Aurek-Skyclimber

I am making a virtual reality theme park / recreation center. It will start small and continuously grow over time to rival even Disney World if there is enough interest and support. There will be everything from miniature golf to go-karts to roller coasters to dark rides to shows, all designed with the tenants of the Imagineers in mind. And that's just phase one. Future phases incorporate reality in new and unprecedented ways.

This is my dream job. If I could work on this full time for the rest of my life, continuously adding new content, I would.

If you're seeing this, you've followed my DA page at some point in the past. You know how detail oriented I am and how I can churn out exciting new content when the outside world and work doesn't get in the way. You know that I can 3D model and design vast fictional worlds. You might know that I work as a professional game developer and make small games with custom nonstandard physical controllers with my wife. You may have even seen some of the updates I've made outside of DA about this very project a year ago (skyclimberstudios.tumblr.com/).

So here's where the question comes in - If I were to start a Kickstarter or a Patreon with the goal of making this my full time job, would you support me?

I know I really shouldn't be asking you this after so long without saying anything, especially since you have continued to frequent this page year after year with no updates. Still, I figure I should at least see what you, my longest and strongest supporters, have to say.

Thank you,

Skyclimber

First and foremost, the Library map is finished!  Everything was reworked from scratch.  How the stairs would flow from one floor to the next was actively considered this time around, including how many stairs were visible on each staircase on average.  Various "flattened" 3d elements that I missed originally were fixed.  Every exterior window was matched to the correct interior window.  All in all, this is the probably the definitive version of the Library's layout.

Now if you're wondering why the Library deviation file hasn't been updated...  I'm running into a weird DA upload error - "Error uploading file: Unknown error" .  Changing the file name, file type, browser, and computer being uploaded from haven't let me bypass the issue.  I've been able to update the file for a different deviation, so I'm at a bit of an impasse here.  Until I can get the map uploaded, just download it from here: www.dropbox.com/s/eahtwdszvfvh… .  My apologies for the inconvenience.

Now that this map is complete, my original plan was to move on to the other interiors and give them a shine and polish as well.  However, after spending so much time working on the Library and figuring out all the fiddly details, I've decided to continue working with the Library and create the detailed 3d model version instead before I start forgetting things.  This would include the interior, exterior, all the extra mini details that I couldn't include in the 2d map, the whole nine yards.  Once complete, the model would be made available for general purpose use (SFM movies, game prop, Oculus Rift tour, etc.), as per usual.  I also intend to submit the finished product to Shapeways (minus the basement) as a 3 piece model that can be opened up in layers to see inside (upper roof, second floor and back room roof, first floor).

Once the 3d model of the Library is complete, I'll move on to the next building.  That does mean that the time period between updates to maps will be much more extended than planned.  This isn't that big of a deal for most maps (including the main street map) as they are still mostly if not completely accurate.  Season 4 didn't really add/change much to the town due to the characters spending so much time outside of Ponyville.  The only building that needs a semi-major reanalysis is Carousel Boutique, and that's primarily due to the addition of the bathroom and the spare bedroom on the second floor.

The original plan back in the summer after Season 1 came out was to make a digital 3d model of Ponyville that anyone could explore on their computer that was as accurate as possible.  Come every season's end, I spend my spare time updating every single diagram en masse and never any time working on the 3d version.  It's time to change my workflow.  It'll take longer, but the results will be worth it.

(Scene: The Office, Time: Thursday)  Skyclimber: Today's the day!  Work on updating all the maps can finally begin!  What could possibly go wrong?  (Immediately cue The Great North Texas Typhoon of 2014, flooding in the basement electrical rooms, and widespread power outages followed by complete and total lockdown of campus, lack of access to my computer for two days, and scattered showers of Super Smash Bros for 3DS.)

Good news everyone!  I've managed to sneak back into the building after finding a keycard door that wasn't also physically locked.  Assuming that we don't get another typhoon and that I can keep Smash Bros from eating up all of my spare time, work will begin on updating maps.  The current plan is to put in at least an hour every day between now and Nightmare Nights Dallas (with the exception of next weekend due to mandatory work related items).  I'll be starting with the interiors as they need the most work (both in terms of out-of-date-ness and general cleanliness/style).  The initial order should be the Library, Carousel Boutique, The Castle of the Two Sisters, Sugarcube Corner, and then others as needed.  Once those updates are taken care of, work will begin on updating the main map of Ponyville.  This should mostly consist of rotating the outer shell by 20-30 degrees counterclockwise with a few scattered building modifications.  Expect semi-regular journal updates as progress is made.

