Now that school is out for a bit, I was able to get more work done on 60 Seconds to Deliver. Here's the previous to-do list with progress updates:

• Air attacks - 77%
• Ground attacks
• Enemies - 10%
• Building variety - ?% (More than before)
• Game background
• Introduction cutscene animation
• End sequence and game over screen
• Difficulty levels
• Music

My contract with my current website's host runs out in a few months. I had decided not to renew it and move to a different host, since PowWeb's service has been going down-hill ever since they got bought out by some larger hosting company. Don't be surprised if there's any downtime during the move. Though with how well things have been staying up lately, you probably won't notice anything different until it's moved over to the new host.

I'm still working on the games whenever I can. Here's a list of what's left to finish in 60 Seconds to Deliver:

• Air attacks
• Ground attacks
• Enemies
• Building variety
• Game background
• Introduction cutscene animation
• End sequence and game over screen
• Difficulty levels
• Music

Happy Day of the Ninja! Today's announcement is the revelation of my latest project, "60 Seconds to Deliver!" I started this at the beginning of my Thanksgiving break, and made quite a bit of progress just over the last week-and-a-half!

This time I'm trying out the Flixel engine for Flash, which allows me to quickly get a functioning prototype and put more focus on the visual design earlier on in the development process. At the rate this is going, I actually hope to have this finished in two or three weeks.

Other projects, such as Bridges of the Mertynn, have not been abandoned, and will be returned to after this is finished.

So apparantly I had forgotten about the nasty message the last file version of The Sandwich Shop Ninja gives when it detects that it's not on the right server, and it had been giving that message ever since I merged the TSSN website with the main BoogaTech website. It should be playing correctly now.

Bridges of the Mertynn has been coming along gradually in the free time I've had alongside school. The List has been updating as I progress, and I'm getting closer to getting the game engine finished so that I can start getting levels and tile sets done.

I'll probably take a break from working on Bridges in November so that I can get something out for the International Day of the Ninja on December 5th.

So I found out why I get so many people coming here looking for sandwich shops. It turns out that The Sandwich Shop Ninja is currently the second result when you search for "sandwich shop" on Google. I guess Google thinks animated ninjas who happen to own sandwich shops are more relevant to people looking for sandwich shops, maybe to eat at, than Subway and a dozen more actual, real sandwich shops?

So if you came here looking for a place to eat, uh... sorry? I don't even have any ninja sandwich recipes or anything, but I guess I could list a few sandwiches I like at various places:

• Quiznos - Baja Chicken
• Togos - Chipotle Roast Beef
• Subway's a little different. I don't get any particular sandwich. I get a ham and bacon with pepper-jack cheese and cucumber. Lettuce is pointless on any sandwich, as it's basically just a solid green form of water. Unless it's spring mix or Romain lettuce, then it actually tastes like something besides water.

Don't buy those sandwiches on the Amtrak trains. They're way overpriced, and taste disgusting.

Could this be a start of a new spin-off series of the ninja in his younger years?

No.

Various changes to the website coding have been made, and The Sandwich Shop Ninja website is now fully integrated with the CMExpress system that the majority of my website runs on. There are a few things missing that require more changes in CMEx before they can be reimplemented, but those are very minor. The RSS feeds now decode properly, and this should be the last time everything since 2004 is marked "new" in Google Reader.

The next news entry will be an update on the next TSSN episode's progress, though the blog will keep updating on a more frequent basis.

The first episode of The Sandwich Shop Ninja can now be seen on YouTube in a high-definition format.

Happy 6th Annual Day of the Ninja, everyone!

So, you want to start your own sandwich shop? Well, you've certainly come to the right place. Maybe. I don't know. You're the one thinking "Oh, hey, I want to know how to start a sandwich shop! This place titled 'The Sandwich Shop Ninja' might be a good place to look! Surely this is the best and most relevant source of information," not me.

Anyways, this is the best and most relevant source of information on starting a sandwich shop. The best one in the world. There are many things you will want to think about as you design and start up your very own sandwich shop. Some things are important to think about, some crucial, some vital, and some will leave you bleeding in a dark alley in Chicago if you don't think as carefully as necessary so you'd better think very, very, very, very carefully about everything here. You don't like bleeding, do you? Exactly.

Location

The first thing to do is rent, buy, or get a lease on a location. Location is everything, except for the things that it is not. There are good locations, and then there are bad locations. Here are a few examples of good and bad locations:

• The corner of two busy streets - Good location. Busy streets mean many customers.
• The mall's food court - Good location. Malls are always full of potential customers. Even during a zombie apocalypse, be it the survivors hiding in the mall, or the zombies that come in when some fool thinks its safe to go outside. Zombies love sandwiches. Brain sandwiches.
• The bad part of town - Good location. Thugs, gangsters, mafia hit-men, mimes, and other various no-good-doers all love sandwiches.
• The moon - good location. It is a known fact that astronauts enjoy eating delicious sandwiches.
• Just Down the Street and Around the Corner - the ultimate location. Anyone can find this place from anywhere. If someone gives you the greatest sandwich of your life and you ask him where he got it, odd are he will say "just down the street and around the corner." You will follow his directions, and you will find it. Every single time.

Employees

After you have chosen a location, you will need to hire employees.

