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New display name
Posted 5 months agoJust saw that they added the option for display names that differ from your account name. Figured I'd make use of that since Baxter is my primary 'sona now.
Refsheet
Posted 4 years agoI made an account on Refsheet and made profiles for all my characters. Don't know if they'll ever be anything more than brain gremlins doing stuff in my head, but I like them.
https://refsheet.net/JetBaxter
https://refsheet.net/JetBaxter
Not gonna bother with a new account, but...
Posted 4 years agoJust wanted to post a little thing to mention that while I'm staying with this account, Tansunn isn't really representative of who I am any more.
My current fursona is a flying fox named Baxter.
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/37876288/
My reasoning behind the change is that I've developed really bad anxiety and depression that I didn't have when I came up with Tansunn. Instead of changing him so that he had them as well, I decided to make a new character instead. That's also part of the reason for going with a bat, since I wanted something with some kind of defense mechanism, and flying away from whatever's making me anxious sounded a lot nicer than curling up and being stuck with it until it went away.
So now Tansunn's become his own character, which frees him from whatever restraints there may have been being tied to me. Not sure if anything will come of that, but it's interesting to think about.
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/40513930/
I've also come up with two other characters to go with them. Danny's a skunk with a condition that prevents him from smiling without looking creepy. He's also a major prude.
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/40147397/
Charlotte's a magpie with a fondness for physics and construction toys, like dominos, Lego, marble runs, etc.
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/40325874/
That's it. Just thought I should make an update, I guess.
My current fursona is a flying fox named Baxter.
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/37876288/
My reasoning behind the change is that I've developed really bad anxiety and depression that I didn't have when I came up with Tansunn. Instead of changing him so that he had them as well, I decided to make a new character instead. That's also part of the reason for going with a bat, since I wanted something with some kind of defense mechanism, and flying away from whatever's making me anxious sounded a lot nicer than curling up and being stuck with it until it went away.
So now Tansunn's become his own character, which frees him from whatever restraints there may have been being tied to me. Not sure if anything will come of that, but it's interesting to think about.
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/40513930/
I've also come up with two other characters to go with them. Danny's a skunk with a condition that prevents him from smiling without looking creepy. He's also a major prude.
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/40147397/
Charlotte's a magpie with a fondness for physics and construction toys, like dominos, Lego, marble runs, etc.
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/40325874/
That's it. Just thought I should make an update, I guess.
mildly freaking out
Posted 5 years agoTook a look at my gallery. I honestly don't remember making anything I uploaded after the Daytona USA music box arrangement (aside from the most recent, of course).
I mean, I know I made them, I still have the project files, I just don't remember anything about the creation process.
I mean, I know I made them, I still have the project files, I just don't remember anything about the creation process.
Where have I been?
Posted 5 years agoSo... it's been 8 years since I posted anything here. Figured I'd explain where I've been. Basically, after I left school, my anxiety and depression skyrocketed.
I mentioned the anti-furry sentiment I encountered in a previous journal, so there was that. I'd lurk around, but not really interact with the furry community after that.
I got jobs. First job I got was a call center, doing tech support for cell phones. That made me so anxious that it made me physically sick for several days and I ended up being let go.
Second job I got was a call center doing support for credit card transactions. I was let go from that because of my call quality not being high enough.
That leads to my current job at Walmart. Nothing amazing, but it pays the bills, and I've been there for five years so I guess I'm doing something right.
That leads to the depression. It feels like my whole life has been a waste.
When I was a kid, I loved video games. I wanted to make them when I grew up. I took a multimedia class after high school where I learned some graphic design and web programming. It wasn't enough. All the coding I learned was for making web sites, so that didn't help much with games, and knowing how to use a tool is not the same as knowing how to make art. My mom knew someone whose company needed a web site built, but I couldn't do it because they needed encryption and security, and I'd never done any of that, nor did I know how to figure it out. I didn't know what else to do, and I needed a job so I joined the army. I used to say that was the most miserable four years of my life, but the subsequent anxiety and depression have put that into question.
At least I got the G.I. Bill so I could go back to school, right? So I wanted to take a computer repair course because that's what I had done in the army, but it was full and I needed to be in school to get the G.I. Bill coming in, so I signed up for a programming class. If I couldn't do the graphic stuff for games, maybe I could do the programming. Well, it turns out I hate programming.
So then I finally got into that computer repair class. Thought it went well. Couldn't get a relevant job afterward. That's when I learned "military service looks good on a resume" is a load of bullshit, because all I got hired by afterward were call centers and Walmart.
So here I am now. Anxiety keeps me from doing stuff. Depression keeps me from wanting to do stuff.
I recently had a mondo nostalgia hit from when I was more active in the furry community, when I was happier, when I had lots of friends, even if they were just online. I figured I'd come back, try being a little more active, see if it helps, see if maybe I can reconnect with some old friends. I notice that I've changed significantly, though. Tansunn as a character doesn't really represent me any more. Now he's his own thing. I created a new fursona that's more representative of me. Not sure if I'll make a new account for him, but we'll see.
Guess that leaves one last thing to address. The latest track I uploaded. I struggled hard with that one. I don't know what it was, but something in there kept tripping me up when I tried working on it. I had to restart work on that track several times and still couldn't figure out how to get past that part that kept tripping me up. Eventually, I decided I'd put it aside for a bit, work on some other stuff, and come back to it. Got stuck again, so I put it aside. Now, finally, I managed to get past it. Maybe it was help from the music classes I've been taking online, maybe it was experience from other things I've been working on, maybe it was just finding the right sound in some of the new tools I'd gotten, but I finally got it.
But the worst part is that I remained silent through all of that, for eight years. Maybe it was guilt at taking so long with it, maybe it was shame at getting stuck when I'd never really had issues before, maybe it was anxiety at how the donor might react having to wait so long compared to all the other tracks I'd done. I can't pinpoint a reason, but I know I shouldn't have stayed silent all that time and I'm truly sorry.
So yeah... My mind is a swirling mess of negativity. No idea if I'll be more active or if I'll continue to just lurk, but I'm still here.
I mentioned the anti-furry sentiment I encountered in a previous journal, so there was that. I'd lurk around, but not really interact with the furry community after that.
I got jobs. First job I got was a call center, doing tech support for cell phones. That made me so anxious that it made me physically sick for several days and I ended up being let go.
Second job I got was a call center doing support for credit card transactions. I was let go from that because of my call quality not being high enough.
That leads to my current job at Walmart. Nothing amazing, but it pays the bills, and I've been there for five years so I guess I'm doing something right.
That leads to the depression. It feels like my whole life has been a waste.
When I was a kid, I loved video games. I wanted to make them when I grew up. I took a multimedia class after high school where I learned some graphic design and web programming. It wasn't enough. All the coding I learned was for making web sites, so that didn't help much with games, and knowing how to use a tool is not the same as knowing how to make art. My mom knew someone whose company needed a web site built, but I couldn't do it because they needed encryption and security, and I'd never done any of that, nor did I know how to figure it out. I didn't know what else to do, and I needed a job so I joined the army. I used to say that was the most miserable four years of my life, but the subsequent anxiety and depression have put that into question.
At least I got the G.I. Bill so I could go back to school, right? So I wanted to take a computer repair course because that's what I had done in the army, but it was full and I needed to be in school to get the G.I. Bill coming in, so I signed up for a programming class. If I couldn't do the graphic stuff for games, maybe I could do the programming. Well, it turns out I hate programming.
So then I finally got into that computer repair class. Thought it went well. Couldn't get a relevant job afterward. That's when I learned "military service looks good on a resume" is a load of bullshit, because all I got hired by afterward were call centers and Walmart.
So here I am now. Anxiety keeps me from doing stuff. Depression keeps me from wanting to do stuff.
I recently had a mondo nostalgia hit from when I was more active in the furry community, when I was happier, when I had lots of friends, even if they were just online. I figured I'd come back, try being a little more active, see if it helps, see if maybe I can reconnect with some old friends. I notice that I've changed significantly, though. Tansunn as a character doesn't really represent me any more. Now he's his own thing. I created a new fursona that's more representative of me. Not sure if I'll make a new account for him, but we'll see.
Guess that leaves one last thing to address. The latest track I uploaded. I struggled hard with that one. I don't know what it was, but something in there kept tripping me up when I tried working on it. I had to restart work on that track several times and still couldn't figure out how to get past that part that kept tripping me up. Eventually, I decided I'd put it aside for a bit, work on some other stuff, and come back to it. Got stuck again, so I put it aside. Now, finally, I managed to get past it. Maybe it was help from the music classes I've been taking online, maybe it was experience from other things I've been working on, maybe it was just finding the right sound in some of the new tools I'd gotten, but I finally got it.
But the worst part is that I remained silent through all of that, for eight years. Maybe it was guilt at taking so long with it, maybe it was shame at getting stuck when I'd never really had issues before, maybe it was anxiety at how the donor might react having to wait so long compared to all the other tracks I'd done. I can't pinpoint a reason, but I know I shouldn't have stayed silent all that time and I'm truly sorry.
So yeah... My mind is a swirling mess of negativity. No idea if I'll be more active or if I'll continue to just lurk, but I'm still here.
Musical DFDs open again!
Posted 13 years agoI'm looking for work, but it just hasn't been working out. Since I've had some success with doing these in the past, I figured I might as well open up again until I can get a proper job.
If you're interested, please send me a note with the song you'd like and how much you're able to donate. Once I've confirmed it, I'll give you my PayPal address and start work once I've received the donation. The breakdown is the same as last time:
Less than $3 - music box
$3 to $9.99 - chiptune
$10 to $19.99 - arrangement
$20 and up - multi-song medley
I'm also getting into original compositions. $15 or more will get you a custom theme at least two minutes long. Just give me a basic description for a character or scene and I will do my best to make a theme to fit what you describe.
Feel free to ask any questions in the comments below, and thanks to everyone who's able to donate!
If you're interested, please send me a note with the song you'd like and how much you're able to donate. Once I've confirmed it, I'll give you my PayPal address and start work once I've received the donation. The breakdown is the same as last time:
Less than $3 - music box
$3 to $9.99 - chiptune
$10 to $19.99 - arrangement
$20 and up - multi-song medley
I'm also getting into original compositions. $15 or more will get you a custom theme at least two minutes long. Just give me a basic description for a character or scene and I will do my best to make a theme to fit what you describe.
Feel free to ask any questions in the comments below, and thanks to everyone who's able to donate!
Finally an update, with a bit of a confession
Posted 13 years agoOk, so here's what's been happening since my last update.
When I was going to school, I was staying with my great aunt. After school, I looked for work in that area, but nothing worked out. Since I didn't have any income, I couldn't pay rent, so I had to move out, and now I'm back with my parents and sisters again. I'm still looking for work, and while I've gotten a few minor gigs throwing music together, nothing's really solid and I still don't really have money coming in.
So that's part of why I've been so scarce around here. The other part is because I've been distancing myself from the furry community. It mainly started when I volunteered to do some arrangements for a fundraiser and there was a major anti-furry attitude going around with the guys running the thing. As far as I'm concerned music beats furries, so I dropped the Tansunn moniker and created a new online identity for myself separate from the furry community so I wouldn't have to worry about something like that happening again. I've also had my own misgivings about the furry community, so it just seemed like the perfect time to break away. I don't have anything against furries, and I don't want anyone to feel like they're to blame because they're not. It just doesn't interest me as much as it used to, and I'd like to avoid as much anti-furry sentiment as I can. I haven't completely separated from the furry community, I've just become more of a passive observer rather than an active member.
Having said that, I'm tossing around the idea of opening music donations again. I'm not sure if I should, though, because it took so long to finish the last few and I don't want people to have to wait that long again. I guess I'll just wait for the feedback to come in and see what people think...
When I was going to school, I was staying with my great aunt. After school, I looked for work in that area, but nothing worked out. Since I didn't have any income, I couldn't pay rent, so I had to move out, and now I'm back with my parents and sisters again. I'm still looking for work, and while I've gotten a few minor gigs throwing music together, nothing's really solid and I still don't really have money coming in.
So that's part of why I've been so scarce around here. The other part is because I've been distancing myself from the furry community. It mainly started when I volunteered to do some arrangements for a fundraiser and there was a major anti-furry attitude going around with the guys running the thing. As far as I'm concerned music beats furries, so I dropped the Tansunn moniker and created a new online identity for myself separate from the furry community so I wouldn't have to worry about something like that happening again. I've also had my own misgivings about the furry community, so it just seemed like the perfect time to break away. I don't have anything against furries, and I don't want anyone to feel like they're to blame because they're not. It just doesn't interest me as much as it used to, and I'd like to avoid as much anti-furry sentiment as I can. I haven't completely separated from the furry community, I've just become more of a passive observer rather than an active member.
Having said that, I'm tossing around the idea of opening music donations again. I'm not sure if I should, though, because it took so long to finish the last few and I don't want people to have to wait that long again. I guess I'll just wait for the feedback to come in and see what people think...
An update? What?
Posted 13 years agoHoly crap, yes, it's really happening.
I finished my classes so now I have a lot more time to work on these. Maybe I'll open up for more once the remaining queue is finished, but those take priority since it's been so long.
Thanks to everyone for their patience and understanding.
I finished my classes so now I have a lot more time to work on these. Maybe I'll open up for more once the remaining queue is finished, but those take priority since it's been so long.
Thanks to everyone for their patience and understanding.
Update + meme thing
Posted 13 years agoHoly crap, school has been keeping me busy. Some cool stuff might come out of it, though. One of the instructors is quite impressed with my works, and he has a lot of contacts, so if I can keep doing good work, he might be able to get me a job making doing audio work. He recently started having me make some short original pieces to put together for a demo reel, and he had me put some music to a video. This is all in addition to my normal classwork, so it's been hard finding time to work on personal projects.
Anyway, I need to relax, and I saw this thing on my girlfriend's page, so I figure I might as well fill it out too.
1. How tall are you?
6'1" (1.85m)
2. Natural hair color?
Brown
3. What about eye color?
Kind of a green-gray
4. What orientation are you?
1/4 vertical, 1/4 horizontal, 1/2 diagonal since I tend to lean forward to get a better view of the screen
5. What do you do in your spare time?
Fill these things out, chat with friends, video games, computer music
6. What's your job?
Unemployed, currently in school
7. What's one thing you like about yourself?
My ear for music
8. Alright, now what about something you dislike about yourself?
I'm shy and introverted
9. What's some things your friends noticed about you when they first met you?
My music sounds good
10. Of what faith/religion are you(if any at all?)
I like Wicca, but I tend to be more atheist than anything. If atheistic Wicca is a thing, let's go with that.
11. Do you drink?
On occasion. Apparently the pills I'm taking intensify the effect of alcohol, so I tend to drink less now. Not that I drank much to begin with, because having a roommate get so drunk that he puked in my shirt drawer kinda turned me off to the idea of getting smashed.
12. Do you smoke?
Never.
13. What are your fears?
Fish and my own shortcomings.
14. What are your dreams/goals?
It would be amazing if I could get some of my arrangements in a video game, especially something big like Smash Bros. or something like what Sonic Generations did.
15. Ever had any crushes/ex's in the past/present?
Yep
16. Who's your best bud?
Good question
17. Alright, you got the cravin' for munchies, what'cha reachin' for?
Whatever's available. Chips, candy, trail mix, crackers, fruit, beef jerky, ice cream, doesn't matter.
18. Favorite drink?
Alcoholic - raspberry margarita. Non-alcoholic - Mt. Dew Baja Blast.
19. Favorite color?
Dark shades of blue and purple.
20. If you had any super power, what would it be?
Rewind time at will so I could undo my mistakes and keep trying until I get it right
21. Favorite movie?
I hate this question.
22. Least favorite food?
I don't know, I tend to avoid eating things I don't like. Although there was this time when I ordered some mac & cheese at a restaurant and they were out, so they substituted it with a chicken pasta dish. It had crumbled Chicken in a Biskit on top, and once I had finished all the solid stuff there was about 1/4 inch of grease in the bottom of the bowl. That was pretty damn gross.
23. Quick! You have only one meal left before you die!!! What is it?
Burrito with shredded pork and extra cheese.
24. What do you drive/wish you drove?
I take the bus. I wish I drove a Flammie (from Secret of Mana).
25. Most disliked bug?
Mosquitoes
26. Most hated pet peeves?
People who download MIDI files, run them through some crummy sound bank or GXSCC, then upload it publicly. Bonus hatred points if they don't even credit the original sequencer.
Also, people who think it's cool to type like an idiot.
27. Dislike in life?
That's not even a full sentence.
28. Most annoying?
I'm missing a noun here.
29. Most disliked TV show?
Pretty much all of them.
Anyway, I need to relax, and I saw this thing on my girlfriend's page, so I figure I might as well fill it out too.
1. How tall are you?
6'1" (1.85m)
2. Natural hair color?
Brown
3. What about eye color?
Kind of a green-gray
4. What orientation are you?
1/4 vertical, 1/4 horizontal, 1/2 diagonal since I tend to lean forward to get a better view of the screen
5. What do you do in your spare time?
Fill these things out, chat with friends, video games, computer music
6. What's your job?
Unemployed, currently in school
7. What's one thing you like about yourself?
My ear for music
8. Alright, now what about something you dislike about yourself?
I'm shy and introverted
9. What's some things your friends noticed about you when they first met you?
My music sounds good
10. Of what faith/religion are you(if any at all?)
I like Wicca, but I tend to be more atheist than anything. If atheistic Wicca is a thing, let's go with that.
11. Do you drink?
On occasion. Apparently the pills I'm taking intensify the effect of alcohol, so I tend to drink less now. Not that I drank much to begin with, because having a roommate get so drunk that he puked in my shirt drawer kinda turned me off to the idea of getting smashed.
12. Do you smoke?
Never.
13. What are your fears?
Fish and my own shortcomings.
14. What are your dreams/goals?
It would be amazing if I could get some of my arrangements in a video game, especially something big like Smash Bros. or something like what Sonic Generations did.
15. Ever had any crushes/ex's in the past/present?
Yep
16. Who's your best bud?
Good question
17. Alright, you got the cravin' for munchies, what'cha reachin' for?
Whatever's available. Chips, candy, trail mix, crackers, fruit, beef jerky, ice cream, doesn't matter.
18. Favorite drink?
Alcoholic - raspberry margarita. Non-alcoholic - Mt. Dew Baja Blast.
