Monthly Archive

So I’m over at my man Brian’s place, blogging on his laptop while they play WoW. Reminds me of the days in Interactive Design when I’d blog while the professor attempted to teach a bunch of kids playing Gary’s Mod. I don’t really know what the hell to write about, besides the fact that I won at poker.

Holy crap this computer has a nipple mouse. That’s so freakin’ old school.

Wow I’ve really got nothing to write. Like I care. Blah blah blah blah blah. Um ya.

So I’ve just realized I modeled the Standardized Blindage Pistol a while ago but never textured it. I’ll get on that tomorrow and then will start on the Semi-Automatic Pistol, one of the original weapons of NightRise (it was even in the original design and I plan on basing its new model as much on the old one as possible). I actually found a picture of the old model of the original shotgun, and had to laugh at its inferiority. Single barrel, badly modeled, no texture. The K73 is going to need a badass physics engine to do what I want it to be capable of doing. Nothing like people flying into crates.

Once I’ve got those two pistols done I’ll model the Katana, and get as many more weapon models done by the time I go back to Savannah in the winter. I really can’t wait to get something playable going.

So I missed Boston Post Mortem last night. Hope all who attended had a blast, I’ll be there next month, promise.

Instead, I found myself at Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which was, unfortunately, a family outing. The thing to understand about my family is that they (nay, we) are a bunch of grumps, although I usually keep my blood sugar at a proper level to remain as happily retarded as possible. My dad I can’t say the same about. By the time we got out he was falling asleep, and decided to take a slightly longer route home than my sister approved of, causing her to ridicule him for the entire trip home. Pleasant indeed. Now, to be fair, she was doing it in a humorous way, and smiling the whole time. Unfortunately, my dad couldn’t quite understand the humor in it, and just remained aggrivated for the whole trip home. I knew this was going to happen, though. He skipped dinner. He’s grumpy when he skips food, except he doesn’t really emote it. It’s silent grumpy, which can be fairly irritating.

As for the movie, thank god for it. After Goblet of Fire, I was afraid that all the movies past Prisoner of Azkaban would be badly directed, badly edited, uneven and just barely-passable, YouTube fan videos. Not so. Order had everything. Great direction from a brand new director, spectacular visual effects (including slightly redesigned Dementors so they don’t look entirely like the Ring Wraiths from Lord of the Rings), and plenty of Gary Oldman as Sirius “Bitch Get Your Hands Off My Kid” Black. Not to mention a whole host of returning characters who SOME directors would have cut out. For the first time it felt like the previous movies had culminated into something, and none of the past director’s additions or subtleties had been lost. Also, the climax was probably the greatest fight on screen since Neo vs. Smith in the FIRST Matrix. Yes, it beat out the Burly Brawl. I must say it was worth sitting through Goblet to get to this. Order has restored my faith in the Potter films.

Now to see the six or seven films I’ve missed so far this summer. Crap.

Well not “new” but “colored.” And I shall deliver, right… now!

SOS as in “Save Our Song.” The Police’s Message in a Bottle did NOT have Kanye West filling it up with, “Yeahs” and “Uhs” twenty years ago, and with Sting struggling to sing in its original key, it definitely does not need it now. And what’s with John Mayer playing with The Police now? He does a cover of SOS and all of a sudden he’s a member of the band? Wow if I had known it was that easy I would have learned that song BEFORE Guitar Hero II came out.

Although according to Roger Waters, SOS means “Save Our Sausage.” I dunno. Seems like a pretty ballsy move to let a pig float around a stage in London after they’ve been having so much trouble with certain religious communities over there lately. Did anyone else notice that he chose to play “The Wall,” the most famous anti-establishment song ever written? And why are we at Live Earth? Oh yeah, because we’re listening to the establishment tell us not only HOW we can better our lives, but that we HAVE to. Not to mention that bettering our lives apparently means switching over to fluorescent bulbs. Let me just say that fluorescent bulbs are not natural lighting. For that, go with the sun or incandescent. Fluorescent bulbs give off a blue-tinted light which, if you’ve ever lived or worked under it, becomes incredibly uncomfortable and nerve-wracking. Plus, if they ever break, you get to have the EPA come over and clean it up or else, well, you kinda die. Just kinda.

And speaking of Guitar Hero II, this entire world-wide shenanigan was one giant ad for it. You’ve got Wolfmother playing Woman, The Police playing SOS, and I guarantee, if Kurt Kobain were still alive, Nirvana would have played Heart-Shaped Box. Oh, and Linkin Park, I hate to break it to you, but no one - NO ONE - likes Minutes to Midnight, at least nowhere near as much as Hybrid Theory or Meteora, so stop trying to make us like it. We won’t. Why? Because you cut out Han. Seriously, the Chairman was standing on stage for the entire song not doing anything. I’ve never seen anything more disappointing in my life, besides maybe Kanye screwing up Message in a Bottle.

I won’t bother mentioning Al Gore, who - despite his movie, book, and all he’s done to make us know about global warming - set up god knows how many concerts around the world which drew god-knows how much power from god-knows how many power-lines connected to no-one knows how many power plants around the world, some of which are clean, some of which, obviously, are not. And you’ve got all those stadiums filled with thousands of fans screaming and cheering for has-been acts like Metallica, all the while spending their precious Carbon-Points from screaming, jumping, cheering, laughing, and having a grand-old - albeit hypocritcal - time.

You want to save the environment? You want to do something that not only will people pay attention to but will make you feel better about yourself? Go get a huge caravan together, with covered wagons and all-natural meals bought from whole foods, and go travel down the Oregon Trail on a no-gas-powered trip. Maybe you’ll try to ford the river and your fucking oxen will die. THEN we’ll see how much you whine about wasting gas.

One final note, it’s very good to listen to Ludacris on the subject. He once cut me off of the road and screamed, “MOVE BITCH!” You don’t want to deny the power of an ivy league vocabulary like that.

One of the most powerful shotguns ever created, the K73, developed by Khaf Technologies in Jerusalem, Israel, is widely used amongst anti-terrorist forces and yet is nearly impossible to acquire on the black market. The primary shotgun fire has not only decent range, spread, and power, but can hold up 25, 6″ shotgun shells. Secondary fire draws from the dual Napalm tanks to unleash a stream of fire from the lower barrel.

Fuego receives the K73 fairly early on in the game. However, thanks to NightRise’s innovative leveling system, it does not overpower enemy forces. The secondary fire flamethrower attachment is not usable until it is unlocked by distributing 100 AP to the Fullburner itself.

Tomorrow (or, later today, as it is already tomorrow and tomorrow is today), I will discuss the creation of the K73 in further detail, and how it will be used in-game. Meantime, hope you like the model.

The texture is finished! The pictures are just a bit dark to really show off. Once I’m back on my laptop I’ll touch them up in Photoshop and get them up here. Expect another post very soon.

The texture on the Fullburner is shaping up very nicely, although it’s not quite done. Still have a few more sections to get through, and then whip up some bump maps for it. Once that’s all done I’ll have a full picture with specs and everything up. Can’t wait to show it off.