May 23 2009

V Series Trailer

I’ve heard many contradictory opinions and thoughts about V. People said that it looks like Independence Day only longer or that the creators used the left over effects of, our so beloved, BSG. Well what I can see is a new series with a very good cast of people I loved from 4400, Lost and, my most beloved, Firefly coming to life. I believe that we can expect the series to be a philosophical discussion on faith and change as well as kick ass effects and performance. Scenario wise, I cannot be certain, but it seems juicy with plenty of cliff-hungers and u-turns all over.

We shall see, well I certainly will.
I think that V will be one of the series that will try to cover the void that BSG left behind it, and I HOPE it, in some aspects, will.


Mar 31 2009

Empire Total War Revolution

Vrasidas Papoutsis the Greek Rebel

When I started playing with the Austrians I have soon discovered that Monarchy is no way to rule the world if you want scientific dominion and your subordinates happy, it’s just too expensive, but I have disregard the fact until the fact caught me.

Revolution ladies and Gentlemen! The Austrian Capital shouted and everything but a small army went black!

What the F@ck ?!? I screamed to my screen.

The I was prompted with a choice. Will you side with your Government you filthy Monarchical pig or will you join the Rebelion and become one with your people? I have chosen to go in the arms of my beloved people and help them take over this crippling old empire and make a thriving democracy out of it! (oh! yeah at that time I have all Europe but Balkans and Britain.) So to cut a long story sort. I am alone in a dark map with only one minisqule army just at the borders of my capital. I had no choice but to storm the gates and retake what is rightfuly mine!

By the time the revolution kicked in my Capital was creating my 6th all mighty full stack army to show the Ottomans we won’t be friends any more (they hurt my feelings  ). So when I stormed the gates with my army a full stack waited for me and said Hiii! Byeee!… Well, yeah it was a very very short battle. I was just cannoned to death on my way to the capitals walls. After that you know the drill .. load … and all over again.

How to create a Revolution

Simple steps.

  1. Remove all armies from your capital
  2. Make your Capital Really Really angry by getting taxes to the top or by destroying all that makes them happy (Pleasure Gardens, Observatories etc) or both. Start by rapping all their daughters. This will anger them for sure.
  3. By the time all daughters are rapped and taxes collected you are going to have a very angry capital in your hands. Normally in a matter of 3 to 4 turns you will have a revolution in your hands (Don’t worry you won’t miss it, a dialogue will appear)
  4. You can choose to Either side with the Government or the Rebels. If you want to change your Government type, go with the flow… errr Rebels.
  5. Just move the Rebel Army into your Capital
  6. In the process many of your conquered territories will spawn Rebels that will try to take over their lands, (Prussians as always can be a real nuissance, these guys just won’t die!)  Try to spread your armies in between provinces to be able to destroy these rebels once the revolution is over.

Vrasidas Papoutsis the Greek Rebel

The article below will only be “funny” for my Greek Friends

So, in the process of  step 4 I had to clean all the pesky Rebels from around the place. But one of them managed to ellude my hawk-eyes. It was Vrasidas, Papoutsis if I might add, the all mighty Greek rebel that in anno 1737 almost 90 years before  1821 managed to revolt and yes my friends for 2 years hold Morea as the New found Greek nation! (Monarchy, Orthodox) I don’t know how you feel for the mighty liberator of Greece but his name just makes me laugh out loud and roll on my back.

I am planning to take over the Ottoman empire now. and I will try to get the whole theatre before 1800. It will be fun!

I am looking for a mod that will allow you to play all the factions in the campain map (even the minor ones) Does anybody know if a mod like that exists?


Jan 14 2009

XKCD, Geeky humour for the people

This is a true story

Having said that. XKCD is indeed one of the most funny strips out there.

More specifically it’s funny if you’ve eaten the last 20 something years of your life in front of a pc monitor of any kind.I am not a regular on xkcd.com but there is always a humming bird out there to paste the latest hilarious strip.

