never!

anyways, for my still-loyal followers, here’s an update of what i’ve been up to!

classes are back in full cycle again now, and it turns out all 4 classes i signed up for, are heavy on project work…i signed up for this History class, which i assumed would be just reading and writing sorts, but there was an opportunity to opt to take own a personal hands-on project to mod a game or something along that lines, and of course, i jumped on it immediately! i felt i would benefit alot more from this option, as opposed to writing papers for the History class, my work i do here will possibly end up in my portfolio for my future, don’t think a paper would fit anywhere hehe.

so, yes, 4 giant classes, 4 giant projects simultaneously, most pressure i have ever faced. Another class i’m taking right now is a Game Development class, where we’re simulating an actual game development office, the class is split into various production teams (artists/programmers/etc), and we’re collaborating on building a game in the Unity game engine. The first major milestone in our development timeline will be this years GDC 2010 (Game Developers Conference)…the directors want to have a playable demo of the game ready for the show..so there’s a lot of pressure, and absolutely no time to fall behind in any of our tasks, otherwise the entire team crumbles..it’s make or break! You can find out more details about this class and the game project over at SemesterGames.com.

here’s a picture of my work in progress for this game project, had to model a 747 plane:
Boeing 747 (clik for full size)

As noted earlier, i’m also working on another game project, more personal for this one, so i decided to build a level (map) for Team Fortress 2. I simply adore the art style this game took on, and i could go on another whole post about the game’s art direction alone, but yeah, it’s brilliant…so i’m hoping to create something that is in line visually, with the game’s style..but of course, being a level, it will need to also offer great gameplay, so there will be some level design skills displayed together.

At this point of the project, mostly all the work is technical tests. I have to make sure i have understood all the ins-and-outs of the Hammer editing tool, and make sure the technical assets which drive the game, works. A great example is that for the game, players will need to “deliver a payload” (push a cart) along a track to the opposing team’s headquarters. Setting this up alone (the track, the cart, being pushable, etc) took me forever to figure out how it works, and even when i did think i had it all set up right, after compiling i went to try it out in the game, and it did not work, so there’s fixing to do, which means burning up more time. There’s various other key elements to the game level, so you can already see this isn’t going to be a straightforward deal.

here’s pictures of what i’ve got so far with this TeamFortress2 level:

the 3rd project i’ve got my hands busy on is a game(low poly) character…requiring to model, texture, and then rig and animate..notice i’ve pretty much not done any rigging/animating, its not my thing lol. but i’m up for the task either way..it should make something for my portfolio. i focused alot more on the model’s topology for this project, something i have always been aware of, but rarely really put this much focus onto it. Good topology is critical for any model that will be animated, and it takes an extra good eye to be able to create such topology..which i kinda struggle with to be honest.

here’s the character’s work-in-progress shots:

there’s a 4th project, it’s also a modeling project, modeling a generic human male model, with quite a fair bit of detail, but i’m not too happy with the outcome i have so far, so won’t show anything for it yet.

well, this is what i’ve been drowning myself in for the past 2 or 3 months since my last post lol…signing off!

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i’ve been simply too busy with my work to be writing new stuff lately..

and

this is the majority of the reason why:

i present my latest 3d model, the Dreadnought, from Warhammer 40,000.

I previously posted my work-in-progress for one of the sidearms of the droid, and i know i should have posted smaller updates, but i just forgot to and didn’t have the time to..

This is certainly one of the best work i’ve achieved personally, and it’s the biggest personal challenge yet as well..this is a planned High-resolution/high-poly model. all my past projects have been low-poly. This is my first undertaking for a high-poly model.

again, this model shown here is just a work-in-progress, it’s the furthest i have gotten, and absolutely far from my completion goal. This model is incomplete! There is pleenntyy more details to be done, pieces/parts missing, etc…!

But i would still like to get critiques as usual, so fire away!

And best wishes to everyone this Christmas, may all your wishes come true, and have a very blessed new year!

Warhammer 40K : Dreadnought 3D Model (Clik on images for Full Size)

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as i previously posted, Activision’s new game “Modern Warfare 2″ (developed by Infinity Ward) has lived up to expectations in every perspective. The new game released and swept up $550million dollars in sales in just the opening 5 days!

This ginormous number has broken past records across the entire Entertainment industry (music, movies, tv..? etc. )…movies like Harry Potter and The Dark Knight (box office record holders) have lost their hand to the Gaming Industry

“The title’s success redefines entertainment as millions of consumers have chosen to play Modern Warfare 2 at unprecedented levels rather than engage in other forms of media,” says Kotick, CEO of Activision

As a cap to the triumphant announcement, Activision is quick to note it “remains cautious” about the current economy both domestically and globally, and points out that consumer spending remains a “significant concern.”

