Well, well, well.

I haven't been as avid a poster here as usual, but the time has come for an update. This year has been a weird one; perhaps even more so than most of the previous ones I've experienced. Not just for me, I feel, but from what I gather, it's how a lot of us are feeling.

For once, I don't really have that much to say, other than that I hope the coming year will be a good one! Instead, I'll leave you with a final piano piece (this year), which I recently finished composing:

Naturally, it's here on Newgorunds as well.

It's been a while, but I wrote a new blog post as well. That is, on my actual blog over at blogger. If you feel like reading a few further thoughts I've had this year (nothing mindblowing; just a basic summary), feel free to do so!

Now, I'll go ahead and celebrate New Year's Eve. I hope you have a good one too, regardless of how you're celebrating, and even if you aren't  ^   ^

Happy New Year, and see you in the next one!

//LucidShadowDreamer

Hello everyone!

It has been a while. I've been enjoying the rest of my summer, watching anime and spending a lot of time with friends (traveling to Japan; you know... The usual stuff). However, I have also been working on a lot of projects on the side. And I've been sitting on one of them in particular for a while now.

It's finally time to annouce that I've uploaded a sequel to a very popular game I released last year, called "Playing With Letters".

I got request upon request to make a follow-up game, so I've complied with the wishes of the people who enjoyed the original, and created: "A Sweet Typing Thrill".

It took quite a while to make, but I'm really happy with the game, no matter how it performs. It's probably not the smartest idea to upload it right now, as the Ludum Dare votings are going on, but I've been holding on to this one for too long already :)

Now, there are a few notes I want to make about the game.

Not unlike the original, the game is fairly difficult. But people seemed to like that, so I hope it won't turn all too many people off. It also stayes true to the format. The game is just as much about the story as it is about the puzzles, so playing the first game is probably a good idea before moving on to the second one.

As I note in the desciption, the solution to the first 'puzzle' is "I understand". I decided to write it out, so people don't give up on the game once "Yes" and "I do" fail. There is also a hint in the medal, but I don't think everyone will check them out. The first stage is not really a puzzle, but more of a test of the mechanics, to make sure that everything works just as it should. It's also a reference to the previous game, which has a similar level. However, I should've made it clearer what one is supposed to type. Anywho, moving on from that little blunder!

EDIT: If you're here because you got stuck at the riddle, I won't give you any hint per se, but I think it's really worth mentioning that if you've figured out the solution, make sure you include a "the" before the solution. After all, it's a specific noun, so a response without the "the" isn't really proper grammar, I suppose. There are other reasons why I didn't grant the possibility of multiple phrasings in the answer too, but sorry for that anyway if it gave you an inconvenience.

I promised a hint about the secret ending, so let me explain. There isn't really much of a puzzle, as the secret ending isn't really even announced all too well. You can get it by replacing the answer of the very last puzzle with something else. I didn't want it to take away from the main story too much, so I kinda left it in as a semi-meta perk for those that are really interesting. As for the hint, let's just say that I thought for quite a while what the title of the game should be, hehhe...

As usually, I created the background music for the game myself. I actually have a youtube channel nowadays where I upload stuff from time to time, so I'd appreciate it if you checked it out. Here's the video of me playing the soundtrack of the game on the piano:

The thumbnail art was made by Yakovlev art :)

I'm sure there was something else I was supposed to write in this already long post too, but I can't seem to think of what it could've been right now...
So maybe we'll leave it like this, and if it comes back to me, I can edit the post :3

Well, I can't imagine anyone reading this entire post, but I hope you enjoy the game regardless ;)


I have a feeling I'll leave this post up for quite a while.

I hope you're all doing fine! And until next time...

//LucidShadowDreamer ^   ^

Hello fellow NG users, and HAPPY ROBOT DAY >:D!!!

I really took a long time on me to update this thingy, but I'm finally getting to it :V
Today, I don't have much to say, except that I'm working on something which'll hopefully be pretty big. But it's a secret!

I am mostly here to promote my, along with other people's stuff  ^  ^

As it is indeed Robot Day, I ended up making something weird in what was pretty much the last minute, as I wanted to participate in something cool on NG this year as well.
 

The style of this track is quite different from the content I usually create, so I can't assure any level of quality xD

Anywhos. The cover art I used is wonderful. It's a piece which was also made for Robot Day this year, by @Kamikaye!

