Since I’ve been creating movies more and more lately, I decided to make a page where I can put them all. So at the top of my blog you’ll now see a link to the Movies page. And with THAT said… I’ve created another video:
I had a lot of fun making this video, and I learned a lot about editing… and about being a director. Waxx so kindly put it into perspective for me: “hi I’m Brandon I tell everyone absolutely nothing yet expect them to do it”… or something rude like that.
Also, today marks a day in history… for my alias “foszor” is now** autocompleted by Google from their main page. Go try it out… start typing “foszor” in and it will finish it for you. ABSO-FUCKING-AMAZING!
I really think I have a grasp on most of the characters of TF2… sure I’m not a pro at all of them (except Pyro & Demo) but the Spy has always been my worst class. This video explained things to me… from the OTHER point of view. Too many times I would chase a Spy and end up being killed by them in some unexpected way… now I know how they’re doing it!
I had to do some work on my computer lately. When I bought and built this computer I was retarded and bought a small but extremely fast hard drive… high data rate and 10,000RPM! What the fuck was I thinking?! Yes the performance is noticeable, but it really wasn’t worth the cost-to-gigabyte ratio. So most of my applications and games were on my older IDE hard drive from my last computer anyways… which was okay but it didn’t have the speed I was looking for. So I opened up Newegg and bought a newer, larger, SATA drive.
So it’s been a process but I’ve finally got my OS upgraded. I went with Windows 7… yea yea I know its only a beta, but I didn’t feel like sticking with XP, and didn’t feel like buying Vista because Windows 7 is around the corner. So far so good.
As you can kinda see above, Gadget has been upgraded too. Chad did some slick stuff restructuring the layout and design of the engine, and this time we’re working on a lot of the low level utilities before we get ahead of ourselves. After a bit of debate, we moved to Multibyte Character Sets so that (if needed) we can support international languages. You can see our silly “TODO” list off to the side… which is piss poor but it works for now. We need a real project management system… any ideas?
Also added some new headers to the top of my blog, they are all pictures I’ve personally taken. Last time I kept the normal Wordpress blog title text… which forced me to filter rape my images so it would show up against all the backgrounds. This time I just added the text to the header myself and avoided that problem all together.
Hello. Welcome to the Internets! I will be your guide today. Starting off, to our left you will see some advertisements. Just behind those you will see some porn… once again I would like to thank you for joining us today, and we’ll make this as informative as possible.
Okay so here’s the scoop. I’ve been on the internet since Al Gore invented it, and have learned a few things along the way I would like to share. This is just an introduction post and I’ll probably follow up with some others down the road. Lets get started:
1. Google
Google has a plethora of services they offer. Its ridiculous. Its like they have some sort of awesome disease called Diarrhea of Features, and we all get to enjoy and bask in the warm, soupy, corn-filled crap that they spackle the toilet with. All of there features work together for the most part, which makes trying a new one very easy.
Even their search engine is more than a search engine. You can type something along the lines of “convert 1 dollar to euro” or “convert 1 oz to pound” and it will give you the answer. Another thing I do a lot is utilize their “did you mean…” feature. If I can’t spell a word like onomanapea, I just try my best and punch it into Google and they’ll be all like “did you mean onomatopoeia”, and I’m like fuck ya I did!
2. Stop using Internet Explorer
Do I even need to tell you guys about Firefox? I guess I do since my blog stats show a bunch of people using Internet Explorer. There’s no perfect web browser, but in my opinion Firefox is pretty high up there. To be honest, you have a lot of options as far as web browsers go and I’m not going to force one or the other down your throat, but pick one and roll with it. IE is terrible. Its fucking full of security issues and can’t even render transparent PNGs properly. Whats up with that?
Let me see if I got this right: PNGs were designed to be used on the internet… Internet Explorer is supposed to explore the internet… yet it can’t render PNGs properly. Additionally, if you do any web design, you’ll already know that if you want to support all browsers you’ll end up with special IE CSS classes and shit… its ridiculous!
3. Get some web space
Back in the day (wow that makes me sound old) it was all about free websites like Geocities and such. Seriously though, it doesn’t even matter. I’m not saying you need to own a domain (which is really cheap by the way) but just own some sort of web space. You don’t even need to pay for it. One of the most frustrating things is when someone tries to send me a file over some IM client or tries to attach it to an email. I FUCKING HATE GETTING LARGE ATTACHMENTS IN EMAIL! Don’t force me to download shit I don’t want. Just send me a link. You don’t even need to create a website if you don’t want to, just have it hold your files. But stop trying to file transfer it to me, attach it to an email, or use some shitty as free file hosting service that throttles my download speed and pumps my screen full of advertisements.
4. Blogging/Vlogging/Micro-Bloggin
First off, if you don’t know what a blog is… you’re reading one. Now go find a pencil and stick it in your eye. Secondly, read about vlogging and micro-blogging if you need some edumacation. All caught up? Good…
Why do these? First off its a great place to vent… FUCK SHIT DAMN HELL POOP FART APPLESAUCE! Additionally, if you’re a frequent person to the internet and have made some e-friends or meet up with real friends and family online, this is the only way people learn about you and what you’re doing.
