March 7th, 2003

Original 3d Max Render 1

i have completed 3 out of my 4 tasks required from yesterday... and in the meantime i wrote up a comic on my thoughts of the past fews days.. the image in today's comic was made with 3d Studio Max 5.0 and the use of cell shading.. by the end of tonight (tonight being mar 6th) i have to complete my uncompleted task of finishing up the newspaper comic, which i'm going to do right now...

on another note, who the fuck gave the german's my website address... today my 'guestbook' (which isn't even easily linked) was signed by 6 german solicitors for no apparent reason other than to advertise their german websites... not that anyone else is signing it...

-- Dyre

March 6th, 2003

busy, busy.. by tomorrow i've got to Study and Take an Exam for Differential Equations, create a rough photo of The Banquet scene for my job, finish writing my Japanese Essay, and also Finish my comic for the school newspaper... all 4 are high on the importance scale.. and then i also have my normal tasks of my web meeting, and japanese class... and on top of all that, my back and hands are fucking sore from playing in the snow all last night.. i think i'm going to bed now and its only 10:30pm.. ugh.. well if i wake up early enough then i'll be able to do my stuff...

on a positive non stress related note, i got both the american and japanese movies of The Ring which we'll all be watching Friday night after the week has taken its toll...

dammit, with all this crap i have to do, i've lost precious inspiration for my current comic.. i could have had at least 2 done so far... maybe tomorrow night i'll be able to construct one off of drawings in my notes... i usually DDR on thursdays, but i'm so damn sore, i think i'll just rest..

-- Dyre

March 5th, 2003

its snowing !

all these pictures are in order of when i took them.. so, now you know what platteville looks like along the snow covered pine st. i travel to get home every afternoon... i'll probably take some more pictures as i go out again in a minute..

more pictures ...

after remembering the black and white feature on my camera, taking pictures of snow in color got boring very quickly... snow must be viewed in a violet or blueish hue.. not orange imitted from street lights..

i love snow... and the snow outside is the best kind at the moment... if i knew how to snow board, i would be out doing that right now, as well as all tomorrow... but unfortunately i don't... so far we've gotten a good half foot of snow, and it hasn't stopped yet...

snow is great for everything, but the one its not great for is driving.. which is unfortunate because i need to make my way to the local Walmart to purchase the smash hit movie: The Ring which was released today.. along with the release of The Ring, the japanese Ring has also been released today which will resolve or intice my feelings about the american remake..

-- Dyre

March 4th, 2003

Additional Images 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

over sunday, i got 3d Studio Max 5 from my pal... after seeing Ming-yuan's 3d cellshaded marvel and how she created it, i had an overwhelming urge to once again pick up the 3d canvas that i haven't touched in about 3 years...

holy changes... you see that image above... the shading of lights and shadows are so completed different from 3ds Max 2.5 which i 'grew' up on... its so incredibly amazing... and not just that... but rendering time.. i opened up my old City Scape which took about 5 minutes to render 4 years ago.. today ? .. it took 15 seconds... that is almost uncanny...

cellshading is another marvel of today's 3ds max.. one of the main reasons for my rekindled muse of 3d.. i took one of my old assignments from 4 years and rendered it.. which took a little under a minute.. and then retextured all the objects with cellshading properties... the rendering then took an hour and a half.. the time shot up the roof higher than raytracing ever did... i really wonder if its worth using that many processes to create something that isn't supposed to look '3d' ...

another thing about cell shading that i have learned that is very important.. is that any cell shaded object w/o a texture can only have at most 3 colors... the basic color, the shade color, and the high light color... and thats it... you can't blend shading, its all one defined color shade...

tomorrow, or i should say 'later on today', i'll start messing around with textures and cell shading just to see if i can push the variable colors...

-- Dyre

March 3rd, 2003

i think this one may be a little too strong...

-- Dyre

March 2nd, 2003

wheee... drinking helps !!!

Addition Pictures 1 2

i showed this off to my friends earlier.. i wish i would have made use of them last night... but unfortuantly a 1) didn't remember and 2) probably couldn't make it to my room and back without running into something.. like either a wall, or the ground... crzy ground getting in my way...

The eva shot galss is really neat looking, ya think ?.. you can get your mind hammered by either watching the show.. or drinking out of a shotglass that resembles the show... double whammy.. hiiyooo...

-- Dyre

March 1st, 2003

『
time passes through the white plains as time has always passed.. the busy days bring weekends sooner, and the busy weeks bring the vacations sooner.. much time has passed, but there is still plenty left in the story i'm currently roled in... the role i play is defined in the character sense, and in placement.. but as the story progresses, i turn, fade, and change... but still remain the same in essence...