Check it out over here:

http://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/kamikaye/robot-general

Apart from Robot Day, I also feel like giving a couple of other shoutouts. Not that my shoutouts really have that much of an impact, but if you're reading this right now, and you decide to look into what I'm shouting out, you'll know for certain that it helped someone ;)

@EtherealWinds released his debut single a while ago! If you don't mind hearing some lovely singing, combined with effectful and rather personal lyrics (and great instrumentation), have a listen to this:

You won't regret it ;)
If you want more information about it, I suppose you can also check out his news post :p

Finally, now that I'm at it, I might as well recommend a cool animation from 2013 as well!

Ever since it was released, I've loved this one, and thus I've seen it several times! Only fairly recently though, did I get in contact with the creator, out of mostly, pure coindicence! As I said, I don't think this'll make much of an impact on the overall stats of the animation, but you'll definitely enjoy watching it :D
It's also quite aptly (to a certain extent) kind of robot-themed? A little? Maybe? You decide xD

So check out "Menu"

(http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/619237)

Created by mr. @Test-Object sensei sama :3
 

As much as I would love to show you even more cool stuff, this post is already really long. As I said, I have a 'secret' (solo) project in the works, which I hope I'll manage to finish fairly soon. We'll see how ever-more-procrastinating me will manage to fare with that though :'D

Either way... Have a great time, all of you!

Until next time ;)


//LucidShadowDreamer

Oh wow. I'm happy to announce that @Anarkat (to many, known as Dem0lecule) is back with some more music for us. To add to that, I'm incredibly honored to tell you that one of his latest tracks, is dedicated to me. And that's not all! It just so happens to be an incredibly well made track too. I can't really recall anyone dedicating a piece of music to me before. Sure, several people have remade my music, which is amazing in its own right! And some people have been inspired by stuff too, which is also great. But something feels a bit different about this one! So I urge you to check out this powerful piece of music:

It's pretty great isn't it? Show it some love, would you :3

Other than that, I tried to sing a bit in a cover I uploaded recently, after I was given some coaching by senpai @EtherealWinds :'D

If you want to have a listen to that as well, here you go:
 

I think that's really all I have for you now! A bit of a shorter post this time, for once. I need to get back to writing my two last essays, before I've got the entire summer free! :)

Take care, all of y'all.

//LucidShadowDreamer

Alright, so maybe my choice of title isn't the best... (Or maybe it is?)

I just wanted to let you know that I've worked on a collaborative cover of a Final Fantasy I piece, together with Newgrounds's own @Etherealwinds (*insert inception sound here*)

We worked pretty hard on the cover, but maybe even harder on the video itself, as we wanted to make it look good. Without further ado, please have a little look:

I hope you enjoy it :)

Apart from that, and not quite as importantly, I just uploaded an original piano composition to NG:

If you don't really have time to check out more than one of them though, I'd prefer it if you took a look at the video. I know, I am not that good at self-advertising, especially not subtly. But that's part of the fun though, isn't it?

Hey! School is soon over for me (well, for a couple of months; it'll come back to haunt me soon enough). I've really only got 1 test, 1 presentation, and 2 essays left. That's right, I've actually managed to get some work done!

Still, I'm fairly certain that that'd be it for now. Thanks for sticking by, and for readin' this silly post :'3
Have a wonderful time!


//LucidShadowDreamer

That's just a silly combo title, for the things I'm going to shamelessly self-advertise in this post ;)

First off, here's one of the biggest (and best) orchestral masterpieces I've been fortunate enough to be a part of:

I urge you to take a listen, as I think that @ForgottenDawn and I really managed to create something quite amazing together. We've been working on that one for a while, keeping it a bit under the radar until now :)
The track is a part of (and was made for) The Underground Collective.

Other than that, I recorded a silly improv at my university a few weeks ago:

Towards the middle, I start to play way faster than I'm actually able to, but it still turned out pretty cool imo, despite the quality (because we all know that phones are the best devices to record beautiful piano sounds with xD).

So yeah. As has been happening a lot lately, sorry for being slow at responding to some of the longer messages and such I've gotten. I've been even more pressed on time than usaully lately (largely because of my own fault). I am supposed to write 5 essays in less than 20 hours atm, and I have school tomorrow. To add to that (and to take away time from the time limit), right now I'm going to sleep. So we'll see how that all turns out :D
But don't worry, I have a back-up plan in case I fail to deliver ;)

Either way, I guess that's what's up. How are y'all doing?

//LucidShadowDreamer

The title for this post would also be a pretty apt name for a ragtime piece, wouldn't it?
If I had time, I would probably make one.

