GoW3 imminent, + doacks

GoW3 will be coming out in the near future. I'm in the process of uploading it, which does take a while on this shitty Canadian internet. I won't be posting a new blog for its release, since the release will be in a day or two.

Meanwhile I've been updating old Black Sun models for the hell of it and practicing. Maybe I have plans for these, maybe not. But, for now, they're getting patched up. If you watch my dA, some of these renders are newer than stuff posted there.

And something exclusively for this post... some completely new stuff...

These two are unrelated to any Black Sun work...

doacks

For some reason it took this long for someone to notice that Conan seg4-5 was missing about 40 minutes of video. It was no subtle thing. I guess no one's watching the videos after all. Or they were too lazy to say anything. Which is worrisome. Anyways, that missing video is now available as segment 4b if anyone gives a fuck.

GoW3 is about 3/4 verified and Exigo is about 1/2 recorded. I'm starting to wonder if it's really worth the effort, though. Maybe I should devote what's left of my energy to my private projects again. If sc2 1.5 turns out to actually be an improvement for the editor I may be ready to take Deep Throat Gazelle to the next phase of production. Or maybe I should try to write again. It's been two and a half years...

Desk built, work continues

It took me 10 hours nonstop, mostly due to the excrutiating back and knee pain, but I got my new desk mostly set up. Just the cornerpiece needs fastening to the other two, but I'm gonna excavate my closet before I do that since there's next to no space. During this process I nearly lost my new video card to some silly circumstances, but everything seems ok so we're moving on.

Meanwhile, GoW3 is estimated to be around 3/8 verified, with Exigo's recordings 1/3 done. I've been mostly taking a break these last few days, between lethargy and pain, catching my breath.

Exigo has certainly surprised me as a game. I like to think of it as an alpha, seeing as it has the EA logo on it, of something that could have been grand. Unfortunately, as it is an alpha, it has a lot of rough edges and hilariously bad audio. This game deserved more than shitty, vomity cookie-cutter bad publishers. Where did it all go wrong? A question I ask myself two-fold, seeing as this is the same developer who made HoMM6, with members allegedly reporting that Ubisoft had gutted them halfway through the game's lifespan and forced them to finish it immediately. Why on earth did you guys shack up with two of the stupidest publishers you could get your hands on?

Plans for summer

Setting up shop

The struggle with CTS and lethargy wages on, but physical pain is often at the forefront of my challenges when making lengthy recordings. With summer fast approaching, temperatures skyrocketing, and my efforts to clean up the dead hookers in the ditch going relatively smoothly, I'm setting stage for a long road of LP productions in the rest of the year.

Last year I spent $300 on a new leather computer chair in an effort to combat my physical decay, but this has not helped. In fact, I believe it has made the problems even worse. I bought a new keyboard, mouse, and more to try to change things up. A new desk. I no longer fight just CTS but joint pain, back pain, knee pain, everything hurts in some way or another. With so much money, so much time, no end to the fight seems in sight.

Today I put down another $570 on a huge, L-shape desk similar to my days of old when I was making music. It will arrive friday and I will have to basically rebuild half of my room. It will be painful and difficult but I do it to continue the fight to improve my environment. I was about to shell out another $600 for a chair but decided to hold off and see how the desk goes. My current desk is not fantastic, it's too high and all of the pressure when using my mouse goes straight into the bone below my thumb. That skin is a deep red, withered and worn after years of abuse.

Every nerve in all of my fingers tingles and burns when still or in motion, keeps me awake at night and is generally in agony. My hands are fucked, and I must do what I can to try to ease the pressure if I am to undertake a summer of content production.

To make a very long story brief, I am in pain. I knew I would end up this way and I knew there was nothing I could do to change it. I decided to ignore it to the best of my ability and work to the best of my ability. To this day that mantra holds true, but now I have the money to change my environment, and I am going to do so.

Storage & Hardware

I wanted to upgrade my system in 2012 but decided against it because the cost->performance is not significant for me. Instead I bought a new 3tb a while ago to replace prebuilt external that spins up. Works like a charm.

I plan to buy at least one more 3tb this year to replace a 1tb internal and use for SD recording.

I plan to buy a second monitor for dual monitor to help with my general workflow and multitasking.

I'm in possession of an Xbox 360 and am looking for 360 exclusive titles worth LP'ing. Please send me recommendations.

Software & Encoding

I experimented with 10-bit encodes but found no benefit to using them. No quality increase, no size change, nothing. All major video players natively support 10-bit now regardless, so there's no harm in using it anyways. GoW3 will not use it though.

mkvmerge is giving me issues with videos and always has. It's random and part of my verification process to spot them and try to fix them. I missed one problem in Conan seg 6 and someone immediately pointed it out, so I fixed that. But I'd rather just not have to worry about it. I need a solution or a replacement ASAP.

Almost all of my software and settings lost when I reinstalled windows for Black Sun are now re-instated and functioning again.

Major Projects

All plans for a UDK project were dropped at the end of Black Sun, but I will still write out the game document to bring my ideas into paper. The video-based version of this game document is not likely to ever live unless I find extra time.

