Entertainment

Not only a good Martial Arts movie but a great movie in general.

It takes its time, it displays a great care for the subject and it has a very likeable main character.
Highly recommended.

-

- N+, a pure plattformer, nothing but jumping and getting killed. Very short and fulfilling levels. Perfect for the DS.
To get an idea, here is the flash version!

SPIDERMAN 2, good mechanics, good use of the "GTA" open world style, had fun just swinging through New York. Did not finish the end fight though BECAUSE IT SUCKED!

- PSYCHONAUTS, good voice acting, has a nice weirdness and fun level design.
Stoped playing during a boss fight because of pretty much the same reasons as with Spiderman 2. -> dieing because of bad camera, no fun

i like open canvas

I really do, sketching with the normal pencil brush feels great and i´ve yet to find something similar in photoshop.
I case you want to try it for yourself, version 1.1 is free and downloadable!




On other subjects:
- E3 is over and one of the more interesting things for me were the character design changes in Left 4 Dead.
I liked the old ones and i wonder why they changed them. The new ones look "fresher" and not as "real". The also look as if the outbreak just happend 3min ago.
Oh well.. it is still the most exiting new game this year and ultimately my main reason to invest in a new PC.
The E3 presentation follows:

office views

some notes:

- IN BRUGES has an OK story with good actors and a great soundtrack

- GOTHAM KNIGHT contains six storys nearly all of them are bad and the animation looks rushed. I still hate the fact that the japanese Animation studios are not able to blend 3d backgrounds with their 2d character work. It always looks weird and cheap.

- Thanks to the internet hype machine, i´ve reinstalled Diablo 2 and Quake 3.
I can´t wait for Quake Live or Diablo 3 (and i´m thankfull that QLive will be out in a shorter amount of time).
Slowly relearning all the maps and the timing of the red amor is fun!

8bit Killer and Dimitri

A quote from Scott Sharkey sells this the best:

A really simple Wolfenstein 3D clone probably wouldn't be worth getting fired over. 8bit Killer, however, is a lovingly polished game that makes subtle visual and aural homage to just about every game in the NES pantheon. It's a completely original production, free of tacky sprite rips or other easy shots at nostalgia. Instead, the game makes strong artistic and musical hints at everything from Contra to Bionic Commando while remaining something completely different.

-> GO DOWNLOAD IT HERE

And DIMITRI THE STUD!

TENGU and thoughts on games

More sketches of the tengu that would hit you with
something if they feel like it.


on gaming things:
Im desperately searching for something to play on my PC, the PS2 OR the DS.
So far, nothing i tried really screamed "finish me!"

- RED DEAD REVOLVER does some very good
and some bad things.It gets the shooting aspect really right and falls flat on things like textures, voice acting and a balanced difficulty.
Seeing unused potential or something that could have been better with some more polish is really frustrating.

- I also tried Legacy of Kain: Defiance but was slaped around by a bad camera and a save point that gets you right back to the beginning of a stage when you die (-> see bad camera).
Given the fact that the levels are really long I gently threw the controller to its place on the floor and i don't know when or IF this game will get another chance to win me over.

- I also looked into EVE ONLINE and did not want to spend one week on a tutorial
- bought X3 and its so complicated and hard to get into... I think I rather learn to play the guitar or another language

sargent study = fail

i tried for another sargent study and this is the thing that came out.

hooray for weird crap!