Doesn’t really look as though the economic crisis is preventing consumers from buying games..

Isn’t this just inspiring? Makes you wanna work that much harder to get into such an expanding and fearsome industry

Read further! It’s really interesting!
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/26135/Activision_Modern_Warfare_2_Rakes_In_550_Million_FiveDay_Gross.php

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Read on:

There are songs that are kind of catchy. Others you just can’t get out of your head. And then, ever so rarely, there are those songs which are so memorable, you could swear you had heard them before. Song taste is highly personal–different people react to different songs in different ways– but the breakout hits are the ones that resonate on this level with a large number of people.

Creating a breakout hit is no easy task, in part because the songwriter’s instincts can often be wrong. Steven Tyler of Aerosmith was reportedly surprised that “St. John” from Permanent Vacation was met by collective yawns from concert-goers. He thought he knew what made a hit–the song had an interesting riff, topical lyrics, was meaty to play live–but somehow just didn’t reach the fans. Today, the song is a footnote in the band’s music catalog.

All creative fields are like this. Sometimes films and books just catch fire from nothing. Sometimes, sure-handed directors stumble. Pop radio is full of songs like “The Macarena” and “I’m Too Sexy,” all done by bands that later proved to be one-hit wonders unable to repeat their success. This is true of games as well.

- Damion Schubert

It’s not easy making games. Not easy making “that game that sold billions of dollars in revenue”. Only 1 game gets that recognition…out of a whole barrage of hundreds of other titles developed and released under the same hardship and labor.

Even then, if you did successfully launch that “One-hit-wonder” game that has everyone talking about, everyone itching to squeeze that few minutes out of lunch break just to play your game… repeating this success in a sequel or follow up game will be no easy task.

I’m sure this ‘concept’ applies to all other fields of work aside from the Entertainment fields (ie. real estate, automotive, etc).

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working on my very first High-resolution (high poly) 3d model, and i’ve chosen to challenge myself to take on the fearsum Dreadnought, from Warhammer 40k. my previous work has mostly if not all, been low-poly modeling.

this is the work-in-progress of all i’ve gotten so far… this model here too is incomplete, i still have to add alot more details, and some “iconic icons” for this part of the machine. This is just the “assault cannon arm” part of the entire Dreadnought machine that i will be modeling.

work in progress!! nothing’s final or complete!!

Enjoy, and critiques strongly welcomed!

Dreadnought Assault Cannon Arm:

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there’s a gigantic game release coming up just around the corner..!

it’s for the new Call of Duty game, “Modern Warfare 2″.

word is Modern Warfare 2 will be [the] biggest launch in the entire entertainment industry of 2009 (suprassing any movie launch, music album release, tv series, etc.).

this is absolutely music to my ears on a personal level. again we see here how much our society today embraces Gaming…our industry has been growing rapidly, and it’s growing so fast it’s hard to ignore these days. Major milestones date back to early 1998/99, and we’ve just been getting better and better at our job these many years.

Back to this upcoming Game Release news, there have been other prior “epic-monumental Game launches” in the past, such as Microsoft’s “Halo 3″ game..Microsoft reporting $170million in revenue within 24hours of the game hitting store shelves.

The Call of Duty series, or franchise, has been running for a great 4 or 5 years now, starting back with the very first “Call of Duty” game, that at the time, also made a very successful launch/premier into the Gaming market..needless to say, each of the successors of the game title have been steadily growing in sales, with the last “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare” game, selling already 13million copies across all game platforms (ps3/xbox/pc, at like $50USD each copy).

The new game from Infinity Ward is gonna be plain awesome, with a what-seems excellent Co-Op game mode, fresh new visuals, and it’s gonna be one magnificent launch.

Keep an eye out for “launch day” numbers when it arrives!

Read further on about this on Gamasutra: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=24108

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didn’t i blog about this before some where… i personally believe very strictly in the micro transaction business model for games. There’s always been a new idea for how to make money off the game you work so hard to develop and put onto store shelves… the more accepted “episodic release” being one of the better favored “new successful distribution” method. Games like NCSoft’s Guild Wars for example was one of the early pioneers of ‘episodic release’ business model… customers buy the game, and get to enjoy the full content of the game for free, until, there’s a new “episode” or expansion, you pay for the expansion, and it’s the customer’s choice if he/she wants the additional content. Valve’s Halflife 2 Episodes are also a great example of this business model.

