happy september!

happy september all!
there are 115 days until christmas!

summer ends soon.. fall is around the corner and i am hoping for an early winter, my favorite time of year, with tons of snow.

midterms are evil..here's what i've been working on so far...

brown mouse vs gray mouse! who will come out the victor?

mice are in, changed some textures in the kitchen and added some props. all that's left is to animate the mice and polish it up... before this sunday.

random ramblings #3

late late night posts ftw.

honestly don't know why i'm posting anything. was looking at the blog and a little voice said "make a new post" so i am.. but i have nothing to talk about. /shrug

about to do some random modeling. i want to throw a toaster to put in my kitchen environment for my 3d modeling and animation class. that project is due this week but i still can't get my frikkin mouse animated. here.. lookit some pics from my assignment last week. focused on lighting this week and i had to create some scenes...

Blizzcon 2009 - Diablo 3 heroes and monsters

wasn't much to get excited over from the D3 panel. they explained the monk class and how it'll work. combos combined with holy magic. all very cool and i can't wait to play it.

there was a lot of discussion about how they develop mobs and character skills which was interesting. they mentioned a lot of things that i have learned about and currently learning about in my classes. how ideas go from concept and testing in the game then redesigned for gameplay balance. all of the stuff i can hopefully look forward to.

more talk going on right now about diablo 3 and what's going on at blizzcon. looks like a starcraft 2/battle.net panel coming up at 6:30. wow class panel at 8 and then the contests. so still some juicy bits coming up tonight. i really wish my headache would go away. ugh.

Blizzcon 2009 - cinematic making of video

very cool. they actually showed parts of the process that the cinematics team at blizzard use to make the cinematics in the game. wasn't much for me to learn, i know the process very well, but it's always cool to see the behind the scenes stuff, especially of the art.

couldn't tell what any of the software they use was. the modeling software looked very foreign, could possibly be their own in house modeling software. i noticed that the concept artists and some animators use wacom cintiqs... lucky bastards. i can has?

so much new art, articles, and videos to read and view. talk about information overload.

diablo 3 heroes & monsters panels starting up. more monky goodness, yay!

Blizzcon 2009 - WoW Preview Panel

whew.. i've still got a headache.

the preview panel had a ton of new cataclysm info. i'm very excited about the new races, especially worgen. they look like a very cool werewolf, horror film, gothic sort of race.. which i am all into. of course it'll all open up new lore which is always good. can't wait to play it or atleast see a video of the new zone from blizzcon.

so basically deathwing is finally back and he's causing the world to go to hell. which itself is an awesome story. i've always wondered what dw has been doing since warcraft 2. apparently he's back, he's very very powerful and highly pissed at everyone. one of the zones, and where deathwing is making his home, is twilight highlands where grim bitol is/was. i'm glad they finally brought back the zone and updated it. it should be filled with oh so juicy dragon lore and probably some alexstrasza stuff.. i'm sure she wants to get her talons on deathwing.

new pvp of course.. new battlegrounds, i think tom chilton mentioned 3 new battlegrounds, whoa. i'm sure i'll be spending plenty of time in them.

ppv is interviewing paul sams right now and doing movie talk. i'm going to get some food and work on my headache. bbl.

Blizzon 2009 - dayum..

Okay so, Cataclysm is officially announced. I've got one hell of a headache from trying to keep up with the blog and watch the PPV. I think I'm going to kill the play-by-play and just post after the panels and events. Since I only get one chance to see Blizzcon I want to actually watch and enjoy it, not type the whole time. I also want to catch up on Twitter and some of the other fan site coverage.

Blizzcon 2009 - Intro & Opening Ceremony

My personal commentary on BlizzCon 2009's Pay-Per-View event. I'll be updating as I get info from the con or whenever I have something to say.

---- Friday August 21, 2009 - Opening Ceremony ----

[3:04pm] World of Warcraft: Cataclysm officially announced.. I've got chills.

Video of current Azeroth landmarks turned to rubble.

New Horde race: Goblins.

New Alliance race: Worgen.. and they look very sexy.

Flying Mounts in Azeroth
New Class/Race combinations

New monsters. Some concept art of golems, a stone turtle, dinosaur types. There was a clip of a black dragon, Deathwing most likely.. knew that was coming.

Very cool looking underwater raid and something that looked like Blackrock Mountain. Also a new drake. Looked a bit like a netherdrake but was purple and transparent.

Level cap raised to 85

New Secondary Profession: Archeology

Guild Leveling System and Achievements

Heroic Instances of Deadmines and Shadowfang Keep

New Leveling Progression: Path of the Titans

Whew.. I'm spent.