Nicer things then my failed painting tries,

- music from OMEGA MASSIF:


- and this great review made me play PAINKILLER again.

thor, metal gear, russian circles

i finally have a story for a comic and ideas how to tell it.
its going to be rough around ten pages and it will contain fight scenes, pictures of alcohol and evil forest spirits.

the main guy is a nice brute that likes to smash his hammer into things:



and a here is nearly-done-panel with him climbing a mountain in japan



on another note:
- finished GENJI (good fighting control, bad boss design)
- finished MGS2 (not as great as part 3, but the codec communication in the last hours was worth the hassle in the water-level)
- stopped reading "The Time of Our Singing" due too not getting the tone and style of the author

- the new RUSSIAN CIRCLES album is out today and it is awesome!!!

open canvas doodles

ALSO:

- played through onimusha 2 (liked it overall but hated the power- rangers- like design choices on some characters)
- played through metal gear solid 3 and loved every cut scene infested minute, the boss fight against THE END was worth it alone.
- read some books a pretty bookstore lady suggested to me and was dissapointed in all of them
- i really like the instrumental songs from the new KAKI KING album -> myspace

more finished things

JPOD

I read through Jpod in a very short amount of time.
Not because i was so hooked and into it but rather because there was not much to read.
Its a thick book without any real content.
Lots of jokes about google, cunnilingus sites and haha, video games!

Its the equivalent of a popcorn movie, its shallow entertainment.
Read it if you really liked MICROSERFS or want to see how many times an author can set himself into a story as a character that is NOT the main protagonist.

It was pretty much the opposite of THE ROAD.
While The Road is dry and sparse but very effective,
JPOD is loud, dancing on your head while being on acid and not touching at all.


Splinter Cell for the PS2

Another thing i finished is splinter cell on the ps2.
Its not really the newest game but i wanted some stealth action and the MGS collection is not yet out in Europe.

This was not the first time I played as Sam Fisher, I tried it once on the PC (at a time it was new) liked it, but then ran into a graphic glitch that broke the game for me.
Seeing that it was only 3€ on Amazon was also nice in thinking what game to tackle next.

And it was a good run!
It took some hours to get used to the camera and I died ALOT but overall:
A good experience!

Audiosurf

Not bringing anything fun with me for the weekend was not the brightest idea.
BUT thanks to valve/steam, i was able to find something worthwhile doing.
AUDIOSURF

I tried the demo some weeks ago and was left unconvinced, being bored and having the right music that needs to go with it, changed that.

The game is basically a puzzle game meets racer that forms the racetrack out of the song you put in.
The track is different every time, the ups and downs and curves are based on the song entirely..
So a slower song is straighter and easier than a fast one..

Ive read that this game is able to change the way your thinking about the music your listening too.. and i have to say.. its kinda true.
Listening to the songs without the game still lets you see the racetrack with its ups and downs and playing the game with a song you "feel" gets you a whole new expericence.

Oh, its also only 10$

the new old scanner

ive always thought that my scanner is a cheap piece of junk.
scanning pencilwork was impossible and i was planning on buying a new one later this month.
but thanks to mr.mexer this is no longer necessary!
he suggested to update the scan software and to try fiddling with the settings and LO AND BEHOLD, i´m able to scan pencil drawings!









OTHER THAN THAT:

- i´m currently playing FINAL FANTASY 12 and its great.
the last time i had this much fun with an RPG was while playing KOTOR.

- i really like the music of MOVUS

- lots of headaches and carpal tunnel syndrome (the later is slowly getting away i hope)

Some concepts and something playable

Very rough concept ideas:




CLICK THE PICTURE AND USE THE ARROW KEYS TO MOVE!
(and yes, its still very buggy)
(oh, you should also resize your window.. its slow and ugly when seen in big)

I dont want to work on the flashgame (because its hard) so i doodle all the time and listen to podcasts or music.
And i also die ALOT in Contra4

WORK and QUICKNOTES

some WIP, some doodles and game related character work.







+ Quicknotes

Resident Evil 3, REALLY BAD.
Portal, best game of the year so far.
TF2, just hit the 10h mark.
Zelda PH, good but not great (needs more than just new controls).
looking forward to BEIRUT Live.

ITS AN UPDATE

Ive been busy getting older, trying out the new wacom (and the new monitor) and ive wasted ALOT of time in zeldaland.

Nothing posted today is really DONE, the Tingle picture especially seems not so hot at the moment.

AWESOME MUSIC:

AND A GREAT GAME (so far):