19. Favorite color?
Dark shades of blue and purple.
20. If you had any super power, what would it be?
Rewind time at will so I could undo my mistakes and keep trying until I get it right
21. Favorite movie?
I hate this question.
22. Least favorite food?
I don't know, I tend to avoid eating things I don't like. Although there was this time when I ordered some mac & cheese at a restaurant and they were out, so they substituted it with a chicken pasta dish. It had crumbled Chicken in a Biskit on top, and once I had finished all the solid stuff there was about 1/4 inch of grease in the bottom of the bowl. That was pretty damn gross.
23. Quick! You have only one meal left before you die!!! What is it?
Burrito with shredded pork and extra cheese.
24. What do you drive/wish you drove?
I take the bus. I wish I drove a Flammie (from Secret of Mana).
25. Most disliked bug?
Mosquitoes
26. Most hated pet peeves?
People who download MIDI files, run them through some crummy sound bank or GXSCC, then upload it publicly. Bonus hatred points if they don't even credit the original sequencer.
Also, people who think it's cool to type like an idiot.
27. Dislike in life?
That's not even a full sentence.
28. Most annoying?
I'm missing a noun here.
29. Most disliked TV show?
Pretty much all of them.
My cell phone died
Posted 13 years agoI was able to fix it by doing a factory reset, but I lost all of my contacts in the process. If I ever had your phone number and you want to make sure I still have it, feel free to message me.
Update
Posted 13 years agoI apologize to those who are still waiting for music. I haven't forgotten, I've just been feeling really burnt out lately and haven't had the inspiration to work on anything outside of school. The holiday break is coming up, though, and although I'll be gone and won't have my computer with me, that should help me recharge for when I come back and can start working on things again.
Donations closed
Posted 14 years agoI'm getting kind of burnt out working on music for others, so I'm going to close donations for a bit. I'll finish up the queue I have now, but after that I'm going to start working on stuff for myself.
Once again, thanks to everybody who donated. It really helped me out.
Remaining queue:
anonedge - Blue Dragon, Waterside [chiptune] - payment received
sonichomeboy - Gunstar Heroes, Stage 5 - payment received
ikillyou - Castlevania, Vampire Killer - payment received
Finished tracks:
moomanibe - Final Fantasy Tactics, Antipyretic - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6479572
anonedge - Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Icarus Main Theme - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6522047/
jvago - Homestuck, Upward Movement [chiptune] - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6560099/
sonichomeboy - Gunstar Heroes, Stage 1 - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6608081/
anonedge - Crossfire [chiptune] - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6677015/
captainbozo - Legacy of the Wizard, Xemn's Theme - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6721376/
baebunny - Royksopp, Remind Me - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6766012/
forest-wolf - Safri Duo, Rise - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6892484/
Once again, thanks to everybody who donated. It really helped me out.
Remaining queue:
anonedge - Blue Dragon, Waterside [chiptune] - payment received
sonichomeboy - Gunstar Heroes, Stage 5 - payment received
ikillyou - Castlevania, Vampire Killer - payment receivedFinished tracks:
moomanibe - Final Fantasy Tactics, Antipyretic - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6479572 anonedge - Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Icarus Main Theme - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6522047/
jvago - Homestuck, Upward Movement [chiptune] - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6560099/ sonichomeboy - Gunstar Heroes, Stage 1 - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6608081/ anonedge - Crossfire [chiptune] - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6677015/
captainbozo - Legacy of the Wizard, Xemn's Theme - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6721376/
baebunny - Royksopp, Remind Me - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6766012/
forest-wolf - Safri Duo, Rise - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6892484/Crisis averted!
Posted 14 years agoGood news, everyone. I got paid today so I'm financially safe for now.
The bad news is I'm still two months behind on rent, but I'm staying with my aunt and she's lenient with payments, so I'm safe with that for now.
Music is going fairly slowly since school is keeping me so busy, but I'm still willing to take donations and add people to the queue. Once again, here's the breakdown:
Less than $3 - I will make a music box arrangement of the song of your choice
Examples: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5813590/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5801047/
$3 to $9.99 - I will make a chiptune arrangement of the song of your choice
Examples: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5688421/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4648071/
$10 to $19.99 - I will make a simple arrangement of the song of your choice in a style I think works for the song
Examples: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5037871/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3353268/
$20 and up - I will make a medley of songs from the game of your choice
Examples: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6475974/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5100713/
If you're feeling generous, you're free to downgrade to a lower level as well. For example, if you want to send $10 but want a chiptune track, that's perfectly fine.
As an added bonus, my girlfriend,
robinmedli, has offered to do a quick sketch for anyone who offers $10 or more.
Example: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6205984/
Payments can be sent via PayPal to tansunn [at] gmail.com, and a huge thank you to everyone who's able to help.
And the queue:
anonedge - Crossfire [chiptune] - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6677015/
captainbozo - Legacy of the Wizard, Xemn's Theme - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6721376/
baebunny - Royksopp, Remind Me - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6766012/
anonedge - Blue Dragon, Waterside [chiptune] - payment received
sonichomeboy - Gunstar Heroes, Stage 5 - payment received
forest-wolf - Safri Duo, Rise - in progress [delayed]
ikillyou - Castlevania, Vampire Killer - payment received
The bad news is I'm still two months behind on rent, but I'm staying with my aunt and she's lenient with payments, so I'm safe with that for now.
Music is going fairly slowly since school is keeping me so busy, but I'm still willing to take donations and add people to the queue. Once again, here's the breakdown:
Less than $3 - I will make a music box arrangement of the song of your choice
Examples: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5813590/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5801047/
$3 to $9.99 - I will make a chiptune arrangement of the song of your choice
Examples: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5688421/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4648071/
$10 to $19.99 - I will make a simple arrangement of the song of your choice in a style I think works for the song
Examples: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5037871/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3353268/
$20 and up - I will make a medley of songs from the game of your choice
Examples: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6475974/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5100713/
If you're feeling generous, you're free to downgrade to a lower level as well. For example, if you want to send $10 but want a chiptune track, that's perfectly fine.
As an added bonus, my girlfriend,
robinmedli, has offered to do a quick sketch for anyone who offers $10 or more. Example: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6205984/
Payments can be sent via PayPal to tansunn [at] gmail.com, and a huge thank you to everyone who's able to help.
And the queue:
anonedge - Crossfire [chiptune] - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6677015/ captainbozo - Legacy of the Wizard, Xemn's Theme - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6721376/ baebunny - Royksopp, Remind Me - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6766012/ anonedge - Blue Dragon, Waterside [chiptune] - payment received sonichomeboy - Gunstar Heroes, Stage 5 - payment received forest-wolf - Safri Duo, Rise - in progress [delayed] ikillyou - Castlevania, Vampire Killer - payment receivedMusical DFDs, please help, details inside
Posted 14 years agoThere was a policy change with the G.I. Bill that makes it so I only get paid for the time I'm actually in school. That means I'm getting nothing for August since school's not in session for that month. My last paycheck went almost entirely to paying tuition and I'm almost out of what was left. I'm hoping some of you might be able to help out so I can keep myself fed and able to transport myself to school until I get paid in about a month. I've seen this "doodles for donations" thing that some people have done and I thought I'd take the concept and adapt it to music.
So here's the deal. Anything you're able to donate will help, and as thanks for your donations I will arrange the song of your choice in a style that I think works well for the song. Video game tracks are preferred (just look at my gallery) but I'm willing to try others as well. Here's how it breaks down:
Less than $3 - I will make a music box arrangement of the song of your choice
Examples: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5813590/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5801047/
$3 to $9.99 - I will make a chiptune arrangement of the song of your choice
Examples: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5688421/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4648071/
$10 to $19.99 - I will make a simple arrangement of the song of your choice
Examples: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5037871/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3353268/
$20 and up - I will make a medley of songs from the game of your choice
Examples: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6475974/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5100713/
If you're feeling generous, you're free to downgrade to a lower level as well. For example, if you want to send $10 but want a chiptune track, that's perfectly fine.
As an added bonus, my girlfriend, robinmedli, has offered to do a quick sketch for anyone who offers $10 or more.
Example: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6205984/
Payments can be sent via PayPal to tansunn [at] gmail.com, and a huge thank you to everyone who's able to help.
Current status:
moomanibe - Final Fantasy Tactics, Antipyretic - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6479572
anonedge - Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Icarus Main Theme - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6522047/
jvago - Homestuck, Upward Movement [chiptune] - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6560099/
sonichomeboy - Gunstar Heroes, Stage 1 - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6608081/
remainder of queue relocated to newest entry
So here's the deal. Anything you're able to donate will help, and as thanks for your donations I will arrange the song of your choice in a style that I think works well for the song. Video game tracks are preferred (just look at my gallery) but I'm willing to try others as well. Here's how it breaks down:
Less than $3 - I will make a music box arrangement of the song of your choice
Examples: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5813590/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5801047/
$3 to $9.99 - I will make a chiptune arrangement of the song of your choice
Examples: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5688421/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4648071/
$10 to $19.99 - I will make a simple arrangement of the song of your choice
Examples: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5037871/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3353268/
$20 and up - I will make a medley of songs from the game of your choice
Examples: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6475974/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5100713/
If you're feeling generous, you're free to downgrade to a lower level as well. For example, if you want to send $10 but want a chiptune track, that's perfectly fine.
