Recently, I finished coding a game that I had spent the last six months working on. While working on it, I blogged about the journey of coding. I don't want to brag, but it made Coil's Staff Picks. It was a great accomplishment, so I thought I would share a GIF of it on Imgur, an image site Coil has a partnership with. I must say, it runs pretty smooth with no ads. I posted this Gif:

After I confidently posted the GIF, I sat back, put my hands behind my head, my feet up, and waited for the upvotes to pour in. It took about 30 mins until somebody posted a comment. Oh goody, I thought to myself, it's probably somebody that wants to be president of my fan club.

I sat up in my chair and clicked on the notification with such arrogance. I clicked on the link like an emperor would motion for a jester to amuse him. This is the response I saw when I clicked on the notification.

...I was not amused.

If truth be told I wasn't surprised. I knew the graphics were not where I wanted them to be, and posting a work in progress on the internet is a sure way to lure a troll out from the depths of the internet.

My plan was and still is to continue to work on this game and constantly improve on it. The comment that this troll left gave me a starting point. Who did I know that could redesign my character? They had to make him look awesome, and look like a character that people enjoyed playing. This took some of my deepest brain storming I've done in quite awhile.

Then it dawned on me, at 2:00 in the morning. It was like I was hearing a voice. Here's a reenactment of the voice I heard in movie script format:

NIckelNDime and the Voice

Voice: Psst...NickelNDime.

NickelNDime: Oh crap, I'm hearing voices now, just perfect. Well it is 2020, so nothing surprises me at this point.

Voice: I'm not a random voice, I'm your frontal lobe.

NickelNDime: For real? I thought I killed you off with my fast and hard lifestyle I was living in my 20's.

Frontal Lobe: I'd hardly call smoking a joint and drinking a six pack on the weekends while you played World of Warcraft a 'fast and hard' lifestyle, would you?

NickelNDime: Is that what I did with my 20's? Are you sure about that?

Frontal Lobe: Yes I'm very sure. In fact, any time I tried to suggest we try to be a little more productive with our time, you would passive aggressively take a bong rip, and slam a beer.

NickelNDime: That does sound like something I'd do. Anyway, what brings you here Frontal?

Frontal Lobe: You were trying to think of an artist that could redesign the main character of the game you coded. Why not ask Kass from KassArt. He's extremely talented, and seems like a pleasant fellow.

NickelNDime: Frontal, you're a genius! A real class act. If there's anything I can do for you, I mean anything, just let me know and I'll get right on it.

Frontal Lobe: Well, it's funny that you mention it, because I did have a great idea for Grant for the Web that maybe we could work on...

NickelNDime's smile fades as his gaze transitions into a blank stare. He picks up a can of beer and mindlessly starts chugging away.

Frontal Lobe: Are you trying to drink me away again? Dude, it's two in the morning and you've got a long day tomorrow. It was just had an idea that I think would...

NickelNDime picks up his pipe and takes a hit from it. He then finishes the beer he just cracked.

Frontal Lobe: Unreal dude. Fine whatever, have a nice life. I'm outta here.

The sound of a door shuts as NickelNDime can no longer hear his frontal lobe.

NickelNDime: Hehe, stupid brain trying to make me think. What was the name he suggested again?

Scene fades, and the credits roll.

Source

The next day when I came to, I reached out to Kass to see if he was interested in redesigning my main character. He said he would want to discuss it live via web cam. I must admit I was a rather nervous. It was very flattering that an artist of Kass' caliber might want to work on my game. I felt like I was Rose and Kass was Jack from the movie, “Titanic.”

This is how I wanted to start the video chat, but my wife pointed out the fact that this person doesn't know me in real life, and might not 'get' my humor.

Source[](https://media.giphy.com/media/4KWRICQNAAbfO/source.gif)

The video call went way better than I expected! What surprised me most about Kass, was how professional he presented himself. When he asked me what I envisioned for the character, he immediately jotted down my responses. He also offered helpful suggestions. When we got down to payment, he quoted me in USD. I told him to quote me in XRP. We agreed on a price, and I believe we were both happy with the deal.

A week had passed and I started to think to myself, It's been a week since I've heard from Kass, he probably didn't want to work on my game. Oh NickelNDime, it probably was a miscalculation to start the video chat posing like Rose did from that movie...

I opened a social media app Kass are on and noticed I had a message, and it was from Kass! I opened it up and couldn't believe what I saw. I was absolutely floored by what he had designed!

To give you a comparison, here is what the main character (Chester “Deadeye” McKillingsworth III) looked like before Kass redesigned him:

NickelNDIme's original vision of Chester “Deadeye” McKillingsworth III:

Not bad, but not great...

Drum roll...

Source

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present the new...

Chester “Deadeye” McKillingsworth III by Kass of KassArt!

...to be honest I can't tell the difference between the two.

All kidding aside, I am so impressed with the job Kass did that I really hope he wants to continue to work with me on this game. I had so much fun throwing an idea at him and having him take it, and just make it ten times better. Working with Kass makes me feel...

He makes me feel...

Like I'm...

Like I'm Flying!!!

Source

Check it out!

https://nickelndime.net/rooftop1/

*Runs on desktop only at the moment.

Take it easy, but take it.

NickelNDime Out!

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