#since paint tool sai I remember that at some point the thing would start tweaking out lol

[yhwcomeback]

how's cole's poster going? i haven't see you draw him recently, so i'm pretty excited to see how you design him (^.^)

I think I posted a sketch not long ago on twitter, I had do re-do all of the designs because I really didn't like how the hair was at first, and took me a while to get it where I wanted. Right now I'm stuck on the Possesion - Day of the Departed era, because I really want that part in specific to look good since it's a character development for him. I'm ngl it's really hard to get on the mindset of drawing these lol, probably will get to it next weekend because of Brazilian Carnaval lasts 5 days, so I can work on it without issue, I think that's what I did last year too.

[dhabitahpunk-art]

Hey guys! I’ve decided to make a “how I paint skin” tutorial. It is quite a detailed step by step tutorial so strap yourselves in for this one! Also, it’s step by step because I want to teach you how to pick your own skin color palettes and shading, and take no shortcuts!! This will go a long way, guys!

Just a disclaimer: I am no expert in painting skin realistically but these are just different things I’ve picked up from my fav artists and tweaked them to suit my style.

1. First step is to make your sketch. I suggest that you also use a reference of a real person for this practice. References help a lot! Don’t be afraid to also use the eyedropper tool as this will teach you a lot about skin color palettes!

(I know my ref image is not a real person, shush. XD He still looks realistic enough. Haha.)

2. Now, usually, I will duplicate the sketch layer and paint it dark red. I will turn off the original sketch layer and use it for back up later just in case we need it.

Okay! Let’s get started with picking your color palette! I pretty much don’t have a standard skin palette as I’m someone who likes to do things from scratch and then just go with the flow. I’ll go through more on that later on in this tutorial.

I usually start with this kinda desaturated orange. This will be our base for now.

3. Now, this next color will be, I would say the slightly lighter parts of the skin (but not quite the highlights). This color will slightly be even less saturated compared to the previous color.

Also, it will be more towards yellow.

4. Next color is the highlight. This is pretty much close to white and ever so slightly to yellow.

5. For the dark shadows of the skin, there’s two types: The more reddish tones and the more ‘bluish’ tones.

For the red ones, I would put my color wheel closer to red and darker than the base color.

6. For the dark cold shadows, I will move the color wheel even more closer to magenta and then make it very desaturated, almost like a gray.

Quick Summary:

Here’s a simple annotation of what my color picking looks like most of the time for a normal portrait with normal lighting.

As a rule of thumb, the dark shadows and highlights will be almost desaturated, and the base color is the most saturated.

7. Alright. Now, let’s make a new layer below the sketch layer. Paint in the base color.

8. Now, personally, since I want my character to have a fairer skin, I think my base color is a bit too ‘tanned’. This is why I say, I tend to just go with the flow and not always use a fixed skin palette.

But anyways, I will just desaturate it a bit (remember, the lighter the skin color, the more desaturated it will be).

Then, I just increase the brightness a bit.

9. Let’s start with painting the dark red parts. These are the parts where you can see the blood underneath the skin more visibly. So, around the eyes, below the cheeks and at the tip of the nose. Not the cast shadow of the nose, though!!

10. Now, let’s paint the cast shadows. Cast shadows tend to have that cold bluish shadow we picked out just now. So like below the neck, below the nose (or any cast shadow from the nose).

Over here, I feel like the tone is a bit too bluish and almost too light (since we did increase the brightness just now).

After adjusting the tone:

So, I will just adjust is a bit to be darker and maybe slightly a bit more red. Isn’t it weird how it looks cold but if you use the color picker, it’s actually in the reds? Skin colors be crazy, y’all. Our eyes like to play tricks with us. -.-

11. Now, that I’ve adjusted the cast shadow color, let’s start painting over the shadows.

12. Now, paint in the lighter color from the base color over the cheekbones, the bridge of the nose, chin, and above the eyebrows. Please refer to your reference for this!

13. Let’s start blending. Now, I have made my own blending brush here. It kinda creates a textured skin look. You can play around with ‘jitter’ or ‘spacing’ in your program to get this kinda texture.

As I go along, I will add in more shadows where I see fit. For example, my character is a male, so he has more cast shadows below his eyebrow (around his eye socket). I also use a gray to paint in the eyes.

14. This next step is gonna be a bit scary for some of you especially if you’re a beginner! And that is merging your sketch layer with the colored skin.

But don’t be afraid and just try! Remember, we still have the original sketch layer that we kept. So in case you want to revert, you have that layer to copy again.

Anyways, here, I will use a softer round blending brush (not one with jitter) and just blend in the sketch layer softly.