As an added bonus, my girlfriend,
robinmedli, has offered to do a quick sketch for anyone who offers $10 or more. Example: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6205984/
Payments can be sent via PayPal to tansunn [at] gmail.com, and a huge thank you to everyone who's able to help.
Current status:
moomanibe - Final Fantasy Tactics, Antipyretic - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6479572 anonedge - Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Icarus Main Theme - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6522047/ jvago - Homestuck, Upward Movement [chiptune] - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6560099/ sonichomeboy - Gunstar Heroes, Stage 1 - Complete! - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6608081/remainder of queue relocated to newest entry
Rise of the Planet of the Apes [spoilers]
Posted 14 years agoSo, I recently saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and quite frankly I found it rather confusing. Not as far as the plot is concerned, but in terms of emotional investment. There isn't really a good side or a bad side, so the conflict resolution seems rather unfulfilling and it makes the movie feel kind of incomplete. Technically it is incomplete, I suppose, but it still makes it suffer as a standalone movie. Continue reading for some more in-depth discussion.
PLOT SUMMARY
The movie starts with a group of chimpanzees being captured and taken to a pharmaceutical research corporation. At the corporation, a man named Will is developing a form of viral therapy that can repair damaged brain tissue. The drug is tested on the apes, and shows remarkable results. They started by having one of the apes perform the Tower of Hanoi puzzle (they called it something different, but it's the same puzzle) and she was unable to solve it. After taking the drug, she was able to solve it in 20 moves. Impressed with the results, they decide to show it off to investors. However, the ape turns violent and goes on a rampage through the facility before being shot right in the middle of the investors meeting. An order was put out to put the apes down and they cancelled development of the drug. However, it turns out the ape hadn't turned aggressive from the drug, she was just being protective because she recently had a baby. The lab worker put in charge of euthanizing the chimps couldn't bring himself to do it to a baby, so he gave it to Will to deal with. Will decided to take care of it and took it home with him.
At home, we're introduced to Will's father, Charles, who's showing signs of Alzheimer's syndrome. Will asks his father to help feed the baby chimp, and as Charles is handing it a bottle, it grabs the bottle and begins to suckle on it. They recognize its intelligence and do some tests, eventually concluding that the effects of the drug were genetically passed on from the mother, and in the absence of any brain damage to repair, it made the chimp smarter. They name him Caesar after one of Charles' favorite Shakespeare plays, and start to raise him almost like a child, teaching him sign language to communicate.
Impressed with the results seen in Caesar, Will sneaks some of the drug home and administers it to his father, who rapidly shows signs of improvement. His thoughts are more clear and coherent, his manual dexterity is improved, and not only have the effects of Alzheimer's disappeared, but he's showing signs of being more intelligent than ever before. Back at the research corporation, he explains to his boss that he had been performing human tests in secret and that the results were incredible. He's told to continue testing and monitoring the results.
Eventually, Charles' immune system develops antibodies to counter the viral treatment, and his Alzheimer's returns. One day he wakes up and enters someone else's car that had been left open, slamming it into the cars directly in front and behind. The car's owner pulls him out and starts yelling at him which trigger's Caesar's protective instincts. Caesar tears the man away from Charles and starts pummeling him. The fight stops when Caesar hears the man's daughter cry out to him, but the damage had been done and Caesar was sent to stay at a primate shelter until a scheduled court hearing.
Will takes the information he learned about the drug being resisted by the immune system and starts working on developing a new strain. The new strain is airborne and must be administered through inhalation rather than injection. As they're administering it to a test chimp, the chimp starts seizing and knocks the mask off of one of the lab workers in addition to letting some loose into their chamber. The worker later shows signs of sickness, sneezing blood and sweating profusely until finally we see him dead in his apartment. It turns out the chimps' immune system keeps them safe from the drug while it enhances their intelligence, while humans get sick and die from it.
Back at the shelter, the apes are treated badly. They have a common area with a tree to climb but they are usually confined to their cages. Caesar isn't accepted by the other apes at first, but eventually gains their trust. He uses his intelligence to escape the shelter and sneaks into Will's house to get some of the new drug. He lets it loose in the shelter to make the other apes intelligent, and they plan their escape. Once free of the shelter, they coordinate an attack on the research lab to free the intelligent apes that are captive there. Once freed, they make their way across the Golden Gate Bridge to get to the redwood forests where they can live free. The military was called in after the attack on the lab and they blocked the path across the bridge. They weren't expecting the heightened intelligence of the apes and were easily overcome.
Will follows the apes to the forest where he confronts Caesar, explaining that everything was his fault and asking Caesar to come home with him. Caesar gives Will a hug and says, "Caesar is home." Will accepts this and lets Caesar live with the other apes in the forest.
After a few seconds of credits, cut to an airport and we see a man sneezing blood as he's about to get on a plane. We are then shown the plane's flight path and the spread of the infection. Roll credits, and we're at the end of the movie.
END PLOT SUMMARY
There is really no good or bad side in this movie. There are plenty of "bad" actions performed on both sides, but they have good intentions behind them. The humans created a new breed of super apes and a fatal virus, but they were trying to create a cure for degenerative brain disease. The apes acted violently toward people, but they were just trying to protect their families and friends, plus they're intelligent, sympathetic characters that you actually feel for. The military got in the way of the apes as they were crossing the bridge, but they were just trying to protect people in response to the recent aggressiveness at the lab. The only truly bad characters were the people in charge of the primate shelter, but the worst one was electrocuted when he was hit by a fire hose blast as he was attacking the apes with a cattle prod, and the others just surrendered, and this was far before the big fight on the bridge.
I will admit I have only seen one of the Planet of the Apes movies, and I remember very little about it other than the twist ending where it's revealed that they've been on Earth the whole time. That ending was enough for me to know that the apes took over, so I knew that much about how this movie was going to end. Even so, Rise of the Planet of the Apes feels like an anticlimax. The apes don't take over, they simply survive because their immune systems protect them from the virus while the humans die of infection.
Honestly, I don't know what to make of this movie. The only clearly defined antagonist is killed before the climax of the movie so there's not really any conflict to resolve at that point. Rather than being its own story, it feels more like the explanation behind another story, and it's entirely possible that was the intention. Whatever the case, it makes me want to watch Planet of the Apes, because it just feels incomplete on its own.
PLOT SUMMARY
The movie starts with a group of chimpanzees being captured and taken to a pharmaceutical research corporation. At the corporation, a man named Will is developing a form of viral therapy that can repair damaged brain tissue. The drug is tested on the apes, and shows remarkable results. They started by having one of the apes perform the Tower of Hanoi puzzle (they called it something different, but it's the same puzzle) and she was unable to solve it. After taking the drug, she was able to solve it in 20 moves. Impressed with the results, they decide to show it off to investors. However, the ape turns violent and goes on a rampage through the facility before being shot right in the middle of the investors meeting. An order was put out to put the apes down and they cancelled development of the drug. However, it turns out the ape hadn't turned aggressive from the drug, she was just being protective because she recently had a baby. The lab worker put in charge of euthanizing the chimps couldn't bring himself to do it to a baby, so he gave it to Will to deal with. Will decided to take care of it and took it home with him.
At home, we're introduced to Will's father, Charles, who's showing signs of Alzheimer's syndrome. Will asks his father to help feed the baby chimp, and as Charles is handing it a bottle, it grabs the bottle and begins to suckle on it. They recognize its intelligence and do some tests, eventually concluding that the effects of the drug were genetically passed on from the mother, and in the absence of any brain damage to repair, it made the chimp smarter. They name him Caesar after one of Charles' favorite Shakespeare plays, and start to raise him almost like a child, teaching him sign language to communicate.
Impressed with the results seen in Caesar, Will sneaks some of the drug home and administers it to his father, who rapidly shows signs of improvement. His thoughts are more clear and coherent, his manual dexterity is improved, and not only have the effects of Alzheimer's disappeared, but he's showing signs of being more intelligent than ever before. Back at the research corporation, he explains to his boss that he had been performing human tests in secret and that the results were incredible. He's told to continue testing and monitoring the results.
Eventually, Charles' immune system develops antibodies to counter the viral treatment, and his Alzheimer's returns. One day he wakes up and enters someone else's car that had been left open, slamming it into the cars directly in front and behind. The car's owner pulls him out and starts yelling at him which trigger's Caesar's protective instincts. Caesar tears the man away from Charles and starts pummeling him. The fight stops when Caesar hears the man's daughter cry out to him, but the damage had been done and Caesar was sent to stay at a primate shelter until a scheduled court hearing.
Will takes the information he learned about the drug being resisted by the immune system and starts working on developing a new strain. The new strain is airborne and must be administered through inhalation rather than injection. As they're administering it to a test chimp, the chimp starts seizing and knocks the mask off of one of the lab workers in addition to letting some loose into their chamber. The worker later shows signs of sickness, sneezing blood and sweating profusely until finally we see him dead in his apartment. It turns out the chimps' immune system keeps them safe from the drug while it enhances their intelligence, while humans get sick and die from it.