But I don’t want people to know about me… I’m scared to reveal my true self
Okay fruitcake whatever… then be a mole and go dig yourself a hole: I’ll assume you’re gone now and continue talking to the normal people. Believe it or not, there are certain aspects of your life that people would take interest in if they knew about it. Maybe you draw? Maybe you write? Maybe you have a strange talent of sticking things in parts of your body that’s not natural… shit you could make money off that sort of stuff!
So think about it. Some useful services would include Wordpress, Twitter, Blogger, Identi.ca and so on… You really don’t need me to link you to anything specific… just Google (see section #1) one of them and find what one floats your proverbial boat.
5. Keep yourself organized
One of the most important aspects of enjoying the internet is being able to revisit objects of interest. Keeping your old emails organized is really important. Create folders for all important websites you frequent and save the emails you get from them in their respective areas.
Also, bookmarks (or Favorites for you IE fags) are important. I’m sure you already know about them and use them… but if you use them a lot I’m going to guess you have a huge menu that opens up and fills up your entire screen. Start making folders like “Funny Videos”, “Free Porn Sites”, and “Entertainment”. When you do this you’ll start noticing you’re able to actually find what you’re looking for. Its just like anything in life really. The more organized you are the more effective your time is utilized.
So I was doing something totally unrelated to anything I’m about to show you, yet I managed to figure this out. It’s pretty simple but its not very practical. I mean, it takes like 6 or 7 minutes to actually do it in game, which would mean you’d totally get owned in the ass in verses if you attempted it (anyone up to that challenge? send me a video of you doing it in verses mode and I’ll post a picture of my tits).
Anyways, I first tried it with the boxes, but they weren’t tall enough and I kept breaking them
Then I tried it with the hand jack, and it was barely not tall enough. Then I managed to flip the hand jack over, which was then too tall to jump on. So I had to reset the campaign again (this time not breaking the boxes) and use the boxes to jump on it. Easy enough? Sure it is, but the fucking bots like to get in your personal space so I’d recommend doing it with friends or kick the bots. On to the video!
Edit: I know it doesn’t make sense to do it, but in my defense I was trying to get the no medkit achievement ON EXPERT and spending all that time to save a little health would really help in the long run! AND NO, ZOMBIES DON’T SPAWN IN SINGLEPLAYER WHEN YOU’RE DOING THIS… I HAD NO CHEATS ON WHILE DOING THIS!
WHRY did you do this Valve? Why do you implement this new idea for PC games and then do such a shitty job. Yes, yes I know its not easy and there is probably more to it than I understand; but dear god… how hard is it to something like:
if ( server_full == true ) then try->again(); end
And if it is, then don’t make me have to go through the click process of searching for a game. I swear to god my biggest complaint about playing online, is the eleventy billion “Server Full” messages or “Human player limit reached (8/8)”. Well thanks for at least trying to give me something new to read with that latter message, but you know what? It still shouldn’t happen. It’s sad when I nearly ragequit before I even start playing!
The other problem with this so-called “matchmaking” process (if you can really call it that; moar like ragemaking) is the fact that both server operators and players get screwed. Its like a double wammy screw in both our buttholes, followed by a bukkake in our fucking face.
Here’s the problem:
Bob wants to play a normal game of verses. He finds a game in progress (lucky you Bob!) and within the first few minutes realizes something: the hunters do way more damage than they should and there are far more common zombies than normal. You know why Bob? You don’t? Well I’m here to tell you that you’re on a modded server. Some fucktard mcgee changed a bunch of convars around for the lulz-factor.
Now it’s Tyron’s turn. He’s been playing the game for a long time and wants a new challenge. Earlier today he was playing on a modded server and he really enjoyed it! The boomers had a shorter recharge time, most of the infected did far more damage, and the tank was real tough to kill. Well guess what Tyron: not only do you have a terrible fucking name, but you’re probably never going to find that server again! So no matter how much you try, you’re going to end up emo… so just go cry in the corner and cut yourself.
The server operators don’t get to have regulars, they don’t get any benefit from running the server other than a tiny banner in the scoreboard and a stupid MOTD that no one reads anyways. Where’s the name of the server? DO I REALLY NEED TO RUN SOME FORM OF THIRD PARTY APP JUST SO PEOPLE KNOW OUR WEBSITE? Are you fucking kidding me? You don’t even give us the ability to join our own fucking server! We have to use stupid fucking console command hacks to attempt to get there, and even that shit fails 80% of the time. No! I don’t want to click from the main menu! I want to start a lobby and have it join my server… is it really that hard to understand?
Valve you make great games, Left 4 Dead is a great game… you just wrapped up the online play in a wrapping known as styrofail. Please remove it. Give us server operators and gamers alike the ability to play where ever the fuck we want.