Today’s story was just the cherry on a huge sundae. I was laughing so hard I couldn’t keep myself but to post even a tiny article about XKCD, that by the way is not an acronym. The creator of these stick figures with a brain the size of a watermelon is  Randall Munroe that in his spare time spare time climbs things, open strange doors, and go to goth clubs dressed as a frat guy so he can stand around and look terribly uncomfortable. At frat parties he does the same thing, but the other way around. Also he worked on Robos in NASA and that indeed sounds very cool. If you want to find him he lives somewhere in Massachusetts (that places him in the same place that FRINGE is being produced!) or in XKCD IRC channel ( IRC: #xkcd on irc.foonetic.net ).

If you want to know more about the history of XKCD and facts about it you can visit the Wikipedia article on XKCD.


Dec 16 2008

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Trailer

Ok, ladies and gentlemen the first of the two scheduled X-Men Origins movies is here. Wolverine is the first of a series of three sequel movies to the X-MEN trilogy, that will be followed by Magneto and First Class. Although we have no information for the latter of the films, but we do know that it is already under development.

As far as I can understand the three new movies will work like the Star Wars trilogies, sequels but prequels. This method had become rather .. trendy. Solving questions from the initial scenario and expanding the universe. Well of course in the Marvel Multiverse this will not really do us any good, but still it’s seems that Wolverine is a cool movie to watch.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine, due for release on May 1, 2009, is directed by Gavin Hood and again stars Jackman as Wolverine. It is a prequel focusing on the character and his time with Team X, before his skeleton was bonded with the indestructible metal adamantium. The film was mostly shot in Australia and New Zealand. David Benioff began writing the film in October 2004. The film also introduces Gambit (Taylor Kitsch) and Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), for whom Fox is developing spin-offs.

So enjoy the trailer and do tell me your ideas on what you see.


Dec 12 2008

Serenity’s Verse map

Once more QMx studios made it! The full map of the Serenity humongus triple star system in on beautiful production with pleanty of information that can do any sci-fi roleplayer happy beyond any imagination. The map measures 25 x 38 inches and documents the location, relative sizes and names of the 215 terraformed worlds and moons, seven gas giants, seven protostars and five distinct star systems that comprise the star cluster known as The Verse.

People that bought it have nothing to say but good words for this collective item. Joss Whedon also stated that “this guide is more accurate than mine”, So I suppose it is a “gadget worth having”.

The price is rather reasonable and you can have it either z-folded or rolled. In order to get it visit the QMx Store here.


Nov 24 2008

Pushing Daisies just Pushed the Daisies

According to ABC network (October the 20th) , the network will not continue buying episodes of the series. It will only purchase the 13 episodes of the 2nd season that were originally contracted. This practically means that Pushing Daisies will come to an end mid season.

It seems that ABC is following Fox’s foot steps ( Firefly ) and cancels one more great series that seems so very promising and different. I really cannot understand these people. As always the issue would be some sort of financial shortfall, but there is no indication of that assumption to be true.

This news come as a huge surprise to me, it’s plainly unfair.


Nov 24 2008

Oktapodi

Oktapodi is a love story of some sorts, a drama or a comedy … you name it. I just saw the film in YouTube, as most sort films nowdays and I have tried to find it’s source. My research led me to Gobelins a private university in the Heart of Paris that is specializes in Visual Arts (Graphic Design, Animation, Photography etc.). I have found that Oktapodi was a work of six 2007 graduates that actually received MANY awards world wide. So enjoy, and think about the fact that these uncredited sort videos you see around are actually the work of people that spilled their blood working on them.

The story evolves around the separation of two in love octopuses and their quest to save each other and live happily ever after.. or not. Either way Oktapodi is an amazing film featuring great animation and rendering techniques and with very well composed and placed music. It only lasts 2:25 minutes including the credits but that’s just a true evidence that amazing-ness is not about quantity, in minutes, but rather more about quality. Trust me when I say the production of this could very well have taken six months or so, including research. Personally I would like to congratulate all 6 of the producers of this marvel of modern animation, and if I had an award they should be sure I would have given them one.

