Author Archive
BioShock: Source
Now how cool wouldn’t it be if someone had started on a BioShock “mod” for the Source Engine? ;)
Bioshock CAN run on old graphics cards
Just look at this, it’s actually running pretty smooth on my “outdated” X850XT PE. ScottJG, WarAnakin and Phazz over at the 2K Forum have been fooling around with the shader file for the game, manually going over all the code and tweaking it little by little making it possible to play the game on Shader Model 2.0 cards with decent looking graphics and performance, it’s not quite there yet but it’s closing in. Read on for solution downloads and installation instructions, updated each release!
NOTE: I’ve removed the links to all the patches as I no longer update or maintain this list. To get the latest versions and installation instructions visit www.paolofranchini.com/shshock
Hiragana, Katakana Practice Sheets
Few weeks ago I got a request to share the Hiragana/Katakana Practice Sheets from this post.
At first I thought I had lost the files I made for the project but looking through my backup files yesterday it turned out I still had them. So I decided I might as well make a post for whomever of you would like to download it.
PDF, Sheets
Download
PSD, Source
Download
God of War 3 Screenshots
After thousands of you emailed me about the suspicious reflection in the DS screen from my previous post, I’ll have to come clean… Yes, I did not only order Zelda: Phantom Hourglass from Japan. As a big fan of the God of War franchise I couldn’t resist not getting this limited edition “action figure” of Kratos, in Golden Fleece Armor even mind you!
Now the big dilemma, should I take him out of the box, or should I stay true to the Unwritten Laws of Geek and keep him in prime condition for possible future profit?
Project Phoenix
Long, long time ago I envisioned a “game” where you could travel between planets, moons, asteroids etc. even stars, all seamless, no transitions or loading screens. Thus, I tried to make this “game” in blender, or at least try to give the general idea of what I had envisioned. Unfortunately the limitations of me not knowing python-scripting brought an end to the project. There were only so much I could do with logic bricks and it all just started to get too complicated for it’s own good. That and I don’t think Blender would have been able to handle it very well if I had started to add buildings, nature and details of that sort to the planet, which was the idea in the end.
I’m pretty sure though this will be the future of space-sim games. Start on the surface on some planet, perhaps even as a character you control around, get to a spaceship, start flying, soar up into the skies, above majestic big mountains, fly through the clouds, out into the atmosphere, watch the blue sky turn into black space as you travel further and further, and now… go anywhere you like in an endless ocean of star systems in the universe…
Imagine what a combination of Spore and Mass Effect would be like.
I’ve Joined the 499 of 500 Club
Here’s why I’ve been virtually nonexistent on the site lately. Crackdown is an insanely addictive and awesome game, with the orbs and all, but when you’re at 499 of 500 Agility Orbs you really start to hate the game, especially after you’ve searched for hours non-stop without even hearing it. I’m pretty sure if I don’t find it real soon I’m gonna go mental and crawl up in a corner and rock back and forth, chanting “499, 499, 499…”
Anyways, that’s a pretty sweet way to get the #37 Stunt Ring. There’s even two parked ramp trucks in Shai-Gen so setting up the jump shouldn’t be that tricky, if you’re in co-op at least.
Crysis DX9 vs. DX10 - Hunter, Side by Side
Here’s the recent DX9 vs. DX10 Crysis video. But I put them side by side and removed the crap in the beginning of the DX10 clip that (subconsiously) glorifies it :P
To be honest I don’t see anything in the DX10 clip that DX9 can’t do if you’re just inventive. Lazy developers I say!
Djimon of War
So, David Jaffe wants Djimon Hounsou to play Kratos if there’s ever going to be a God of War Movie.
Now… I don’t wanna sound like a racist, but face it, Kratos is basically white as a ghost, meaning if they wanna stay true to the game they might have to cover Djimon up with some full body makeup…
Above you see a quick and dirty Photoshop of a picture I found of Djimon on the web - for a little estimation of what he might look like - but what I’m afraid it’ll be more freakish like Shawn and Marlon Wayans in White Chicks.
Do you think Djimon would make a good Kratos?
Yakushima Forest Wallpaper Discovery
This is the most beatiful wallpaper I’ve had for years, literally.
I found it by accident while I was on one of my daily wapanese strays on the web. The following site is packed with awesome photos taken in Japan other than this one, check it out.
Mad World Keyboard Practice
Looking for the lyrics or piano sheets for the song? Go here
Couple of days ago I found a video on YouTube teaching you how to do Mad World, just so happening to be the music from one of my top three favorite movies of all time.
Yesterday I started practicing and little by little I’m improving. What you see in this video is all by memory. Unfortunatly I can’t play any more cause my keyboard controller is only 24 tangents so I hit the end of the keyboard and can’t go any further when I’m halfway in the song.
Fortunatly however, a friend of mine is selling a 49 tangents keyboard controller so I’m thinking about buying it for now cause he’s giving me a good price on it, especially compared to what these things cost brand new and even used.
Anyways. I’m also trying to learn to read notes cause I can’t rely on videos for every song I wanna play 
I’ve started using this program called Teach Me Piano Deluxe and supposedly when I’m done with it I’ll be able to read notes and play the piano/keyboard like a pro ^^
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t0sEU5mRpk
http://www.voyetra.com/site/products/tmp