I experience great joy, and great despair.. the time we're together is ours.. though, i'm afraid i value it more... the situation is not properly mirrored.. i've begun on the low end of things, and climbing further up is more difficult than i've ever thought..

"waiting is one of life's greatest annoyances".. as time progresses, the wait becomes more and more unbearable..

"i don't want things to change, but i can't continue on this way".. this is the barrier i constantly think about.. i really don't know what to do.. the risks are far too high for change, yet the present robs my wellness.. despite slight positive outcomes, overall, this is not good for me...

pfft.. how ironic.. when i felt 'normal' all i could think about was rocking my mood off its idle... and at the moment, i just want a little stability.. i guess that proves genuineness.. i need a bridge...
』

positive reenforcement helps.. but its power is sometimes not great enough.. i might just have a comic by tomorrow, provided how events unfold...

-- Dyre

February 28th , 2003

life is very boring...

at least it was as of before i left work for home... i actually did a fair amount of much needed stuff to be taken care of once home, that i feel a tick refreshed... some laundry was done.. DDR was played.. and FLCL was watched... nothing constructive was done.. oh well, there is tomorrow.. maybe...

-- Dyre

February 25th , 2003

『
life continues... its intracate web of coincidence, circumstance, and consequence... one simple action begins one long chain of events that either work in your favor, or against you... the end is never clear, which is why regretted your life is pointless... any one who regrets their actions, or their life, either doesn't realize this, or purposesly defies it...

life is very mysterious, and thorough... certain people exceed in life, because of other people who were specifically at the wrong place at the wrong time... the hidden purpose of these 'marks' are set to let another achieve glory and solace... whereas they are left behind in the shadows afterward... the difference between a mark and someone who uses them is not so clear... people make assumptions, and then assumptions become fact, and then you no longer know the true anymore, you only have something that may have been true...

you could be a user all your life, and then in the end... its your newspaper that gets stolen everyday from you by your neighbor....

you must remember... this is not real.. your life.. your place... all is determined either by society, or society's ills tought to you... there is no overbearing power that has determined your life, or your place... you are you ... do want you want.. the fact of being used or using someone is only in your mind...

every action has benefits, and if you don't benefit... then don't do it ... defy your mind... seek greater answers...
』

that just came out of no where... i was trying to write something else, and then this happend.. oh well... i can tell that Manic has overcome me, because i'm writing about my head now, instead of my heart... speaking of which..

and here's one other thing...

3 different type of updates for my week hiatus.. maybe i'll have something else new tomorrow..

-- Dyre

February 19th , 2003

my muse has returned... i hope you people can read sideways...

how quickly life changes.... i can no longer name my 'comic' 'the sinning sun' anymore.. because its no longer about that title... 'the sinning sun' is about the corruption of business and so forth... what this comic is really begining to turn into.. is 'one schlock's requiem' ... and i think i'm going to be labeling it that from here and out...

-- Dyre

February 18th , 2003

with depression.. comes the sync of creativy and mind for me...

am i not being fair to her ? .. or weren't we fair to ourselves... with love comes pain...

-- Dyre

February 17th , 2003

『
i am in pain .. my life is a torturous hell... given myself self-hope eats me away with every passing second... as i use up what little strength i implore, my body no longer has the boundary of neutrality... it has wasted away.. and with no defenses.. my mind is the constant rupture of pain...

for one split second.. i had finally filled what i had missed for so long.. what emptiness had plagued my soul and being for these past years... pure caringness... the need for another soul... for one moment i was complete... and once time resumed... my heart was stripped again of its completeness... torn into my repeated past... the relapse of my shattered being is retold again....

i wake... my heart rebillows its charred black surface.. it robs my strength... it robs my willing... once again.. i am dying... as i perished in the winds of Eden... i will perish again in the plains of Platte... no more time shall pass... no more weeks of burden.. nor life...

my shattered life sheds tears amonst the world... i am meant to be alone... i am meant to walk the earth bear... and i am no more....
』

-- Dyre

February 14th , 2003

today is yet another valentines day.. which means many things to me... must of which gelicia would find tright, and uninspired... so i guess i won't write about them at all... and thats to Zelda, i haven't been doing much else ^_^...

OnGoing Zelda Impressions....
Gametime: 17 - 18 hours worth..

