Interview with Aleksandar Djordjevic, CEO of Schism Worldwide about their upcoming game Red Barton and the Sky Pirates

As I mentioned in my original article about Red Barton and the Sky Pirates, we were going to snag an interview with the developers if possible, and we have done that. So, as promised, here is an short interview i was able to secure with Aleksandar Djordjevic, CEO of Schism Worldwide.

1. You are taking on an outstanding task in this modern era of releasing your game on Steam, iOS, and Android.  Did that make your jobs as developers more difficult?  How?

Yes and no. Red Barton and the Sky Pirates was designed for a PC arcade gaming experience, but early tests with mobile devices have shown that it translates very well into mobile platform. The deceptive simplicity of the game mechanics and the challenge factor curve pull players into the game on any platform. This is where choice of Unity as our development environment really made all the difference as it allows for a streamlined way of targeting multiple platforms. It's not easy, so it's also very important to have a little bit of an adventurous development team that is willing to tackle the inevitable hassle of various platform issues - but it's worth the effort as you can bring your title to a much bigger audience.
2.  Your game has a truly unique and dare i say beautiful graphic style.  Its like Steampunk, mixed with cell shading and hand drawn graphics.  What made you utilize this style for your game?

Schism as a company always looks for outstanding, unique talent to work with. We certainly found that in this collaboration with Kosta Zdravkovic, a Canada-based game designer and digital artist. He has a unique cartoon quality of illustration and a capability of visualization of anything one can think of into a digital asset. Red Barton was on his mind longer than the development of this game, and many of the assets were therefore built very quickly as they existed as a sketch somewhere. Staying within this style from the get-go was integral to the game design process. We were very mindful of it when designing all aspects of the game.

3.  This game reminds me of After-Burner and The first Star Fox game or any third person, behind the vehicle view type of game, even Outrun.  Were you drawn to this style from your days as a youth?  I for one can say i missed this style of game, and if done right, can become an instant classic.

You're just pressing all the buttons over there. These titles quite literally formed our taste in games, to call us fans is an understatement. I have no idea just how much money I personally dropped on After Burner and Outrun. The greatness of Star Fox later was it's role playing idea, that story line you followed and though we touch on it in Red Barton, it's combination of the action segments of After Burner game play with a story line shifting it into a world of our own that was the most rewarding part of the process. It's a good moment to refresh app stores with a premium title or two in this genre.
4.  Will this game feature any type of cloud saving or cloud support, where i can start play on my Android phone, and resume play when i get home on Steam?  If so, who needs a Nintendo Switch?

We are really going for a full throwback to simpler times in arcade gaming. One aspect of that were those three-letter high-scores to beat, so we are currently developing a platform specific global score-board for Red Barton. The first release of the game offers a unique experience on each platform, but down the line we are researching many options similar to the one you mention. I really don't want to spill all the beans for any possible DLC before the release. Let's just say that the path is laid out for players to follow if they turn into fans of the game.

5.  Does your game utilize any form of learning AI which would allow enemies to adjust their difficulty, and or patterns on the fly?

We do have a few game modes, from easy to a "good luck" mode which is just... Well... You'll see. Part of the difficulty variance is in the AI that adjusts to the player to an extent. Larger part is in a deceptively simple system that doesn't allow you to memorize the locations of the enemies - making every run unique.

6.  Have you decided on pricing or price structure for your game?  Will it be free-to-play, IAP, only one purchase to unlock everything?

We are in the game market to create and play unique premium game experiences so Red Barton will follow that thought process. It will be one purchase of the game with everything you need to finish it, but there will be expansions, and in-game store with DLC you won't need to own in order to finish the original game but will certainly help especially on higher difficulty settings.

I would like to take a moment to thank Aleksandar Djordjevic for taking time out of his busy schedule to make this interview possible.

Battlerite Goes Free to Play on Steam This Weekend Read more: http://news.cheatcc.com/399812#ixzz4RSXStnhY Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives

Battleborn, Bloodborne, Battlerite... you'd be forgiven for not being able to keep them all straight. Battlerite is what we're talking about today, and it's a MOBA/team brawler in the vein of Smite and League of Legends. The twist with Battlerite is that it's more action-based, centered around dodging attacks in slow-motion "bullet time" and reacting with well-timed skillshots.