Again, adding more shadows and form as I go along. Like over here, I’ve used a darker red for the bottom of the tip of the nose (remember, the tip of the nose is red!)

I’ve also used the highlight color to add in the very bright highlights (sorry it’s a bit hard to see in the pic cuz it’s almost white like the canvas!) but at this point, we still want to keep it very soft and blended. We will add in the details later. There’s highlights at the tip of the nose and the side of the nostrils, for eg.

QUICK TIP: Make a new layer with a medium gray color and put the layer mode on “Color” or “Hue”. This will allow you to check the values quickly.

As you can see, I still have a lot more dark parts missing.

When I’m going to add darker tones, I tend to put them on a new layer and change it to “Multiply”. Making these type of changes on a new layer will allow more flexibility without you ruining the base painting.

This is what my drawing looks like now after all the touching up. I’ve colored the iris and brows too (on a new layer).

15. This is where I will add in the shadow. Do it on a new layer and use a clipping mask so it won’t go outside your base. I’m also using the base color but put the layer mode to “Multiply” to really darken it.

16. Remember to do it for the iris as well, if need be!

17. Now, time to put in the sharper highlights! These highlights are usually around the eye lids and eye corners (near the tear ducts), nose tip, cupid’s bow, lips, chin.

18. Next, let’s add some details. Do this on a new layer and put the layer mode to “Multiply”. You can also use this as a clipping mask onto your base layer.

The brush I use has a spotted tip. And then just use jitter or huge spacing to really spread out these dots. I mainly paint these over the cheeks and the forehead.

19. Make another layer and using the same brush, just make it bigger so the spots look bigger. Use a soft eraser to erase some of the freckles/blemishes.

20. Lastly, go back to your highlight layer and using that same brush, just brush over the cheeks and chin where the light hits.

21. Do some final adjustments. Like, again, I feel like my character needs to be a tad bit more pale. So what should I do?

(Correct answer: Desaturate the color and brighten it overall.)

Remember, the lighter you go, the less saturated the color should look! Also, remember that shadows are also desaturated!

And that’s it! I hope you learn something new today in terms of coloring and shading. :)

[marvelous-heroimagines]

Visitors From 616

Requested by: Anonymous (Here are the specifics)

Pairing: Reader x Avengers (Platonic!) Word Count: 2.7K Warnings: Swearing, meta

A/N: Reader is 16 years old. Set before Infinity War.

"Just give me a second honey,” your father notes to your mother before turning to address you, “Now, Y/N,” he says while staring at you intensely, and as your mother tugs on his sleeve and complains about being late, “I would say don’t go into my workshop, but as you are my daughter, I know you’ll do it anyway. And I would say don’t fiddle with any of my inventions, but again... My daughter,” he chuckles before trying to look stern, “So, my only rule is this: Do not, under any circumstance, messy around with the Stargate,”

You nod at his words, trying to look as innocent and trusting as possible, and luckily your dad believes you; he finally gives in to your mum’s pulling and bids you a goodbye with a hug, “Be good while we’re away, kiddo... And try to brain storm some new names for the Stargate, there’s got to be something better,”

You can’t help but laugh - he was definitely right about the dumb name - and sweetly wave at your parents as they leave. They were going away for the weekend, and you couldn’t wait to finally get your hands on the beta versions of Anthony Stark Tech. Your dad had been promising to allow you to help with his inventions for years now, but he never stayed true to his promise. You’d been throwing around some ideas that you think would actually make some of the inventions work.

It took only 30 minutes of you attempting to follow your dad’s rule to break it. Now you were hunched over a steel desk, your eyes darting back and forth between his notebook on the Stargate and your own - he had no idea that you had been secretly sneaking into his lab and fiddling with his inventions for 5 years now.

You had your dad’s genius mind - maybe it was genetic, or maybe because you’ve spent almost all of your spare time with him for as long as you can remember. You knew that you still had a lot of study and learning to do before you were as smart as your dad, but he was convinced you were smarter than he was at 16.

Scribbling down your newest idea to get the Stargate to work, you push off from the desk and glide over to the invention in your chair. Grabbing a few tools, you begin to tinker. You’re not worried about what punishment you would receive if your parents discovered you’d broken your dad’s rule - ‘he’ll be thanking me for making it work,’ you cockily think to yourself as you start working on the machine.

You wake from a nap you don’t remember taking - you must’ve passed out. You wipe drool from the side of your mouth and huff a sigh, realising you weren’t gonna crack this tonight. The lab was creeping when it was dark and silent, so you hurriedly leave and take the well lit elevator to the Tower’s penthouse - your parents house.