The Legend will never die (spoilers)...
the story is Wind Waker takes place 100 years after ganon's last 'real' defeat ( Ocarina of Time )... after Link went back in time to his childhood, the realm that which 'adult' Link in had adrifted in time... the stereotypical story of a hero, a princess, and a villian no longer took place.. just the villian.. and after Link left.. ganon arose to destroy and rule.. but not quickly enough...

The triforce was split into its 3 halves... and sealed away.. King Hyrule posseses the Triforce of Courage.. Zelda the Triforce of Wisdom... and, somehow, Ganon stole and posseses the Triforce of Power... with a giant split of power throughout Hyrule.. the land was completely flooded.. the water came with no end... and the once prosperous kingdom lie underneath the pastel plane of water and sky...

100 years past, and we're into the timeframe of the game.. where our spunky young hero is the descendant of the past Link... so there's your answer why he looks so damn young... its not the true Link.. just a new Link ^_^ ...

Side Information about the story...
although it technically is a spoiler .. the story about the great flood and the battle 100 years ago is told within the first 5 minutes of the game in scripture... its the first knowledge you learn of the game when you play it.. so i'm not really giving away anything ^_^ ... i could go further...

World Map .. shworld map..
The world is completely flooded.. which means... the world is water !! .. no ground except for the scattered islands through Hyrule.. which is a drastic change from all previous Legend of Zelda's... Hyrule is divided up into a 7 by 7 grid.. each square grid area is about the size of 'Ocarina of Time's hyrulian field, measuring 1000 x 1000 units.. ... it takes alot of time to get from one corner of Hyrule to the other...

do i swim or what ?
you move about Hyrule in your talking red dragon boat thing which makes nautical use of all your items and weapons you find.. ^_^... once you buy your sail for a moderate price of 80 ruppees.. you can sail the 7 by 7 seas... and what is the most important part of sailing... the wind... and thanks to your 'wand of wind' you can change the direction of the winds so you can get where you need to go....

its almost like real life...
when you are outside amonst the sea, just as in 'Ocarina of Time' the time of day changes at a regular pace... daylight, turns to dusk, turns to night, turns to dawn, turns to day... the use of colors is beautiful... as the clouds begin to sink in the color of the sunset, the sea radiants the tone, and presents wonderful imagery... the colors of the sea are completely solid.. its looks like an acrylic painting... the colors are deep and well defined... its quite a sight...

besides the time of day passing by.. the weather also changes.. a beautiful sunrise can always turn against you... the clouds gather and begin to darken the sky... a few streaks of lightning, thunder pounds.. and then the rain begins... the water mirrors the color in the sky to a deep greyish blue.. and as you move about the water.. the rain billows down upon you... something that i've noticed is that it sure rains alot in hyrule.. perhaps thats why its all water now...

convience of circumstance...
the world of hyrule is very massive.. and with such an area.. the programmers had a field day hiding little things all over the world that you'll never end up finding them all... but for the important things, when you are looking around dungeons and find a treasure chest that may have your precious campus or dungeon map inside.. you just might find a 'blue' treasure map instead... a little 200 x 200 unit map with an X that marks the spot where to send your hookshot into the water to grab unto a treasure chest...

there are plenty of other maps as well, besides that big one... there are 'green' graphical maps, which are very vague.. the one i have is a crayon drawing showing 2 islands and an arrow pointing from one to the other... and there are 'red' miscellanous maps... the one i have shows the location of the vendor boats that cruise around Hyrule...

fucking goddamn puzzles !!
a very common theme in The Legend of Zelda series are those wacky dungeon puzzles that you can never figure out by yourself and end up getting help someway, somehow by someone else... i kinda hoped that i would have been a little further in the game before i needed it, but oh well.. it wasn't even all that difficult either ^_^... anywho....

the downside to Zelda....
this game is too damn easy.. the only difficulty that i'm finding in the game is figuring out where the hell i'm supposed to go, and which guy i didn't talk to... but once i get in a dungeon, with the exception of a puzzle or two... its so simple, i always ask if that was really it .. most dungeon bosses i've fought so far only take 3 or 4 rounds of hits before they die... but there's still plenty of game left...

how far am i ?
like most Zelda games... you first find 3 of something.. and then a big story event happens and then find 8 of something, and then you beat the game... i just got past the big story event, and now i got to find 8 of something... at 17 hours... but lets see... i've spent 1 1/2 going around town finding the one guy i didn't talk to... i spent another hour on a dungeon puzzle before i ran to gamefaqs.com.. and i spent another 45 minutes on another dungeon puzzle before i figur'd it out... and i'm also going through the dialogue slowly trying to use my pre-elementary nihongo skillz in attempting to read it... i can read most of the unimportant information just fine.. but when it comes to places i need to go to or people i need to talk to...

coincidence ?
after now knowing the basic story setup for 'Wand of Wind'.. its quite a coincidence that Nintendo would release 'Ocarina of Time' with/before it... that way all gamers will have a chance the live out 'one of the greatest games of all time' and also experience what is legend in 'Wand of Wind'.... and also 'A Link to the Past' was also just re-released as well on the gameboy... as well as the original Zelda in Animal Crossing ^_^ ... all 4 great Zelda games.. spanning 17 years of creation.. released within the same 6 months... coincidence ?.. or devilish marketing strategy...

more to come.. probably...

-- Dyre

February 11th , 2003

i have finished another comic panel, so without further delay, here you are ... wow.. 2 more and i reach the peach of my previous webcomic.. yippie...

i got Freeloader today .. Freeloader is the import boot disc for the gamecube, which means i can finally play Zelda no Densetsu that i have had for about 2 months now with no means of playing it !! ^_^

Zelda no Densetsu - Takuto no Wind Impressions..
Game Time : 3 or 4 hrs..

the most anticipated game for the gamecube is an appropriate title for Zelda.. after seeing the original E3 footage of Link vs. Ganondorf.. gamefans rushed in their gamecube preorders... but since then the game had taken a turn no one expected... whereas all other nintendo character based games began to completely center themselves around realistic graphics.. Miyamoto zigged while everyone else was thinking 'zag' ...

Cell Shading..
for some reason people either love it or hate it ... in some games its not very impressive... Jet Set Radio Future for instance.. after playing Zelda no Densetsu for the time i had, i think Jet Set Radio could have done more with its graphics... so far all the cell shading i've seen incorporates line weight to strengthen the aspect of animation... Zelda has no defining lines, which i think makes the game look worlds better than other cell shaded games..

The Graphics...
i love 'em.. i love 'em alot... single pictures don't really do the game justice.. and movies don't really explain the graphics in all the detail... when you take the controller and move Link around... you set yourself inside the enviroment.. something you may notice in the scene, that you'll stop and walk back over to them for a second observation.. small gestures bring out a higher human quality not seen in any other game i've played...

Character Animation...
the most intrecate part of the game is Link's subtle Eye Movement and Facial Expressions.. Link shows a wide range of emotione including surprise, happiness, sadness, disgust, boredom and anger without saying a word ^_^.. and not particularly on cue.. For instance on Pororo island where you begin.. walking by the arms trainer bestows an angry face on Link when he notices him... other times walking by an older woman in town, Link will reveal a small smirk in recognition...

Style & Color..
when you have cell shaded graphics you can expect a heavy amount of style along with it, and Zelda delivers.. the color choices fit with the animation perfectly.. on a sunny day, the shading and shadows are clean and crisp showing the height of the sun... at night, Link's attire is toned and darkened into the pastel rock and stone making for a uniform color scheme.. colors are chosen beautifully.. colors are very too bright, nor too dark in any one scene.. everything fits...

The Gameplay...
how is it possible to expand and strengthen the already near perfect engine that Ocarina of Time was so gifted with.. movement in Wand of Wind is identical to that of the previous n64 triumph.. no jump button .. ackward for a second, but then it becomes second nature to run off cliffs without a second thought... there are a few newly added attacks you can use.. holding right or left while attacking strings a different set of sword combos, other than just hitting the slash button, or holding up and hitting the slash button..

Sound of Music...
something that terribly annoyed me about Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time was the simple midi style music and 8bit sounds.. something as great as the enviroments of those 2 games deserved a little better... and Wand of Wind.. is a little better... sound quality is enhanced, and background music is composed better.. but its still lacking in a general sense.. i'm trying to think of any background music i've heard in the game, and i can't remember any of it ...

hmm...
the initial emphasis on the game is totally its beautiful look.. and closely second is the wonderful gameplay.. most other aspects of the game are powerfully over shadowed.. the music in the game is not bad, but most players will be so into the game that they won't notice it until they pay attention to it.. ( or perhaps later on, if the game pays attention to it )...

Language Barrier..
if writting the japanese title of the game, rather than its english title wasn't hint enough.. this is the japanese version of the game, so its completely in japanese.. and being in another language, problems can certainly occur.. but, unlike a year ago when i was playing Xenosaga, i've been studying japanese for a little while now so i can pick up on a number of things..

