The Curious Institute

Nothing against non-spammer anons but

pixelcurious — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 21:22:34 GMT

I'm disabling anon comments. Good work, spammers! :P

In which I puke on WoW

pixelcurious — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 23:54:19 GMT

I'm feeling a little love-hate with WoW right now. Or maybe it's meh-not meh? I enjoyed the new content with the Pandaren starting area, but then I started to compare it with the Goblin one and realized that in terms of silly fun the pandas don't quite measure up for me. The storyline is pleasant enough, and the zone sure is pretty, but in the end it comes off rather bland.

I've also been examining what I find addictive about the game: what makes me sit there and keep playing far longer than I should. It's the little goals. Often they're just stupid little goals I set for myself. Like, I really wanted more than one hunter pet from the Pandaren starting zone (Tigers! and turtles! and cranes! Oh my!) But for some reason Blizzard didn't see fit to put a Stable Master NPC on the Wandering Isle, so you can't tame at will and just stable the extras. This presents some irritating facts:

1. Hunters can only have one pet on them until level 18, when they get their "call 2nd pet" ability.
2. The questline ends at about level 12, and you can never return to the Wandering Isle once you leave.
3. The next chance to tame a new pet like the ones on the Wandering Isle is not until after level 85.

However, Blizzard DID include a Profession Trainer NPC on the island. And both herbalism and mining grant experience. So I had the tools I needed to level to 18, if I was willing to submit to a time-consuming grind. Which I did. I leveled a new Pandaren hunter (in addition to the one I already had) to meet this stupid little goal, picking herbs and mined ore until I was 18 and could tame a pretty tiger. Then I had a new goal, which was auction off the stuff I had collected... which led to another little goal, and another.

And that's just one chain of stupid little goals - there are many others. I don't do end game stuff anymore, but there's plenty for an alt-addict like me to do. Leveling high enough to do dungeons, leveling high enough to get a mount, leveling high enough to get this or that ability; meeting various achievements; reaching cooking/fishing/crafting goals; grinding for gear for a set -- it goes on and on.

This is my life in WoW, and when I examine it, it's pretty annoying. I'm not addicted to it because I'm engaged in it, it's just the chains of goals. And I don't like that I'm sitting in front of the computer wasting time on it when it's not giving me back much at all.

Compare this with The Secret World, which I bought (for half price, which included a month's subscription). This game engages my brain a lot more, rather than just setting up little goals to knock down. At least, so far that's how it is for me. It's also, somehow, less addictive. I can play for awhile, and then log out and do something else. In fact I don't WANT to play for long stretches of time. I need breaks from it, and I take them. Yet at the same time, it's more interesting and satisfying.

For now, I've cancelled my WoW subscription. I still have about three weeks before it runs out, and then we'll see. Maybe I'll just renew once a year for Brewfest, since I do love the ludicrous fun of the holiday, especially the Dark Iron dwarves' attack on the Brewfest kegs. That fight is pure chaotic win, and even a level 1 can do it (every half hour, if they want!)

Another fun thing is that with the new expansion, hunters can tame Fen Striders. From the first time I saw one of these freaky walking jellyfish, I wanted to tame one. Finally I can. This one is the Black Stalker, the last boss in the Underbog, tamed with my elf hunter main. I haven't named him yet... any suggestions? All I can think of is Legs and that's boring for a glowing raver jellyfish. You should see his attack, he basically bitch-slaps everything with his front tentacles. It's hilarious.

Heh, sorry to go on and on like that. Kudos to you if you read all of it.

TL;DR - annoyed with addictive goal aspect of WoW; still love Brewfest; need a disco jellyfish name.

The pun only just occurred to me

pixelcurious — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 00:38:48 GMT

The Pandaren race has been a sort of Warcraft in-joke forever - it started as an April Fools thing - and until a year or so ago, they always said it would remain a joke and there would never actually be Pandaren in the game. There was always a vocal element of the fandom that really really wanted them to be real though. And finally Blizzard gave in, panderin' to the fans' desires.

It's probably an unintentional pun, though. Regardless of intent, they did a great job bringing the Pandaren and their world to life, in my opinion!

Now, I have not bought the expansion, so I can't play the new Monk class. But even without the expansion, players can make new Pandaren characters and get a taste of the new content via the starting zone. New Pandaren players find themselves on a floating island and must face various challenges to save their land from impending disaster.

It's very colorful and pretty, and the environment and quests are almost childlike. Really a contrast to the darker themes in much of the rest of the game, which is kind of a refreshing change. It also reminds me of various Western takes on Chinese/Asian themes, like Mulan or Avatar (not like a copycat, but the general flavor). I have not seen Kung Fu Panda so I can't speak to that.

There is nothing really ground-breaking, but it is nicely done. I don't want to spoil the storyline for anyone, so I won't go into details. I also won't go into political discussion about cultural appropriation. It IS a habit of Blizzard's, and many people have made good points about that elsewhere, but I choose to enjoy it anyway. 'Nuff said.

Most of these pics are from after I finished the quest line. I stuck around to explore and revist. If you want to see more landscape/scenery type pics, you can look at my Tumblr post here (one repeat image but the others are different from this post).

I made a hunter to try out the starting zone. I started with a female character, but they are maybe a little TOO cute for me. I think they did a great job with the model (and they didn't repeat the mistakes of the horrible female Worgen) but in the end, I just like the males better. My guy is named Tachu.

Both genders appear to be meditating when they sit down - LOVE it.

Tachu taking a shower in a cave waterfall.

So, Pandaren hunters start out with a turtle pet. It's a pretty cool turtle, but I don't really get attached to turtle pets in WoW, and I traded it for something else once I had the ability to. So I just have a turtle butt picture, sorry.

When I saw the pretty tigers, I tamed one of them. And I was curious... given that this expansion is Chinese-influenced, a large percentage of the players are in China, AND Blizzard has a habit of blacklisting certain names for hunter pets... I wondered if I could use the name FreeTibet. Turns out that one's NOT blacklisted.