“Jarvis?” you call into the intercom,

“Yes, Miss Stark, what can I do for you?” the Tower’s night time head security manager’s voice sounds back,

“Can you please double check the private levels are locked down,” you request,

“Triple checked,” he replies, making you feel reassured you were safe in the big Tower, alone,

“Thank you,” you say, “Over and out,” you add with a tone of amusement. Your parents had employed Jarvis long before you were born; you’d known him for as long as you can remember and you thought of him as an uncle,

“Sleep well, Miss Stark,” you hear his voice from the intercom at the elevator as you make your to your room, “Over and out,” you can help but let out a small snicker - the two of you had upheld the ‘over and out’ thing ever since you were older enough to understand that the intercom connected to the security managers, and it wasn’t a weird robot stuck in the metal panel in the wall.

Loud blaring and shaking jolts you from sleep. It takes you a few seconds to shake off the sleep before you’re springing out of bed and racing to see what was happening. A monitor in the lounge room tells you that a fire has started in the lab, and your heart jumps into your throat as you begin to panic.

“What the fuck did I do?!” you curse yourself as you desperately punch the elevator button.

You sprint out of the elevator and desperately search for the fire extinguisher. That is until you realise there isn’t a fire, but instead a white cloud settles and reveals 5 figures standing around the Stargate invention.

“Hey!” you yell. But that only sends your heart racing as you realise that you had absolutely no way to fight off 5 fully grown adults - you could hardly carry a 10kg weight for more than 3 metres, you were a nerd!

As the white cloud settles - which you deduce is the fire extinguisher powder - your mouth falls open as you recognise the 5 people in front of you. They all look very confused and almost like they were ready to fight at a moments notice.

“What the fuck,” you drawl out in a whisper,

“Who are you?” Captain America asks - not a man that looked like Captain America, not Chris Evans (he had a full beard these days) - but actual Captain fucking America.

Your brain practically short circuits as you stare at the Avengers. You’d think that Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Hemsworth were all standing in your father’s lab if you didn’t know for a fact - thanks to paparazzi photos and Instagram - that all of the actors had changed their look after filming the latest MCU film.

You can’t fathom how you managed to fuck the Stargate so much that you created living beings from one of your favourite franchises, but some how it happened. Or were you dreaming? A thought hits you as you remember why your father had created the invention in the first place, and without even thinking, you step forward and reach out. You poke Tony Stark, making him jump back and the others tense.

“Okay,” you say out loud, even though you were talking to yourself, “You’re real,”

“Who are you?” Thor booms, jolting you from your catatonic state,

“M-My name is Y/N Stark,” you stammer, your mind still moving at half speed.

Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner and Thor all whip around to stare at Tony Stark; their faces conveying different shades of confusion. Tony Stark’s eyes dart from staring at the others to you with a look of horror and confusion painted all over his face.

Tony leans forward, “W-Who’s your mother?” he whispers, his eyes wide and full of terror,

“Virginia,” you state, oblivious to his confused and scared demeanour, “Virginia Potts,” Tony makes a chocking sound before forcefully coughing - as if he’d chocked on his own saliva, “Oh, shit,” you add, realising why he was so taken aback, “I always thought it was a coincidence,”

You were speaking to yourself, and get lost in your thoughts for a few moments before you realise that the Avengers are staring at you expectantly, “Right,” you note, trying to think of how to put your thought process into words, “My father’s name is Anthony Stark and... I-I think I proved the multiverse theory... By accident,”

“The multiverse theory,” Tony breathes out, clearly impressed. Bruce’s eyebrows have disappeared behind the rim of his glasses and Thor just nods.

“The what?” Steve asks, looking like he was the only one that was truly lost by your explanation. Natasha looks as if she kind of gets what you mean.

“Multiverse theory,” Tony turns to you and mockingly rolls his eyes, “We’ve been transported to a different universe,” Steve and Natasha’s mouths drop open with shock,

Bruce turns to Steve and Natasha, “Ah, okay,” he starts before clearing his throat to speak louder. Knowing the simplistic explanation for the multiverse theory, you quickly grab a nearby white board and start drawing - remembering how your father had illustrated it to you when you were younger.

“Imagine there are multiple versions of Earth,” he continues as you draw circles on the board to signify different Earths, “One where, let’s say, the Nazi’s won World War 2. Another where Loki won the Battle of New York-” your eyes bug out of your head as you hear about these fictional characters talking about fictional events in real life as though they really happened, “-One where, uh-”

“Where we’re all evil,” Tony offers.

Bruce just nods and continues, “So all of these Earths,” he points at the few circles you’d drawn on the board, “Occupy the same space, but they vibrate at different frequencies so they can’t see one another,”

“Then how the hell did we end up on a different Earth?” Natasha asks, her head tilted to the side as if she was trying to make proper sense of the science,

“Uh, I think that was me,” you pipe up. Your stomach knots as all of your favourite superheroes stare at you, “Well, it’s my dad’s invention... I just tweaked it a little,” you point to the Stargate invention behind the heroes and they all turn to look at it.

“That looks like your machine, Stark,” Thor notes. You’re confused for just a second before you realise he isn’t talking to you.

“That’s because,” Tony sighs, “I was working on the exact same invention... Well, kinda. I was trying to create a portal to the different realms,” he explains, “Mainly so you could stop ruining my lawn, Thor,” you can’t help but laugh at Tony’s annoyed tone.

Tony flashes a glance at you but Steve talks before anyone else, “But how does that explain her being your child?”

“I’m not his kid,” you speak first, cutting Tony off, “My parents just have the same names as Tony and Pepper - oh and our night security manager is named Jarvis - but none of them look like your versions,”

The room falls silent as the Avengers stare at you, confused and worried. You don’t know what you said wrong until Bruce speaks, “How do you know our names?” a deep frown is set between his brows,

“Uhh...” you can’t think of a lie fast enough, and with all the intense pairs of eyes staring at you, you just telling them the truth, “Well, here on my Earth, you’re all comic book characters,”

“What? Like Superman and Batman?” Steve asks with a frown.

His question surprises you, you would never have guessed that their Earth had DC comic books, “Uh, yeah, exactly,”

“Thor, look at this,” Tony hands the Asgardian a comic book, “Jane takes your throne in this one,”

Thor frowns down at the comic as he mumbles something inaudible to himself. You’re sat in the corner of the room, your head resting in your hands as you watch on in horror.

The Avengers had insisted they see the comics you claimed they were from, and for the past 3 hours they had been combing through them.

“Why don’t we see what these movies are all about?” Natasha states as she moves to grab your laptop.

You’re out of your seat and snatching the laptop from her extended arms before she can even blink, “No!” you practically scream, making all the Avengers stare at you, “U-Uh, I have the DVDs, let’s watch it on the wide screen,” you hope you’ve successfully covered your ass.

You dabbled in writing fanfiction about the MCU characters, and the last thing you want them to find is anything the internet writes about people presumed to be fictional.

Luckily, the Avengers shrug off your outburst and follow you out to the living room. You put on the first Avengers film, figuring it would the most exciting for all of them rather than going through each and every solo film.

It only took 30 minutes for your new guests to start pointing out the differences between what the film portrayed and what actually happened. You’re glad you’ve seen all of the film multiple times, because you can hardly hear the movie as they all complain about the inconsistencies.

After watching Avengers, Age of Ultron and Civil War, you finally put your foot down and voice the worries that had been bugging you all day. You’d convinced the Avengers to follow you back to the lab and help you fix the broken Stargate. You didn’t need your parents coming home tomorrow and finding out that you’d broken your dad’s rule, and that the characters you were ‘obsessed with’ - their words, not yours (but they probably weren’t wrong) - we’re sitting in their living room, eating popcorn and watching themselves on the tv.

Bruce, Tony and yourself work all night and well into the morning to repair the Stargate, but eventually it seems to be in working order. You did have to stop Steve from leaving the penthouse - you had to remind him that he looks exactly like a famous actor that would be swamped the moment he stepped outside, not to mention confuse every one of your Earth when they saw Chris Evans grow a beard back in a matter of days - but thankfully, nothing went wrong.

“Alright, fire her up,” Tony instructs, causing you to pause, “What?” he asks as he sees your hand hovering about the machine’s interface.

A frown is set between your brows as you think, “I didn’t do anything to transport you here the first time,” you note, “I don’t even know what to punch in to send you back to the right Earth,”

“Shit,” Bruce mutters. You cock an eyebrow at Steve, waiting - and kind of wishing - for him to say his iconic ‘language’ line from Age of Ultron.

But Steve only scoffs, “I have the biggest fucking potty mouth out of everyone,” the others laugh as your cheeks flush.

“What does it matter what you put into the machine?” Natasha asks, staring at the machine as if she was waiting for it to suddenly show something other than a blank wall through the circular frame,

“Without the right Earth code,” Bruce helpfully explains, “We could be transported to any Earth in the multiverse,”

“Well, how many can there be?” Steve queries,

“Infinite,” both you and Tony say in unison.

The others begin to worry that they won’t get home, ever, but you begin to think. Without saying a word, you punch in E-616 and the Stargate begins to whir.

The circular frame transforms and suddenly, instead of a blank wall, it looks as though a mirror was reflecting the lab back at you. But none of the 6 of you were reflected.

