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Xzy's Journal
[ September 23rd, 2024 ]
Hello, Journal.
There is a journal now. Hi.
No idea how often I'll update it, but it is here now.
Things that happened since first publishing this website in 2021:
- Underwent a surgery.
- Built my own PC, and moved most of my computer productivity (and games) to Linux. (Still use Windows for art because Clip Studio Paint.)
- Opened my own merch shop.
- Started work on the prologue for my [ Teratoma ] comic. (Progress is slow because of health, but not rushing is helping with developing ideas.)
- Went to my first pride event. (I enjoyed it, saw some very good drag performances.)
- Turned 30.
- A couple of my paintings were displayed at a local art gallery.
The layout for the blog was built awhile ago, the HTML and CSS turned out to be a good template and was used to construct a few other pages for the site, such as my [ Spyro fanpage, ] the [ Misc Mods page, ] and the [ Guys page. ] The Guys page didn't change much though, the colors suit the guys very well.
Reading
Things I have read recently:
- [ Comic ] The Maxx by Sam Kieth : Very interesting comic with fun creature designs. Be aware though that there are some disturbing topics that get brought up in the comic's story.
- [ Comic ] The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel : This comic was started in the 80's and there are aspects that have not aged well, but it does illustrate some of the attitudes and discussions of the time. I think that is important even if it makes the comic a bit rough to read at times. Characters have discussions that are quite familiar to the discussions of today.
- [ Book ] Discworld by Terry Pratchett : So many people have started reading Discworld recently it seems. Anyways I have started the first book, haven't finished it yet. At the part with the dragons. Very good so far.
- [ Comic ] Sad Girl Space Lizard by Iggy Craig : Lovely comic. I enjoyed it.
- [ Book ] Miss Spider's Tea Party by David Kirk : I was thinking about the books I enjoyed when I was a kid and remembered the lovely illustrations of the Miss Spider books. I later purchased a copy of the one I remember most, Miss Spider's Tea Party, so I could admire the beautiful illustrations once again.
Games
Video games recently played:
- [ PC ] Abiotic Factor : Half-Life survival craft game. A very good Half-Life survival craft game. Been playing co-op with my bro, we have played through most of it so far. I am playing on Linux and had some graphical issues resulting in a very bright deep-fried effect. This was fixed by switching to Proton Experimental.
- [ PC ] Half-Life : Started playing this for the first time, haven't yet completed my playthough.
- [ PS1 ] Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver : I saw the trailer for this on the Gex 3 PS1 disc when I was a kid and found it to be quite haunting, but fascinating. I finally got around to playing it, sort of. Played up to the boss fight with Zephon and then took a break afterwords...and then forgot about it. Need to replay it, I enjoyed it.
- [ PS1 ] Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage : I usually play through at least one of the PS1 Spyro games each year. Finished recording a playthrough of Ripto's Rage so I have reference to use when building the pages for it for the [ Spyro fanpage. ]
- [ PC ] Biomutant : Started a playthrough awhile ago but took a break. Might start a new playthrough. It's interesting, reminds me of 2000's era games.
- [ PC ] Furcadia : Not really a game, but you can build games with the DreamEd tool. I have always been curious about Furcadia since I heard about it when I was a kid, but the social aspect of it made me nervous back then. I'm less shy to socializing now, so decided to try out Furcadia as I was curious about the dreamweaving. It's fun! I enjoy [ building little worlds ] to explore and interact with and seeing the worlds others have built.
- [ PC ] The Sims 2 : I wanted to see if I could get this game running with Lutris, and it works! Unfortunately SimPE doesn't seem to work, but that is okay. I am just glad I can play this game again.
- [ PC ] Black & White : When I was a little kid, every time my mother would take me shopping with her I would visit the PC games isle so I could look at the boxart for this game (this is also how I discovered the Creatures games.) The game looked so magical, but my mother thought the game looked too scary. We didn't have a PC powerful enough for most 3D games at the time so I wouldn't have been able to play it anyway. Now, I have acquired a copy of Black & White and finally can play the game that enchanted me many years ago.....It's fine, not amazing, not very magical, but okay. Mostly just play the skirmish mode with player-made maps. Game works great with Lutris, just be sure to install the patches.