I was going to tame a new one and give it a more congenial name (I support the movement to free Tibet, but I don't want to make my pet's name a trigger for political debate) but then I read on the Petopia forums that the cranes get really tiny when you tame them. Like, SUPER tiny. I could not resist!

Here is a comparison so you can see just how much they shrink down - like maybe they're made of wool and they got thrown in the washer on hot.

So freaking cute!

People on Petopia were saying they'll probably be fixed, because "they could be exploited for PvP" but they said that about the flaming boars too, and those haven't been fixed. So hopefully Tachu will get to keep his origami crane.

Like I said, I stayed to explore after I finished all the quests, but before the final step of choosing my faction. I revisited the pretty areas and found some nifty details. Like this earthy little shrine kind of off the beaten path near the turnip fields, with the local farmers coming to visit or sitting there to meditate.

Another thing, if you play WoW and are rolling a Pandaren, and if you like the little flavor details, you shouldn't miss sitting in on Lorewalker Amai's class teaching the children about the explorer, Liu Lang. And especially don't miss the song that Lorewalker Ruolin sings. It's just beautiful.

Or, if you want to listen to the song you can hear it on YouTube; you can also read the text of the lesson here on Wowpedia. It doesn't spoil anything in the quests. It actually inspired me to go find Liu Lang's resting place (which you can see in the Tumblr pics linked above).

And that is all for now! Because my dinner seems to be done (apple and butternut squash tart, yum).

My Adventures in The Secret World

pixelcurious — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 02:51:56 GMT

I did the free demo for The Secret World. It's free, how can you lose?

There are three factions, the Illuminati, the Dragons, and the Templars. My character is a Templar. Her name is Amber Blue, code name Fidelitas (Latin meaning loyalty, fidelity - I thought it would be an excellent Templar name).

I don't usually do warnings, but there is one pic in here that's mildly NSFW (frontal female nudity, not a close-up). Just in case your boss or easily shocked grandfather is standing over your shoulder.

Amber's name, and to an extent her look and character, are recycled from another character of mine. Before she became a Templar in TSW, she was a paladin in World of Warcraft. She's wearing her Blood Knight tabard here (I did the original quest chain, before they changed it and removed most of the flavor).

I would love to get her the Tier 2 armor, I think she would look totally badass. What she's got on is just some rather plain Wrath leveling gear. But I digress.

Rebooted in The Secret World, Amber still looks badass, but in a real-world way.

There are no classes in TSW, but there are suggested builds, called decks (very useful for newbies) and one of the Templar decks is called the Paladin. Paladins use dual handguns and swords. If I end up buying the game, that's the build I'm going to work toward, hence her choice of weapons. Or I might possibly go the Preacher route instead, I'm not sure. If you want to know more about decks, this article explains them in more detail.

When you complete a deck you unlock a special outfit, too. Yay cool clothes! Here's concept art for all of them: Templars, Dragons, and Illuminati. Each link goes to a gallery and you can scroll through the images on the right side.

This is meant to be a kind of review post for the game, so next let's talk graphics! Because face it, graphics are important. My video card is getting a bit old (it's an Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT) and The Secret World only allows me to use Low and Medium settings, and yes I updated my drivers.

This is Low:

This is Medium, with anti-aliasing (anti-aliasing is not available to me on Low):

It's not glaring, but there are differences. The most obvious being shadows can't be seen on Low. Plus there are some jagged edges. But it's not so big of a difference (unlike WoW where low settings are unbearably horrible). I can live with Low in TSW since I do get better performance.

Besides the graphics issues (which don't bother me much) I get terrible lag sometimes, especially in crowded settings with a lot of other players around. This is distressing and has caused death. >:C The server I was on is a RP server and may be more heavily populated, I don't know. I read somewhere that some servers are worse for lag, and mine was mentioned.

Lag sometimes has unexpected consequences!

At first I thought some players were running around naked, but nope, it's just that their clothes - and hair! - sometimes took a few seconds to load. ^_^;;

Some screenshots from around London. Templar headquarters in light fog:

Amber meeting her boss inside Templar headquarters (cutscene):

There are some unusual inhabitants in London, if you look for them.

He sells tacos. ^_^

Also, I found a probable tribute to Monkey Island's Voodoo Lady! Don't you think?

The quests/missions are what I really like about the game. Some of them are just "kill zombies" but others are puzzles or mysteries and they draw you in, and you actually have to think about them and experiment with solutions. There are clues in the environment, in conversations with NPCs, and in items that you pick up.

I didn't finish the quest line for the above, but I'm sure that page is just full of clues! And probably also with misdirections.

I did finish the "Something Wicked" quest line which was very awesome, though I don't want to spoil it for people so I won't give too many details. But one aspect was that I had to die in order to contact the ghost of this man for information. I had to let zombies kill me, it was very embarrassing and I kept hoping nobody would see.

The ghost guy led me to this clue scrawled on the wall of his jail cell.

And those are the white ravens mentioned in the clue. It was such a great quest and the way it ended had me laughing. I really want to explain it, but I just can't spoil it for you guys. You just have to do it, if you try the game. And like I said at the start, you can't lose, it's a free demo. :D

Overall, despite the awful lag that I experienced at times, I really really liked it. It's truly engrossing. I don't have a whole lot of experience with MMOs, but it feels very different from the others I've tried. I was only able to do quests in the starting area, Kingsmouth (which is heavily Lovecraft-influenced) so I have no idea what the other parts of the game are like, but I'm looking forward to finding out. I'm just holding off for a good deal on it. I think furryjackal got hers for half off, and at $50 full price that is worth waiting for another sale to come along.

Here's a "tips and tricks" guide I found, which is where I got the links to the concept art for the builds/decks' outfits; there's some other good info there. And there are guides and articles and wikis and stuff out there. You can open a browser in-game actually, and look up mission tips. Very handy and faster for me than tabbing out.

I'd love to hear thoughts/reviews from others who've played it.