So what’s Gadget? Well its now the official name of the game engine Chad and I have started. Its purpose is to provide us a new medium for the game ideas we seem to develop constantly. Garry’s Mod was a great outlet, but I believe we’ve come to a point where we’ve outgrown it.
Fortunately enough, we both have experience with the Source SDK (Chad more than I) and learned some great concepts from its example. We’re designing Gadget with a lot of Source Engine style ideas and organizing it similar to what Valve has done.
Back in the day I completely rewrote the Quake 2 engine… and made a couple of cool games out of it. But it’s been so long I don’t remember hardly anything anymore; I also blame Garry for making me lazy and scripting for the last few years… naw just kidding Garry But now I’ve realized something, and I quote from what I said to Chad:
“I never knew how much I didn’t know”
It totally sounds like double talk, but its true. I didn’t even know what a heap and a stack were, when to use references, pointers, structures… NOTHING! How’d I manage to make games? The fuck if I know… in retrospect it was like playing darts in the dark. I would randomly change stuff until it worked, not ever truly know why it worked.
We did a lot of work on it today, even made the logo (see above).
So during the holidays, which include both my kids birthdays (Aidan Dec 8th, Ashlyn Jan 2nd) we entertained lots of family and friends. This is fun and all, especially because you get to spend the holidays at home instead of traveling, but it really takes a toll on the house. You got shit loads of trash, and boxes, and cans and bottles, and other random crap you need to throw away. Problem with that is we normally overfill our trashcan and recycling can in two days!
Well we’ve sorta caught up on all the waste, and now that Ashlyn’s birthday party is over (marking the end of our extended holiday season) we can begin work cleaning up! Yay! Moar like booooooo-fucking-hooooo.
My man cave has been really neglected lately. I had to spend a good amount of time moving shit around, picking up random randomness everywhere, and sweeping/dusting it all out.
The funny thing about me is I’m not a man who’s big on sweets; really I’m not. But when there are certain sweets in the house and I think about them, once in a blue moon I start craving it. And the worst part about craving something is when you go to get it and it’s not there! So I find myself hiding stuff from people, usually non-perishable products like cookies or candy. But the worst part about hiding something is when you forget you hid it. So I’m cleaning out my garage and go to put something away in my toolbox… HI DIDDLY HO HIDDEN SWEETOES! Media is related:
Since I had my phone camera active, I figured I’d take some more pictures. An overview of my entertainment area:
The ugly backside of my garage where the storage portion is:
I don’t drink coffee much, but when I do I use my manly coffee mug:
My manly movie collection and pen holder:
My new bottle opener (they somehow flattened the glass bottle):
It’s been a while, but in my defense… fuck you. Anyways. Post-holiday time is always hectic. It’s like you’re starting a new year and you have to first pick yourself up from the lazy holiday season. It’s a really poorly designed system. The holidays should be in the middle of the year, or like right after we get tax returns. That way when the government coughs up a bunch of cash back to us slaves, we can inject it right back into the economy… instead of trying to save it (which we don’t) and end up being broke by holiday season.
So yesterday was my daughters birthday party; good times. But because we have some new people working on my shift which I’m still training (and aren’t ready to work alone yet) my work schedule has been fucked up. I have to work 7 days straight and I didn’t even get the day off for her party. So I had to come home from work, help finish everything for the party, take a few hour nap and wake up and act all happy. Then after everyone left I tried to get some shut eye… a whopping hour and a half before work. Needless to say I was totally tired as a mudda fucka and started hallucinating on my drive home!
Couple of things I plan on doing this year: Chad and I are still discussing our game, we’ve even created a svn repository and sorta tinkering. Well it’s mainly Chad tinkering and me thinkering. I haven’t actually contributed to the code yet, but I did upgrade my Visual Studio installation in preparation for it! From what I can tell we’re going to make Zinger into a stand alone game, or maybe not… we don’t know yet but the first step is the game engine anyway.
I also started using my Google Calender; such an epic tool. I have so many things going on at any given time that I lose track of them so easily. I made a promise to myself to start utilizing it. WHRY?! Dude the service is free and it iterates into my phone perfectly… why wouldn’t I?
Since GATM went down I find myself playing games more often… love it! But my developer side is hungry. Luckily I’ve found a friend in Waxx and the Mine-Dog community. We’ve been working together a lot more lately and I’ve been able to tinker with their website and all that fun stuff. Will be interesting to see what we can manage in 2009.
Speaking of which, in 2009 I’ll be aiming to keep my blog more frequently updated, and add a Twitter thingymajiggy. I’ll probably start that right after I finish this blog post.DONE!
Let’s see, I think that about sums up this post. OH! One last thing, I think I want to take a film class of sorts. Possibly a filming techniques and editing course. I’ve always wanted to make machinima but lacked the video editing ability. I downloaded a demo for Sony Vegas once and I felt like a fag in a titty bar.
I found a holy Quran app for my phone and downloaded it so I could post in the comments "God bless u for this app" then uninstalled itabout 23 hours agofrom Ping.fm
But now I’ve realized something, and I quote from what I said to Chad:
