I just got myself a new phone... my very first touchscreen phone, and pretty much also my first real smart-phone.
It's an HTC Wildfire, and I'm really enjoying it so far. So I thought I'd try posting from it.
Friis out...
Saturday, March 19, 2011
New phone!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Frightens Me
Yes it does indeed... but it's not the idea of the creepy oppressive atmosphere that I so loved in the first three S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games.
"Wait, three? aren't you talking about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 here?"
Yes I am, I know it makes no real sense, just bare with me here.
No... what really scares me about this is that they announce that this new game will be programmed over a new in-house programmed multi-platform engine.
"Why's that so bad? Doesn't that just mean they'll be able to make the game work on game consoles too, and not just the PC?"
Exactly, and that's precisely what they're going to do. No company wastes money and time developing a game engine that works for multiple platforms without using it, that would just be silly.
"So... isn't this a good thing?"
No... no it isn't.
The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games have so far been some of the most complex and detailed first person shooter games I've even heard of. And all the really great community made modifications for the games have made them even more complex and more detailed.
This is one of the reasons these games have gained such a solid fan-base on the PC platform. No console controller could ever hope to let you wield the same amount of commands over a game as a keyboard and mouse.
Another thing that has made the first 3 games in the series so popular is the aforementioned atmosphere. You really feel like you are in a world of strange scientific anomalies and alien dangers. The immersion factor of these games is through the roof.
If they change the control scheme to cater to the twelve button+two joystick console controllers, they will have to change the entire feel of the game as well and it will become yet another "invincible-regenerating-gun-toting-space-marine-shooter" a la Gears of War, Killzone and Halo... and we really don't need more of those.
I really don't have anything against consoles or the games they can play, but I don't want every successful PC game series to be consolified.
They did it to Modern Warfare 2, they're doing it to Crysis and now they'll probably do it to my favorite ever PC game series S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
"Wait, three? aren't you talking about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 here?"
Yes I am, I know it makes no real sense, just bare with me here.
No... what really scares me about this is that they announce that this new game will be programmed over a new in-house programmed multi-platform engine.
"Why's that so bad? Doesn't that just mean they'll be able to make the game work on game consoles too, and not just the PC?"
Exactly, and that's precisely what they're going to do. No company wastes money and time developing a game engine that works for multiple platforms without using it, that would just be silly.
"So... isn't this a good thing?"
No... no it isn't.
The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games have so far been some of the most complex and detailed first person shooter games I've even heard of. And all the really great community made modifications for the games have made them even more complex and more detailed.
This is one of the reasons these games have gained such a solid fan-base on the PC platform. No console controller could ever hope to let you wield the same amount of commands over a game as a keyboard and mouse.
Another thing that has made the first 3 games in the series so popular is the aforementioned atmosphere. You really feel like you are in a world of strange scientific anomalies and alien dangers. The immersion factor of these games is through the roof.
If they change the control scheme to cater to the twelve button+two joystick console controllers, they will have to change the entire feel of the game as well and it will become yet another "invincible-regenerating-gun-toting-space-marine-shooter" a la Gears of War, Killzone and Halo... and we really don't need more of those.
I really don't have anything against consoles or the games they can play, but I don't want every successful PC game series to be consolified.
They did it to Modern Warfare 2, they're doing it to Crysis and now they'll probably do it to my favorite ever PC game series S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
A Little Morning Revelation
This morning while riding the train to school I just realized why so many webdesigners dislike the idea of software that makes it really easy to make websites.
It's not really that they lack all the extra functions of the full-fledged Adobe Creative Suite line of software or other similar lines.
It's that these easy to use programs allow virtually anyone to start making websites that look professional to the untrained eyes of the masses. This in turn allows companies that would otherwise have hired a professional web-designer or graphic designer to make their logos, websites, signs, et al to just make a logo or website contest, effectively harnessing the power of all these amateurs... all for the price of a promised approximately 50-100 bucks and a little publicity to the one out of hundreds they choose from.
This leaves a couple hundred of the prospective designers unpaid and pretty much unappreciated, while one has essentially given away his or her hours upon hours of work for a pittance.