Return to Azaroth

pixelcurious — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 16:34:23 GMT

After having not played World of Warcraft for several months, I was recently offered seven free days of gametime (an incentive to get players to return before the expansion that's coming out very soon). Instead of picking up my old characters where I left them, I rolled a couple of new ones. I made a blood elf mage, Tiphareth, and got her up to level 30. Then I decided to try druids again. They've always appealed to me but for some reason I never got the hang of them. But this time, I ended up really enjoying my tauren druid, Cheth.

In Mulgore, the tauren starting area. Cheth in cat form, chilling on a dead tree branch.

Cheth flying around the smoggy goblin town of Bilgewater Harbor, in a helicopter.

Cheth in stag form, in Azshara. I know it's been around awhile but it was the first I'd seen the new stag form.

Cheth in her normal form, doubled - this is not a mirror image. :)

My farewell picture from last night - The Barrens in the moonlight. My seven free days are up.

I got Cheth up to level 30 before leaving last night. That may be a record for me with druids. It helps that I no longer care about petty little things like my dps or the "best" rotation and crap like that. I also didn't use any mods, which was amazingly refreshing. :D

I'm leaning toward renewing my membership, and even getting Mists of Pandaria, but I want to wait a few days and see how I feel then. In a week or so, the shiny may have faded. Meanwhile I may try Guild Wars (not Guild Wars 2, although that looks oh so shiny, too.)

Wolpertingers in Spore

pixelcurious — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 20:34:02 GMT

From Wikipedia: "In Bavarian folklore, a wolpertinger (also called wolperdinger, poontinger or woiperdinger) is an animal said to inhabit the alpine forests of Bavaria in Germany. It has a body comprised from various animal parts — generally wings, antlers, tails and fangs, all attached to the body of a small mammal. The most widespread description is that of a horned rabbit or a horned squirrel."

Much of this is reposted from Tumblr, so sorry for the repeat to those who saw it there. But there's some additional material at the end - wolpertingers gone tribal!

Behold, the proto-wolpertinger as it pursues its unicellular prey!

Watch in fascination as it makes bedroom eyes at its mate!

Near the end of its cellular development, the proto-wolpertinger develops flipper feet, and a firefly-like glowing butt - literally shocking to its rivals.

Ultimately, the proto-wolpertinger evolves enough to develop lungs and a pair of legs. A quick reshuffle of its parts, and the proto-wolpertinger is ready to emerge from the sea onto dry land.

Note: I literally did just re-use the parts they already had, plus the legs they need for locomotion. Unfortunately, the firefly butt loses its electrocution ability and becomes a mere "charm" part, so it was rarely able to be used. Oh well.

Behold! The early wolpertinger shakes off the last drops of nutrient-rich seawater, and prepares to take the planet Schnitzel by the throat! Conquering with bloodthirsty cuteness! Trampling all who get in its cryptozoological path!

The carnivorous wolpertinger has an insatiable hunger - that can only be sated with chunks of flesh torn from the bodies of their fallen foes.

And who are these little orange creatures? Aw, they’re so cute! They look like they want to be friends. But the wolpertinger always ask themselves the same question: Friend or Food?! And they resolve the question with a predictable answer. *

Many a rival species has been hunted to extinction by our fierce bunny-like warriors. Though frankly, when the population of said rivals is usually 3-7 individuals, the wolpertinger can hardly be held responsible. After all, those species wouldn’t have survived many generations with such a small genetic pool.

*Apologies to gheez aka spooradit - many of your cuties have met the same fate as the above hamster! Also, I couldn't figure out how to link to the specific creature in your Sporepedia catalog, only to the page it's currently on.

The wolpertinger are curious creatures, eager to explore their world, from the sandy beaches to the mountaintops.

One night they even discover a strange artifact smashed into a small crater. They examine it thoroughly but its origin is mysterious. One thing’s for certain, it’s not made of meat, so it’s of little interest!

Nor do they connect the crashed spacecraft with the one that circles over them some time later. It seems very interested in the quickly advancing wolpertinger race! What sinister forces are at work here? :O

What’s this? A blast of hot air from a volcanic vent sends a wolpertinger flying! Wheeee!

Also, they have discovered a new use for sticks. That wolper who keeps wanting to mate, even when there aren’t enough DNA points to evolve? Throw a stick at her! Haha! Yes, the wolpertinger have invented slapstick.

Thus endeth the Tumblr reposts.

At this point, they were ready to advance to Tribal stage. But I held them at Creature stage for awhile longer while I had them search for more parts. They were still wearing their Cell stage flippers as wings, and I knew there were some proper wings out there somewhere. Eventually I did find some great dragon/bat wings, and finally the feathered wings I had coveted. :D

Also, once they had amassed the parts that granted the highest bonuses for fighting, I wanted to take a crack at hunting an epic with a pack of wolpertinger. Unfortunately I couldn't find any epics at that point, so that dream had to go unfulfilled. But I've found an epic in Tribal stage, so that will be a goal once they're stronger.

At any rate. I realized what a rampage they had gone on when I got an achievement for hunting at least 20 species to extinction. Having cut a vast swath through their neighbors, the Wolpertinger realized perhaps they could try making friends instead. After all, they were in real danger of exterminating all their food sources!

So they impressed a number of species into alliance. We won't say that intimidation was used.

At the very end of the Creature stage, one lone wolpertinger stood in league with representatives of three other species. I think these are all gheez's creatures, at least that's what the game told me, though I can't find two of them with the search on Sporepedia. But anyway, the orange upside-down ape is a lowha; the little greenish guy is a widdle. The mixed-up looking creature in the middle is called a sinus and indeed its sinuses appear to have overrun its physiology.

At last, the wolpertinger entered Tribal stage, gaining the rudimentaries of fire and shelter!

And what of their friends? They found themselves in the paddock behind the hut, huddled together in confusion. They didn't bargain for this - the fate of domestication!

Just a quick look at how the wolpertinger have changed in their final biological makeover. I went back to the cuter, rounder head and a lighter antlers, changed the firefly butt for a cottontail, and as you can see, they have their fluffy feather wings.

As tribal members they also wear clothes/armor now. I think these are meant to be chestplates, but they work to shield the limbs as well. I like the sort of feathery motif.

