The problem with Retexturing Hongyu's Cowgirl

I told you that retexturing some clothing gets to be a pain.  This is Hongyu's Cowgirl (A4 version).  It seems that I might not be able to do a female Hawai'ian or Aloha shirt with this outfit's jacket.  By coloring each aspect of the jacket with a color, I can find out where everything is.

I might redo the Cowgirl with Scottish Tartans instead. :P

Aloha Shirt textures

I'm working on some interesting Aloha shirt textures for the Hiro and David clothing bundles.  After getting David for free recently (I bought Hiro), I thought I'd get their clothing bundles and start working with them.  My next retexture project are these aloha shirts.  The design here is based on a surfing photo.

The Aloha shirt is a style of dress shirt originating in Hawaii. It is currently the premier textile export of the Hawaii manufacturing industry. The shirts are printed, mostly short-sleeved, and collared. They usually have buttons, sometimes as a complete button-down shirt, and sometimes just down to the chest (pullover). Aloha shirts usually have a left chest pocket sewn in to make the printed pattern continuous. Aloha shirts may be worn by men or women; women's aloha shirts usually have a lower-cut, v-neck style. The lower hem is straight, as the shirts are not meant to be tucked in.

Aloha shirts exported to the mainland United States and elsewhere are called Hawaiian shirts and often brilliantly colored with floral patterns or generic Polynesian motifs and are worn as casual, informal wear.

Aloha shirts, also called Hawaiian shirts, are shirts that were originally designed in the early 1930's by a Chinese merchant who sewed the original shirts out of old kimono fabrics.  The Honolulu Advertiser newspaper was quick to coin the term Aloha shirt to describe Chun's fashionable creation. Chun trademarked the name. The first advertisement in the Honolulu Advertiser for Chun's Aloha shirt was published on June 28, 1935. Local residents, especially surfers, and tourists descended on Chun's store and bought every shirt he had. Within years, major designer labels sprung up all over Hawaii and began manufacturing and selling Aloha shirts en masse. Retail chains in Hawaii, including mainland based ones, may mass produce a single aloha shirt design for employee uniforms.

When the textures are done, they will be sold on Renderosity as part of a Retexture package for Hiro and David clothing Bundles, and Aiko (4)'s cowgirl outfit by Hongyu.

Bonsai Swimwear RELEASED!!

In time for the beach season, Bonsai Swimwear has released it's line of Speedos for 2010.  The styles range from camouflage to an icy feel.  The styles are sexy as well as functional.

Translation: On Renderosity's free stuff, you can find my Bonsai Swimwear ready for download for use in DAZ Studio, and only DAZ Studio.  If you use Poser, it means that you will have to custom build the mat files yourself (pz2, and mc6 files). The textures are available here: http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/details.php?item_id=59108 .

AWESOME!  RADICAL!  TUBULAR!  DUDE!

Monstrous Gallery: Were Jackal

Were Jackal by ~Atlantean6 on deviantART

The first of my Monstrous Gallery: the werejackal.

Werejackal (a.k.a. Jackalwere)
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Hit Dice: 4+5
Attacks: Bite (2d4)
Saving Throw: 13
Special: Lycanthropy
Move: 12
Challenge Level/XP: 5/240

Werejackals are lycanthropes from desert realms where the Egyptian god Anubis is worshiped.  Often the result of a terrible curse of some ancient Pharaoh or Priest of the Gods of Egypt, the werejackal is cursed to become part man part jackal by night when "Nephthys shows her face during the night."  The form is in the express image of Anubis.  Werejackals are affected by the weapons of Nephthys: weapons fashioned of silver, taking lethal damage.  Other weapons stun the creature or do minimal damage.  They are often human at any other time of the day, except when the curse of Pharaoh or the priests of Anubis comes upon them.

Movies, What they should be

Everyone loves the movies.

With a movie, theatre is brought into a new dimension that is cost effective.  A movie, printed on celluloid, allows more people to watch a film than you can pack into a theatre.  With a movie, you can watch the tales of Haggard's hero Allan Quartermain; or Indiana Jones (which has little resemblance to Allan Quartermain); Tarzan, or any number of subjects.  Movies that include realistic items like Chicago, or Silence of the Lambs, or even When Harry Met Sally.

The problem with movies today is that Hollywood takes them too seriously, or they lost the whole idea of a movie's purpose.  Some still have these good ideas: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, King Kong, and more recently Avatar are good examples of good storytelling.

To me, the purpose of a movie is to either Entertain or to Educate.  In the purpose of Entertaining, a movie is supposed to be used to bring you into a whole other world.  For the purposes of Entertaining, a good movie speaks to the inner child and takes you a fun journey to discover a whole new world and to have adventures.  Movies have been following this purpose as long as movies have been produced.

