This is our eleventh issue! In this issue we have a couple of video game reviews, an interview, an art feature, and a tutorial! We also have two guest writers this month; Azaka Kokutou, and Tokyo Rose. Also give our new blog contributor a merry welcome; welcome Meth Man! Remember, we're always on the lookout for new contributors. Also, we have a HUGE PDF issue for you guys to check out. The special layouts for two of our articles were made by Ng. Thank you for the layouts, they're wonderful! Happy Reading! - The Magazine Team
Welcome From the Team Intro. to the Contributors #1 Name: Jay Alias: Sorrow
Featured Articles Distant #2 Name: Janne Alias: Divi Featured Articles N/A
#3 Alias: Anything Pink
Featured Articles N/A
#4 Name: Tim Alias: Fury
Featured Articles N/A
#5 Name: Rav Alias: Rav
Featured Articles N/A
#6 Name: Mikey Alias: Mikey/Bootz
Featured Articles N/A
#7 Name: Sentiment Alias: Sentiment Featured Articles N/A
#8 Name: Matt Alias: Tormenter
Featured Articles N/A
#9 Name: Sean Alias: Scorcho
Featured Articles N/A
#10 Name: UBA Fatman UBA Alias: UBA Fatman UBA Featured Articles N/A
#11 Name: NarutoGoku Alias: NarutoGoku
Featured Articles Sounds Quality Matters #12 Name: Stuart Alias: Torak Firenze
Featured Articles N/A
#13 Name: P-jay Alias: flayr ♥
Featured Articles N/A
#14 Name: TTRibal Alias: TTRibal
Featured Articles Interview with Eyesick.
#15 Name: Alex
Alias: AgainstAll
Featured Articles Best Albums of 2010
Name: Juan Alias: Meth Man
Featured Articles
Contents Page 1- Front Cover by Tokyo Rose Page 2- A Note From the Team by the Blog Contributors Pages 3-7- Writer's Introduction Pages 8-9- Contents Page
Section: Ng. Pages 10-14- Sound Quality Matters
Section: Layouts Designed by Ng. Articles by Tokyo Rose Pages 15-18- Artist Interviews: Blitz Pages 19-26- Planet Render's 2010 Team Tourney Review
Section: Sorrow. Page 27- Distant
Section: TTRibal Pages 28-33- Interview with Eyesick.
Section: AgainstAll Pages 34-38- The Best Albums of 2010
Section: Bir Page 39- PSD Leak
Section: Azaka Kokutou Pages 40-42- Of Rape and Redemption – Why I'll Forgive Vick Before I Forgive Burgers Pages 43-44- Champions Online [PC] Pages 45-51- Everyday Python Lesson Zero: Befriending the Serpent Pages 52-63- Everyday Python Lesson One - The Basics Pages 64-66- Class of Heroes [PSP] Pages 67-69- Ship Simulator Extremes [PC] Pages 70-71- Civilization V [PC] Pages 72-74- Etrian Odyssey III - The Drowned City [NDS] Pages 75-77- Cradle of Filth - Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa [2010]
Section: Tokyo Rose Pages 78-84- Artist Interviews: Shynobi Pages 85-101- Art Feature: Shynobi Pages 102-104- Oh, Christmas Tree Pages 105-106- Happy New Year Pages 107-108- The Artist's Palette: Pre-historical Art Pages 109-112- The Artist's Palette: The Jomon Period Pages 113-131- Aureus: A Fractal Tutorial Pages 132-148- Celtic Knot: Fractal Tutorial Pages 149-167- Aeris: A Fractal Tutorial Pages 168-185- Libertas: A Fractal Tutorial Page 186- Closing Note
Sounds Quality Matters Ng. Until recently, my view on music quality was similar to most other people. I couldn’t have cared less about the poor quality of torrented music and cheap apple headphones. After getting myself a pair of Sennheiser’s, my understanding of music quality was forever changed. I can completely relate to someone who has never thought twice about how they listen to music and does not want to spend $100 for a pair of headphones (as did I). Some people like that may be enticed to buy expensive headphones because of how they look. However I personally feel sound quality exceeds looks. Here I will look at some popular brands and whether they provide good sound quality, good looks and make sense economically. (Please keep in mind that all the prices I talk about here are in U.S. dollars) Beats by Dr. Dre are all the rage these days. They have brought a new meaning to music for many people. They were made by Dr. Dre to provide good music quality and good looks. They have a very sleek design with a red and black color scheme along with a modern logo. Their advertising is based off the looks of their headphones and the fact they are designed by Dr. Dre for “studio sound quality”. There multitude of headphones range in price from $120 earphones to $450 over-ear headphones. The price tags on these are very high in comparison to other commercial brands like Skullcandy and Sennheiser. Part of the heavy cost comes from the branding and the looks. The music quality itself is not as stellar as you would expect and they tend to break often. To be honest you can get much better quality headphones for much less money. Most of the hype toward this brand is toward the stylish appearance and the people who are buying them are more concerned about that than quality.
Sennheiser, a German brand, is more concerned with sound quality than marketing. Many would agree that they are the best engineered brand and that they provide the best quality. They are much more reliable than Beats so expect these to last a long time. CNET rates most Sennheiser headphones above a 7.5/10 (which is outstanding). Sennheiser has a very large range of prices for their products. You can buy a very good $30 pair of CX 300 earphones or a $1400 pair of Sennheiser HD headphones. Most of their
products are around the $100 area and they are all outstanding quality. I highly recommend this brand for anyone weather they are serious or not about music. You will find something in your price range and it will be outstanding quality.
Bose is another quality brand to buy. They also have great reviews on CNET (mostly above 8/10). Their philosophy is to invest a lot of money in research which leads to quality which leads to profit which they reinvest back into research. Basically they are about having the best technology for their customers. They are a very popular brand across the world. You can buy good earphones for $70 but most of their headphones range from $100 to $500. The prices look like those for Beats by Dr. Dre, but Bose is a much more established brand where you know you are getting 100% quality. Bose headphones will not break easily like some other brands. If you want to spend the money, then this is a good brand to think about.
Skullcandy is a good all-around brand. It is very stylish and comes in a lot of custom designs. They also fit in most people’s price range. Most of their products are from $25-50, but they also offer good quality headphones higher than that. For basic personal use the prices are very good. Their more advanced headphones will not quite have the same quality as other brands top-of-the-line products but they will be for a better in price. In my opinion, Skullcandy’s are great for anyone who thinks of headphones a fashion accessory but wants them for a reasonable price.
Ultimate Ears are also very stylish and provide good sound quality as well. I have never actually worn a pair, but they are very comfortable [looking] and clearly have the ergonomic value that comes with Bose and other top brands. On CNET, most of them have high ratings (around 7-8 out of 10). They come in a wide range of prices based on what you are looking for. They have the most expensive pair of earphones that I have ever seen, the TripleFi 10 ($399), but they also have good buds for $20.
Klipsch is a brand that makes a lot of sound products and headphones are only a fraction of their products. They however are another quality brand that will give you your monies worth. Much like the Ultimate Ears, they are stylish and look comfortable. One thing I notice in all of their earphones is the volume control on the wires. This is something that not every brand provides and it can be very useful. The price range for these is mostly from $50-$100. They do not have anything much cheaper than that. I would recommend Klipsch for anyone who wants comfortable, high quality earphones but is willing to pay a bit more money.
Shure is a brand that makes a lot of microphones but their headphones are good quality as well. They make some very expensive but very high quality headphones and earphones. This is true studio quality,
a lot like Bose. Most of their products are above $100. If you are a music junkie then these are for you. You can get one of their professional line of headphones that provide excellent sound quality. They are not designed as ergonomically as other brands like Bose and they may not be as comfortable. They also have earphones that provide sound quality that surpasses any other brands. Shure is made for people who truly want quality. You will pay a lot more money, but it is well worth it.
When someone says “just be yourself” you tend show a sigh of relief only in terms of falling back to what you already know. However, something interesting happens when you in fact have no sense of “yourself”. Not something like being a follower or anything related to possibly being a doppelganger, but just inherently not being able to create the image of yourself. It’s like a puzzle you can’t solve and for some reason or another it’s never really bothered you. You coast through life implementing what you think would be the norm and never really deviated from it. And after a while it’s all you know, but again comes that instance when you don’t know what it is you want to do and the future seems hazy. Again you retrace and fall back on your normal routine pretending nothing is wrong, but always have that lingering feeling. At this point everything seems rather trite because in one way or another you’ve heard it before, but maybe not expressed. Could it really be possible you’re the only one feeling this? For if someone ever showed any signs of wear they could potentially be scarred in the process by virtue of another human. Gasp.
Tell me a little bit about yourself. My name is Isaac Burton. I am 18 years old and currently attending St. Olaf College in Minnesota. I hope to pursue some career that pertains to the field of digital art, whether it is freelance illustration, or straight up graphic design. Perhaps even just studio art with a digital medium….I’m not sure. How did you first get into art/graphics? Sadly, I don’t have an incredibly unique or interesting story of how this happened. When I was in about 6th grade I used to love to play some silly computer game, star wars republic commando, haha. I got involved with a “clan” in the game, and eventually to a clan website. This was my first real interaction with an internet forum, and naturally to forum signatures. I Began trying to learn the program with help from some other members from the clan, and then moved to various graphics forums learning tutorials and getting critique on my work. Eventually I came across PR. Here I had much more motivation and inspiration to improve, so I just kept working, learning, and developing my style until now. Looking back it’s kind of funny to me to think of how easily I could’ve never been introduced to signatures, or Photoshop, or planetrenders etc… and to think of how not experiencing these things would change who I am today. I really care about digital art and to think that this passion that has come to influence my life in such a drastic way came about simply on the whim of joining a little video game clan and happening across Photoshop is just really amazing to me. I’m sure there’s a moral to be taken from that, but I’m not exactly sure what it is. How would you say your style developed into what it is today? Well, before I ever got into digital art, I really loved drawing and painting. I think the melding of my passion for traditional art, digital art, and for new ideas are the things that have developed my style. I struggled early on to try to incorporate my drawings into my digital work. I guess I just kept trying different things until it just clicked. My style is definitely still in the developmental period though. I add new elements to every piece that I make. I feel that this is a good thing as to be an artist and already have a concrete style at the age of 18 would be quite sad. What would you say is your style today? My style attempts to incorporate vector (vexel) elements and digital painting elements. I usually have black line work with bright, shifting coloring below it. I use a wacom tablet for my coloring, and typically the pentool to make the line work. I think one thing that may set my style apart slightly is the sketchy somewhat organic look to the line work. This occurs because I always use a sketch that I scan into the computer and trace over the lines. Who were your main influences, and who would you recommend learning about/examining the work of? Hm… I’ve never really paid attention to specific artists as much as I probably should. I observe visual art much in the same way that I listen to music. I tend to bounce around from song to song, think about that individual piece, not so much the musician who made it. But to answer the question, I think the illustrations of Julia Somni, Mathiole, and Shadow Chen have been big sources of inspiration for me. How did you first get involved in this community? This was the point in my development where I was still following tutorials in order to make a signature. I first came to PR to get more tutorials and learn new things. I had a friend from that clan that I spoke of earlier who said that the sig makers at PR were really good, and you could only go there if you were one of the best. Obviously he was wrong, but that did make moving here slightly more intimidating, which was probably a good thing in the end. I really began to get involved after I won a few sotw’s and felt
more confident in my own skill. Can you tell us a little bit about the team you're currently in (Air), and the experience of being in a team on PR? Well, currently Air is sort of in a time of stasis, but the time I did spend there was magical. The majority of my time on PR so has been in Moonlight, so it may be easier to talk about that. Being in moonlight was great, the people were really cool. The benefit of joining a team is more than just the appeal of learning new things, but meeting new people, and making connections are really fun and useful later on. When I was in moonlight I talked to, and became friends with, great artists such as departed, and insane’k (paranoid me) and that was really cool. It’s a good way to stay motivated, and gives the time spent making signatures a point. Would you say you've reached any sort of milestone, or is there always more to learn? I would say getting into slashTHREE recently was a pretty major milestone in my “career” as an artist. I don’t think there is only one specific milestone that can be reached, because in the end there is always another mile that can be traveled. In this way there are a few milestones that I think I have reached. The one I would say I’m proudest of would probably be winning some contest a while ago…but that was over a year ago, so I think it’s time for something new to happen for me. Of course there is always more to learn! Even if you live forever and learn everything there is, there is an infinite amount of new things that can be created… Can you show us a few examples of your first works, and your works today? http://ggepicdesigns...llery/#/d36r6be http://ggepicdesigns...llery/#/d36r6qd
What would you say is the hardest progression in Graphics? Going from the stage of following tutorials and just learning the program into the stage of experimenting and eventually developing something new and “your own” is the hardest progression in my opinion. I, like almost all artists, am still struggling with this stage in the process, but although it’s the hardest part, it is also the most fun. What tips would you give to anybody considering starting GFX, or any tips from your experience? Don’t be afraid to experiment. If it looks bad the first 3 times, keep tweaking it until it works. Be sure to embrace all mistakes as experiments and explorations. The more real world advice I can give is to keep a journal or an “idea book” as I call it. This is just a mini notebook where I right down any interesting ideas I have for future pieces. This way I never forget a concept, and when I sit down and am in the mood to make art, I don’t have to stop and think about what to draw. This is really simple, but I think it has helped me out immensely already. Many thanks to EyeSick, and you can check the rest of his work out here: http://ggepicdesigns.deviantart.com/
The best albums of 2010 2010 was a great year for me, as a lot of artists picked up their dust, made a comeback, or generally released something amazing. Deftones made a blast with their album Diamond Eyes and The Dillinger Escape Plan shaking up the stale metalcore scene with Option Paralysis. While some albums were merely a comeback and not as spectacular as they could be, it was definitely a really sweet thing to hear Eminem returning to the world of good rap in his Recovery, Sufjan Stevens finishing his 5 year hiatus with Age of Adz,and Gorillaz putting out 2 albums straight, one of them being recorded on a freaking iPad. But of course, there are good things,bad things and great things. I'll be naming some albums that I believe deserve the spot in the list of greatness of the last year,which happened to finish a decade. I'll try to be as broad as possible in my grip of genres, but mainly I listen to metal and experimental genres, so I might be a bit biased or a bore to people who like the lighter music. I recommend checking out all the bands in this narrow list, and also in the Honorable mentions list that is going to be after all of it. I hope you enjoy. 2010 featured more landmark releases than any year in my recent memory. All of the albums listed screamed excellence, giving our eardrums a new way of feeling good. But like usual, excellence is comparative, and while Kanye West's finesse with the word is related to Nicki Minaj, Sufjan’s excellence is filtered through auto-tune, and Kvelertak masterful mix of all harder styles got it to where it is, the collective effort of The National made it my top choice. And while I can't possibly imagine The National being better at Indie, it's just a niche kind of thing, for they portray the sole process of growing up. While it is certainly making them stand out over any other indie band together with their sound, sometimes it's just depressing how right they are in their musicianship and lyrics; every song has a highlight in the High Violet, whether it's the piano of "England", "do do do do" in "Lemonworld" or the basswork in "Little Faith" - it all keeps you captivated, but doesn't take away from the most important part, the words Berninger is singing. Probably anyone(!) could relate to them, as they really sing about something everyone will go through, went through, or is coming through - adultery, and the parainoicy supporting it. So, without further delay, my Top choices for albums of 2010:
1. The National - High Violet I can't express how much there is to love about this band. If you like the calm or better said, melancholic music, give this a try. I'm a metalhead, but I love this nonetheless, so check this out at all costs. The main topic of this record is about the paranoid and claustrophobic american people of the 21st century. But while he sings in a relatively sad voice, Berninger doesn't really lose his hope of humanity, and showcases that there is one thing that saves you from the modern despair - love. Atleast listen to "Conversation 16" from this album, or "Mr. November" from the Alligator album, I think those songs are simply masterpieces. You can find the stream at the band's myspace, which is here.
2. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy In a lot of music reviews it is possible to see the phrase: "the only thing that matters is the music". It's not always correct, however, and this is one of the examples where it isn't. The latest effort by Kanye, “just a chi-town n*****a with a nice flow", shows us his world through his lens. And strangely enough, on this record, Kanye made himself look as the most interesting person ever. This album shows West as a vulnerable person with his own f*** ups, what a lot of people wanted to see under his legendary and
never ending bravado. Personally, I recommend "Lost in the World", but I'm sure you'll enjoy all other songs aswell if you're into the genre. Stream it right here.
3. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz A lot of people will probably diss me for putting this here, and I can sort of see why - this record was overrated as hell by many. But honestly, when you think of it as experimental pop, what's there not to like? Look at this album as a portrait of the guy. This is the sound of his freedom, if freedom could make melodies. But the strange thing is, he was closer to screwing around (autotune? come on.) than to really trying,and yet, he achieved his goal. Recommended song: "Impossible Soul", but please listen to this with an open mind. Listen to the album.
4. Deftones - Diamond Eyes This is yet another album by the band that is actually great. What Deftones failed to achieve in the selfnamed LP after their masterpiece White Pony, they achieve in ths album. This work provides a unified sound of the band, instead of single highlights, just like White Pony. The sound you hear on this record is the sound of both sides of Deftones: the metallic, sadistic, and the sensible and melodic. Particular highlights: "CMND/CTRL", "You've Seen the Butcher", "976-EVIL". Go over to the band's myspace to check out some songs on the album.
5. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis This is quality mathcore we're talking about. If you say you like mathcore, and you don't know this band yet, then you're missing out on the best. This is the best mathcore record I've got a grab of in years. There's a fair share of melodic and just rough tracks here, and while you might not actually be a fan of the genre, it appeals to metalcore and plain metal lovers. Recommended song : "Gold Teeth on a Bum", you can find all the songs in the album streaming at their myspace.
6. Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini What Opeth was and is to death metal, Enslaved is to black metal. They did a tremendous effort this time, and with albums like this, they're definitely metal legends. And while it might be too extreme for the unprepared, the technical side of the album is amazing and shouldn't be looked over. By all means check out "Giants" if you're anything into black metal or want to start out with that. You can do so over here.
7. Anberlin - Dark is the way, Light is a place With the Floridian band releasing 3 fail-proof albums in a row, it's safe to say that their latest album is nothing different. It might not be as influential as "Cities" or catchy as the "New Surrender", but this album is a real grower. It has a lot of subtle hooks and melodies that a lot of people will enjoy.Albeit the album is far from perfect it's definitely something worth checking out. I recommend "Impossible" since it's the catchiest song, but the album has a lot more to offer, and check that here.
8. Kvelertak - Kvelertak There isn't a debut album in 2010 that shows more potential than this band. They can do all of the
extreme and hard sounding genres in one song, and still make it sound nice and natural. They utilize their 3 guitarists to the fullest to create a thick and heavy sound, and their music is just enjoyable, since it does feel like they made this album because they love what they do. Also, a bit of a homage to rock'n'roll and classical music can be seen here, with some Jimi Hendrix riffs utilized pretty nicely, and with the singer not actually screaming a lot. In this ultimately fun hardcore act; he is just singing in a high-pitched, nihilistic kind of voice more suitable for early black metal bands than anything. Honestly, I've got absolutely no idea which song to recommend. The entire album is fun. It's a shame that their myspace only has 3 songs, but do listen to them.
9. Arcade Fire - Suburbs Funeral changed indie. It was way before Illinois of Sufjan Stevenz, and nobody knew about Michigan before Illinois anyway. But, with Win Butler's achievement, everybody expected more, so Neon Bible was taken excessively critical especially by the fanbase. And this is what the album is actually about! The frontman sounds angry people even enjoyed Funeral, and doesn't approve of the belittling tactics of the criticism pushed on Neon Bible. And while he might have sounded as a grumpy old man doing it, he actually doesn't, because Suburbs is an improvement even from Funeral, as the very best songs still show that magic coming through the years. Recommended songs: "Suburban War", "Sprawl II", "Empty Room", all of which are available on the band's myspace.
10. Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty This is an album where you don't have to be a hip-hop extraordinaire fan to notice: this is one of the top. Big Boi doesn't actually go experimenting, he doesn't try to shape the artform; he is using all the old tricks people were doing before him, but he's doing it so good that the listener is bound to remember exactly why were those tricks actually appealling before. And of course, while this record features upwards of 11 different slang words for blowjob, it doesn't get any worse, since those tracks transcend the fact they are about blowjobs. Recommended track: "Tangerine". It's the blowjob track, but it's an awesome one at that. Oh and, listen to all of it after clicking thiscatchy text.
So, that's that. Now onto the Honorable Mentions list, which will probably have a lot of EPs, or albums that just didn't have the space. I could really do a TOP50 list and still have some bands I'd feel sorry for not putting, but it would get too long then, so the Honorable Mentions list will have less reasoning and more listing. You shouldn't let yourself think for even one moment that bands below don't deserve the best praise. Honorable Mentions: Skrillex - Scary monsters and Nice Sprites While this is certainly not a classic in any way, this is a definite party starter with the mix of Electro, House and Dubstep. Few could do it better, chems not included. Funeral For a Friend – The Young and Defenseless This is what the band was working on in their last few years - to have a heavier sound. The post hardcore band finally did what was expected of them in this heavy, yet catchy and accessible album featuring the screams of the drummer long time fans don't even remember anymore. Trophy Scars - Darkness, Oh Hell
This record has ridiculous amounts of depth invested in the sound. Every second is nuanced masterfully, much thanks to the perfect production and mixing. Listen to "Sad Stanley" a few times to get what I mean here. Black Milk – Album of the Year This is what rap is built on - raw ambition. And while it's not neccessarily enough this time around, this was never supposed to be the ultimately best, as stated in some of the tracks and skits on this album. Maps and Atlases - Perch Patchwork Great, a math-rock band went pop. And it is actually great, because they managed to pull it off pretty well, making this one of the more important works for them as artists. Adebisi Shank - This is the Second Album of a Band Called Adebisi Shank Oh Ireland, you never cease to amaze me! It's definetely an entertaining listen, and has a lot of melody to it, but yet it is fueled by randomness. How else can I give you a reason why one of the songs on this album is called "(
)" ?
Frank Turner – Rock & Roll "And now who'd have thought that something as simple as rock 'n' roll would save us all?" - claims the very first track of this 4 track short EP. Nonetheless, you can see Frank being one of "us" - normal people in this album. Though it does kind of serve as an appendix to his previous work. Kids and Explosions - Shit Computer I like mashups. And this is a pretty interesting one, since all of it is layered and textured really densily. This is an album for your headset though, it doesn't have this sort of effect on the stereo. Here you can find the streaming, and buy the album, or get it for free at the same place Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles II With their second self named album the Toronto based duo showcases an obvious talent at naming, and a more mature and defined sound. On this album, their music broadened, and with that, they become more consistent and listenable. The only thing that scares me - it's gonna hit hipster clothing stores hard. Robyn - Body Talk With this work unleashed, Robyn's place as the queen of electro-pop is no longer within doubts. While I respect Lady Gaga for what she does with her catchy tracks, Robyn shows better execution and consistency with her Body Talk. Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma This is the most consistent record by FlyLo. All the songs flow together, and incredibly enough, maintain their individuality. Everything you'd want from electronic music is here, mixed with fair amounts of jazz and hip-hop. Deer Hunter - Halcyon Digest This is a very well made record. The only drawback is that it takes quite some time to actually crack this album open, so that you will like it even more than you did before. This is probably the best example of an album "growing on you".
The Tallest Man On Earth - The Wild Hunt This album is no doubt one of the best of the year. It's not the most appealing to me, but I can't deny it deserving the 1st place in most lists. This is the perfection of folk, ladies and gentlemen. I hope everyone enjoyed 2010 to their fullest, as it looks like 2011 is gonna be amazing for music addicted people like me, with The Republic of Wolves releasing their best album already, and a lot of bands having release dates for promising EPs and albums. And let's face it, those 2010 releases listed above will probably shape up the next decade, so I recommend being prepared for the best. And remember, it's much more enjoyable to listen than to read, since writing about music is pretty close to dancing about architecture. So let your eardrums have a blast!
PSD LEAK Thank you Bir for this month's PSD Leak!
Here are the download links: http://www.mediafire...55wxr9oxlt8tyk6 http://www.mediafire...e03o84rt87fcmei http://www.mediafire...y2ao5y0vcbqcig6 http://www.mediafire...65gpr9s5xhbil12 Thank you once more Bir for your contribution!