“What the-” you hear a familiar voice and you have to hold back an excited squeal when you see Bucky Barnes step into view in the machine.

Tony punches the air with both fists in triumph as the others visibly relax.

“Steve?” Bucky asks, squinting at you and the Avengers,

“Hey, pal,” Steve smiles, “Missed us?”

“Where the hell are you?” Bucky asks in confusion, “Sam has been driving me fucking insane,”

Everyone laughs and you see Sam Wilson step up behind Bucky, “Woah, there you guys are! Who’s the girl?”

“Long story,” Natasha simply says,

“We’re famous here!” Thor booms,

“We’re famous there too, Thor,” Tony states bluntly. Sam and Bucky look to be growing more and more confused by the second.

The Stargate’s frame begins to shake and you begin to panic, “Oh no,” you say as looking at the interface, “It’s not going to hold for long,”

The Avengers bid you quick goodbyes, thanking you for your hospitality and for getting them home, and cross back over to their world. As you wave back at your fictional heroes, the view of Tony Stark’s lab blinks away and the Stargate sparks before bursting into flames.

“Shit!” you promptly extinguish the flames before slumping back against a nearby chair, “Dad’s going to kill me,”

You were exhausted and now you only had 24 hours to fix his invention, again. But you can’t help but smile to yourself - knowing that you’d met the Avengers. Even if you could never tell anyone - for the risk of being labelled as crazy - it was something just for you to know.

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[ajapablog]

Corona Chronicles IV and V

Two in one blogs are an indication that time has started to blur. It takes me a couple of seconds to remember what day it is. I also feel slightly unmotivated to blog because I am not sure anyone reads these and I actually had to ask a friend to read my latest posts to see if these were any good.  But I decided that I should do it for me. 

Otherwise, a routine and the sense of normalcy has started to kick in. Yesterday I sat at the desk doing work for around 6 hours with a couple of water and bathroom breaks in between. I managed to finish a 2-hour ethics and harassment training for my employers and I know now what the Clery Act is and I would know how to file a Title IX case if it ever came to that. So that’s work done! I still have to do my taxes!! 

In the evening yesterday, we ordered Mexican food and started watching Netflix’s latest offering: The Circle. The show has some really interesting characters trying to make it to the end of an experiment where people are eliminated based on interactions between each other through social media. These characters are in isolation so it definitely mimics our current state. This is indeed the time to watch shows about social experiments about isolation. The show Love is Blind is also pretty amazing.  Today began with an hour-and-half-long group work out session. We began with the first fitness test in something called insanity workout. The bald instructor keeps saying “boom boom,” so I have decided to affectionately name him uncle Boom Boom. I was almost  going to faint at some point in the middle of our fitness/cardio training so I am utterly out of shape. I haven’t swam in 3 weeks now. Then we moved on to pilates with a cheery lady who I haven’t had the chance to name yet. But she can talk non-stop while doing some pretty intense work-outs. I aspire to be like her. We ended with some self care yoga that left us feeling warm and fuzzy. As my roommate says, we still might have 2 years worth of pent up energy that needs to be spent. So the workouts will continue.  Grooming in times of Corona My scratchy throat is so much better; my stomach is also fine. I think it might have just been a case of not being conscientious about what I was eating. I am too scared to drink coffee. I have been eating more fruits. Although, a part of me is scared that I will soon run out of papayas and I definitely do not want to go out to get some more. But eating more fruits is good for the skin.  Speaking of which, I have not been great at maintaining a skincare routine since my mid twenties. I know how to but I haven’t been regular. A part of the problem is the fact that I don’t have the usual tools: surprisingly, I don’t have a mud face pack, aloe vera gel or rose water (things I always had at hand in my 20s). I ordered a vitamin C serum, some tea tree oil, a face pack and a cleansing brush on amazon to start a routine. There is no question of going swimming or to the gym but I’ll keep my legs smooth and shaven for myself, thank you very much. I plan to tint my hair with some henna that I bought ages ago. I’ll crack an egg in there, add some black tea and some coconut oil. The last time I did this hair routine, my hair was glowing. 

Grooming in the time of social isolation is  important because it is a reminder that we must take care of ourselves, for ourselves. It doesn’t matter if we can’t show off our silky hair and our painted nails to the world. We do, however, have to live with ourselves and it definitely helps if we look nice. 