Since there were silent films and talkies, films had been talking to the inner child inside of us.  The original Thief of Bagdad, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's  The Lost World (which is one of the best books and recent films I've seen), and screen adaptations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes with Basil Rathbone under the hat all the way to Rupert Everet and Robert Downey Jr. spoke to our inner child.  There was many women's films, many films for young boys (including the all time movie serials like Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, and Radar Men from the Moon); and films for young girls.  All of these had their purpose to entertain the human being and speak to his or her inner child.

The other purpose of films is to Educate.  Films have been used to educate, through entertainment, about a wide variety of moral and social issues.  Many of these moral films are given the rating of R by the MPAA.  Films like the Godfather, Other People's Money, and The War of the Roses are social critiques and moral tales.  Some films are taken from Shakespeare and are also social critiques, as Shakespeare wrote to critique his own society (Shakespeare, in Romeo and Juliet, criticized the duel).

A good filmmaker would choose to make films in these two veins.  For the moral filmmaker, it is often better to tell an "R"-rated truth than to tell a "G"-rated lie.  For instance, to expose what happened at the foot of Sinai would attract Censorship: homosexuality, murder, adultery, rampant drunkeness, coveteousness, falshoods, disrespect to parents, choosing a different God to worship, creating an image of that God, and most everything you can possibly think of they did at the foot of Sinai.

Not only that, but history is full of unspeakable truths a moral filmmaker can explore.  The lives of Nero, Commodus, Caracalla, and Julius Caesar all have done terrible things that parents would not show their children.  But they all make good moral tales through their actions and what they were trying to achieve.  Caracalla, for instance, was a cruel emperor who built a lavish Roman Bath complex in Rome.

To create a moral film and to water it down for families is the worst thing a moral filmmaker can do if he wants to impact his audience.  He's crossing into the territory of the Entertaining filmmaker, who makes movies for the inner child.  For while the moral filmmaker tells about reality and seeks to educate the populace about Social wrongs, an entertaining filmmaker must give up his quest for accolades of Oscar to tell stories that entertain and speaks to the child.  In the case of the Entertaining Filmmaker, it's better to speak to the inner child and to make a PG-rated dream than a PG-13 misdream.  An entertaining Filmmaker, after all, stands on the shoulders of those who wrote movies for children.

Adventure, fantasy, and comedy are the realms of the Entertaining filmmaker.  You make a film to tell a story that speaks to the child.  It requires deft storytelling and deals with the universal morals of right and wrong, love and hate, and all the tools of adventure fiction that writers had used ever since.  Although there is room for social and moral commentary, the emphasis is on entertainment.

However, mix these two aims, and you get bad movies.  Ferngully is a great example, and by all reports, James Cameron has learned his lesson and created a fantastic movie by the name of Avatar.  Avatar has strong parallels with Ferngully, but James Cameron used the premise of Ferngully and improved it with the tools of Science Fiction (Avatar, by many reports, brings you into a whole other world, while Ferngully was a propaganda piece).

There is a third way for filmmakers to work, and that is in Documentary.  A Documentary filmmaker is also an Educating filmmaker since he is making a film that documents something in the world.  A recent example is March of the Penguins and the various Nova programs.  Here, a good filmmaker relies on his prowess to tell his story.  While Nova's The Elegant Universe was superb at explaining String Theory, a documentary filmmaker shouldn't be at all perturbed but inspired by this kind of filmmaking.

But it's better off if the Documentary Filmmaker can check and recheck his sources when he writes his documentary.  Filmmakers who don't do this may find themselves in trouble.

However, whether the filmmaker is a documentary filmmaker, or an entertainment filmmaker, or a moral filmmaker they are all at once storytellers.  They tell stories on film.  They are also responsible in anything they do.  A good film may entertain or inspire your watchers.  A bad film tanks.  A good film is enjoyed by all.  Some people may recognize it for what it is (the recent Sinbad animated film has D&D written all over it), others will simply enjoy it.  It's the duty of the filmmaker to bring truth to light: whether their film is excellent (Avatar, Star Trek), good (Night of the Museum), bad (Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, Ferngully), or utterly unspeakably terrible (Mars Needs Women).  A good filmmaker always strives for excellence.  A bad filmmaker is just wasting a hard drive and celluloid.

B-MOVIE TIME!

Day of the Tripeds by ~Atlantean6 on deviantART

Everyone needs to have some fun now and then at the Movies!  This is a poster for a 50s style Sci-Fi B-Movie.

What do you think about this quote?

"Pornography is about possessing, using, and abusing the beauty you recognize."

Comments?

Payback

I need to work on a new render. 

Aquatic Humans

Aquatic Human by ~Atlantean6 on deviantART

So I finally got around to doing one of these.  Quite the looker, isn't she?

Writing a D&D Adventure is Easy!

Taking some examples from Feng Shui, a D&D Adventure should be easy.

THE UNDERSEA CITY

This is an adventure that shows how easy an adventure actually is to write.