In my last blog post, I alluded to my dislike for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (I call him Burgers because of the dislike I have for him; it's similar to the reason I call BigFazeek “Mayor McCheese”) and to the alleged sexual assault he was involved in 2010. Burgers is one of the two prominent NFL figures in this year's playoffs with legal “histories” who were, if one were to believe the media, playing for their own personal redemption. The other player, Michael Vick, released earlier last year from his 21 month sentence in federal prison (and subsequent 2 months of home confinement) for his involvement in a dog-fighting ring. Both of these players “lost” in the playoffs (Vick in the AFC championships, Burgers in the Super Bowl), the apparently sole metric that the sports media apparently measured how far these two men had come from their respective scandals, and this is a point of contention for me, and thus this article was born. Before we get into my opinions on the matter, a brief history of the two men's “legal experiences” would be helpful for those who don't like to follow athletes off of the field (or those who don't give a crap about sports at all; this article won't involve the sport that much). For the sake of brevity, we will ignore the allegations Roethlisberger faced of sexual assault in 2008 and only focus on the allegations he faced of sexual assault in 2010. In 2010, police in Milledgeville, Georgia were investigating an alleged sexual assault on a 20 year old that claimed that Roethlisberger forcibly had sex with her after Roethlisberger's bodyguard allegedly “encouraged” the woman in question to do several shots of alcohol. Because there was not enough semen to conduct a rape kit in the hospital, as well as several other factors (including the victim saying (through a letter) that the media exposure a criminal trial would cause would cause “too "intrusive" of a personal experience”), the district attorney announced that charges would not be filed against Roethlisberger. In the case of Vick, federal investigators discovered evidence of dog fighting activities at a property belonging to Vick while serving a search warrant regarding one of his relatives. Vick and three others were indicted on federal and local (Virginia) felony charges. Prosecutors in the federal trial indicated that they planned to use provisions of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a federal law that provides more severe penalties for crimes performed in or by an “ongoing criminal organization”. Vick and the other men subsequently took plea bargains in exchange for shorter jail sentences. Pleading guilty to “Conspiracy to Travel in Interstate Commerce in Aid of Unlawful Activities and to Sponsor a Dog in an Animal Fighting Venture", a federal judge sentenced Vick to 23 months in a federal penitentiary. In 2007, the state of Virginia filed separate charges against Vick for his involvement in the dogfighting right, using the admittance of guilt in the federal case as the primary evidence in this case. In 2008, Vick pleaded guilty to dog fighting and received a sentence of three years in prison (which was suspended due to good behavior (and payment of a $3500 fine)) Vick was released in late 2009. Now, exposition out of the way, we can get to the title of this article. I hold no love for either of the two aforementioned quarterbacks, on or off of the field, but the fact remains that of the two, the only one I truly detest is Burgers. Now, I consider Vicks actions stupid, irresponsible, and cruel, however one fact remains that indisputably tips the scales for me. Vick committed his crime against animals, Roethlisberger committed his (unpunished) crime against humans.
Now, don't get me wrong, I like animals, they are mostly fluffy, and the ones that don't want to kill me are pretty spiffy, but as a human being interested in the well-being of my own species I take the rather specio-centric opinion of "humans > others". Therefore the probable rape of 2 humans outweighs the definite murder of a few dozen non-humans. A rather cold stance to be sure, but a stance that I stand firmly behind. There are of course other reasons for my greater dislike of Burgers over Vick, the second most important one after the human-dog issue is the fact that Burgers got away with his crimes, whereas Vick in the end got arrested, convicted, and faced 5 years in prison (serving only about 40% of that). Burgers got suspended for six games (later reduced to four) and lost four game checks, whereas Vick went completely bankrupt and to this day, most of his salary goes to pay various fines and court fees. (save for a little money he gets to save to live (100K if memory serves; I'm not weeping for him, but still burgers makes more as a rapist) and some money to put his kids though school). Killing dogs almost completely destroyed Vick's life, raping women made Burgers miss a few games. A brief aside...Burgers f***ing did it... and while he didn't need some glove-not-fittin'-acquitin' layer action (and even if the cases went to trial he wouldn't have needed naive judges and lyric-spitting defense lawyers to win in all likelihood), it's fairly obvious that he was quite guilty If you think otherwise you are in the camp that will not be swayed by the arguments of someone who can be best described as "an emo bitch with anger issues", so I'm not going to waste my time like that. The rest of this article (and the parts before this, for that matter), assume Burger's guilt. Deal with it. (by the by, who would have gotten a more overt OJ Simpson reference? I feel old...) Another issue I have that makes me more biased towards Burgers was the reaction after the incidents. Both men initially denied their charges, however Vick in the end decided to take responsibility for not hiding his crime well enough. (my views of legal justice and the American judicial system are best saved for another "rainy night article", to keep it short, my view is that if the judicial system comes into the picture at all, you're doing crime wrong). Burgers keep his plea of innocence despite the 2010 incident never reaching the courts, and that's to be expected, as he needed to avoid what layers call "admitting to a f***ing crime". That's all I have to say on that matter, Vick gained respect from me by taking responsibility for his actions whereas Burgers lost respect in my eyes by not. Vick changed from his incident (or at least, I believe), becoming something much better than the foolish man who decided that just because his family killed dogs for sport, that he would do the same. As for Burgers, Terry Bradshaw believes he's a changed man, and despite Terry Bradshaw being the greatest deductive mind to never come out of a novel penned by the great Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, I still stand by my assessment that Burgers has
Never has lived a more righteous deducer of truth. Hilarious pictures of morons aside, this issue deeply saddens me when I think about it. See, in five years, Vick will still be remembered as a "dogkiller", greatly in part to the likely actions of not-easily-swayed activist groups like PETA, and maybe he'll even draw more fire from some terrorist organizations, like Greenpeace (Pretty sure they do other things than assault fishermen and brutally murder/maim loggers, so who knows?), even if he has more good seasons. Roethlisberger is one Lombardi trophy away from having the mass of the populous completely forget about both incidents; hell, most people have forgotten with Burgers LOSING in the Super Bowl. But maybe that's just the way we are as a race and in any case it's not within my powers (...of writing blogs that no one read) to change human behavior. All I know is that in the NFL world, there are two quarterbacks who have made life mistakes; one of whom I would give a second chance, and one whom I wish would be hit with a truck.
So, MMOs. I don't play them a lot. The last one I played before CO was Ragnarok Online...yeah...so my perspective of MMOs is pretty limited, so that's how I'm going into to this review. (well...I did try the demo for Eve Online...until I got griefed out of the game. The story of CO is as follows: BLAH BLAH BLAH Evil Plan, BLAH BLAH BLAH fake Superman-like person, BLAH BLAH BLAH Fight Evil, BLAH BLAH SUPER POWERS....it's pretty generic, but...it's a MMO, I really don't care about the story, that's not why I play(I play for my guild), and as such I'm not going to hold the bland story and forgettable characters in my review. Now, when you create your character you get to choose from a set of "Archtypes" that have unique roles in the game that are fairly common (healers, tanks, DPS, and so on), with a few archtypes needing to be unlocked via a micro-transaction. (Most notably the class that is pretty much....the Deadpool class) After you pick your archtype, you go into the character creator, which is so amazingly complex that you can spend quite a bit of time to make a character, and quite the multitude of characters can be created. Graphically, the game is very nice for a free-to-play MMO, with a nice cell-shaded design astetic that works nicely for the game and the city design (and non-city design) is intriguing to the eye...when you're spending 10 minutes flying to your next mission. All in all, the game is beautiful.
Oh, by the way, I did forget to mention, the game is free to play, and isn't following the traditional Korean formula, with end-game scenarios being reachable without having to spend money on microtransactions. There is also a subscription model (including the offer of a lifetime subscription for 300 dollars US) if you wish for the extra frills that come with the model. Back on topic, in terms of Audio, while some of the cities could have used a better soundtrack (the New Orleans analog could have used some more flavorful music), the music is still quite good....voice acting, not so much. I suppose if you like cheesy acting, then it's good. Now, gameplay...it's a MMO. You use your DPS abilities if you are a DPS, you do your provoking abilities if you're a defender, and so on, the fact of the matter is that most of the game isn't that hard, and you only need parties in a few rare missions, however, the easy that you blow through missions...makes you feel like a superhero, so maybe this was by design. Either way, I enjoy the gameplay, so that's a positive mark for me. As with ALL MMOs, you need a guild for you to have any serious fun with the game, but soloing is indeed possible. And that's all I really got about the game. If you have time to kill, it's well worth the 0 dollar price tag, and if you dislike MMOs, this won't change your mind.
So, I've created a new series with a SLIGHTLY more SEOed name. These few articles will be a basic introduction to the Python scripting language, a lightweight language that can be used to solve many problems. So without any further ado, let's begin. Now, in this lesson we will be covering the basics on thing such as: "What is Python". After we answer that somewhat important question, we will move onto installing Python onto your computer. After that, we will move into how to write and execute Python files. And as the final part of this pre-lesson lesson (hence the name lesson zero), we will do the generic "Hello world" program that the majority of programming lessons/books start with. What is Python The short answer to that question is "Python is a lightweight, high-level interpreted scripting language". Now, that might not make sense to everyone, so let's break it down. Lightweight in this case means that a Python program can be written with a minimal amount of effort and with few lines of code, that's the easy part to explain. High-level simply means you can accomplish advanced tasks using the language. The "interpreted scripting language" bit is a bit more confusing, and requires an explanation. If I may use a very broad lens for a moment, there are two types of coding languages in the world: interpreted and compiled, the difference between the two is how they are "ported" to your computer. Compiled languages require "compiling", a process which produces machine code (which your computer can understand) from the source code that you write (which the computer cannot understand). The machine code that is produced will only work on computers with the same "architecture" as your computer (the same type of CPU with the same OS). An example of a language like this would be C++ or Obj-C Interpreted languages by the "literal" definition are languages that are "compiled at runtime", this means that the compilation process takes place as the program is run, rather than before. Examples of such languages would be PHP, Perl, and Ruby. This said, most modern "Interpreted languages" however use a "middle-man" file with some minor system-independent compiling done, called a "virtual machine code" file. This virtual machine code is then interpreted at runtime in the same way as interpreted languages. (if you're wondering why the "middle-man", the short answer is to get more speed out of the program; there's more to it, but that's beyond the scope of this article). Examples of such languages are Python and Java. Both types of interpreted languages have the advantage of being able to be run on any system that has the proper support for them (ie, the Python interpreter installed or the Java Runtime Environment installed) without making a specific version of the file for operating system until the program is run. This has the advantage of platform independence (you can simply download the code and run it, without having to compile it yourself), it has the disadvantage of not being anywhere near as fast as compiled languages (hence why C++ is still the gold standard for game development, despite the recent popularity of Java) THE PRECEDING MUST BE TAKEN WITH A GRAIN OF SALT, remember that. For example, Java (as well as many other languages) can be BOTH a compiled language and an interpreted language, depending on how you want to distribute the product (you can make .exes from java files the same way as you can make .exes from C++, or you can leave it as the "middle-man" file (called bytecode in Java). Python is strictly interpreted though (while there are methods for making .exe files from Python code, they are all
grossly inefficient.), but it is important to know the difference in the two languages as well as their strengths and weaknesses. Installing Python on Your Computer We will be using Python 3.x for these tutorials, any version of Python 3 will work, older or newer. For instance, the latest stable release of Python is 3.2...on Windows and Mac, the latest stable PRECOMPILED version of Python 3 on *buntu Linux distros is 3.1.2, if you want to use Python 3.2 on a Linux machine, you would have to compile the source yourself (ironically, you need to compile code to run code on an interpreted language. However, if you don't like waiting a hour or so for source code to compile, 3.1.2 will work fine. (as a matter of fact, the computer I am writing this on, a Linux machine, will be using 3.1.2) Installing on Windows/Mac: There are installer executables available on http://www.python.org/download/ I'm not going to explain how to run an installer on these operating systems. Linux Package Manager The easiest option for you is to just use whatever the latest version you can find in your package manager and to use that. At the time of this writing, the latest compiled release that I see is 3.1.2. If you have a higher version (...which is unlikely if you use a *buntu distro, since I checked on my Kubuntu machine), then great, use that, but 3.1.2 will work for everything we need to do in these lessons. Source Code If you are dead-set 3.2, you will have to compile the source. I'm not going to spend the time to explain this, that said, if you wish to try and compile and are inexperienced with it, Python does not require much to compile correctly (only a C++ compiler, which you can install if you get an error), so here are the bare-bones instructions: -Download tarball from http://www.python.org/download/ -Decompress the tarball with whatever unzipping program you use. -In a shell window (I used Bash, but the commands should be the same in a c-shell or normal Borne shell), cd to the unzipped directory -Type: ./configure (the . is important, remember it) -Type: make -Type: make test -Type: sudo make install -Enter your password -Wait If you truly wish to compile it, and the above steps produce errors, leave a comment to this article, and I'll try and help. Editing files Since Python requires no compiler, you can use any basic text editor to create a python file (for those Linux users who want to be retro, open a shell and type "vi example.py" to use the most basic text editor on your entire machine and bask in the confusion of how to use it before going to a normal text
editor(":q" is the quit command for vi when you get stuck)) This said, using notepad (or whatever your equivalent is) is not recommended, since you will not have one of the most basic error-checking tools: Syntax highlighting. Syntax highlighting is when a text editor highlights key words in a programming (or scripting, or markup) language in color to allow you to easily see your program's flow (as well as any breaks in that flow (errors)). For Windows users, I recommend a program called Notepad++( http://notepad-plus-plus.org/ ).