Back at the shelter, the apes are treated badly. They have a common area with a tree to climb but they are usually confined to their cages. Caesar isn't accepted by the other apes at first, but eventually gains their trust. He uses his intelligence to escape the shelter and sneaks into Will's house to get some of the new drug. He lets it loose in the shelter to make the other apes intelligent, and they plan their escape. Once free of the shelter, they coordinate an attack on the research lab to free the intelligent apes that are captive there. Once freed, they make their way across the Golden Gate Bridge to get to the redwood forests where they can live free. The military was called in after the attack on the lab and they blocked the path across the bridge. They weren't expecting the heightened intelligence of the apes and were easily overcome.
Will follows the apes to the forest where he confronts Caesar, explaining that everything was his fault and asking Caesar to come home with him. Caesar gives Will a hug and says, "Caesar is home." Will accepts this and lets Caesar live with the other apes in the forest.
After a few seconds of credits, cut to an airport and we see a man sneezing blood as he's about to get on a plane. We are then shown the plane's flight path and the spread of the infection. Roll credits, and we're at the end of the movie.
END PLOT SUMMARY
There is really no good or bad side in this movie. There are plenty of "bad" actions performed on both sides, but they have good intentions behind them. The humans created a new breed of super apes and a fatal virus, but they were trying to create a cure for degenerative brain disease. The apes acted violently toward people, but they were just trying to protect their families and friends, plus they're intelligent, sympathetic characters that you actually feel for. The military got in the way of the apes as they were crossing the bridge, but they were just trying to protect people in response to the recent aggressiveness at the lab. The only truly bad characters were the people in charge of the primate shelter, but the worst one was electrocuted when he was hit by a fire hose blast as he was attacking the apes with a cattle prod, and the others just surrendered, and this was far before the big fight on the bridge.
I will admit I have only seen one of the Planet of the Apes movies, and I remember very little about it other than the twist ending where it's revealed that they've been on Earth the whole time. That ending was enough for me to know that the apes took over, so I knew that much about how this movie was going to end. Even so, Rise of the Planet of the Apes feels like an anticlimax. The apes don't take over, they simply survive because their immune systems protect them from the virus while the humans die of infection.
Honestly, I don't know what to make of this movie. The only clearly defined antagonist is killed before the climax of the movie so there's not really any conflict to resolve at that point. Rather than being its own story, it feels more like the explanation behind another story, and it's entirely possible that was the intention. Whatever the case, it makes me want to watch Planet of the Apes, because it just feels incomplete on its own.
More 3rd Birthday ranting
Posted 14 years agoFirst off, I have to admit that I wasn't entirely fair toward The 3rd Birthday in my last post. It does have some good things going for it.
- The graphics are pretty damn good, but this is Square-Enix so that pretty much goes without saying. However, most of the cutscenes are done with the in-game assets, even though they're pre-rendered. This makes the few high-poly cutscenes really stand out. Unfortunately, they all get used in the intro, so they don't even have the benefit of being an endgame treat.
- The music is awesome. Some of the tracks are even rearranged from the original Parasite Eve soundtrack. One of my personal favorites is the remix of Escape From U.B. Considering the original was just four notes that repeat, they did an amazing job expanding upon it. Seriously, tell me this isn't flippin' sweet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK5rh5lv-kc
- The Overdive mechanic is really cool in battle. Basically, in each arena are a bunch of soldiers in addition to your player, and you're able to transfer your soul between them to gain control of them. Sometimes this simply gives you a new vantage point, sometimes it's necessary to move between areas that are blocked off from each other, sometimes it's necessary to take advantage of a special weapon one of the soldiers has. You can also perform an Overdive Kill on an enemy if you hit it with enough force (which is different from dealing a certain amount of damage), although its name isn't entirely accurate as it's not guaranteed to kill the target, but it will do quite a bit of damage.
- The game also has weapon customizing, and while not as freeform and versatile as the customization in the first PE, it's a lot better than PE2 which simply had some M16 attachments and maybe a couple different types of ammo for each type of weapon. This time, Aya's skill in each weapon type levels up as she uses it, and gaining a level up for a weapon type unlocks new weapons of that type and new equipment for each weapon. The different equipment includes things like stabilizers to make her shots more accurate and different kinds of ammo. Some ammo does more damage, some ammo has more impact. More damage reduces the target's HP faster, while more impact makes them become susceptible to an Overdive Kill faster.
There is one gameplay element that doesn't work very well, though, and unfortunately it's an important one when it comes to increasing Aya's abilities: The DNA board. This is a 3x3 grid that you can install chips on to give Aya new abilities, like recovering health after performing an Overdive, recovering ammo after performing an Overdive (yeah, she modifies her DNA and it makes ammo appear out of nowhere - at least I can forgive this one for being a gameplay element rather than a plot element), creating a shockwave to repel enemies after performing an Overdive, becoming invincible temporarily after taking damage, and more. Each unit on the grid has one ability, and each unit can have a level from 1 to 25. Multiple units can have the same ability to increase its effect, too, although I'm not sure if this can be used to break the level 25 cap.
Everything sounds good so far, right? Well, there's one more aspect of it - you can stack chips. When you stack chips, if they are the same ability, it has the potential to increase that ability's level. If they are different abilities, it could become either of those abilities, or it could mutate into a new ability. The thing is, you don't know what the result of combining chips will be until you try it, and there is a very random element to it. If you have two high level abilities and you place a two-ability chip on top of them, it could add the levels from the new chip to the old abilities, or it could dramatically reduce the levels of the existing abilities, there's really no way to tell. However, they completely negate the randomization element by allowing you to retry if you don't like the outcome of adding a chip. However, you can only view one result at a time, and if you liked a previous result that you had, you just have to keep retrying until that result comes up again, making the entire process tedious and annoying. I can see the point of randomizing it so beneficial mutations aren't ridiculously easy to obtain, but simply adding levels becomes a complete pain in the ass. If they simply showed more than one result of the randomization process and allowed you to select the one you wanted, it would be vastly superior to what we have now.
The main action gets kind of samey, too. The enemies behave differently, sure, but it still pretty much boils down to lock onto target, shoot a bunch, Overdive Kill, dodge when necessary, hide behind cover when necessary, maybe throw a grenade from time to time. Sometimes they change it up, but it's not really varied enough to keep from getting stale. In one mission you take control of a sniper so now you have to manually aim from a distance. In another you get access to a satellite cannon, which is kind of the same thing only now you have to wait for it to charge and the projectile is fired from the sky instead of you. In another you get to mount tanks and use their heavy artillery to fire at enemies, which again is kind of the same thing because the tanks can't move. In another you're in a helicopter firing at enemies clinging to the outside of a building, but it's on-rails so you only get to move around the screen as the camera follows its pre-defined path.
Also, the last boss is complete bullshit. There's another ability you have called Liberation, and it becomes available to you when the Liberation gauge is full. With Liberation enabled, your shots become more powerful, you move around a lot faster, and you essentially become invincible, but it only lasts for a few seconds. Except during the last boss, where it lasts for minutes. So any challenge that the last boss might have been is negated because you're invincible for the entire fight. Maybe this changes at higher difficulties, I don't know, my rage hasn't subsided enough for me to want to play the game any more.
Anyway, there's some more plot garbage that I wanted to rant about, so here I go!
First, Aya's line, "Why did you... put me up against the High Ones?" (Yes, that pause is there in the game, and it sounds even more unnatural than it probably does as you're reading it. I know it's because they matched the animation to Japanese speaking, then dubbed the English to match the animation, but it just sounds awkward.) She says this to Hyde when she meets him in the Grand Babel.
To begin with "High Ones" is a term that Maeda coined, so I find it odd that Hyde even knows what she's talking about, but he does. Also, there's no indication that he put her up against them.
In episode 1, even though it's not explicitly stated, I can see how maybe he planned for her to encounter one of the High Ones at the dance club.
In episode 2, Hyde sends her back 3 days to rescue Cray. When she saves Cray, she radios back to inform them of their status (seems kind of pointless since they can see and hear her through their time-spanning monitoring device, but whatever) and reaches Boss instead. He explains that Gabrielle's signal was lost and directs Aya to the location of Gabrielle's last transmission. Of course as he's saying his lines, he's saying them in an obvious "lying asshole" voice that in-game characters are always oblivious to and she ends up in an open area with nobody around. Cut back to the present and we see that Boss gassed everybody and he's the only one left conscious. Aya then fights a High One which turns out to be Gabrielle. Once she's defeated, we cut back to the present where we watch Gabrielle, who somehow survived the gassing and regained consciousness, disintegrates because she was killed in the past. So it was Boss that sent her there, not Hyde. BUT, to know to send Aya there, he would have had to have known that there was a High One attack there, and for him to have known that there was an attack there there would have had to have been an attack there which can't be the case if Gabrielle's still human in the present, which she was. Until she was killed in the past. But they show it as if the past and present are happening in parallel, and the changes in the present correspond with the changes in the past in relation to how long they took after Aya use the Overdive device, so when Boss directed Aya to the open area, Gabrielle was still human, meaning she hadn't transformed in the past.