You'll be able to get a taste of Battlerite this weekend, as the Early Access title will be free to play on Steam from Thursday, December 1 through Sunday, December 4. If you find that you enjoy the game, you'll be able to purchase its Early Access version for 25% off the normal price, making it $15. The developer reports that it has sold more than 400,000 copies since going into Early Access.

If you absolutely cannot wait to get your hands on Battlerite, the $15 price is actually applicable today, courtesy of the Steam Autumn Sale, but it will revert to its regular price for the day preceding its free weekend. So buy it today or Thursday, but not tomorrow.

Source: aces up 

A Time To Love

This is a story which teaches that beauty is not what you look from outside but it is something to look from within your heart. This is the story of a small town girl Priya who is waiting for the perfect time to fall in love and that too with the perfect person.

” Priya! Get ready quickly” said her mother to Priya

“Get ready for what mom? Are we going to some restaurant or what?” asked Priya

” How to make this girl realize that the boy’s family is coming to see her ” said Priya’s mom to her dad.

Priya heard the silent conversation between her mother and father in the other room and intruded in between ” How many times will I have to tell you that I am not interested in marrying anyone. At least let me complete my studies”

But it was too late for Priya to do anything. The door bell rang and two middle aged persons of her mom and dad’s age entered the home with a cute but dashing boy.

After a long discussion, both the girl and the boy were asked to talk for sometimes privately in Priya’s room. Priya and the boy went into the room. The boy was constantly staring at the Priya. Most probably, she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Her hair locks were spread around her face. Her perfectly black eyes were a pleasure to look at. Everything in Priya was just perfect. The boy was looking at Priya’s eyes when Priya interrupted and said with attitude ” Oh Mister, please don’t feel that you are the most lucky person who will be my husband. It’s better that you cancel this marriage otherwise I will take toll on you later”

” Ya you are very beautiful but I am also least interested in you. I already have a girlfriend so I was going to cancel the marriage anyway.” said the boy

“Ohh! Thanks god! Ok so we may become friends now” said Priya and continued “so what is your name by the way?”

“My name is Dev. By the way, do you also have someone in your life?” said Dev

” No actually. I want to pursue my studies first and then I have a big dream of marrying a foreigner or you can say a white man ” said Priya

” Oh so are you planning for some scholarships to visit abroad and fall in love there” asked Dev

” Ya I think that will be the perfect time to fall in love for me” said Priya

Then suddenly Priya’ s parents called them both to ask about their decision. Dev did as he was told and the marriage was cancelled. Days passed and Priya’s parents were constantly searching for a nice match for her. Meanwhile, Priya was busy with her studies only. She gave the scholarship tests and scored very well. She was offered a proposal to visit America to complete her higher studies. Although her parents were a bit reluctant, but Priya persuaded them by saying that after completing her higher studies she will come back to India and marry according to her parent’s wish
Everything for her foreign travel was arranged. She was expected to board the flight the next day.

That night Priya had a rush of dreams swaying her. She thought that now she will be able to get a white American to fall in love with.

Days passed by and Priya quickly adjusted to her surroundings. She made new friends. She was working hard on her studies but still was searching for her dream boy. One day she got a friend request from someone named George Woods. She accepted the request and soon started to chat with that boy. She found that boy very interesting and loved to chat with her. She thought that this boy was his perfect match although she never saw him. George was also a resident of America and he lived very near to Priya’s residence. Priya fell in love with that boy soon and then both of them decided to meet at the nearby garden the next day.

Priya was very excited that she would be meeting her dream boy the next day. She imagined George in her mind She thought he will be a fair, tall and a handsome guy. George was a doctor by profession as Priya knew. Priya thought she that he must have been the most popular boy in his school like she was in her school.

The next day Priya got ready quickly. She was looking perfect. Her kohl filled eyes would sway away anybody. The deep red lipstick was enhancing the beauty of her lips. She wore a lovely pink gown. She was looking stunning. priya reached the park 10 minutes before and she was waiting when a guy came an sat by her side. She did not notice that guy.