And here I realized that a non-humanoid race won't fit some of the armor choices particularly well. For instance, I didn't want to lose out on the stats provided by a mask, but it doesn't fit on a wolpertinger muzzle. So I shrank the mask down small, and hid it underneath the hat.

Feeding the tribe was of course the first priority. I love how they carry their meat back, neatly heaped on trays held high as if by servers in a fancy restaurant.

But maybe it's easier to just steal food from your neighbors. So the wolpers rob the nearby pink village.

They leave the pinks nothing but a few fried eggs!

Naturally this upsets the pinks. One pursues the wolpers but is torn apart at their home village. Now the two tribes are at war.

The wolpertinger take the offensive, raiding the pink village and destroying their huts with fire bombs. That's the basis of civilization, right? Superior weaponry?

But for now, they can rest on their laurels. They've defeated the pinks, and they have plenty of food, enough to support several more tribe members. The chief is very pleased with their success.

There will be more challenges in their near future, though! For instance, the delicate handling of a toasted marshmallow is still beyond the grasp of this tribe member.

Also, a terrifying epic was seen rampaging through another nearby village. There is nothing to prevent it from visiting the wolpertinger tribe and stomping them flat, so they need to be ready.

I'm thinking instead of slaughtering their neighbors, it may be time for the wolpers to try a little diplomacy! Unite in strength rather than divide and conquer! But are they up for the challenge? Time will tell!

Speaking of time, I've also been playing around with the spaceship creator. I don't know if I'll end up using this design, but it amuses me anyway. A wolper shuttle!

Also, this is just a minor thing, but I did a recolor of my bunnylike warriors with a more furry look, no spots and a white tail (the tail color was an oversight, before). But I'm not sure how, or even if I can swap out the looks of the ones currently in the game.

I do like the fluffy white tail better, though!

Those who have read to the end, thank you for bearing with me as I babble about my new obsession. It's a fairly simplistic game but lots of fun, and I'm enjoying it a lot! :)

Spore!

pixelcurious — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 06:25:50 GMT

Near the galactic core, on the shores of the wild, young planet Chumcha, a meteor strikes, carrying with it the seeds of life.

Over millions of years, tiny one-celled creatures evolve. They live out their tiny lives in tidepools, eating, mating, dying but always propagating the species forward another tiny generation at a time...

The creatures who will later be known as the Hoobanooby have their origins in this tidepool.

Gradually they evolve defenses, and eventually leave the tidepool for dry land.

At an early point in their development, the Hoobanooby develop a beak-like mouth. Also, they learn to use sticks as tools (a fairly useless tool as it can only be used to knock down fruit - since there is plenty of fruit at ground level there really is no point in doing this, except to say "yeah, we were using tools way back when").

Later generations retain the beak - and the stick. ;)

There are many dangers on Chumcha.

But the Hoobanooby manage to make a few allies. Disparate (and desperate) creatures, united against the threat of their aggressive neighbors.

Sometimes, even killing those who attack them - though the violence is sickening to the peaceful Hoobas.

Initially, the Hoobas found some of their peers difficult to impress. They attempted to make friends, yet were rebuffed again and again. So the Hoobas invented... cheerleading.

It's amazing how a simple pair of pompoms can inspire one's fellow creatures.

The Hoobas were well on their way to developing a civilization of their very own.

Last pic, from the creature editor - the Hoobanooby as they look now, at the start of the Tribal stage. I realize now that I should have retained their weapons, but maybe I can add them back.

The Hoobanooby are my test creatures, as I learn to play the game. It's a lot of fun! We (I think of the Hoobas as "we") We did die several times to aggressive creatures, and once to an epic. Not the one pictured, but a later one, which we foolishly attacked after forming a pack with some friends. We didn't even make a dent in its health before it stomped us flat. ^_^

Tribal stage seems confusing, and I need to go back through the tutorial and read it more carefully. I'm sure it will become clear very quickly. It's mostly little things like "how do I chase off/fight those animals that are stealing my fruit?" I'll figure it out.

One thing I'm bummed about is, I thought the creatures I had already made with the Creature Creator would be imported into the game, but they weren't - or at least, I can't find them anywhere. So I lost my Wolpertingers and Bandiscouts and the rest. I can re-create them, but I wish I could have just imported them. I mean, the install wizard thing even told me they would be. But they're gone. Oh well!

Be-Cygnus-Smiths - mini update

pixelcurious — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 04:50:51 GMT

Not much to show here because I've been slacking. Also, and this is kind of dumb, but I had gotten disenchanted with the skintone I was using, but I was also feeling too lazy to try out some new ones, and that kept me from playing. Seriously. I didn't say it was logical.

But anyway. Number 3 daughter Chastity, she who looked so wistful at the end of the last update, has begun courting her childhood friend. Formerly known only as Homework Telepathy Boy, it seems his name is actually Kristofer or something. I should write this stuff down.

Mindy looks on approvingly!

HTB aka Kristofer is pretty cute. But see, I'm just... ugh! There is something about the skin. It's not as noticeable sometimes, but other times it really bothers me. I had to sharpen this pic just to even be able to post it, and the skin is still a bit fuzzy and out-of-focus looking.

It would probably help if I had a better graphics card, of course.

Number 2 daughter, Jolene, has had yet another makeover. She looks so pretty now, you'd never know she was such an awkward teen. Even the maid man notices.

"Did the maid just say he'd like to get me into bed?"

And see, now the skin looks fine to me. >_<
Oh well, it's time for another birthday celebration!

Mindy's face makes me think that Golly just laid a stinky one. "Ugh, no more bean dip for you, mister." Oh, also, I decided to remove Mindy's mint green face paint (part of my skintone botheration) though I might put it back.

It's Caspian's adult birthday. Yes, hard to believe, but this man with three teenage daughters is only now reaching adulthood. That is what happens when you're not paying attention when you make a family in CAS.

The birthday enthusiasm is palpable.

Polly's getting into the spirit, at least!

And there he goes.

And that's basically it, because like I said I've been slacking.

