Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Tank you



At last, after a couple of hours doing texturing, my tank is fully texture mapped. For your information, all textures were created by myself with photoshop. No external images or brushes, just some good filter usage, brushing and filling. Behold, the German Panther in it's full glory (or at least about the best it's going to get).


| HCH - 12:22 AM |



Thursday, May 22, 2008

Just following suit

If two people wrote something, it might be worth reading. If three people wrote something, it must be really good.

So here I am, after a really long break, coming back just for a slice of the action and the fun in following suit.

It's really really overdue but what the hey, last sunday we (me, hoho, lionel, sam and jeanie) finally made our trip to St. John's island! It's really small if you look at it from the map, i think the whole island takes up less and one page in the street directory, but on the island itself it actually feels quite sizable. The island used to be a detention and quarantine camp, so there's a lot of fenced up zones with sentry posts and barbed wire, though it's supposedly no longer in use. Then again, who can tell? The government is probably doing some stuff there that they don't want the public to know about. Who cares though.

The island is your stereotypical storybook tropical paradise. First time I’d ever been there, and I would have taken a lot more photos had my phone camera battery not given up on me. The beach was just so undisturbed and lush and wonderful. The sea was really clear and sparkled in the sun. The grass was so soft and smooth, like a putting green. Lionel brought a hammock and I made sandwiches. It was really a day just set for rest and relaxation, though ironically, I found it tiring. But it was truly worth it and I’d do it all over again if I had the chance. Took a walk with lionel and for the first time in my life, I actually got to enjoy the unspoiled beauty of nature. Tropical islets covered in lush green flora, coconut trees and mangrove swamps. There was this part where the ground was covered in thousands of brilliant yellow leaves and the trees with red flowers, it felt so surreal. It's natural beauty easily surpasses any beach or park found in mainland singapore. My only disappointment was the mosquito bites, which still plague me up till now. Leaving the island, we got to see a magnificent sunset coloring the sky a rich orange and the waters sparkling golden.

Everyone else has posted the exact same photos in one order or another, but for the sake of amusement and completeness I shall dutifully post them here as well.



Just arrived mid-morning after a 30 minute ferry ride.



At the jetty.



The only official entrance to the island, and we proceed...



....but oops, suddenly it's time to go already with no photos of the actual outing itself.



Sunset and goodbye.

Is it already nearly june holidays? Feels like the term started not too long ago, and its already week 6. Time really flies. I just realised from hong en today that the runescape economy has been totally scrapped, making the game more like Soloscape or some social gathering game instead of a real MMORPG. I’m really glad I quit the game ages ago, it’s just getting from good to bad to really really horrible. I’ll admit merchanting has it’s risks (like my loss in cabal), but it also makes the game dynamic and interesting. A MMORPG without trading and economy is like a car without wheels, it’s comfy and safe, you won’t get hurt, but it’s pretty boring and useless for all purposes that matter.

Anyway i've got to finish up all my remaining projects by the week's end.


P.S. We did have lunch on the island! Yummy white bread with a generous spread of some mildly radioactive something goop! If it looks like spinach, it must be as good as spinach!

P.P.S. The above photo is not edited... sort of

P.P.P.S. I might be having you on. Or not. Heh.


| HCH - 10:40 PM |



Thursday, May 8, 2008

How do you know

Third Day - How do you know

I've got my doubts and I've got my questions
It's nothing new 'cause I've seen them before
I've had my share of false revelations
It always seems they're knockin' on my door

You said that I should see the light
But sometimes faith is blind

How do you know, how do you know
What I'm suppose to be doing
Why do you go, why do you go on
Thinking you know my fate
So many times I've lost my step
But never lost my way
How do you know, how do you know
When I don't know myself

You're thinking that you've got all the answers
You've got my situation figured out
But you're only seeing part of the picture
There's so much more that you don't know about

And here you come to speak your mind
But I'll say one more time

How do you know, how do you know
What I'm suppose to be doing
Why do you go, why do you go on
Thinking you know my fate
So many times I've lost my step
But never lost my way
How do you know, how do you know
When I don't know myself

How do you know, how do you know
What I'm suppose to be doing
Why do you go, why do you go on
Thinking you know my fate
So many times I've lost my step
But never lost my way
How do you know, how do you know
When I don't know myself


| HCH - 9:45 PM |



Friday, May 2, 2008

Welcome to the Real World

It's the end of week three of the new semester and things are as boring as ever. C++ programming is bad once you get to know the higher level languages, interesting how I found it fun last year in innova. Well anyway right now I'm studying 3D Modelling and here's what I'm going to do for my assignment:



Taadaa, a 3D model of a WWII German Panther Tank. It's meant to be low polygon so it renders fast in games, so don't expect too much detail. At 1040 polygons, this is some 3D eye candy. Don't let the simplistic looks fool you, slip on a good texture and this tank will be perfect for a casual java game.

Interestingly, the main frame takes up only around 200 polygons! The bulk of the polygon count comes from the tank tracks and wheels. Thats the bane of polygonal modelling - circles.

In case you're wondering what I used to model this tank, its a program called 3ds Max (also known as 3D Studio MAX), a nifty 3000 dollar application that will eventually be used to create the matrix. Fortunately, this program is available in the school computer labs for me to use. Unfortunately, it cannot be legally transferred to my laptop via the school. READ: Legally and school.

Anyways, here is the photograph of a real panther tank which I used as a reference for my model. (For all I know it could be itself a photorealistic 3d model, thats the thing which those high end models these days, which such hyperreality you cannot differentiate the real from the unreal anymore...)

I'm pretty sure this photograph is authentic, though.



Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Thats all for now. Are you disappointed? Heh.


| HCH - 10:12 PM |