Frequently Asked Questions

General

What does the IRA acronym stand for?

Iván Rodríguez Asqui. It's my name.

What does IRAGINATION mean?

It's a pun formed with the words IRA and Imagination. It stands for the creative nature of this site, but honestly, being ira a common spanish word, I was looking for a name that search engines would index easily and uniquely. It worked. Can't remember the address of this site? Just type iragination on your favorite search engine and you'll be here. IRAGINATION is also a context free name, one year I may be drawing anime, the other developing games, that was the idea. I'm not bound to any specific theme, it's just some personal site.

Wait. Isn't IRAGINATION a Mega Man site?

No. I don't aim for that.

Can you answer Mega Man related questions?

Please, don't ask me Mega Man questions unless it's related to my works. At best, I know as much of the Mega Man series as the average fan. Visit the links section for more specialized sites where you might find comprehensive help.

Aren't there like BETTER video game series than Mega Man out there? Why do you keep at it?

Well, if you expect me to preach that Mega Man is the best series ever, I won't. Of course there's better stuff out there, I just donn't happen to have time to check them. It's hard for me to keep up with every notable series nowadays. The Mega Man games are so far and rare that I can keep an eye on them.

 

Personal

Can you give more info about yourself?

My name is Iván Rodríguez Asqui. I am from Guayaquil, Ecuador. I was born on october 20th of 1977. I'm an Electronic Engineer who develops web and multimedia applications. I love to draw and code games for fun.

What languages do you talk?

My first language is spanish. Fell free to write me in spanish if you wish. I understand plenty of english too. I'll do my best to reply you in english but please forgive any grammar errors.

How fast/often will you reply my mails?

I'll do my best to reply you as soon as I can.

Flash troubleshooting

Why can't I see any game or animation?

You need to install the Adobe Flash Player. Get it here. Install it and try again.

What is Flash?

The Flash Player is a browser plugin that allow you to play Flash content on your browser.

Oh no, I'm not downloading anything that may contain viruses or spyware!

Okay. Goodbye?

I'm able to play Flash content of other web sites. Why can't I play just YOUR movies?

You might be using an old version of the Flash Player. Please upgrade it and try again.

Ok, the game has loaded, but when the game starts the character doesn't move when I use the keyboard. Why?

Click on the movie to gain focus.

I have a broadband connection. Why does yout movie/game run so slow?

Game perfomance relies only on CPU an RAM available on your system. Try closing other applications.

Are there any tips to improve the speed of the movie I'm playing?

There are several tricks:

  • Usually the latest version of the Flash Player is fater than the previous ones. So, upgrade.
  • If you have Flash movies running in other browser windows, close them all.
  • If you have other applications running, close them all too. The point is to free system's resources.

Is there a way I can download your movies to play them offline?

There are browser extensions that allow you to download Flash games or videos. I give no support for these tools so you're on your own.

That sounds like too much trouble. Can you just send me the swf file to my mailbox?

No.

I've seen Flash movies packed on EXE files ready to reproduce any time with no need of a web browser. Can you convert your movie/game to an EXE file and place it for download/sent it to my mailbox?

No.

I've opened a SWF file on a web browser, but the movie resized to fill the browser window getting bigger, and now it plays too slow. What can I do?

Resize your browser window.

Is there a way to play your games with a Joystik or a Gamepad?

Yes. There are utilities that convert gamepad input to keyboard input that Flash understands. Try JoyToKey.

 

 

Game Making

Is it easy to make games with Flash?

The short answer is no. The long anwser is, it depends of a lot of factors like the type of game you want to make, your current knowledge about programming and plenty of other disciplines. If you are thinking about making a Mega Man game in a week from scratch with no previous development background, the answer is a certain no.

Can you help me to make a game?

Not for free, sorry. If you need professional services, then contact me.

Is Flash the best tool to make games?

It reallly depends of what you mean by best. As a starting platform, it's a really good and reasonable option to try game concepts, prototyping and even develope full 2D games. You might also be interested in other options like Game Maker or XNA.

I'm totally clueless about Flash. Can you teach me how to make games?

Sorry but you have a long way to go and contact me won't help. Try the following steps:

  • Read the Flash Help.
  • Learn to make some animations.
  • Once you're familiar with the timeline, library and the basic Flash tools, learn ActionScript.
  • Read tutorials on internet about basic programming topics. Advance as you progress.
  • Try making a Pong clone.
  • Once you're familiar with coding, download source files (.FLA files) of games from sites like FlashKit.com. Examine the code, experiment and keep researching.
  • Math and Trigonometry are also very encouraged to master.
  • Buy some books about Action Script or game making with Flash. None of those books will tell you the exact steps to make a full game. The idea is to catch the general concepts and adapt them to your requirements.

Please note we're talking about a time span of months/years here considering how much time you can devote to this process daily. Even I haven't tried everything that has arised in my mind.

Can you give me your source/FLA files?

No.

Ok, I totally can't do this programming thing, but I have EXCELLENT game ideas. Can I still make them somehow?

There's a recent boom of game development. You should join any game related comunity like Kongregate or Newgrounds. You might find developers interested to develop your games.

My game is not working, can I send you my FLA file so you can fix it? My code is not working, can you check it?

I'm unable to give this kind of support.

Can you review my game?

If I'm not too busy, I'll try.

 

 

Schedule

When are you going to make your next game/comic/illustration/update?

When it's done. I try to have fun doing this site so please let's not make it another job.

 

 

Using Content

Unless otherwise noted, by content I mean anything like comics, illustrations, games, tutorials, articles. Anything hosted here.

I'm making a website. Can I use your content on it?

First I need to check your site. Usually the answer is yes for everything but games. I prefer to host my games. Also I require full credit and a link back to this site. Thank you very much.

 

 

Sending Content

Can I send you content to be published on your site?

Currently I only can host illustrations (JPG, GIF, PNG files). There are some guidelines though. For something that is too large like games/music but somehow meets the aftermentioned guidelines, please, host it yourself and I'll link to it from, uhm, somewhere (I really haven't considereded to open a derivative works section).

What are the guidelines to get my artwork published on your gallery?

Currently I only upload artwork on the Guest Far Art section.

  • Your work has to be related with my original characters: Necro, Delia, Balandra, etc.
  • I'm not publishing works about Fire Man or other copyrighted characters, unless mines are present.
  • Please provide the following information: Your name/nickname and the address of your website if applicable. I'll post nicknames instead of real names unless otherwise noted. I won't publish your e-mail unless requested.
  • On doubt, just check what already have been published. If your work meets those parameters, everything will be nice. Actually I love get this stuff.

And you agree with this:

  • If you send me fan art, but you don't want it published, please state it explicitily. I'll assume you want me to publish it unless otherwise noted.
  • I reserve the right to not publish anything for any reason. You know, offensive works or mere advertising will be filtered out (but I'll keep them, ha ha). I'm trying to keep a gallery as clean as possible.
  • In return I'll publish your artwork and a link back to your website.
  • I'll publish as soon as I can, please be patient if this takes longer than what you expect.
  • I don't have problem with the file size of the orignal image. Actually I can take high resolution pictures (PSD, BMP) for printing purposes, but for the gallery I'll make some conversions if required. I know how to do this without hurting too much the file.
  • If you want some of your credit info changed after published, let me know. I'll do my best to update the info as soon as I can, but please I can't guarantee you this will happen fast if you have, say, ten entries, since I have to search and update everyone of them by hand. So please, don't abuse this option and send me the accuratest info in first place :)

Why do you only take artwork related to your characters, Isn't that like egocentrical or something?

Well, I had to create those guidelines in order to keep update rates reasonable. I wouldn't be able to keep up with an all-open gallery of all sort of content. For that you can use Deviant Art. So by keeping the content directed we can provide something that actually interest the current audience.

 

I have a pic for you. How do I send it?

The easiest way is to use your e-mail and send it to me as an attachment, with the information required.

Wait. What is all that e-mail, attachment, hosting talk? I just have it drawn in paper here in my hands. How do I send it to you?

Well, the details of using a scanner and a e-mail client are beyond the scope of this document. Please ask someone else close to you with access to the required equipment to help you.

On the other hand, you might just send me the physical sheet on a traditional letter. At the contact page you can find my physical address for the envelope. This might be a bit costly for you, it may take several weeks to arrive, and I'm too busy to reply through this channel. If that's not problem, then go ahead. But by all mean try to go for the e-mail way.

What about fanfics? Will you publish them if they are related with your characters?

I'm afraid I don't have a fanfic setcion neither plan to have one anytime soon.

 

Online Activities

Will you join my forum/yahoo group/mail list/community?

Even if I do, I don't think I'll be very active, wich you might find sort of rude, so I prefer to not. Please, take no offense of this, I'm just being realistic.

Do you MSN/AOL/ICQ/IRC or chat in any messaging service? Can I add you to my buddy list?

Yes but I don't use that stuff that much for casual chat. Please don't just random add me. Ask me first.