However, I DID download one new skintone to try out. It's one of the Ephemera skins. I actually wanted to try a different one also by Ephemera, but I had trouble figuring out the Chinese website, even with my browser translating. This one was actually on MTS (here) so I was able to easily download it.

What do you think? I need to check in different lighting, and on different sims, but I do like some things about it. It seems sharper and clearer on the face. On the other hand it seems a little shiny. And there are dark shadows under the eyes (Caspian kind of has them normally, but it's not just him, they all have dark shadows to some extent). So I don't know.

I had tried some others a few weeks ago, but unfortunately I don't remember what all they were. Mostly I've been using Tamo's which is very close to the Maxis one. Tamo's just replaces the faces. I tried another that was just faces, but the color didn't match at the neck. Another one was full faces/bodies, but the muscle definition was messed up, so even skinny non-muscular sims appeared to have muscles, and I didn't like that. Wish I remember what it was so I can avoid it... oh well, I guess if I run across it again, at least then I'll know which one it is.

Rambling, pointless post is rambling and pointless!

I have a few Spore screenies to share too, in another post. It finally arrived today. :)

To boldly go...

pixelcurious — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 14:21:42 GMT

...Where no string art has gone before!

I'm not normally a big fan of string art, not even ironically, but I'd make an exception for this. Also, can I just say how much I prefer the design of the original Enterprise over any of the newer ones? It just looks cooler to me.

Found here, on the retro-love blog Plaid Stallions.

Cat vs. Pinata

pixelcurious — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 23:53:50 GMT

"Made this piñata for our rescue cat Charlie to help him celebrate Cinco de Mayo tomorrow as well as his one year anniversary of being ours. Like so many shelter cats, Charlie was on the verge of being euthanized. Hopefully this video helps show that a pet doesn't need to come from a breeder to have a great personality."

Spore

pixelcurious — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 23:36:45 GMT

I'm getting Spore for my birthday and in anticipation, I've been playing with the free Spore Creature Creator. It's pretty limited in terms of parts and patterns, but it's still fun. And you can share in the derp, below the cut.

I think I named these creatures Bandiscouts. One thing I like about them is, when they walk they tend to hold their tails straight up like happy cats.

Here is a Crocotauren. As I can't do sexual differentiation, this is a race of all females. We can assume they reproduce by parthe-moo-genesis.

Dragons!

Dat ass.

And my favorites (though the Bandiscouts run a very close second): Wolpertingers! Combining ferocity with deadly cuteness!

I've tried to make creatures that don't look terrestrial - truly alien forms - but so far I'm not impressed with my results and haven't saved them or taken pics of them (except for the butt creature, which is just for LOLs).

Of course, the game assumes a basically terrestrial type setting and evolutionary model, and there is something to be said for the idea of parallel evolution on other worlds. For instance, it makes sense for creatures to have sensory organs on a part that can swivel, like a head on a neck; it makes sense to have walking parts shaped like they tend to be on Earth, because of gravity; phalanges likewise are logical for tool-grasping. And so on.

Still, I think I'll make a greater effort toward more alien looking forms, just for fun and to stretch my brain a bit. Also, I need to lay off the speckled/bumpy pattern, I use it on almost everything. I also use the beady eyes on everything but that's because they're cute >_>

gheez shared some of her Spore creatures here on her tumblr, if you want to see them. Be sure to click on the pics to see them in full! (She has the full game so she has more parts, also...)

Irony

pixelcurious — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 22:26:12 GMT

I find it ironic that my captcha is an ad for Ad-Free TV.

Also, just goes to show they'll exploit anywhere for ad space. I'm surprised my toilet paper isn't printed with ads... actually, on second thought, that isn't the kind of symbolism an advertiser would want, is it? :P

B.C.-Smiths - Many Birthdays and More

pixelcurious — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 05:44:27 GMT

Man, now I feel really bad that I never got back to the Landgraab clones. Christina died and I wasn't there for her final moments. I always meant to switch back to them, but when you change households they lose their wishes, and there was always something I had my sims working on... like Mindy has one to write a science fiction novel (it's called Guacamole Planet, she's inventing a new genre, gustatory sci-fi) and Polly is halfway through a "upgrade X many objects" wish for her Tinkering LTW. I didn't want to lose those wishes, so I didn't switch back to the clones.

At least her former co-worker Caspian mourns her (in his sleep). I do, too. R.I.P., Christina.

How about some Chastity spam to cheer ourselves up?

As soon as Jolene starts cooking, Chastity starts hovering behind her, waiting to clean the counter. I should write down their traits because I can never remember them. I assume Jolene is a slob though, and Chastity might be neat, and is certainly neurotic.

Chas is still all over baby Dorothy. I hope they stay close as they age up.

I should have gotten more pics of this. This girl came home from school with my sims, dressed almost like Chastity (her shoes were different) and almost everyone in the house was hating on her. Seriously, even Polly and Caspian were trailing her about, scolding her. I guess she was starting to do inappropriate things (but never got the chance because she was being hounded by the Smiths).

Chastity also took pains to inform the girl of her humiliation (at having her style copied? who knows). Their relationship sank like a stone. Then the girl would not leave until around dawn the next morning. I'll be interested to see what happens if she visits again.

Mindy finished the painting she was working on when she first kissed Golly. That isn't one of the in-game paintings, which kind of suck; I have a painting replacement set (see here).

Naturally Golly had to meet Mindy's parents. One of his traits is loner so I knew he might be uncomfortable with so many people around. But he found ways to cope.

"Oh no, here comes Mindy's mom... quick, grab a toddler. Sorry kid, but you're my human shield now."

Polly actually quite likes him, which is nice. No hurdles there.

What's that face for, Chastity?

Both of Mindy's parents like her choice of boyfriend. Also, is it just me, or does that icon look more like Michael Jackson than the Mona Lisa?

Must be a postmodernist thing. O_o ?

Unfortunately, Caspian and Polly do NOT like Golly's mom.

At first Polly wanted to get on Caspian's case about it. But then she found out that Matilda dislikes children, and that was all she wrote. Matilda departed in a flurry of red minuses, shortly thereafter. Seriously!