Notepad++ (if you were curious, the image above shows part of the "random number" standard library) For Mac...I really don't know, not at all familiar with Mac, I found a few editors via a Google search ("mac programming editors"), but have no real personal experience with any of them. In terms of Linux, if you want a GUI based editor, that all depends on the environment you use. The two environments I've used most often (and as such have used many editors on are) are GNOME and KDE. For GNOME, your default editor should be gedit. It's definitely usable, but I've found things I've liked better. For the KDE environment, the default text editor will likely be Kate, and I've kinda fallen in love with this editor, so much so that I'm using it to write this article right now:
Kate If you don't care about having a GUI, emacs is my favorite non-gui editor that offers extended functionality. I mean, even much simpiler editors such as vi (vi is the basic shell-text editor that is automatically on EVERY Linux and Unix installation) has syntax highlight, but emacs offers the most userfunctionality.
emacs Running a Python program You CAN run a python file simply by double-clicking on it, and it WILL work, but if it is a text-based application (the kind that we will be doing mostly), the computer will run the program so fast you likely won't see it (since GUI-based programs use controlled infinite loops, that isn't a problem.), so the best way to run Python programs is from a command prompt on Windows or a shell in OSX/Linux. If you use the installers for OSX and Windows, they should automatically set it up so that you can run Python programs with the console command "python [programNameHere]", if you are using a linux distro, you likely have 2 versions of Python, Python 2.x (used by your system) and Python 3.x. Because of the OSes use of Python, typing "python [programNameHere]" will run the program in Python 2.x (and with the differences in the language, will result in an exception being thrown (programming jargon for "an error will happen"). In Linux distros, assuming the Python distros are correctly installed, invoking a program in Python 3 follows the syntax "python3 [programNameHere]". So, for example, let's say we have a program called "hello.py" On our Linux/Unix/OSX machine, we store the file in the home directory of the current user (use the command cd ~ to get there on Linux(not so sure on OSX)) On our Windows machine, we store the file in our C:/ directory. On the Windows and OSX machines, we would type the following in a console window after going to the right directory: python hello.py On the Linux machine, after going to the correct directory, we would type: python3 hello.py IDLE and the Python Console Typing "python" ("python3") in a console window will start the Python console, which you can use to test out Python code in real time. Any commands you type will execute as if it were in a .py file. In the Windows release (and perhaps the OSX release; need confirmation for this), a program called IDLE is included with the Python installation. It is, in essence, the Python console with more features. (IDLE also comes with a text editor you can use to edit Python files, if you like) The Python Console also contains the extensive interactive help directory for the Python distro currently installed on the computer, and is useful when you don't wish to search the internet for certain information about Python. It is a very handy tool to use when you don't know what a certain function does or what a specific keyword means.
The Interactive Help in the Python Console Hello World - Cause it's tradition. Well, as almost all introductory programming tutorials/books start with one, let's make the first "program" you make the generic "Hello world", program. (hell, this is "lesson zero", anyways, so no need to rush into actual programming) Open whatever editor you use and type the following:
(note that I use screenshots for the source code to preserve syntax highlight, in the future for more complex programs, I will provide copy-pastable code at the bottom of the article) Now run the program. You should see the text "Hello world" appear. Note how simple this program was, being 1 line long, and still running, for examples sake, here is the same program, written first in C++ and then in Java:
C++
Java Hopefully this relative simplicity will endear you to this language in the future lessons. Next time Now that we have ourselves set up, we can start to really start learning how to program in Python. In the next lesson we will cover Variables in Python, math conventions, the importance of whitespace in Python, decision blocks, loops, functions, and start to introduce classes. Thanks for reading.
Intros are stupid, let's go.
To GUI or not to GUI In the previous lesson we learned about how to configure your computers to run Python files and concluded with creating the standard "hello world" program that is so common in the start of programming tutorials. This program was completely run in a shell window (Windows calls it's shell a "Command Prompt") rather than by implementing some sort of Graphical User Interface (GUI) such as a message box or some other sort of dialog, and to be honest, that's how most of the programs in this tutorial series are going to be made. The goal of this series is to teach Python that would be useful to YOU, the programmer, where a textual interface would be much easier to use than a graphical one. The convention "GUIs are for convenience, shells are for speed" can be used in this scenario, both for programming and use. GUI programming requires more code generally than console (shell-based) programming. I WILL cover BASIC GUI design in one of the later lessons, but it will be for more for the sake of completion ism. To be blunt, while I like Python, if you're implementing a full-scale designed GUI for a program....you shouldn't be doing it in Python. Anyways, that little aside done, all you need to keep in mind is that for the majority of these lessons, we will be making programs that are not graphical. Lesson 2 - The Basics In this lesson we will start by covering some basic things you'll need to know about Python. First, statements are delimited by newlines. In layman's terms, any statement you make (for example a = 2 or name = "Rachel") will be considered to be complete when you press enter and go to another line. Thus, things done to "neaten" code in other languages that involve spanning a statement over multiple lines will not work here.(well...there is a continuation sequence...but don't use it, read below) For instance, In Java, statements are delimited with semi-colons (;), therefore a statement can be stretched to many lines, such as this:
While line continuation is possible in Python, and recommended in the "Python style guide", in my experience, continuation adds more confusion to your code than it saves in "formatting for
devices that display less than 80 characters per line" (the reasoning in the style guide for the use of continuation chars). Most editors will line-wrap these days and to be blunt, if you're editing your Python code in something that can't display more than 80 chars in a line, then you're doing it wrong and should consider programming on something a bit larger than your iPhone. The style guide can be found here, if you want to read it. Indentation Determines Blocks
Now, in most programming languages, there are delimiters that divide blocks of code, for instance, in VB, an If statement is ended with an End If statement, in Java, blocks are encapsulated in-between braces ({}). In these languages, while it is considered good practice to indent these lines of code for the sake of readability, they will still function the same, the following two blocks of Java do the same thing:
However, in Python, indentation IS the delimiter to a block, so the following code in Python, similar to the above Java code will produce two separate results for the blocks:
The first block will work fine, the second block will throw an exception (programmer jargon for "have an error"):
This leads to the next point, TABS ARE NOT SPACES. With indentation being important in the language, it should be noted that tabs are not the same thing as spaces, and you should never mix the two, and most programming editors offer an option to "auto-convert" tabs you enter (when you press the tab button) into spaces:
Well, those are the two important formatting conventions you need to be aware of in Python, so we can now get into actual programming now. Variables in Python Variables are arguably the most important thing in modern programming, allowing for more user-friendly addressing of memory, whereas before the advent of variables, one would have to refer to things by the memory address the items was on, making things much less "novicefriendly". Python is no exception to this, and as such, variables will be a part of every USEFUL program you write, so let's get familiar with them. Primitives are...primitive
A confusing sub-topic name, I know. To properly explain what this means, let me first explain the concept of variables in another, more "conventional" language, Java. In Java, a variable can hold one of two things: a primitive or the location of another memory cell. A primitive can be an integer, such as 2 and 3, or a char, like "a" or "b", and the location of another memory cell can refer to many things, most usually the location of an instance of a class (we'll get to that later; if you're unfamiliar with objects and classes, just keep what I'm about to say in mind for the future), for example, an instance of the String class with the value of "string" in it. Now, this primitive/memory cell location model is shared with many other languages. In Python, you will not be using traditional primitives so often as you will be using references to classes, as most of the primitive types have classes that can be used in their stead (most languages have classes for the primitives as well, but you'll use them more in Python than these other languages), to put the main concept into one line: variables in python are pointers to points in memory, rather than "things that hold data". To be honest, for the scope of these tutorials, you don't need to really worry about stuff like this, but it is an interesting aspect of the language, so I thought I would include it. No Declarations Needed
In Python you can initialize a variable without declaring it, what this means is that you can just assign a variable name a value without declaring what type of variable it is. This might be a
jarring concept for some programmers familiar with Java and other languages where that is not allowed and all variables must be declared before they are initialized. For instance, in Java the line "a = 5;" requires the line "int a;"; variables must be declared b before they can be used. In Python, the statement "a = 5" is a valid statement in it's own right, with no need to declare the variable. Therefore, you only create variables at the moment you assign them (the term "assign them" is the wrong way to say it, but I'm using it for the sake of clarity; it is easier to conceptualize than if I were to say "when you create a pointer pointing to the data") a value. You cannot reference a variable that does not have a value, so the following will throw an exception:
Initilizing and assignment follows the traditional programming convention of "variable = valueToBeSet". An Aside
I'm explaining variables wrong, and I'm doing that on purpose. The topic of variables in Python is for the most part relatively complicated for beginner, and regardless of that: It REALLY will not matter in your programs for you to know the specifics of variables (at least any program I'd teach you how to make) aside from "this is how you assign them" and "they need a value to be used", and that's all I have to say on this matter. Determining the Type of a Variable
The type of a variable depends on what it is assigned. If you assign the variable "a" the value of "test", it will be considered a string, if you then re-assign the variable the value of 5, it will be an integer. There is no need to type cast to assign a variable a different type of date (since variables in Python don't hold date per say). So the following is perfectly fine:
So determining what a variable is and can be used in is a matter of knowing what it is assigned,
so practice good penmanship and have your assignments in easy to read spots. Anyways, the types of data that can be pointed at by a variable in Python are as follows(well, at least the ones that are important to US): Booleans (True or False) Numbers (Broken into 4 types: Integers (1, 2, 3, etc), Floats (1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc), Fractions (1/2, 1/4, 1/8, etc), and complex numbers (-3+2i, 19+2i, etc)) String (Immutable sequences of characters) Bytes/Byte Arrays (example: a .jpg image) Lists (ordered sequences of values) Tuples (immutable lists(Immutable means they can not be changed without creating a new object)) Sets (unordered lists) Dictionaries (unordered sets of key-value pairs) There are other types, but the above are the ones you'll use most often. Comments
Something I glazed over before, comments in Python are lines preceded with a hash tag (#), which btw was called a hash tag before they became more widly known as the "Twitter Hash Tag". There are other ways to comment, but the hash tag is the easiest. Remember to only comment things that would be useful to someone else looking at the program; being told that "a = 1" "assigns 1 to a" isn't a very useful comment Now we move onto one of the most important topics in any programming language: Control of Flow The two types of flow of control tools in modern program, decision blocks and repetition blocks (loops) are of course a part of Python, but before we get to the blocks themselves, we need to briefly discuss the basic operators. I've glossed over the basic mathematical operators for the sake of brevity, I would hope you understand +, -, *, and / work (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, respectively), there is also a built-in power operator, **, so what would be mathematically written as 2^2 (2 squared) would be written 2 ** 2. The modulus operator is here(%), but is rarely used. Modulus returns the remainder in integer devision, so for example, 5 % 2 would return the remainder of 5 / 2, which is 1. There are also the single statement assignment variables in Python, such as +=, -=, and so on, but in general it is best to not use them for clarity of code, x = x + 2 isn't that much longer than x += 2, and is less confusing to read when you are quickly skimming through code. The logical operations are fairly simple to understand. < and > are less than and greater than,
respectively and are self explanatory, x > 1 will be True if x is greater than 1. == is the shallow logical comparison, it will check if the values of two memory cells are the same, so x == 1 will only be true if x is 1. >= and <= are the "or equal to" sets for greater than and less than, so x >= 1 will be True if x is either 1 or anything greater than 1. The != is not equal to, and only returns True if the values are different, so x != 1 is only true if x is not 1. There are also the compound logic statements of And and Or, I have no particular desire to teach high-school algebra topics, so google "truth tables" if you want to understand the specifics of it. The general idea is that in an And statement, all values must be true for the statement to be true, otherwise it is false whereas in an or statement, all values must be false for the statement to be false, and anything else makes the statement true. Decisions
Decisions in Python are broken down into two distinct types, If blocks and Try blocks. Try blocks are used in exception handling (that's the handling of unexpected errors in the program), while the if block is used for all flow control decision statements (some other languages, such as Java and VB have a third decision structure called a switch, which is used for simplifying certain scenarios, but there is no such construct in Python, all non-looping, non-error flow control decisions are made by If blocks.) if/(elif)/(else)
So, let's just get an example shown, and go from there:
Now, all if blocks start with the word "if" then 1 space. After this one space, a logical expression is entered, that is, an expression that evaluates to a boolean, true or false. So something like 2 == 2 is a logical expression, whereas 2 + 2 is not. After the logical expression, you need to insert a colon (:), and then go to the next line. If you are using a programming editor, it will likely autoindent for you, if not, you have to indent manually, remember what I said before about tabs not being the same thing as spaces when if you do this. This is the first example you have of the indentation defining where blocks of code are, anything on the same indentation level of will be considered to be in the same block, so the print("will not
execute") is in it's own block, started with the 4 spaces in front of the print, and ended when a line with different indentation, in this case the elif statement. That said, let's explain the code more. The block of code in the block under the if statement is executed if the logical expression associated with it is true, the next statement after the if block is an elif statement, which is short for else if, this statement allows for multiple branches for an if block, therefore the structure is the same as the if statement, it starts with elif, then a space, then a logic expression, then a colon. On the next line, after indentation, you write the block to be executed. After the elif block, we reach the else block, this block is executed if none of the other if statements trigger. This block can be omitted if you wish for nothing to be executed in the event that all the if/elif statements are false. If you've ever programmed before, you'll be fine with Pythons implementation of this common structure, if you're new, you should play around (with just making files or using IDLE, if you have Windows), because there will be an if/else/(elif) block in the overwhelming majority of programs you write as most programs require decisions to be made. Try
