Agiel

Putting The Hunt for Red October and Das Boot in perspective: http://www.cracked.com/article_20871_6-things-movies-dont-show-you-about-life-submarine.html

Yesterday some good Samaritan left a note on my windshield telling me that someone had backed into my rear bumper while it was parked, and against all odds managed to get the license plate number. Today, I got rear-ended at a red light.

Decided to see what happened if you opened up the canopy mid-flight, did we?

There is only one way to play Fallout: New Vegas, and that is role-playing as a rough-and-tumble, survivalist, gunslinging cowgir, of which this will probably be the umpteenth time I've done this run: http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/3316075617495300920/159E00356972744563845F92E631D8855E4D3335/ http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=223603836 http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=223603806 True to form, while not an airhead at about 6 Int (for purposes of not totally gimping my skill leveling), I put absolutely no points in Science. Problems involving computers and robots can be solved with .45-70 Govt. SWC, a Bowie Knife, or some dynamite, thank you very much.

Today, you would have a difficult time convincing me otherwise that web designers have some burning, irrational hatred of Opera, as my mail client refuses to work with it and I must use Google Chrome to work in any functional capacity.

Catching up on Les cités obscures ("The Obscure Cities") which is an anthology series taking place on a Counter Earth after hearing about an English translation of L'enfant penchee (The Leaning Girl) which was funded by Kickstarter.

With the obsession of rendering cinematics with the game engines in this day and age, pre-rendered cutscenes have nearly turned into a lost art. So I decided to create a thread to celebrate those moments that evoke such pathos: 1. A prime example of why Relic is my favourite game developer of all time. That they are one of the great underdogs of game design and can so consistently knock it out of the park in visual and audio design is a testament to the talent and dedication at their studio. As this is the end of the game, there are spoilers, natch. 2. Casually walking down the flightline wearing Ray Bans and a flightsuit, great mustaches, the mighty Mudhen soaring in the Wild Blue Yonder, rocking guitar solos, and the American Flag. I dare anyone to watch this and say they didn't even consider signing up for the Air Force to become a fighter jock. 3. A relatively new one, but quite possibly the best completely CGI thing I've ever seen. For those curious about the game itself it's made by From Software, the guys behind Demon's Souls and Dark Souls, and true to their design philosophy, it is brutally hard and unforgiving online or off.

Ever wanted to try out one of these bad boys?

Hands (and feet) are probably among the most difficult things to draw. In my life drawing classes it was recommended to our beginner students to draw them as amorphous mittens as placeholder while they built up their skills of gesture and form for the figure.

A worthy addendum to the Mitchell And Webb pieces: In addition, probably one of the most moving things I've read: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25589709

A funny story about the MG-3 from someone I spoke to who served as a Leopard 2 commander and Kompanie executive officer in the last days of the Cold War to the mid-90s: As many of them were simply Second World War vintage MG-42s re-chambered for NATO 7.62mm, it wasn't totally unheard of that one would find a Nazi eagle emblem still engraved on the internal parts whilst cleaning one.

Having been a part of a short animated film project (think Don Hertzfeld) as a part of my uni's film department, you gain an appreciation for all traditional animation regardless of target audience or country of origin... ...because making that s*** is *HARD*.

So... caved and put down $80.00 on Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations (remember, it is a Matrix Games joint). Aside from putting such crucial questions to rest, like how many Su-35Ses can a flight of four F-35As take on their own in sterile battlefield conditions at once (Answer: Fourteen), it really does give you an appreciation for the evolution of aerial tactics and technology. In particular, when you try the scenario of one of history's most famous (at least, in the military aviation and enthusiast community) air operations, the Iraqi strikes on Iran's oil facilities at Kharg Island (Yes. it is a real place and not just a Battlefield 3 map). You realise that the air forces of the coalition only made Desert Storm look easy (and as General Chuck Horner, the lead planner of the air campaign, insists, it was not) and that Iraqi pilots (when not being micromanaged by a murderous, megalomaniacal idiot with no comprehension of operational art) were in reality no jokes when you consider that they successfully undertaken such daring raids of such hellish complexity.

