EPTProgress on the novel has not gone anywhere. Ever since 0.1, I have written maybe 3 pages. I jumped ahead of the difficult spot and started editing a bit more, but depression has overthrown my ability to do any more writing. The Oath has failed. I will certainly never be able to finish the novel now, not unless massive progress happens soon. Nearly two entire months have been wasted, which means I would have to write 30 pages a day for half a month to catch up. Given how my mental state has been rapidly degrading, I don't see that happening.
I have, however, continued modeling and slowly progressing on the sins mod. I have both updated old models and made new ones.
All are sub 25k poly, most are sub 15k. Sins limit is 25k quads, so I have to be careful with some of the ships.
Anahn Longbow
![[image loading]](http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/042/4/a/Anahn_Longbow_2_0_A_by_IskatuMesk.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/042/2/1/Anahn_Longbow_2_0_B_by_IskatuMesk.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/042/3/3/Anahn_Longbow_2_0_C_by_IskatuMesk.jpg)
Undead Zeral`Motakk
![[image loading]](http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/046/b/1/UD_Zeral_2_0_by_IskatuMesk.jpg)
Zelconian Arcane-Class
![[image loading]](http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/047/c/f/Arcane_Class_V1_5_A_by_IskatuMesk.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/047/8/c/Arcane_Class_V1_5_B_by_IskatuMesk.jpg)
(^ Front is facing away)
Zelconian Assassin-class
I used the Eltreum from Gunbuster as inspiration for the main hulls.
![[image loading]](http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/059/4/0/Zelconian_Assassin_Class_A_by_IskatuMesk.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/059/0/e/Zelconian_Assassin_class_B_by_IskatuMesk.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/059/3/d/Zelconian_Assassin_Class_C_by_IskatuMesk.jpg)
Both the Assassin and the Arcane were significantly challenging to model.
I was working on a trailer for the sins mod I barely got to the quarter-way mark when I found the SC2 beta thread on TL with a grand total of 3 posts in it. Surely enough, the beta was on my battle.net account. I knew that at this point the mod was going to be forced onto the backburner because I am obligated to cover the game for CampaignCreations.org.
I hastily hacked together the tiny bit of video footage I had and threw it onto youtube as my first video trailer for the sins project.
Do note that all of my mods and such are totally private. It will not be released. I've had way too many people stealing shit from my starcraft projects without asking and dare not risk my TOA-canon sounds, graphics, and voice acting getting stolen.
The video is available in 1080p.
Obviously nothing is textured and I somehow manage to break the black Undead texture and now it looks like a total mess.
After sc2 started I immediately began researching the modding capabilities of the game and actually playing, recording all of my games and uploading the good ones.
http://www.youtube.com/mancatcher
I've gone through four separate pipelines for processing video before reaching the current pinnacle of my processing ability. Once I have recorded, I can get a 40-minute video youtube-ready in the same length of the video as I encode 1920x1200 at 25-30fps in high quality.
The problem is youtube. Uploading to youtube is god awful slow and worse yet 1/4 of my uploads randomly error out. In my last video series, part 2/3 has errored three times in a row. Retarded.
I'm currently in 1v1 Platinum, which is kind of surprising. My record is 2-2, and I play random. Both losses are PvP's. My mechanics are fairly weak but slowly improving as I play more. I'm not very interested in getting good at the game, but it comes with the job of playtesting and producing decent video footage.
Right now my interest for sc2 is quickly waning. I probably won't be buying the game when it's released because I can't animate, skin, or UV, so I can't mod it. And that would be the only reason I would purchase it, as I don't care for multiplayer nor Metzen's stories.
In Blizzcast 13 Browder has also stated they are considering ditching the pre-release of the editor in the beta, which tells me they don't really give a shit about what what we think about it and the game will probably have issues with it like wc3 did. It will probably be a dream for mappers, but as a modder, I'm already very disappointed by knowing mod-specific tools won't be available on release.
Not that it matters anyway since I can't produce custom graphics worthwhile for the game. Space combat mods don't work in a 2d engine (they need something like homeworld, even Sins is too limited for an actual space combat mod), I'd need to be able to model characters. Which I'll never be able to do.
I've been using modeling programs for nearly a decade and I have hardly made any progress in all those years. Now, as depression and anxiety attacks completely destroy me, I feel the complete and total limitations of my ability as a person. I am stressed between trying to improve my modeling, trying to get writing again, and producing good sc2 content for CC and TL.
I also tried voice acting again and realized I've lost every bit of my voice acting talent I once had. I guess that's what happens when you don't do it for a year and a half.
My search for Bulgarian/Eastern folk music has also slowed to a control due to my inability to focus. But I have located a lot of awesome soundtracks elsewhere, including Towards The Terra and Dark Void.
Overall I consider February a disaster. SC2 beta came at the worst possible time for me. But, on the other hand, it gives me something to do during a time where I am at my most exhausting and damaging mental state in months. It's all that's keeping me going right now. A week ago... well, let's just say I was very close to leaving this world.
My plans are right now to slowly scrape up momentum in modeling again, and then start putting more stuff into sins. My Windows 7 beta ran out and I had to install the full version, which is costing me a lot of time as I need to reinstall a ton of programs and such. But I was able to get my sc2 pipeline back in motion on day 1.
I've collected a huge amount of concept art and have decided to try modeling off of references a bit more than just off-handed inspiration like I did for a total of 3 ships so far. I hope that if I can figure out methods of copying high-level artistic design that I can overall improve my ability to model ships. It's not much, but it's all I can do in my life right now.
I leave you with this little image that HKS sent me earlier today. He decided to blot out the sun with mustaches. Note the minimap reaching a hardcoded limit and not displaying all of the units, and mustaches crawling up walls. This apparently annihilated his fps, and he's running a top of the line system.
![[image loading]](http://img532.imageshack.us/img532/8298/screenshot001vg.jpg)
/e I think I fixed the images...