But that model seems to be… failing. It’s hard work to keep steady with a “6 month” develop-and-release cycle, especially if each new episode has to be as good, or even better, than the previous one (usually it has to be better otherwise why would fans continue to keep up with the game).

So introduce Micro Transactions. The general idea of it alone sounds so much more appealing already to any shopper. You pretty much buy the game free, play all you want, but, when you’re in-game with your character and friends, you start to realize you’re lacking something. So you continue on into the in-game shop, and purchase a new item or boost or armor or etc..for a measly fee of usually something around 2 or 3 real-life dollars. Every time you want something more, or a new kind of boost or upgrade or a new expansion chapter, you head back into that virtual store, and make another 3 or 5 real-life dollar purchase to get an in-game item. Developers are constantly updating and adding new content, usually very simple and quick content, bringing them into these virtual stores within that game, and everyone loves new stuff, so the masses will naturally horde in to grab that new item for 3 dollars a pop.

Alright so what about the iPhone??

well, now Apple has available this type of transaction for game/app developers that wish to make use of. It’s proven that this kind of distribution and business solution helps control piracy, and also increases the title’s distribution rate. Afterall, game is free, why won’t a person grab it? And the moment they do start playing it, that’s where the hook is…and they latch on, and they start micro-transactions, buying mini-game items for “just 1 buck” for the rest of their lives playing this game. Developers add something new and enticing into this virtual shop, and bam, the person goes to spend more money on the game.

I’m excited ’cause i’ve always dreamt to develop a game, which utilizes heavily this micro transaction model..and with the iPhone now capable of it, it’s another motivator for me to push on with my personal iPhone project.

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i finally purchased a new monitor.

it’s not just any monitor, it’s the perfect choice for me, personally.

given i did read about the problems customers were having, i believed it was just a problem particular to that single unit they had recieved…and i believed right

the unit i recieved, is jaw-dropping gorgeous.

colors pop, compared to my dell 2005wfp 20inch IPS monitor. i believed that my good ol’ 2005wfp monitor was already amazing with regards to colors, viewing angles.

not! not until i got my hands on this bad boy!

it’s. amazing.

and im very very nit-picky about my “big purchases”, and this was one of it.

prior to getting this u2410 model, i had bought a dell 2408wfp (read/researched hype and rave reviews for the 2408) but i had troubles with it, viewing problems, extreme color shifting, making text and any work with the screen just uneasy and uncomfortable for me. i sent it back, waited a while (couple weeks how coincidental!) and picked up a sale/offer for this beautiful U2410 model.

Alright!

Here’s the “down-to-earth” review of this monitor you people have been emailing me to do! Forget CNET and other big sites that are rumored to be biased based off the money they are paid to put good word in for the product.

*Note! I’m no color/monitor geek professional. This U2410 is review is based off Out-Of-the-Box + eyeball/manual calibration (no 3rd party hardware color calibrators).

Aesthetics: woo, dam. does this bad boy look sexy. comparing it to the now-smaller-lesser sibling monitor dell 2005wfp, this u2410 looks absolute professional, and classy. the matte black “square block” of a stand, the nice thick matte silver neck, and the 4 sharp corners of the panel, along with touch-sensitive OSD buttons, and a single non-distracting blue led power button, this baby is beautiful. Compare it with the HP2475 and the NECs (wuxis) (other competitors in this monitor range), the U2410 has absolute class.

The Searing Sun: this screen came out of the box with Brightness 50 Contrast 50. Waaaay tooo bright for me, it caused me to frown and squint (and squeal). I have it set to Brightness 8  Contrast 45 now.

Colors of the Rainbow & Beyond: this screen came factory calibrated. it shipped with a factory color calibration report sheet (with a reported Avg. Delta E graph with everything under 2.1, which is rather excellent). Also, away from the ’science’ of color, what i saw, was immediately a new world of color comparing with my old boy 2005wfp model. The colors on this U2410 pop. It’s not over saturated, not ’sunburned’, or whateva other terms you coined in your past experiences with monitors.

the U2410 is stated as a 12-bit color monitor, an upgrade for the standard 8-bit and/or 10-bit average consumer monitor out in the market. It’s rated to have a color range past 1billion colors, not the typical “12.something million colors”.

So everything together, the color experience is absolute amazing.

Sure, i had to do some manual color tweaks, adjusting the display through the u2410’s on-screen menu options…but the controls are alot more detailed than what was available on the dell 2005wfp model. Depending on the Preset Mode you’re running, the options available to tweak will vary. But it’s still a fairly generous depth of color precision controls you can get.

