I'd like to mention one of greatest modern ways of painting ever evolved. Simple photoshop or painting programs with a mouse or tablet pc is all it takes, and with enough skill, you can paint in ways you've never thought possible.

Example here...

The process is simple huge brushes for general shapes and figures down to tiny brushes with immense color variation for the details. Anywhere, you'll find artists that do 30+ hour works with original resolutions of 6000+ pixels and vast details to artists that do 30 minute quick draws on 500 or so pixel templates.

You would wonder where people get the kind of time to do stuff like this and that.
Especially the two years of on and off work to do this amazing piece!

But it doesn't have to be all about high quality and long times. There's some very good examples I have from a particular artist: this, this, and this. Just goes to show you what amazing stuff can be down in 45 mins or so.

All of these, as you have noticed, are right off DeviantART -- and futuristic for that matter. There are several works of art all over the internet, and I suggest you find your own artists and favorites to really make use of your viewing pleasure. Perhaps some of you may even want to try it out yourself. I know I do... I've just never been very good at doing projects speedily.

Labels: digital, paint

Certainly, you would think, we would have some more active members by now. This is not the case though, so it seems we are at a dark age. There shall be no giving up though. I will continue to work on pages and possibly a new style for the front page just so it looks cooler.

I can't do all this alone though, so any help is appreciated (notably someone who can find and organize Metroid soundtracks for me. It just takes way to long to found out the names of all the places for songs and rename them).

I would like to point out a HUGE note for the visitors: it may look like there is no discussion here, but do not let that keep you from registering. Just think: the more new members we have that attempt discussion, the more of us veterans will discuss, resulting in even more new members. So anyone who has just run into this site now probably has more importance to TSC than even myself.

Labels: TSC, visitor

Yes, I can be talking about two things with this title, both Metroid related. But before I go on I must warn again:

*****MAJOR METROID PRIME 3 SPOILERZ!!!!******

Yeah, I beat the game. Final impressions? Well I'll be brief since I don't think you really care much being as FMzd's making the 2nd review on the forums. I thought the game was terribly disappointing, although STILL far better than Hunters. Here's a list of Pros and Cons:

Pros:
-Graphics are AMAZING...(1)
-Sound and Music are PERFECT!
-The Hunter cut scenes (Gandrayda's was my personal favorite, as it caught me off guard)
-Omega Ridley
-Found out where all the Phazon came from...(2)
-Controls are PERFECT...(3)

Cons:
-(1)...Until you reach the Pirate Homeworld, there they decided to make everything red, black, and dark as crap. Instead of putting bloom lighting everywhere, they decided to make only the RED Bloom, making it even HARDER to see where you're going
-Half of your upgrades are gone, including Powerbombs and Super Missiles (You know, the ones that can HOME IN)
-The Final "Suit" you get are freaking SHOULDER PADS!!
-Game's linear as crap, exploration is completely removed from the game. Instead of looking around, you walk in a direct path until you reach a dead end telling you to go back right where you were to begin with
-Admiral Dane
-(2)...Although everything else in the story still leaves you saying: "WHERE THE CRAP DID THIS COME FROM?!" And it also adds MORE questions hanging. Questions like, how did destroying an Aurora Unit that obviously wasn't at Planet Phaaze to begin with, automatically create the entire Implosion and disintegration of all Phazon? And where the hell did Samus's PED suit go?!
-Stackable Beams are pointless when you get more GRAPPLE BEAM upgrades than your REGULAR Beam...
-(3)...Except for "pumping" I was basically 1 wrist strap away from breaking my HD Widescreen LCD TV, after attempting to push about 27 times.
-All bosses minus Omega Ridley, and the Hunters sucked. We had a Spazzy Robot, an Omega AND and Elite Pirate wannabe, something that looked like it was taken from Twilight Princess, and a Metroid Hatcher which I guess is Tallon IV's version of the Metroid Queen...All of which weren't very fun, and took WAAAY too long to kill. At least in Veteran and Hyper Modes.
-100% Ending shows Sylux's ship...which I hope to GOD doesn't mean Metroid Prime Hunters II

