Journals
I'm entering that Polycount TF2 competition which can be seen here:
http://www.polycount.com/team-fortress-2-polycount-pack/
and if you want to see my progress then go here:
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1138461#post1138461
http://www.polycount.com/team-fortress-2-polycount-pack/
and if you want to see my progress then go here:
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1138461#post1138461
I thought I'd talk about a drug experience of my own today.
The drug I took today was coke. Strangely enough it didn't have much of an effect although I did feel slightly hyper and more alert.
Apart from that my teeth were yellow'er than usual and I couldn't stop belching.
P.S. I R funny right?
The drug I took today was coke. Strangely enough it didn't have much of an effect although I did feel slightly hyper and more alert.
Apart from that my teeth were yellow'er than usual and I couldn't stop belching.
P.S. I R funny right?
So God of War 3 anyone? Pretty awesome stuff, a bit short for my liking and lack of replay besides daring yourself to raise the difficulty. Honestly the first 20 minutes are pure epic with some great action and clever use of camera angles all combined with a music score worthy of the gods.
But nearer the end it feels like they rushed it and funny enough they did say they cut out a huge chunk of the ending to work on other aspects of the game and that they may release as DLC someday.
Anyway it's awesomely gorey with things like slicing nipple flesh off of Hades, punching the f**k out of Hercules till his face is mush, cutting off Hermes' legs, poking out poseidon's eyes etc. Real epic moments that made me yell out "DAAAAAAMN".
Is it worth money? Meh not really, a rent for sure however the collectors edition which has all three games is a sure money spender :>
But nearer the end it feels like they rushed it and funny enough they did say they cut out a huge chunk of the ending to work on other aspects of the game and that they may release as DLC someday.
Anyway it's awesomely gorey with things like slicing nipple flesh off of Hades, punching the f**k out of Hercules till his face is mush, cutting off Hermes' legs, poking out poseidon's eyes etc. Real epic moments that made me yell out "DAAAAAAMN".
Is it worth money? Meh not really, a rent for sure however the collectors edition which has all three games is a sure money spender :>
Not new but a composer for the animated series Samurai Champloo died recently.
http://kotaku.com/5497066/samurai-champloo-music-producer-is-dead
A shame really because he made music that I like a lot and I'm very picky with my music plus he combined it with one of my favourite animated series which wouldn't be the same without it.
You might like some of his tracks so I'll link two:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4w21HcML2M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O0kuoiAm2A
http://kotaku.com/5497066/samurai-champloo-music-producer-is-dead
A shame really because he made music that I like a lot and I'm very picky with my music plus he combined it with one of my favourite animated series which wouldn't be the same without it.
You might like some of his tracks so I'll link two:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4w21HcML2M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O0kuoiAm2A
Movie I watched this week is Transformers 2. Yeah it's late, I didn't exactly rush with excitement to see it.
I knew it wasn't going to be all that great since as people know, it's a CGI fest.
I think it dragged on too long and they have the big fight at the end but the end boss is like 1 minute just like the first movie. They need to learn that the fight is just a passing thing to build up the real fight between the protag and antag.
That reminds me of something...This film is the shit, word. (In case you don't get it I'm making fun of their attempt at reaching the black american audience with two characters who speak funny)
I knew it wasn't going to be all that great since as people know, it's a CGI fest.
I think it dragged on too long and they have the big fight at the end but the end boss is like 1 minute just like the first movie. They need to learn that the fight is just a passing thing to build up the real fight between the protag and antag.
That reminds me of something...This film is the shit, word. (In case you don't get it I'm making fun of their attempt at reaching the black american audience with two characters who speak funny)
FUCK Blogger and its decision to remove FTP uploading.[/rage]
I watched another scary film this weekend and this time it was Paranormal Activity.
Yeah. When I watched Hunter's Vlog on it and he said the hype always raises your expectancy I didn't expect it to be as low as can be.