Golly held up really well under the barrage of parental questions. I was proud of him. Please excuse Caspian yawning; he wasn't bored, but genuinely exhausted (maybe he's taking on a bigger workload now that Christine passed on?)

I can't remember if G.'s vegetarian... I guess I'll find out!

Anyway, it's birthday time.

Gather 'round, everyone! The whole family is there.

Except for Chastity, who is checking the sink in someone else's house, all the way across town...

"Don't judge."

Okay, anyway. Birthday!

This also shows off Jolene's gamine makeover. Now she's boyishly cute! It turns out the face spots were a bad case of space acne, and her long hair was aggravating it with oil. Sounds legit?

Mindy grows up into a rather drab outfit. :P
But no time for a makeover yet, because...

...and that was a little anticlimactic. LOL. Still, this is why we have makeovers.

TOO MUCH CAKE, CAN'T FIND A SEAT

Next day, I realized the house was a filthy pigpen and had someone call the maid service. It was so trashed, the game sent them TWO maids.

I think one of them is getting together with the repairman for drinks afterward.

*bedroom eyes*

Jolene's birthday... I kind of like the hair and clothes she aged into.

"Someone tell me why the babysitter that I've never met is front and center?"

Caspian always gets dewy-eyed when his daughters grow up. Oh and there's Mindy with her adult makeover - she is almost the same as before. One difference, though, is that Golly has started sleeping over.

Dorothy's birthday takes place at dawn the next day.

"Enough birthday song, I need CAKE!"

I think I got some of 'em out of bed to celebrate. >:D

This pic - 1. Synchronized horn blowing 2. Jolene's stance looks so awkward 3. Phew!

Dorothy grows up in the usual druggie sparkle bliss!

Polly will be watching her closely for signs of Feldmanization, a common plague among TS3 children.

She's also watching something else.

Eyes up, Polly! :O

This is Golly with his young adult makeover, by the way. I gave him the same hair, but I like this beard/scruff better for him. I did try other hairs but most of the short ones clip right through his ears. I think he looks sweet. ♥

And finally...

"You got me a floating box?!"

He accepted, of course! :D

Polly instantly appointed herself Wedding Planner. Maybe this is a family-oriented sim thing. G. looked a little overwhelmed. And Chastity in the background there...

She looks so wistful! I'll have to do something about that...

ETA: Here is a family tree.

Polly and Chastity look a lot alike. Polly's the mom, Chas is the daughter. :)

Grimmy and Tumblr dump

pixelcurious — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 20:03:24 GMT

I have a grinding headache today, which of course is the day that the handyman chose to replace my back door, complete with insanely loud power tools and lots of hammering. Meanwhile all my cool air is flowing out the open door (and the heat index today is 102F - 39C). Also the landlady's in and out measuring windows for new blinds and talking about changing the locks and stuff. I would love to be horizontal in a dark, cool, quiet room but that is just not an option. >_<

So I was going to repost my Be-Cygnus-Smith family posts from Tumblr, but instead I'm just going to link them like the last time. Sorry! At least this time there are only three posts.

http://pixelcurious.tumblr.com/post/28981398625/yes-caspian-your-little-girl-is-growing-up
http://pixelcurious.tumblr.com/post/28981600885/oldest-sister-mindy-and-her-love-interest-golly
http://pixelcurious.tumblr.com/post/28981853008/and-baby-dorothy-grows-up-to-be-a-toddler-while

I really love how Chastity looks as a teen. This family is sort of turning into my legacy family... but I will have a really hard time choosing among the girls for an heir. Mindy is more or less my favorite right now, but Chastity could supplant her and of course they both have to watch out baby Dorothy doesn't supplant them both. Then there's Jolene who is just so awkward she's cute. I wish I'd gotten pics of this, but I didn't - Jolene went and introduced herself to Mindy's boyfriend, and then she did her patented "pretend to eat dirt off the floor" trick for him, and he was SO not impressed. So funny.

Also, look who randomed up in CAS!

I really should have saved him, but I was worried he might screw up my game. On reflection I don't think he would have, since you can actually move the Reaper into your household (also I read the game has multiple Reapers - kind of like the show Dead Like Me - that was a good show.) I did peek at his personality, but I don't remember all his traits. One was Evil of course but I think he was also Childish. If he randoms up again I'll remember to screenshot the traits.

Penny and Makoa

pixelcurious — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 00:00:35 GMT

I had something else in mind, but these two sims are what happened instead. And I liked 'em, so here they are.

Makoa is a Hawaiian name that means brave or fearless. I didn't really try to make him look ethnically Hawaiian or Polynesian, and anyway he's Irish-Hawaiian. (That's a real thing, I used to work with an Irish-Hawaiian guy. Apparently a lot of Irish settled there.)

Originally Penny was going to be a real piece of work, kind of an evil cheerleader, but along the way she just became more of a popularity sim... her only negative-ish trait now is snob. Which of course anyone downloading is welcome to change - any of my sims, change 'em to however you want them! I hope you all know that by now :)

Penny in CAS:

I used the shoulder width slider from here to make her shoulders narrower. If you don't have it, she might show up with normal width shoulders, I'm not sure. She would probably look better with a different hairstyle, but I liked how this one really showed up the apple-round shape of her head. :D

Makoa in CAS:

I used the shoulder width slider on him, too. Again, probably without it his shoulders will be normal width, which isn't a big deal. I do like that slider though (I picked up several from that pack, in fact). Oh and I might have used a chin width slider but I don't remember for sure.

And lastly, a couple shots of them as young adults, so you can see how they'll age up.

Download Links!

Makoa O'Brian
Penny Parvenu

Enjoy! :)

24 hour Corgi cam!

pixelcurious — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 15:04:07 GMT

They sleep most of the time because they're still bitty pups.

Pud-o-Matic!

pixelcurious — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 17:17:20 GMT

Do all my sims look alike?

