It's Been A While

Haven't blogged anything lately. Anything of relative importance. Mostly minor stuff, news from around the globe and games, games, games.

Well I just found out today that someone I knew died. She was the granddaughter of the cook/household helper of my grandparents in Lucena. She was about 10 years older than me (maybe more, maybe less, I don't know). She basically grew up with my grandparents. She lived in their house, and she was like another grandchild to my grandparents. She got married, moved out, and stuff. Now she's dead of cancer. So my condolences go out to her family and my grandmother and my aunts who live there. She was like family to them.

Anyway I was in the office yesterday when I found out that Direk Third had a copy of the Final Fantasy VII soundtrack. Kem and I thought this was the soundtrack to Advent Children so we went down to Third's car and all sat in there to listen to it. It was the game soundtrack but most of the music there was also used in the CG movie.

I cannot stop raving about the sound quality in Third's ride. He's driving an Echo Verso with really sweet speakers, amps, and a subwoofer. Amazing sound. Lovely, just lovely. Imagine listening to a full orchestra in that car. Hell I'd play full orchestra songs in that car on full volume and they'd sound so much better than the thumping bass blasts of R&B and hip-hop blaring on most cars here with subs.

What else, what else? Oh I'm still deciding on whether I want a Sony Ericsson K750i or not. Most likely I'll want. I'll be splitting the costs with my mom anyway. She's got a couple of free points in her phone which can be used to get that unit. I'll just pay for the balance since the points are not enough.

It shouldn't really bother me but it does. Due to circumstances of the past month or so I've had to become more financially responsible than before. Used to be what I earned was all mine. I could spend it to my heart's content, use it on whatever. But lately I've had to rethink my expenses. Which isn't wrong anyway. Eventually I will have to be totally independent financially.

I was just hoping it wasn't now. I earn enough actually. But if I have to be more financially responsible I'll have to cut back on some of the expenses I normally take. Because first of all my savings are severely depleted (thanks to my buying a new CPU that still can't be used - long story) and I want to bring it back up to a safe level. Second I've got to consider paying for the gas in the car I use all the time. My mom does have a point, since I use it I ought to pay for the gas.

Its just that as I started working my mom first told me she'd help out with my expenses at first so that I could save my money and I got used to that. But now I guess I'll have to face the facts and taste the beef.

Oh well. It was, as Agent Smith said, inevitable. Besides I am 25. I ought to start acting my age. Or at least being more responsible. Whatever.

Out.

Random Postings

I finished Halo 2 in Heroic mode in less than an hour. How? We were waiting at our client's office for our ride back to our office. This is our gamer client. He has a Gamecube, PS2, and XBox in his office. And since we were not doing anything he was kind enough to let us play Halo 2.

Last stage. Hehehe. We started the game at the last stage. After about 15 attempts each for Kem and myself I luckily managed to blow up the final boss. Neat. So I can credit myself with finishing Halo 2.

But enough of that.

Condolences go out to the family of Michael "Beef" Park, WRC co-driver for Team Peugeot. He met a fatal accident during Stage 15 of the Rally of Great Britain.

GT4. My Ford GT is a beast. Can't turn to save his life. Had to put wings on and play with the settings for a good 45 minutes before I could even get a semblance of control. But now I'm getting used to it. Have to brake real early and stuff but at least I win with it. So far.

I'm also currently looking for a FF car. I've got around 460,000 credits to spend. How? I raced Japan championships again. And I got another Nissan special 350Z. Worth 350,000 credits. What am I supposed to do with two (hehehe)? Okay fine, I cheated. I raced that again to get a car that is expensive so I could sell it and use the cash to get better cars. Does anyone remember that race in GT2? You win it you get 50,000 credits AND a Tuscan Speed 12 worth 500,000 credits? Didn't you guys love racing that SINGLE race? At least I race a championship series.

Anyway enough of that. Saw the review for NBA Live 06 GameCube at ign.com. Don't expect a realistic sim. Feh. As expected. Just because EA Sports is dominating the NBA scene they spew out junk AI. Fortunately I'm not after NBA Live 06 for the gameplay. I'm after it for the dynasty mode. I'm gonna get it, and play dynasty mode. Maybe try playing some games but I will get it for the dynasty mode. I'm gonna turn the Lakers into a neo-Bulls team. Yep, the Lakers. Not because of Kobe, but because of Odom. I'm gonna turn Odom into Pippen V2.0 so yes, Kobe'll be MJ V2.0 also.

But I'm doing it for Odom. Hell, I've got me a plan already. I'll try and dump Brian Cook and Slava Medvedenko to the Pistons for Darko. Yeah you heard me. Darko. I'm a Darko fan. I'm a fan of any lefty in the league (hence I'm a big fan of Odom) because I am also a southpaw.

But since I don't know when Live will arrive I'll have to be content with my trusty Live 05. I've already got an idea of how "lousy" the AI will be since NBA Live 05 basically has the same complaints I've read about in Live 05.

This should be fun.

And for all of you out there reading my blog, thanks. Even if you find my writing amusing.

Shyeah right.

Out.

Finally...

I've got a Ford GT now. Silver with black stripes. I wanted a yellow with black stripes but its not in my personality. The black with silver stripes was also nice but I prefer the silver one.

Won the Japanese championship race, A license required. Got 3rd place in Suzuka, but first everywhere else. Just goes to show what happens when you can't get the track layout. Always overshooting turns and driving off into the gravel. But so what? Victory was assured.

I even got this souped up Nissan 350Z that can be sold for 350k++ but knowing how expensive it is, it must be a good car. So I'm keeping it.

I did sell my Nismo 400R. Just to get enough cash to buy the Ford GT. Its still mostly stock, because the only upgrades I could buy were sports brakes and the brake balance controller. I'm a stickler for control and I want my car to handle excellently before I even think of making it faster.

I've only driven the GT twice. Raced the MR Cup. Won both races. But damn! Super fast, excellent handling. If only the first race wasn't so damn short. I wasn't even getting into third gear and I had to brake already. Sigh. But the GT... Oh baby yea. What a car.

When I get to play GT4 again I'm definitely going to try and race the GT again. And maybe take the souped up 350Z for a spin. Maybe I'll race the championship races again and if I win another 350Z then I'm selling one of them so I can fix up my GT and my Skyline.

But aside from that I've read about the dynasty feature of NBA Live 06 in ign.com and I've got to say I want the game. Screw the gameplay, I might just play NBA Live 06 and simulate all games. That's how interesting the new dynasty mode is. Okay so maybe, just maybe, I'll make two saves. One for playing and one for simulating. Or maybe I'll just play once in a while but simulate most of the time. I don't know.

And I also want to get God of War and Ultimate Spiderman. Why? Its been a while since I've played platformers. I sorta miss it. Shinobi's too hard, Tenchu's a drag. But I've seen God of War. Wow.

Out.

The Speed is Back... Big Time

Okay so last night when I got home I wanted to take a bath, but I didn't want to at once to let my feet breathe fresh air first. That was too much information for you, but...

I decided to play around with GT4. Try the license test again but this time play for fun. No pressure. No need to get a prize. Just put in some practice. And off I went in my 70s Alfa Romeo car. IB Test 15. Lap of this Italian town.

I drove fast. Too aggressive for my usual style. The car was flailing around, since it was an old model and had no driver aids. Swerving left and right, late braking, braking while turning. Things I never did before. Lo and behold, I got a bronze prize. The track that once had me stumped was conquered. Hell the best time I had before last night was 2 sec. off the bronze prize time. And now I got the test. Then I finished off the final test and got me an IB License.

After that I decided to try and race. Raced in Turbo Sports Cup. Tried the B-Spec mode only to find that the AI driving my car was worse than Ralf Schumacher (you know, hates taking risks, doesn't push it always, sometimes brilliant, sometimes crap) but instead of reseting the game I decided to finish it.

The reason why I wasn't enjoying GT4 was because I wanted to maintain a perfect record. All wins. So I forced myself to accept the fact that the AI could only do 2nd best. Then I immediately quit to the main menu so that the autosave function would kick in. So my record wasn't perfect anymore. No more pressure. Now the fun begins.

I win the race my AI lost. Drove like a madman. Kept on winning. I finished the Race of Turbo Sports and got me this sweet Mazda RX-7 which drove excellently.