Now, suppose you wrote this line of code: print(5 / 0) As some of you more computer or math oriented people might have figured out, that won't work, because you cannot divide by zero; the answer is "undefined" (which most computers don't really like to represent), therefore if you were to run this code, you will get an error, and this will be sent back to you:
Now, this above line displays something that is called "throwing an exception", when the Python interpretor finds a line of code that would cause an error and sends a "message" (exception) out that signifies that an error has occurred. If the program has code in place to handle these exceptions (called "catching an exception"), then this error handling code will execute. However, if the code does not have any error checking code, the program will simply crash. There are a few ways to handle errors, but the simplest way (and thus the way I use most) is to use a try block, allow me to give an example:
(a note, the try block was one of the elements changed from Python 2.x to Python 3.x, so there is a different syntax to writing one of these in 3 than there was in 2) All try blocks begin with the statement try:, and inside the block below the try, you type the code that you think may cause an error to occur, and if such an error occurs, the code under a relevant except block executes, which except block (you can have as many except blocks as you want/need) depends on the value after the except (and a space), this is the name of the type of error you wish to catch (and you can define custom exceptions, but that is well beyond the scope of this writing), and generally you gain this information from finding an error in your program, such as the ZeroDivisionError thrown from the (5 / 0) line. A list of all the built-in exceptions of Python 3 can be found here Now, after the name of the exception is declared you type "As" and then a variable name, e is considered the generic one. The variable will contain the information about the error so that you can include it into your program.AN IMPORTANT NOTE, you can use the same variable for all of the except blocks, as the information will only be assigned at the time of an error. After the variable (and the required colon), you can put whatever error handling code you want to put in the block underneath the except statement. Once this code executes, the code in the optional finally block will ALWAYS execute (unless you have no finally block). This all said, the best way to use try blocks is in moderation, you should only use them when absolutely needed, on lines of code where an exception may occur. In theory, you could put your entire program in a try block, but that would defeat the purpose of a try block (allowing your program to continue after an error). Also, before you put something into a try block think to yourself "is there a way to design this to not need the try block?", if the answer is yes, then do it. Also note that errors generally occur when users input incorrect data, if you're writing a small program that only you yourself will use, then error handling won't be as important as if you were making a program to be distributed on the Internet. With half of the flow of control functions covered, let's move to the concept of loops. Repetition
When faced with repetitive tasks, countless lines of code can be saved by using a repetition flow control, also known as a loop. There are two loops in Python, the while loop and the for loop. While
The while loop is what is called a "conditional" loop in that it repeats a block of code until a condition is met, here's an example of one:
The loop begins with the statement while, followed by a logical expression. If there is no code in the loop block to make the logical expression false, you will be stuck in an infinite loop. After the while statement, the next block of code will be executed while the logical expression is true, ending when it is false. The basic idea of this loop is simple, 2 variables are declared, with one being a list with the return of the range function (we will discuss functions in the next lesson), making the list contain 10 numbers: 0, 1, 2, 3... all the way to 9. The second variable has a 0 in it, and will be how we will break out of the loop after 10 iterations (the term used for every time the block of code in the loop executes) When the loop starts, the logic expression is true; 0 is less than 10. Every time the loop iterates, we will print out the number in the list index that matches the counter variable, then add one to the counter (called incrementing the counter), until the counter variable equals 10, thus making the logic expression false, and breaking out of the loop. Now, that was the while loop, let's try doing the very same thing with the other kind of loop, the for loop. For
Now, to do the same function with a for loop, you would do the following:
The for loop is what is know as an iterative loop, it loops as many times as is designated in it's initial statement, the syntax for creating one being for [variable] in [object with multiple values in it (lists, dictionaries, tuples, etc)]:, with the block to be executed after this statement. The variable only exists for the duration of the loop, and can be named anything, the object can be an existing object or can be created at the time the loop is started. In this case, I did the latter, creating a list from 0 to 9 when the loop stats. For every item in the list, num is assigned the value of the next item in the object (or the first on the first iteration). For instance in the list [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9], num is initially 0, then on the next iteration, num is 1, then on the next iteration it is 2 and so on. This makes for loops very useful for performing actions using the contents of a list or tuple. And that's the other major looping structure in Python, the for loop. The Demonstration Program
I will be ending the lessons from now on with a sample program using things covered in this lesson. For this program, we will ask the user to input a number to create a list with numbers in a list, the program will then list if the number are even or odd, a useless program admittedly, but it will do fine in demonstrating the things we've learned. I will need to use three functions (one of the topics discussed next week) to make the program work, unfortunately. We will get into detail about functions time, but for now simply know that the input() function takes input from the keyboard, the str() function converts non-strings into strings, and the int() function converts non-integers into integers. Two other functions we already know, print() and range() will also be in the program. Here is the code:
And here is what it looks like when run:
Source Code
Here are the links to the two sets of code I used in this article, my "notes" that I used for the demonstration screenshots and the demonstration program, they are both hosted online on pastebin, because I don't think uploading .py files to mediafire and asking you to just download them will be a good idea: http://pastebin.com/nK2V002r - Notes http://pastebin.com/rHy3sC2z - Demonstration program In The Next Lesson
Next time we will begin with a discussion of functions in Python, both built-in and self-created, we will then begin to discuss the concept of object oriented programming, a concept key to the design of most modern programs, we will then close out by discussing the basics of classes and start to get to the topic of simple inheritance. Thanks for reading.
Boxart featuring 14.5 of my fetishes I have a very bad game buying habit, I often impulse buy games based solely on the box art if it catches my eye enough or appeals to some of my, for lack of a better word, fetishes. Thus my purchase of Class
of Heroes for the PSP was made. Developed by Acquire and published by Atlus, Class of Heroes is an old school dungeon crawler with some rouge-like elements. The player controls a party of six underclassmen at Particus Academy, an academy for adventurers. And that's about as deep as the story gets, people do say things that theoretically progress what theoretically could be called the story, but that isn't what the game is about, and if you're looking for deep characters and compelling story, look elsewhere. Class of Heroes is about grinding, like most old-school dungeon crawlers are. It is taken to the nth degree in this case, however, as you must grind for almost everything in this game. You need to grind for levels, grind for equipment, grind for money to buy equipment, grind for materials to craft equipment, grind for money to be able to craft with the materials you had to grind for, and...well, you get the picture. That essentially described the gameplay, you create your party of 6 characters with various classes they can use (or pick from a group of pre-made characters) and start grinding. Combat is in the style of many old-school RPGs; a turn-based system where you see the enemies from a first-person perspective. There is a front-row, back-row system, and the usual status ailments that one would expect from a RPG. When a character is downed, they can be revived if the party can make it out of the dungeon, however, there is the chance that the revival will fail, and if this happens twice, the character is permanently dead.
Battle is more traditional in CoH And that's literally the all that happens in the game. You grind, then you move over to the next dungeon, then you grind more, until the game is done. Graphically, the game isn't going to be pushing the limits of the PSP's capabilities, using sprite and prerendered graphics most of the time, and only using 3D rendered graphics during the dungeon crawling parts. Character designs are in an anime-style design and are suitably adorable. The enemy sprites are well drawn and perform their purpose. Overall, the graphics are simply there to facilitate the basic gameplay, and in this regard, they succeed. In the audio department, the game's sound effects are adequate, and the music works. However, with
the sheer amount of grinding required to do anything in the game, you will soon need to listen to your own music to change the pace. Look I'll be blunt about this, if you like grinding, you will like this game. If you don't, you will hate this game with a fervent passion. If you are the type of person who likes to rush through the game, you will die quite often, and will likely ragequit. (Go buy Golden Sun: Dark Dawn on the DS if you want to rush). I like grinding, so I liked this game. Your mileage may vary. Class of Heroes currently retails for $39.99 USD.
Yes, you read the title right, this is a review of a game called Ship Simulator Extremes. Developed by VStep and released by Paradox in 2010, this game is part of the “Paradox bundle” that was offered during the Christmas sale via the on-line distribution platform Steam. Usually I would think up a clever segue here, but since the developers didn't want to put any effort in, why should I? When you first start the game, it will probably crash. It will most likely continue to crash for a while, then on the tenth or so attempt, will load. The menu interface is functional, and is the most entertaining part of the game. After you change your settings and restart (almost all of the settings that can be changed require you to restart), you can get into the main part of the game. SSE offers the typical “sandbox” mode that is typical of simulation games, it also offers “oneoff” missions, a campaign mode, and a multiplayer mode. Sandbox and one-shot missions are self explanatory, so I'll skip those and move to the campaign mode. There are three campaigns that come boxed with the game: the core campaign where your take on various freelance boat captain jobs, a campaign where you work for a cruise line ferrying people richer than you to places you can't afford to even vacation in, and a campaign where you are a member of the terrorist organization Greenpeace.
My hatred of environmental terrorism aside, I can honestly say all of the missions are the same. Go somewhere, perform task, go some other place, perform task. Which is the same thing as the single mission mode and similar to what you end up doing in the sandbox mode. Now, you might be wondering how the multiplayer is, and I can honestly say, I don't know. I know nobody with this game, and no one that would be willing to pay the $40 price tag for it (I got it in a 30 game pack), so I haven't been able to find other people. I can take a wild guess how the multiplayer would play out though...it would be the sandbox mode with multiple people. On the topic of controls there isn't much to be said, the boats control like boats; most of them turn so slow I can't even tell if there is any control lag. Onto the gameplay. You sail boats. That's it. You generally sail slow boats at speeds ranging from 5 knots to the amazingly fast 15 knots. Generally speaking, I was able to play an overwhelming majority of the game with one button (the throttle up button), and about 90% of the time you play in this game will be spent going forward in a strait line. Objectives include such thrilling tasks as towing smaller boats, towing larger boats, going to places, docking, dropping an anchor, and absolutely nothing else.
One of the two good things about this game was that the menu interface was functional... Graphically, there is a some disparity in the game, the boats look very nice and have a high level
of detail, including fully accented interiors. However, everything else looks, for lack of a better phrase, like crap. The water is strait out of a PS1 game, the land and other landmasses are bland, and the weather effects are generic. One thing to be noted, even on my fairly decent computer with a top-end GFX card (Radeon 6850), the game chugs. The best FPS I managed to achieve was 30, and I think that was luck. In the audio department, there is only one song in the game, and it plays on the menu screen and nowhere else. During gameplay time, the only audio in the game is the sound of the engines. Fantastic. So, this is the part of the review where I generally would write a conclusion, but I don't think I need one.
I rarely pre-order games for various reasons (notably getting burned by a pre-order (C&C 4) before seeing fan reaction), but one exception to this trend came in the form of Sid Meier's Civilization V. I preordered the game, which came out September 22nd, in the beginning of July. It had become a "mainstay" for me, much like the Fallout series (I plan on buying Fallout New New Hampshire when it comes out), so I knew I was going to buy Civ V from the very beginning. Did my brand-loyalty pay off, or did I waste my 50 dollars? Let's find out. Actually, before we start, allow me a brief aside. I waited until December to write my opinions on this game, to allow patches to be rolled out and for the first waves of DLC to be released. That said, let's continue this review. Let's get visual and audio out of the way fast; if you're playing a Civilization game for the soundtrack or the graphics, then you're probably missing the point. This said, the soundtrack is passable, HOWEVER, it is missing the option from Civ IV to play your own music. I can simply play my own music on my computer, but I miss the option to do it in game. Ambient sounds are acceptable as well. Graphically, the game looks acceptable, but that's about it. You are not going to have your mind blown by these graphics. I have a problem with the graphics though, they take up FAR too many system resources. I experienced slowdowns quite often, despite having a reliantly decent computer. Granted, I was using the best possible graphics, so it just might be me being stubborn about my computer. Of course, the most important thing about the game is the gameplay, and that's where we're going now. Ain't I just the best at segues? For those familiar with the other Civilization games, the two biggest changes you may have heard about this game are the shifts from a square grid to a hexagonal grid and the one-unit-per-tile rule. Most people are fine with the hexagonal maps, hex maps are used in many tabletop games for a reason., they work better. However, many people were up-in-arms about the one unit rule, and within one week of the game being released, there was a hardmod out to allow unit stacking once more. (many more mods that did similar things came out after the development IDE came out). However, for the more â&#x20AC;&#x153;hardcoreâ&#x20AC;? players, the notable changes to the game are in the mechanics. The base systems work the same way, but some minor changes created some dissent in the competitive community. With the way the production system in the game works, city placement became a matter of quantity over quality, with matches soon becoming exercises in who can produce the most settlers and who can micro better to keep their cities small. This is a major sticking point that largely ensures that Civ IV will remain the version of the game most played by competitive players. There are also many minor issues that annoy the average competitive player, about the changes made to the game mechanics. That said, do the core mechanic changes effect the normal player? The answer is no. In short, if you're just looking to play a game with a friend and want to have fun, Civ V will do that....if it doesn't crash on you, but we'll get to that a little latter. As a casual player, I can say I honestly had fun with the game for the 40-or-so hours I played, though admittedly, I had more fun with Civilization IV(and consequentially played more of it; well over 200 hours). The changes in the mechanics aren't noticeable to most people, and the game does work. The game favors small armies, and people who remembered the tactics in single-player of earlier Civ games to always have a garrison in a city, then this will be a jarring transition to them. Aside from these minor things, single-player is very enjoyable and a large selling point to this game.
