Doubts (public) Developmental log

[gbbishop]

Sorry for your loss. *does the solemn rights of passing for esential digital interface devices.*

[thaelis]

Will this delay the expansion of the Ixisian Empire and the eventual conquering of Sundren by armies of dragon-riding lizardmen?

[Fury]

I read this and had to go snuggle my wee little Intuos4, and tell it how much I love it. And that I really, really should use it more. And then I try to keep my lustings for the Companion Hybrid very secret, because they are jealous devices. >.>

[GodBeastX]

I read this and had to go snuggle my wee little Intuos4, and tell it how much I love it. And that I really, really should use it more. And then I try to keep my lustings for the Companion Hybrid very secret, because they are jealous devices. >.>

You sound like me, Except I bought Intuos 3, RIGHT before the damn 4 came out. Mine is pretty damn big... costed me 5 hundy.

[Doubtful]

Will this delay the expansion of the Ixisian Empire and the eventual conquering of Sundren by armies of dragon-riding lizardmen?

Sadly so! With no tablet about half my projects will have to go on hold. I'll have to try and work around the restriction where I can (been ages since I've bothered with box modelling!) Or toolset stuff.

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I read this and had to go snuggle my wee little Intuos4, and tell it how much I love it. And that I really, really should use it more. And then I try to keep my lustings for the Companion Hybrid very secret, because they are jealous devices. >.>

You sound like me, Except I bought Intuos 3, RIGHT before the damn 4 came out. Mine is pretty damn big... costed me 5 hundy.

I got my tablet back in 2006, just after they released it, cost a pretty penny for it eben with a huge student discount, it was the A5 wide screen model and damn it was good.

I ended up pulling it apart yesterday to see what was what, looks like some dust and grit had entered in through the express keys then through sheer bad luck it stuck against one of the thicker support pieces of the tablets chassis against the PCB, flying back from Italy last week it must have been crushed against the PCB where it broke some tracks.

After some painstaking magnifying glass work and some conductive ink I repaired all the damage I could see, the affected section of the tablet now recognises the pen, but doesn't detect pressure or contact over the area, so it's still unusable. Must be more damage than I can see

It's going to break the hell out of my wedding savings to get a new one and I doubt I'll get what I want before Christmas or the new year *sad face*

[Fury]

Have either of you found that you really use the larger tablets? My first Intuos was a 9x12, and I discovered that the larger surface was actually a hindrance for me, since I was reaching so far. It ended up being uncomfortable to use. So, I sold it on Ebay when the Intuos4 came out, and went with a smaller tablet. I honestly can't say I miss the larger work surface, and the tablet itself is much, much more manageable (not... as manageable as, say, a cintique companion hybrid would be..... ).

The good thing about the smaller tablet, too, was that it wasn't hideously expensive in the grand scheme of things.

I wish I had two pennies to rub together- I would totally contribute to a new tablet charity drive

[Doubtful]

I think it really depends on your work style and training, on one of my old jobs you'd find that all the main comping/roto terminals (Smoke, Fire and Inferno) had the huge format tablets while most of the texture guys worked with the smaller medium tablets. You'd see the comp/rotor guys doing most of their work on full size images rarely zoomed in but making the most of the tablets surface area for detailing while the texture guys would slap the base textures down then zoom in on the image and get technical and fidly with the smaller work area.

Except that one guy who told everyone everything about his painting career and used a large format on an easel so he could work as the Masters did using the largest joints possible!

Personally I found the A5 wide (I think its the same size as the current medium tablets and things like the cintiq 13s) to be the perfect size, though there is a real joy to be had in the larger ones using that big joint technique! I think my arms would fall off that was the only size I had though.

[sonuvalich]

I bought my wife a Wacom when we were thinking of starting a webcomic together...now it is a paperweight. It seemed like such a damned cool little device though, and this was back in like 2008. Condolences on your loss.

[wangxiuming]

I love my wacom. Rip, tablet-friend.

[Kitsunestume]

I bought my wife a Wacom when we were thinking of starting a webcomic together...now it is a paperweight. It seemed like such a damned cool little device though, and this was back in like 2008. Condolences on your loss.