I learned a few things too about my driving style and have now modified my Skyline to befit it. The following were my discoveries:

• I am a heavy braker. So I bumped up the braking values for my Skyline. Almost max for both front and rear tires. Slightly stronger pressure applied on the rear tires.
• I need heavy downforce. My first setting for the downforce was 8/10. When I got the RX-7 the values in downforce were 14/18. So I tried that out on the Skyline. Perfect. Better grip and maneuverability. Sweet.
• I can brake while turning. This I discovered thanks to the aformentioned RX-7. I was turning like a madman, even with an FR car. And I wasn't spinning out. As long as I balanced the accelerator, the turn, and the brake I would make it.
• I can drive fast if there is no pressure. Hence I had to "take one for the team" and lose a race. Just so now I can just have fun.

The Ford GT is now looking more like a reality. However now I'm also not thinking of getting it. Who knows, I might be able to get enough cash tonight to buy it. But if I don't, who cares? All I know is that with these new discoveries of mine I'll be able to push my lap times and performance to new heights.

By the way I just got a Nike One concept car. The prize from getting an IB License. Excellent car. 8 gears. 4WD. Fast acceleration. Great grip. Great handling. Sure my lap times in Midfield Racetrack was at best a 1:19:30-ish, which my mentor, Third, can easily beat. But still. I've never driven that fast in GT4. And since GT4 has slightly different physics than GT2 and GT3 I could say I'm proud of those lap times. I was able to push myself into speeds I never dreamt of achieving while maintaining control of my car.

Tonight I again use the Mazda RX-7. To race that Japanese series of 5 race. The one where aside from the prize money of each track there's a 35K bonus if you are the champ. Then maybe, just maybe, I can get the Ford GT.

Out.


My "Impreza Killer" R33 Skyline.


Mazda RX-7 that drives like a dream.


Should this stay or should this go?

Rekindling The Past

Right now I'm listening to my iTunes while blogging/animating. I'm currently listening to my high school favorites.

And its not grunge.

I may have been a teenager when grunge hit. It may have been the "in" music in high school (besides hip-hop, which I sometimes like and sometimes hate) but I was never that in to it. Sure I liked some of the songs that were famous. Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden. Yeah I liked them. Pearl Jam? Nope. Only started liking their music around 2001 or so. I'm a late bloomer.

Anyway, the music I liked listening to in high school was classic rock. Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and of course my all-time favorite band, Black Sabbath (with Ozzy at vocals, of course).

Yes, I am stuck in a time warp. I always enjoy listening to music that isn't famous today. I'm not really a mainstream type, sure I do like mainstream things. But not as often. I prefer the "classics". The music the current artists listened to to create the music they created today.

Plus I really love those old riffs. In fact, I'm listening to Black Sabbath right now. And the other songs I usually listen to in iTunes (and in my iPod) are Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Steppenwolf, and Led Zep. Yeah, I'm a classic rocker.

I may not know much about the history of the bands and whatnot, and I may not be able to identify their music in one note, but I do love their sound. Raw, edgy, simple. The basic sounds and foundations of heavy metal as we know it today came from bands like Black Sabbath and Led Zep.

And I'm listening to them. Again. And again. And again. Why? Because I love their music. And maybe so I can inspire myself to pick up my rusty stringed acoustic guitar to belt out Iron Man one more time.

Of course I could be in my "classical rock phase" right now. I don't know.

Out.

Another Gran Turismo 4 Rant

Okay. I give up. I admit it.

I suck at GT4. Sure I've gotten both A&B licenses, but they were ALL BRONZE PRIZES. I can't follow racing lines and I brake too early. I am a casual driver.

I have no talent for hardcore GT4 racing. I cannot win and I have no patience to take 2nd place. I want to win all the time, since I'm up against computers.

My driving style is too NFSU2 and not really suited to GT4. I don't carve up corners, I slide past them. That was my fault in GT2, and up to now I still fall prey to it. I try to counter it but old habits die hard. And now I'm pissed.

Add to the fact that I can't buy the Ford GT because I can't win any more races since I keep getting overtaken. And so I come to the realization that I may want to re-do my game.

That's right. Start off from scratch. Still get the 100,000 credits. But I won't buy a Skyline this time. Oh no.

I'll start with my favorite first car. The car I always bought first in GT3. A Mazda Miata.

I've got a plan now. I buy and set-up the Miata, race it in all possible races, including the Japanese 90s Cars Races and get the Nismo 400R. Once I do that I save enough cash and fix the Nismo up.

No more Ford GT. Now its all about winning as many races as possible. Maybe, just maybe, if I do this I'll eventually get the Ford GT.