Most restaurants will do good to hire a ninja, and only one ninja. Although it would seem otherwise, efficiency and productivity decrease as the number of ninjas are severely decreased due to what is known as the Exponential Ninja Factor (ENF). If you manage to perpetuate a rivalry between the two, you may be able to avoid any ENF impacts; however, unless both ninjas are evenly equipped and skilled, you run risks of loosing an employee. Contracts with ninjas must be considered carefully. A ninja will hold his or her end of the contract with the utmost honor, even to the extent of loss of life. In fact, it is unknown if any ninja has ever survived a breach of contract. It is also important to take note that the same holds true for employers of ninjas: statistics show that out of all employers who had failed to hold their end of a contract with a ninja, 100% had met an untimely demise.
While one ninja can handle most of the workload, you will still need additional employees. Once you have hired a ninja, you will need to acquire a Ninja Ally Compatibility Table. Certain types of employees can cause disastrous results when mixed with ninjas. The NACT tends to vary between ninja clans and families, though there are a few incompatible types that are common between all. Namely: dark wizards, zombies, Michael Dudikoff, and pirates. They all mix badly with ninjas, but pirates most of all. Your sandwich shop will have a severe impact on the neighborhood's levels of swashbuckling and scurvy epidemics.

After procuring your NACT, there are a few area-specific positions you will want to have filled. Most cases deal with areas that contain larger demographics of unruly people. If you are located in one of these areas (ie: "Bad Part of Town" location), you may want to hire a polar bouncer. Nobody messes with a bouncer who is also a polar bear.

The Other Stuff

Then after you do some other stuff and get customers and all, you reap the rewards of capitalism. Congratulations, you have successfully gone from "sticking it to the man" to "the man it is being stuck to." Don't ask what "it" is. You don't want to know. Or maybe you should, since you'd have already stuck some of it.

Recap

In conclusion, the steps to sandwich shop success are:
[ol]

Thank you for reading, and join us later on for "Extra-Extra-Extra-Extra-Large Tee Shirts" and "Endangered Species: The Oboe Cat."

...and here is the wallpaper that I tried to finish by the 5th of December, but lost due to a program crash. Or, maybe the Sandwich Shop Ninja, being a ninja by nature, knew that nobody would be expect this to appear today? Probably. Ninjas are sneaky like that.

You can click the image above to download a Zip Archive containing all the files, or choose your desired resolution below (Right click and select "Save As"):
1024 x 720 (adjusted)
1280 x 800
1280 x 1024 (adjusted)
1440 x 900
1600 x 1200 (adjusted)
1680 x 1050
1920 x 1200

It's been a while since the last update, with seeming inactivity. I've got a few things that I've been working on, such as the last illustration for a class, a quick run cycle I started last week, a portfolio redesign, and a desktop wallpaper for December 5th, the Day of the Ninja.

That's right, this Wednesday is the 5th annual celebration of Day of the Ninja! Its the day to be sneaky, quiet, and dress in black! To celebrate, I will be uploading a Sandwich Shop Ninja-themed desktop wallpaper.

Last month's search queries were more of the same from October, but the one new one makes up for the lack of variation. Last months weirdest search engine query goes to "hold your wee for a wii." I have no clue as to how this phrase in a search engine returned to any of my websites. Also, don't drink too much water, people. You'll die a painful death.

As for when I think things will get finished, wallpaper on Wednesday, illustration by the end of this week, portfolio probably by the end of next week, along with the run-cycle test animation. I'll probably be busy on things before Christmas, and after I'll be packing to go to Utah in January. I haven't had a chance to work on the "next episode" since mid-October, and I can't say when it will be done, but I hope to get working on it again soon.

The "Ninja Skills" T-Shirt Survey has been updated. It now has the final image designs, and as for an incentive to fill out the survey, you will be presented with a sneak preview of the next episode of The Sandwich Shop Ninja!

When is the next episode finally going to get done? I'm hoping some time next month. School finals delayed things a bit, but now I don't have to worry about school for the next few months.

Also coming up is a minor redesign for this main page. It will help any prospective employers to find my portfolio easier.

Now for your enjoyment, the "Ninja Skills" T-Shirt Survey is now online! Help me figure out what you want!

I would also like to announce that The Sandwich Shop Ninja Home Page has been redesigned!

Now for an update on the next episode: things aren't moving as fast as I'd like, but I'm pretty optimistic about getting an animation festival-ready version done to turn in on the 9th of April, an then the full animation done around the end of April or early May. You won't be disappointed - this is looking to be the best animation I have done as of yet!

It's December 5th! Happy Day of the Ninja!

The Sandwich Shop Ninja deals with many customers on a daily basis. Unfortunately, not all customers are pleasant to be around.

More Day of the Ninja info.

This upcoming Tuesday is the annual Day of the Ninja! To celebrate, there will be a new (but very short) Sandwich Shop Ninja toon being released that evening!

Got bored, so I drew this. I want to animate something with him soon. I may just add an episode before the one I was working on and finish that one later.

Concept sketches for the Sandwich Shop Ninja logo, as well as some sketches of the SSN, some guy with poofy hair, some guy with a buzz cut, and That Kid That Got Hit With A Sandwich! Oh, and at the bottom we see a Synj-esque character head. That guy's got a great character style.

Atarashii o tabemasu!

The Sandwich Shop Ninja was released a year ago. Now that I know more about Flash and animation I went through it, updating parts, and properly synchronized the sound and made this updated version of "The Sandwich Shop Ninja."