The second half of our conversation with the developer Mad Max, Aaron Clifford is here! On this episode we talk virtual noses, old school game consoles, developing for VR and positional audio. The dreaded quiz is back and we’ve got Pac-man Fever.

• Aaron got the idea for DAWT at an event for the Extra Life.
• The Extra Life event was for Edmonton’s Stollery Children’s Hospital and it started with a 4 player Tower Fall Ascension challenge.
• He decided to enter Codename Goa with DAWT as well. Aaron is featured on a video on that site.
• Aaron’s game design is Voxel based like Crossy Road.
• Redneck Rampage.
• Kingdom of Loathing.
• Some of Aaron’s favs to play are Fallout, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, DLC Quest, Binding of Isaac and “so many other indie games.”
• Chris talks about his Atari Stunt Cycle console from his youth.
• Paul thought Zelda II: The Adventure of Link had the most amazing graphics, ever! Until, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past came out.
• Aaron did a Nerd Nite presentation on death in video games. During the presentation he played a game, rather than use slides. You can check it out here. He used art from Glitch.
• He created the presentation in Construct 2.
• Aaron tells us about writing books in an MMOG, Asheron’s Call.
• You can watch Aaron game and develop on Twitch.
• We learn how to dodge throwing stars.
• Chris introduces Paul and Aaron to Buckner & Garcia in the quiz!
• Pac-man fever on American Bandstand
• What’s the better E.T. song? Neil Diamond or Buckner & Garcia?
• Now we all have to watch Wreck-It Ralph!
• Yikes! Remembering Pogs.
• Some 80s fun, WKRP in Cincinnati, BJ and The Bear, The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, and Bosom Buddies.
• Watch Aaron on TV showing off DAWT.
• If you’re in Edmonton, check out GDX Edmonton each year to discover new games.

Thanks to Aaron Clifford for taking the time to join us on the Sauce! Be sure to check out his Youtube channel or follow Aaron around the web. Also, head over to our Patreon page to get updates on guests, shows and more info. We’re using it like a blog, so join the conversation there or on Facebook.

Put your VR headgear on and listen to the latest episode where we talk to the maker of DAWT, Mr. Aaron Clifford. The Edmonton developer schools us in his 20 years of coding, tells us how he was conceived in a tent in New Zealand and how to record your software onto a cassette tape.

• “These aren’t Fivver voice actors, people!”

• Aaron started programing on an Atari 600XL.

• Chris desperately tries to fit in, talking about his Commodore 64.

• Aaron tells us his gateway drug to programming was playing Doom.

• Aaron cut his teeth using Authorware.

• The big VR project that our guest is building is called DAWT. It’s a slick Pac-man-like VR game.

• Aaron has also started working with Unumbria Technologies. Their goal is to use VR to help athletes and people who suffer concussions.

• Like every city, Edmonton is constantly renaming their summer festival. Currently, it’s called K-days.

• Aaron’s day job is “putting a coat of paint” on a lot of people’s hard work. He’s a front end developer. His paint can be seen at alberta.ca.

• Our guest’s brief obsession with seaweed.

• Microsoft allows you to earn points as a developer. You can use the points to redeem rewards.

• Aaron’s Razer BlackWidow keyboard he earned with Microsoft points.

• GDX Edmononton is a game exhibition that typically happens in April or May.

• Aaron used Construct 2 to make many of his games.

• The adventures of developing 5 apps in one week for a challenge.

• Aaron’s game DAWT was greenlit on Steam.

• The Makerspace at the Stanley A. Milner Library is where Aaron began developing DAWT.

• Participating in Codename Goa, Aaron met the makers of an eye tracking bar that goes under your monitor called tobii.

• Montreal International Game Summit

• Aaron uses Unity to develop his 3D games. He took this course from udemy to get started.

• The very cool Edmonton Fit Finder project that Aaron worked on.

How fun was that? Stay tuned to our website, our feed, or the Patreon page to hear part two of this entertaining conversation with Aaron. Head over to our Facebook page to chat with Chris’ mom while you wait for the next episode to drop. Thanks again to Aaron Clifford and be sure to check out DAWT.

Comics too expensive to read, blatant podcast promotion, figure skating to the Spider-man theme song and Siri’s inability to open up are all the topics covered in the second half of the conversation with Danica & Brandon of Variant Edition.

• We discuss the many different versions of a single comic book character & Brandon tells us a tale of The New 52.

• Paul challenges Brandon & Danica with a “pick 3” of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Right Stuff and The 100.

• Danica’s pick for Paul is Letter 44. Brandon’s cross section of Paul’s pick is called Red Wing.

• The difference between single issues and graphic novels? Danica tells us that single issues like Bitch Planet have really great essays in them, but the collections are missing those and the letters section.

• Sex Criminals has a hardcover version with a special section on the art process and all the covers of the single issues.

• Danica tells us that Variant Edition has a mail order service and welcomes listeners to email comics@variantedmonton.com if they’re interested or want recommendations about great comics to read!

• Brandon posts “The Retailer’s View” over at The Beat.

• Marvel allows you to subscribe to digital comics, but if you buy a Marvel hard copy you’ll receive a code to get the digital version for free.

• Danica, and the women shopping at Variant Edition enjoy books by Marguerite Bennett like Angela: Queen of Hel and Insexts.

• Danica says The Infinite Loop, a time-travel, same-sex romance story has an amazing letters section that will make you tear up.