[3:03pm] Chris going back to topics on Azeroth and touching on the rumors.

[2:57pm] Diablo 3 talk. Unveiling a new class today, the Monk.

In-game cinematic (machinama) of the monk. Looking very cool.

Showing some gameplay of the monk. I think I found my new favorite Diablo class. He's doing combos of spells and melee attacks.

[2:55pm] Chris showing the Blizzard employee shirt. Talking about announcements and what they've been doing the past year. Says there's some new trailers to show.



[2:52pm] Chris Metzen on stage. Stream died again. No big announcement yet... hmmmmm.

[2:46pm] Still Mike talking about Sam Raimi and the Warcraft movie. Random talk about things going on at Blizzcon and the goodie bag.. the n00bz figure which can be sold on ebay for "the price of a small car."

Jay Mohr and other celebrities appearing at Blizzcon. L80ETC and Ozzy Osbourne. Flash of Ozzy's WoW commercial.

[2:44pm] Talking about faction changing "on the same realm." doh!

Some talk about Onyxia, a few groans from the crowd. Starcraft 2 and the new Battle.net

[2:39pm] Mike welcoming fans online and overseas.

Flashback from last years Blizzcon and Wrath launch.

[2:36pm] Mike just said "everyone is waiting for something cataclysmic to happen."



[2:34pm] Mr Mike Morhaime comes on stage.. kinda bushy lookin this year. My net stream has died.

[2:32pm] Gary Blatner (?) talking to the con attendees. He opened by listing the blizzcon attendee pet-peeves.. wasn't paying attention

[2:31pm] Opening ceremony about to begin.. another audio glitch %(*)@&%@

[2:28pm] Hosts specifically talking about the rumors of Cataclysm. Yeah soooo.. if it wasn't true would they actually be talking about it live on DirecTV?



[2:25pm] Just showed 5 girls dressed as Draenai. Gotta please the guys.

Jo Garcia interviewing some people at the store. Aussie's buying some plush murlocs. Showing off some other items available at the store.

[2:21pm] Interview talking about the history of the n00bz figures at Blizzcon this year. Interviews with the employee winners who designed custom n00b dolls. All of them Blizzard artists, w00t.

[2:19pm] Hosts showing off the goodie bag. No beta key this year.

[2:18pm] Roving reporter talking about the Starcraft 2. Dude dressed up like Jim Raynor.


[2:15pm] Still talking about tournament brackets. A countdown timer has been put on the screen. About 14 minutes until the opening ceremony.

[2:11pm] More audio hiccups. Kim "Bunny" Phan talking with the hosts.. who's names I've missed at the beginning of the show. More audio problems from DTV and buffering on the net stream.

Talk about the tournaments going on at Blizzcon.. good get all of this out of the way now so we don't have to hear about it again.

[2:08pm] Interrupted the hosts to show a video of the Blizzard HQ tour.. which happens to be the same video they showed last year. You can find it on YouTube.

"I've got a Wrath of the Lich King expansion to ship."

[2:06pm] Okay it was a problem on my end. Had to buff my tv's volume up to hear it. Nothing interesting, DirecTV's hosts talking about the show schedule. They mention something about "new expansion" I missed it. Oops, audio out again.

[2:04pm] Oh hay, what a surprise.. NO AUDIO.. technical goof up #1

[2:02pm] PPV introduction, what to expect etc etc. The net stream is kinda jumpy.. not surprised.

BlizzCon 2009 - Preshow

My personal commentary on BlizzCon 2009's Pay-Per-View event. I'll be updating as I get info from the con or whenever I have something to say.

---- Friday August 21, 2009 - Pre-Blizzcon ----

[1:50pm] Ten minutes to go. I'm expecting the big announcement this year to be Cataclysm or the real name of the new WoW expansion and some info on it. I of course want to see what is planned for Icecrown. Starcraft 2 and it's released date would be nice, maybe some info on the beta. As for Diablo 3, probably one or two new player classes along with some game play stuff. As usual, I always look forward to whatever I can watch/listen to from the panels. Being a game art & design student that's the stuff I'm really interested in from the cons. Five minutes to go!

[1:44pm] Lots of buffering goin on with the net stream even at low quality. I'm sure it's going to get worse as the show actually begins, especially during the opening ceremony. DirecTV's actually ppv is going strong as long as the rain stays away.

[1:26pm] Getting myself organized to watch the PPV. Rain has stopped for now and I'm getting a clear signal, hurrah. The internet stream has started buffering like mad, figured that would happen. Only 30 minutes left until the Welcome and Opening Ceremony.