But now we get to the issue of multiplayer, and now that the various patches have been released, Civ V multiplayer for the casual player is indeed fun. (the hardcore players of earlier Civ games have much less fun) However, when it was first released, the multiplayer was buggy to the point that it didn't work often. This was a common theme of the game when it came out, and while I could write a 1000 word essay about my problems with that, let's not get into that and just say that both single-player and multiplayer, now that the patches are rolled out, work acceptably. So, where does this leave us? Well, if you're a “hardcore” Civ IV (or even Civ III) player, chances are you are not gonna like this game. However, if you are the casual Civ player or the newcomer to the series, you will likely find something enjoyable. But, as you might have noticed, I used the word “acceptable” quite a bit in this review, and this should probably be the linchpin for you. Is it worth it for you to pay 50 dollars for a game that is fun but only “acceptable” in the technical respects? For me it was.
I like first-person dungeon crawlers, which is why I was completely and utterly shocked that I never heard of the Etrian Odyssey games, a series of first-person crawler games for the Nintendo DS. I ordered this game with a PSP game, Brave Story: New Traveller; one game was amazing, the other was terrible. Which one was EOIII? Let's find out. The story of EOIII is fairly utilitarian: there's a dungeon, you're adventurers, go to dungeon, adventure. There are cute enough characters and they convey side-stories well, but if you're playing the game simply for story, you won't see much out of the ordinary. Graphically, the game is very nicely done for a DS game. The in-town scenes are beautiful, and the "rendered" graphics in the dungeon crawling portion rival PSP games in the same genre. The character design is in an "anime" style, and monster design is very "JRPG-ey". Combat animations are in the "traditional style" of this genre; no animation, just effects on screen to display attacks and such.
The base classes in EOIII, excluding the two unlockable classes. From left to right: Princess, Ninja, Buccaneer, Hoplite, Monk, Gladiator, Zodiac, Arbalest, Wildling, Farmer In the audio department the game is adequate. The music, while not stunning, works for what it is designed for and does not easily get annoying during long grinding sessions. The sound effects do their jobs as well. However, the meat of this game is the gameplay, and boom segue go. The gameplay in Etrian Odyssey III is based upon exploration. While you're exploring either the dungeons or the open seas, it is your responsibility to make your own map, and this mapping will is a major part of the game. If this is something that would turn you off of the game, then there is too much of the game entrenched in this mechanic for you.
I wish there was a non-commercial way to record DS footage...I didn't name my characters this stupidly. Combat is in a traditional turn-based RPG form, and a class system is in place with a detailed subclassing system and a multitude of items. Loot you get from monsters can be sold for new items. The classes range from warriors to defenders to magic casters. There is also a class specifically designed for item farming (ironically enough called the farmer). There are also two special unlocable classes that must be unlocked. Dungeon crawling is the main part of the game, but you can also take to the sea in your very own inexplicably free boat and chart the oceans of the game world.
There isn't much more to the game to be honest, it's a simple game that is simply fun...in my opinion. If you don't like this genre of games, Etrian Odyssey III - The Drowned City will <i>not</i> change your mind. However, if first person dungeon crawlers are your cup of tea, then I would consider this game a "must own". (as a note, I will not be reviewing Brave Story, as a review consisting entirely of the words "IT SUCKS" would not be compelling reading.)
Yep, it's about time for another music review. I'll admit, I've never been a major Cradle of Filth fan; I've never been a big listener of any real "metal" genres and the last album that I've bought in a somewhat similar genre was the last Disturbed album earlier last year(and even then, Disturbed is quite a bit away from CoF). To be honest with you I just skimmed through a list of recent album releases and this was the only one that looked appealing, aside from an album by a "group" called Ducktails with their Ducktails-less album called "Ducktails III Something something something" which had no renditions of the Ducktails cartoon theme. This factor made me pick the Cradle of Filth album, "Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa". So without any ado at allm let's go into the track listing for the 2 CD set:
If you didn't guess by the titles, this isn't a very "happy" themed album, with mostly the standard darker-modern-metal songs with religious undertones...well, there's quite a few religious OVERTONES as well. I won't go through each song in detail since I lack much experience in the genre to give very detailed critisims, so I'll just go through some of the songs that stand out to me. Before that, let me give some general impressions of the album. I can understand the words being spoke about 25% of the time, which is decent enough for this genre. The lyrics I can understand aren't anything revolutionary, and the music itself is played well within acceptable standards. The orchestrial parts present in some of the songs are too low in volume for my tastes and are over-volumed by the guitars and drums. All of the songs kinda sound the same, but that was something I was expected; when you don't as much sing lyrics as you scream them, songs tend to have a "samey" feeling. Production is fine on the album and I noticed no drops in quality in the album. Do you remember when I said I would go through some of the songs that "stood out" to me? Don't think I can do that, because to be blunt, none of the songs stood out to me. When I said they all sound the same to me keep in mind that I rarely ever listen to this type of music and that probably puts a bias into that statement. I will say this, none of the songs were what I would consider "bad"; I listened through the entire album without skipping any songs.
In the end, that's all I can really say. This album is average. As someone who doesn't listen to the genre much, it didn't turn me off of the genre, but it didn't make me want to expand my library in it's direction either. If you're a person who can listen to most of the things that fall under the "metal" umbrella, then you'll be able to listen to this album, if not, this will not be a good gateway into this genre.
Artist Interviews: Shynobi Wendy: Can you tell me about yourself? Shynobi: My name is Sean, I'm 19, and I was born, raised, and am currently living in central Alberta, Canada with my family. I took a one year course in communication design, but I'm currently working full time so I can have enough money to move to and continue my studies in Vancouver. Wendy: Are you looking forward to going to Vancouver? What are you plans there? Shynobi: Going to Vancouver is going to be a pretty big event in my life, considering that I've never moved before. But it will definitely be a nice, warm, clean place to go to university. I'm going to be soooo poor though. Here's hoping that the high living prices will be worth it. Wendy: What is it like to live in Canada? Shynobi: I can't tell you what living in Canada is like, because it's so diverse. It really depends on where in Canada you live (west coast, the plains, mid-eastern, east coast). In Alberta, we have nice summers, but very cold winters, and I'm OK with that. I'm not much of a fan of some of the "redneck-ish" character, however. Wendy: Ah, the rednecks, I live in the midst of their home nest. Are they anything like the ones from Tennessee (the type of redneck you'd usually see depicted in movies)? Shynobi: Hah, no, not to that extent. It's not that easy to distinguish the redneck Canadians between the regular ones. It's more about the general country atmosphere (country music, rodeos, mass conservatism) that's not my cup of tea. Wendy: What drew you to art, particularly digital art? Shynobi: I honestly had very little interest in art as a child. I liked to doodle a lot, but what kid doesn't like to doodle? I was, however, extremely fascinated by computers. I learnt how to use my family's first computer on my own, and this process of toying around with programs and computers (that continues on to this day) led me to various applications like GameMaker, 3D Studio Max, FL Studio (music production), and of course, Photoshop. After experimenting in Photoshop, I figured that I could use it to make forum signatures at my friend's forum. Like many others these days, I began to take signatures further by expanding to a larger format. Wendy: Can you show me some of your earliest signatures? Shynobi:
Wow, that pretty much sums up my obsession with ninjas. Wendy: Why are you obsessed with ninjas? Shynobi: I used to play Revenge of Shinobi for the Sega Genesis when I was a kid, and it was an awesome game. Maybe that's why? Wendy: Is Revenge of Shinobi where you got your user name? Shynobi: It sure is. Wendy: What is your dream job after you graduate? Shynobi: A successful designer. Maybe the creative director of my own established design studio. I'd rather not be specific, because ultimately, my goal is to design, and to be successful.
Wendy: How did you find PR, and why did you decide to become an active part of the community? Shynobi: Google. No really. I was looking for renders to use in my signatures at my friend's forum (was called GamerzHeaven), and found PR. After downloading several renders, I decided to just join the forum, hoping to meet other signature designers. Wendy: How does it feel to be a staff member? Shynobi: It definitely feels like a duty. I feel guilty when I let members down, but I get a feeling of gratification when I help members out. Unfortunately I've been slipping away from this duty, but I still wish the best for the site and its community. Wendy: What sort of changes do you think Planetrenders should make due to the current trends in graphics? Shynobi: I haven't been that active lately in the graphics area of PR, so it's difficult to suggest any kind of change. From what I have seen, though, the current trends have been pretty static for last year or so. Members who enjoy making signatures continue to do so, and members who are interested in a larger format have the option to progress in that way. I think the changes PR currently needs will just be created naturally by the members. Wendy: What inspires you? Shynobi: Of course I'm inspired by those who influence me, like other artists and designers, such as Alex Varanese and Grzegorz Domaradzki. My first and strongest inspiration, however, is the former studio, The Designers Republic. Their designs have a huge influence on my work, sometimes aesthetically, and sometimes conceptually. On a deeper scale, however, I'm inspired technology and its effects on mankind, as well as the existence of a separate reality. Wendy: Can you tell me more about The Designers Republic and why it was such an inspiration? Shynobi: I used to constantly play a game called WipEout XL for my Playstation, and I loved its aesthetics and interface. A bit of research led me to tDR, the studio that designed not only WipEout's art, but also covers to albums I owned and loved. This created a sense of relationship between me and tDR, and introduced me to the existence of graphic design. I couldn't help but be intrigued by their commentary on modern society and consumerism, and their aggressive tech style (which has been losing popularity the past few years) has made a lasting impression on my taste in design. Wendy: What's WipEout XL? And why did it inspire you, can you give me some images for examples? Shynobi: WipEout XL (aka WipEout 2097) was a sci-fi racing game for the Playstation, where you pilot extremely fast, armed, anti-gravity vehicles. Really, everything about the game inspired
me. The cyber-punk setting, the shape of the vehicles, the electronic music, and most of all, the aesthetics designed by tDR. tDR's work on this game really opened my eyes to design. They even managed to create complete brands and logos for each team. Wendy: What was your proudest moment as an artist? Shynobi: It's hard to pinpoint one moment, because I always feel proudest when I complete my latest artwork. But the one moment that had the greatest effect on my pride as an artist was the day my first shirt design, Maelstrom Cyanide, was printed at Design By Humans. Wendy: How did it feel to get your shirt printed? Shynobi: When I saw the e-mail in my inbox, I really felt euphoric. It made me realize my potential to make money off of my art. I'd like to say that I was surprised (and I'll probably come off a cocky by not doing so), but I had almost 100% expected it to print, ever since I had begun designing Maelstrom Cyanide. Wendy: What inspired Maelstrom Cyanide? Shynobi: If you can see similarities between it and the cover for Massive Attack's album "Collected", it's no coincidence. I was amazed by the album art and I wanted to translate it in my own personal way on to a shirt. Wendy: Any tips for future shirt designers? Shynobi: Always remember your medium. You're not designing a poster, or a wallpaper. You're designing a shirt, so you need to ask yourself "Would I wear this with pride?", "Who would wear this in public?", and "Is it worth printing?" A lot of shirt designs I've seen have been well executed, but I would feel silly wearing it. Don't be influenced by other shirt designs and art, but also fashion and the shirts themselves. Wendy: Any suggestions for artists who are starting out in general? Shynobi: Don't try to force your style in your art. Your style develops on its own. You can search for inspiration, but influence comes to you. Also, artist blocks are an illusion. If you're physically capable of creating something, you can, so do it. Wendy: What is your favorite piece of art you've made? Shynobi: That's a very tough question to answer. I'm usually most attached to my latest art, but I'm always charmed by my earlier art, despite my lower skill level at the time I made it. If I had to choose one, though, it would be Under the Water. Wendy: Why do you love Under the Water, what draws you back to that piece? Shynobi: I'm not too sure. Maybe it's the fact that it's stylistically different from what I usually
do. Maybe it's its asymmetrical composition or its combination of vector and textures. It just appeals to me. Wendy: Who is your favorite artist and why? Shynobi: As of now, Alex Varanese is my favorite artist. He manages to flawlessly combine four of my favorite things: Geometry, technology, typography, and red. Wendy: Can you show me some of your favorite pieces by Alex Varanese? Shynobi:
Wendy: What is your favorite piece of art? Shynobi: Slottet by moodSwing08 has always been the most influential single piece of art to me. Wendy: Why is Slottet your favorite? Shynobi: I love Slottet, because of the way it combines its contrasting elements. A texture filled floating landscape, would be one of the last things you think would compliment streamlined vector shapes. Yet, in Slottet, it's done amazingly well with eye-catching detail and dramatic colour. It's the style I've been trying to imitate for years. Wendy: Any last comments you want to make? Shynobi: Thanks for the chance to be interviewed, and thanks to all who read the interview!