But those are the least of my problems, since my GT4 is defective. Sunday Cup races won't load. The most basic races. No load. No way. No game. Maybe that's why I'm frustrated. Maybe because I can't start from simple races to the more complex ones I get too frustrated racing in races where cars are extremely fast already.

Or maybe I need more practice. More intensity.

Or maybe I just need to find another game. God of War. Definitely. Ultimate Spiderman. Yes. NBA Live 2006. Without a doubt.

Out.

"Nababato Ako" - The Blog

(Note: I'm extremely bored, and I want to blog. But I can't think of anything to write plus my brain is stuck to Radioactive Sago Project mode so right now my thoughts are really, really f*cked up, y'hear?)

Nababato ako.

Nababato ako. Nababato ako. Nababato ako.

Nababato. Ako. Ako. Ako. Ako. Bato. Nababato. Ako nababato.

Bato bato bato. Bato. Ba. To. B. A. T. O. Nababato ako. Bato ako. Ako bato.

Nababato ako.

Out.

Rants of a Frenzied Mind

Okay, these are all toughts that came in to my head since I last blogged. So bear with me. They may be incoherent, they may be strange, they may be racial. Whatever. Just ranting.

I don't play GT4 as much now. Why? Because I ran a championship race and was doing fine the first two races. Then on the third race I was off to a good lead until the fourth lap when this other car comes flying by me. What the f*ck?!? How did that happen??? That never happened the first two races. Did they change tires all of a sudden? Good grief. So I shut off the PS2. Quit the race.

Actually I was thinking calmy during the race, when I got overtaken. I thought, Okay cut my losses, defend second. Win the Championship and get the car. Then Mr. Temper came in and I was like, I'd better eject the disc, shut down the PS2, and walk away calmy before I either a) Threw my controller HARD at the PS2 or b) broke my GT4 disk in half or c) all of the above.

I hate to lose, specially in PS2 games. I can take defeats easily if I wanted to lose. But I didn't want to. So there. GT4 is for really good drivers, guys who have excellent hand-eye coordination. I don't think I've got great hand-eye coordination. In fact I'm stuck at IB License Test 15, the lap around this Italaian town. And I always end up 2 seconds away from the bronze prize.

Sure I can practice. But really, I've only got so much time to play that I want to progress. I have work, I have a girlfriend, I've got a life. So how can I enjoy the damn game? Good thing I've got NBA Live 2005, and I'm looking forward to NBA Live 2006.

Anyway I figured out something strange last night. Do you want to know who the next dominant race will be in the world? The Arabs. Yep. That's my prediction.

See, the caucasians have had it great the past few centuries, being the dominant race and all. Fine and great. Hoorah for them. But lately almost every country's been pissed off at the USA because of their arrogance. They are not the superpower people used to think they were.

As for the Europeans, they seem better than the Americans. More mature and stuff. But their time's running out too. The age of white is fading, I can feel it. They try to cling to their greatness but the only reason they are the great ones is because they invented the rules to greatness in the first place.

Arabs? They've got all the oil and the cash now. They know how to deal with other nations, friendly at first then ruthless next. They send their offspring to other countries to get the education that helped the whites dominate. Education that other people take for granted, they take seriously.

They've got the resources and the know-how to be the next dominant race. And they're doing it. Right now.

My question is, when will it be the turn of the Asians to be the dominant race? Or better yet, why can't we just all get along and forget about race? We're all human. We've all got the same organs we all function the same way.

I guess it's in our nature to want to dominate everything. Humans have to be the most dominant species in the world that they will go to great lengths to do it. Even dominate fellow humans. Look at animals. We've got predators and prey. They try to dominate each other and yet they maintain a certain balance because of how they were made.

Humans? Who checks us? No one. We check ourselves but do we really? No. We all want a bigger slice of the pie. We want to be so f*cking dominant that we will step on others. We will bring others down. Just. To. Be. The. Man.

Think about it. Reflect on it. Then try to be accountable of your actions. Try to share. Try to be dominant in a different sense. We're all human beings, after all. Right?

Then again, what the hell am I doing, ranting about all these things when even I do nothing? I think but I don't act. I talk but I don't walk. Maybe its time that changed. Maybe I'll stop thinking, stop talking. Just let things be the way they are. Because that's what everyone wants, right?

Or I'll just try to change myself. Change starts from within. Rather than trying to change others maybe we should all just change ourselves first.

We'll see.

Out.