[1:06pm] Updates on Twitter announcing that the doors at the con are open to the public. I'm sure updates will begin flowing from the con floor now. Less than 1 hour to go!

[12:38pm] Rain has started again and my DirecTV signal is hiccuping lost for the moment. The live internet stream is going strong though.. for now.

[12:32pm] Testing out screen shots of the live stream...


Success! A little fuzzy but will work :)

[12:16pm] Tuned into the live stream at blizzcon.rayv.com. Seems to be working quite well at the moment. It is showing the same as I see on DirecTV with a few second delay. They've also posted the schedule for the PPV, happy to see that nothing is mentioned about the tournaments, it's all panels and features. Not all of the panels I want to see are listed but as long as the panels aren't interrupted for crap I'll be happy. Less than 2 hours to go!

[11:34am] From Sons of the Storm. An update made a few days ago mentioned that the sons will be having an autograph sessions today and L80ETC will be opening for Ozzy. This says to me that they won't be playing with Ozzy. Bummer but we'll see. I'm also reminded of the awesomeness of BlizzCon that I am missing out by not actually attending. I'd love a chance to mingle with Samwise and the other sons.

[11:00am] 3 hours and counting. Just checked the radar and more storms are moving my way. *sigh*. I may get lucky and my dtv signal will hold through the rain.. have to wait and see.

[10:34am] So far my satellite signal has only been lost once due to rain. It's sunny at the moment but I am sure it won't stay this way. I ordered the internet stream also, supposedly free to DirecTV subscribers. That'll be my backup feed.

I am curious how the Ozzy concert will go. I am hoping for a decent concert but I fear it may just turn out to be a lame marketing gimmick. I can't expect Ozzy to perform many songs either, 2 or 3 and the show will be over. Someone had mentioned that L80ETC will be playing backup for Ozzy, that would definitely be badass.

[10:26am] DirecTV is on my tv and tuned to channel 121 ready for the PPV to begin. Nothing yet, just looping video of the cinematic openings from WotLK, D3, and SC2, along with some footage from Blizzcon 08. I expect this to go on until around 2pm.

Read somewhere that Grunty interacts with the Zergling pet. I'm trying my best not to look at any spoilers until after the con. I am sure it's super cool.

most excellent blizzcon 09 coverage

here be a list of the websites and stuff that i am tracking for my blizzcon news.

WoW Radio - Blizzcon '09 Coverage
WoW.com's Guide to Blizzcon - WoW.com

WoW Radio has been doing some live audio broadcasting the past two days, right now actually. definitely worth listening to.

i'll update as i discover more.

blizzcon 09.. less than 24 hours away!

i've been keeping an eye on all of my favorite blizzard related sites today. just came across a little linky that totally made my day. following http://www.blizzcon/com/pet takes you to the battle.net login and then a redemption box where you'd enter the code for Grunty. the part that i was very happy to see...

This item will be sent to ALL of your World of Warcraft Characters in the participating regions associated with this Battle.net Account. Note that World of Warcraft items will be sent to your in-game mailbox. Please be sure you have inventory space available when redeeming promotional items.

meaning, receiving the pet will work just like the collector's edition pets. it'll be mailed to every character on the account.. current and future (i hope). this means i'll be able to run around with Grunty on my alliance and horde servers. i am quite happy about this. last year's big blizzard bear mount was only redeamable on a single server... and you only received one of the items. this system with grunty will be much, much better. that's all i have for now. my ppv is pre-ordered from directv and 6am tomorrow morning i'll start seeing the broadcast, most likely 8 hours of blizzard cinematics like last year until the official opening ceremony starts at 2pm est. i still plan on posting blog updates with anything i learn from the ppv and my thoughts.

incoming blizzcon 09

i am frikkin psyched for blizzcon this year. since there's no way in hell i can travel the 2000+ miles to anaheim for the convention, like last year, i'll be sitting home and watching the coverage on directv. not that anyone cares but i'll will try to update my blog with my thoughts about the ppv as i see it. hopefully it'll be better than last year's but if not, i'll still have the pet murloc marine as a going away present. please, directv, don't cut your coverage of the panels short just to show the tournaments that noone actually cares about.

quickie: about damn time.

a quick post since i haven't updated in a few weeks.

6th term is underway, so far so good. the best part is i finally got into a 3d modeling class. i'm movin and groovin right along in 3ds max and i'm far enough along that i can make some decent looking models. i'll have to post some samples here soon.

i realized yesterday that it's less than 5 months till xmas. that made me happy. i always look forward to fall/winter.. i love cold weather. nothin like sittin around on a lazy day in warm pjs and watching the snow fall.. i can't wait.