Topics

61

Off Topic / Les Misérables

« on: December 21, 2012, 11:34:53 PM »

Has anyone read the book and is planning to see the new movie when it comes out?

Because this book is amazing and i just adore the story and the characters are fantastic.

This has to be my favorite book of all time.


Discuss This amazing book and the upcoming musical movie.

[ got my stuff together and fixed the title sorry ]

62

Off Topic / I Got My Braces Off Today

« on: December 18, 2012, 02:39:19 PM »

Hey there Blogland. I totes got my braces off today. I've had them for 3 years.

Here's me making a handicapped face to show them off after the 1 hour process.

Look how dumb i look. HERP

They use to look like this from another equally handicapped looking picture.


So yeah, i have only six left on the bottom and i get my retainer tomorrow.

Discuss Braces i guess.

63

Games / I Got 20$ For PSN

« on: December 17, 2012, 03:03:29 PM »

Any good games out there preferably not completely 20$?

I like games that are
- Open World
- Have some sort of editor or map editor
- Can be played for hours

There may be some good games that i don't know about.

64

Off Topic / What Is Going On?

« on: December 16, 2012, 10:49:16 PM »

What's up with the impulse of pointless or strange topics today?

I mean it's like
Title - It smells
Post - Bad

Why?

65

Off Topic / Vote For A Game For Me To Play [poll inside]

« on: December 16, 2012, 01:05:42 PM »

But what game should i play?

Vote in the poll above.

66

Off Topic / DARPA - Robots That Don't Suck

« on: December 14, 2012, 10:30:20 PM »

So, i have this thing for robots. Especially if they work properly.

So when i found out about DARPA i almost died because this stuff is astounding.


PETMAN - A full human robot capable of keeping balance and traversing obstacles.
Walking
Demo of Obstacles

Big Dog - A military dog-like drone made for carrying ammo and such. Goes anywhere.
Big Dog Evolution

Discuss

inb4skynet

67

Off Topic / What Are Your Nicknames?

« on: December 13, 2012, 03:06:49 AM »

What nicknames do you have? Like from your friends or just people.

My marching band nickname is ThunderBuns.
My Deviantart pals call me Locutus.
And most other people call me The Guy for some strange reason, which is why it's my username.

68

Off Topic / 3d Model Face Tracking

« on: December 13, 2012, 01:39:10 AM »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvievLytmrs

A project some students are working on.

I think this has load of potential. I can't wait for more info on it to be released.

69

Off Topic / Accutane ( Warning - A bit of blood)

« on: December 12, 2012, 04:54:00 PM »

So for the past few months i have been on Accutane, or Myorisan.

The many side effects of this medication are astounding, they range from birth defects, to suicidal thoughts and even rage or mood swings.

Next month i finish using this medication for the second time around.

Since i was told it has become an orchestra of nose bleeds and i thought i'd share this one with you guys.


Anyways, feel free to discuss Accutane and it's many effects.
WARNING BLOOD BELOW.

70

Off Topic / Pretty Cool Dad

« on: December 12, 2012, 01:08:32 AM »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh5Rp5sPAFA

This guy is freaking great.

Discuss this great father and his great video editing skills and just the general greatness.

71

Creativity / Vincent's Sub-Par Sculpting

« on: December 04, 2012, 02:07:52 AM »

Since i'm tired of people generally being uncooperative and rude i took Bol-money's advice and made a topic for some of the stuff i'll be making.

Note - I know most, or a lot of this stuff is awful. I just started using this program.



Basic Pony, has basic mane and tail as well as eyes.


Basic Unicorn, Has basic mane, tail, and eyes. Includes a horn which is easy to edit.


Basic Pegasus, Has basic mane, tail, and eyes. Includes wings that are easily edited.

All of these are at their basic low-poly edit state. Meaning i can jump in and move the parts around and such. They're not supposed to have good looking manes or tails until someone requests a pony then i make them look good.

The eyes and mouth area are set up for a large almost infinite supply of emotions. the one on the models is a place-holder. The mouth is only there so i know where it's sorta anatomically correct.

Teeth and other mouth based items are easily added in via another clay ball.

Again, these aren't amazing and i just started using this program.

My next project is a character i made a while back. More on him later.

Furries

72

Off Topic / Looking For A Modeling Program

« on: December 02, 2012, 03:13:58 PM »

So recently i want to start making faces in a modeling program but i can't remember what it's called.

It's really basic and i'm pretty sure it was free.

You could morph a ball like clay.

You could paint it.

A lot of people used it in a topic here a while ago.


Urggghhh what is it.

73

Off Topic / What The forget Is South America Doing?

« on: November 29, 2012, 08:02:57 PM »

I mean really? Are they even relevant anymore.

VinnyTheGuy: stick with me on this one
VinnyTheGuy: am i the only one who believes that South america is no longer relavent.
VinnyTheGuy: Like really.
VinnyTheGuy: what's even going on down there.
VinnyTheGuy: What are they doing?
Peavy22: South America as in Africa or southern states
Peavy22: I'm guessing you mean Africa and such
VinnyTheGuy: As in south america
VinnyTheGuy: lol
Peavy22: lol making sure
Peavy22: But seriously, what is happening ther
Peavy22: e
Peavy22: Are they throwing stuff while loving woman
VinnyTheGuy: I don't know
VinnyTheGuy: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/South_America_-_Blue_Marble_orthographic.jpg/250px-South_America_-_Blue_Marble_orthographic.jpg
Peavy22: Are they secretly having rave parties with chickens
VinnyTheGuy: but they're plotting something
Peavy22: Hmm
Peavy22 loads 200925842930574230857 shots guns
Peavy22: Come at me real africans
VinnyTheGuy: You know i'm talking about SOUTH AMERICA? right?
Peavy22: Yea
Peavy22: Last time I checked isn't africa there
VinnyTheGuy: Not africa
Peavy22: Wait a second..
Peavy22: forget
Peavy22: forget my geography
VinnyTheGuy: This is what i mean
Peavy22: Come at me mexicans
VinnyTheGuy: is south america even real
VinnyTheGuy: also you mean brazillians
Peavy22: Yea
Peavy22: And Chiliians

I mean really . . .

