

Re: [WIP]: Yesoidos: The Foundations of the Universe

Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 4:13 pm
by Musashi
I have set a beta release date for September 19. The beta will have the complete text of Chapter 1, and whatever graphics and placeholders I can create by then (help is very welcome!). Likely there will be no music yet, but hey, it's a beta, right?

I am considering making alpha binary releases from the forums, but I don't want to submit those to the Renpy Games list. That will be reserved for the beta, which should be more or less feature-complete.

Re: [WIP]: Yesoidos: The Foundations of the Universe

Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 10:06 pm
by Musashi
I have uploaded a binary and the sources for v0.4a5. The binary works on Mac/Win/Lin.
Binary: http://sourceforge.net/projects/yesoido ... p/download

As stated before, the binary is nor ready for the Renpy Games list. Please test and review!

Re: [WIP kabbalah, Jewish, psychological]: Yesoidos

Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 11:11 am
by Tachyglossus
I must say, this intrigues me. I am always interested in projects that incorperate cultures other than American or Japanese, just merely because it is refreshing. Also, from the conversations I perused among some of the first couple of comments, it looks like a lot of research has been done, which is a bonus. I love learning, even in a fictional setting! I haven't looked at the alpha yet, though, as I am currently pressed for time, as I'm preparing to leave on vacation.

When I'm back I'll give it a look, and if I still like what I see, I would like to do sprite art for this project, well, once I finish my current work load.

Web site material

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 9:18 pm
by Musashi
Some content has been added to the novel itself, but today I am mostly announcing additions to the project web site: http://yesoidos.sf.net/

A new, detailed piece about the origin and foundations of the universe has been added ("Origins"), as well as a new page about the music of Yesoidos. In addition to the songs mentioned in an earlier post, there are two new recordings, along with background information. Check it out!

The Holy Tongue

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 8:08 pm
by Musashi
I added one more article, which discusses the mystic holiness of the Holy Tongue. http://yesoidos.sourceforge.net/holy_tongue

Re: [WIP kabbalah, Jewish, psychological]: Yesoidos

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 11:06 pm
by Watercolorheart
Well, THIS looks original and interesting!! :lol:

Release of v0.4a6

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 2:42 am
by Musashi
OK, new alpha release! Download v0.4a6 from http://yesoidos.sourceforge.net/download.

The new version has a simple graphic for the main menu, and a bit of chapter 2 has been added. Word count is at 4,135.

BCS: Thanks for the compliment!