I mean I didn't hold my hopes high and was really excited for a movie to scare me but it flopped and the fact that I kept singing the tune from The Twilight Zone whenever it was night time really said it all.
Hell White Noise 2 made me jump more and that wasn't even scary. I still hold The Grudge high though despite people saying it's shit cause it's Americanised unlike the real Ju-On which I've not seen and never will.
I think the difference between Grudge and Paranormal Activity is that there's something visual to see that haunts your thoughts as you wait for the scare to happen whereas they relied too much on sounds and acting.
Your thoughts?
Yeah. When I watched Hunter's Vlog on it and he said the hype always raises your expectancy I didn't expect it to be as low as can be.
I mean I didn't hold my hopes high and was really excited for a movie to scare me but it flopped and the fact that I kept singing the tune from The Twilight Zone whenever it was night time really said it all.
Hell White Noise 2 made me jump more and that wasn't even scary. I still hold The Grudge high though despite people saying it's shit cause it's Americanised unlike the real Ju-On which I've not seen and never will.
I think the difference between Grudge and Paranormal Activity is that there's something visual to see that haunts your thoughts as you wait for the scare to happen whereas they relied too much on sounds and acting.
Your thoughts?
There have probably been a few journals that have talked about this but has anyone seen The Fourth Kind?
I quite enjoyed it although it doesn't make me believe, despite some of the "real" footage shown.
Your thoughts?
I quite enjoyed it although it doesn't make me believe, despite some of the "real" footage shown.
Your thoughts?
So...
To keep you interested I'll first post this job description on Gearbox:
We are looking for all levels of Environment Artists who have the passion and talent to create visually stunning environments. Environment Artists will be part of the team creating environment art for an unannounced shooter based on one of the most famous shooters ever created, the Environment Artist will create all types of environment assets, terrain, structures and props. The Environment Artist will report to the Art Director.
So what do you think? I vote for Opposing Force 2 although I doubt it's the most famous?
Anyway now to bore you I finished my last university task last night for the first term despite it being 2010. It seriously wrecked me as I had so much to do and so little time. I ended up with a beard and my hands were like twigs but it was worth it cause it should, no it will get a good mark or I will seriously doubt fairness.
Oh and for the anime people out there I finished Samurai Champloo a sec ago for the fourth or fifth time. Still as good as ever.
To keep you interested I'll first post this job description on Gearbox:
We are looking for all levels of Environment Artists who have the passion and talent to create visually stunning environments. Environment Artists will be part of the team creating environment art for an unannounced shooter based on one of the most famous shooters ever created, the Environment Artist will create all types of environment assets, terrain, structures and props. The Environment Artist will report to the Art Director.
So what do you think? I vote for Opposing Force 2 although I doubt it's the most famous?
Anyway now to bore you I finished my last university task last night for the first term despite it being 2010. It seriously wrecked me as I had so much to do and so little time. I ended up with a beard and my hands were like twigs but it was worth it cause it should, no it will get a good mark or I will seriously doubt fairness.
Oh and for the anime people out there I finished Samurai Champloo a sec ago for the fourth or fifth time. Still as good as ever.
So a new mod for Source came out called Flesh which is horror and stuff. I liked it and I haven't finished it yet but so far it took me 2 and a half hours to get the the third map and I believe there are 5.
Sometimes you forget it's actually Source cause they've done some nice changes to the engine using Hammer entities mostly such as the 3rd person camera.
It's a mix of Silent Hill and Siren and I think you should all give it a go:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/flesh
Sometimes you forget it's actually Source cause they've done some nice changes to the engine using Hammer entities mostly such as the 3rd person camera.
It's a mix of Silent Hill and Siren and I think you should all give it a go:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/flesh
Perhaps one of you peeps can help me out.
I'm writing a dissertation on sound in horror games soon and I need to know the different categories of sound effects.
Wiki says in film that you get:
?Hard sound effects are common sounds that appear on screen, such as door slams, weapons firing, and cars driving by.