Premise: The PCs are on a boat from the land of Killyronde to Caithness; however something goes awry and they are sucked down a whirlpool.
The Twist: The whirlpool is manmade, the PCs are the guests of Atlantis.
The Climax: The Evil of Dark Rapture shows himself and the PCs must repel Dark Rapture to save Atlantis and to learn a clue to the whereabouts of Spaceship America.

This Adventure can support the usual suspects of PCs.  A wizard, a Cleric, some fighters, and a rogue/thief might come in handy.

Backstory

In the Ancient Time there were several Spaceships that came from Earth fleeing something terrible. Takeover by hostile forces or Nuclear War.  The Spaceships that traveled to Galatea to colonize the planet were the Bretonia, the Kusari, the America, the Ys, the Tartessos, and the Rhineland.  The Rhineland, the Bretonia, the Ys, and the Tartessos landed safely on the Continent of Hyperia and the micro-continent of the Caithness Isles, and spread European Culture by conquering and subplanting the cultures of the Native Peoples.  The Kusari landed eastward of the land of Hyperia.  As for the America, no one knew where the spaceship America had landed.  Everyone assumed that it had landed on the Continent of Hesperia . . . but now Hesperia is lost.

It's thousands of years later, and the High Technology that the Europeans had brought with them was lost.  After two Dark Ages, the nations of Hyperia has built themselves back up into a Medieval Culture.  Little do they know that there are cultures undersea, beyond the orcs, the Amazons of Amazonia, the Mystics of Skara Brae, and even the whole archipelago of Caithness itself.  This civilization is Atlantis.

Atlantis itself is built by the descendants of the colonists who were on Spaceship America.  They had isolated themselves from Hyperia and built undersea colonies to monitor the Hyperians and the people of Caithness.  In order to work efficiently, the Americans mastered the science of Genetics and created humans capable of breathing underwater, they also created Dolphin/Human hybrids (basically anthro-dolphins).  Then they built their undersea colonies: Atlantis, Poseidon, Cleitos, Tartessos, Tritoneus, and Neptune along the Hyperian Continental Shelf in shallow water.

However, during the Second Dark Age, the undersea colonies lost their connection with their Masters.  The Dark Age was a terrible Dark Age.  And the Undersea Colonies were forced to unify and become a nation unto themselves.  Especially with enemies like the Sahaugin and other sapient, undersea life.  The government is Autocratic, and the current Autocrat is an airbreather known as Lycurgus.  Lycurgus rules over a nation of airbreathing atlanteans, waterbreathing atlanteans, and anthro-dolphins.  Lately, the incursions of Procuros: also known as Dark Rapture, has caused the Atlanteans some concern.  Also, paranoid concerns over the Surface World has caused the Atlanteans to capture "land men" to see if the Surfacers pose a threat to them.


Getting Started

Have your players create characters, and tell them that they should have a reason to be on the boat heading from Killyronde to Caithness.  Player characters may create air breathing Atlanteans, water breathing Atlanteans, or anthro-dolphins if they prefer.  Although playing an Anthro-dolphin may cause some concern among the NPCs and should be discouraged.  Some suggested backgrounds for Atlanteans.

The Atlantean might be a spy or investigating the Land Men or Surface dwellers to see if they bear the Undersea Kingdom of Atlantis any ill will.  So a good class for a Player Atlantean would either be thief if she is a common Atlantean, or a scholar (re: wizard) if educated as a High Caste.

Alternatively, the Atlantean could be an inventor (re: scientist) if he or she is educated as a middle class and has a curiosity of the Surface world.  He could also be friends with the captain and have a machine or two on the ship (GM's discretion: I suggest that this is a submarine of some kind).

Anthro-Dolphins default to scientist, but they could be fighters, wizards, or clerics.  Being underhanded and using underhanded techniques aren't really alien to Dolphins, so Anthro-Dolphins could be thieves or rogues as well.

Other player characters could include:
-- An Orc of the Horde out to see if he could make contact with one of the more moderate Orc Tribes in Caithness that did not join the Horde.  He could be a fighter or a shaman (cleric or druid) or a warlock (a wizard that trafficks with, summons, or enslaves demons to his will and uses Fel Magic).
-- One of the Man at Arms hired by the captain to guard the cargo.
-- An Elven Wizard (or Elven Adventurer if you desire) who is a diplomat ready to report on his contact with the wild elves of Killyronde.
-- A halfling thief or (Halfling Adventurer) who travels with humans because he happened to be in the wrong tavern at the wrong time.
-- A Dwarf who wants to see his homeland.  He can be a fighter, cleric, thief, wizard, or Dwarven Adventurer if you so desire.
-- An amazon Barbarian (Fighter) who grew up in Killyronde but wants to see new places.


Next:  The EVIL BAD GUYS

Or, Sahaugin and the mutant human being that leads them.

What the Hey?

Question:

What is this person, anyway?  And what is he doing dancing in a pink tutu in an Orc Infested forest?

Geeking out with Swords and Sorcery

I feel completely . . . well; I feel like I've been missing out on such a great game.  It's a shame that the original Dungeons and Dragons was released 36 years ago.  But curiosity had gotten the better of me.  I'm looking at Swords and Sorcery.

Looking at this game, it's everything that 4e isn't mechanically.  It's Rules Light, thats for certain.  No rules for skills, no rules for feats, no rules for powers, no Attacks of Opportunity, no this, no that . . .  It's rules light for a reason.  Lately, I found out that it facilitates creative thinking and problem solving.  Not that saying that 4e doesn't, but Swords and Sorcery gives you a chance at real imaginative playing.  Chgowiz, Endymion, Kuntz, and others have been stressing play lately, and I've beginning to see where they are right.

There's been a movement to computerize D&D.  The question is simple: why computerize D&D?  Why program the game?  4e seems to be the aim of this idea.  But the simple fact is: if you want to play a computer D&D there are [metric] tonnes of options available to do just that.  The simple fact is, roleplaying or playing in general opens up new ways of creative thinking.

Here's a video that talks about that point very well:






 I think I truly understand where Robert J. Kuntz, Chgowiz, and Endymion are going.  Probably enough to adopt Swords and Sorcery as the game of choice for Galatea.  Although, something's got to be done about that Vancian System if I do . . . (looks at D20 Advanced Magic).

World Building, pt. 3 -- Project Genesis

"And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I ^areveal unto you concerning this ^bheaven, and this ^cearth; ^dwrite the words which I speak. I am the Beginning and the End, the ^eAlmighty God; by mine ^fOnly Begotten I ^gcreated these things; yea, in the beginning I ^hcreated the ⁱheaven, and the earth upon which thou standest."

Moses 2:1

"In the ^abeginning ^bGod ^ccreated the ^dheaven and the ^eearth. "

Genesis 1:1

"And then the Lord said: Let us go down. And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the ^aGods, ^borganized and formed the ^cheavens and the earth."

Abraham 4:1


After choosing your Physics, the game rules by which your world will revolve around, it's time to venture into actually generating your world. Metaphysics. One thing is important, though. It's one thing to choose your physics. The Metaphysics is a whole entirely different thing altogether. Fortunately the next step is easy. This Article deals with Project Genesis.

You must decide upon the Gods of your world. Whether it is one, two, or many. Choosing the God or Gods of your World will have a definite impact on your World's mythology and how the world's inhabitants view the world and certain cosmic truths. Life and Death, Morality, Power of Choice, Magic, Psionics, and Philosophies are impacted. There are many examples of Fantasy worlds with a Pantheistic setup. Greyhawk, Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, and many many others are Pantheist worlds. There are few examples of worlds with Monotheistic and Dualistic setups.


Galatea
As for Galatea, I have chosen to stick with one God. This is so that I can have a myriad of religions, truths, and philosophies for the inhabitants of Galatea to choose to believe in. Having one God is also pretty much consistent with Real World physics (yes, you could Argue that Abraham accounted for many gods coming down and organizing the Earth, and you are right. And I totally agree with you, but . . . I have my reasons. :) ).

This One God, however, is not a He nor She. Rather, the One God is an It. From this one God sprang all Life, in order to Comprehend Itself more fully. So, it split a part of itself into an infinite amount of parts. And these parts are the spirits of all.


Planes of Existence
One thing should be mentioned here. Cosmic String Theory seems to support the fantastical notion of Planes of Existence. After all, Cosmic String Theorists claim that the universe is flat, and is part of an infinitely huge cosmic string of Energy. And that there are other Cosmic Strings that have other Universes.

You should choose the Planes of Existence as far as your world goes. Alternate realities exist on different Material planes or cosmic strings. You can even have planes of Heaven, Hell, and inbetween (the Great Wheel is a good example).

Next: Approaches in Project Genesis: Top Down, Ground Up, Continental, National.

AWESOME SAUCE!

It had occurred to me that Awesome Sauce would work wonderfully as an Alchemical concoction.

Awesome Sauce: This sauce is the quintessence of action, mojo, and confidence combined into one. When applied as a lotion onto anyone, they become the Greatest Action Hero. In 4E, Awesome Sauce grants about 6 Action Points. In 3E and earilier editions, Awesome Sauce transforms the PC into a "random" Hollywood or Kongawood Action Hero (mostly of the Player's Choice) for 3 scenes. There is one caveat. Once all 6 Action Points is used up, or in the last scene as an Action Hero: Something really dramatic must happen (in the style of a campy, action flick)!

Salsa; craft (Alchemy) 10 ranks; Artisan Alchemist; Price 300 gp.

Todd: "No, you must not apply the Awesome Sauce!"

Melvin the Unready: "I must, I must. After all, how am I going to save the Princess?"

Todd: "Melvin, you're the Warlord. This is fourth edition, you already have all the action points you need!"

Melvin the Unready: "I am Melvin the Unready for a reason. I must *apply* the Awesome Sauce!"

Melvin disrobes and applies the salsa liberally.

Melvin the Unready: "Yes, I can feel it . . . SIX ACTION POINTS! I feel like I can . . . SAVE THE WORLD!"

World Building Pt 2 -- Physics and Metaphysics

In the second installment on World building for RPGs, we get in Physics and Metaphysics. Now physics and metaphysics when applied to roleplaying games they relate to two different aspects:

Metaphysics is the actual game world. The cultures, nations, theories, continents, and everything is basically imaginative and so mental. This is the metaphysics of your game world.

Physics is the actual game system. The rules you play with. Now, before we work with Metaphysics, we need to address the Physics of your game world. Most people choose a system that they are more familiar with. This is good. But lets take a look at various systems of Physics so you can have a good idea of how your roleplaying game will work.

DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS: 36 years ago, on January 1st, 1974 something was released. It was completely out there, revolutionary, and inspired an entire culture. That thing was Dungeons and Dragons. It appealed to young mythologists, budding novel writers, and imaginists everywhere. This game was a game you can do anything! Now, it's changed so much and in such a great deal that the original audience couldn't identify with it. I'm talking about, of course, Dungeons and Dragons . There is 5 editions of this game.

• Original Dungeons and Dragons: Also includes the Mentzer/Moldevay set. This set of Dungeons and Dragons is the original, the granddaddy. The game that started it all. It's simple, easy to learn, without a lot of rules and is clearly grounded in the Sword and Sorcery genre of Fantasy.
• Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Advanced rules, including more fun with numbers, classes, and monsters. The game is clearly designed with Lord of the Rings in mind, but also Sword and Sorcery.
• Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, 2nd Edition. A roleplaying game for those who actually ROLEPLAY rather than worry about the rules, Advanced D&D 2nd Edition provided rules for roleplaying and lets the player roleplay their character. The game is designed with Medieval Europe in mind rather than Lord of the Rings, but there is Sword and Sorcery elements.
• Dungeons and Dragons, 3rd Edition: Uhm, well . . . this is the game that revitalized a whole industry with the OGL, and certainly the best and easiest to get published with. The game broke away from Roleplayers and was delivered to the Simulationists. The definition of Fantasy in D&D 3rd is much more skitzoid (which is refreshing).
• Dungeons and Dragons, 4th Edition: I don't have a copy. I can't give a fair introduction to this incarnation of the game. Uhm, table top World of Warcraft is pretty much what is going on here. With some strong cinematic influence. And a sucky restrictive Game System License.
  

The Retro-Clones

• There are a couple of Retro-clones of Original D&D, Dungeons and Dragons Mentzer, and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. These are Swords and Sorcery, Labyrinth Lord, and OSRIC respectively.

OTHER FANTASY ROLEPLAYING GAMES (this is not an exhaustive list)

• GURPS: G.U.R.P.S. stands for Generic Universal Role-Playing System. GURPS, designed by Steve Jackson, breaks the mold of Dungeons and Dragons creating a system that more or less revolves around the character than levels. Although there are sufficient levels of playing -- which is considered point value. The nice thing about GURPS, though, is the quality of writing and editing that went into the world books. GURPS is a nice game to play with and it doesn't insult your intelligence. Rather, it expands it.
  
• Palladium Fantasy: Retro-gaming again, but everything is ancient and dated according to the rules system. It seems to be a synthesis of AD&D 1e combined with the original Call of Cthulhu. If you are going to use this system, and it's not a bad system, I recommend the Revised 1st Edition of this game, available as a PDF from Your Games Now, DrivethruRPG, and RPGnow.
• Feng Shui: Although the entire game revolves around Hong Kong Action Movies, you can run a fantasy game using this system. Just stick to Thieves, Big Bruisers, Sorcerers, Supernatural Beings, and Scrappy Kids and you can get by. The system's signature mechanics are shticks (4e powers and 3e Feats) and Stunts (highly original mechanic). And everything, of course, is meant to replicate an Action Movie. Things are meant to BLOW UP in Feng Shui. If you want your adventures to end by Blowing Things to Hell, Feng Shui is a game system I recommend.
  
• Runequest: I haven't played this game, nor do I know it's mechanics.
• Lord of the Rings RPG: The CODA system is geared towards the Real Roleplayer.
• Rolemaster: This game works. I don't care if you hate it, it works. The system is a skill based system that uses levels. It's famous for it's scale of realism, it's use of d100, and the many charts it has. I have played it a lot, and I enjoy it's realism.
• Atlantis: the Second Age. Okay, of all the game systems I've played for Fantasy, Atlantis the Second Age contains some confusing elements. The Omni System is, what can I say . . . restrictive on some aspects but allows other aspects up to the players.

Okay, I didn't list all the other game systems that can be used for fantasy (Big Eyes, Small Mouth, FUDGE, Fuzion, Castles and Crusades, Tunnels and Trolls, Sword and Chivalry, Pendragon, Elric, etc.); but I said it's not an exhaustive list. There are many, many game systems out there. Use what gives you the most mileage for your fun.

As for Galatea officially I haven't got all the mileage I want out of the d20 System (OGL instead of GSL, I didn't pick up the 4th edition, remember?). Although I'm strongly looking at one of the Retro-Clones, the d20 System has a lot going for it. Typically, the Open Game License. Galatea is, officially, d20 system. However, since it is going to be packaged with a Creative Commons provision -- there will be nothing stopping you from adapting Galatea to your favorite system, writing rules for that adaptation, and publishing it.

World Building, Pt 1

Having recently had a lesson of the creation, the first rule in World Building is this:

All worlds, whether Real or Imaginary, began as a simple thought.

A simple thought to get the ball rolling. In advertising and gamer parlance, this thought -- when expressed -- is called the "hook." (Although I'm sure its called something else to those who actually build real worlds -- Lets just call it the hook).

The hook should describe your world in one sentence, or three. The World Builder's Handbook (published for 2nd Edition) gives a lot of hooks and puts them into categories. The hook should also pull the players in to play it. Here is Galatea's hook:

Galatea is a world where an Ancient race of humans had an Interstellar Civilization that eventually fell before Illithids, goblins, and finally Dragons. Galatea was the homeworld of this Ancient Civilization. When the Earthlings came, they found a world in a New Stone Age.

From this thought, this hook, you already know a lot about the world. Galatea is the homeworld of a once proud Interstellar Civilization. The Ancients built ways to other worlds quickly and used their science to create new races from the Human Genome -> Orcs and Eladrin being prime examples. After all, how can humans interbreed with Orcs and Elves and produce children? Only if the Orcs and Elves are close enough to being human can it happen (genetic compatibility). Eventually, Earthlings did come in spaceships to escape what happened on their own world --> Earth.

See how the hook describes the world in a nutshell? From that hook, you'll know that I'm using the tools of Science Fiction and Fantasy together to build Galatea. You don't have too, of course, but that is how I approach building a fantasy world. I use both tool sets to create a rich world to play in.

As for yourself, it's kind of important to pick your tools wisely and to use them wisely. Since I'm describing Galatea as a fantasy, this means that it will be presented as Fantasy even though the tools of Science Fiction are pretty much there (spaceships, genetic manipulation, high technology, science being used to describe the world). But the tools of Fantasy are also being used liberally (magic, mythology, gods, religion, beliefs, a mystical outlook). And some tools from the real world to bring it to life (cultural analogs, food, spice mixes, and sex).

That being aside, your hook should grab your players into your world. Whether it is a book you enjoy (Thieves' World, for example); or a time you want to explore, or a situation you want to play out. Or if you want to try something off the wall. The hook is probably the most important thing you do when building a world.

And yes, for the Creator, it was different. There was no hook for us to come down to Earth given to us by the Creator -- but an overwhelming desire to progress and become like the Creators themselves.

Atlantis: the Movie?

I'm taking part in a Wealth Building consultation exercise. Or in other words, I'm getting some help in starting my business from CEOSpace. So what does this mean?

How about a movie based on Atlantis? RPGs aside, mass communication is the best way to reach a large audience. I'm thinking about a movie plot where a young man from our time is Summoned to Atlantis to help solve a problem that the Atlanteans have. Nevermind he looks exactly like the Crown Prince, and nevermind that he and the Crown Prince are "doubles." (The crown prince is the counterpart of our hero).

(I could put in an El Hazard twist in there and the Crown Prince becomes the crown princess, and the crown princess is a hedonistic 'dyke.' -- but that's been done.)

So, what is the problem that the Atlanteans have? Terrible diplomatic relations with a neighboring country? Someone's been trying to take them over from the inside? Is our boy to be a decoy?

More at eleven (to twist this around, what if it was a she? And the Crown Prince identifies himself as female and looks very feminine?) Oh, the possibilities!!

Agafya, the She-Devil

Agafya by ~Atlantean6 on deviantART

She has a name.

Agafya, the fem barbarian from Hyrkania, has come to the Western Kingdoms of Hyboria to make a name for herself. A contemporary of a young Conan of Cimmeria, Agafya has her own ambitions. Can there be room in Hyboria for Conan, Sonja, and Agafya?

Yes. Done in DAZ Studio 3 Advanced.

Barbarian of Hyrkania

Barbarian of Hyrkania by ~Atlantean6 on deviantART

"Know, oh prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the Sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of. When shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars. Nemidia. Ophir. Brythunia. Hyperborea.

. . . But the proudest kingdom of the world was Aquilonia, reigning supreme in the dreaming west. Hither came Conan the Cimmerian."