74

Off Topic / YouTube Live Stream Testing

« on: November 28, 2012, 01:05:53 AM »

So the youtube livestream function it now allowed for me so i want to test it out.

Just go here

http://youtu.be/h6RQ6lx5t9k

75

Games / Discuss Games With A Dark or Deep Meaning

« on: November 23, 2012, 01:57:35 AM »

Many games on the market or indie games are either very straight forward with how the story works or not. Either way, a very choice few have a darker or deeper story to them.

For instance

BRAID

It's a rather interesting game.

Not much is explained and you basically just platform with some time abilities. Which is pretty nice.

Unless you're like me and many other people who wist to perfect a game and try to collect all the stars.

So when playing the game you'll see stars throughout all of the levels in incredibly strange or hard to get places. Hell, just to get one of them you have to wait for 2 hours. But anyway, once you collect all the stars in the game go to the final level.

[ Spoilers if you haven't made it here yet ]

So instead of you chasing the princess she'll be slightly behind you. This goes on until the chandelier where it falls.

Reverse time while on top of the chandelier and she is climbing the grating. As soon as you get close to her she twitches around violently and then you hear a nuclear explosion as the screen goes to white. A few seconds later you'll be in the level with nothing.

The whole game was about a nuclear bomb.

In the begging of the game there is a quote from the scientist who developed the first nuclear bomb.

The title screen is a city burning to the ground.

The game wasn't about the princess it was about nuclear fear.

More Braid

The title of the game, Braid, is mentioned at least twice in the game, both times attached to some sort of violence. Once, early in the game, "the princess' braid" lashes at Tim. Also, if you read the hidden texts (those that only appear in the epilogue cloud world when 1. a red book is open and 2. Tim is standing on a spot that emotes an angelic note) at the end of the game, the candy shop story talks of Tim pulling violently at his mother's braid in an effort to get the forbidden candy/scientific tools. You could probably infer some mommy issues in this linkage, but I haven't really thought about that too much.

What got me more curious about the name Braid is that there's a professor Donald Braid from Butler who wrote an article, "Doing Good Physics": Narrative and Innovation in Research which is apparently about learning from past successes and failures in physics. In particular, from what I've found (I've not read the article, I just finished Braid and googled some of my ideas about the game) there's mention of avoiding danger and embarrassment by learning through others' past experiences. There are repeated themes of learning from mistakes throughout Braid. It's the bulk of the story leading into level 2, in fact.

Now, I've gone from the name Braid to this professor's article from 2006, and that kind of ties back into some of the more in your face themes that the game offers. Donald Braid was writing about physics. The game pretty clearly depicts the Manhattan project by the epilogue. The whole "now we're all sons of bitches" line and depiction of a bomb being tested in the desert. Also, the narrative mentions Manhattan as a setting of what I assume is Tim's adult life. When he's running through the city with a girl not called "the princess."

Finally, "the princess" is depicted as (abstractly) some sort of glimmering hope that will bring peace and happiness to not just Tim, but the entire world. In the epilogue, "the princess" is the atomic bomb. It's pretty clear when you read the hidden text (that you need the angelic voices to read) on the screen that quotes Oppenheimer.

Anyhow, I just wanted to touch on that one train of circular thought. The game is a story and a warning about a fictional man behind the atomic bomb. He works his whole life, socially awkward, looking for this one unattainable goal of the princess. Whether this goal changes over time and eventually becomes world peace via the bomb, or is world peace via some avenue for Tim's entire life, or is just this ever changing goal of doing something great or finding something better, it seems clear by the end that Tim is looking for world peace. What's interesting about this is the epilogue of world 1 (the final world). This would lead me to believe that the entire game that you played prior to world 1 (worlds 2-6) are actually David Lynch-ish pseudo-realities constructed in the protangonist's own mind to cope with the horror he unleashed via his quest for something noble and great (assuming peace was Tim's goal and the bomb was his means). This also makes sense in that the memories are cloudy and vague. They're sometimes idealistic. They're almost certainly metaphors. Tim needs to piece together the puzzles that are his memories.

On an absolute final note, I suppose the last scene of gameplay makes sense in this light. Tim enters a cave and sees this villain with a woman in his arms. She runs away looking for help as this villain demands that she return and throws a tantrum shaking the earth he stands on. Tim runs towards this damsel in distress with the goal of saving her. I believe she represents humanity. She's not the princess at all. the princess is only an idea. He runs through the cave, trying to rescue her as she helps him along from above ground. The entire time, this massive explosion of flames chases our hero Tim. But when we get the end and realize that Tim was actually the threat, the woman (humanity) runs from Tim, the real villain, into the waiting arms of her white knight. She drops all the traps she can at the villian Tim en route to her waiting hero. This scene, would then be the realization that Tim isn't bringing the princess to the world, he's not making it a better place, he's the monster bringing upon destruction. That's world 1. That's how it all begins. That's what happens prior to Tim walking across a flaming city into his house, trying to piece his mind back together (as the game started when you first turned it on).

Discuss these Dark/ deep games