ZOMGWTFNOWAI

Hay guys. Did you think I was done with Touhou? Even a little bit?

Not a chance. =D


Touhou 12.5 was just announced: ダブルスポイラー　～ 東方文花帖 aka Double Spoiler ~ Touhou Bunkachou. This is awesome because now I can confuse people and say I play Touhou DS. Especially since they won't even know wtf I'm talking about! =D This is also awesome because it's another SHOOT THE BULLET type game! Hooray! More endless carnage and pretty, deadly lights just trying to take some pictures.

From what I can gather, no opponents will be reused from StB, and there will be over 100 stages (StB had 85 total), and possibly it's harder than even StB which is widely considered the hardest Touhou game. That part could be a mistranslation though.

Guess this means I need to finish up StB then? Haha maybe, but I doubt it. While I have 81/85 clears, these last four are still out of my reach (Except Komachi's 10-5. Sort of kinda almost got that one, but I get annihilated trying to get pics 6 & 7) I was hoping for this though, and this time I plan on actually saving all my replays. I sort of regret not saving any from StB, but maybe after I get my new computer this summer I'll start a new file.

Anyway, in unrelated news, HeroQuest painting may be delayed or not bothered with this weekend. Java's being a pain in the arse and I can't concentrate in the room with all the dumbarses around, so I'll probably lock myself in my bedroom all weekend instead of the basement. Assuming I finish early though, I should still be able to get through the Skeletons. I also placed an order on the last few figures I need to *start* HeroQuest, so I think I'll be ready to roll by the end of Spring Break assuming they get here timely. Now I just need some people, lol.

West Ronfaure

And here we are, all set with West Ronfaure~



Not too shabby, although it was a bit harder to place all the shrubbery about with the large areas with few landmarks. The large area in the middle is intentially left blank, since there is no shrubbery that grows there, just trees and somewhat smaller trees. As with before, I left off the trees for now. If I have time this week, I'm going to root through the RPG Maker files and see if I can put together a proper tileset so I can make these look nice. Whether or not I finally can get a pixel artist though remains to be seen. XD

Since it's March now, I might as well go over how I'm doing in classes this semester so far.
Calculus 2: Who's surprised I take a guilty pleasure with this class? It's the toughest one so far this semester, but when I finish out a ten minute integral and come out with the right answer, it's a damn good feeling. So far, all my quiz scores are high (2A, 1B), so let's see if I can keep it that way.

CompSci 2: Kinda mixed about this one, although tbh, CompSci 1 was a crap class, I just learned alot from doing the assignments, haha. Java isn't nearly as nice to work with as Python though, and for some reason we're spending alot of time talking about memory management, even though Java does all of that automatically. I suppose it might be useful to know down the road, but right now it just seems like more useless information to memorize. I've also been doing all my assignments in Python and Ruby, so hopefully by the end of the semester I'll have a solid foundation for the real CompSci courses.

Discrete Structures: aka Logic. aka Middle School Math. So far, this class is nothing but an insult. The instructor literally spent a 1:15 class talking about division. Not special division. Just division. The stuff I knew going into 1st grade. /wrists

Sceneography: aka Theater Shop. This class is pretty interesting. We have spent a bit of time on really basic stuff, but considering it's a required class for acting majors, I can see why. (Some of the kids in the class are *really* dumb) But I get to build things and run around stage with pneumatic power tools, so it's all good. Haha.

Chemistry 101: Not as bad as I expected, in fact, I think I mesh alot better with Chemistry than Physics. (Good thing I dropped the idea of Computer Engineering) So far everything has been pretty straightforward and understandable to me, and I should have no problem getting an A. This was proven today when we were playing a Review game in discussion session, and not to be insulting, but my 3 teammates had no idea what they were doing. Which means I was basically answering everything for the group myself. And I won, by like 2x the number of points as the group in second place, lol. I think we might've gotten some extra credit for that, though I dunno. Friday's exam is gonna be a snap though.

2 more weeks until Spring Break. I never really figured out something to do, so I'm just gonna spend the week at home, paint minis and play video games, haha. I'm such an interesting person.