Art Feature: Shynobi Welcome to Shynobi's art feature! In this feature we shall look at some of his best works. If you wish to check out his DeviantArt gallery, here is the link: Fresh Fabric Here we go:
Here are some of his most famous LPs:
Thank you for taking a peek at Shynobi's art!
OH, CHRISTMAS TREE!!!
Source: Wikipedia Have you ever wondered why we celebrate Christmas with an evergreen tree as the main decoration? It all goes back to the 1500s. What was going on in the 1500s that would have involved Christmas and things changing? The Reformation, of course. In the 1500s Europe was undergoing a drastic cultural revolution; things were changing for the first time in several centuries. There was the Renaissance, the birth of new learning, and of course the Reformation. So what does this have to do with Christmas trees? German Protestants were very anti-icon. Prior to the Reformation Christmas decor usually consisted of things like St. Nicholas, the Three Kings and Jesus. All of which would be considered icons. So the Protestants decided to search for another symbol to use for the holiday. They came up with the idea to use an evergreen tree. You see, evergreens are special symbolically. In the olden days when the world would turn dark, and the day of solstice would come near, Europeans would bring evergreens into their homes. Why evergreens? It was mainly because they never lost their color, thus the word evergreen. It was a reminder that the world would once more bloom with the long days of spring and summer.
Source: Wikipedia Christmas trees though took a long time to leave the Germanic region. They first appeared with George III reign. His wife, Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz brought the tradition with her from her childhood in Mecklenburg. It became the traditional of the royal family to have a Christmas tree, but it did not take off very much further till Queen Victoria's reign.
Source: Wikipedia Queen Victoria also married a German prince, while she had a Christmas tree when she was a child, it was the Christmas tree her and Albert set up that changed Christmas history. In 1850 Godey's Magazine had a picture of the royal family around a Christmas tree; anything about the royal family at this point was HUGE news. It was covered in Britain massively by the press, and anything covered in Britain usually also made it the United States. It was the next year when Christmas trees lots started to spring up in New York. The practice soon became the widespread tradition it is today. Source: Burt Wolf â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Christmas Taste of Freedom: www.burtwolf.com/pdf/christmas.pdf
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Source: Wikipedia When thinking of the New Year, you're always thinking of what is new, what is coming, and what you can change about yourself. It is after all yet another new year, small in the flow of time, but significant to a human life. After all, most people see only about 70 of them on average. So how did the New Year start? Let's start with the date and end with how it was finally regulated. New
Years has had many a different date, and each one was important. For example, Europeans used to celebrate it on March the 25th, that's the Vernal Equinox (the day spring starts). This made sense, everything was blooming, things were becoming green again, and life was starting once more. Some cultures began the New Year in the fall, which has held over to the current day. There is a reason why school starts in the fall after all, and why we call it a new year. Judaism celebrates the fall as the New Year, ever heard of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur? The Romans had a headache for a year system; they loved the idea of having March the 1st as the New Year... Yet, they ended the year with December. SO that meant a year of 10 months, at which they didn't count sixty of the days. You see, their calendar reflected things like agriculture, not much of that got done for those two months, which is why they originally left out those months. The emperor though was paid a visit by the Egyptians, and he heard of the idea of two extra months, and thus adopted it. It took awhile longer for the Roman senate to do something about it though. They changed the date for several reasons, one of which was to thumb their noses up at nature; another was to worship Janus the god of beginnings. Once the empire fell, Europe flipped flopped for the next six hundred years. Some countries started the year on March 25th; some started it on December 25th. Heck, some started it out on Easter. William the Conqueror changed this. He was crowned on January the 1st, and said Britain would start the year on that date from now on. This did not happen, they switched back later too much confusion. (Remember, things were not instant back then, so think of the hassle. In France you would be in 1536, and in England you'd be in 1537. Imagine you're an Englishman living in Calais under English occupation, yes King Henry, this event occurred in 1536! It occurred a year ago and you're just now sending me notification??? Would you have the balls to screw your dates up when dealing with ole' King Henry VIII? You know, the guy who chopped off two of his wives’ heads and set fire to his country's monasteries so he could raid them of their treasures? You can see why this would be a pain. From the historical stand point, this also makes the dating on historical letters a pain in the ass when trying to figure out the chronological history of an event that involved more than one country). Pope Gregory XIII tried to fix this with the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, but as we know, once countries are set in their ways, it’s hard to get them to change them. It wasn't until 1752 that everything was straightened out and most of the western world adopted January 1st as New Years. As you can see, it has a complicated history, so be happy; at least it’s somewhat uniform now! Happy New Years! Source: Burt Wolf - New Year: www.burtwolf.com/pdf/newyear.pdf
The Artist's Palette: Pre-historic Art The Artist's Palette series is now switching over to learning about different art periods; I'm not going to cover something as large as the Renaissance. Instead I will cover the little things that most people do not learn anything about. We shall begin at the beginning of art; pre-historical art. The oldest surviving artworks are from 40,000 years ago. The most commonly found artworks from this period are cave wall paintings, open air paints (paintings on rock faces outside), little figurines, and things carved out of bone. Most of these early artworks are found in Europe, particularly in France and Germany. There are other old artworks found all over the world, but none as old as those found in Europe. So we shall concentrate our focus to that continent. Most of the early cave wall paintings depicted animals. These animals were meaningful and symbol, though we are not sure what they stood for. There was a prior theory that our ancestors painted them as a type of magic, so they could have a good hunt. The current theory is a bit more realistic; that they could have painted them to track their migration patterns or that they could have stood for the distribution of the animals that inhabited the caves. Some of the artifacts left at these sites suggest that there was also a ritualistic purpose for the paintings; some theories for this involve mythical spirits and the such.
An example of a cave painting from Lascaux Cave, it depicts aurochs. Source: Wikipedia Other types of art were small sculptures; the earliest ones were little female statues. These statues were carved out of stone and were clearly females, the oldest of which has been dated to 25,000 years ago. These were probably used as fertility symbols, sort of like a good luck charm. The features that are
associated with pregnancy are prominent while other features are not there at all, which supports the fertility symbol theory. There is a theory that childbirth itself was a mystery to early man and probably seen as a type of magic. These sculptures could have played a cause and effect role in childbirth in the minds of our ancestors. For example, the statue was carved and a woman got pregnant soon afterwards. They might have seen this as how the pregnancy happened. If you think I'm going to show a picture of a little statue with prominent breasts and her pubic region showing, guess again boys. Roughly at 9000 to 4000 BCE newer Stone Age tools were developed and the age of agriculture began. The artworks tended to become larger or show some glimpses of life from this period. For example, Stonehenge was built with its complex meaning and purpose. It showed an understanding of time and perhaps an early calendar. Some artworks showed how life was at that moment in time, the animals, and the people were drawn. Overall, these artworks showed something even more powerful. Man conquering the environment for the first time and the rise of human knowledge. It showed artists knew how to paint and depict animals in a manner that we can recognize today, that they knew what pigments would last, and how to make those pigments. Later arts showed domesticated animals and the such. It also most importantly shows that humans were progressing through the ages; from fertility symbols to Stonehenge in less than 20,000 years. Sources: http://en.wikipedia....Prehistoric_art http://en.wikipedia....per_Paleolithic Gilbertâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Living With Art by Mark Getlein, Seventh Edition
The Artist's Palette: The Jōmon Period The artist's palette series is now going to move into studying different periods of art. We're not going to covering something as large as renaissance art, but instead we're going to cover smaller art periods with a specific culture in mind. For the first part we're going to study the Jōmon period. You're probably asking right now, what the hell is a Jōmon and what is this crazy person is talking about. Well Jōmon is referencing a time period in Japan from around 14,000 to 300 BCE. Jōmon means cordpatterned, this is referencing the markings on clay art from this time; these marking were made with sticks that were wrapped with cords. The people who made this art are called the Jōmon; they are the ancestors of the Ainu people (northern Japanese).
An early example of their pottery. Notice the lines? They were made by rope. Source: Wikipedia The Jōmon were hunter-gatherers, and creators of the first actual useful pottery. The earliest of the
pottery dates back to 14,000 BCE, these pieces are called JĹ?mon doki. JĹ?mon doki means "patterns of rope." This is because ropes were used to decorate the clay. Like I said, these clay pots were useful, they used them to store or eat food out of. These vessels are the earliest known in the world for this purpose.
They also made clay heads. Source: Wikipedia So, what is important about this? Hunters-gather cultures really don't need pottery, mainly because they're constantly on the move and living a very nomadic life style. This means that the culture was at the very least a semi-sedentary culture. They had tools, they could fish, and they also practiced some of the first agriculture in the world as well. Thus, studying them is important. That they also took time to decorate their pottery also indicates that they had enough time to do so as well as the inclination to make art.
This is from the middle period, the decor on the pot is described as flame like. This is highly characteristic
of works from the middle JĹ?mon time period. Source: Wikipedia There was not much change in the artworks till a population explosion occurred about 10,000 years after the first works were created. The climate was warm and more hospitable for island life, the works started to become more artistic. This meant that since there was a bigger population, more people could be dedicated to making art. Sadly enough this came to an end rather quickly and the population declined, they were later invaded the JĹ?mon culture ended.
As you can see their works became far more complex towards the later time periods. Source: Wikipedia
Contrast and compare this image of a clay head and the first one that I posted, as you can see there is a drastic difference. Source: Wikipedia Source: JĹ?mon Period
AUREUS Welcome to the eighth part of this series. Today we're going to make this fractal:
This fractal is not very complex and has repetitive steps. It doesn't look like much till you enable the final transform. The final transform is what creates the shape of the fractal.
So let's begin! Create a new blank flame. On transform one enter these variations: Linear3D: 0 Blur3D: 1
That's all; you're done with that transform! This transform is the most versatile transform in the entire fractal; I suggest trying out different variations. In the full version of this tutorial I will give you several examples of what you can do. Here is what the fractal should look like so far:
Enable a second transform. Input these variations: Linear3D: 0 Rectangles: 1
Now go to the triangle tab and move the triangle to the left by 0.251 units. Move the transform down by
0.76 units.
This is what the fractal should look like so far:
Enable a third transform. Input these variations: Linear3D: 0 Rectangles: 1
Once more go to the triangle tab and move the triangle to the right by 0.75 units. Move the triangle up by 0.55 units.
That's all for the third transform. Here is what the fractal should look like:
The fourth transform is incredibly easy, just duplicate transform three!
This is what it should look like:
The fifth transform is also easy. Duplicate the fourth transform and change the rectangle variation to 5 instead of 1.
This is what the fractal should look like:
Now enable a final transform. Input these variations: Linear3D: 0 Julia3D: 1
Input this variable: Julia3D_power: -4
Now go to the triangle tab. Scale the transform down by 600 units.
Now move the transform downwards by 0.15 units. Move the transform left by 0.25 units.
That's all! Make sure all of the transform's placements match the ones on the screenshot. This is what the fractal should look like:
Now, remember, in the next quarterly issue there will be an extended version of this tutorial. The following fractal will be featured; as well as several other different alternatives:
If you need any help with this tutorial please send me a note. Enjoy and good luck!
CELTIC KNOT
Welcome to my fifth tutorial in this series! Today we're going to make this fractal:
As you can see it has elaborate details, I call this one Celtic knot because it somewhat reminds me of one of the knots. Anyways, refer to the earlier sections of this tutorial for basic information. Before we begin, your transforms will not look exactly like mine till you finish the entire fractal, I have messed with the xaos settings in the images below. You won't mess with the xaos settings till the rest of the fractal is formed.
The first step is to create a new blank flame. On the first transform set linear to 0, and Mobius to 1. That's it. As you can see the fractal looks like nothing so far, this wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really change until the fourth transform.
Create a second transform, leave the linear setting alone.
What you need to do here is go to the triangle tab, scale the triangle down three times on a setting of 125. Move this small triangle to the left by one unit. This is how it should look so far:
Duplicate transform 2. Now move this new triangle to the right two times. This is how it should look so far:
On transform four set linear to 0, blur to 0.05, and squarical to 1.
Flip this triangle vertically. As you can see the fractal is finally becoming complicated looking:
On transform five set Mobius to 1 and linear to 0.
First flip the triangle horizontally, and then flip it vertically.
Set the weight to 1. Here is how the transform should look:
For transform six set linear to 0, and rectangles to 1.5.