BUT THAT IS THE PROBLEM! D:<

I'm experiencing a severe lack of time, lately. I know I complain about this every month, and that a lot of you are really busy too, but maybe that is yet another thing that can bring us all together, as a community :)?

As usually, it's mainly my studies that are keeping me busy. I have more than 10 essays to deal with, in the coming month. I should probably get started on some of them, sooner or later...

So I'm sorry for my inactivity lately. Especially to the people I owe responses to, in forms of reviews or messages. And of course, I have a few tracks which I have to make sooner or later, most of which will unfortunately be delayed, because I have so much other stuff to do as well (@JayWEccent). I hope that's okay!

I've only really had time to focus on making piano music (mostly improvisations and the like), as that comes naturally to me, and doesn't take up much time. For example, today I recorded a quick cover of the Main Theme from Trine:

I don't have much else to bring to you this time, but I hope you are all doing okay, and that you'll keep on being awesome. That's all for now ;)

//LucidShadowDreamer

Hello friends, fans, and fellow Newgroundsers! :'D
 

As always, time has beeing flying as if chased by a hawk, and I've been kept very busy, by activities such as schoolwork, and other projects of mine. Or even just miscellaneous events taking place now and then, often enough to make an impact.

Today, however, I'm making a post in order to celebrate my birthday, and to let you know what I've been up to this past month. Mostly, I've been collaborating with different people, as I've already mentioned before, and you will see the result of that, sooner or later. This year, I didn't make a cover of "Happy Birthday", but I still have time to surprise someone else with one, when the time comes... :D

The most noteworthy thing I've finished since last time, is a piano composition inspired by a short story, written by my sister.
You can actually watch me play the piece, in this video:

Or you could listen to a version with the mistakes fixed, here on NG:

Don't ask about the hat, because I honestly couldn't tell you myself o.O

I don't really have anything else to say right now, other than that I urge you to check out the story my sister wrote, as it's really well written, and is only one page long. You could even try to comine the music with the read :)

If you like it, and write a comment or show appreciation in any other way, I'm sure my sister will be happy :D

 

Anywho, I hope you're all having a good day, today, whenever you're reading this. Until next time!


//LucidShadowDreamer

Hiya peeps :3

[EDIT: I just uploaded a new and weird track, check it out! ... Please?

 

Thanks!]

I just figured I'd give a short update, to tell you what I've been up to lately. Which is... Pretty much nothing D:

Turns out that studying takes a lot of your time. Who'd have thunk it?
I have plans on finishing a track later today (after school and a piano lesson I'm giving) which I started working on more than a month ago, but haven't had time to complete, until hopefully now [EDIT: Mission failed, but I aim to get it done this week in the very least].
Other than that, I have plans on learning a few new tracks on the piano, so that I get something interesting to upload to my Youtube channel.

This week I really have to finish writing an exam as well... After I'm done with that, I hope I'll finally get some time to collaborate with other Newgrounds musicians to create some new and sweet music!

In the meantime, you could check out this silly video of me playing a weird arrangement of Itsy Bitsy Spider, on a Grand Piano at my school:

If you find this newspost to be too short, I challenge you to read my latest blog post as well. Disclaimer: It's ridiculously long, and filled with my uncensored, weird and kinda philosophical thoughts. Read at own risk.

That's all for now. I hope you'll all have a great week!

//LucidShadowDreamer

Hi ya'll!

It has already been another month. Time sure flies by... And times sure are busy too!

As school has started again, I feel I haven't had time to do everything that I want to do, lately. But that just means that everything is as it always has been. Either way, here's a small update of what I'm up to:

I apparently started giving piano lessons every week, so that's something. I'm also planning on collaborating with lots of NG people, but I'll let the names remain a mystery for now. I am still working on BRUCE (sorry it's so slow, I swear I'm really busy!), and I'm still composing other music. I was recently asked to create some music for a certain event (local, so not online), but we'll see if I have time for that. However, it might interest you to know that I'm going to start being active on my youtube account!

I found out that apparently, my phone shoots videos in okay quality, so I decided (and was practically forced by @EtherealWinds) to record videos of me playing the piano. So I'm going to start uploading videos of such nature every now and then.

But I've got to start with something, right?
So for now, we have this:

[EDIT: And here's another upload as well, of a spontaneous improvisation on a real piano:

And finally, a normal Newgrounds upload of yet another improvisation:

I've been a bit busy with school related things lately, which is why improvisations have been easier and quicker to make than full compositions].

I'd appreciate it if you took yourself a listen :'D

I think that's it for now though...

I hope you're all well!

//LucidShadowDreamer