The Black Blacks: Given this is an IPS monitor, with cathode lighting, i wasnt expecting the U2410 to shine at this area. and i was right. Some might be disappointed with the black levels, it certainly is not as deep as my ol’ 2005wfp model, neither is it as deep and black as the dell 2408wfp i had sent back. But it’s still really black-black. It has a black level reading of “2.0ish” for the scientific readers. (’pro plasma’ screens have blacks levels as deep as 0.01, smaller the value the better black.)

The Whiter Whites: Whites are great. I had to adjust the gamma and contrast setting initially to get the white to be the white i was comfortable with (eyeballing again! no hardware color calibration here!). I was aided with the renown Lagom LCD Monitor color calibration screen tests website. (http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/)

Viewing All Angles: This is an IPS screen, viewing angles are spot on greatness. Comparing my viewing experience with the Dell 2408wfp (which is a PVA panel), that 2408 model and this u2410 difference was like night vs day. It was astounding to me at just how great the viewing angle on this u2410 is.

Gaming in the Fast Lane: I’ve played every game i’ve been playing recently on this U2410. Call of Duty 5, Killzone, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead, Counter Strike, Company of Heroes, Supreme Commander, Grand Theft Auto 4, Crysis. (Yes, notice the cross-platform titles in this list haha, that’s because i have hooked up my playstation 3 to the U2410 as well as my PC, i’ll be commenting shortly about the U2410 connections inputs.)
And this screen is excellent for every game in any genre. Drop-dead gorgeous! AND IN FULL 1080P HD! (yes, im coming from playing my ps3 on Composite video on my ol’ 2005wfp monitor).

Inputs galore: Yes, you certainly get everything you put your money down for. The U2410 has an entire barrage of inputs/outputs. It has 2 x DVI, Component, Composite, HDMI, Display Port, Speaker in/out for the Dell Sound Bar, 8-in-1 Card Reader, 4 x USB ports.
I have hooked up my Playstation 3, PC, laptop, and cable tv, all to this single screen. All i have to do is push the Input button on the U2410 to select a video source, and wee! I’m contemplating purchasing a nintendo Wii some time soon, and it’s gonna go up on this same monitor

The final experience: At the end of the day, i’m way more satisfied than i had been psyching myself to be! I had read alot of complaint about the U2410, common troubles like dead pixels, color tinting in the screen’s corners, and screen graininess (?)…all of which i’ve seemed to have completely avoided! This U2410 is yet another absolute awesomeness buy i’ve made, and i will forever recommend this screen to my friends and relatives. (if you can bring yourself to it’s price, i dropped down $500usd for this, and that was after a discount/sale of over a hundred bucks! but it’s certainly the best bang for your buck for a monitor of this sature!) I can say with confidence this U2410 is clearly the ultimate next step up from the dell 2005wfp!

It’s not often i shop for and buy a new monitor, the last time i did was in 2005, that’s a 4 year gap, and $400-500 in such a long time, i’m certain that’s really conservative already. And plus, i know well in heart that this U2410 is going to take me through another 5 years or more! woohoo! what’s not to like!

Yes, let it be made known, there is no perfect monitor out on the market, there is no “the One monitor”…every monitor to date has it’s own flaws, and when it comes down to the money, the Dell U2410 hits the very sweetest spot. The next competitor up to this behemoth would be Apple’s LED Cinema Display, retailing for $900 USD. Almost twice the cost of a single U2410. Further up the tier into the professional monitor zone, you can start looking at the NEC monitors, which start at $1200 USD and go up to $10,000USD! (all 24 inchers too)

Review Requests: Please email me your thoughts and questions and requests! Want me to “test” or write about another aspect of this monitor? Or leave a comment below too!

U2410 Pictures and Video:

I’ve made a video with my point-and-shoot camera of this screen “in life”, readers interested can easily check it out at youtube.com. (link will be added shortly)

meanwhile, indulge yourselves in the pictures i’ve taken of this sexy beast too!

If you like, i have made available the “Full Color Screen” test pictures i used in the following pictures, for download if you like. They are 1920×1200 resolution big, and just view in something you can set to ‘full screen’, good choice would be the standard Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, and going into Slide Show Mode (pressing F11).

Download here: Full Color Screen Test Pictures
Added: Wallpaper shown in photos here (Hi-Res 1920×1200 wallpaper)
Added: Youtube Video of the Dell U2410 24 inch Monitor

*Note: The Fuzziness/Graininess in the following pictures are not in/from the monitor! It’s from my point-and-shoot camera…crappy $200 consumer budget camera :/ Also bear in mind that this camera has White Balance, and i’ve not been successful with tweaking it to the right tone, so these pictures are not “true to your eye” compared to in real life.. i made them to give readers a feel and idea of what this screen is like in a home. (clik the images for full size!)

