Sundown

A portrait of a couple of Star Wars Galaxies characters, Kimm Lors and Vajra. Mine's the red head. I know it isn't exactly Macross, but it's a bit of a preview of what's to come. Working on a Macross bridge bunny done in a similar style and vein, sooo I thought I'd share what I've just got done. The original, at a bigger size is here. Usual comments and crits welcome, of course! -Al

That's some crummy luck there, on both ends. Either someone was so lazy as not to redeed his harvesters-- after paying a decent amount of maintenance, and then maybe quitting the game... or decent resources kept popping up where you lived. Ack. -Al

Looks like you ran into some vendors that didn't have much business sense or were prepared for the long haul. There are occasional periods of dryspells for certain items, but any crafter worth their business salt will simply tell you that you might need to wait a little for the next shift. Not "can't make any more" or try to gouge you with that item. The Elite carbine was problematic though. Rarely craftable, and crappy even when it was. And of course the Bazaar is no place for finding anything that's worth more than 3K credits... that's the flea market of SWG, useful for picking up the occasional consumable or resource. The resource system isn't all that bad, from my experience. Actually pretty fun if you get in on it. And of course, the exhaustable resources (not really exhaustable, but shifting, really) means that even if you *are* cursed with the unfortunate luck of having prime resources crop up right on your real estate-- those harvesters are gone in 5-8 days, leaving you alone again for a rather good while. Had this happen to a friend, with her nice beach house, but the harvester infestation cleared up with the next shift. Those two other houses you can't do much about. And I don't see any way fair way around it, since those folks have as much freedom to put their house anywhere as you do. I'm not sure how other games or how FFXI gets around this problem. -Al

I'm not exactly sure what you're talking about here, since that's decidedly not my experience in my 6 months of playing. There isn't much price gouging in the way of standard weapons, at least not on my server. A good non-Krayt carbine runs from 10k to 20k, and always has. When the resource exhaust, miners simply move onto the next similar quality resource. Usually they'll have enough material stockpiled to keep making what they make, to last until the next shift and then some. Rarity doesn't come into play at all in a noticible way for many staple items. And consistent quality carbines are almost always available at constant prices, give an occasional few days wait. I would know, I'm a carbineer, and I've seen top-rated Laser-carbines around all the time. Furthermore, one gets certed for the best carbines pretty fast, and from there on, all the carbines are available to you. There's no constant progression of certifications to chase, and 10-20k credits is not hard to come by for a medium level character with those certifications. Takes all of an hour or two. Much less if you know who to group with. Granted, there are certain items with rare spawning material, or with the material always being low quality-- and that's somewhat problematic: ie. Elite Carbines. But they're not things you positively can't live without. If anything, prices are actually pretty consistent for regular common merchandise, *except* for premium rare things like Krayt weapons and Holocrons. I'm actually quite surprised at how stable the player economy is on my server. I expect to pay a certain amount, and almost every vendor in the galaxy charges roughly that-- maybe twice as much in some parts, in a rare and worst case. And item decay doesn't hurt nary that bad. I've only had to replace a few weapons, and most of the others I could prolong simply by fixing them with inexpensive repair kits. And it isn't because I don't play much or use them much. I've played enough to Master Carbineer. -Al

Yeah, but then he couldn't appease his own need to "realize his vision fully", and to feel like it was all his. Screw making a *good* movie. I think I'm one of those who's really undecided between TMP and AOTC. I really didn't like much of AOTC, even though it had more "stuff", more action and more evil. All of the good things were somewhat cornily done. The overlong Titanic-esque romance scenes, the whining pre-Lord of the Sith, the over saturated colorful CG... by the time the light saber fight came around, I didn't care that much. My anticpation to see Yoda in action waned by then... plus he looked kinda dumb anyway. And I've got a love/hate relationship with Boba Fett being a clone and all the clone troopers being a nerfed version of Boba. Auugh. I didn't hate TMP walking out of the theater, but in hindsight, it was pretty dumb... mostly because of Jar Jar and the damn kid. But there were at least moments in the movie, and the beginning actually felt pretty Star Wars-ish. The saber fight with Darth Maul was fantastic, even if two great actors were just sleep walking through their lines, mainly because of bad direction and bad scripting... -Al

