FROM SHONNER'S STUDIO: Software

Train Simulator 2

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 06:12:54 GMT

Seven years ago, Microsoft released Train Simulator. Next month at the National Train Show in Anaheim, California they will show a preview of Train Simulator 2 which will begin selling next year.

I'm curious if there will be a booth there showing the proposed maglev monorail which is to connect Anaheim to Las Vegas.

The Sims 2 Is Still Alive And Well

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:42:15 GMT

After the announcement of The Sims 3, I figured The Sims 2 series was done. Today I found out that a new add-on and a new content pack will be released. So I pre-ordered the new apartments and some Ikea furniture to go with them. That was easy.

And no, I have no plans to get The Sims 3. It doesn't excite me. Anyone remember The Urbz?

Modo 302

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 03:20:38 GMT

I have been clearing 3D apps off my computer since discovering modo 302. It's like finally finding a girlfriend that understands me for a change. Or for sure like owning a cool fembot with all the necessary built-in home defense security weaponry.

Price Drop For Rail Simulator

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 06:35:30 GMT

Rail Simulator's price just dropped to $9.99 over at Amazon.

Interesting. Could be good news or bad news involved with this.

Hooked On Rail Simulator

Fri, 30 May 2008 00:56:08 GMT

Real quick.

I just recently got hooked on EA Games' Rail Simulator. Finally, a train sim that is a train sim and that looks great on the screen as well.

Anyway... I was hoping to use my modeling skills to create some 3D content for the game. Well the two choices for Rail Simulator to build models with are 3D Studio Max and 3D Canvas Pro. With those two choices (I can't afford 3D Studio Max and I refuse to model with crap like 3D Canvas Pro which is up to version 7 now and still works like those crap modelers I used back in 1994) and the fact that the Kuju programmers have managed to make Rail Simulator one of the hardest games to create content for, I decided to hold off doing any modeling for it for now.

I'll see if I can at least import terrain files into it though.

Infogrames Finally Finished Its Supper

Wed, 07 May 2008 09:34:42 GMT

ATARI just had the rest of its company swallowed whole by Infogrames. I don't think ATARI knew what it had been doing for the last ten years. I'm guessing the company didn't even need to be numbed first.

THQ Is Caught Acting Stupid

Wed, 07 May 2008 09:16:58 GMT

THQ reported losing over 35 million dollars so far this year. It's not rocket science to figure out that if you have a lousy web site which you use to provide horrible software support, that skilled Interweb users will go elsewhere for their online playing and game buying. Company of Heroes is a great game. But a controlling software company has to allow other titles it owns to succeed just as much, rather than hoping to live off the income forever from its first hit.

Supreme Commander and its Forged Alliance so-called "expansion" game are both heading to the bargain bin already because both games were designed for PC's that no gamer owned yet in order to play them. Word-of-mouth was, these games won't run on your brand new computer you just bought because it's not fast enough.

Advertising Forged Alliance as being a stand-alone game was another fatal software blunder. In reality, the $39 Supreme Commander was still required to get the $39 worth of playing time out of Forged Alliance for $78 total. A rather high price for a computer game that couldn't be played on one's own computer anyway.

Why a software company invents speedbumps and other obstacles to prevent their customers, who have been waiting for years to play their new game, from buying their products is beyond me.

Realsoft 3D

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:10:30 GMT

I was going through some older issues of 3D World Magazine and came across issue #75 which had a full copy of Realsoft Graphics' Realsoft 3D 4.5. I had either never heard of this software before, or I had forgotten all about it. It looks a lot like Amapi Pro 7.5, but with a lot more features such as texturing, animation, lighting, and rendering. Their gallery looked interesting.

Anyway... I was just curious if anyone has used this program? Especially for any NURBS modeling.

Thank You, Luxology!

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 10:02:11 GMT

I'm done with using DAZ3D products. I'm done with their bugs, too. The more I learn about modo 302 everyday, the more I don't want to use Hexagon and Carrara. DAZ3D caters to those that just want to buy pre-made 3D models for ray-tracing.

Luxology is a company that is far more mature and professional. And it treats their customers and products as such, which means the two fit together extremely well. Luxology reminds artists why they became artists in the first place. To make great art. And using modo's tools is like second nature, which raises one's own great level of artwork even higher.

modo's Cousin

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 09:18:02 GMT

I signed up just now over at the NewTek forum to see how things are going with Lightwave. A lot of traffic there. A lot.

It was interesting to find that some of modo's code comes from Lightwave's apparently. Error messages are exactly the same for certain operations. And modo still has a lot of catching up to do as far as animation is concerned, according to Lightwave users.

I Can't Wait To Try Modo 302

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 00:05:15 GMT

I downloaded Modo 302 last night, but didn't have time to use it. Tonight and
tomorrow should be fun. I put Silo 2.0.6 aside in the meantime. I prefer to
click on icons to select tools. Silo's GUI doesn't come with icons. Modo's
does.

Upgrade Your QuickTime Player to 7.4.5

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 07:59:03 GMT

I am not a big fan of running Apple software on my Microsoft Windows XP2 system.

Case in point -- Apple QuickTime 7.4. It doesn't like Internet Explorer 7. And quite possibly, IE 7 doesn't much like QT 7.4 either. But since the .mov filetype extension is here to stay, I had QuickTime check for updates and it mentioned a version 7.4.5 being available. I installed it and QuickTime no longer tries to crash Internet Explorer 7.

So now I can watch lame .mov files without the added pain of restarting Internet Explorer after each one.

Modo 302 This Friday

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:31:27 GMT

It looks like Modo 302 will be released this Friday. Modo is looking more and more like my favorite 3D modeler and renderer. I can't wait to try its updated sculpture tools, if there are any. There has to be. This is Modo 302 we're talking about. Not Hexagon 2.5, which has fallen into obscurity.