In episode 3, Aya recalls a message she received from Kyle at the end of episode 2 in which he told her to meet him "at the Babel in the red fog." So she goes back to Operation Red Fog to meet him. She runs into Cray while she's there, which I ranted about plenty in the previous journal. Apparently he's a High One as well, but he doesn't transform, he just disappears into an orb on the Babel, she dives into the orb after him, his soul talks to her a bit and then disappears. In any case, Hyde didn't put her up against Cray, she went there on her own. Although the High Ones are able to Overdive, so I suppose Hyde could have sent Cray there at some point in the past, which would explain why the timeline suddenly changed with no explanation. But if Cray was there in the past, then he wouldn't be there in the present, unless it wasn't the same Cray. But it WAS the same Cray, because when he was killed in the past, he disappeared in the present. Also, while he was disappearing, he starts saying, "You did it, Aya. You saved Manhattan." How does he know this? The Cray in the present wasn't there at Operation Red Fog. The Cray at Operation Red Fog killed the whole squad and I don't see how he'd get anything less than the death penalty for that. Assuming he stayed human, anyway, because apparently he transformed back then. But if he transformed back then, he wouldn't be human now.
I could keep ranting but I need to go. Before I do, I leave you with a motivational speech from Maeda.
"Listen to me, Aya. You're here. You're real. If you're hurt, it's okay to cry. I mean it. Letting your emotions out will help heal your wounds. Ahh... I know it will... Ha ha ha ha... How sweet your tears must taste..."
- The graphics are pretty damn good, but this is Square-Enix so that pretty much goes without saying. However, most of the cutscenes are done with the in-game assets, even though they're pre-rendered. This makes the few high-poly cutscenes really stand out. Unfortunately, they all get used in the intro, so they don't even have the benefit of being an endgame treat.
- The music is awesome. Some of the tracks are even rearranged from the original Parasite Eve soundtrack. One of my personal favorites is the remix of Escape From U.B. Considering the original was just four notes that repeat, they did an amazing job expanding upon it. Seriously, tell me this isn't flippin' sweet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK5rh5lv-kc
- The Overdive mechanic is really cool in battle. Basically, in each arena are a bunch of soldiers in addition to your player, and you're able to transfer your soul between them to gain control of them. Sometimes this simply gives you a new vantage point, sometimes it's necessary to move between areas that are blocked off from each other, sometimes it's necessary to take advantage of a special weapon one of the soldiers has. You can also perform an Overdive Kill on an enemy if you hit it with enough force (which is different from dealing a certain amount of damage), although its name isn't entirely accurate as it's not guaranteed to kill the target, but it will do quite a bit of damage.
- The game also has weapon customizing, and while not as freeform and versatile as the customization in the first PE, it's a lot better than PE2 which simply had some M16 attachments and maybe a couple different types of ammo for each type of weapon. This time, Aya's skill in each weapon type levels up as she uses it, and gaining a level up for a weapon type unlocks new weapons of that type and new equipment for each weapon. The different equipment includes things like stabilizers to make her shots more accurate and different kinds of ammo. Some ammo does more damage, some ammo has more impact. More damage reduces the target's HP faster, while more impact makes them become susceptible to an Overdive Kill faster.
There is one gameplay element that doesn't work very well, though, and unfortunately it's an important one when it comes to increasing Aya's abilities: The DNA board. This is a 3x3 grid that you can install chips on to give Aya new abilities, like recovering health after performing an Overdive, recovering ammo after performing an Overdive (yeah, she modifies her DNA and it makes ammo appear out of nowhere - at least I can forgive this one for being a gameplay element rather than a plot element), creating a shockwave to repel enemies after performing an Overdive, becoming invincible temporarily after taking damage, and more. Each unit on the grid has one ability, and each unit can have a level from 1 to 25. Multiple units can have the same ability to increase its effect, too, although I'm not sure if this can be used to break the level 25 cap.
Everything sounds good so far, right? Well, there's one more aspect of it - you can stack chips. When you stack chips, if they are the same ability, it has the potential to increase that ability's level. If they are different abilities, it could become either of those abilities, or it could mutate into a new ability. The thing is, you don't know what the result of combining chips will be until you try it, and there is a very random element to it. If you have two high level abilities and you place a two-ability chip on top of them, it could add the levels from the new chip to the old abilities, or it could dramatically reduce the levels of the existing abilities, there's really no way to tell. However, they completely negate the randomization element by allowing you to retry if you don't like the outcome of adding a chip. However, you can only view one result at a time, and if you liked a previous result that you had, you just have to keep retrying until that result comes up again, making the entire process tedious and annoying. I can see the point of randomizing it so beneficial mutations aren't ridiculously easy to obtain, but simply adding levels becomes a complete pain in the ass. If they simply showed more than one result of the randomization process and allowed you to select the one you wanted, it would be vastly superior to what we have now.
The main action gets kind of samey, too. The enemies behave differently, sure, but it still pretty much boils down to lock onto target, shoot a bunch, Overdive Kill, dodge when necessary, hide behind cover when necessary, maybe throw a grenade from time to time. Sometimes they change it up, but it's not really varied enough to keep from getting stale. In one mission you take control of a sniper so now you have to manually aim from a distance. In another you get access to a satellite cannon, which is kind of the same thing only now you have to wait for it to charge and the projectile is fired from the sky instead of you. In another you get to mount tanks and use their heavy artillery to fire at enemies, which again is kind of the same thing because the tanks can't move. In another you're in a helicopter firing at enemies clinging to the outside of a building, but it's on-rails so you only get to move around the screen as the camera follows its pre-defined path.
Also, the last boss is complete bullshit. There's another ability you have called Liberation, and it becomes available to you when the Liberation gauge is full. With Liberation enabled, your shots become more powerful, you move around a lot faster, and you essentially become invincible, but it only lasts for a few seconds. Except during the last boss, where it lasts for minutes. So any challenge that the last boss might have been is negated because you're invincible for the entire fight. Maybe this changes at higher difficulties, I don't know, my rage hasn't subsided enough for me to want to play the game any more.
Anyway, there's some more plot garbage that I wanted to rant about, so here I go!
First, Aya's line, "Why did you... put me up against the High Ones?" (Yes, that pause is there in the game, and it sounds even more unnatural than it probably does as you're reading it. I know it's because they matched the animation to Japanese speaking, then dubbed the English to match the animation, but it just sounds awkward.) She says this to Hyde when she meets him in the Grand Babel.
To begin with "High Ones" is a term that Maeda coined, so I find it odd that Hyde even knows what she's talking about, but he does. Also, there's no indication that he put her up against them.
In episode 1, even though it's not explicitly stated, I can see how maybe he planned for her to encounter one of the High Ones at the dance club.
In episode 2, Hyde sends her back 3 days to rescue Cray. When she saves Cray, she radios back to inform them of their status (seems kind of pointless since they can see and hear her through their time-spanning monitoring device, but whatever) and reaches Boss instead. He explains that Gabrielle's signal was lost and directs Aya to the location of Gabrielle's last transmission. Of course as he's saying his lines, he's saying them in an obvious "lying asshole" voice that in-game characters are always oblivious to and she ends up in an open area with nobody around. Cut back to the present and we see that Boss gassed everybody and he's the only one left conscious. Aya then fights a High One which turns out to be Gabrielle. Once she's defeated, we cut back to the present where we watch Gabrielle, who somehow survived the gassing and regained consciousness, disintegrates because she was killed in the past. So it was Boss that sent her there, not Hyde. BUT, to know to send Aya there, he would have had to have known that there was a High One attack there, and for him to have known that there was an attack there there would have had to have been an attack there which can't be the case if Gabrielle's still human in the present, which she was. Until she was killed in the past. But they show it as if the past and present are happening in parallel, and the changes in the present correspond with the changes in the past in relation to how long they took after Aya use the Overdive device, so when Boss directed Aya to the open area, Gabrielle was still human, meaning she hadn't transformed in the past.
In episode 3, Aya recalls a message she received from Kyle at the end of episode 2 in which he told her to meet him "at the Babel in the red fog." So she goes back to Operation Red Fog to meet him. She runs into Cray while she's there, which I ranted about plenty in the previous journal. Apparently he's a High One as well, but he doesn't transform, he just disappears into an orb on the Babel, she dives into the orb after him, his soul talks to her a bit and then disappears. In any case, Hyde didn't put her up against Cray, she went there on her own. Although the High Ones are able to Overdive, so I suppose Hyde could have sent Cray there at some point in the past, which would explain why the timeline suddenly changed with no explanation. But if Cray was there in the past, then he wouldn't be there in the present, unless it wasn't the same Cray. But it WAS the same Cray, because when he was killed in the past, he disappeared in the present. Also, while he was disappearing, he starts saying, "You did it, Aya. You saved Manhattan." How does he know this? The Cray in the present wasn't there at Operation Red Fog. The Cray at Operation Red Fog killed the whole squad and I don't see how he'd get anything less than the death penalty for that. Assuming he stayed human, anyway, because apparently he transformed back then. But if he transformed back then, he wouldn't be human now.
I could keep ranting but I need to go. Before I do, I leave you with a motivational speech from Maeda.
"Listen to me, Aya. You're here. You're real. If you're hurt, it's okay to cry. I mean it. Letting your emotions out will help heal your wounds. Ahh... I know it will... Ha ha ha ha... How sweet your tears must taste..."
Goddamn, The 3rd Birthday sucks
Posted 14 years agoSeriously, this game keeps me up at night thinking about it and trying to understand it. So much stuff is left unexplained.
