http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:niftihalostudios&section=today deviantART RSS for by:niftihalostudios en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:02:41 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/21327665/ http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/21327665/ Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:38:12 PST
*sigh* It is sad to see the majority of the American people being so blatantly ignorant and uninformed, if not outright misinformed. We have truly fallen as a nation.

]]> ~niftihalostudios http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/18399336/ http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/18399336/ Mon, 19 May 2008 13:29:19 PDT
Needless to say, I'm getting a good deal more excercise than I used to.

On the creative front, there's a huge help in the form of a new version of OpenFX! Finally, texturing is no longer a pain in the rear! I love the new materials management system, and some of the new particle effects options are cool too! My only real gripe is that I now have trouble attempting to produce animated textures- it'll only accept AVIs as animated textures, but for some reason when I render it I get the flat-colored untextured version of that part of the model. Also, MUCH brainstorming has been going on... but I shan't go into detail yet.

]]> ~niftihalostudios http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/14340852/ http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/14340852/ Sat, 25 Aug 2007 21:45:19 PDT
They were wrong.

Let me say, my experience with a high-speed connection has not been the blessing I thought it would be. Sure, it's great being able to download a 300 Mb file in less than half an hour... when I can get the connection to actually start downloading the blasted thing!

On dial-up, I'd run a search on Deviantart, and wait five minutes for the results to finally show up. Here, I'll run a search, and spend that same amount of time clicking refresh to get the darn thing to stop giving me error pages and finally show the blasted search results!

Hours of waiting for something to load doesn't seem quite so bad placed next to hours spent trying to get it to start loading... I'll be amazed if this journal update actually manages to make it through successfully.

]]> ~niftihalostudios http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/14255550/ http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/14255550/ Mon, 20 Aug 2007 12:08:55 PDT
If only I already had a Nintendo DS... the whole global trade thing on Pokemon D/P sounds fun, and I'm interested in that DS Transformers game's online abilities. And I think this is the first time that I've heard of that instant-reformatting actually sounds like a good idea, for making your own custom character. (For the record, I'm no fan of the idea of an active Transformer changing his alt-mode instantly just by scanning a new vehicle.)

And I'm finally caught up on most of what's happened in the Naruto dub. Yay! All thanks to that marathon CN's been airing the last three days.

Things are looking good on the fanfic front! With the impending conclusion of Ultimatum on Gemma's Pokemon Rebirth site, the release of the first few chapters of its first sequal, Darkness Revealed, is finally on the horizon. In addition, I've been working on the first few pages of a comic story within that continuity that I'm hoping fans of the Pokemon Special manga might like. Hopefully this trip will be full of opportunities to continue work on it!

]]> ~niftihalostudios http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/13867680/ http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/13867680/ Tue, 24 Jul 2007 23:43:25 PDT
It's not that I'm squeamish about the violence- I expected it to be at least as violent as a Godzilla movie. Humans getting stepped on, crushed by collapsing buildings, blown up in exploding vehicles, car crashes... the usual things you can expect when something more than 20 feet high (such as, say, a slagging-mad Decepticon) starts stomping around the neighborhood with the intention of tearing apart everything in sight. That is, to an extent, being realistic about what would happen if Decepticons actually existed and were actually in our cities.

What isn't realistic is making the protagonist some sick little pervert with a girlfriend who dresses like a floozy, or to throw in sexual innuendos left and right like it's a normal everyday conversation topic. Or maybe it just seems unrealistic to me because all the people I have known had better things to talk most of the time (and yes, that includes the teenagers). It's also not realistic for most Autobots to imitate a urinating dog and leak coolant on someone, that's the sort of thing you'd expect out of some braindead fratboy of a 'Con, like Skywarp, or more likely, Blot. And even if it were realistic, it's completely unnecessary, adds absolutely nothing worthwhile to the story, and does nothing but give parents reason not to let their kids watch a movie that has a lot of its marketing aimed squarely at them!

Does this mean I'm abandoning Transformers, though? Absolutely not. It does mean, however, that I'll be skipping over this slag-pile and hoping that the upcoming Transformers: Animated series will prove more palatable in spite of its weird character designs. At the very least, I can hope that a censored edition of the movie will become available for viewing on TV or something, and that that one won't disgust me. If only Hollywood would learn that making something cool enough for adults doesn't have to mean making it too nasty for kids...

]]> ~niftihalostudios http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/12609227/ http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/12609227/ Sun, 15 Apr 2007 17:44:38 PDT
Things are looking up in the 3D department! My latest project has been rebuilding the Storm Sprinter 3D model that got erased when my old computer died. In some ways the new one's not as good as the old one so far, and in others it's better already. Overall, it'll be a worthy replacement.

Finally got Pokemon XD. I never, ever, ever thought Miror B could become even MORE freaky-looking. O_o; But then again, it's the freakiness that makes the character so cool! XD;;

And there's more fun stuff to look forward to as well- the Transformers movie coming out in July, for instance! XD I never would have thought I would see a live-action TF movie! I'm glad to have heard they're treating it more like serious science fiction than something based on kids' toys, even if it does mean a drastic change of design aesthetic, the loss of humanoid faces, and the lack of G1-esque size-shifting. The first two kinda take a bit to get used to, and the last one really only gets in the way for a fan who's stuck on G1.

Lots of Rebirth ideas brewing between myself and Gemma! I wish I could figure out how to get screenshots off of my Pokemon DVDs, though, for some reason Print Screen won't do it. :/ It would make things so much easier as far as showing Gemma the details I've noticed and the ways they inspired me.