****END MASSIVE METROID PRIME 3 SPOILERS!!!!******

Yeah, that's my impression on that. Go ahead, grab your flaming pitchforks and spears. I didn't like the game. Kill me.
However, the main reason I chose this title was because of recent Metroid Dread talk going around. Nothing has been confirmed at all, but it's discussion worthy. According to FMzd, what I'm about to tell you are some minor spoilers for something in MP3, if it was just this news alone I wouldn't be posting it, but just bear with me. As some of us know, Near the end of MP3, one of the scans says something like: "Project Dread is nearing the final stages of completion." Okay, that's probably a tease, but take a look at this:
Metroid Dread Talk?!?!?!
There's two ways to interpret this. Either A: Metroid Dread is in the works B: The game possibility I mentioned in the MP3 Spoilers section is in the works C: Don't interpret it as anything more than false hype. I can't be the judge of it, but that's not my job to discuss, that's yours!

I decided to do a long term review of Metroid Prime 3 as I play through it a second time on hyper mode difficulty, search for all the items, and all the scans, without the use of the cheap trick some of you may know about. Call me a show off, but I just want to see what I can do. I will be including all sorts of plot, gameplay, and gaming elements. Just so we're clear, there will be spoilers as this is a review, so I suggest playing the game before reading. Let's get this going!

This game starts off big, and that is probably an understatement. First thing I thought when starting out was how far this series has come in the sci-fi genre than the black-backgrounded arcade environments of Metroid 1. The details make for an extremely interactive adventure. You wake up from a "nap" in your ship and you are ready to go, on orders of the Galactic Federation. Meanwhile, in some unknown location of the galaxy, Dark Samus makes her appearance. Blasting out of a pod in an electrical storm, she is ready to wreck havoc. From the moment you take control of Samus, you know this game will be packed with much more user interfaces and interaction than any of the previous Metroids. Despite how unnecessary the communication console and the thrusters are the rest of the game, I can easily understand their need to introduce the controls. I even read about some easter eggs where you type a certain string into the communications and you can hear some of the comments of the Japanese leaders of Nintendo.

You step off your ship in the all-to-familiar fashion and your eager to get to the next mission. Now you are immersed in the daily routines of a GF Capital Ship Olympia. I was surprised at the atmosphere; so much activity, people, and business going on. You feel almost shot down when told by the workers that they are too busy to talk. Controls aren't the only thing new around here. Just for kicks, there's also a target practice where you shoot a small device into the air consecutively; maybe earn a few tokens. I was only able to get 41; I'm sure several others have gotten 100 or more, but I don't have that much time.

Continuing onward, you have your introductions to the other bounty hunters, the captain of Olympia, and the AU on the ship. Going through all this includes the usual beginner's practice, various logs and information essential to the plot, and more atmosphere of the complex federation (and this is the outer edge the federation too). Let's not forget that bio-scan, it's genius the way they confirm you with your DNA and the other test that you know will change relatively soon. (corruption!!) I'll spare the details of the mission: basically free other AUs of a virus and see what the Space Pirates are up to. As if on cue, there is a Space Pirate attack the fleet. I don't think they could have done any better with this. You run down the hallway and you are met with an earthquake shock wave of an adjacent blast as the lights dim and spark eject from running conduits. Death litters the arena as corridors get shot open and pirates board Olympia for attack. They can't stop you though, but in hyper difficulty, you may actually need to take cover sometimes. You can even watch the Fed troopers and other hunters make waste of the pirates themselves a few times. In the end, you find yourself faced with a Berserker Lord. This elite pirate mock-up may give you a little more trouble than the parasite queen did. Off to Noria we go, those planetary defenses need saving... and not for the reasons the commander thinks.

The intro is just that; an intro. The events and situations of action were quite impressive and leave you wanting more. I'm guessing from here on out, it'll get a lot harder on this difficulty. I hope I don't die too many times, but in another way, I hope I do, because I was extremely disappointed at how easy the game and its bosses were the last time. Well, off to studies.

