Whatd'ya know? Another Making of JF not posted. I'm going for a record of pages written and never published.

I am now writing a Making of JF page to pass time. I haven't been doing JF for a _very_ long time. Why? I just have found other things to do. Working on AltSci3D Manga Director has taken a lot of my time. Passing my classes has become a priority. But enough with the excuses. Why haven't I done Making of JF's? I started a couple times, but I never posted them. Am I afraid that my speech will be unwelcome? No. Am I concerned that I am wasting time speaking to those who won't hear me? I know that isn't wholly true since my stats say many have read what I write. Then why have I stopped? Because it's comfortable. I'm on spring break now. Friday and Saturday I worked on AltSci3D (Hack Mars mainly). Yesterday, Monday, I bought Neverwinter Nights because they released the Linux client. Right now, I'm in windows using RAD Video Tools and Virtual Dub to convert Bink video used for Neverwinter Nights cutscenes to avi so that I can view them whenever I want in Linux. You see, there isn't a Bink video player/converter for Linux yet (that I am aware of). It ought to be released soon, so they say. What I have to say about Neverwinter Nights is simply: friggin' AWESOME! I installed it for Linux and it worked fine. I don't recommend it for the faint of heart. I reinstalled it twice to get it to work. But if you're running Linux, you're probably not faint of heart. What I can say about how well it works: flawless. What I can say about the gameplay: the best. The story is unmatched anywhere. It's compelling and very cool. A few times, I felt bad killing people who didn't deserve it (I'm a pacifist, btw), but the game really allows for extrememly cool plot which gives the player ability to not kill those who do not attack you, like key elements in the plot who are only evil because they made a simple mistake and are willing to be rehabilitated. ^_^ Okay. I got to the end of chapter one and then I'm like: "Hooray, I beat the game, boy that was fun and long, too!" But then I wake up and there's a girl in front of me. I'm like: wtf?! It seems that after the first chapter is done, there's a second chapter! What fortune! No wonder it took Bioware five years and a year late. We all thought they were slacking, drinking beer, but this game rocks! It beats Grand Theft Auto 3 by factor of two and I liked GTA3 _a lot_.

One interesting thing is that I have finally seen the light when it comes to environment mapping. The environment mapping used is wonderful! Shiny weapons, shields, and armor actually reflects light realistically. For games that use realism and shiny stuff, this is a sweet effect for those with good video cards. What game would not use environment mapping if they could? A game soft graphics. A soft game in my definition means that every color must be colored nearly completely ambiently. Adding a very small bit of diffuse and specular is fine for automobiles and windows, but not on clothes, etc. Bright colors, flat textures, and anti-aliased lines make the graphics soft on the eyes. Especially beautiful people, solid architecture, and clear speech make a game very different from other games. For instance, NWN leans heavily towards soft graphics, but does not go all the way. Some of the seedy and poor speakers are both ugly and unclear. Even some of the more beautiful people are complex. This makes it far more realistic and I like it how it is. For example, the orcs are big, soft, and a bit ugly. Compared to the orcs in the film of Lord of the Rings, they are _very_ soft, cuddly even. GTA3, while it tries to be hard in content is more soft that NWN. The main hardness in GTA3 is the car damage. A soft game never does any damage. The Need For Speed (the first one), for example had absolutely no damage to car no matter what crazy stunt you did. Unrealistic? But all in the idea of gameplay. Really killing orcs is more unrealistic than crashing into a wall at 200 mph, but the laws of physics are more important to the observer than the laws of animal breeding, while the laws of gameplay come into consideration when one thinks about soft-hard relationships. If you didn't already notice, I try to make Javantea's Fate the softest I can. I don't use environment maps because I don't have the technology, but I still would not if I did have the tech. JF needs to be beautiful and easy for a person to grasp. You won't ever see pimples like the ones that breaking out on my face now because that is definately not soft. Unrealistic? Easy to read.