In the News Younger Adults Make a Big Part of Covid-19 Hospitalizations in the US  The idea that young people with healthy immune systems will ride this wave has been in circulation for a while now. But the New York Times has a report that says that young people are indeed being hospitalized and have been grappling with the virus. The number of deaths among young people is lower than for the elderly but that doesn’t discount the fact that young people do indeed show symptoms of this coronavirus infection that lands them in the hospital. All the more reason to be cautious. See: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/health/coronavirus-young-people.html

Japanese Flu Vaccine Effective Against Coronavirus The Japanese-developed drug, to fight the latest strain of the influenza virus, Favipiravir or Avigan, has proved to be effective against a milder case of Covid-19 according to Chinese medical personnel. They say that the drug doesn’t do much to the more severe symptoms but the fact that it can be effective against milder symptoms is a welcome news. See: https://www.livescience.com/flu-drug-could-treat-coronavirus.html An Indian Cure? There have been news that Indian doctors in Jaipur made a cocktail of retroviral (HIV) drugs, influenza drugs and swine flu meds that cured an Italian patient of coronavirus. The fact that the antidote to this Covid 19 situation lies in the tweaking of existing antivirals, is highly probable. I know retro viruses and corona viruses are different but given that retroviral drugs have been used to “cure” something as tough as HIV, I wonder if there’s something about using these on corona viruses. What is slightly disconcerting to me is the fact that the international news has no coverage whatsoever of the happenings at Sawai Jai Singh hospital in Jaipur. I wonder if the West is not taking seriously the fact that Indian doctors are very likely to be able to treat patients with Covid-19. This is not coming from a sense of pride over South Asian know-how but from the experience of seeing the superiority of Indian medical personnel more generally from having lived in different countries in the course of my life so far.  See: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/city-docs-cure-corona-patient-with-hiv-drugs/articleshow/74584859.cms

Do not take Ibuprofen if you have Covid-19 symptoms Apparently, Ibuprofen is not the drug to take to relieve fever or pain symptoms related to Covid-19. The advice in the public sphere came from the French health minister, Olivier Véran who instructed everyone to take acetaminophen instead. NSAIDs apparently made symptoms worse. From the different things I’ve been reading, it seems like this disease has something to do with the inflammation-oxidation-immune systems in our body: which is pretty much every infection but if doctors could figure out the specificty of the mode through which this virus effects these interconnected systems, they could have the answer to what to do. Of course, all of this will take time. For now, I won’t take my favourite painkiller: Flexon—a beautiful cocktail of paracetamol and ibuprofen, if I feel feverish or feel pain. See: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/health/coronavirus-ibuprofen.html

Women fare Worse than Men in Epidemics and Pandemics The social scientific community has been talking a lot about how the pandemic and the practices of social isolation has the effect of reconstituting older social hierarchies. This is the case with gender as well with women having to stay in abusive homes, having to rely on men, do more labor, etc. See: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/03/feminism-womens-rights-coronavirus-covid19/608302/

The Sky is Falling: Says a NY Doctor A New York doctor wrote that she might sound alarmist but the case is worrying and as a medical personnel who sees life and death situations everyday, this moment is particularly panic-inducing. She says that she is not confident about the medical profession and the infrastructure to be able to take on the surge capacity of this pandemic. She says that there will in two weeks arise a situation where doctors here in the US will have to make life or death judgements. Her insistence that we must be careful is important. See: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/opinion/coronavirus-doctor-new-york.html

[jamesbyerj]