Labels: Metroid Prime 3, review

FINAL LAWSUIT: GENESIS - EPISODE #5

Shin Lunaar here. This episode is the last of the 3-part classic RPGesque battle sequence. Amazing defeat, no? Man, someone shoot me. Anyways, slay you all later! ^__^;

Have a few minutes every day and not sure what to do with them? Or maybe you just want to find some game you can build up and look back on it later with pride. I recommend OGame. OGame is a text-based strategy where you take your planets (up to 9) and build up resources for fleets, defense, and structures to up your power and impact on the universe. If you are mighty enough with a good enough strategy, you can strike fear into those and squish their fleets with yours. You always have to watch out for the one more powerful than you.

It might seem boring, being text-based and all, but what makes it most fun is it really doesn't require more than half your attention, so you can do various things with it while working on other things. And, it's all in your browser. You might even meet some people (say, me heh). Only downside, at least for those like me, is you have to minimally attend to it at least 2-3 times a day or more depending on how much defense and resources you have; reason being people like to raid.

Try it out (for at least a month for it to get fun) in Universe 26, and maybe I can hook you up with my alliance and give you some tips. Check it out

Labels: browser, game, text

This past Thursday I had the opportunity to go to the most recent tour of my favorite band, revolving around their album which released this spring. Rush's Snakes and Arrows tour was definitely worth missing band practice for: the music rocked, I got a cool (albeit expensive) shirt, the lighting was awesome, I got to sing along with my favorite Rush songs, see a live solo by one of the best drummers in the world, and temporarily experience hearing loss all in one night.

For those who don't know, Rush is a progressive rock band that has been around for about 33 years now. A trio from Canada, each member is one of the best in the world at what they do. Their amazing guitar riffs, sci-fi/philosophically tinged lyrics, and very clean and well-played performances have won me over again and again, making them pretty much my favorite rock band ever. If you're interested in hearing some of their music, I'd advise checking out their "Spirit of Radio" album - a greatest hits CD of sorts. Not a bad song on there.

Basically, though, this concert was one of the best times I've ever had, and I'd do it again in an instant.

Labels: concert, music, rock, rush

*yaaaaaaaawns* Arrrghy blooghy.

Shin Lunaar here. Back from OC, MD. Woof. Man did I have fun there. And I would explain more but I have daily vid journals for you! :D Unfortunately my digi cam is missing and I need that damn tape. O__O

So anywho. Back to point on task. Final Lawsuit's update for today! Yaaaaay!

FINAL LAWSUIT: GENESIS - EPISODE #4

Halrighty. I remember thinking when I first made episodes #3-5 that I was a genius for the idea that they would enter a random combat with text at the bottom. I was wrong. Everything was an absolute bitch to get in order and look "right" for the style. Looking at them now, I definitely wouldn't have gone in that direction if I were starting up FL nowadays. Ah well. They were still comedic in a sense. Will I do another RPGesque joke battle in the future? Maybe. Just sure as hell not like that.

Peash out mah p33ps and p00ps.

No...there's still no Nintendo news all that worthy of actually posting, besides the Brawl updates, but I'm sure you all look at those already on SmashBros.com.

However, today on my 19th birthday, I received my copy of Metroid Prime 3. I'm kinda confused as to why I got it anyway, being as I'm a Jehovah's Witness and don't even celebrate birthdays. *Shrugs* Anyway, I've been playing it for a while, and I honestly have to say, I'm not all that impressed with it at all so far, kill me. It seems every issue or worry I've had about the game on the forums is coming true. Linear quality, too shooter-esque, easy, etc. And the music's good, although it seems far more epic...like Halo's music. But the graphics...dear GOD. I don't care what the hell ANYONE says, Super Mario Galaxy doesn't have CRAP on this game. So much detail...design, how the hell is this a Wii GAME?!

I know you personally don't care about my opinion, but hopefully my opinion of the game will change, I'll probably make another update once I get further into the game...if you care.