Messages

Condolences on your loss.

I didn't know of him ... but a personal loss is always hard.

[Edit - this thread has been unlocked by request of Ivy]

I agree, its a stupid rule not being able to recover old threads if the thread is worthwhile.

So you think it's okay to have old threads which are long since dead (no longer being worked on) being dug up just to say, "wow nice graphics" and then have the first page of this board cluttered up with nothing but old games that aren't being worked on?

Jeeze ... you're right.  I'll change that rule right away.  [ / sarcasm ]

I'm locking this thread now ... Ivy, if you're still working on this and would like to update it, let me know.  I'll unlock it and delete the off-topic posts!

Edit - this thread has been unlocked by request of Ivy

And Darth, yeah I wold love to see your colorized version, don't even worry about asking stuff like that...

Happy to oblige!



I had the impression that was the moon behind her hand ... and colored accordingly!

[Squinky]

I thought that was the moon ...

Squinky - I like the addition of grey colors.  But I wouldn't use the same value of grey for each area.  I would use a range of greys.

By the way ... I colored this one too (couldn't resist!) ... if you're interested I'll post it as well (didn't want to hi-jack your thread again!)

Ummm ... [ lgm ]?

What are you doing?

There's something quite poignant about the fact that Leo suffered a massive heart attack in The West Wing - Life imitating Art, but not in a good way.

I too saw the irony in it ... sad, but irony none-the-less.  And yes, he looked a bit older than 58.

I was shocked when I read the news in my paper this morning. I watch The West Wing regularly and I'm going to miss him.

I was quite shocked too ... I'm glad a few people at least new who he was!

Do you realize what type of person this makes you sound like?

It makes me sound like somebody who doesn't care about gang-founding, scumbag murderers regardless of what they do while in prison for 25 years.

Now please:

- Please do not bring 2-kee into this thread ... keep it about John. If you have nothing to say about John, please just don't reply. I'm asking you.

I really don't want this thread hi-jacked.  Please?

Just FYI - juncsource should be open again soon!  He's switching back to a linux server and is probably just experiencing some downtime!

Doesn't such a detailed post belong in the Games in Production board?

[A Traveler]

A Traveler;


Anybody who gets it ... you're my kind of person

[Astronomy: Sky color on other planets]

I believe that the glow should be blueish, as blue light is scattered more than other colors. Color closer to the surface can get a different hue, as there is more gas and it may contain more chemicals, which add their color to the athmosphere color.

I believe the blue effect of the sky is called Rayleigh scattering. Water is blue on Earth, because it reflects the sky, not the other way around. The upper athmoshpere would be blue/white for any planet with an athmosphere. The lower layers could be different color. (Note: someone, please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm no astronomer either, just meddling with physics a bit.) For reference: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/atmos/blusky.html

Duh!  Yeah, I knew that.  Not sure what I was thinking!!

I can't recall the last time I had a glass of blue water

One time I was asked, in an email, why the sky was blue, so I looked it up and sent this back:

"The blue color of the sky is due to Rayleigh scattering. As light moves through the atmosphere, most of the longer wavelengths pass straight through. Little of the red, orange and yellow light is affected by the air.  However, much of the shorter wavelength light is absorbed by the gas molecules. The absorbed blue light is then radiated in different directions. It gets scattered all around the sky. Whichever direction you look, some of this scattered blue light reaches you. Since you see the blue light from everywhere overhead, the sky looks blue. "

To me, this makes it seem like the color of a planet's "glow" would be determined by what the atmosphere is made up of?  I still don't get it ... but I found this link:

Astronomy: Sky color on other planets

It's a fascinating read ... though I must admit most of it goes over my head a tad.  I comprehend, just not understand.

For an idea of how to vary the size/brightness/whatever of the stars, have a look at this tutorial by Greg Martin.

That's an excellent tutorial but I too find his star fields a little to "busy" for my tastes!  But the technique should be noted!  I'm glad somebody else has that link!

I think the main problem I have with this background is that I get no sense of "depth" ... space is so vast and I like space backdrops that convey that sense of incredible depth and openess.

Through a lot of experimenting (years literally) ... what I've discovered is that black just doesn't work.  I use a very deep blue ...

