Container Ship

Work on the new space ship is coming along. I’m not going to add “nicely” to that, nor am I going to further qualify it. Reasons being that although I like the work done on the container — stamped with an Aegis Dynamics logo from Star Citizen just because — I feel that it’s lacking personality. Also, I have spent a lot of time on the magnetic clamps that are holding the container(s)…like, more time than I feel I should have.

I don’t know if my attitude towards this project is because I’m still at the early stages of working with Substance Painter. I have committed the “cardinal sin” of working with the tool, which is to rely on Smart Materials and one-click texture application, but I have been trying to add a little more to each one. For example, I’ve attempted to clean up the edges and corners of the container so that the smart “wear” effect isn’t so mathematical in its application, but I’m not sure it’s 100% to my liking. Figuring out the “how” to do things is just as tough for me as the “what” — everything is either worn and beat-up metal, or…something else? I don’t know what that something else is, really.

While the same goes for the clamps, I have spent a good deal of time working and re-working the design of these things. The overall concept is sound, I think, but once I had the textures on I decided that I needed more detail. Some of it worked, some of it got scrapped, and the current iteration is better than it was, but the clamps still look a little “simple”. I might need to look into something called DECALmachine for Blender, which is a tool that uses maps to add some details and to slap (for lack of a better equation) “stickers” onto an object without having to do so in the Shaders tab…i.e. more “texturing for dummies”.

Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 continues. I know some people who have started after me have finished before me, and I don’t even think I’m spending all that much time on side-quests. I fear the primary quest track mainly because I have yet to really get frustrated with the game, and I suspect if that time is going to come, it’s going to be during the main quest line.

Thing is, I’ve been helping friends with their situations. Not real world friends, but in game friends, like Judy and Panam and the Peralez’s. I haven’t even gotten around to helping out others who I consider to be the “second string” friends. I really like these characters, and I really like the stories being told. It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed an open world storybook.

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla

I cancelled my Microsoft Game Pass Ultimate sub and picked up the Ubisoft+ subscription in its place. I can’t explain this. I like Ubi “ok”. My friends mostly only play The Division 2, some play R6: Siege, but I bailed from joining them about a year ago and never really looked back.

I was always cool on the Assassin’s Creed games until Origins, which I liked OK. I really enjoyed Odyssey, but after a lull I returned and was completely lost to the point of frustration. That’s why I’ve hedged my bets and started AC: Valhalla which, so far, I like the most out of the three “nu-Creeds”. I don’t know why; I’m having a better time with the game and I cannot rule out the fact the reason I am enjoying it is because I feel it’s very much “Assassin’s Creed: Skyrim”.

Stadia In General

I am really enjoying using Stadia to the point where I’ve not fired up a local game in some time now. I subscribed to the service so I got all of the “Pro” games gratis, and since Stadia now supports playing Ubi+ games, I have Valhalla, Immortals: Fenyx Rising, and others available without having to give over local hard drive space should I decide I no longer want to play them any more.

Because I bought Cyberpunk 2077 through Stadia, I was lucky enough to get the free controller and Chromecast Ultra deal before they closed it due to intense demand. I put the Chromecast on the TV upstairs and paired the controller through that UI, and was able to play Valhalla for a good amount of time with absolutely zero issues. Thankfully Ubi included the option to increase the UI text size, because I’m old and can’t see shit from across the room any more.