The Creators:
Julien BOCABEILLE
François-Xavier CHANIOUX
Olivier DELABARRE
Thierry MARCHAND
Quentin MARMIER
Emud MOKHBERI

The Awards
• la “Bourse Lagardère” aux e-magiciens 2007
• le “Grand prix” au festival Court Devant 2007
• le “Gran Premio” au festival Art Futura 2007
• le “Best Animation” à Imagina 2008
• le “Best Student Animated Short Film” au festival indien FICCI Baf 2008
• “Honorary Mention”, prix Ars 2008
•”Children Jury Special Mention” au Festival ANIMAFEST Zagreb 2008
•1er prix dans la catégorie “Film d’Animation” au Festival International du Film de l’Etudiant 2008 (Casablanca)
•”CANAL+ Family Award” au Festival International du Film d’Animation 2008 d’Annecy
•”Best Student Film” à Anima Mundi 2008, Rio de Janeiro (Audience Prize)
•”2nd Best Student Film” à Anima Mundi 2008, Sao Paulo (Audience Prize)
•”3rd Short Student” Film à Anima Mundi 2008, Sao Paulo (Audience Prize)
• “Best of Show” et “Audience Prize” au SIGGRAPH 08
• “Special International Jury Prize” à l’International Animation Festival Hiroshima 2008

Official Film Site:
http://www.oktapodi.com

Other Articles
CG Society on Emud Mokhberi and Oktapodi
a huge thank you to Dimitris Doukoglou


Nov 13 2008

Post Apocalyptic Movies 101

The list below is a personal selection of Post Apocalyptic Movies not an official top something. I believe that these movies will be a great hook for the guys that right now spend their precious time playing Fallout 3 and collecting nuka cola bottle caps. So Enjoy!

Back in the Past

Mad Max II: The Road Warrior (1981) IMDB

Roaming the highways of post-apocalyptic Australia, years after he avenged his wife and son and his partner who were murdered by the motorcycle gang led by the evil Toecutter. Burnt out former Australian policeman Max Rockatansky, now known as “The Road Warrior” searching for sources of fuel, stumbles upon a gasoline refinery home to a community of survivors who are struggling for survival and finds the community is being terrorized by a band of brutal motorcyclists led by The Humangus and his finest warrior, Wez, who bid to loot all the gasoline from the refinery for themselves. The community hires Max, as Max agrees to help the community transport the gasoline across the highway and fight for freedom, as they are pursued by the Humangus and his warriors.

Dr. Strangelove (1965) IMDB

U.S. Air Force General Jack Ripper goes completely and utterly mad, and sends his bomber wing to destroy the U.S.S.R. He suspects that the communists are conspiring to pollute the “precious bodily fluids” of the American people. The U.S. president meets with his advisors, where the Soviet ambassador tells him that if the U.S.S.R. is hit by nuclear weapons, it will trigger a “Doomsday Machine” which will destroy all plant and animal life on Earth. Peter Sellers portrays the three men who might avert this tragedy: British Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, the only person with access to the demented Gen. Ripper; U.S. President Merkin Muffley, whose best attempts to divert disaster depend on placating a drunken Soviet Premier and the former Nazi genius Dr. Strangelove, who concludes that “such a device would not be a practical deterrent for reasons which at this moment must be all too obvious”. Will the bombers be stopped in time, or will General Jack Ripper succeed in destroying the world ?

The Dawn of the Dead (1975) (Not a nuclear Post Apocalypse) IMDB

Following the events of Night of the Living Dead (1968), we follow the exploits of four survivors of the expanding zombie apocalypse as they take refuge in an abandoned shopping mall following a horrific SWAT evacuation of an apartment complex. Taking stock of their surroundings, they arm themselves, lock down the mall, and destroy the zombies inside so they can eke out a living–at least for a while. Tensions begin to build as months go on, however, when they come to realize that they’ve fallen prey to consumerism. Soon afterward, they have even heavier problems to worry about, as a large gang of bikers discovers the mall and invades it, ruining the survivors’ best-laid plans and forcing them to fight off both lethal bandits and flesh-eating zombies.

A boy and his dog (1975) IMDB | Watch

A post-apocalyptic tale based on a novella by Harlan Ellison. A boy communicates telepathically with his dog as they scavenge for food and sex, and they stumble into an underground society where the old society is preserved. The daughter of one of the leaders of the community seduces and lures him below, where the citizens have become unable to reproduce because of being underground so long. They use him for impregnation purposes, and then plan to be rid of him.

Logan’s Run (1976) IMDB (Not a nuclear Post Apocalypse)

Logan, a Sandman (police assassin), is forced to search for “Sanctuary” – a place to which people have apparently escaped from the sealed city of the future in which he lives. Jessica is caught up along the way and becomes his companion fugitive as they are both pursued by Francis, a fellow Sandman. Sanctuary is not what they expect.

Radioactive Dreams (1985) IMDB

After an atomic war Phillip Hammer and Marlowe Chandler have spent 15 years on their own in an bunker, stuffed with junk from the 40s and old detective novels. Now, 19 years old, they leave their shelter to find a world full of mutants, freaks and cannibals. They become famous detectives in the struggle for the two keys that could fire the last nuclear weapon.

The Day After (1983) IMDB

The frightening story of the weeks leading up to and following a nuclear strike on the United States. The bulk of the activity centers around the town of Lawrence, Kansas.

Planet of the Apes (1968) IMDB (Not a nuclear Post Apocalypse)

Taylor and two other astronauts come out of deep hibernation to find that their ship has crashed. Escaping with little more than clothes they find that they have landed on a planet where men are pre-lingual and uncivilized while apes have learned speech and technology. Taylor is captured and taken to the city of the apes after damaging his throat so that he is silent and cannot communicate with the apes.

The War Game (1965) IMDB

The War Game is a fictional, worst-case-scenario docu-drama about nuclear war and its aftermath in and around a typical English city. Although it won an Oscar for Best Documentary, it is fiction. It was intended as an hour-long program to air on BBC 1, but it was deemed too intense and violent to broadcast. It went to theatrical distribution as a feature film instead. Low-budget and shot on location, it strives for and achieves convincing and unflinching realism.

The Latest Goodies

The Postman (1997) IMDB

In the year 2013 civilization has all but destroyed itself. After a war that decimated the government and most of the population of the United States (possibly the world) people struggle to survive against starvation and rogue groups of armed men. One such group is called the Holnists. This group is bigger than any other and their leader, General Bethlehem, has delusions of ruling the country. A drifter is captured by the group and forced to join. He escapes at the first chance and happens on a mail jeep with a skeleton in it. The skeleton is wearing a postal uniform and the drifter takes it to keep him warm. He also finds a mailbag and starts conning people with old letters. The hope he sees in the people he delivers to changes his plans and he decides that he must help bring the Holnists down.

Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) IMDB

Resident Evil Extinction is the 3rd movie of the Resident Evil Trilogy. Years after the Raccoon City disaster, Alice is on her own; aware that she has become a liability and could endanger those around her, she is struggling to survive and bring down the Umbrella Corporation led by the sinister Albert Wesker and head researcher Dr. Isaacs. Meanwhile, traveling through the Nevada Desert and the ruins of Las Vegas, Carlos Olivera, L.J., and new survivors K-Mart, Claire Redfield, and Nurse Betty must fight to survive extinction against hordes of zombies, killer crows and the most terrifying creatures created as a result of the deadly T-Virus that has killed millions.

Children of Man (2006) IMDB

World divisions, chaos and anarchy, these are the ways the world and the last remaining inhabitants are checking out. No child has been born for eighteen years. Human life and its moral self is eroding into extinction. Set in Britain in the year 2027, this is Theodore Faron finding his ghosts coming back to haunt his fruitless life, in the form of an underground band of rebels The Fishes. Unwittingly drawn into their plight, learning who can be trusted, who can be dependable, and how he must hold the most precious secret the Human race has been so longing to hear, the miracle that can change the course of Humanity; the first pregnant woman in eighteen years. On the run, he, Kee and Miriam must travel cross-country, on the run, terrified and helpless to the safe haven of the Human Project. With the help of aging hippie Jasper Palmer this horrific, dark, unconventional and uncompromising road movie is all that is left between the demise of the Human race and the birth of a new drawn.