Well, that's that for now. And now, back to reading the adventures of a certain murder-mystery-solving midget!

]]> ~niftihalostudios http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/10958671/ http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/10958671/ Tue, 05 Dec 2006 09:59:05 PST
XBox 360
My nephew has one. Frankly, I'm not impressed yet. But then again, graphics don't impress me much at all in most cases.
Controller: More or less the same design as the XBox controller, with only a few changes, namely the removal of the memory cartridge slot. Considering I never liked any variant on the XBox controller much, I'm not impressed by this one either.
Games: ... frankly, I can't say that I've seen a lot of new games on ANY system that I particularly want. The flawed backwards compatibility (not working with every old game) is a downer.

PS3
I understand that the price is unusually high for a game console, yet somewhat on the low side for a Blue-ray DVD player. Personally, I don't see the point of Blue-ray right now.
Controller: I've heard people complain about this being the same old controller that's been in use since the PS1. IMO, the PS1 controller was good- it had everything that I had loved about the old SNES controller, plus some extras once the Dual Shock variant came out. Really short learning curve and a nice feel.
Games: ... again, not a lot of games I know of that I want. But partly because none of them have really been out very long. The only ones I'm aware of that I'd like to play are Armored Core 4 and Final Fantasy 13. Like with the 360, the PS3 suffers from flawed backwards compatibility, and not playing all the old games annoys me. In fact, it annoys me much more with PS3 than with XBox 360 because I can name plenty of PS1 and some PS2 games that I like.

Wii
The worst I can really say about this is that it has a funny name.
Controller: I'm really confused on what to say about the new motion sensor controller. It might be good on first person games but I really don't think I'd want to use it on RPGs or platformers, which are two of my fave genres.
The option to use either the Gamecube controller or that more SNES-like controller, however, more than makes up for my misgivings in that regard by leaving the doors open for more old-fashioned gaming. And the Wii controller does help in that it, in a way, brings back the old lightgun concept that Nintendo has sadly abandoned ever since the Super Scope.
Games: Yet again, I feel I must say the same thing as the previous systems- not a lot I want yet. At least, in terms of NEW games. Nintendo, however, has definitely learned the value of backwards compatibility! One of the biggest selling points for this baby, IMO, can be summed up in three words: LEGAL GAME DOWNLOADS! NES, SNES, Genesis, and N64 games! All that, plus backwards compatibility with Gamecube discs, gives this system by far the biggest game library of any gaming console in existence.

]]> ~niftihalostudios http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/10124518/ http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/10124518/ Tue, 19 Sep 2006 16:59:51 PDT

But, I've been enjoying this one's new features! Now I can render my 3D stuff SO much faster, and no slowdowns when I've got lots of layers on a PSP pic!

As usual, I'm hooked on stuff that is almost completely unrelated! Super Mario, Case Closed, Dekaranger, and Pokemon for now. Got a few new Case Closed mangas, re-watched some Deka episodes, and I'm curious about the path the new season of Pokemon will take.

Still job hunting, but things are definitely looking up in that department, with more opportunities rising here and there. Just gotta keep grabbing at them til I catch one! ]]> ~niftihalostudios http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/8540081/ http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/8540081/ Fri, 21 Apr 2006 10:50:52 PDT
Today, I was going to get a short, one-day job that would have given me a chance to prove myself, and finally get something to put down for a work history. I understand it can be risky for employers to hire someone that they know nothing about and that having someone who can vouch for my work helps. Plus, the job was $20 an hour and I could get it easy- just show up when it was time to work.

Unfortunately, someone screwed up with the job listing that was posted at the local Texas Workforce Center, and so I wound up going today when the job was yesterday.

I hope another opportunity like that pops up soon. It might, considering that there's still some leftover stuff from the mess Hurricane Rita left. ]]> ~niftihalostudios http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/7223314/ http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/7223314/ Sun, 04 Dec 2005 18:53:14 PST Ah well, having mostly been working on school stuff and fanfic work, I haven't done much of the stuff that I'd be posting here.

Speaking of fanfic works, my first ever fanfic work is online, hosted at [link] ! As the address suggests, it is Pokemon related- Information Super Highwaymen, a literary adaptation of the missing anime episode Electric Soldier Porygon. Good episode, too bad that one unexpected goof with the color-change explosion gave it such a bad rep. Not that anyone disliking the original can really be blamed, after what happened. :\

Anyway, if you wanna read, head on that way. At the main page, click 'episodes', and when it brings up a list of the series within Rebirth, click the Information Super Highwaymen emblem. And if you've never been to Rebirth before, please give Gemma's Ultimatum a read- it's the one that started the whole Rebirth site! ^^


~Tim ]]> ~niftihalostudios http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/6758815/ http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/6758815/ Thu, 13 Oct 2005 15:29:15 PDT
Thanks for the nice comments on my art so far. I'll be looking forward to posting new stuff whenever I crank it out, which hopefully will be often, depending on how much time gets devoted to debris removal.

-Tim ]]> ~niftihalostudios http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/6722416/ http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/6722416/ Sun, 09 Oct 2005 15:48:30 PDT
Gemma ]]> ~niftihalostudios http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/6569488/ http://niftihalostudios.deviantart.com/journal/6569488/ Thu, 22 Sep 2005 03:50:48 PDT
Well, no use letting it go to waste, and since DA won't let me make another account for him I'll let him have this one instead. I'll put more of his art up once I get an idea of what he'd like posted here.

- Gemma ]]> ~niftihalostudios