?Background (or BG) sound effects are sounds that do not explicitly synchronize with the picture, but indicate setting to the audience, such as forest sounds, the buzzing of fluorescent lights, and car interiors. The sound of people talking in the background is also considered a "BG," but only if the speaker is unintelligible and the language is unrecognizable (this is known as walla). These background noises are also called ambience or atmos ("atmosphere").
?Foley sound effects are sounds that synchronize on screen, and require the expertise of a Foley artist to record properly. Footsteps, the movement of hand props (e.g., a tea cup and saucer), and the rustling of cloth are common foley units.
?Design sound effects are sounds that do not normally occur in nature, or are impossible to record in nature. These sounds are used to suggest futuristic technology in a science fiction film, or are used in a musical fashion to create an emotional mood.
But what about video games? Any sound pro?s here that can perhaps tell me? I have a mix of sounds such as bangs, ambience and so on but it would be great to know the full names for each sound effect type.
I'm writing a dissertation on sound in horror games soon and I need to know the different categories of sound effects.
Wiki says in film that you get:
?Hard sound effects are common sounds that appear on screen, such as door slams, weapons firing, and cars driving by.
?Background (or BG) sound effects are sounds that do not explicitly synchronize with the picture, but indicate setting to the audience, such as forest sounds, the buzzing of fluorescent lights, and car interiors. The sound of people talking in the background is also considered a "BG," but only if the speaker is unintelligible and the language is unrecognizable (this is known as walla). These background noises are also called ambience or atmos ("atmosphere").
?Foley sound effects are sounds that synchronize on screen, and require the expertise of a Foley artist to record properly. Footsteps, the movement of hand props (e.g., a tea cup and saucer), and the rustling of cloth are common foley units.
?Design sound effects are sounds that do not normally occur in nature, or are impossible to record in nature. These sounds are used to suggest futuristic technology in a science fiction film, or are used in a musical fashion to create an emotional mood.
But what about video games? Any sound pro?s here that can perhaps tell me? I have a mix of sounds such as bangs, ambience and so on but it would be great to know the full names for each sound effect type.
So I received another email from my contact to say they would like me to come down to some pub event for L4D 2.
"Basically zombies will be taking over a London pub, there?s going to be DJ?s and live bands (The Priscillas), some special guests and gaming pods. It?s basically going to be a fun night out with lots of alcohol, music and zombies."
Sadly I'm at uni from 6-6 and wouldn't have the energy but also because it's L4D 2 which I've already played and wasn't interested in.
Oh well. At least they care that I'm there.
(I've also realised that the people that contact me run a site that look out for bloggers and press so that they can literally "give" us content to write about by inviting us to events. So in other words, they'll probably invite me to all the games events they get.)
"Basically zombies will be taking over a London pub, there?s going to be DJ?s and live bands (The Priscillas), some special guests and gaming pods. It?s basically going to be a fun night out with lots of alcohol, music and zombies."
Sadly I'm at uni from 6-6 and wouldn't have the energy but also because it's L4D 2 which I've already played and wasn't interested in.
Oh well. At least they care that I'm there.
(I've also realised that the people that contact me run a site that look out for bloggers and press so that they can literally "give" us content to write about by inviting us to events. So in other words, they'll probably invite me to all the games events they get.)
Origin of post: http://www.habboi.co.uk/blog.html
EA's Left 4 Dead 2 Event
'This is the building where it took place.'
Last week I was invited to the Left 4 Dead 2 event in London which was created to promote Valve's new sequel to Left 4 Dead 1.
It was very entertaining because we were trained to hit "infected" mannequins with weapons related to the game such as baseball bats, frying pans and assault rifles (although we didn't get to shoot them).
'Food rations and beer.'
There were also food rations and a corner where you could get your face painted to look like an "infected" from the game. (Obviously I opted to look like a Hunter since I was wearing a hoody).