Modder to Developer - muppetpuppet

Today we have a special treat. We caught up with Tomas Sala, a.k.a. the esteemed Skyrim modder muppetpuppet, about his upcoming game release and his history in modding. For those unfamiliar with his work, muppetpuppet created one of the first "new world" mods for Skyrim back in 2012 - Moonpath to Elsweyr. [b][b]Thank you for joining us for this interview Tomas (aka [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/3232189]muppetpuppet[/url]). [/b]So, going back to the very start, when and how did you first get into gaming?[/b] I actually started straight out of art school in 2001, we started a studio in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. But at that time there was no self-publishing, I think Steam wasn't live yet and iPhones would be years away. So we rolled into educational and advertising work for hire, making games for anyone and everyone, it took many years to progress into entertainment games properly eventually creating PSVR exclusives for Playstation as games for the Wii, Switch and mobile. [b]How long have you been working in the gaming industry and what roles have you taken up during that time?[/b]  I've been working there since 2001 and have always been a multirole person. I'm a 3D artist by trade, but I'm more than handy with a scripting language and nowadays C#. I've also been creative director and game designer over the years. I think that diversity is now coming into its own with The Falconeer. [b] Tomas is the sole developer of the upcoming game "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1135260/The_Falconeer/]The Falconeer[/url]". From the screenshots and gameplay videos, it looks fantastic. For our readers who've not heard of the game, how would you describe it?[/b] Well, it's a throwback to the games I loved as a kid, [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freelancer_(video_game)]Freelancer[/url], [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_TIE_Fighter]Tie Fighter[/url] even [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimson_Skies_(video_game)]Crimson Skies[/url], and - of course - a good dose of open-world love inherited from Skyrim thrown in. So basically, you are a pilot or rider of a giant Falcon and you serve as a mounted warrior for your faction, doing air -combat missions as well as open-world exploration. Someone online described it as "what would happen if Gandalf had ridden into Mordor on a giant eagle..... but with lasers", which is a fair description. The actual combat gameplay is very WWI-WWII style close up dogfighting but with giant falcons, dragons and other fantastical creatures. [center][youtube]3viT_KoZ538[/youtube][/center] [b]It's not just the game itself you created. I've been reading the [url=https://www.thefalconeer.com/world/]extensive lore and set-dressing[/url] you've meticulously written to create a cohesive world for your story to unfold in. What can you tell us about the setting of The Falconeer?[/b] Well, I love lore-heavy worlds, for me, it makes exploring an open world so much better if the setting makes sense and has depth. The world of the Falconeer is called the Ursee and it's a bleak yet beautiful icy ocean world. Mankind has always had a hard time surviving on it, and societies have been founded and collapsing for millennia, leaving the seafloor scattered with wrecks and ancient relics. One major faction steering these societies are the Mancer Order, an organisation that has access to a wide array of technologies hidden away in their massive vaults. They manipulate and organise the other factions by doling out these technologies through permits and grants. If a king has the Mancer's favour he'll get steam engines, if he loses it, he might find his competitor suddenly has machine guns. The Mancer order doesn't involve themselves with the daily politics of factions such as the empire in which most of the game takes place, they have a hidden agenda with a long term goal. Part of the different campaigns you'll participate in, inside this world, is to figure the true goal and history of the Mancer Order, and with it the Ursee. [b]In a [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0VJAaZpkfM]video by Digital Foundry[/url] covering The Falconeer, they mentioned that the entire game is created without using any conventional textures, is that true? If so, what made you choose this approach to game design?[/b]  Indeed, it's better described as no pre-made textures. So I don't work with a painting or material editor or even something like photoshop to create the material expression of my world. Rather I use procedural tricks and fairly abstracted shaders to do the heavy lifting. So, for instance, the snow on objects is a [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perlin_noise]Perlin noise[/url] I generate in the game, and I then also use that for lava and water foam. The same goes for the colouring of the world, It's all done with gradients based on lighting and atmospheric parameters and values. It basically means I can create models and paint them fairly simple and have the game itself add a lot of detail and environmental colouring. I've had comments saying this must be because I'm lazy, and I certainly like an efficient art pipeline. But it isn't 100% the case - the effort I put in to create certain effects would be many times less if I'd simply use a texture. Take the clouds, creating those without textures was a crazy endeavour iterated over months. The same goes for the ocean another very advanced effect, stuff that certainly wouldn't have been possible a generation or so ago. The reason I do it is mostly twofold. One, it forces me to adhere to a very strict esthetic, and it keeps everything I make very, very compatible and unified. Giving the game a very clean and stark look while having radically different objects, buildings, vehicles and so forth in it. I both love how that looks and how "together" it makes everything feel. Secondly, it forces me to find novel and original solutions to visual designs, I cannot use "out of the box" clouds, water or lighting, so I have to take a different path to get there. Both the journey of that as well as the end result are usually novel and interesting, which is what appeals to me. [b]The Falconeer uses Unity at its core. What did you consider when choosing the engine for your game?