Regarding Nightmare Nights Dallas...  As things currently stand, I'm only going to be able to attend Saturday.  Hopefully I'll get to see some of y'all there?

Catch y'all later, and happy October Furth!

This is easily the most stunning 3D pony rig I've ever seen!  That amazing mouth armature combined with the choice to accentuate the eyes with an thick black outline = near perfection.  Not to mention those teensy nostrils!  Keep it up 2snacks!  We can only hope (s)he'll release the models/rigs once sufficient progress has been made...  Can you imagine the drastic improvement in quality of fan animations!?

Regarding the map: I'll be back soon.  Need to finish a project for my lab - automating sequential viseme animation to match speech from an input audio file in Unity. Thank goodness for PocketSphinx...

So....  Been a while since I've said anything here.  Y'all may have noticed my silence of about six months, and, to be honest, it was something a longish time in coming for a variety of reasons.

First off, school.  I've been a student for 21 years straight now - from preschool all the way to partway through a PhD.  Those of y'all who've just finished High School know about Senioritis.  The same thing happens when you hit the end of your undergraduate college career.  Then tack on another two years of classes for a fast-track undergrad-to-PhD?  Blargh.  Just blargh.  Yeah, they're finally the classes where you're learning all of the awesome/cool stuff that you can actually apply directly to your research and or commercial career, but it's another two years of classes!  Lets just say I got hit by three times the power of normal Senioritis that lasted for the better part of a year...

Secondly, I just burned out on MLP.  On the show, on the fandom... on the fracking time-consuming-ever-changing-puzzle-of-aggravating-minutiae map.  Mostly the map.  Working on the same puzzle for over two years straight-ish will do that to a guy.  When I say my disappearance was a long time coming... I had read at least the headline of every single article on Equestria Daily - from the very first to some article on May 29-31 of 2013.  Somewhere between those days I just stopped visiting.  Somewhen after that I completely stopped listening to fan created music (old and new) even though I'd heard and enjoyed every ditty posted between the aforementioned dates - from Eurobeat to Mando to the Living Tombstone to Mic the Microphone (go Team Pie!) and beyond.  I stopped looking at art.  I went to Nightmare Nights and had a spectacular time!  But I spent nearly the entire time working on the map....  Even during the panels and concerts...  And, eventually, I even stopped watching the show.  Somewhen around Power Ponies.  The only thing that kept me even remotely connected to ponies was reading fanfic and the official comic books... (Then again, my bond with the written word is stronger than fandoms.)  tl;dr - it was a long and steady progression to effectively leaving the fandom.

And then classes ended.  Permanently.  FOREVER!  (Assuming my committee doesn't throw a new one at me come Fall for some reason...)  And then my newsfeeds erupted with the season finale.  (All I know for sure is the box is opened (probably?) and an awesome G1 villain makes his triumphant return!  And that's all I want to know for the time being.  Unless... Was there Smooze?  Was there a bra boat piloted by hillbilly witches?  If yes, go ahead and let me know so I can skip ahead!)  Somehow or another I talked myself into picking up where I left off on the show (Didn't these characters already learn some of these lessons?!).  From there I got sucked back into map stuff (Darn you episode 77 and your finally visiting the upper balcony of Sugarcube Corner's cupcake tower!).  I had already been in intermittent talks with folks about bringing back the old (if the summer right after Season 1 had ended is old...  Heady days!) 3d game-engine recreation of Ponyville project and produced an initial model / measurements months ago.  Might as well post that...  And then we get to tonight.  A year to the day (probably) after the downward spiral had begun.  My sister posts a song on my Facebook page - Discord - the Living Tombstone remix of Eurobeat Brony's classic.  From what I can tell, she's probably only just discovered it.  I reply with some stats on its history and decide to take a trip down memory lane and relisten to some of Eurobeat's albums.  The memories...  Everything just came flying back.  The fun, the whimsy, the craft - official, fancreated, somewhere inbetween.  All the spectacularness that makes up being a part of this community.

The Heart Carol just came onto the playlist.  Oddly appropriate for what I'm writing I guess.  A reminder of the "fire of friendship" that I had nearly forgotten.  I'm back y'all.  Completely, wholeheartedly, and unabashedly back into ponies and the community that makes them awesome.  I can't promise that I'll be churning out results (being a full time PhD student keeps you busy even without classes).  I can't even promise that I won't "quit and give up hope" again at some point in the future.  But for now I remember why I became a brony and why that was such an important thing.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a year to the day's worth of articles / fandom history to catch up on.  See ya on the flip side!