Points of Randomness

Here we go, blogging from home. On a PC filled with all sorts of viruses (virii? - joke) and hardware problems. But the PC is running so we push on...

* * *

I recently purchased a copy of the new game "Shinobido" and as of now I hate the game. Some reasons include...

1. No block button. Yes no block button. I think you have to lock on to the opponent and face him directly to block his attacks.
2. No switch lock-on button. You can't switch target locks unless you relase the lock button and lock on to a new target (I miss GTA: San Andreas' targeting system - simple and effective).
3. Difficulty. Do I really suck in games today or are they really just that damn hard? I'm playing the game at normal difficulty and I still can't survive. Dammit.

Still, I'll try playing the game a few more times. Might get the hang of it. But it is one damn annoying game.

* * *

My ninong (godfather) passed away last Friday. That brings the total of dead maternal relatives in a span of a year to 4. Last November it began with my uncle, the priest. Then around May it was my other uncle (although he was more of an uncle-in-law). June saw the passing of my grandmother. And now this August my ninong passes away.

What's up with that, God? Got a vendetta against us or something?

* * *

I'm modeling a stylized humanoid head based on Cyborg 009. I love that cartoon and since I had to eventually learn how to model humanoid shapes why not start now? If I get to finish the head then I can move on to other humanoids. Hopefully the realistic kind.

But I have big plans for what I am doing. Finish the head, add a body. Rig the model. Test out a bone based facial animation rig.

If only I had the time.

* * *

Canon's supposedly coming out with a 400D next year. Or is it our already? Anyway this means that existing camera models will hopefully decrease in price.

This also means that if I buy an existing model for a cheaper price that model will be one step closer to being "obsolete".

Because the philosophy I have regarding electronics is to buy one of the top of the line models now, so that in a few years time that same model will still be "standard" in the world. Why buy a mid-range model now who will become obsolete in a shorter span of time?

That's how I buy computer parts. Buy the best now so that in 4 years time it will still be able to run new programs. Rather than buying the mid-level products now and in 1 year you won't be able to run sh*t on your machine.

I think that would be cheaper on the long run.

* * *

Speaking of run, I'm planning (as always, just planning) to start walking after work. Exercise walking, since our office is conveniently located at The Fort I've got lots of streets to walk on. The good thing is one of my officemates had the idea and I'm just going along for the ride. I think he plans to jog. I plan to just walk. Briskly. We'll see what happens.

* * *

And I guess that's it for today. Not really in any mood to write about just one theme, and not angsty enough for one of those rants. Just updating and practicing my writing skills. What little there is, of course. Haha.

Out.

Siraniko

Hong Kong at Night
Originally uploaded by Gani.

Hindi ko alam kung ano pumapasok sa ulo ko pagminsan. Siguro naiinggit ako sa mga kuwento ng aking ama na nung bata pa sila marami silang nagagawa sa bakante nilang oras. May ginawa silang mga "mural" sa pader ng bahay nila sa Lucena, sila ang naglagay ng "colored cement walkway" sa hardin ng bahay nila, doon din sa Lucena.

Magaling magbutingting ng bagay ang aking tatay. Kahit sa kotse kaya nga kalikutin, basta medyo luma na ang kotse. Masyado nang "high-tech" ang mga kotse ngayon, delikado na kalikutin at baka lalong masira, pero sa mga simpleng kasangkapan kaya ni erpat na laruin at ayusin ang iba.

Kaya siguro pinilit ko rin na ako ang magbubuo ng PC ko.

Siraniko

Hong Kong at Night
Originally uploaded by Gani.

Hindi ko alam kung ano pumapasok sa ulo ko pagminsan. Siguro naiinggit ako sa mga kuwento ng aking ama na nung bata pa sila marami silang nagagawa sa bakante nilang oras. May ginawa silang mga "mural" sa pader ng bahay nila sa Lucena, sila ang naglagay ng "colored cement walkway" sa hardin ng bahay nila, doon din sa Lucena.

Magaling magbutingting ng bagay ang aking tatay. Kahit sa kotse kaya nga kalikutin, basta medyo luma na ang kotse. Masyado nang "high-tech" ang mga kotse ngayon, delikado na kalikutin at baka lalong masira, pero sa mga simpleng kasangkapan kaya ni erpat na laruin at ayusin ang iba.

Kaya siguro pinilit ko rin na ako ang magbubuo ng PC ko. Sa tulong ng aking ama binuo namin ang aking PC sa bahay, na gawa mula sa mga bago at lumang piyesa. Malaking pagkakamali.

Hanggang ngayon nagloloko pa rin siya. Tumatakbo naman pero masumpungin. Di mo alam kung tatakbo ba o hindi, kung nagloloko ba o hindi. Minsan nakaka-asar, kasi sayang ang ginastos ko sa kanya. Pero minsan napapa-isip din ako na ayos lang, kasi ako naman ang nagbuo, at ilan lang ba ang mga bumubo ng sarili nilang PC? Kaso mas marami sakit ng ulo. Sayang.

