Panic Attack!

By Shamus Posted Saturday Dec 19, 2009

Filed under: Movies 56 comments

Via Rampant Coyote I find this gem, a 5 minute movie which is a spectacular display of special effects…


Link (YouTube)

…which was purportedly made for $500.

Of course, the $500 was just the equipment and software. I imagine that a lot more than $500 worth of labor went into it.

Still, these effects would have cost millions just a decade ago. These tools are getting very cheap, very fast. We are rapidly approaching the point where the only thing that separates the pros from the amateurs is skill and effort.

I’m very much looking forward to that.

 


 

Experienced Points: Massively Single Player, Part 1

By Shamus Posted Friday Dec 18, 2009

Filed under: Column 71 comments

Perhaps you’ve noticed that I’ve been playing a lot of MMO’s lately. I didn’t really get into them until they became solo-friendly, which is a strange way of going about things. Or, at least it might seem weird. But I think that playing an MMO by yourself can make a lot of sense.

 


 

Chocolate Sushi!

By Shamus Posted Friday Dec 18, 2009

Filed under: Pictures 17 comments

Sent out some geeky Christmas treats to some friends. Didn’t want to post these images until they’d arrived.

First, some cookies:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2486/4194957731_24146a3f55.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2567/4194955639_1c5c860325.jpg

But the real fun is the Sushi:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2594/4159635536_2d6a0f62fa.jpg

The insides are white chocolate and coconut. (But a few were made with white chocolate and rice crispies. We experimented a lot.) The orange bits are dried mango. The seaweed is some kind of fruit by the foot, covered in dark chocolate with a little green dye.

These were fun to make, and probably a more suitable gift than mailing out raw fish.

 


 

Stolen Pixels #152: A Very Combine Christmas, Part 1

By Shamus Posted Friday Dec 18, 2009

Filed under: Column 35 comments

This will be a three-part joke… series… thing.

It was exceedingly hard to get this to look passable. Most of the bottles in the Source engine are hilariously oversized, and Judith is a little small, so every object I placed in her hands ended up looking like an oversized toy.

Eggnog is a very polarizing drink. People either loooove it or they compare it to vomit if you mention the stuff. It must be very hard to be an eggnog-enjoyer.

 


 

LOTRO: Welcome Back Weekend

By Shamus Posted Wednesday Dec 16, 2009

Filed under: Notices 66 comments

It’s a free weekend in Lord of the Rings Online. Thursday Dec 17 through Monday Dec 21 you can play for free. You don’t have time because it’s the holidays, but it’s the thought that counts, right?

I’ve already used all my character slots on the Silverlode server, but I’m still in the “settling in” phase of MMO playing where I’m leveling lots of characters at once. Just getting a sample of each race, class, and crafting profession is a major undertaking. The only character worth noting is “Rubytuesday”, my Hobbit Hunter. (That is, I’m a Hobbit who is a hunter, not a person who hunts Hobbits, although now that I think of it that would be pretty hilarious. Unsporting, but hilarious.)

lotro_rainbow.jpg

I’m curious what other Tolkien lore-fans out there think of the writing and I’d love to read your thoughts on it. My own take:

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “LOTRO: Welcome Back Weekend”

 


 

Stolen Pixels #151: “!”

By Shamus Posted Tuesday Dec 15, 2009

Filed under: Column 32 comments

BioWare, sometimes it’s like we don’t know each other anymore.

 


 

A Star is Born:
Let’s Play Champions Online Pt. 13

By Shamus Posted Tuesday Dec 15, 2009

Filed under: Shamus Plays 35 comments

Against my better judgment I am once again working for Socrates. Shockingly, my current job doesn’t have me rushing to the site of a catastrophe to deal with the least pressing problem. The usual Socrates job goes something like, “Viper agents have stormed a local nursing home and are converting the residents into mildly senile cybernetic shock troopers. Please hurry there and make sure none of the Viper assault vehicles are double-parked.”

But this one has me going to an area of the city and getting rid of the Viper forces I find. As always, Viper does a lot more loitering than terrorizing, but at least they’re striving to be some sort of respectable threat in this city. That’s gotta count for something.

staronchest_viper2.jpg

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “A Star is Born:
Let’s Play Champions Online Pt. 13″