Greenskins

Well, got lots and lots of painting done this weekend. Why don't we flip through those pics right quick now?

First up are the Goblins! I managed to finish up the remaining layers of paint late on Friday night, bringing a close to my second most populous monster type. Certainly glad that part's over.



A closeup of some of the Gobs. The jester impressed me, so far I've done the least touching up on him, so I guess I was really careful last time for some reason? I'm not sure why, he has trouble staying upright for any length of time.



Next up are the fimirs. These were a short-lived group in Warhammer Fantasy that eventually were phased out, though they made an appearance in HeroQuest as some monster fodder that would put up more fight than the Orcs. They're bigger and more detailed than Orcs, but thank goodness I only have 11 of them, and only 2 were unpainted.



Because there were so few, I managed to get the whole unit done with the rest of the time I had over the weekend. The skins alone took about half the total time, so after they were touched up, it was all downhill. I randomly decided to make a dark red and blue with the two new ones just because.



And a close up of these guys. I really hope my next camera can get in closer than this, although I think my alignment was screwed up or something. Also, I painted the whites and irises on all these guys, and that was a pain in the arse. I need even smaller brushes, lol.



With the fimir done, I've finished all the greenskins, and by far the bulk of my current HeroQuest figures. Up for next weekend are the undead starting with Skeletons. There may be 20 of them, but I really don't see them taking *too* long.



In non-HeroQuest related news, I scored a new pair of goggles this weekend!



While they're not as awesome as my Aviators, they're certainly nice, especially for the price ($20). They work alot better in indoor-shop/lab/etc. type situations, which my other pair was having a bit of trouble with. I might need to find a longer elastic, so they can fit around my enormous ego, but other than that, I like 'em.

For those of you who live under an internet rock, CLICK ME AND ALL YOUR DREAMS WILL COME TRUE!

Also, I guess for once I should be glad my computer is crappy? After what happened at VanaFest yesterday, I'd already be back on FFXI if I knew I wouldn't be /rage at my computer every 10 minutes. Somebody really needs to stop me before I get a new computer, else I'll be playing 2 MMO's.

And then all hope is lost.

East Ronfaure

So I said I'd have a version up this week, and I do! It's unfinished, but it should give a good idea for when I throw together a proper tileset. Actually having some difficulties finding a spriter though, so that's troublesome. I'll go ahead and do a map for West Ronfaure too, but if I can't find someone to work on the graphics, I might just have to drop this (right after I decide to do it too, lol). I don't think you can really still call it FFXI if I just use the crappy base graphics package that comes with RPG Maker XP.



The map takes about 40 sec to cross from the top left to bottom right, which is ~4min shorter than what it would normally take in FFXI, haha. Obviously, this'll get a revamp with trees, stone walls, slightly better grass, and mountain textures if I'm able to continue.

Justice.

Supplies!

I'll start off today's post with pictures yay! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera when I went home this weekend, so the quality is kinda shit. Though I guess it doesn't matter *too* much, since this isn't artistic photography or anything.



Here's my workspace I set up to do all the painting in my basement. It's nice, but it's right next to the window, so on sunny days the light gets brighter and dimmer constantly and pisses me off. Good thing I mostly paint in the evening. The next time the midget's home for more than 3 hours during the weekend, I wanna plow through some more of the basement mess, hopefully letting me move the workbench out of the way a bit.



Here's what I had accomplished thus far, after we cleaned up a bit of the basement during the snow break, note that about 2/3 of all my models are already painted from my last HeroQuest stint several years ago, but almost all of them desparately need touching up. I picked up some 10/0 paintbrushes on Friday just for that purpose, and they've been working great so far. I might still want a smaller size though. XD



And the Orcs are finished! There really wasn't too much to do, so I got them all to a point I liked late Friday night. Like ~2am, haha.



And a closeup on the center. I have more Orcs than anything else, totaling at 34. 31 are from my three games of HeroQuest and my Kellar's Keep expansion, and the three unique ones in the middle are from a Warhammer Quest packet I picked up a few years ago.