Full Black Test Screen (i need to retake the picture in a completely darkened room!)

Full Blue Test Screen

Black To White Gradient Test Screen

Full Green Test Screen

Full Red Test Screen

Full White Test Screen

View Angle Test: Front

View Angle Test: Side Right

View Angle Test: Side Left

View Angle Test: Bottom

View Angle Test: Above

How helpful was my review? Did you like it? What else would you like to see with regards to this monitor? Leave a comment please! Hope this write up helps those that are having a tough time deciding what monitor to put down their money on!

Thanks all for reading! 450 reads and counting!(as of 10/15/2009)

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I find it especially intriguing ’cause the actionscript source itself pretty much is commented about at every line, so i’ve managed to pick up and apply my own needs with various areas of that chunk of code.

It’s great reference and/or base source material for anyone that’s also into Flash game development.

Have a deeper read over at the source article:
http://www.emanueleferonato.com/2008/08/05/create-a-flash-game-like-nano-war/#more-381

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or is that been bumped now?

Dell has introduced its new model into the 24inch monitor range, and it’s a killer buy too. The new Dell U2410 monitor uses a H-IPS panel from LG. The 2408WFP only uses a Samsung PVA panel…

I recently had the 2408WFP, after trying to use it for 3 weeks, i’ve decided to return it to Dell, despite all the rave reviews about it. Yes i must say it’s truly a magnificent 24incher (2408wfp), but being a PVA panel, and having had moved up to this from an older Dell 2005WFP monitor (which, is an S-IPS panel), i could not get myself accustomed to the PVA technology.. the Viewing Angle felt dramtically smaller in comparison with even the old 20inch IPS panel monitor i had prior.

It resulted in intense Color Shifting for me, making it hard and very uncomfortable to read Email or Text documents (black font against a white/bright color background..high contrast documents). It caused eyestrain on me and headaches. Color Shifting is not the same as Viewing Angle, many might think it is but they are two different things.

If i was able to rid/calibrate that 2408wfp the right way, i’m sure it would have fixed the color shifting problem. However, i couldn’t and thus my inability to make it a keeper. Aside from color shifting troubles i had, put that aside, and wow, i must say 24inches of such wide-gamut colors is breathtaking. Movies and videos looked fine, and immersive because of the size of the screen itself.

I for one love high resolutions, and that 2408wfp gave me just that, a 1920×1200 resolution (16:10 aspect).

So comparing the 2408wfp to the new U2410, i’m pretty confident to say i would, if anything, take the U2410 over the 2408wfp any time. The U2410 seems much closer to my experience with the 2005wfp model, both of these having IPS panels. With the newer U2410, it not only increases my physical screen size, it also increases resolution estate from 1680×1050 to 1920×1200! Also, the U2410 sports an even wider gamut/range of color, so in theory, the U2410 will be our new King of 24inchers.

Things to note about the Dell U2410, is that there are complaints about it from the people that already own this. The biggest complaint being an annoying “graininess” visible across the screen, and “bad dithering issues while using the sRGB modes” of the screen. These complaints however, are followed up by the same persons saying “i dont see the problems anymore after more usage”.

Another common complaint going around now too, is that there are “stuck-pixels” on the U2410 that people recieve. The pixels are not dead, they work, they light up. They just dont change colors.

With all these problems and some other less common complaints though, Dell has willingly done all exchanges/refunds where requested for this monitor.

Prices between the U2410 and 2408wfp aren’t much different, but both are pricey. In an average shopper’s terms, you could easily buy 2 or 3 other 24inch monitors with the money you spend buying a single U2410/2408wfp.

But. For the price you willingly put down, every, single, buck, is totally worth the while. These 2 monitors have an entire range of input connections, unlike other standard consumer monitors (your 150buck 24inch monitors). With HDMI, 2 x DVI, VGA, Component, Composite, USB ports, Card Readers, and even HDMI Audio Output, your money spent here will cover your every need (PC, Mac, PS3, Xbox, Wii all-in-one).
On top of the full range of connections, you get a quality “pro-technology” panel, PVA with the 2408wfp, and H-IPS for the U2410. Both technologies far superior over TN panels (which is the mass monitor market).

All in all, from where i stand, i’d give the Dell U2410 the crown over the 2408wfp.

If you are ready to bite the bullet and get your hands on this beauty, wait for Dell discounts on the U2410. It will be very worth the wait ’cause their deals are killer.

Further Reading:
CNET.com Dell U2410 Review
CNET.com Dell 2408wfp Review
TFT Central
Learn more about the Panel Technology Types (TN vs PVA vs IPS)

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