Journals

A change of environment, a change of life style. Or better said, a total mess of a program that puts me through high amounts of stress and almost caused me to have emotional breakdowns.

College started.

I have waited enthusiastically for the moment college will start. I was gladly expecting some fun in the experimentation of a new medium. Seems like it isn't so... Seems like I need a longer period so I can accommodate.
It wouldn't be such a big problem if it wasn't for the college schedule.
Which is a total brainfuck. In space as it is in time. The classes are not held in buildings gathered in a campus. They're spread across different buildings in the city. You have to walk a lot if you want to save some money.( one "famous" seminar is held at ~8 km away, of course you take the bus, but still...).
Add that to the fact that we have day in the week with 10 hours of math&physics. Because the building is not close to the dormitories, you don't even have time to take a humane break.

When the fuck should I even have time to study, besides the period before exams? The only way I seem to be able to study is being attentive to the courses, and that way I can manage some seminars. But there are some that I've lost track of, and I seriously can't find a calm period to study.

To be sincere, all of the above would be in the limits of coping. Add to that the fact that before summer I started experiencing anxiety. I can not describe you how awful this is. And it is unscrupulous. It can strike either gradually, either spontaneously- in the form of "scumbag brain"- "Hey, you seem to be too calm. Let's make things a bit more turbulent, shall we?". One needs to develop skills of fighting against it, in a passive way( not actually focusing on the problem).
The chaos of the fucked up schedule mixed with the unpleasant waking-up hours, coupled with city life, can induce anxiety feelings that are disabling. You just feel the need of fleeing from where you are, going home... It induces the fear that you have medical problems and that you will pass out. It really tends to do this when I'm away...

I really need to get a hold of myself.

* end of frustration vent

Started college. Tomorrow I have courses and seminars from 8 AM to 8 PM.

WHAT THE FUCK.

So I just finished Rochard. This is a 3D platformer.It was quite a nice blend of action and puzzle solving. It teaches you to inventively use the environment at your advantage. I enjoyed playing it, and honestly I didn't get bored almost at all.
The gameplay mechanics center around the G-Lifter, gravity and shooting. The game is a constant shuffle of "if you can't do this with that, you can do it with the other thing".

The graphics and environment are really nice, and not demanding. As a term of comparison, it's TF2-like cartoon style. It was made on the Unity engine.

I do have some objections though. While the story has potential, I think the dialog part was a bit neglected. Rochard is a funny fluffy guy, but his lines seem a bit cheesy at times.
Now I don't know if the team got inspired from HL2 or not, but the G-Lifter has some striking similarities with the Gravity Gun. It picks up objects and can throw them. But I was convinced this is a Gravity Gun copy when Rochard picks up "Helga", an old G-Lifter model that can pick up anything- including bio-matter( the soldiers). Uh-hm.

Also, I tried collecting a most of the "Gold Collectibles", although didn't succeed. Please don't tell me this is only for an achievement? That's not nice!

All in all, I liked the game, it could be better, but hey, it's an indie! I recommend it( got it through Humble Indie Bundle 6).Screenshot not by me

This is probably the longest article I've written in a while.

Black Mesa Source review.

Warning: lots of images.

BMS download complete. Installation completed.

Opening game now.I think I'm spending more time looking at props and admiring walls than actually progressing the game. I'm like a laughing baby right now!

[EDIT] SPOILER ALERT!

[EDIT 2] Seems like when I start the Apprehension campaign the mod crashes.

Normal Mapping Tutorial - I probably made this for the community, but I'm sure I also created it for me. I tend to forget how to work with textures and how to make bump maps, so this video will be a useful reference in the future.

I've used GIMP, the normal map plugin for Gimp and VTFedit. It's 7 minutes long.

For those of you who lack a good internet connection, let me warn you: it is available in glorious FullHD resolution. I am just normally linking the video here, so it will probably take you to the 480p version :P.

Source Normal(Bump) Mapping Tutorial

An idea came up to my mind today.

Let's see if you like the pilot "news": TWHL News.

[EDIT] Published new "news": Uncontrolled experiment on the verge to cause an unnatural disaster?

I disabled the access to search engines, so the site is pretty much private unless it's linked to.
I'd like some tagline suggestions.

I said this is a "pilot news" because I suspect some people won't appreciate this. If this things proves to be entertaining, I'd like to add more authors( I still have to study the art of making news, especially... pamphlets, which require a vast knowledge of quotidian culture).

Tetsu0 is not the only one to suffer a stupid accident. I was at the pool today. I even jumped in it, and I managed not to hit my head.
Then I said I'm going to swim under the water. I thrusted myself, without knowing, downwards.

I hit hard the bottom of the pool with my nose, scratching the surface with it. Bleed, the area is a bit swollen, put some ice, went home.

Head-desk. Softly.

Wrote a few thoughts about the new CS, as well as making 4 map comparisons between the 3 CS games.

Linky.

There was a time when I was better at multiplayer FPS games, and even then I wasn't exceptional, just better than average. Now, I mostly play for fun, and from time to time. Perhaps nostalgia made me do this. I secured my copy.

Enjoy my mouse.

Hey, do you know any software/site that helps in solving problems or learning math? I'm talking about something like wolframalpha. The problem is that it doesn't solve always correctly, or doesn't always display the solution.

I'm bad at integrals :(.

I just ate some pickled herrings. For some days I had an enormous crave for them. They taste awesome!
I would also like to try some surstromming, but that stuff is incredily hard to find.

The magic finger: Video Link
(and for members like DiscoStu: no, I will not be shoving down your throat 720p quality, you choose the quality :P).

This is just a little experimentation with camera movements. Done because I hadn't something else better to do( what a lie, I actually had, but at least this helped get rid of procrastination).

[EDIT] In the making:If you wonder how I did the smooth shot around the bullet as it traveled, here's how I did it: the cameras and the bullet( a thruster) are actually attached to an invisible bar that goes along a slider.
[EDIT] Oh shit, I just realized there's a children's book with this name. I better change the title.