'Infected face paint at its best.'
After hitting the mannequins around and getting our faces painted, we went down to the basement where they had set up four Xbox 360's to playtest the game.
'The gamers' basement.'
The version we played was an early test build that had a few glitches but other than that it was playable and I had a good time playing it. (The EA guy behind me was calling us hardcore because we got to the safe room at the end of the demo although I'm pretty sure it was because Director felt sorry for the people who played before us).
As an owner of the first game on the PC platform I already knew how to play the game so it was easy to pick up. I was very surprised at how good it was to aim with the Xbox 360 controller as my past experiences with FPS games on consoles have been difficult to aim with.
Left 4 Dead 2 is very similar to its prequel except that it is vastly improved with new enemies, weapons, characters, campaigns and an updated director AI which makes the gameplay different depending on how well the player is doing.
I feel that the large amount of game content justifies the price tag; however I still believe that it is too early to release a sequel especially since there are hardly any custom campaigns for the original game.
Lastly I was very excited to meet Valve's Chet Faliszek who shook my hand (still haven't washed them) but unfortunately my camera man was upstairs getting a beer and Chet disappeared as soon as I turned my back. I wanted to ask him about Half Life 2 Episode 3 and try to pry some facts out of him, oh well.
Overall my friend and I had a fantastic time and it was an honour attending. I just hope the next event I go to involves hitting something with a frying pan because that was the best part of the night!
Below are more pictures taken at the event which includes my friend who hit the mannequins so hard that a cricket bat splintered and flesh flew past people's heads. Scary.
http://www.habboi.co.uk/uploaded_images/L4D_03_large.jpg
http://www.habboi.co.uk/uploaded_images/L4D_06_large.jpg
http://www.habboi.co.uk/uploaded_images/L4D_07_large.jpg
http://www.habboi.co.uk/uploaded_images/L4D_08_large.jpg
http://www.habboi.co.uk/uploaded_images/L4D_09_large.jpg
http://www.habboi.co.uk/uploaded_images/L4D_10_large.jpg
EA's Left 4 Dead 2 Event
Last week I was invited to the Left 4 Dead 2 event in London which was created to promote Valve's new sequel to Left 4 Dead 1.
It was very entertaining because we were trained to hit "infected" mannequins with weapons related to the game such as baseball bats, frying pans and assault rifles (although we didn't get to shoot them).
There were also food rations and a corner where you could get your face painted to look like an "infected" from the game. (Obviously I opted to look like a Hunter since I was wearing a hoody).
After hitting the mannequins around and getting our faces painted, we went down to the basement where they had set up four Xbox 360's to playtest the game.
The version we played was an early test build that had a few glitches but other than that it was playable and I had a good time playing it. (The EA guy behind me was calling us hardcore because we got to the safe room at the end of the demo although I'm pretty sure it was because Director felt sorry for the people who played before us).
As an owner of the first game on the PC platform I already knew how to play the game so it was easy to pick up. I was very surprised at how good it was to aim with the Xbox 360 controller as my past experiences with FPS games on consoles have been difficult to aim with.
Left 4 Dead 2 is very similar to its prequel except that it is vastly improved with new enemies, weapons, characters, campaigns and an updated director AI which makes the gameplay different depending on how well the player is doing.
I feel that the large amount of game content justifies the price tag; however I still believe that it is too early to release a sequel especially since there are hardly any custom campaigns for the original game.
Lastly I was very excited to meet Valve's Chet Faliszek who shook my hand (still haven't washed them) but unfortunately my camera man was upstairs getting a beer and Chet disappeared as soon as I turned my back. I wanted to ask him about Half Life 2 Episode 3 and try to pry some facts out of him, oh well.
Overall my friend and I had a fantastic time and it was an honour attending. I just hope the next event I go to involves hitting something with a frying pan because that was the best part of the night!