Ngayon kailangan ko palitan ang "motherboard" at "video card" ng aking PC. Yung motherboard ay masyadong maliit, at yung video card at masyado nang matanda. Pero ayos lang. Tuloy ang butingting. Tuloy ang paglaro. Kahit nagloloko, kahit di ko alam kung bakit nagloloko, aayusin at aayusin ko pa rin ang PC ko.

Ako ay siraniko. Bow.

Frankenstein

Some of you have probably read about this PC I built from scratch and old parts from my previous PC, I once called it LordVader but now is called DarthVader.

Well ever since I built him he's been nothing but a headache. My mistakes?

• Wiring. First build, no cleanliness. Wiring is sloppy, which probably causes this ground to happen to the motherboard (mobo) which renders my PC useless unless I open it up and start tugging and pushing at some parts.
• The mobo's wrong. Of course, being a newbie at building PCs I just bought whatever mobo was available. Big mistake. For one thing, the mobo I got was for small casings. I've got a big-ass tower casing, which can handle around 6 PCI slots. My mobo has 4 PCI slots.
• Cannibalism. I got some old parts from my old PC, like the 2 hard drives, power supply, and the video card. Which is probably another reason why this PC has lotsa glitches.
• Inexperience. So I built this PC with the help of my father. We just followed the manuals on how to build this, plus we read some PC magazines I bought that had "How to build your own PC" articles. None of the articles ever mentioned cannibalising old PCs.
• I'm the anti-tech. That's what Lau calls me. Because I seem to cause a lot of problems to go on with tech things. Or maybe its just because I'm a do-it-yourself person, which I shouldn't be.

Anyway I'm just ranting away at home (yes, blogger works at home not like at work) while I'm chatting with a special someone using YM. Because I almost did not get a chance to chat with her thanks to DarthVader being bitchy all of a sudden. I don't get it, One day he's working fine, then fine again, and I don't do nothing to change anything about the PC. Then when I REALLY need to use him... BOOM!

Out.

Stuff

My girlfriend left for the US two weeks ago. Why? Because she wants to live a better life.

It is a sad truth that if you want to live a better life you cannot live it here in the Philippines. Hence the brain drain continues. Lots of people are leaving for other countries in search of better things. One of my cousins, who was a doctor, studied nursing and became a nurse and is now in Australia.

Don't think I don't have plans to move. I do. I just have to polish up my skills a bit more. Because I've seen how skilled other 3D artists are abroad, and while I believe I can match skills with them, I still have more to learn. Those artists abroad aren't just employees, they are artisans. Masters of their craft.

This country is getting worse. People once told me that I can't complain about the government or the state of the country because I haven't voted, not once. Haven't even registered. But the thing is, I pay taxes. I give them money which supposedly will be used to improve the country's situation. Instead they use said taxes for themselves. So technically, yes, I can complain. Because I'm giving them the resources to fix our country and they are throwing it away.

Sad. Sad stuff.

I truly wished I could just live my entire life in this country and experience a happy life where I could buy whatever I wanted because I was earning good coin. I didn't expect to be earning "this much" and paying taxes to fatten up our president and her family.

I want my money back.

Out.

Terrawars: New York Invasion

A year or so ago I was working on a PC game. Holy Cow, the company I work for, was subcontracted to create models for a game being created by Filipinos. The game?

Terrawars: NY Invasion

You may remember a link my blog had. The one below, War of the Worlds? That was Terrawars' first name. I guess they had to change it for legal reasons or whatnot.

We did have a good time working on the models. I learned how to be frugal with faces/triangles in the models I did, I also learned how to optimize spaces available for the textures. It was a good learning experience. I even learned how to do FK animation (which is more tedious, albeit more controlled, in my opinion, than IK animation).

Anyway that was that. We did the job and moved on. Lo and behold I was browsing through gametrailers.com today and what do I see in the latest updates section?

A downloadable video review of the Terrawars: NY Invasion.

So I downloaded it. And while downloading I was curious as to how the game did, since I forgot to check the rating for it at the game's page in gametrailers. So I googled the game. I saw one other review. From gamespot.

So I click on the link and read the review. The rating was 2.6 - Terrible. Shucks. Gamespot said the voice acting was bad and that it was obvious that the actors weren't American. The Filipino accent was thick. Duh. The voice actors were Mike Enriquez and Vicky Morales. No American accents there. And the characters were supposed to be American.So I can't blame gamespot for what they said about that.

Gameplay and other graphics? Mostly negative reviews.

"Terrawars: New York Invasion is a terrible game that should be avoided. The visuals are dated, the gameplay is repetitive and simple, the multiplayer is worthless, and the story is nonexistent. Even at $20, Terrawars is a rip-off."

That was the conclusion gamespot gave the game.

As for the video review from gametrailers? 3.1 rating. Ouch.

What am I trying to say? The game did poorly. It was already intended to be a budget game yet the two reviews I read both said it was still a rip-off at $20. I just hope the company that did this game will learn from their mistakes and improve on the next few games that they plan to build. Because I know for a fact that they are in production already for another first-person shooter game. How do I know this? Because we also did a few models for that game.

And they didn't even get my family name right. They spelled it "Nanangas".

It's "Nañagas".

Out.