Friday, October 18, 2013

Protection with Varnish

So normally I would use a gloss varnish on metal/armor ect, and then just matte varnish for the rest. As I was painting my first garage kit, it occurred to me that I might want to just varnish certain sections as I am painting just in case I bump it or something. Anyway, while googling around I came across several articles that suggest for additional protection, you can gloss varnish first, and then spray over it with matte and this will take the glossy effect away

http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?249298-Ard-coat-question

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Dragon Commander Screen Resolution Stuck

So my Screen Resolution is stuck for Dragon Command which I just bought on the -40% Steam Sale

My native resolution is 1600x900 and they apparently don't like it.
The fix for it is as follows:

  1. Launch the Game, then go to options>video and select windowed [note I didn't have any other resolutions available]
  2. Go to C:\Users\[YOURUSER]\Documents\Larian Studios\Dragon Commander
  3. You should see a file called "graphicSetting.lsx" open it in notepad or np++
  4. Search for the lines with variables "ScreenHeight" and "ScreenWidth" change this to what you want I changed back to 1600x900

Good Luck!


Sources
[1] http://steamcommunity.com/app/243950/discussions/0/846960628345147746/#p6
[2] http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=156708832#102862

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Game Review: Enclave (PC) 2013

Title: Enclave (Not to be confused with Fallout Enclave!)
Classification: 3rd person hack-and-slash RPG
Developer: Topware
Publisher: Topware
Release: March 10, 2003 (Original Release) Oct 4, 2013 (Steam Release)
Similar Games: Champions of Norrath, Gothic, Eldar Scolls, Fable, Kingdoms of Amalur ect...
Game Modes: Single-Player
Co-Op?: No

Description:

Experience incredibly atmospheric and intense medieval combat action!
Go ahead and enter a new world, the award-winning world of ENCLAVE!

The people of Light and Darkness are divided by a bottomless rift that split the earth many millennia ago. The lands of light are an Enclave of truth and order surrounded by the twisted and barren lands of the dark, known as the Outlands. Over the centuries the rift has started to close…

And now it is only a matter of time before the forces of Light and Darkness will clash in an unprecedented, merciless struggle for survival!
Remember... When a storm comes up, for some it’s better to keep out of its way… while for others it’s time to block its path!


Summary:

Enclave is a muuuuuch older game that I must have missed a decade ago. Although it definitely shows its age it is still a lot of fun.

I'll add on to this as I play more but for right now:

Pros:

  • Fun Gameplay despite being horribly out of date
  • Challenging


Cons:

  • Dated Graphics 
  • Punishing deaths 
  • Lame Green Crosshair when shooting


Verdict: 

Pick it up on steam while on sale for $2.50, I didn't think I would like it but give it till the end of level 2 you might find you enjoy it.

Friday, October 4, 2013

[Common-70] Application Exception: couldn't create run dir xilinx

[Common-70] Application Exception: couldn't create run dir xilinx

Got this error today when I changed the floorplanning on a PR design for my ML507 in 13.2 I re-ran the design and it broke D:

All you have to do is close out of plan ahead and reopen it. geez.

Game Review: Agarest: Generations of War

Title: Agarest: Generations of War
Classification: Tactical JRPG
Developer: Ghostlight
Publisher: Ghostlight
Release: Oct 3, 2013 (PC Release)
Similar Games: Fire Emblem, FF Tactics, Onimusha Tactics
Co-Op?: No

Description:

"
At the dawn of time, a terrible war raged between the forces of good and evil, ending in the destruction of the world of Agarest. After their victory, the Gods of Light unified the decaying bodies of the Gods of Darkness and created a new world.

Now, the forces of darkness are awakening once again…

Choose the path of Darkness or Light through a truly epic story, spanning multiple generations
Battle hundreds of different creatures using an array of character abilities, in a compelling and innovative turn-based combat system
Build your ultimate army of warriors and master Extra Skills, Special Arts and Over Kills to defeat colossal enemies!
Unite with your chosen heroine and use the “Soul Breed” system to shape the fate of the next generation of heroes
"

Summary:

I'll add on to this as I play more but for right now:

Pros:

  • Japanese Voice Overs! 
  • Interesting take on Tactics Battle Systems 
  • Great Music
Cons:
  • I really just want to play this on the Vita
  • Graphics is weak for a PC game (totally understandable on a mobile platform)
Verdict: 

Pick it up if you ever liked Tactical RPGs... For those that were digging the generation thing from Fire Emblem this is probably for you! 



Thursday, October 3, 2013

Store Review: SMcG Customs

Store: SMcG Customs
Website: http://66.147.244.127/~smcgcust/Prestashop/
Type: Online Retailer
Description: 

SMcG Customs specializes in any and all 1/6 female items from PHICEN to TTL-TRIAD to HOT TOYS. They also offer many custom made 1/6 scale clothing items and accessories for all styles of bodies, from male Tees to trenchcoats and Female lingerie to Superhero outfits.

SMcG Customs also offers a special order service for almost any 1/6 item imaginable. Originally, they started out with just custom commissions but have in the past couple years grown and expanded. You can also find a lot of their products on ebay.

Background:

I will say when it comes to 1/6 figures I am totally new to the market and hobby in general. I recently fell in love with the idea of them because of the Steamless Bodies that don't show any joints. Originally, I had purchased some larger VMF figures and realized how much I liked them. Then on AmiAmi there was a random link to Phicen and those awesome bodies. I knew I had to have one. The real trouble was learning and reading about them and thinks to OneSixthWarriors I learned a bunch. The next biggest problem was finding a dependable retailer to even think of purchasing stuff from and thats where SMcG comes in.

My Experience:

I first heard about SMcG when I was researching the Phicen Line of bodies on onesixthwarriors. Everyone there keeps talking about some guy named "Chad" and "SMcG" anyway I ended up finding his website and he had some of the things I was looking for in stock. On the forums Chad offers a wealth of experience and commentary about different products. The one thing that really caught my eye was his post about Phicen Nina:

"As many of you know, I stand behind the quality of the PHICEN. When you purchase from me, I dont leave you high and dry if something is wrong.
I still deal directly with PHICEN and take care of all of my customers.

If anyone has a question about NINA, I will do my best to help you out." 


I am pretty big on stores having good customer support and that pretty much had me sold. In addition, I had been reading reviews about Phicen bodies breaking ect...I have pretty terrible luck so I didn't want that to happen to me.

Anyway I ended up ordering some stuff from Chad, it was well packaged and came in with USPS Priority which means 2-3 days from when I ordered. I didn't have any problems with my order and it was great!

Customer Support: 

I can actually comment on this! I randomly emailed Chad through his support email just asking for information. He responded back pretty quickly and answered my question. In addition, my second order from him got messed up, but he contacted me in advance and definitely made the effort to make everything right. So A+ from me for customer service.


Verdict:

If you are going to order any 1/6 dolls / accessories ect... definitely give this store a shot first. Ebay can be sketchy at times and at least you know here Chad has your back.

7zip cannot unzip .zip and .z01 split archive files

So I discovered that 7Zip was having a problem with my split archives. Instead of using 7Zip, just click on all the split archives and select Extract All... using the built in windows feature.