How did I get so lazy? - January 15, 2019
Welcome to a new year.
I need to get my shit organized. To give you an example of how unfocused I have been at Christmas time I got a new hard drive to put in my computer. It is still sitting waiting to be installed. All my existing drives are filled with games and such.
Here is a checklist of things I need to do before I can continue work on the mod:
- install, partition, and format new hard drive
- install VirtualBox (partially just as an experiment to try it out)
- install Windows in VirtualBox
- install my old trusted photo editing software
- install the software to make the Last Resort installer
- install my ancient copy of Visual Basic 6 (not easy to do on Windows 10)
- intall latest version of Visual Studio to continue the update of the LR launcher
At this rate I should be good to go by 2020.
Recently I was reading an article about how Max Payne had a texture upgrade by using "AI" software to help increase the resolution of old textures using an open source process called ESRGAN. We will have to experiment to see if this could be any benefit to some of Swat 3's ancient textures. The problem is that Swat 3's textures may be too low of a resolution to do much with them. It may be a "temporary" solution until better textures can be made. Something to add to the "to do" list.
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Anyone home? - November 21, 2018
I finally had enough free time to address a website error that we were getting since June when I updated the version of PHP the site uses. Now that it is fixed (I think it is anyways) we will hopefully see less forum spam. I am sure our moderator DarkSynopsis will appreciate that since he has been the one dealing with the spammers mostly. His help is much appreciated.
The TV show that I have been working on since the spring is finally wrapped and new game releases are distracting me from working on the mod. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a big culprit. I decided not to buy Fallout 76 after trying the beta but I have picked back up with my Fallout 4 addiction by starting a new character.
I am still determined to finish and release the NeuWon update for Swat 3 so we can play online like the old days. It is long overdue and feel bad. I have also been negligent on checking on the Swat 3 server but I suspect my son has been keeping them up and running.
Swat 3 Reunited: this massive repository of Swat 3 mods is back online after being down for about 6 months(?) Great to see it back and that Copy-Cat and his staff are keeping it running!
Write comment (0 Comments)What I am up to Part Deux - June 30, 2018
I have been working full time on a TV show since April so haven't had much free time. We are on hiatus for a week so hopefully I can catch up on some Swat 3 stuff.
The last thing I was deep into for the Last Resort mod was new 1366x768 menus. 15" laptops have become more popular since I started this mod so many years ago and so a replacement resolution was long overdue. I have completed the majority of menus but I have just started tackling the more complicated multiplayer menus (ie callup screen).
My son Noisyboy has been helping with modifying and expanding a Swat 3 browser map viewer that the brilliant AlienAbducter first made. You can zoom around the Swat 3 maps right in your browser and examine how the original artists constructed the official maps. Please feel free to give us any feedback in this forum thread.
Write comment (1 Comment)What I am up to - January 18, 2018
As you may be aware I am working towards including native support for the NeuWon network for Swat 3. Ben, the maker of NeuWon, saw the rough logo I made and requested I give him a larger size for his website. I had to start from scratch to make a larger version since it was just a quick and dirty version originally. Below is the new version. You may notice it is a recreated and modified version of the old Won.Net logo.
After I made the new logo I noticed it clashed with the colours on the NeuWon website so I got took the liberty of modifying the website graphics for Ben. It sounds bold but I just emailed the changes to Ben and he decided if he liked them or not.
This whole process took a day (I work slowly while sorting all my MP3 files as a distraction).
I am presently working on the modified 800x600 graphics for the "NeuWon" release. A slow part of the process is making all the new rollover buttons for the main menu. I decided to make an overlay to speed things along (will be useful with all the other resolutions after this too).
On a personal note I have many potential distractions right now. I just bought The Division and a second copy of R6 Siege. My Blade Runner 2049 and Dunkirk Bluray discs both finally arrived in the mail. Must. Not. Procrastinate.
Write comment (4 Comments)Short term goals - December 29th, 2017
Now that the holidays are almost over I want to lay out what I plan on working on for the near future.
1) Need to get the Neuwon server back up and running. Technically it has been running the whole time in case Ben (the creator of NeuWon) needed to work on it. I will need to email him to see if he has any suggestions. Perhaps it is related to the recent changes he made regarding game CD keys and authentication?
2) Finish the 800x600 menus and then move onto the next resolution (working towards the ultimate goal of a fully updated version of Last Resort with native NeuWon support).
3) More new high-res map textures!
4) Work more on the high-res Import Store map remake
Any future delays upon these goals can be blamed on Steam sale purchases.
Write comment (4 Comments)Real life sucks - November 16, 2017
A quick entry here in this blog. I have been working 16 hours days (if you include travel) these last few weeks so haven't had any time to work on the mod much less sleep. This week will even be a 6 day week.
The good news is that I renewed this domain for another year and at the beginning of December the tv show I am working on ends. I will have my usual winter break from work to dig into the mod.
Gotta run!
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