The BW video, The Ball LP, and Hunted are considered in stasis, but Hunted at least will get tackled in the near future. I am not sure how to solve the other two yet. I do plan to get to them eventually, but right now, I honestly just don't care enough to spend the hours necessary to solve the mysterious problems when I've already spent so much time.

There are zero plans for another Black Sun episode or any related elements but I won't rule them out if I find the strength to turn my life around and start getting motivated again. Don't bother hoping for it.

TOA, my life's work, is considered dead for the same reason everything else moves at a crawl - lethargy and no motivation. With my anxiety strengthening, I feel non-stop, physically painful tension in my chest and it renders all basic tasks difficult and trying. Two and a half years have passed since it last breathed. It is over. I live now for the moment, and nothing more.

I have no intentions of casting Starcraft 2 ever again.

LP Summer Projects

These games are extremely strong considerations for being a part of my summer marathon;

Demon's Souls
Dark Souls
DMC series
Various N64 titles including Body Harvest
Many vintage games on a provided list are likely to be attempted, including the Castlevania series and FF6/Chrono Trigger
Golden Axe: Beast Rider
Heavenly Sword
Darksiders 2 (when it comes out)

I will not be LP'ing diablo 3 or hots.

Current video projects

I am editing God of War 3, recording Armies of Exigo, and plan to finish verifying Hunted as soon as convenient. I will pursue efforts to finish the BW video but offer no promises. Following Armies of Exigo I could attempt anything.

I have cleaned up a lot of my hard drives and, if I can get the BW videos out of the way, I'll be fairly able to accommodate large-scale recording projects like RPG's.

For all those who have been a part of my audience this long, I welcome you into the new stages of my productions. I build these videos for you, now. I do not advertise in any shape or form, I am not paid for anything I do, and I'd have it no other way.

GoW2 available

GoW2 is finally, finally up. It entailed more precision work and about 40-50 hours or so of editing the audio. But I eventually go through it despite my agonizing wrist and joint pain. One more is off my list.

With the last of the truly annoying edits out of the way, I'm left with The Ball and the BW Videos for videos I am not actually sure how to fix. I foresee frapsing MPC, but I need a vast span of time I'm not doing anything so I can sit and wait for hours while they record.

Meanwhile, Hunted remains to be verified, and Conan is about halfway done. When I reach GoW3 I'll begin my Hi10p experiences and see if it's worth it or not.

Donde estas una retardo?

I'm going to be experimenting with 10-bit video encodes soon. If I find that they are a worthwhile progression from my current setup, I plan to move to 10-bit encoding for all future productions starting with God of War 3 and Armies of Exigo.
What this means for you - Your VLC or MPC will need to be up to date. They should both natively support 10-bit videos now.

- Hi10p boasts increased quality (especially in reds and blacks) over 8-bit encodes and smaller filesizes, but may be more demanding to decode (aka don't watch 1080p videos on your fucking cellphone). Since I no longer encode 60fps videos the decode speed should be no big deal. How much of a quality/size difference the encode makes on my tests will determine whether or not I decide to test field an LP with it.

What this means for me - Like, 30% longer encode times. Big whoop. I'm patient if it means better overall delivery.

GoW2 is scheduled for anal apocalypse in a day or two, depending how long uploads and final audio processing take.

Updatez

So, some general updates.

I've been mostly resting these last few days, fighting the unstoppable anxiety that has plagued me for years. Hopefully the infernal heat of summer will give me something else to think about and allow more clear workflow.

Conan - A good chunk of this is verified, about 1/4. I plan to split the 2-3 hour long final boss fight into its own segment a la Ares. No, this is not nearly as interesting a fight of Ares, it's just incredibly stupid. Hope you like the words "Black Man" and "Black Men", as they regularly beat the living shit out of me. I die over a hundred times in this fight alone. I set aside the work on this to put some more into GoW2.

GoW2 - Almost all of the vegas stuff is verified. Remember, I picked this up with fraps/virtualdub after. It is not within my power, nor do I desire to, redo the final boss fight. I will cast over the fight, do some casting/edit hackery to cut down the 2 hours of QTE fail into something reasonable, and I've already recorded every involved cinematic with fixed audio.

GoW3 - I'm about 3/4 way through the game (presumably) with no known issues thus far. I don't recall if the cast is particularly strong or not, but I'm trying to play only when I'm awake. Not so successful yet. The game itself is good though.

The Ball - I need to fraps mpc of the first segment of this and re-encode it to fix it. Sloppy, but the only thing I can do now. Otherwise, 1/2 verified and dormant atm.

BW videos - Dormant. I need to record stuff like The Ball, except many hours, and hopskotch audio. My lethargy and unwillingness to deal with this means this production is likely to get pushed well past my future material.

Future -

After I finish playing GoW3 I will probably try Armies of Exigo. After that, I have no idea.

I have the DMC HD collection, now. That's DMC 1/2/3. I have a 360 with Fable 3 and a download code for Halo: Reach. Recommend me good 360-exclusive titles.