All the while, this isn't exactly doing wonders for the design industry, as it greatly depreciates the overall value of good design work.
I understand that not all companies in the world have multi million dollar budgets and should still be able to get web-sites and logo designed for them, but these contests are just not the way to go. Pretty much every-one should have some sort of contact with people who know web- or graphic design. May it be a friend, family member, friend of a friend, family member of a colleague... somewhere in your circle of acquaintances is bound to be someone with at least a little education and some experience in these fields.
Look over this person's works so far and decide whether to hire him/her or not and then discuss payment with the person you choose for the job.
It's not really that they lack all the extra functions of the full-fledged Adobe Creative Suite line of software or other similar lines.
It's that these easy to use programs allow virtually anyone to start making websites that look professional to the untrained eyes of the masses. This in turn allows companies that would otherwise have hired a professional web-designer or graphic designer to make their logos, websites, signs, et al to just make a logo or website contest, effectively harnessing the power of all these amateurs... all for the price of a promised approximately 50-100 bucks and a little publicity to the one out of hundreds they choose from.
This leaves a couple hundred of the prospective designers unpaid and pretty much unappreciated, while one has essentially given away his or her hours upon hours of work for a pittance.
All the while, this isn't exactly doing wonders for the design industry, as it greatly depreciates the overall value of good design work.
I understand that not all companies in the world have multi million dollar budgets and should still be able to get web-sites and logo designed for them, but these contests are just not the way to go. Pretty much every-one should have some sort of contact with people who know web- or graphic design. May it be a friend, family member, friend of a friend, family member of a colleague... somewhere in your circle of acquaintances is bound to be someone with at least a little education and some experience in these fields.
Look over this person's works so far and decide whether to hire him/her or not and then discuss payment with the person you choose for the job.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Bookstores, a Love-story...
I love bookstores. I don't even consider a town worth being in if there is no bookstore.
It's because I love paper. I love the smell of new paper, and the smooth feeling of it. I love the selection of things I can use with that paper... pencils, pens, erasers, sharpeners, scissors, glue, paint, rulers, paper-clips, stencils, all of it...
But mostly I love the idea of a clean, new and completely unused notebook/sketchbook and the potential it holds. The idea that a clean page can potentially show anything you want it to with a little work.
That idea actually runs so deep within me that I often can't get myself to leave used pages in otherwise unused notebooks or sketchbooks, I have to tear those pages out, lest I limit the countless possibilities for how to use the rest of the book.
I love paper so much that when I found out I was to start education as a web-designer, I immediately set out to buy a block of huge sheets of graph paper, a brand new hardback notebook, a 24 piece set of graphic pencils and a portfolio case for all of it to fit in. Even though it's actually much easier for me to work with software only.
I would just hate it if I didn't have the possibility to work with paper, not have that tactile feeling of the graphite or ball-point moving over that grainy-smooth surface as my hand tries to keep up with my head.
So yeah, I love bookstores and that may make me a bit weird, but I can live with that.
Friis out...
It's because I love paper. I love the smell of new paper, and the smooth feeling of it. I love the selection of things I can use with that paper... pencils, pens, erasers, sharpeners, scissors, glue, paint, rulers, paper-clips, stencils, all of it...
But mostly I love the idea of a clean, new and completely unused notebook/sketchbook and the potential it holds. The idea that a clean page can potentially show anything you want it to with a little work.
That idea actually runs so deep within me that I often can't get myself to leave used pages in otherwise unused notebooks or sketchbooks, I have to tear those pages out, lest I limit the countless possibilities for how to use the rest of the book.
I love paper so much that when I found out I was to start education as a web-designer, I immediately set out to buy a block of huge sheets of graph paper, a brand new hardback notebook, a 24 piece set of graphic pencils and a portfolio case for all of it to fit in. Even though it's actually much easier for me to work with software only.
I would just hate it if I didn't have the possibility to work with paper, not have that tactile feeling of the graphite or ball-point moving over that grainy-smooth surface as my hand tries to keep up with my head.
So yeah, I love bookstores and that may make me a bit weird, but I can live with that.
Friis out...
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