And the next phase, the Goblins. These come in just under the Orcs at 29, and you can see a few more pieces I acquired from Warhammer Quest in the front row. I actually spent a good while painting these over Saturday and Sunday, but I had to leave kinda quick earlier, so I didn't get a chance to take any more pics. I'll have some up when I go home next weekend.

The painting's going fairly well, and I'm looking forward to all the rest of the creatures, which are nowhere near as numerous, haha. Looking at finishing up the minis I have by the end of March. Of course, I have Spring Break next month, but I don't really have anything to do, so I'll probably just paint and play video games, haha.

Anyway, to announce the second project (which most of you know by now anyway, haha). I'm looking at making Final Fantasy XI Offline. Why? I'm bored, lol. Really though, Vana'diel is pretty awesome, but I don't think it's going to last forever. It'll be around for several more years yet, of course. But I wanna be able to do a marathon playthrough FF1-25 when that comes out, and if FFXI is *still* around then, it's got some damn good life support. It's possible S-E might release a single player variation on their own down the road, and it's possible one day projectXI might not suck. But as you know, both of those things are highly unlikely.

Anyway, here's the basic premise of what I aim to do. I'm going to be working with RPG Maker XP, so the game is going to have an (I hope) FFVI/Chrono Trigger feel to the graphics. I think I'm going to have a rotating party based on all the NPCs you could possibly have fight alongside you, but I've not worked that out. Alot of stuff I have no idea how I'm going to get it work, but I've taken an initiative and started learning Ruby on my own, which can allow me to insert custom programming into the game. Hopefully with experience and some tips from other RPG Maker users, I'll be able to put together some way to make everything work. Heck, I've even got some ideas for making use of Ballista, which at first I was just going to axe out.

I can't do this alone though. First off, while some call me an artist, there's no way I can do the level of spriting I would need for this. I know some places where spriters hang out though, so hopefully one of them will bite on the 'Final Fantasy' name, and not run off after I work them like a dog for the 352196103593159 NPCs and landscape objects, hahaha. Right now I'm putting together maps of East and West Ronfaure with generic RPG Maker objects, so I can at least show prospective sprtiters something when I try to recruit them. I'm hoping to have East done later this week, I'll have it up here then. I'm also trying to recruit my old LS mates to collect some ingame data for me, but they seem to be busy these days. Hoping to get at least a few zones of data. :3

I'm baaaaack, and I've got a new triiiick~

Gonna start using this again, starting this weekend. (Well, I guess technically starting now, but don't get smart). Since I know all 0 of you have been foaming super-rabies at the mouth since mid-November, I expect the response to this will be EXTRAORDINARY. LIEK TOTALLY.

Unfortunately, there won't be comics. Since that's the reason anyone actually looked at this, I expect my viewership to maintain at a healthy 0 (+/- 1). This is because I hate drawing with a mouse, it takes too long. If I ever get a tablet, and I haven't abandoned this blog again, you can bet your grandmother's bobby pin collection I'll have new comics up, since I've got plenty of material. But since it would be silly to just find a tablet wrapped up with a pretty bow on my bedroom desk, I *might* be able to buy one by the end of the year. Maybe. Rawr.

So what am I doing here? Blogging about my boring school life, and making math jokes? No! I'll spare you for now. Projects! Yes, I bored and feel like I should do *something* that vaguely resembles incremental updates, and I've got two projects I'm currently working on.

First, as all none of you know, is I'm re-refurbishing my old HeroQuest board game system. I cleaned up all the furnishings, make new cards, collected way too many dice, and now I'm painting all the minis. I don't have all the ones I need (4 more and I'll have enough for 30ish quests though), but that should be fixed if I ever get around to some hobby stores again to find some cheap D&D minis. Anyway, I'll put up pictures of the painting progress I make each weekend. I figure by the beginning of April I should have everything painted, including anything additional I buy.

There is a second project, but I can't talk about it yet. Because I like being mysterious and spooky and JUSTICE.

Also, Superawesomemegajusticesparklerainbowhappy Birfdei~! You know who you are. >;3

Hmmm

Haven't really felt like updating. Comic and blog on stasis. Complainers will be left to be dealt with by Mika.