-- From the "Pheonix on the Sword," by Robert E. Howard

Who doesn't like barbarian women from Hyrkania? Who doesn't like strong, muscled women in general? This is a barbarian woman from Hyrkania, the same land as Red Sonja. The background used is a picture of Sunset over Antelope Island in Salt Lake City. Actual picture is credited to Night Fate.

This Barbarian is getting the itch. Apparently, the heroic stories of barbarians across the Vilayet Sea is calling to her. Living around the time of Conan the Barbarian, instead of Conan the King, this one Barbarian is preparing to set out and find her own destiny.

A-Team

So, you want to see a movie full of Awesome Sauce? May I suggest - - - The A-Team?

The Bounty Hunter

Bounty Hunter by ~Atlantean6 on deviantART

This bounty hunter is stalking her prey. She is searching for a monk who has overstepped his bounds and broke the law of the land one too many times. The Crown has sent her out to slay this impertinent son of a dog.

MH Anny is currently becoming my favorite morph to work with for A4/V4. She has a girl next door quality about her, an innocence that one can not ignore. MH Anny is available on Renderosity and I've never regretted purchasing her.

Edit: I just had a thought. How many of you would like to see a collection of character portraits released?

Girlfriends

Sometimes, the adage is true.

Becareful what you wish for, because you will get it. Or more aptly: God works in Mysterious Ways. But it's better to say: God works when you aren't looking.

Last year, knowing that I am granted instantly that which I desired, I tried an experiment. I created a Vision Board including all the qualities I wanted in a mate. Yeah, I got her. :) I think this picture represents her strongly, even though the hair and age is a little wrong. Her name is Darlene Katrina Gillkey of Cleaveland, Ohio. She is seven years my elder. For the information of some readers:
A. She's still in Cleaveland.
B. No, we aren't together yet.
C. She's willing to wait.
D. She's willing to talk to the Missionaries, but I don't want her to talk to them because of me.

(Note, picture is stock art from Deviant Art. I'm breaking the artist's rules a little bit so that some readers [Hi Uncle Robert!] won't suffer unrighteous judgement of myself.)

DAZ Studio Advanced Tutorial 2

Rexturing DAZ Studio Content
Part 1:
Simple Clothing

Today, I thought we'd learn how to do a simple retexture of a piece of clothing for 3D. Most namely, the Speedo in M4 Basic Wear. I did a leather texture, but since my Beta Testers have reported problems with the testing, I have to redo certain textures. The first is the Camouflage texture.

Here is the texture we are using.

Now download the texture from Stock Exchange. If you notice the standard restrictions, we are allowed to use it as we see fit. As long as we don't use the texture for pornography or to victimize persons. Since we are doing a retexturing job, it doesn't qualify. So, download the basic wear templates, available at Digital Art Zone.


After you downloaded them, open photoshop and DAZ Studio. In photoshop, open M4BW_Sp.jpg. You should get a wire mesh. This is the UV map of the M4 Speedo. It should look somewhat like this:


Now, lets open our Camouflage texture up in Photoshop. After opening it up, alter it so it fits the dimensions of M4BW_Sp.jpg. Which is 2048x2048. Then select all on M4BW_Sp.jpg and move it over the Camouflage texture. This creates a Speedo layer, you can name it so if you wish.

After you have it matched up, use your Magic Wand tool to select all the white space outside the template. After it's selected, you then inverse your selection using Shift-Command-I (on a Macintosh computer). Expand your selection by 2-4 pixels, and then press delete. What you should have is this:


Save your texture as a JPEG file. Then open DAZ Studio, load M4 and the Speedo. As you can see here.



All that is left is to go into the Surfaces tab of DAZ Studio and resurface the Speedo with your new texture. Select Speedos or Speedos Upgrade, and in the Advanced tab, select the down arrow on Diffuse.

Notice that the texture is very much like a cotton texture? increase the Glossiness in DAZ Studio to about 95%. Now do a test render. Adjust the Specular in the surfaces tab to your liking (increase glossiness or decrease it to get certain effects.)

Once you have the effect you want, just simply make sure that both the Speedo and the Speedos is selected both in your scene and surfaces tab, and save as a .dsa material file (if you use DAZ Studio 3) or .ds material file (if you use DAZ Studio 2.x). Make sure you save it in your DAZ Studio/Content folder under Michael 4. And there you go, your first retexture in DAZ Studio.

DAZ Studio Content

While working on the DAZ Studio content after my beta testers said that they were having problems, I looked deeply on how to solve my issue. Apparently, the Material Settings do work, but you need to make sure that the mats are pointing to the right directory.

There, problem solved.

I should do a tutorial on retexturing though. Who wants a tutorial on retexturing? :D

Atlas the Boy Genius

Creo Ignan by ~Atlantean6 on deviantART

"Creo ignan orbio varrago flamma!"

Creo - I create, Ignan - Fire, Orbio Varrago Flamma - Ball of Abysmal Flame. This is my new Character du Jour, a boy genius wizard who surpassed his teacher. Game statistics is lacking at the moment, but he enjoys throwing fireballs.