G-suits aren't for impact G spikes. They're there to help the pilot endure sustained G's during maneuvers and loss of consciousness from blood pooling to the legs. That's why G suits inflate at high G, to squeeze blood back from the legs to the head. Inertia works everywhere, not just in a gravity field. At least as far as I understand. The earth's constant 1G doesn't really matter all that much in comparison to the 100+ G spikes during some high-impact Nascar crashes. And yeah, 100+ G spikes is survivable. But I guess only really, really short spikes. -Al

Now what I'm torn between is the original, original OT, and a cleaned up and remastered OT without all the edits and all the additions... and maybe just some of the tweaks. There are a few things they've done in the SE that do work better without compromising the original content, like cleaned up some of the shots and fixed some of the special effects mistakes (landspeeder hovering on an ugly orange blur, and transparent snowspeeder cockpit frame come immediately to mind.) But I guess I wouldn't mind seeing a super-special-classic OT version, if that makes any sense. What would be neat is to allow the user to pick which edit they want to see or not see, and piece together their own version of the perfect Star Wars movie (say, leave out Jedi Rocks, but add in the new Celebration ending). But that'd be too cool for Lucas. -Al

With all the hoopla I've been hearing about folks who've played KOTOR... what games *do* you like, Abombz? -Al

Thank you. "Impractical" to *Aegis*. Something slightly cumbersome would still suit many of us fine, to have something in scale to the VF-1. We'll put up with it. Some people want the Monster. Telling them it's impractical to *you* doesn't make them want it any less for their own reasons. It's the somewhat condescending tone that gets us to respond here. Bingo. The Q-Rau will be about as big as the YF-19. It's certainly bigger than a 1/48 VF-1. And likely bigger than the M0 Valks. If the Q-Rau's not impractical, none of the others are. -Al

Why do you continually assume this? You're not the only person that comprehends the concept of "scale" around these parts. We're not all idiots here, contrary to popular opinion. A 1/48 M+ Valk would be monstrous. It would be silly expensive. Many of us don't mind. And it's still certainly more practical than the 1/60 Monster. Ok, who here that wants a 1/48 M0 or M+ Valk really wants a 1/48 Boldolza fortress? Really? Raise your hand. Yeah, didn't think so. I'll admit that I've had fantasies about a 1/48 Regult, but I'm well aware that it would be horribly ungainly and horrendously expensive if they ever did make one. But again, no less so than the 1/60 Monster. We're not all clueless idjits here when we ask for a 1/48 M+ Valk, and don't appreciate the constant insinuations that we are. We know what we're in for. And we also don't need a thrice rehashed lecture on the subject matter when we're asking for a 1/48 M+ or M0 Valk, which you claim you're not against. And therein lies your assumption. Just because Yamato decides to produce a larger scale toy doesn't mean they'll abandon their smaller scale line. They've said time and time again that smaller scale toys will be made available... and there's been more confirmation of them than of any other 1/48 toys coming down the line. You're also setting up the Straw Man argument that Bigger is better, here. It obviously isn't. And those of us who like the 1/48 line don't buy unequivocally into that line of thought. I consider the 1/48 scale, as far as Valks are concerned, a workable size that approaches somewhat cumbersome in the case of the YF-21. But even so, the latter isn't completely un-doable. And that's about as big as a Valk would ever get. Yes, a 1/60 or 1/55 YF-21 would be more pracitcal. Yes, they should make one in that scale. But does that make me want a 1/48 any less? No. It then grows more clear that your attempts to enlighten the 1/48 hopefuls is based largely on your fear that additions to the 1/48 line will dilute development of smaller scale Macross toys that you desire. I find this fear unfounded, especially in light of Yamato's plans, roadmaps, and statements. The paranoia is largely unfounded. And apparently they can afford to produce potentially unpractical toys. I reference, once again, the 1/60 Q-Rau and 1/60 Monster. For you. Some of us want 1/48 M+, size, warts, costs, and all. And either way, a 1/48 line and a line of smaller scale toys are once again, for emphasis: not mutually exclusive. You might have a point if Yamato could only produce one line or the other. But that's simply not the case. And that's simply not what the company plans on doing either. -Al