12 Monkeys (1995)  (Not a nuclear Post Apocalypse) IMDB

An unknown and lethal virus has wiped out five billion people in 1996. Only 1% of the population has survived by the year 2035, and is forced to live underground. A convict (James Cole) reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time to 1996 to gather information about the origin of the epidemic (who he’s told was spread by a mysterious “Army of the Twelve Monkeys”) and locate the virus before it mutates so that scientists can study it. Unfortunately Cole is mistakenly sent to 1990, six years earlier than expected, and is arrested and locked up in a mental institution, where he meets Dr. Kathryn Railly, a psychiatrist, and Jeffrey Goines, the insane son of a famous scientist and virus expert.

The Matrix (1999)  (Not a nuclear Post Apocalypse) IMDB

During the year 1999, a man named Thomas Anderson lives an ordinary life. He makes a living illegally mostly by computer hacking. Then one day he meets another man by the man of Morpheus. After their friendship develops Morpheus shows him that world Thomas is living is make-believe. At first Thomas does not believe him, but then is shown evidence and also meets with a like-minded woman named Trinity. He is slowly updated from the time the world was disintegrated and wasted, devoid of all natural resources. Then in this wasteland, came android-like humans, machine-made, who enslaved the remainder of the humans. In order to create the perfect world, a fake world is created to fool the humans into believing that everything is alright in their world. Now Thomas, Trinity, and Morpheus must lead the humans to freedom, but will the android-like beings let them?

Dont Forget about the Matrix: Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions that might be inferior of the first movie but still complete the trilogy.

The Animatrix (2003) (Not a nuclear Post Apocalypse) IMDB

Anthology of nine short anime (Japanese animation) films tied in to the 1999 blockbuster “The Matrix” and its sequels. “Final Flight of the Osiris”: The crew of the hovercraft Osiris attempt to warn their city of an imminent attack. “The Second Renaissance, Parts 1 & 2″: The story behind the war between man and the machines, how mankind scorched the sky, and the creation of the Matrix. “Kid’s Story”: A teenager is contacted by Neo, and manages to escape the Matrix. “Program”: Two warriors battle in a samurai training simulation when one decides to betray his crewmates and re-enter the Matrix. “World Record”: A champion sprinter manages to break free of the Matrix by sheer physical effort during a record attempt. “Beyond”: A young girl searching for her cat discovers a haunted house caused by a glitch in the system. “A Detective Story”: Private investigator Ash tracks a hacker named Trinity through the looking glass. “Matriculated”: A group of humans capture a machine scout and insert it into a ‘human matrix’

28 Days Later (2002) (Not a nuclear Post Apocalypse) IMDB

Animal activists invade a laboratory with the intention of releasing chimpanzees that are undergoing experimentation, infected by a virus -a virus that causes rage. The naive activists ignore the pleas of a scientist to keep the cages locked, with disastrous results. Twenty-eight days later, our protagonist, Jim, wakes up from a coma, alone, in an abandoned hospital. He begins to seek out anyone else to find London is deserted, apparently without a living soul. After finding a church, which had become inhabited by zombie like humans intent on his demise, he runs for his life. Selena and Mark rescue him from the horde and bring him up to date on the mass carnage and horror as all of London tore itself apart. This is a tale of survival and ultimately, heroics, with nice subtext about mankind’s savage nature.

I am Legend (2007) IMDB

Robert Neville is a scientist who was unable to stop the spread of the terrible virus that was incurable and man-made. Immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and perhaps the world. For three years, Neville has faithfully sent out daily radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But he is not alone. Mutant victims of the plague — The Infected — lurk in the shadows… watching Neville’s every move… waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Perhaps mankind’s last, best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But he knows he is outnumbered… and quickly running out of time.