Meet the aformentioned paladin's love interest. Is he interested in her? Well, maybe. ;)

Is Wealth Evil

Everyone, one, two, three . . .

NO!

Good, we've got that out of the way. Wealth is not evil. It never has been, it never will be. Therefore, the current view that wealthy people are god-forsaken idiots who won't share their wealth with the "little people" is wrong and unfounded. The current attitude towards wealthy people is one of resentment. People want what they wealthy have, so they demand equal treatment.

However, this is unfair. It really is. Say like I have 500 million dollars. I then give 100 million dollars to a relative to help them out in hard economic times. I make the money back, but my relative spends the 100 million dollars carte blanche. She's still poor, while I'm still rich.

My relative spent the 100 million dollars completely with abandon, not knowing where her money had gone. Sharing the wealth with the poor while the poor is still in a state of being poor isn't the answer. Forcing me to give my money to the government isn't the answer either (this is called Communism). Or forcing my company to be bought by the government isn't the answer either (this is called Fascism). The government can't redistribute the wealth as well. It's impossible for a government to distribute the wealth.

So, how do we fight poverty? With education and the power to instill the desire in the impoverished to desire prosperity and abundance. We don't fight poverty at all, we focus on the opposite: abundance and wealth for all. :) To win the war on Poverty you have to focus on wealth and abundance and make sure everyone has their own pie.

How do we do it?

Focus on Abundance for yourself, love and accept the wealthy. Admire them for what they have accomplished. Cheer for them, love them. Then you can become one of them. :)

A Paladin in Love: Still in Progress

The first result of using Volumetric Lighting in DAZ Studio. This is still a picture of a Paladin in love. I wanted to do Volumetrics through the windows first, but I had to try something simple since I had to play with the density settings to get the "cloud" density more realistic.

This paladin has met her absolute true love, a wizard. The boy wizard who stole her heart is wild, powerful, and mighty in his own right. But he doesn't belong to the Church, and unlike some of her fellow paladins, not stuck up or self-righteous. She's deeply attracted to him, but if the Church Fathers found out that she was attracted to a wizard . . . Would she face excommunication for trafficking with an infidel?

Paladin in Love in Progress

She's a Paladin, she met her first true love. And now . . . it needs Volumetric Lighting. This is a work in progress. If anyone can give me tips on doing volumetric lighting for this post, don't hesitate to give me some tips. :)

Done in DAZ Studio 3 Advanced (which is capable of Volumetrics).

Solving the Alignment issue

My first post on Alignment was a rant on how the Alignment system was flawed, but a good step in the right direction deliniating good from evil; or Law vs. Chaos. Since then, an interesting Roleplaying Game had come out that happened to be based on Morte de Arthur back in the early 80s. Yes, I'm talking about Pendragon.

In Pendragon, the most interesting little addition is the Traits and Passions system that is simple enough to grasp for roleplaying morality. Here is how it works:

There are twenty positive traits corresponding to twenty negative traits (i.e. Chaste vs. Lustful and Energetic vs. Laziness). They are on a scale of 1-20, simple enough. Through roleplaying, a trait is challenged, and if a particular trait or it's negative is roleplayed, the trait is checked. After the session, your trait is strengthened or weakened (i.e. if you play a Lustful person, and you don't lust, you check Lustful's opposite -- Chaste) by a value of 1. Traits turn the simple Lawful->Good->Neutral->Chaos->Evil idea into a series of roleplayable traits. Every religion and or Code of Honor, though, champions a set of traits, which is usually five.

Passions, however, represent strong emotions. Hate, Love, Hospitality; these are examples of Passions. The Passion system is also on a scale of 1-20, but there is no corresponding negative traits. Passions are what your character feels. A character can be inspired by his passions or driven to madness by them.

Lets take for example a character with a particular passion: Hate (orcs). What ever the reason why he hates orcs is up to his player (in some regions, though, Hatred is regional). Every time the character sees an orc, he feels his hatred for them. He may be inspired by his Hatred of orcs and use his inspiration as a bonus for attacking them and doing damage. Or, if his hatred is strong enough, he may go mad and start a murderous killing spree of a particular independent orc tribe (like the Frostdragon tribe).

What a wonderful way of roleplaying! Besides the alignment system of D&D or Palladium Books, the traits and passions system is a good way of introducing how to Roleplay morals and ethics to a person. It's a bit gamist, but it inspires roleplaying to a good degree.

DAZ Studio Mats complete for Speedos

Bonsai is pleased to announce that their new performance swimwear line for men are ready to be released. The swimwear needs to be tested with focus groups before it can be released to the general public.

Translation: I've completed the DAZ Studio material settings for my Speedo Retextures today (*.dsb). They are ready to be beta tested now. This is an awesome day! :D

Oh and Happy New Year!