#i just wanted an excuse to draw manticores lets be real

[gubbles-owo]

Looking forward to Super Manticore Ball coming from the marble experiment. "Hold still to become invisible" would even work well as an integral mechanic!

keeping the marble still... in a marble maze game.... the ultimate test of skill, on god..., Y'know, I haven't really thought about the context of marble game much yet. Right now it's just a wooden board with a metal marble (the reflective metal is just an excuse to get away with a single billboarded sprite :3c), but it'd be cool to switch up the context... maybe it's an intricate key to unlocking a device, or perhaps you're just rolling a pillbug around in a shoebox. Typically I'll go into something with a pretty solid idea of how I want to present it, but since the aim largely amounts to a vague "get a Thing working on the N64", I haven't really given the presentation much thought. The only question in my mind as of late is "how in the h*ck do i handle collision" (there's no "game engine" here so I get to figure out how to program that from scratch, yay yippee!!) Similarly I also haven't thought much about the end goal of the Manticore model... again it's primarily an exercise to learn how to model a character that looks halfway decent. I've got OCs, sure, but no visual reference for them (at least I can't draw much myself nor afford commissions of em atm). And god the visual reference helps soooo so much when it comes to working out the shape of a thing in 3D space. So the ongoing hyperfixation brainrot of a particular Arknights character-- one that has both official reference art and a bunch of fanart-- seemed like a natural choice of subject xD

But if I can be brutally real about it... I don't think the model is gonna suit itself to *actually* run well on the N64. It's still fairly dense in terms of tri count, especially in the head/face area, like augh look how much is going on here. And for the love of all that is unholy I do not know how to model low poly hair. It's either an awkward clump of too much geometry-- something more reminiscent of 6th gen than 5th-- or it looks real flat and lifeless, with that perfect middle ground always escaping my grasp. Maybe someday I'll crack that code, but I have the sneaking suspicion that the character has to be designed with these limitations in mind from the outset. or maybe that's just an excuse for not knowing much lol I could potentially slap her in marble game if I can manage to think up a context that works... I'll have to let my brain sit on the whole presentation thing while I whittle away at optimizations and physics nonsense. Mark my words, whatever I wind up doing with the Manticore model... it's gonna be yuri.

[acevity]

am i sitting here making owl house ocs? yes, yes i am.

[docandprof]

Am I Crazy, Or Am I Just Unsure?

Good Evening Monsieur,

Lemme just start off by saying that it is so refreshing to have such a calming voice talk me off the ledge of stressed out adulthood. The world is a scary place that can chew you up and spit you out before you even know it happens. And unfortunately, sometimes I get swallowed up in the unhealthy mindset that I have to have my shit together and have all the answers. Luckily, the world can also be a pretty beautiful place, made peaceful and bearable by the people you have in your life - and a little whimsy doesn’t hurt either. You ask me what I would want to do if there were no limitations of money and status, and that is exactly what I ask myself on a daily basis. If I am being honest, I think I would want to hang out with my friends on a professional level. Watching Critical Role and other content creators, it is so heart warming to see friends living and working together, being their authentic selves and creating something that they love. Maybe that is why I am so drawn to D&D, because there is an element of creation and personality that is so tightly interwoven with the relationships of the people around the table (or in the Discord). Plus, I am a huge nerd. But I guess all I want in life is to create something with people that I love. Being a doctor would be lead to an awesome life, and I think I would be pretty good at it, but who knows if I have what it takes to make it there? I love history, but what would I do? It is the story that draws me to history. I tell everyone that my favorite aspect of history as a whole is the oddness of it all. Here are these series of events that happened to a bunch of random people in random places, all sounding like a made up story, yet they all ACTUALLY happened! A Roman emperor actually appointed his horse to the Council! I am just torn on what it is that God has in store for me. I know He has a plan, and all things will work together in my favor, but the mortal in me cries out for clarity and a roadmap. But until the day comes for me to make those decisions, I am taking it as it comes.

I’m glad you talked about books so much. Even before I moved into my new place, I was thinking about getting back into reading. So I had my parents bring me the rest of the GoT books (2-5). I haven’t started reading 2 again, but I am slowly starting to lean towards picking it back up. I have this great corner in my room next to a lamp, a window, and my small bedside table that is just screaming for a comfortable leather recliner to find its home there. If I just had that, I would read so much. But that is just an excuse for not reading.

Speaking of literature, Lenny was a really fun character to write and act out. We started the campaign last week and it is looking like he will be coming out to play every Wednesday night. He is a Leonin (lion-man) Barbarian. Absolute tower of muscle, but just the sweetest guy. While he has the intelligence of 7, he is actually revered as the smartest member of his tribe. As the prince, he has been called to embark on the right of the kings, a great hunt that every leonin prince of his tribe must endure, venturing out into the great beyond to slay vile monstrosities of nature like chimeras, manticores, and owlbears; beasts of unnatural combination. Only when he has slain these beasts of legend, may he return, offering up a trophy of his conquest, earning him the right to succeed his father as king. I’m gonna have a ton of fun playing this guy, wielding “Maw,” his glaive-sword, and just being a comedic relief for the party. Hopefully, I can play it just right where nobody really believes my story and takes me for a simple brute, only to find that everything I have been saying is true, but that depends on how well I can RP that.

D&D has been the only real noteworthy aspect of my life other than work. It can be a tad lonely here in Nashville, even though I have a few guys still here in Nashville, as well as roommates. But I just miss the day-to-day communication and excitement that comes with talking to someone about their day. I had that for most of quarantine with a certain lady friend from back home, but the trail has gone cold on that for the past month or so, which has been a pretty big downer for me. I am sure you understand who it is I am talking about and the very nature of this person may not surprise you when it comes to communication problems. And I must admit, I am not surprised that this very scenario has occurred, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt. So I think the re-publication of this blog has come at a very good time for me.

Alright, wrap up time! My weekly recommendation will actually be two recommendations: 1) say “I love you” to someone you don’t say it too very often, because words have meaning and people need to hear how much people care about them, and 2) listen to “Bye Bye Lil Sebastian” from Parks and Rec because the song is stuck in my head today. Ponderance of the week: If you could host any TV game show for the foreseeable future (meaning not just a one-time gig but not for life), which would you choose? Felt like letting some of the randomness of my brain out and ending this week on a whacky note.

With love,

El Niño