He said ” Hey Priya. I know this is you only”

Priya’s heartbeat started to grow a bit faster. She turned to her left and she was surprised.

” I am George. The person you fell in love with.” he said.

Priya loved George very much and that was not something to doubt about but yet Priya was very amsused.
She did not imagine George to be like this. He was black not white. He was sweet but what about her dream of a white man?

Priya was unable to react. She said everything to Gorge that had happened.

George asked Priya ” So did you love me before you saw me?”

Priya said “Yes”

George said ” What was the thing you loved in me before you saw me”

Priya replied ” Your behaviour and kindness”

George asked ” So are you unable to love my that part after knowing that I am black….totally black”

Tears rolled down from Priya’s face and she realised har mistake.

George wiped her tears and said ” Colour cannot define a man. Their is no one perfect in this world. It is the beauty of heart which makes you fall in love with somebody. The external beauty is not important”

Priya siad sorry to George and said that she was very lucky that she found a man who was very beautiful from his heart. She realise that it was her TIME TO LOVE…..

Seahaven towers solitaire card games - Rules and Strategy

Seahaven towers is very similar to FreeCell, except that cards are built down in suit, and only a king or a sequence starting with a king may be placed on empty tableau spots. There are ten columns, instead of eight. In the initial deal five cards are dealt to each column, leaving two cards in hand.

Layout

Shuffle the deck and lay out fifty cards in ten tableau piles, face up and fanned down, so that there are five cards in each tableau. Above the tableaus, on the left, are four piles called the towers, and to their right are the four foundations. The two remaining cards are placed face-up in two of the towers; the remaining towers and the foundations begin the game empty.

Play

Tableaus build down in suit. Top cards of tableaus are available for play on other tableaus, on foundations, or on towers. Only Kings may be played to an empty tableau. An empty tower can hold any card, but each can hold only one card at a time; and of course such cards can be removed only by correctly playing them back onto tableaus or foundations.

Goal

The goal is to move all cards to the foundations.

Tips

As in all games of this type, empty piles are tremendously important. You have four towers to start with, but two are already filled at the start of the game. It’s best to fill a tower only when you already know how to get that card out of the tower again. Of course you won’t always be able to do that, and sometimes you’ll have to leave a card in a tower “until further notice.” When you have to do that, it’s a good time to take a snapshot of your position in case you never find a way to remove the card again.

A good player should be able to win 50% or more of all games, at least if you are willing to make patient use of snapshots. We recommend that this game be treated as a puzzle: feel free to back up and try a different approach whenever you get stuck.

As a shortcut Solitaire Till Dawn will let you move full or partial builds provided you have enough empty towers available to have accomplished the same move one card at a time.

How to love yourself?

I am not a healer. I do not heal anyone. I think of myself as a stepping stone on a pathway of self-discovery. I create a space where people can learn how incredibly wonderful they are by teaching them to love themselves. After years of individual counseling with clients and conducting hundreds of workshops and intensive training programs across the country and around the world, I found that there is only one thing that heals every problem, and that is: to know how to love yourself.

When people start to love themselves more each day, it’s amazing how their lives get better. They feel better. They get the jobs they want. They have the money they need. Their relationships either improve, or the negative ones dissolve and new ones begin.

It’s a very simple premise—loving yourself. I’ve been criticized for being too simplistic, and I have found that the simple things are usually the most profound.

Someone said to me recently, “You gave me the most wonderful gift—you gave me the gift of myself.” So many of us hide from ourselves and we don’t even know who we are. We don’t know what we feel, we don’t know what we want.

Life is a voyage of self discovery. To me, to be enlightened is to go within and to know who and what we really are, and to know that we have the ability to change for the better by loving and taking care of ourselves.

It’s not selfish to love ourselves. It clears us so that we can love ourselves enough to love other people. We can really help the planet when we come from a space of great love and joy on an individual basis.