Either that or the explanations are in the fucking tomes of information you can browse through in the computer. And if that wasn't bad enough, it's not all available to you from the start. You have to unlock more information by playing the game again at harder difficulties. I want to know whose fucking brilliant idea that was. "Ok guys, I have this great idea. Let's make the game's plot confusing as fuck, right? Then we explain it later, not through cut scenes or gameplay, but through mass quantities of text files on a computer! And even better, let's hide a bunch of that information until the player beats the game multiple times!" The crazy thing? I don't think much of it actually gets explained in the text files you can unlock. I think it's just full of plot holes, inconsistencies, and utter nonsense that it can't be redeemed.
For example... actually, I should explain a few things first.
You start the game as Aya Brea working for a secret military unit called the CTI - the Counter Twisted Investigation team. It was formed because of the Twisted, a race of creatures that suddenly appeared one day and started attacking people. The manual explains that the Twisted were formed in the future and eat people, then once their food source is consumed they travel to the past to replenish it. The team consists of Hyde Bohr, the chief researcher and head of the Overdive Investigation Unit; Dr. Blank, a Korean hacker and chief engineer of the Overdive device; Thelonious Cray, a former soldier for an elite military squad; Gabrielle Monsigny, a special agent and former sniper; and Hunter "Boss" Owen, chief of the CTI. The Overdive Device allows Aya to send her soul into the past to inhabit another person's body. She is able to dive into anyone who's nearby and control them as a means to give them an advantage in the past. She is also the only one who is able to use it.
Anyway, back to the example. One of the computer files is the Timeline, which details major events in the past. It also updates in each episode to reflect the changes you made, and provides access to the timeline in the other episodes you've completed so you can see what changed. One of these events was Operation Red Fog, where Cray's squad was completely eliminated. Cray survived, though, because he had recently joined the CTI and was working there. From the timeline, "Thelonious Cray, a former member of Russo's platoon who had just assumed his post at CTI and did not participate in the operation, has said that the Captain's final transmission mentioned an encounter with a little girl who had become a Twisted." From Cray's profile, "As they racked up more and more victories, Russo's squad became known far and wide as the pride of the Delta Force and the terrorists' biggest threat. All that came to an end with the failure of Operation Red Fog in 2012. Delta Force was annihilated, and all squad members were killed in action. Cray was all that remained of Russo's squad. He hadn't been part of that fatal mission, instead assuming his new post at the CTI." Well, in episode 3, you dive into the Delta Force soldiers at Operation Red Fog, and at the very end, YOU FIND GODDAMN CRAY!
I can hear you asking, "but this is episode 3, right? She could have changed the past in the previous two episodes." Perhaps she could have. But she didn't. In episode 1, she dove back to December 24th, 2012. In episode 2, she dove back to December 21st, 2013. In episode 3, she dove back to January 7th, 2012, making this her earliest dive yet. This isn't the only instance of this happening, either. Operation Violet Storm, August 19th, 2012. In episode 1 before any changes happened, the Twisted utterly destroyed the unit called TDM. In episode 2 after you changed the past in December 24th, 2012, TDM is still destroyed. In episode 3 after you change the past in December 21, 2013, suddenly only 14 are killed, AND they manage to capture a live one. No explanation, they just suddenly started kicking ass at a time before you were able to affect them. There is some allusion to the many-worlds interpretation in the game, but honestly that just fucks shit up even more. Why is she returning from her Overdives to universes where things are different in the past? Is it just by sheer luck that the boss creatures she killed are still dead in the universes that she returns to? It makes no sense!
Anyway, when you find Cray, he talks about how he killed his entire squad, and it looks like you're about to get in a fight with him like you did with your other friends in the other episodes, but you don't actually fight him, he just dies and dissolves. Back in the present, when Cray explains that he killed everyone, Blank runs to find him. (Yeah, somehow they have a monitoring device that can see and hear what Aya's seeing in the past. Just go with it.) Blank finds him on the roof just as he starts dissolving, just like he did in the past. Blank starts running toward Cray but doesn't get to him until after he completely disappears. Blank then looks around quizzically and asks, "What am I doing here?"
THAT'S A GOOD GODDAMN QUESTION! If Cray was killed in the past, he wouldn't exist in the present, so Blank wouldn't have run up there. Alternatively, it could be that during an Overdive the past and present are running in parallel with each other, which makes sense because the people in the present are able to see and hear the "new" past as well as communicate with Aya in the past in realtime. However, if this was the case, it wouldn't make any sense for Blank to just suddenly forget why he went up there. He wouldn't be up there without a reason!
At least in the other episodes, their memories changing could be attributed to the fact that you're living the same day over and over again. ...Which is confusing, but kind of makes sense. In the first three episodes, she wakes up on Christmas Eve* just before midnight, then she uses the Overdive device on Christmas day and goes back to the past in an attempt to improve the situation in some battle against the Twisted that went badly. Since the past was changed so the fight actually went well, they wouldn't have a need to dive into that event to change it, so her soul returns to a point before she did the Overdive. ...but that would indicate that the past and present aren't running in parallel so WHY DID BLANK RUN TO THE ROOF IF CRAY DIDN'T EXIST!? ARGH!
You see what this game does to me!? Seriously, if you play this game, ignore all of the story. Think back to the first Parasite Eve. Remember what happened to the audience in Central Park? That's what this game does to your BRAIN!
* This game takes place in New York on Christmas Eve! Remember how the first Parasite Eve took place in New York on Christmas Eve? Well FUCK YOU, THIS GAME IS NOTHING LIKE PARASITE EVE!
Seriously, this game makes no sense. On the one hand, it seems very much to be fanservice, with the inclusion of music and characters from previous games, and with making Aya more of a sex object by having her clothes rip apart as she takes damage and showing her in a shower scene that you can unlock by achieving certain goals. On the other hand, it seems like a huge "fuck you" to the fans by completely doing away with everything that made the first two games Parasite Eve games (their were based on the real world and gave real-world explanations, T3B is full of all sorts of metaphysical pseudoscience), completely changing some characters (Maeda was a Japanese scientist in Parasite Eve who had trouble speaking English and was rather shy and awkward, now he has no hint of Japanese accent at all and he's kind of a creepy pervert) and killing off others.
Either that or the explanations are in the fucking tomes of information you can browse through in the computer. And if that wasn't bad enough, it's not all available to you from the start. You have to unlock more information by playing the game again at harder difficulties. I want to know whose fucking brilliant idea that was. "Ok guys, I have this great idea. Let's make the game's plot confusing as fuck, right? Then we explain it later, not through cut scenes or gameplay, but through mass quantities of text files on a computer! And even better, let's hide a bunch of that information until the player beats the game multiple times!" The crazy thing? I don't think much of it actually gets explained in the text files you can unlock. I think it's just full of plot holes, inconsistencies, and utter nonsense that it can't be redeemed.
For example... actually, I should explain a few things first.
You start the game as Aya Brea working for a secret military unit called the CTI - the Counter Twisted Investigation team. It was formed because of the Twisted, a race of creatures that suddenly appeared one day and started attacking people. The manual explains that the Twisted were formed in the future and eat people, then once their food source is consumed they travel to the past to replenish it. The team consists of Hyde Bohr, the chief researcher and head of the Overdive Investigation Unit; Dr. Blank, a Korean hacker and chief engineer of the Overdive device; Thelonious Cray, a former soldier for an elite military squad; Gabrielle Monsigny, a special agent and former sniper; and Hunter "Boss" Owen, chief of the CTI. The Overdive Device allows Aya to send her soul into the past to inhabit another person's body. She is able to dive into anyone who's nearby and control them as a means to give them an advantage in the past. She is also the only one who is able to use it.
Anyway, back to the example. One of the computer files is the Timeline, which details major events in the past. It also updates in each episode to reflect the changes you made, and provides access to the timeline in the other episodes you've completed so you can see what changed. One of these events was Operation Red Fog, where Cray's squad was completely eliminated. Cray survived, though, because he had recently joined the CTI and was working there. From the timeline, "Thelonious Cray, a former member of Russo's platoon who had just assumed his post at CTI and did not participate in the operation, has said that the Captain's final transmission mentioned an encounter with a little girl who had become a Twisted." From Cray's profile, "As they racked up more and more victories, Russo's squad became known far and wide as the pride of the Delta Force and the terrorists' biggest threat. All that came to an end with the failure of Operation Red Fog in 2012. Delta Force was annihilated, and all squad members were killed in action. Cray was all that remained of Russo's squad. He hadn't been part of that fatal mission, instead assuming his new post at the CTI." Well, in episode 3, you dive into the Delta Force soldiers at Operation Red Fog, and at the very end, YOU FIND GODDAMN CRAY!
I can hear you asking, "but this is episode 3, right? She could have changed the past in the previous two episodes." Perhaps she could have. But she didn't. In episode 1, she dove back to December 24th, 2012. In episode 2, she dove back to December 21st, 2013. In episode 3, she dove back to January 7th, 2012, making this her earliest dive yet. This isn't the only instance of this happening, either. Operation Violet Storm, August 19th, 2012. In episode 1 before any changes happened, the Twisted utterly destroyed the unit called TDM. In episode 2 after you changed the past in December 24th, 2012, TDM is still destroyed. In episode 3 after you change the past in December 21, 2013, suddenly only 14 are killed, AND they manage to capture a live one. No explanation, they just suddenly started kicking ass at a time before you were able to affect them. There is some allusion to the many-worlds interpretation in the game, but honestly that just fucks shit up even more. Why is she returning from her Overdives to universes where things are different in the past? Is it just by sheer luck that the boss creatures she killed are still dead in the universes that she returns to? It makes no sense!