Subtitles help people read...
something that is very very helpful about the text in Zelda is furigana.. unlike the other 'teen' rated games i've imported.. this is the first story-intensive game i've imported that is designed for a younger audience.. so the japanese text is aimed for an elementary level.. excellent.. i'm almost at an elementary level of japanese ^_^ ... ( Furigana is japanese text with hiragana translations above the kanji )..

haivng fun ?
yeah, this game is pretty fun.. it shoots metroid out of the water.. although, making a 3rd 3 dimensional Zelda game has both its expectations, and it repetitions... it has all the look and feel of Zelda.. and its a dream to play.. i'm only 3 or 4 hours into the game, and i have a feeling that isn't even 5% of this massive game.. there is alot to explore... and the world map is almost completely water...

... more to come

-- Dyre

February 10th , 2003

『
today is the final day of my life.. as i walk through that door out into the world of oncoming life, my life will only be for a few remaining hours.. the thread of purity spines and unravels, weaken every second until the weight tears it apart and plumits toward the earth...

the waking human race will be without breathe... the air will turn a crisper grey and lose a little darkness... few will know... less will care... nothing will change... the continuance of time knows no halt...

wake walking down the morning street is of less than little importance today... the color of the world bleeds into black & white... life is completely silent... the streets hold no movement or direction... the world is silent, as i take my steps forward away from a location that will never feel my weight again...

the usual crowded intersection, has no torment this morning... as if fate had cleared all the commotion just for me... life is always easiest when you know you only have so little of it left to use... the regular annoyances only fag into the background as the greater thought on my mind grabs my complete attention...

the final steps of my destination glare down upon me... i look up into the black and white sky for any last minute advice that chance could provide, but i am only rejected... rejected, like the constant thoughts of my mind... like the actiosn of the past.. and the fear of the present... perhaps life wouldn't have left me with such a burden if i hadn't been bestowed with such hatred and spite...

i reach the top of the looming staircase to face the rest of my day in clarity of mind.. i have no fear and no anxiety.. life as pure as my soul.. i engage the end with all my energy...
』

sigh... love is the constant reminder that i'm doing something wrong.. nothing is ever perfect... nor correct.. things are not working...

-- Dyre

February 9th , 2003

plattecon photos

-- Dyre

February 5th , 2003

the first part of the animatrix is now up for download off their site ... The 2nd Renaissance part 1.. i am pleased with it ... its kinda weird though... its narrated through and through.. and its basically completely setup like a history channel special... but for some reason, even though it holds the traits of things i generally dislike.. i don't dislike it ... i think thats more to the fact that i'm in love with The Matrix... so my bias completely whipes it free of crap... the animation is very nice... i good mix of 3d animation in with 2d animation... looks alot like Blood: The Last Vampire... i guess i could come to expect this from the director.. his latest piece of anime was Blue Sub no.6 which was also a nice fusion of 3d and 2d animation tecniques...

anywho use this link to download it, instead of letting it upload into your browser: here

upon waiting for the 2nd Renaissance to become available i stumbled across what i believed to be the script to The Matrix Reloaded... and without a second thought i proceeded to read the entire work... which is somewhat unusual for me... i read how the Nebekanezer was rescued and towed back to Zion... i read Choi explain the coding of the matrix to neo.. using a base code far surpassing hexidecimal.. that begins with numbers, and then continues into katakana, and then the reverse, and then the inverse, and the reversed inverse, completing a base of 224.. i think.. ( 56 x 4 )... i also read how the matrix puts forth all its processing power towards the agent program to attempt to defeat Neo....

but it was all fake... or so i'm to believe... this script is labelled fake by a number of people of the message board and i think they're probably correct... with the 2nd Renaissance at hand.. Agent Smith's line in the script is false.. that the human attacked first... the script also tells nothing of 'the twins'.. another thing about Agent Smith as looking at the trailer again.. he does not have a ponytail as described in this script... this script may have a number of similarities, as well as good points... buts it seems to be simply.. a fan script...

here's the url : https://www.angelfire.com/film/mtrx2/The_Matrix_Reloaded_Script.htm

oh well... i probably should devote any reading about the matrix into its many accumulated comic books online... but for now i've got other things on my plate that i really should attend to.. like japanese homework, differential equation homework, spamm publicity, comic drawing, learning flash a little better, web development for fun and web development at my job.... as well as exercising, and playing Panzer Dragoon...

sigh.. where does the time go... its already midnight...

-- Dyre