A 3D Related Rant

Current Mood: Intensely Confused
Current Music: Judgement Night Soundtrack (specifically Slayer and Ice-T's Disorder)

Ever since I started 3D I've used IK handles to move "complex" skeletal structures. Things like arms and legs and spinal columns.

For the uninitiated, IK stands for INVERSE KINEMATICS. What are they? Well to put it as simple as possible they act like muscles. You snap them on to a series of joints and that's what you move. The joints will follow suit. Take for example the legs. Or the arms. I usually use IKs to move them, they make life "easier" and stuff.

Although there was this one time on one project here in the office that the IK I rigged for the character was failing miserably. I couldn't move the arm the way I wanted it to move. It was at that moment that I wanted to use FK to move the character.

FK stands for FORWARD KINEMATICS. That's the longer and "harder" way of animating skeletal systems. Instead of having a "muscle" to move them around you have to individually rotate each joint to the desired pose.

Anyway now that I'm working on a game my wish to use FK has been granted. Because the game engine can't interpret IKs in Maya. We have to use FK. How has it been? Mixed reactions.

I managed to finish two simple animations today. So far the movement looks good. For a game. It is very demanding work, simply because the rotations have to be precise if you don't want the foot to move away from where it's standing. Stuff like that. Still, its a new experience and I welcome it.

Now I know there are IK/FK switches. I've downloaded tutorials. However I am pressed for time. Every Friday we've got to submit what is required of us. I don't think I've got the time to fiddle around with the switch. Besides it might f*ck up the rig we got and I don't want that to happen. Game rigs are so different from the rig I usually set-up.

Speaking of rigs, its been a while since I've rigged anything. I might be getting rusty. Better start practicing at home.

Oh wait, I can't. Lordvader's been "sick". He won't run at home. I brought it to the office for a check-up and it was all fine. So I'm theorizing that its either something electrical at home, or the monitor. Or my computer just hates me and will only work for others. P29,000 down the drain. Oh well.

Out.

GT Errata and My First Christmas Rant

It seems I've made a mistake about the two Skylines I own in GT4. I mistakenly thought they were R32 Skylines when in fact they were R33s. That's it basically. And the 2nd hand Skyline I own really is fun to drive.

So far I've put in a racing exhaust, turbo stage 2, racing intercooler, full-custom suspension, full-custom transmission, racing chip, racing brakes, brake balance controller, and a wing. Plus I'm using the tires that came with the car. Oh, I've also replaced the mag wheels. It used to be "stock" but I got gold OZ Racing mag wheels to replace it. Why gold? Because my Skyline's color is "Championship Blue" and I also like the Subaru Impreza.

(On a side note, it seems that in every Gran Turismo game I've ever played and had a save game I've always had an "Impreza Killer" - a blue 4WD car that wasn't a Subaru that had gold mag wheels. In GT2 and GT3 it was Mitsubishi Evos and now in GT4 its an R33 Skyline. Yet the strange thing about it is that I always have an Impreza myself.)

Its September 1 already. Time flies so fast. Have you put up your Christmas decors yet? No? Why not? It's September already, Jesus H. Christ! What sort of Christmas Spirit do you have? Do you not know that once the months that end with "ber" come in its already the Christmas season???

But seriously, why is it like that nowadays? Christmas has been so damned commercialized that we forget that Christmas is all about the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ (no "H."). Right? Right? Well actually its been proven that Christ wasn't born on Dec. 25 and that the only reason Christmas is celebrated the way it is is because the early Christians had to find a holiday to incorporate their religious beliefs in so that the pagans could relate to them and be converted. Hence Christmas falls on Dec. 25, which is the winter solstice for pagans. But I digress.

Nowadays Christmas is all about receiving. What gift do you want? Batteries not included! Consult a physician before drinking! Guaranteed 3-4 inches longer or your money back! New aqua-attack figurine! Buy! Buy! Buy!

Yet we seem to have forgotten that Christmas is not about getting kick ass presents. Well yeah that's a great part of Christmas. But that isn't the main theme of the holiday.

I think Christmas season should only be celebrated during December. In fact in our household we only put up decorations after Christ the King and we take them down after Three Kings. Simple as that. We don't put up our decorations the moment Sept. 1 comes into play. And we don't wait until the end of February to take them down.

Every year I feel less and less excited about Christmas. Maybe its because I've also lost sight of what Christmas really means.

Or maybe its because I'm working now and I've got to spend my ber months salary on gifts for everyone else.

Out.