[/b] I've used Unity through my work, so I was familiar with it, which is a huge boon because knowing what you are capable off is quite a good thing to have, especially alone. You don't always want to dive off the deep end. That said I'm quite attracted by Unreal's blueprints and after the Falconeer is done, I aim to dive into that for a bit as well. [center][img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/2295/images/26/26-1581950089-410859194.jpeg[/img] [img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/2295/images/26/26-1581950095-1401396009.jpeg[/img][/center] [b]Some Unity games allow mods (or can be modded with tools like Harmony), will The Falconeer have any scope for user-created content? [/b] It's something under consideration, but modding and even game development are very distinct from enabling the creation of mods for your game. So basically because I'm working by myself it's quite a daunting task, but it is very much on my mind. It's also one of the few aspects I'd consider having external help with, as it's just such a specialisation to create adequate tooling and an open framework from the ground up for your game. [b]In terms of modding, your biggest achievement has to be [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/9782]Moonpath to Elsweyr[/url]. When you released it in 2012, it was one of the only true "new world" mods. That must have been quite an undertaking, considering the Creation Kit had only been out for just over a week at the time. What can you remember about the process of putting it all together?[/b] Well, I remember getting into a bit of a creative frenzy after diving into a few tutorials. At my work, we had just wrapped up a kid-friendly RPG for a local dutch theme park ("[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raveleijn]Raveleijn[/url]"), so there was lots of curiosity on how the big games did certain things. I think there was already a group of people trying to use the existing NIF tools and update them for Skyrim. Being a 3D artist grasping some of the odd quirks and oddities of that format and the tools seemed less of an issue. And within a very short while I had some [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/10312]trees and foliage[/url] imported. I think those were the palm trees and other greeneries uncommon to Skyrim. [center][img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/2295/images/26/26-1581947917-582928013.jpeg[/img] [img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/2295/images/26/26-1581947923-1718214276.jpeg[/img][/center] From there I just went crazy, first with adjusting some of the material properties of default Skyrim objects, such as turning the snow into green moss (just fiddling got pretty good results fast). I think I then set about exploring the library of atmospheric fog and light FX and tweaking those to create a tropical vibe. So initially I released a player home really quick, it's actually a really simple and manageable mod type to start with. What then happened is that the community just jumped on board and started offering voice acting, pointing out bugs and even assisting with my horrible spelling. That in itself was a ridiculous driver to continue, the player base (and other modders) was always waiting at the Moonpath Nexus page, ready with more feedback, more requests and more general helpfulness. I think up to that point I had never had such a direct audience engagement, and it was a complete trip that burned away every free hour I had for about six months until most of what is now the Moonpath was there. [b]I noticed that both The Falconeer and Moonpath to Elsweyr feature airships, would you say that's something a staple in your creative works? [/b] I think the need to fly away and escape has a very literal form in much of the art and games I create, so I'd say that's something that's just a part of me. I'm also a huge fan of tall ships and historic sailing ships in general, so visually I'm always drawn to ships and airships. [b]For Skyrim Special Edition, you entrusted the development of Moonpath to Elsweyr to [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/1240951]Illiani[/url] was this a difficult decision for you?[/b] No not at all, there was a point where I realized I needed to focus on other things and long before Special Edition, I opened up the Moonpath and all its assets to any modder that wanted to use them. The [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/24587]Dev Aveza[/url] already showed what sharing things could lead to (I think it might actually still use my base airship model underneath all their epic expanding they did to it). So no the community was part of creating the Moonpath and happy to see other modders take it onwards to new places. And improving it in many places I might add. [b]How do you feel modding Skyrim helped (or hindered!) your career as a game developer?[/b] It has been an incredible boon because the direct contact with the community is a unique perspective which is hard to get when doing a more classical game dev project. I've also met plenty of people in the industry that played the Moonpath and it's opened many cool conversations over the years. I even met some people from Bethesda who knew it (I guess they kept close tabs on the modding scene in the early days). [b]If you were to work on an Elder Scrolls title with everything you know now, is there anything you'd do differently?[/b]  I have nothing but admiration for how Skyrim was made. I've made my own educated guesses on why certain choices were made and understand the lineage of the creation kit, and I think it delivered an unparalleled game world and modding environment. I wouldn't presume to be able to improve on that. I do really like the more "out there" aspects of the TES lore and would love to see that remain centre stage in a new iteration. [center][img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/2295/images/26/26-1581951105-1941102210.jpeg[/img][/center] [b]Important question - when do you expect we can get our hands on The Falconeer?[/b]  Hahaha. Definitely later this year, working as hard as I can. ;) It'll be playable at [url=https://east.paxsite.com/]PAX East[/url] (Feb 27 - Mar 1) for those wanting a gameplay taste. [b]Do you have any final words of wisdom for aspiring game devs in the Nexus Mods community? [/b] I think for those who want to use modding as a stepping stone it's good to keep realizing how much a part of the wider game industry modding has become. It's part of game development. And there might be moments where people showing off their mods can get apologetic because it's "just" a mod and they fear people might still see it as something derivative or adapted from something original. But I've never met anyone in the games industry who isn't a huge fan of mods. Mods are such creative original works of art by themselves. So if you make something don't be afraid to show it to any game developer or artist you might meet, good chance they love mods, are gamers themselves or have even modded in the past. [b]Thank you for joining us Tomas, we wish you the best of luck with the release![/b] [line] A big thank you to Tomas for taking the time to speak to us! If there's an author or mod project you'd like to know more about, send your suggestions to [b][url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/64597]BigBizkit[/url][/b] or [b][url=https://www.nexusmods.com/users/31179975]Pickysaurus[/url][/b].  [center][url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1135260/The_Falconeer/] Add The Falconeer to your Steam wishlist to get notified when it releases. [img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/2295/images/26/26-1581950708-1759106569.png[/img][/url][/center] Published first at Modder to Developer - muppetpuppet