This was the basis of a conversation some of us had a few days ago. I decided to see if it holds true for me. I did this with Sims 3 only, though, because I have bajillions of Sims 2 sims and most of 'em aren't in my sim bin anymore, so I would have had to download them and just NO. Too much work.

But Sims 3, that was do-able. I have made more sims than this, but these are all the ones I saved to the bin. Five are sims you all have seen before. Two are males, turned into females for the purpose of comparison. Two were elders but cast as young adults here.

Skin, hair, and eye color are all the same; elf ears have been turned to normal ears; makeup has been removed. I also gave them all the same eyebrow, though of course I didn't change the eyebrow tilt, etc.

I feel like mine pretty much pass the test - they each have distinct looks, even with everything else normalized. But I did notice I have a tendency to use a particular eyebrow tilt (see sims 1, 2, and 6). Also, sims 1 and 2 have similar mouths, 2 being a little wider. Sims 6 and 7 have similar noses. I made 1 and 2 on the same day, which might account for their similarity. I might have even used one as the base for the other, I'm not sure.

Do you all want to guess which sim is which? NOT in order, they are:

ETA: Answers are here, if you want to know!

Furryjackal and Gheez, if you felt so inclined, I'd love to see yours too! Just for fun and comparison. I think we all make pretty unique sims but I bet both of yours are more unique than mine.

TS3 Pixel Curious

pixelcurious — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 16:03:55 GMT

It's Pixel Curious in Three-O-Vision!

I've been working on her for awhile, but wasn't quite happy with her. Until yesterday, when I got a bright idea. I crossed the old version with sixamsims Pollitech #9. I kept crossing until I had a sim that had all the Pixel facial features, but with Pollitech's eyes. Yeah! That did the trick. I had to fiddle with her eyebrows a bit, and I think I changed the eyes a tiny bit too, but essentially they are Pollitech's eyes there.

Here's a profile. I made a last-minute decision to change her hair from the signature braids to something softer and prettier (but still low-maintenance). I didn't attempt Sims 2-style protruding alien eyes; I like her better like this.

Also, seafood! Freshwater lobsters, or giant crawdads? Your guess is as good as mine.

I wasn't trying for a perfect replica of the Sims 2 version. More of an interpretation. And the way faces animate is different enough, that even if I had gotten her perfect, she wouldn't appear the same in the game anyway.

For those who saw these on my Tumblr, these are the unprocessed versions, straight from the game except for resizing - no goofy filtering or whatever.

Anyway. Pixel! I'm happy with how she came out. She is living in Lucky Palms right now. I haven't decided if I'm going to attempt Bean in Three-O-Vision yet.

Sims 3 sims

pixelcurious — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 17:44:46 GMT

The July Founders have been posted to pixel_trade, so get over here for some new sims! There are a lot of great looking Sims 2 sims as well as Sims 3 contributions from the inimitable gheez, and from me too. Guaranteed to be clown-free!

tumblr dump

pixelcurious — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 06:23:16 GMT

Sims crossposting for the non-Tumblr folks. These are short picture based posts, mostly Sims 3. Some of 'em are just one or two pics. That's how we roll on Tumblr.

Christa Landgraab courts death to do homework

A Lucky retrospective (remembering this made me want to start up Saturn's Nine again)

Jolene is such a middle child (this is the same family from this post - the Be-Cygnus-Smiths)

Flirty (just one pic)

Voyeurism raises logic?!

Apollo Geez models bunny slippers...

...and makes breakfast

Mindy is a surrogate homework buddy

Apollo's son Golly Geez bemoans his life

Mindy meets the new kid on the block (plus I bemoan how I lost Apollo, temporarily)

I got Apollo back, his wife is happy (thanks again those of you who helped me!)

I wasn't able to play for a few days, and when I got back in the game, I checked on a few different households. I had a couple of surprises waiting for me.

First, the Jeez household

Second, Prot and Rue's household (I had put them in a house and kind of forgot about them)

Last, the Be-Cygnus-Smith household (Mindy's family)

I haven't played much since then, though Chastity (the brave little watermelon) is now a teen. She needs a fruit-based makeover, next time I play. I've sort of settled on the Be-Cygnus-Smiths as my main family. I do want to check on the Landgraab clones and see what they're up to, but the BCSs have charmed me. Polly Tech and Caspian are so cute together and their girls are all so different, it makes them an interesting family to play. I like switching from household to household to check up on people, though. And I'll probably continue to add new alien families (I may even evict some pre-mades to steal their houses!)

Progress notes, post-painting

pixelcurious — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 15:43:06 GMT

More progress notes to keep myself motivated.

The Paintening is over (it amuses me to call it that, like it was a significant event - and in a way, it has been). Practically everything we own had to be moved, so I got re-acquainted with a lot of my stuff, and much was thrown away in the process.

I haven't done a Goodwill run in a few days, but there's some stuff already loaded up in the truck to go, and more bagged up to carry out. This includes some kitchen utensils I wasn't using and a new pair of oven mitts (we don't need two pairs). And I have two laundry baskets of clothes/linens to wash before the next Goodwill run. They were put away clean, but have that smell clothes always get when they're left inert too long. That reminds me, I should start a load washing right now.

A lot of our stuff is still stacked in boxes or temporarily stored in the first room that was painted; we didn't feel like knocking ourselves out to put it all back yesterday because frankly we needed a break. I know my back was hurting yesterday and I think K's was too. All the dust raised has been hell on my asthma as well. There's no rush now, anyway. Taking our time will allow us to do more sorting.

A little triumph for the new me: K. was putting some kitchen stuff back Saturday evening after the painter left (we've put SOME stuff back of course) and he asked me if I wanted to keep some tea tins. These are little sample sized tins that I'd stashed years ago. At first my packrat side said "Yeah, they're cute and I want to do something with them." So I lined them up on one of the kitchen rack shelves. Then Sunday morning I saw them there, and my new clutter-free side said "WHAT THE HELL." I dropped them into the wastebasket right then and there. And threw coffee grounds on top to discourage myself from digging them back out.