What "line", as far as the M+ Valks go? There are only two-- the YF-19 and YF-22, ok, and maybe the VF-11. I don't see how two Valks would take up all of Yamato's resources any more than a limited release of the bigger Q-Rau and Monster... both of which probably would net Yamato a lot less profit and revenue than any of the Valks would, due their limited numbers and limited interest in the items. Tooling is the expensive part. It's actually more efficent to make more runs off the same mold. Limited releases that involve new molds take up more resources than molds that can be reused or can produce items that can be sold in greater numbers. Ok, even if we take the M0 line into consideration, it would still be more cost effective for Yamato than the limited release 1/60 Monster and Q-Rau, since many of those molds can be reused for the different versions of the VF-0. Where do you get the idea that Yamato is focusing all of its attention on the 1/48 to the exclusion of the smaller Valks? It's been said over, and over, that 1/72 (and I think 1/60 now) Valks are in the works. So what exactly is the issue here? Why the tirade anytime someone talks about the 1/48, telling us how we're misguided or how we don't know what we really want? No one's been asking Yamato to focus on the 1/48's exclusively. Why disparage it at every opportunity, if you're not "against the idea" of a 1/48 M+ or M0 Valk? From all you've ever posted on the matter, even though it's been said repeatedly that Yamato intends on producing more Valk toys in smaller scales... it would suggest you are. You'll get what you want. I think you know the rest by now. -Al

Here we go again. Why reserve all of your angst for the 1/48 Valks? Why not direct any of it at the 1/60 Monster or 1/60 Qrau? Both of those toys will be larger than any 1/48 Valk. After all, according to you, it's the size and not the scale that matters... So let's be consistent here. Let's get rid of the 1/60 Qrau and Monster, too. After all, how's a destroid with limited appeal the size of a coffee table and costing upwards of 400 dollars any more "practical" than a 1/48 VF-22? So why not campaign against these items? Yet everytime the 1/48 Valks are mentioned, we're treated to the same discourse. Or does it have something to do with a fear that somehow 1/48 Valks will cut into the possibility of *you* getting what *you* want? So, to be perfectly fair, and perfectly consistent... let's campaign against the 1/60 Qrau and Monster too, agreed? After all, these two products are more likely than any 1/48 in seeing the light of day at this point. Either way, I doubt Yamato will get rid of the 1/60 or 1/72 line. You'll get what you want. It's already in the plans and in the works. I don't see the need for you to campaign against us getting what we want. Once again, we don't piss on your parade, so please stop pissing on ours. -Al

Dum de dum... -Al

Well, I wouldn't say the graphics in SWG sucked... except that it was inconsistent at times. Most of my gripes are with the animations and poses of characters. They look... odd... and not very expressive or dynamic... or even very realistic at times. People just looked like lifeless zombies when standing around, and the combat animations were sorta hokey looking. The character models themselves were alright, except it's hard to get an avatar that looks really good unless you spend a long time customizing your facial features. Most characters look a little blah, and only a few look right to my picky eye only cause the creator probably spent a lot of time with it. The wildlife and terrain looks pretty good actually, I'll give ya that. Cities do for the most part feel dead, and it doesn't feel as if any of the NPC residents actually lead a purposeful existence or anything. -Al

Nuts, I had no idea FFXI had been running for so long. Thought it was a brand new game. Guess it's just new to the US/PC. Anyway, a friend from SWG seems to despise it, if not just for the control interface, which seems to be unconfigurable. I'm also surprised he says the graphics aren't very good... since all the screen shots I've seen show phenomenal and beautiful character models. -Al