Anyway, when you find Cray, he talks about how he killed his entire squad, and it looks like you're about to get in a fight with him like you did with your other friends in the other episodes, but you don't actually fight him, he just dies and dissolves. Back in the present, when Cray explains that he killed everyone, Blank runs to find him. (Yeah, somehow they have a monitoring device that can see and hear what Aya's seeing in the past. Just go with it.) Blank finds him on the roof just as he starts dissolving, just like he did in the past. Blank starts running toward Cray but doesn't get to him until after he completely disappears. Blank then looks around quizzically and asks, "What am I doing here?"
THAT'S A GOOD GODDAMN QUESTION! If Cray was killed in the past, he wouldn't exist in the present, so Blank wouldn't have run up there. Alternatively, it could be that during an Overdive the past and present are running in parallel with each other, which makes sense because the people in the present are able to see and hear the "new" past as well as communicate with Aya in the past in realtime. However, if this was the case, it wouldn't make any sense for Blank to just suddenly forget why he went up there. He wouldn't be up there without a reason!
At least in the other episodes, their memories changing could be attributed to the fact that you're living the same day over and over again. ...Which is confusing, but kind of makes sense. In the first three episodes, she wakes up on Christmas Eve* just before midnight, then she uses the Overdive device on Christmas day and goes back to the past in an attempt to improve the situation in some battle against the Twisted that went badly. Since the past was changed so the fight actually went well, they wouldn't have a need to dive into that event to change it, so her soul returns to a point before she did the Overdive. ...but that would indicate that the past and present aren't running in parallel so WHY DID BLANK RUN TO THE ROOF IF CRAY DIDN'T EXIST!? ARGH!
You see what this game does to me!? Seriously, if you play this game, ignore all of the story. Think back to the first Parasite Eve. Remember what happened to the audience in Central Park? That's what this game does to your BRAIN!
* This game takes place in New York on Christmas Eve! Remember how the first Parasite Eve took place in New York on Christmas Eve? Well FUCK YOU, THIS GAME IS NOTHING LIKE PARASITE EVE!
Seriously, this game makes no sense. On the one hand, it seems very much to be fanservice, with the inclusion of music and characters from previous games, and with making Aya more of a sex object by having her clothes rip apart as she takes damage and showing her in a shower scene that you can unlock by achieving certain goals. On the other hand, it seems like a huge "fuck you" to the fans by completely doing away with everything that made the first two games Parasite Eve games (their were based on the real world and gave real-world explanations, T3B is full of all sorts of metaphysical pseudoscience), completely changing some characters (Maeda was a Japanese scientist in Parasite Eve who had trouble speaking English and was rather shy and awkward, now he has no hint of Japanese accent at all and he's kind of a creepy pervert) and killing off others.
Aww snap, I've been freakin' TAGGED!
Posted 14 years agoTagged by 
trezhurisland
We all have different codes we live by, but we don't always know what those codes really are until they're put to the test. List 3 of your own moral codes that are tested, tried, and true, then tag 4 friends to do the same. If you can't think of 3, or if this is too personal for you, then list 5 that are tested and true for your character. If asked in a comment how one or more was tested, you have to answer.
1) Don't sweat the small stuff. If it's not a big deal, don't make a big deal out of it. It's not worth the effort.
2) Treat others as you want to be treated. While some people have told me that I'm too nice, I'd rather be told that than be told I'm a jerk.
3) It's okay to cry. Whenever something has pushed me to the point of crying, I've always felt calm and refreshed afterward. Sometimes it helps to just let it all out.
...I don't really know who to tag, so feel free to answer this on your own if you want.
trezhurislandWe all have different codes we live by, but we don't always know what those codes really are until they're put to the test. List 3 of your own moral codes that are tested, tried, and true, then tag 4 friends to do the same. If you can't think of 3, or if this is too personal for you, then list 5 that are tested and true for your character. If asked in a comment how one or more was tested, you have to answer.
1) Don't sweat the small stuff. If it's not a big deal, don't make a big deal out of it. It's not worth the effort.
2) Treat others as you want to be treated. While some people have told me that I'm too nice, I'd rather be told that than be told I'm a jerk.
3) It's okay to cry. Whenever something has pushed me to the point of crying, I've always felt calm and refreshed afterward. Sometimes it helps to just let it all out.
...I don't really know who to tag, so feel free to answer this on your own if you want.
Support Japan and win some cool video game stuff!
Posted 14 years agohttp://magfest.org/japan
They're holding a bunch of auctions to raise money to help Japan. There's some cool stuff, including autographed games and soundtracks, custom sketches and paintings, and even video game arrangements from some awesome people, including Jake Kaufman, the composer of Contra 4, Shantae, and other awesome works. I've got a couple of auctions up there as well, so check 'em out!
They're holding a bunch of auctions to raise money to help Japan. There's some cool stuff, including autographed games and soundtracks, custom sketches and paintings, and even video game arrangements from some awesome people, including Jake Kaufman, the composer of Contra 4, Shantae, and other awesome works. I've got a couple of auctions up there as well, so check 'em out!
It's official...
Posted 14 years agoI don't care if saying it means I need to turn in my man card, the new My Little Pony series is AWESOME.
Yeah, it's showing up fucking EVERYWHERE, but there's a reason for that. People realized that it's AWESOME.
Yeah, it's showing up fucking EVERYWHERE, but there's a reason for that. People realized that it's AWESOME.
GXSCC
Posted 14 years agoIt's a novelty MIDI player. It's not something you can load any old MIDI to, then upload and call it an "8-bit remix". If you use GXSCC in this manner, stop being a lazy ass and learn to chiptune.
And update
Posted 14 years agoSo I got the G.I. Bill issue resolved. Went to Financial Aid and they were like "WTF, that's not right!" Not only is 12 credits supposed to be full time, I'm currently enrolled in 15 credits. So that was all jacked up.
They did some internet computer magic, and when I checked the verification website that night it said I was full time. Problem solved.
They did some internet computer magic, and when I checked the verification website that night it said I was full time. Problem solved.
And it gets worse...
Posted 14 years agoSince it's the end of the month, I went to verify my class attendance to continue receiving the G.I. Bill. It says I'm only enrolled for half-time.
When I registered for classes, they told me 12 credits was full time. I'm taking 12 credits.
WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT!?
When I registered for classes, they told me 12 credits was full time. I'm taking 12 credits.
WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT!?
You know what sucks?
Posted 14 years agoHaving a hard time getting to sleep, then being woken up at 8 a.m. to be told about how bad the weather is, especially when you normally wake up at 10:30 or 11:30 and the weather's just fine at that time.
I'm going to need a huge load of caffeine today...
I'm going to need a huge load of caffeine today...
Technological miracle
Posted 15 years agoThat's the only way I can think of to describe it...
I got my files back.
The hard drive that went bad was one of those pre-made deals where the manufacturer puts the drive in an enclosure of their own design, and they design it so that it can't be opened.
Well, I opened it. That is to say, the case is now broken.
But somehow, during the breaking of said case, the drive started working again. One of my friends suggested I plug it in again, so I did, and all of a sudden it showed up on the computer again, properly formatted and ready to go.
Immediately, I opened up the other case I had, one that was designed to be opened, pulled out the 500GB drive that was in it, and plugged in a spare 1TB drive that I had been saving for when I finally got my new computer (which isn't happening, by the way, because tuition keeps sucking up my funds). I copied the data from the old drive to the new one, reinstalled Windows on my laptop, and reinstalled my drivers and the important programs that I use.
I then learned that when you're copying mass quantities of files, it does some really weird shit. I expected it would grab a file from the source drive, and write it to the next empty space on the destination drive. Not so, because I ended up with this: http://i.imgur.com/K5DNz.png (Black is free space, light gray is NTFS reserved space, dark gray is unfragmented files, red is fragmented files.) The weird thing is, you can clearly see a pattern. I don't want a damn pattern, though, I want contiguous files.
...so yeah. I've never seen "crack that son of a bitch open" on any troubleshooting checklists before, but it's going on mine from now on.
I got my files back.
The hard drive that went bad was one of those pre-made deals where the manufacturer puts the drive in an enclosure of their own design, and they design it so that it can't be opened.
Well, I opened it. That is to say, the case is now broken.
But somehow, during the breaking of said case, the drive started working again. One of my friends suggested I plug it in again, so I did, and all of a sudden it showed up on the computer again, properly formatted and ready to go.
Immediately, I opened up the other case I had, one that was designed to be opened, pulled out the 500GB drive that was in it, and plugged in a spare 1TB drive that I had been saving for when I finally got my new computer (which isn't happening, by the way, because tuition keeps sucking up my funds). I copied the data from the old drive to the new one, reinstalled Windows on my laptop, and reinstalled my drivers and the important programs that I use.
I then learned that when you're copying mass quantities of files, it does some really weird shit. I expected it would grab a file from the source drive, and write it to the next empty space on the destination drive. Not so, because I ended up with this: http://i.imgur.com/K5DNz.png (Black is free space, light gray is NTFS reserved space, dark gray is unfragmented files, red is fragmented files.) The weird thing is, you can clearly see a pattern. I don't want a damn pattern, though, I want contiguous files.
...so yeah. I've never seen "crack that son of a bitch open" on any troubleshooting checklists before, but it's going on mine from now on.