I mean, yes, they were cute little tins. And yes, I could have made something with them. I could have painted them or covered them with collage art, whatever. But I'd had them stacked on the kitchen windowsill for three or four years and hadn't done anything with them yet. And they weren't vintage or special in any way other than being small and cute. I know it's kind of silly, but I feel like throwing them out is an indicator that I really am making progress with shedding my packrat ways.

So, what else? I took some photos of vintage enamel mugs to sell on Etsy.

I like how this one came out, but I need to re-do another one that shows the little flaw inside one of the mugs - by the time I decided I needed to take it over yesterday, I'd lost the light (I hate flash photos so I was using indirect sunlight). I have a big version of the photo for Etsy by the way, I just sized it down for here.

I don't know how much to ask for them. Similar mugs on Etsy are set at a wide variety of prices. Mine are at least from the 70s and maybe older than that - I remember taking them on picnics as a child. I want them to sell fast, I hate when stuff lingers in my shop, so I'll probably price them pretty low.

I had other items in mind for Etsy, but I can't remember off-hand what they are. Well, I'll remember when I run across them again.

I also have a World of Warcraft novel set aside to send to my nephew, whenever I find the little toy fire truck I want to send to his mom (she's a volunteer fire fighter and collects such things, though her youngest may claim this one, which would be fine). The nephew I'm sending the book to doesn't like to read which bothers his dad (my brother). But he loves World of Warcraft, so I thought he might read it. If not, that's cool.

Oh, and I sent the cookbooks to Mom this past weekend. More stuff out of my life, going to someone who wants it. Yay!

Today's tasks include laundering the stack of Goodwill clothing (already started) and going through some bathroom and kitchen boxes, plus re-taking the mug photos. Although there are things stacked around in odd places, in my mind's eye I can already see my house looking nice and neat and less cluttered. :)

pixelcurious — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 17:42:05 GMT

So, between the Colourlovers site that gheez turned me onto, and Spoonflower, I have created my first fabric design.

It's called Dino Wino.

Spoonflower lets you do different layouts, like centered, simple repeat, half-drop, mirrored etc. This is half-drop. The brick and mirrored layouts don't work because of the bubbles, but I like this best anyway.

Not sure if I'll actually buy some of the fabric - not unless I think of something great to do with it, I guess. But it cracks me up.

This is day two of The Paintening (yesterday he didn't come paint) and it looks like there is one more day to go. It's looking nice. It's a brighter off-white than before, so there's less contrast with the pure white of the woodwork, but that's okay. The cats will be so glad when everything goes back to normal, and so will I.

Speaking of cats but on another topic entirely, I saw Max do the neatest thing last night. She was patiently watching a fly, and when it landed on the wall near her, she just clapped her paw right over it. Then dragged her paw down the wall with the fly trapped underneath, and ate it. Mmmm, mmmm, fly snack. Cats are weird. It was awesome seeing her catch it though - she was so fast and did it so neatly.

Spork Poll

pixelcurious — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 20:48:22 GMT

Say you have a silverware organizer, with slots for knives, forks and spoons. There are only these slots, and no others.

Say you have a couple of sporks. You want to put the sporks away in the silverware organizer. Your hand hovers above the drawer, utensils clutched lightly in your fingers.

View Poll: SPORK

tumblr

pixelcurious — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 15:20:53 GMT

Still waiting on the painter! I guess 9:00am with extra question marks actually means sometime in the region of noon - or later!

Meanwhile I've been scrolling back in a couple of silly sims-related tumblrs. You know how I love sims glitches. Here are some examples from http://fuckyeahsimsmeme.tumblr.com/

This isn't a glitch, obviously, but I love it!

Here are a couple from http://simsgonewrong.tumblr.com

And this one, you just have to go see. i mayd a hoers

Back to painter-waiting! I guess I could vacuum while I wait.
ETA: painter! And it's not quite noon :P

Progress notes!

pixelcurious — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 23:34:44 GMT

This is mostly to keep myself motivated!

Yesterday I didn't get as much done as I planned...

- Emptied one box, the one with framed pictures and photos, these will go on the walls once the painter man is done (still haven't heard from him).
- Took four bags of books, one jam box, and my wedding dress to Goodwill.
- Bought two large plastic totes at Target, to store items we're keeping. The cardboard boxes are all shredded by kitties; plastic totes will look neater and cleaner.

By the time I got back home yesterday afternoon, I was wrung out with the heat (my truck doesn't have AC) and I didn't get back on task till today.

Today, so far...

- Made a big dent on the boxes in the bedroom closet - cleared four, I think? There are only two left now. Much was tossed into boxes for Goodwill. What we're keeping fills only the bottom third of one of the plastic totes.
- K. filled a big bag with clothes for Goodwill.
- We took another load to donate, including the clothes, more books, a vacuum cleaner, a DVD player, inflatable air bed, various trinkets, and more.

The bedroom closet boxes are the "untouched since we moved" boxes that I mentioned before. There was much less to throw away than I expected, but it makes sense. I threw away the worst of it before I moved. Still, I found some things that really didn't need to be kept, and others that I'll probably sell on eBay or Etsy.

Notable items from the bedroom closet...

- A big stack of old View-Master slides, though the viewer is missing. These are definitely from the 1960s and are worth trying to sell to collecters. Though I should probably ask my brothers first, one of them may have the viewer.
- Xerox copies of mean letters I wrote to my girlfriend after we broke up. That was a textbook example of how not to end a relationship; she moved to the other side of the country and we wrote letters back and forth saying all the things that we should have said before things got bad. These went straight to the trash bin, I didn't even read past the first line. You might wonder why I felt compelled to make copies of them - it was because I knew she'd probably call me up and I'd want to have a copy in front of me so I'd remember exactly what I'd written. :P
- One great thing - a vintage cookbook of my mom's, which she wanted back. She had remembered there were recipes in it that she wanted to try again. I didn't think I had it anymore, and actually I bought her another copy off Amazon - a later printing of the same book. Now I can send her own back to her. :)

I want to finish the bedroom closet tonight. I'm not sure if the painter is even painting the insides of the closets, but even if he's not, it's great to get that stuff cleared out.