The Power that created this incredible Universe has often been referred to as love. God is love. We have often heard the statement: Love makes the world go ’round. It’s all true. Love is the binding agent that holds the whole Universe together.

To me, love is a deep appreciation. When I talk about loving ourselves, I mean having a deep appreciation for who we are. We accept all the different parts of ourselves—our little peculiarities, the embarrassments, the things we may not do so well, and all the wonderful qualities, too.

We accept the whole package with love. Unconditionally.

Unfortunately, many of us will not love ourselves until we lose the weight, or get the job, or get the raise, or the boyfriend, or whatever. We often put conditions on our love. But we can change. We can love ourselves as we are right now!

We are in the midst of enormous individual and global change. I believe that all of us who are living at this time chose to be here to be a part of these changes, to bring about change, and to transform the world from the old way of life to a more loving and peaceful existence.

In the Piscean Age we looked “out there” for our savior: “Save me. Save me. Please take care of me.” Now we are moving into the Aquarian Age, and we are learning to go within to find our savior. We are the power we have been seeking.

We Are In Charge Of Our lives

If you are not willing to love yourself today, then you are not going to love yourself tomorrow, because whatever excuse you have today, you’ll still have tomorrow. Maybe you’ll have the same excuse 20 years from now, and even leave this lifetime holding on to the same excuse.

Today is the day you can love yourself totally with no expectations.

Love is something we can choose, the same way we choose anger, or hate, or sadness. We can choose to forgive someone who has hurt us and begin to finally heal. We can choose to be grateful for what we have. We can choose love. It’s always a choice within us.

Words of Wisdom

“Communication is the solvent of all problems, therefore communication skills are the foundation for personal development.” —Peter Shepherd

“A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he knows something.” —Wilson Mizner

“Nothing lowers the level of conversation more than raising the voice.” —Stanley Horowitz

“What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined... to strengthen each other... to be at one with each other in silent unspeakable memories.” —George Eliot

“Love is like the truth, sometimes it prevails, and sometimes it hurts.” —Victor M. Garcia Jr.

“To love leaves us open to loss. But we do it to ourselves because it is worth it.” —from Lark Rise to Candleford (BBC drama)

“An open ear is the only believable sign of an open heart.” —David Augsburger

“At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet.” —Plato

“People who do not understand you will never settle for any proof, and people who appreciate you do not need any proof. “ —Seth (Jane Roberts)

“It is much easier to be critical than to be correct.” —Benjamin Disraeli

“Love can make a summer fly, or a night seem like a lifetime.” —Andrew Lloyd Webber

“Someone’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality.” —Les Brown

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” —Carl Jung

“What is most beautiful in virile men is something feminine; what is most beautiful in feminine women is something masculine.” —Susan Sontag

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

“Have the courage to be sincere, clear and honest. This opens the door to deeper communication all around. It creates self-empowerment and the kind of connections with others we all want in life. Speaking from the heart frees us from the secrets that burden us. These secrets are what make us sick or fearful. Speaking truth helps you get clarity on your real heart directives.” —Sara Paddison

“Balance Within Chaos” by Laurie Bain

“If we center ourselves within the heart chakra and control our thoughts, we can find the balance and harmony in every situation.” —Laurie Bain

“Abilities wither under faultfinding, blossom with encouragement.” —Donald A. Laird

“Oh the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are - chaff and grain together - certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.” —Dinah Craik

“When you like someone, you like them in spite of their faults. When you love someone, you love them with their faults.” —Elizabeth Cameron

“People change and forget to tell each other.” —Lillian Hellman

“If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don’t, they never were” —Kahlil Gibran

“Friendship with one’s self is all important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

“Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” —Mahatma Gandhi

“Love and concern for all are not things some of us are born with and others are not. Rather, they are results of what we do with our minds: We can choose to transform our minds so that they embody love, or we can allow them to develop habits and false concepts of separation.” —Sharon Salzbert

“Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.” —Plato

“Good friendships are fragile things and require as much care as any other fragile and precious thing.” —Randolph S. Bourne

“The result of our people-judgments is that we often throw away someone’s ideas because they are voiced by the wrong person or because we don’t agree with all of their ideas.” —Thayer White

“A friend hears the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.” —Unknown

“The people who matter will recognize who you are.” —Alan Cohen

“If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” —African proverb

“With the gift of listening comes the gift of healing.” —Catherine de Hueck

“Love is touching souls.” —Joni Mitchell

“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.” —William Shakespeare

“Criticism is something we can avoid easily —by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.” —Aristotle

“Real love takes work. You have to be willing to make the effort.” —Rabbi Weinberg

“There is harmony in the tension of opposites, as in the case of the bow and lyre.” —Heraclitus

“Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.” —Antoine de Saint-Exupery

“The happiness of life is made up of the little charities of a kiss or smile, a kind look, a heartfelt compliment.” —Samuel Taylor Coleridge

“What most people need to learn in life is how to love people and use things instead of using people and loving things.”

“The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring.” —Oscar Wilde

“The wise stand out because they see themselves as part of the Whole. They shine because they don’t want to impress. They achieve great things because they don’t look for recognition. Their wisdom is contained in what they are, not their opinions. They refuse to argue, so no-one argues with them.” —Lao Tzu

“The judgement of others does not change who I am. Quite the opposite is true. It reveals who they are.” —Terry McPhearson

“Speaking with kindness creates confidence, thinking with kindness creates profoundness, giving with kindness creates love.” —Lao Tseu

“A friend is a person with whom I may be honest. Before him, I may think aloud.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.” —Euripedes

“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” —Mark Twain

“A friend is someone who knows the song of your soul and sings it back to you when you’ve forgotten the words.”

“The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.”

“We would not have to forgive people if we didn’t judge them in the first place.” —Barry Neil Kaufman

“Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, the other gold.”

“To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.” —Elbert Hubbard

“When someone’s character seems impossible to fathom, observe his friends.” —Japanese proverb

“A true friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future and accepts you today, just the way you are.”

“The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring.” —Oscar Wilde

“If someone does not smile at you, be generous and offer your own smile. Nobody needs a smile more than the one that cannot smile to others.” —Dalai Lama

“If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.”—Noam Chomsky

“No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.” —Aesop

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” —Maya Angelou

“The secret of attraction is to love yourself. Attractive people judge neither themselves nor others. They are open to gestures of love. They think about love, and express their love in every action. They know that love is not a mere sentiment, but the ultimate truth at the heart of the universe.” —Deepak Chopra

“Don’t rob a friend, a partner, family member or the world of someone that could have been a real companion, and someone that could make a difference. Don’t ever give up being special!” —Willy Conradie

“That’s what real love amounts to - letting a person be what he really is. Most people love you for who you pretend to be. To keep their love, you keep pretending - performing. You get to love your pretence. It’s true, we’re locked in an image, an act - and the sad thing is, people get so used to their image, they grow attached to their masks. They love their chains. They forget all about who they really are. And if you try to remind them, they hate you for it, they feel like you’re trying to steal their most precious possession.” —Jim Morrison

“In the midst of great joy, do not promise anyone anything. In the midst of great anger, do not answer anyone’s letter.” —Chinese proverb

“Deal with the faults of others as gently as with your own.” —Chinese proverb

“We would not have to forgive people if we didn’t judge them in the first place.” —Barry Neil Kaufman

“Sentimentality - that’s what we call the sentiment we don’t share.” —Graham Green

“Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distance continues to exist, a wonderful living side-by-side can grow up, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other whole and against a wide sky.” —Rainer Maria Rilke

Everyone Has a Story in Life

A 24 year old boy seeing out from the train’s window shouted…

“Dad, look the trees are going behind!”

Dad smiled and a young couple sitting nearby, looked at the 24 year old’s childish behavior with pity, suddenly he again exclaimed…

“Dad, look the clouds are running with us!”

The couple couldn’t resist and said to the old man…

“Why don’t you take your son to a good doctor?”The old man smiled and said…“I did and we are just coming from the hospital, my son was blind from birth, he just got his eyes today.

Every single person on the planet has a story. Don’t judge people before you truly know them. The truth might surprise you.