Below are more pictures taken at the event which includes my friend who hit the mannequins so hard that a cricket bat splintered and flesh flew past people's heads. Scary.
http://www.habboi.co.uk/uploaded_images/L4D_03_large.jpg
http://www.habboi.co.uk/uploaded_images/L4D_06_large.jpg
http://www.habboi.co.uk/uploaded_images/L4D_07_large.jpg
http://www.habboi.co.uk/uploaded_images/L4D_08_large.jpg
http://www.habboi.co.uk/uploaded_images/L4D_09_large.jpg
http://www.habboi.co.uk/uploaded_images/L4D_10_large.jpg
So yet again I've been asked if I want to come to a game event and this time it's for L4D 2. Now some know that I'm actually not that interested in L4D 2 because I feel the price tag is too high however that does not mean I'll destroy the only connection I have to the industry.
Last time I met some dev's and so on and it was great fun so this time we get to shoot guns and learn about camo etc with real army chiefs before playing the game. You know how marketing is.
I'll take a camera this time because they want more coverage. It's happening this week wednesday in London.
I'll edit this on Thursday @_@ Then on Friday I'll be at Eurogamer. Gonna play some sweet games and listen to some DEV lectures.
Oh and this was sent to me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB0uL0yFxaU
Last time I met some dev's and so on and it was great fun so this time we get to shoot guns and learn about camo etc with real army chiefs before playing the game. You know how marketing is.
I'll take a camera this time because they want more coverage. It's happening this week wednesday in London.
I'll edit this on Thursday @_@ Then on Friday I'll be at Eurogamer. Gonna play some sweet games and listen to some DEV lectures.
Oh and this was sent to me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB0uL0yFxaU
Edit: So I finished my review and hopefully they likey. http://www.habboi.co.uk/2009/07/eas-battlefield-1943-review.html
So I went to that EA press party last night and I took a friend. I didn't take any pictures as I didn't want to lug it around but the picture ZIP emailed to me contains one picture of some reporters playing here:
http://www.habboi.co.uk/DSC02701.jpg
http://www.habboi.co.uk/DSC02709.jpg
So I might as well describe the night in detail since I'm sure some people are interested. I need to get my writing noggin' on anyway since they expect a review and I don't want to throw away another chance at being invited to one of these.
So I took an old friend along with me who I hadn't seen for half a year and as we got to the train station I realised I'd left my ID under some clothes so we had to walk back and get it which was the first bad experience of the day. I needed it in case a pub man wanted to see it, especially since I don't look 20.
So yeah we got to the end of our journey on the tube and had to walk around a bunch of roads for bit to get to the bar. We got there 20 minutes early and spotted a pub opposite so we went there until it was time. Once it was time we walked over and was greeted by a hot woman who I thought was hired just to pimp up the event but it turns out she plays Fallout so that shut me up.
We went in after saying our names and after navigating winding corridors and stairs we came out into a sexy, sexy club / bar with chandeliers and candle tops etc. Then a Japanese guy came up to us and gave us cocktail menus in the theme of the game. Such names like Infantry something and Sniper something...Yeah the names didn't stick in my head but they were mighty tasty and "free". They?re normally 9 pounds according to the website.
So we order the drinks and are greeted by some people who ask if we want to try the game so we sat down on this nice curved sofa and I got the first go. I did some research on the game beforehand so that I didn't look like a noob but that failed when I accidently threw a grenade which landed perfectly on my teammate?s tank causing it to explode and team kill. Good start?
Then all that happened was I was approached by all these people and they were asking where I came from and why I was here and I kept explaining how I just made a simple blog about my life and games and how surprised I was to be invited to this. I met a guy who wrote reviews for The Times newspaper, a digital distributor at EA, a developer who told me how he got his job and Bill Bailey. No, not really but the guy was so much like him that I kept laughing.
So yeah, these guys were all pretty big and here was me and my friend. Me with my personal blog and my friend with nothing D: That didn't stop him from being the "Man of the Party" as he was chatting to everyone etc so I was glad I took him with me.