Heh, ah, the temptation of webbies. I find it a lot easier to just give overly verbose literary descriptions and leaving the visual art to my more focused friends. My Intuos4 mostly works as a mousepad >.> occasionally getting use for doodles when I don't want to use paper. It's rather sad.
I would be totally cool with a Doubt-Is-Awesome fund, though. I actually DO have two pennies to rub together Not sure about dimes though.

[edit] Huh. go figure. CRAP tons of the Sundren community have Wacom tablets. If anyone has a Cintique-Companion though, I'ld advise them not to let me know where they live. <.< >.>

[Doubtful]

Alright! New year, new layout, new page. That's how it works isn't it?

In order not to go mental I've decided to rationalise a bit, trim the fat (shame it isn't so easy to do from the waist) and present things thusly:

Main Course - These are where the majority of my time goes, big investments in terms of time.

ExiCorp - Rebranding of Exicorp, new Mirakus Post map (see Architecture comp), overhaul of Whurest, new armours, new placables, new store and maybe some other stuff as well depending on approval.

Side Orders - Something to pick at now and again as a warm up or warm down from the main course. Once the Main Project is complete one of these will take its place.

Sestra Remap - Part done, been limbo'd for a bit but I'll take it back and get it done bit by bit.

Scary Ixis - This is a huge project and will take some time, but it's fun to pick at now and again when I'm in the mood. New monsters, new weapons, new maps. This is the next Main Course.

Deserts - What's life without a bit of sweetness? These are just fun odds and sods that I'll pick up less frequently than Side Orders, but I'll enjoy them when I do have them.

Maps - I loves me a bit of cartography, we're not talking maps as in zones here but actual maps of the area - The aim is for a new city map and new country map, largely for web use they should be updatable with faction controlled zones, trade routes, areas of influence, population etc. They take time to produce but it's fun to sit down with the pens of an evening.

Elves and Dwarves - Because I said I would a long time ago, plus they're entertaining to work on.

"Hey, Doubt. That's all fine and good, but you started this thread six months ago and have only managed to complete two fairly small projects, what's to say the same isn't going to happen again?"

A fair question, good job you asked it! Well my friends, the difference this time is you! I know and accept that I'm fricking terrible at managing my time and effort, it's just to easy to go 'Sure, I'll finish making those new tower shields just as soon as I finish this level of Candy Crush' then before you know it another day's been claimed by google, tvtropes and stupid apps.

What I need is a handy bunch of people to prod me in the face every now and again and say "Whatchya doin?" Well, luckily I've got you! Every Sunday (give or take a day or so) I'll try and put an update in, even if it's just to say: "This week I scatched my ass and stared at the mirror". If I fail to post an update feel free to send me a PM or reply in this thread- It won't bother me, it helps me! Hells it'll actually mean I'll end up doing more work and that's great for all of us!

Lastly, when I can I'll try and post some in-progress pictures of stff. It may not be much as in many cases I feel it's better to keep secrets till the end, but who knows what treasures might slip out!

Anyway, happy 2014 and let's see what we can do!

[Kitsunestume]

Yay for Progress!

I totally sympathize: I spent most of the last week with one computer open on Sundren while I played Spore or Planetary Annihilation on the other.
Throwing moons at planets seems to have slightly higher appeal to me right now than RP apparently.
The week before that it was Tomb Raider.

If aid can be rendered, just ask and pokes will appear. You've already got one in your PMbox.

[Satoshi]

Elves.

[Intrepid42]

Any and all effort is much appreciated, Doubtful.

[Doubtful]

Well, it's Sunday (give or take a day or so). That must mean it's time for some kind of update.

Well, on good advice I'm concentraiting on one project at a time, so the majority of my time now goes down a single avenue rather than blustering between various projects and finishing none of them. The single project continues apace but needs a few placables before it'll be ready to go anywhere near the toolset. One of the main placables is now about 50-60% complete, you'll see it once it's in game.

I do want to try and post something though as a visible sign that I'm doing stuff, so I quickly grabbed a couple of small items that I did as a sort of warm up the other day, they're related to the main project but as teeny tiny parts (IE, good for getting the brain in the right mood for more serious work).

Gottles of Geer; leather clad, glass float, labelled.