Sati (I think that's her name) serves the same role in the movie as she does in the Matrix world. She has no purpose. She's *pointless*. I don't know if the brothers were trying to be creative and clever with this parallel or whatever. But pointless characters do not a good movie make. And all the new ones introduced in Revolutions were... pointless. And most of the ones introduced in Reloaded were, as well, in hindsight. There's a lot of philosophical mumbo jumbo in both movies, that lead you to believe that everything said actually *meant* something, and that you'd see these things played out and how they affect other parts of the plot. No dice. Not really. All the vague allusions, hidden meanings, veiled references, and psycho babble seem just to be a somewhat self-indulgent excercise, where the creators pat themselves on the back at how clever they are, then leave the audience wondering what they mean when they likely don't know themselves. If these references and ideas don't actually mesh into the plot and really make a *difference*, it's just that... a somewhat pretentious self-indulgent display. If the action that unfolds isn't built directly on these ideas, it's just a "look at me, I'm so clever" type of thing. In the end, Revolutions was a fine enough movie. But it didn't redeem Reloaded at all. In fact, it just completely ignored most of it and cheapened both Reloaded and the Trilogy as a whole. And it showed that the creators didn't have much more clue what all the things in revealed in Reloaded meant, than most of us who've thought about it at length did. -Al

Ya think humans, as smart as they are, would have known to detonate the nukes at the appropriate altitude? Seeing as that quote comes from umm... common human knowledge? =) Either way, if the machines could have figured out a way to defeat lightning, then they should have figured out a way to defeat the lightning guns the zionists were using against them. -Al

If they could survive a nuke, then the first thing they should be able to survive is the EMP blast. But hey. Shrug. -Al

Yeah, Christ references are pretty obvious and prominent in the end scene. When Neo finishes off Agent Smith and the scene cuts back to the face made of sentinels, the "voice" says, "It is done." This parallels Jesus's uttering, "It is finished," right before he dies, redeeming mankind in the book of John. And there's other parallels like Neo's pose and the darkness over the whole land during this cruxificion scene of sorts. -Al

Quick review. Good and entertaining enough of a movie. Good action, decent pacing, some great, great scenes... ones that I didn't expect to be good. Not so over the top like the second. A good thing. Solid enough. Still, really, really dissapointed in some respects. The third movie didn't address many of the important questions brought up in the second, and lots of characters introduced in Reloaded and a few introduced in Revolutions didn't really matter a hell of beans in hindsight. They were totally inconsequential, and didn't fit together in some master plan. Too many things left unaddressed and too much vagueness to clear up most of the "whoa" questions in the second that you wanted answered. They just didn't deal with them at all... which makes the second movie mostly frivolous. No astounding mind screws. I wanted at least a few of those. You know... like the first movie. -Al

MUAHA! YES! And I still don't understand why the VF-1's and new Valks are somehow mutually exclusive in some peoples' minds. -Al

It actually does help quite a bit. For some reason, it's a lot easier to control the curve with a blade that's curved already. I'd used a curved pair of scissors for my 1/60 decals and they worked nicely, especially for the round ones. Although those were supposedly nail scissors. But they looked pretty much the same. I thought I was daffy for using them. -Al

Anyone else think she looks a tad like Helen Hunt? -Al

Ironic how the best RT songs were sung by a "girly-man". Anyway, I did and still do love the RT BGM... prefer it to the Macross actually, as sacriledgious as that is. My favorite has to be the "Zentradi" theme... it's got an appropriately ominous mood that just works for me, especially when you see all the green pickle ships slowly fold out from hyperspace. Most of the other background music is pretty decent, as well. There are quite a few that I've liked for a long while. The original Macross SDF BGM just doesn't work for me in the same way. Maybe it's because I'm not used to the 80's style Japanese-trying-to-be-modern-western orchestral sorta music that's used in the series, and the intro theme took a *long* time to get used to. It's pretty corny, really. But eventually, by the end of the series, a few themes grew on you. The WA WA WA! WA WA WA! Zentradi attack theme still makes me shiver occasionally (not for the right reasons), but at least for me, SDF Macross music took awhile to adapt to. I'm stilly not crazy about it. Now the vocals... Reba West. Ugh. Enough said. Ijima's work for SDF is in a totally separate league, whether you actually like the songs or not (I do). But that's hardly news. -Al

For what it's worth... despite the ongoing myth, the MK23 *is* actually used currently by US Navy Specwar. Many in the teams find it a good weapon, if a bit large. It's also taken instead of the P226 in wet environments (where the P226 is known for corrosion problems). It's not quite as unused is it's commonly thought to be, despite initial reservations... and SEALs seem to be endearing themselves to it again. -Al