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One of the new series I’m currently following called “Xam’d” or “Xamdou”.
Unlike most anime series that eventually make it to the West, Xamdou is exclusively being distributed via the Playstation Network. Using an online gaming network in this manner is quite interesting, as it’s a very highly focused distribution concept that targets the niche consumer that’s more likely to appreciate anime. I’ve seen the first season (13 episodes) so far and despite the plot and setting that has shades of Eureka 7 in it, I’m finding Xamdou enjoyable and engrossing. I’m overdue for my anime write-ups so I’ll be covering Xamdou, Kannagi, Ga-Rei Zero and Kannagi.
Zign Creations has created an affordable facial expression recognition application for use with Animation Master, Blender and Poser. There have also been individual efforts to create import scripts for Max and Maya as well. At just $119 USD, even amateur animators can afford this:
You can specify virtual facial landmarks and don’t necessarily have to apply reference stickers to the actor’s face. While adjustment is still necessary once a captured facial animation is applied, this can be a tremendous time savings since it does all the rough-in animation work for you. But I think I’d find it hard to “act” in front of my webcam though.
Tags: animation master, blender, face recognition, facial animation, poser, zign creations MS Igloo 2 (no, I don’t know why they called it ‘Igloo’) is the second series of 3D computer animated short stories that take place in the original Gundam continuity. While MS Igloo 1 featured stores of the war from the Zeon perspective, MS Igloo 2 will focus on the Earth Federation’s perspective. Is MS Igloo 2, Episode 1, we find the Earth Federation forces in an all-out retreat in multiple theaters around the world as the Zeon forces launch their global invasion on multiple fronts. Anti-Mobile Suit Specialist Commander Lt. Ben Barberry is among the thousands of Federation soldiers in retreat when he’s handed a seemingly impossible mission: Bring down three Zaku Mobile Suits who’re threatening the retreating forces with nothing more than some missiles and the surviving members of his battle-weary infantry squad.
Finally got a chance to play the long awaited final expansion to the Dawn of War RTS franchise based on Games Workshop’s highly successful Warhammer 40,000 franchise.
Sadly, the gameplay is heavily recycled and despite the interesting set-up that explains why all the races have gathered in the Kaurava planetary system, there’s only the thinnest of plot threads connecting everything together. Quite frankly, the story seems to just fade into irrelevance amidst the string of battles. If I was in Relic’s/Iron Lore’s shoes, I think it would have been better to shore up the “more of the same” game play with a decent story to lay down the foundation for Dawn of War 2’s plot. If they couldn’t do anything new with the game play, they could have at least done something more with the story. The battles had been growing in scope. Dark Crusade introduced a continent-wide campaign and the now Soulstorm has scaled it up to an entire solar system. Unfortunately, this expanded scope is by and large, cosmetic. The amount of territories you have to capture is still the same as in Dark Crusade (31), except movement occurs on a solar system map instead of a planetary one. The expanded scope really has no significant effect on game play when it comes down to it. The highlight of Soulstorm is really the two new factions:  The Adepta Sororitas (Sisters of Battle). They are the warrior nuns of the Imperium and bring a fanatical religious zeal to the battlefield. Their duty is to root out corruption and Heresy (basically the Spanish Inquisition in space) even if it involves cleansing other forces of the Imperium; Space Marine and Imperial Guard included.
Though not genetically altered and in the same class of super-soldier as their Space Marine brethren, the fanaticism of the Sisters of Battle makes them no less deadly. Their belief in the God-Emperor allows them to utilize special battlefield abilities called “Acts of Faith”.  Dark Eldar - Basically, the Chaos-tainted and very sadistic version of the Eldar. They harvest a unique resource in the form of the souls of the war-fallen and their tactics rely mainly on speed and unit debuffing poisons and stuns as well as calling upon the favour of Chaos.
A lengthy bug list with some pretty significant bugs (E.g. trainers/cheats worked in multiplayer!) and the delay in bringing out the latest patch for the game didn’t help the lackluster ratings that Soulstorm earned from some critics. Despite the problems with Soulstorm, the fascinating and highly detailed units, excellent presentation, all backed by deep Warhammer lore are still able to hold the player’s interest. If you enjoyed Dawn of War, or more concisely Dark Crusade, it’s possible you may still get some enjoyment out of Soulstorm because of the two new factions— but judgin from the gripes I’ve read, even that’s not enough for some players. Ultimately, it’s just more of the same and it isn’t exactly the kind of blockbuster finale expansion one would expect that would cap off the series until Dawn of War 2 comes out in Spring 2009. Just make sure to get the latest patch! The “fixes” list is quite lengthy!
Tags: adepta sororitas, dark eldar, sisters of battle, soulstorm, space marine, warhammer |
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Blog of Nuke
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