Flip horizontally. Here is how it should look like:
Now for the last transform set linear to -100. Now the next step is messing with the xaos tab. I really can't explain to you what xaos does because I really don't fully understand it myself. I occasionally fiddle with it until I'm happy with the result.
Only transforms 1, 4, 5, and 6 will have changes made to their xaos settings. Refer to the images above for the correct settings.
Your fractal should look like this:
Now, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s explore some alternative fractals!
Leave the first three transforms alone, if you make major changes it will change the structure of the fractal dramatically. This collection of images highlights some different changes to the fourth transform. The first image is just a setting of linear 1, the second image is a setting of spherical 1. The third image is a setting of diamond 0.5. The fourth image is a setting of julia3D 1, julia3Dz 1, julia3D_power -12, julia3Dz_power 16. The fifth image is a setting of rectangles 1. The sixth image is a setting of bipolar 1. The seventh image is a setting of juliac 1. The eighth image is a setting of ngon 1. As you can see it can become highly detailed, and even somewhat simplistic. I suggest messing with the contrast or the weights to make this fractal seem more powerful.
Leave the fifth transform alone as well, you can change it, but keep in mind; any major differences will change the structure of the fractal. The sixth transform is my favorite transform in this fractal to change. As you can see the changes are highly detailed, and make the fractal seem much more powerful. The first image is a setting of linear 1. The second image is a setting of sinusoidal 1. The third image is a setting of cylinder 1. The fourth image is a setting of Julian 1, julian_power 2, julian_dist 3. The fifth image is a setting of julia3D 1, julia3Dz 1, julia3D_power -6, julia3Dz_power 6. The sixth image is a setting of curl 1. The seventh image is a setting of bipolar 1. The eighth image is a setting of block 1. The ninth image is a setting of ngon 0.5 I have two favorites in this set, the seventh image and the ninth. It has a more finished look. By messing with the seventh and final transform you can also make major changes to the fractal. Now, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s examine the main alternative fractal as I promised. Keep the first three transforms entirely the same as the main fractal. On transform four change blur to 0.01 and lower the weight to 0.1. The fifth transform is also the same as the main fractal. The sixth transform is a setting of spherical 1. The seventh transform is a setting of linear -1. Enable a final transform; linear should be set to 0. Set bipolar to 1, go to variables and set bipolar_shift to 1. Now rotate the fractal on a setting of -180. You should have this fractal:
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! If you have any questions please send me a note, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll try to get back to you as soon as possible!
AERIS lright, to begin this fractal make a new blank flame. Now go to the adjust window and set the zoom to -3. The scale of this fractal is HUGE. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also going to use three things that add to the Aimage preview time; crackle, hexes, and a final transform. If you have a slow laptop like mine, then you're in for a long wait between changes if you don't do this. You can adjust this once you've finished, but to speed everything up, I suggest you use the -3 setting until you've finished making the fractal. This is the fractal we're going to make today:
On Transform one, set ztranslate to 2. Set crackle to 1. Remember to remove the linear setting.
(Ztranslate setting not shown) Go to variables, input the following: crackle_cellsize: 0.5 crackle_power: 0.5 crackle_distort: 1 crackle_scale: 0.5 crackle_z: 0
The location and weight of this transform remains in their automatic settings. Here is what the fractal should look like so far:
Create a second transform; remember set anything linear to 0. Set pre_blur to 0.001, pre_ztranslate to -0.456, zscale to 1, and Julian to 3.
You see, the first three settings help to create a 3D effect. Because Julian is able to become 3D this creates the tower appearance. The circular appearance of this transform is given through the Julian setting.
Double check your variables, julian_power should be set at 3, and julian_dist should be set at 1. The weight should remain at 0.5. Now, as you can see from the screenshots accompanying this tutorial, there are a lot of odd positions going on here. So pay CLOSE attention on what I'm going to say to do, rotate the second transform at 45 degrees counter clockwise. Move the triangle to the right 0.2 units, move the triangle upwards 0.2 units as well.
If you play with the units parts you can make the towers appear in different locations once you have your finished product. This is what it should look like so far:
Create a third transform; remember to remove the linear setting.
Set zscale to 0.421 and Julian to 0.25. Now go to variables, julian_power should be set to 2, and julian_dist should be set to 1. Messing with these settings can change a lot of things by the way. I suggest you experiment with them once you've finished the basic tutorial.
Transform three's weight should be set at 2.5.
Now, once more there's an odd positioning for a transform. Rotate the triangle 45 degree counter clockwise three times.
Now, this is how your finished product should look:
Create a fourth transform; we're almost finished, I promise! Set linear to zero once more, bubble should be set at 0.01, pre_blur 1, Pre_Zscale to 1, curl3D to 1, and hexes to 5. There are no variable changes on this transform.
The weight should be set at 0.05.
Once more the position is odd, so make sure to pay attention and double check against the screenshot. Rotate the transform at 45 degrees counter clockwise. Move the triangle downwards by 1 unit, not 0.1, but 1.
This is what it should like so far:
Now enable a final transform, (yes this is the last step for the main fractal)! Remember to rid yourself of the linear setting. Set zscale to 2, and Julian to 0.75.
On the variables change the julian_power to 1, and set julian_dist to 1.
You can change the fractal drastically by playing around with the final transform, and even by messing with the Julian variable settings. Now, the position is odd once more, rotate the triangle 45 degrees counter clockwise. Move it downwards by 1 unit. Now, grab a hold of the top part of the triangle and stretch it all the way till it meets the top part of the second transform. Refer to the screenshot to make sure you position it correctly.
This is what the final transform should look like:
Now it’s time to learn how to make the alternative fractal! This is what we’re going to make with just a few simple changes to our main fractal:
On transform one, change the crackle variation setting to 5. On transform two change Julian to 1 and julian_power to 2. Transform three does not have any changes. On transform four, take off the curl3D setting. Instead, set curl to 1. On the final transform there is a drastic difference; set zscale to 5 and bipolar to 15. There will not be a Julian setting. Now, the main fractal should look like the alternative one shown above. The last part of this tutorial will be spent on examining some changes you can make by playing with the transform individually. You can make these changes to your completed fractal by just changing the one suggestion that is shown with each example. The first transform really controls what you're going to be dealing with as your foundation for the fractal. For these examples I have replaced the crackle setting with something else to give you an idea of what you can do. You can have crackly shapes, flowers, pyramids, etc. The first image shows a basic setting of blur 0.5. It’s somewhat basic, but lovely still. The second image shows a setting of flower 0.5. As you can see, we're now dealing with lovely flowers and the image is much more interesting. The third image shows a setting of spherical3D 0.1. It seems like it’s constructed a bit differently and seems a bit more whimsical. The fourth image is a setting of pyramid 0.5. Instead of pyramids though, it looks like there's jellyfish floating around the fractal city.
The first three of these images are changes made to the second transform, the last image is a change made to the third transform. Remember, these examples were made by either playing with the Julian setting or taking it away altogether and replacing it with something else. The first image shows a setting of Julian 1, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s far more compact. The second shows a setting of Julia 5, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more spread out and looks to be a bit better constructed. The third image shows a setting of xtrb 1. The fractal seems a bit slanted, but still functional as a fractal city. The fourth image is a setting of Julian 0.4 (remember, this is a change to the third transform, not the second for this last image). The fractal is built better, but is also more compact.
Don't mess with the fourth transform much. Its purpose is mainly to heighten the power of the other transforms. You can even delete this transform if you wish, but the result will not be as pretty. The following two images show the possibilities of simple changes on the final transform. You could probably find even more possibilities; this is really just the tip of the iceberg for this transform. The first image shows a setting of Julian 0.25. The result is a far thinner tower, and more detail. The second image shows a setting of Juliascope 0.5. This result is the tower becoming two towers.
I hope youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve enjoyed this tutorial! This marks the halfway point in this series! If you have any questions, feel free to note me.
LIBERTAS Welcome to my seventh fractal tutorial in this series, today we're going to examine how to make this fractal:
So let's begin! The first step is to create a new blank flame. If you do not know how to do this refer to the earlier tutorials in this series. Set transform one's variations to: linear3d: 0 Swirl 0.1 Disc 0.1 Blur 0.1
This will create a swirl pattern and with the right gradient make it seem gem like. Also, this is a highly changeable transform; you can do all sorts of things to make the fractal different looking. I suggest trying out different variations; I will have some examples for you at the end of the tutorial. The next step is to set the weight to 0.1.
This is how it should look so far:
Create a new transform, on this transform set the variations to: Linear3d: 0 Julian: 1
Go to the variable tab, set julian_power to 3 and julian_dist 1.
Now, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time to mess with the location of this transform. Move the transform upwards by 0.2 units, and then move it to the right by 0.2 units. If you do not know how to do so consult the earlier tutorials in this series. Now rotate the transform counterclockwise by 45 degrees.
This is how it should look so far:
Create another new transform. Set the variations to: Linear3d: 0 Julian: 0.5
Set the variables to: julian_power 2, julian_dist 1.
By the way, if you mess with the powers and the dist of Julian plugin you can get very interesting result and shapes. Now once more go to the triangle tab, rotate the transform counterclockwise by 45 degrees three times.
This is what it should look like now:
Create a fourth transform. Set the variations to: Linear3d: 0 Julian: 0.5
Go to the variables and set them to: julian_power -30, julian_dist 2.
Now go to the transform tab and set the weight to 0.25.
On the triangle tab move the transform downwards by 1.2 units. Rotate it counterclockwise by 45 degrees. Make sure to take a look at the screenshot, all of your transforms should be positioned like those of the transform.
This is what your fractal should look like:
Now on to the alternative version! This is what we're going to make:
All it takes is some very small changes, on transform two change the settings to julia3Dz 1 and julia3Dz_power -3. On transform change the settings to julia3Dz 0.6 and julia3Dz_power 2. As you can see the fractal quickly changes into something quite different. In fact, this is one of my most changeable fractals. There's so much you can do! Now let's explore some more alternatives. Remember, the settings on most of the following completely replace the settings on the transform in question. Here are some alternatives to Transform One:
The first image shows a setting of flower 0.2, as you can see the gem areas have turned into flowers. This is because the first transform contains the main construct of the fractal. There are literally tons of different things you can do with the first transform, so please explore! The second image shows a setting of spherical3D -0.03. You can't see it well in the example but there is a lot of detail work in the gem areas now. The third image shows a setting of xtrb -0.25; once more itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quite detailed. The fourth image shows a setting of block 0.4. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s got more structure now and is also very detailed. Here are some alternatives to transform two:
The first image shows a setting of julia3Dz 0.5 and julia3Dz_power -3. As you can see the entire structure completely changes and forms a far more interesting fractal. The second image shows a setting of foci 1, which creates little light points but an unstructured fractal. I suppose with some photoshop work you could even make this sort of dreamy looking. The third image shows a setting of foci 1 and foci_3D 5. The center area becomes very pronounced with this setting. The fourth image shows a setting of foci 1 and foci_3D 0.25. This is somewhat like the second image but with a bit better flow to it. The fifth image shows a setting of juliac 2. This setting results in a bloated looking Julian, but still interesting visually. Here are some alternatives for transform three:
As you can see transform three can also be changed a ton. The first image shows a setting of spherical 1. As you can see the connecting areas of the fractal have became much finer. The second image shows a setting of spherical 0.5. The connecting areas are now far more constructed looking and highly detailed. The third image shows a setting of spherical 0.1. This makes a highly detailed image and the gem areas almost take on a faceted look. The fourth image shows a setting of bubble 1. This makes the connecting areas look they've been braided. The fifth image shows a setting of curl3D 1. The braids are now a bit larger and it fills up more of the image. The sixth image shows a setting of foci 0.1. This results in a highly detailed fractal that seems to glow. The seventh image shows a setting of ngon 0.15. While it’s highly detailed it looks like it’s on the verge of falling apart. The eighth image shows a setting of spherical3D 0.15, it has very fine details as well as looking uniform. The ninth image shows a setting of xtrb 2. This results in a pattern like fractal that is incredibly detailed. Here is one alternative for transform four:
Transform four is hard to change, for some reason any change you make distorts the fractal. I couldn't figure out why. This is the neatest change I could make, the setting is xtrb 1. If it hadn't distorted so much it would have resulted in a fluffier looking fractal. It’s somewhat softer looking. I decided to show you one example of a final transform as well:
The setting on the final transform is linear3D 1, spherical -0.1. As you can see these settings result in a more drawn in fractal with oval shapes. The center gem is replaced by a complex glyph like structure. As you can see, you can play with the final transform as well even though I didn't in the main fractal. Well, that's it for the seventh tutorial. If you need any help please send me a note and I'll do my best to help!
Final Note...
Hope you enjoyed reading the eleventh issue of the planet renders magazine! If you've got any suggestions or complaints, you can express them by leaving comments on each separate article. Be sure to vote in the poll above as well. Want to get involved?
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