Gabe Newell on why Valve isn't "churning out Half-Life sequels": http://www.gamespot.com/articles/gabe-newell-on-why-valve-doesn-t-churn-out-half-life-sequels/1100-6416920/ You know Valve, you weren't exactly churning them out in the first place, and if the next Half-Life game was the last Half-Life game you ever made so you could put a rest to all the "Where's Episode 3?" calls, I would be okay with it if it ended as conclusively as Portal 2 (hell, even Portal 1 before the retcon) did. Because clearly you guys have lost all interest in making goddamn Half-Life, and pushing people into making something they don't want to make typically doesn't work out too well for all parties involved. Tom Chick's post on Quarter to Three is also quite apt: "What's most depressing about this (Valve investing so much into multiplayer micro-transactions) is that Valve has some folks over there who do an incredible job with narrative. It's a shame all this talent seems to be going into promotional stuff -- admittedly funny, but still just promotional stuff -- for Team Fortress or whatever. Why aren't the folks who told us the stories in Portal and Half-Life telling us more stories? Why isn't Valve putting out more smaller projects like Double Fine? Why aren't they using the enormous commercial success of Steam, TF, and DOTA to take creative chances?"

While I waited for a migraine to pass before a gaming session, I glanced through my Steam list and checked to see who else on my friend's list had played the games I had. I found in a library of about 117 games, a frightening amount of them I was the only one I knew who played. So I thought I'd start a thread for people to let their eccentricities shine. Those who have a fairly good idea of what I'm about shouldn't be surprised by a few I had: ----------------- 688(i) Hunter/Killer Bientôt l'été (I do not strictly speaking have it on Steam, though it is available, and I'm 110% certain I'm the only one I know who has it, and actually kind of likes it). Bloodrayne 2 Cargo! The Quest for Gravity! Cryostasis Dangerous Waters Fallen Enchantress (however, some other people I knew had played the expandalone, which is more of a testament to their savvy and my stupidity) Fleet Command Jade Empire: Special Edition The Path Silent Hunter: Wolves of the Pacific (and the U-Boat Missions) Silent Hunter 5: Battle of the Atlantic Sub Command (Eagle-eyed readers may have spotted a theme) Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Island Thunder Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 and expansions Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (I have had these since launch, but bought them on the cheap so I didn't have to worry about losing discs) The Void ---------- Now enough of me sounding like a lunatic with my taste in games, what are yours?

Contemplating getting Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations to make up for the fact that I hadn't spent an extravagant amount on Steam sales unlike previous years. Unfortunately, it being a Matrix Games joint, you are paying the deficit of a small developing country for something that looks like this:

Watched "Her" tonight. Another great Spike Jonze film. Think it hits a little too close to home for a lot of folks here though?

Because the conscript system has been working out *sooooo* well for the modern Russian military's needs: http://en.ria.ru/military_news/20130313/179984970/Over-240000-Russian-Men-Dodged-Draft-Last-Year.html http://russiandefpolicy.wordpress.com/category/conscription/ http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1888238,00.html

Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year

The M16A1 that was in service at the time did retain a full-auto capacity. There were also many cases on the Eastern Front of the Second World War where both German and Soviet troops found something to like in their opponents' arms. I've seen a whole lot of photos of Soviets using MP-40s and their German counterparts using Shpagins and SVT-40s.

Something neat from Viktor Suvorov about the AK: "I adore weapons. Of every sort. I love military equipment and military uniforms. One day I shall open a small museum... (An) exhibit in my museum will be a Kalashnikov automatic assault rifle. Not one of those the terrorists used to kill the Olympic athletes or the one I had with me in Czechoslovakia or one of those the Communists killed doctors with in Cambodia. No, it will be one of the thousands captured by the American marines in Vietnam and used in their desperate attempt to halt Communism and to avert the calamity which threatened the Vietnamese people. American soldiers in Vietnam often mistrusted their own weapons and preferred to use their Kalashnikov trophies. This was not so simple, for they could hardly expect to be supplied with the proper rounds for these weapons but they used them nevertheless, capturing more ammunition as they fought. What is the secret of the Kalashnikov? It is uncomplicated and reliable, like a comrade-in-arms, and these are the two qualities of greatest importance in a battle." And from Mikhai Kalashnikov himself: "I'm proud of my invention, but I'm sad that it is used by terrorists ... I would prefer to have invented a machine that people could use and that would help farmers with their work — for example a lawn mower."

Is for stoners, so its kind of a good thing you didn't Hey, you're in America now, so you just imply it

Well it's not for everybody, and it appeals to the same crowd that watches "Adventure Time." The guys who came up with the title of that episode ("Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future") however deserve a Nobel Prize in Literature