In the end I drank more free cocktails, ate free food, met some really nice people who actually listened to me and walked into a mirror. What? Yeah as I came out the toilet I was looking down so my eyes caught someone walking towards me so I move out the way and to cut it short I soon realised after bumping into this person that it was me in a mirror. D:
Anyway it was a nice night and very insightful etc. These people were down to earth and were easy to chat to. A lot of them had one thing in common and that was they had hardly any time to game because of work which worried me
I can't live without me games.
So after 3 hours we left and said our goodbyes and went to the pub for half an hour before returning home and ending the day.
As for the game? Yeah it was alright but nothing new to the industry but pretty damn awesome since it's only 9 pounds. But what's even better is I got a free code to download it so hoorah for my blog. Oh yeah and they said the evening was for the press so I felt honoured to be called that.
So I went to that EA press party last night and I took a friend. I didn't take any pictures as I didn't want to lug it around but the picture ZIP emailed to me contains one picture of some reporters playing here:
http://www.habboi.co.uk/DSC02701.jpg
http://www.habboi.co.uk/DSC02709.jpg
So I might as well describe the night in detail since I'm sure some people are interested. I need to get my writing noggin' on anyway since they expect a review and I don't want to throw away another chance at being invited to one of these.
So I took an old friend along with me who I hadn't seen for half a year and as we got to the train station I realised I'd left my ID under some clothes so we had to walk back and get it which was the first bad experience of the day. I needed it in case a pub man wanted to see it, especially since I don't look 20.
So yeah we got to the end of our journey on the tube and had to walk around a bunch of roads for bit to get to the bar. We got there 20 minutes early and spotted a pub opposite so we went there until it was time. Once it was time we walked over and was greeted by a hot woman who I thought was hired just to pimp up the event but it turns out she plays Fallout so that shut me up.
We went in after saying our names and after navigating winding corridors and stairs we came out into a sexy, sexy club / bar with chandeliers and candle tops etc. Then a Japanese guy came up to us and gave us cocktail menus in the theme of the game. Such names like Infantry something and Sniper something...Yeah the names didn't stick in my head but they were mighty tasty and "free". They?re normally 9 pounds according to the website.
So we order the drinks and are greeted by some people who ask if we want to try the game so we sat down on this nice curved sofa and I got the first go. I did some research on the game beforehand so that I didn't look like a noob but that failed when I accidently threw a grenade which landed perfectly on my teammate?s tank causing it to explode and team kill. Good start?
Then all that happened was I was approached by all these people and they were asking where I came from and why I was here and I kept explaining how I just made a simple blog about my life and games and how surprised I was to be invited to this. I met a guy who wrote reviews for The Times newspaper, a digital distributor at EA, a developer who told me how he got his job and Bill Bailey. No, not really but the guy was so much like him that I kept laughing.
So yeah, these guys were all pretty big and here was me and my friend. Me with my personal blog and my friend with nothing D: That didn't stop him from being the "Man of the Party" as he was chatting to everyone etc so I was glad I took him with me.
In the end I drank more free cocktails, ate free food, met some really nice people who actually listened to me and walked into a mirror. What? Yeah as I came out the toilet I was looking down so my eyes caught someone walking towards me so I move out the way and to cut it short I soon realised after bumping into this person that it was me in a mirror. D:
Anyway it was a nice night and very insightful etc. These people were down to earth and were easy to chat to. A lot of them had one thing in common and that was they had hardly any time to game because of work which worried me
I can't live without me games.So after 3 hours we left and said our goodbyes and went to the pub for half an hour before returning home and ending the day.
As for the game? Yeah it was alright but nothing new to the industry but pretty damn awesome since it's only 9 pounds. But what's even better is I got a free code to download it so hoorah for my blog. Oh yeah and they said the evening was for the press so I felt honoured to be called that.