• A listener in the chat room wonders if our guests like Kamala Khan, a.k.a. Ms. Marvel.

• Also from the chatroom, Arturo, a former guest on the podcast, asks for suggestions for a good feminist leaning comic for a 12 year old girl. Danica & Brandon suggest Princeless and Lumberjanes.

Be sure to find Variant Edition on Twitter, Facebook or their podcast Yegs & Bacon. You can find both guests on twitter, Brandon is @soupytoasterson and Danica is @DanicaHere. You might also like Doctor Whooch, where Danica and Brandon consume alcohol and talk Doctor Who. Thanks for listening!

Another fun one, this episode the gents are talking to the owners of Variant Edition a comic shop in Edmonton. Brandon & Danica also do a number of podcasts as well. On this show we give old TV stars new detective shows, talk about Siri’s self-image issues, sexism, inclusiveness and privileged white dudes.

• Brandon is half of the Podcast! The Comics show.

• Danica & Brandon do a podcast about comics & culture called Yegs & Bacon.

• You can also find this couple on Doctor Whooch where they have a taste of the sauce and talk Doctor Who episodes.

• Brandon is also a frequent contributor to The Beat.

• Danica wants a Taylor Swift/Batman dance off in the animated Batman: Bad Blood.

• Speaking of dance offs, Chris admits that he and his wife just saw the dash cam version of Shake it Off.

• It’s a sad, sad planet when you have to program your virtual assistant to respond to sexual harassment.

• Chris doesn’t attempt to tell this amazing story of a young boy who teaches a few parents that boys picking on girls they like shouldn’t be a socially accepted norm. Hit the link, it’s a wonderful story.

• Paul’s daughter loves the My Little Pony comic book. Well, she did at the time of recording this. 🙃 (PD - Yup, she still does. We have quite the collection.)

• Brandon suggests Princeless as a comic for younger kids. Danica says, maybe ages 14 and on.

• Danica loves the spinoff, Princeless- Raven: The Pirate Princess.

• Brandon says parents should check out Tiny Titans or anything else by Art Baltazar and Frank Aureliani.

• Also have a look at Abigail and the Snowman which is light and captures “the child-like wonder and imagination” of young children.

• Danica tells us about the events they host at their Edmonton store, like fun pajama parties and clothing swaps. More info can be found at the events page on VariantEdmonton.com.

• Chris decided to do research for this episode, so he read some comics recommended by Danica, like the amazing Bitch Planet.

• The store owners discuss some recent favorites:

  • The Beauty
  • Sex Criminals

• Brandon tells us about his interview with artist Chip Zdarsky.

• Brandon challenges your hosts to name 3 books, films or TV shows and he will find a comic that meets them in the middle. Paul & Chris give him The Martian & Orphan Black and Brandon’s mental database says they should read Copperhead.

• Chris says he wants to read Hip Hop Family Tree, a recommendation from Daniel J. Hogan, a frequent guest and friend of the show.

Thanks again to the owners of Variant Edition of Edmonton for joining the guys. Of course, thanks to you for listening. Part two of this conversation with Brandon and Danica is coming up next! While you wait, be sure not to gender any dragons.

Visual artists never fail to inspire, but we went all the way to Antwerp to talk to Midge Sinnaeve. Fine… technically we Skyped Midge. Though we’d love to go there! Especially after talking to him. We talk VR, books, 3D scanning, cycling in tunnels, scifi and SyFy. Part one of our conversation is here.

• Midge share’s his projects and work on his site, TheMantissa.net. He likes to call this open source artwork.
• Our guest told us his open source artwork was inspired by an open source demo reel he saw once.
• Midge says many architecture visualization artists are using Unreal Engine to create building renders.
• Everyone agrees that augmented reality is far superior to virtual reality. Chris recently wrote about that.
• They briefly talk Ingress & Pokémon Go by Niantic Labs.
• Speaking of VR, Midge has used the Oculus and the HTC Vive.
• Why can’t VR gear look as comfortable as Johnny Mnemonic.
• Chris recommends Ready Player One to Midge.
• In turn, Midge suggests the The Expanse book series, which the television show is based on.
• Midge has been doing some photogrammetry and of course sharing the results on his site.
• Midge mentions Jeffrey Ian Wilson, Paul Debevec as he tells us about photogrammetry.
• You can sculpt 3D objects in Zbrush and then get some textures for your 3D model at not the sponsor, episcura.com.
• Chris offers to send Midge his yet-to-be-used, ardrino for his photogrammetry rig.
• There’s a very big DIY community in photogrammetry. He mentions the 3D Scanning Users Group at Facebook.
• We learn about Antwerp and the St. Anna Tunnel for pedestrians and cyclists.
• What’s Midge watching?
  • The Expanse of course
  • Sicario
  • The Walk
  • Tron: Legacy
  • Oblivion
  • The Wire
• Chris and Midge talk about the animated Tron series, Tron: Uprising.
• Midge loves Tron: Legacy because it is eye candy. Chris’ eye candy choice is Speed Racer.
• We pour out our drinks in honor of Battlestar Galactica.
• Midge wants to know what happens in season 3 SGU Stargate Universe, but we’ll never know.
• An artificial intelligence that designs websites? The Grid.

Find Midge’s projects at TheMantissa.net or Instagram. Hire him at Daze.tv or chat with him on Twitter. Thanks for listening. Please find us on Facebook or Twitter and talk to us, we’re starved for attention. Thanks for listening.