The Sunday N

The Sunday N
by Alex Kurcharski, featuring Tanner Rogalsky and Matt Blaylock

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Sorry about the second late Sunday N in a row. It won't happen again, sir.
— maestro

The Daily Rundown
January 28th to February 3rd

January 28th

Fantastic idea. Fantastic execution.

Woooo. Kablizzy brilliance.

I do not know why, but this was insanely fun. Good work!

Nummer eins.

January 29th

This sanguine_is_blood fellow has done some good shit. This is some more of it.

Seems this week's MNNM spurred another great map.

Nummer zwei.

January 30th

OMG LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT.

February 3rd

As much as yahoozy is not my favourite author, due to his aesthetic idiocy, he occasionally makes a wonderful map worth playing. Even if it is a remix.

Maps of the Week

Level Packs

Yay! A preview to Clovic's upcoming map pack! Gotta love that guy. &&

NTTS

This week's NTTS ends soon, and we need your demos. Send 'em to spect, honeys.

Nterviewed

By Tanner Rogalsky

I apologize that SlappyMcGee couldn't make this issue. It would have probably been quite funny and irrelevant.

At first glance, Borealis is just a regular guy. He hangs out on the IRC fairly often and has a pretty average post count. It's when you get to know him a little better that you realize what a cool dude he is. He's a proficient mapmaker and all around nice guy, but what really sets him apart is his music. His band is called Noctambulant and it is quite good, if I do say so myself.

Tanner: What's it like being one of the oldest [age-wise] members of the Metanet community?
Borealis: It makes me feel...arthritic, to say the least! It's the big 3-0 this year, as well. Although, it's a good thing that there are a a wide range of ages within the community, and it really highlights N's appeal factor. Plus the age gives me lots of stories to tell.

Tanner: What kind of maps would you say that you make primarily?
Borealis: I'm not really sure. If you went by categorisation, it would be Action maps, definitely. As for an actual style however...it's a hard thing to define. There is something weird in there, particularly the tilesets. But I'd like to think there are also some elements reminiscent of the Metanet levels in their.

Tanner: I hear you're planning a map pack. What are the workings behind that?
Borealis: Indeed I am. In fact, it's well past the planning stages, it even might be out by the time this gets published! It's a rather odd collection of levels, because, usually in a map pack, it's either lots of authors all doing roughly the same amount of levels, or just one author. This one is actually an amalgam of both. I also think it's one of the quickest multi-author map packs from conception to release - I only started organising it at the end of December. It's a pretty good line up as well, I reckon. There's me, Caero, Demonz, lord_day, Qix, Yahoozy and Kablizzy.

Tanner: How'd you get Kablizzy to agree to doing a map pack with you?
Borealis: Haha. Well, it's probably a bit easier than you'd think. Since we're of the same orientation - map-making wise, at least - it's actually quite easy. Obviously the key thing is not to demand too much from him - there is only so much one bunny can do after all!

Tanner: Anything exciting happening with Noctambulant?
Borealis: Well, we're pressing ahead with the recording of Omen, which is a long and arduous process, however very much enjoyable nonetheless. I've just been penning some lyrics for a new song, in fact. The thing with making this type of music is that the entirety of it's production, from origin to packaging - it's just really one long journey. We've been at it for 2 and a half years now, with breaks, naturally. I've certainly enjoyed following the process.

Tanner: How did Noctambulant get its start?
Borealis: Funnily enough we're in the process of writing a short biography for the album sleeve, but it's way too long for here. So this is a condensed version. I started out in 1992, making a crude variety of thrash in my post-school band, Martyrium. There I met with Jon (Noctambulant's drummer). However, as a band we didn't last long. Me and Jon went through university pretty much together, and we became better with our instruments. In 1995 we formed Noctambulant, and again stayed with metal up until 1998, when we had a bit of an argument and fell out with each other. During the period we were split up, we both explored other types of music, mine predominantly being jazz. I learnt to play the alto saxophone, which now has a smooth but fairly large role in the smoother aspects of Noctambulant's music. In 2004 we reformed as a trio with Jeff, and began writing a demo. The demo eventually worked it's way into a full album, and as we see it now, a 2CD album. Our ideas have progressed infinitely since, though, so the music has changed rather drastically in the relatively short time period. I'll stop typing this now.

Tanner: Do you have any advice for aspiring musicians?
Borealis: Very much so. Don't be afraid of the avantgarde and progressive styles of music, otherwise you'll find yourself making boring pop droll, going nowhere. Pick one instrument and stick with it. You can change the styles of how you're playing, but, until you're playing at your peak, you're not ready to move onto improving another aspect of your musicality. And the third is a simple one; Practice, practice, practice!

Tanner: If you were a monster truck what name would you go by and why?
Borealis: Well, it would have to be a snappy, sharp name. However, contrary to that, I think I'd go for "Ujaku". It sounds exotic, but it's actually the name of a Naked City song, with excellent squealing free-jazz-style alto sax. The same squealing you get at the racetrack and such. Hehe, a loose connection, I know, but a connection nonetheless.

LittleViking came up with that last question at my request. He will also be joining us next week. S'gonna rocking fuck.