- [ PC ] Guild Wars 2 : I took a very long break from this game, but have started playing again. Still the only MMO that I actually enjoy somewhat.
- [ PC ] Bugdom : I played this game so much during freetime in the school computer lab when I was a kid. Found a PC port of the game and it is so broken (part of the problem though might be running it with Lutris.) Still played it though until it bugged out to the point that I couldn't play any longer. I wish there were more games (and media in general) that focused on the perspective of arthropods.
- [ PC ] Moon : Started a playthrough of this awhile ago, took a break then forgot (this happens a lot, I start a game then forget about it.) Very interesting game, playing the PC port available on Steam.
Recently had to reinstall Linux on my gaming setup because an update broke it, couldn't load into the desktop at all. Thankfully I made a separate partition for my home folder, so managed to keep all my settings. I was having difficulty with the dependencies for PCem on the new setup, but found that the Windows version works well with Lutris. This gave me an idea and I setup PCem on my Steam Deck, it works! Now I can play Creatures and old Maxis games on the go. I might write a guide later but there is a guide I wrote for [ setting up PCem to play Creatures ] over at my Creatures Mods page. Just copy over your .IMG file to the Steam Deck and use identical settings for PCem. I will say though that I couldn't get Creatures 2 working due to a DirectX error, not sure if it's a Lutris issue or if I have a version of DirectX installed it doesn't like. Will try see if I can fix it later when I have the time.
Moving Pictures
Things that I have watched recently:
- [ Web ] Baman Piderman : I loved this internet cartoon when I was a teen. Haven't watched it in many years and decided to rewatch it, I still enjoy it. My bro and I still quote this silly cartoon.
- [ TV ] The Jim Henson Hour : TV show where Jim Henson Productions (now The Jim Henson Company) shows off the cool stuff they've made. The Dog City episode is my favorite.
- [ TV ] The Maxx : I was reading the comic and so watched the cartoon as well. Has very interesting visuals.
- [ Film ] Strange Frame : Watched this sometime in the early 2010s, it was streaming on Netflix. It popped into my mind again recently and I bought the DVD. I enjoy the visual style of this film.
Artwork
- This [ painting of a demon couple ] is probably my favorite painting so far this year. I enjoy how the rendering of their skin turned out.
- Updated [ Scab's 3D model, ] looks a lot better now. It now looks more like how I draw them. I need to create a 3D model for Tumor as well, will probably get started on that after I complete the prologue. Tumor's model will be a complicated project, I'm looking forward to it!
- Participated in Art Fight for the first time this year, it was very fun! I enjoyed making artwork of different characters. Did not expect my characters to receive as many attacks as they did, especially Abby. People seem to like Abby. I do definitely plan to participate in Art Fight again in 2025!
- Created a few elephant themed artworks lately. Elephants are neat. Got started on a lowpoly 3D model of an elephant critter a bit ago.
- Drew some doodles of [ Clyde and Moe, ] I should make more art of these two.
- Created a [ project page for my guys, ] the humanoids that appear frequently in my artwork.
- I have been updating the 3D models for the [ Plasticity ] characters, the last model that needs updating is Cyndi. Then I can get started on new character models.
- I really need to get more work done on the [ Mirumundi project webpage, ] hopefully soon. I want to write down some of the basic information for the Dragons and Jotunn.
Halloween time is approaching, which means cooler weather in my area hopefully soon. There are so many recipes I would like to try this year, such as a pie recipe I found with sliced squash and apple. Halloween goal this year is to actually complete a playthrough of Costume Quest. Need to read through Scary Godmother by Jill Thompson as well, I purchased a copy awhile ago but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. Will definitely watch the cartoon again as well.
That is all the words I have to share for now, see you later.
Bye-bye!
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