Tank Girl (1995) IMDB

Tank Girl (Rebecca) and her friends are the only remaining citizens living in the wasteland that is Earth, where all the remaining water is controlled by Water and Power, the mega corporation/government that runs the territory. While incarcerated at W + P, Tank Girl and her new friend Jet Girl break out and steal… a tank and a jet. After meeting some mutant kangaroo/humans, and rescuing her little girl (adopted by her friends), the kangaroos and the girls kick Water and Powers’ butt.

Waterworld (1995)  (Not a nuclear Post Apocalypse) IMDB

The polar ice caps have melted, and the earth is covered by water. The remaining people travel the seas, in search of survival. Several different societies exist. The Mariner falls from his customary and solitary existence into having to care for a woman and a young girl while being pursued by the evil forces of the Deacon.

Cloverfield (2008) IMDB Honorary Mention, not a Post Apocalyptic Movie

Cloverfield follows five New Yorkers from the perspective of a hand-held video camera. The movie is exactly the length of a DV Tape and a sub-plot is established by showing bits and pieces of video previously recorded on the tape that is being recorded over. The movie starts as a monster of unknown origin destroys a building. As they go to investigate, parts of the building and the head of the Statue of Liberty come raining down. The movie follows their adventure trying to escape and save a friend, a love interest of the main character.

What the Future holds

Ok I was never a huge Terminator lover, but the last 2 years have broght to life some pretty amazing stuff. Starting from “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (2008) and now Terminator Salvation (2009) that is about to be launched. So enjoy a small piece of artwork and story telling!

Want More?

Both the sites below are full of reviews/ previews of Post Apocalyptic movies

Empty World: http://www.empty-world.com
Quiet Earth: http://www.quietearth.us


Nov 10 2008

Nuclear Fallout? Duck and Cover!

As mentioned in my previous post I am starting a small side project. Part of this project is of course research on the matter. I have started digging where else but wikipedia and of course my first search was “nuclear bomb” that led to “nuclear war” that became “cold war” and I’ve reached a subject about “civil defense“. Do you guys know what civil defense is? I was pretty amazed when I read about it since I thought it was just a concept in the Civilization series (there is a building called civil defense that protects your population in case of bombings), but that was not just that at all. It happens that during the Cold War the U.S goverment initiated a new department like police and fire fighters that was called Civil Defense or C.D. for sort. During the Cold War the civil defense of the United States of America published a series of brochures and books with advices on how to react in case of a nuclear attack before, during and after the detonation of a nuclear device, how to create and equip shelters in order to get protected from the fallout that follows and general precautions on the subject. Two of these publications was the official U.S. goverment “Survival under Atomic Attack” in 1950 and the “Fallout Protection” in 1961. Apart from these publications that are indeed a really cool thing to read even for fun, the Civil Defense also created an awesome movie called “Duck and Cover” that I believe that it’s also the source of the famous expression duck and cover!

So I am happy to present you the movie itself that it was distributed at that time in every school in the U.S! Enjoy!


Nov 8 2008

Fallout Pen and Paper RPG

The Rules

I remember way back when I was about 18 years old me and some friends of mine playing falloull Table top Role playing game and having so much fun. Today I have tried to find the remnants of this game online. I clearly remember that there was a PDF rulesbook with rules for the game. Of course I was REALLY happy to find an online version of Alternity’s Gamma World (click here to get it). I always loved Alternity and I thought that a good idea would be start converting Fallout III resources using Alternity’s rules. But this didn’t go as well as I thought it could. It seems that part of the Fallout magic is it’s own system. I will try to find the old PDF and I will add to this post if I get lucky.

The Setting

Ok, so far we know what happened to California and Washighton D.C. more or less, but what of the rest of the world. Fallout 3 talks about War Against Communism and the Annex of Canada, so it’s pretty much obvious that in the storyline the U.S. went in War with China (?), Russia and that there was a major front in Canada as well. But what about Europe, Africa, Saudi Arabia or even Australia, the setting of our beloved MadMax Trilogy.

The Project

I thought it would be interesting to start a project that it’s goal will be to create a post apocalyptic setting based on the Fallout saga mythos. So I will start a series of campaigns accompanied by some research on the subject. I wil be posting source material here when available