Like this:

- changed the background from black to deep blue
- altered the stars (adding some blurring to create depth)
- added some 'special' stars to give it more life
- changed the planet's glow.  I think (may be wrong!) that the glow around a planet is determined by the color of the planet.  Earth is 90% water, thus is glows blue?  This planet seems "lava-y" so it would have an orange glow?  I'm no astronomer!
- made the start have a bright corona as well.
- changed the shading on the space station slightly
- added a slight glowing cloud system

I know the deep blue background isn't technically accurate/realistic but, to me at least, it conveys vast depth better than black.

Hope it's helpful!

[MSNBC Article]

For those of you who don't know, actor John Spencer died last night of a heart attack.  He was 58 (would have been 59 on Tuesday).

> MSNBC Article

He played Leo McGarry, President Bartlet's chief of staff, on NBC's The West Wing most recently and has starred in countless movies and television shows throughout his career.

I really liked this guy.  I am sad.

My favorite memory is in The Rock; when Mason (Sean Connery) throws Womak (Spencer) over the balcony of the Ritz Carlton Hotel in San Francisco and dangles him with a shower curtain line!  It was a great scene!

> John Spencer's IMDB Listing

Anbody else like this guy as much as me?  I figured there might be a few out there who liked him.  I am saddened by his death and thought I'd vent that sadness here.

So farewell Mr. Spencer ... I hope the acting gigs in heaven are good to you.

Things to Note:
- Yes, I know that his life isn't more important than the average (wo)man's life.  I'm just memorializing somebody who I liked!
- Yes, this is another thread about somebody that has died ... but this one is about somebody worth remembering
- Please do not bring 2-kee into this thread ... keep it about John.  If you have nothing to say about John, please just don't reply.  I'm asking you.

[game agent]

I will kill you ...

** Darth screams out loud **

game agent - Before you dig up any more threads that have been inactive for 8 months, READ THE FORUM RULES!!!!

Sigh ...

Joey, how 'bout an update?

I must have forgotten to read the memo...

And what's this I hear about you having troubles with your TPS reports?

Oh ... and yeah, Hey Nik!  You're a good composer fer-sher!

You know what?  I've had a change of heart!

I'm gonna dedicate myself to saving Tookie's life.

What?

Oh shit ...

Darth, isn't the curtain string supposed to emerge from the end of the curtain? I think that's what he was trying to make.

Ahhh ... I see what you mean.  It's one of the kinds where you pull down and it goes flying up and rolls up!

Well in that case, I'd suggest moving the pull-string to the center!

The first thing that jumped out at me was the pull-string for the window.  You have it going behind the window shade.  This would be inconvenient!

I did a fast paint-over for you (feel free to use any/all/none of it):


- fixed the pull-string
- added shadows/shading
- added gradients to walls/ceilings
- added in a floor style
- changed the outline of the window shade

I'm not going to get into the discussion about CGI good vs. bad.  It's a rather silly argument anyway ... it's here to stay and isn't going away anytime soon!

Anyway ...

I watched it:

I might, for the first time in my life, actually admit that I found a movie with too much action!!  It was overwhelming!  I'm assuming that was intentionally done.  He wanted to overwhelm audiences, just as they were when the orginal was released so many years ago ...

I found the special effects, at parts, slightly lacking and not up to quality of LotR.  At other parts the effects blew me away.  It felt almost like there were two effects houses working on this film.  It was wierd.

Over-all I really liked the movie.  I left the theater tired ... not just because it was over 3 hours long, but because the action never let up enough to let me relax!

I think Peter Jackson is good at directing fantasy/epic type films.  Now onto the Hobbit!

The background is, I'm afraid to admit, just an image I pulled off of Google images and then worked on a little.Ã,  Converted it to black and white, upped the contrast a tad, stretched it to fit, and then added some blur filters to it.

To color the ork, I tweaked the contrast and brightness until there was only black and white values (giving me a coloring book basically).Ã,  The actual coloring really didn't take that long ... once I figured out the technique to use.

I may just color some more of your images ... I think they rock and I enjoyed it!Ã,  I'm glad it helped

And anyway doesn't it strike you as odd, just as an observation, nothing more, that Squinky, Darth, You, ProgZmax think basically that "the society will collapse" without the threat of death penalty

I didn't say society would collapse without the death penalty.

I stepped out of this argument.

I'm for the death penalty and think it's necessary.

Some are against it.

I won't change my opinion.

I won't try to change other's opinions.

We're still friends.

I'm done.