Tag Archives: Sea of Thieves

Oh My Days

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I took some time off after Easter as a mental break, but also as a cleaning break. Spring Cleaning I guess? But also I haven’t really had any real breaks from work since last summer. So some time off was overdue.

Plus, the boys were about to start up again in daycare / pre-school. The wife ready to go back to work. Easter was already a four-day long weekend, so I tacked on the week after as holidays. Cleaned the house, cleaned the garage. It was cathartic in a way, but ended up not being a relaxing time off at all. But I didn’t turn the computer on a single time, so that was one positive.

Which means I didn’t draw. I actually hadn’t done any drawing since I finished the last Stranger Than Friendship comic. Which tends to happen for some reason. They take a toll on me creatively more than my other art projects. Plus, obviously, the screen break plays a role. Which got me thinking about getting back into physical art again, and not relying solely on the computer. So I’ve bought myself a toy to try out. Deliver me my Huion LED Lightbox!:

I did some research and its one of the better reviewed options available. And it’s portable. Which is good because I don’t have any spare room on my computer desk.

I think I’ll still do my layouts/sketches on the computer, and then print it out and lightbox it for Pencils, Inks, Watercolour, etc. We’ll see how it goes.

I’ve always had this nagging feeling that I wanted to do my wrestling comic traditionally with pencil and ink, and then just scan for colour and the rest. So now I can give that a go.

// What I’m Drawing

I did a quick cartoon drawing that I’ve had in the back of my head for a while, ever since watching the movie Luca:

Luca is a Disney movie about a fish boy who travels to land. When he’s above water he’s in human form, but underwater he’s more of an underwater mermaid boy. Obviously being a Disney property, he’s a very cartoony character design. But, I always thought it would be funny to do a darker, Tim Burton-ish version. More of a sea monster type.

So I drew this up quick last night and I think this will be my jump-back-into-physical-art attempt. I’ll print the sketch, lightbox the pencil onto watercolour paper, and then finish as a watercolour.

I should have a finished product by my next update, and hopefully keep it from my 3yo toddler who enjoys the movie. Wouldn’t want to spoil that for him…

Besides that I have a few projects cooking:

  • X-Ladies group shot: adding Magik and 1970s Mystique to the group, and then colour
  • Angela – colour
  • Harley Quinn
  • Finish Goblin Queen

And a few projects simmering in my head:

  • Let Me Solo Her (Elven Ring community player 😉 )
  • Deadpool
  • Scarlet Witch (hopefully before the movie comes out)
  • Boba Fett

Also I have the next Stranger Than Friendship webcomic idea, revolving around the popular game Wordle. I actually collaborated with a friend on this one. My idea/plot, but he volunteered to do the script.

// What I’m Playing

Knee deep in Halo Infinite. Half way through the campaign on Legendary; having just finished Mission 8 – Pelican Down and the 2 bosses. I’ve also been grinding through the collectibles as well, so it’s slow going. So far the campaign has been a lot of fun, feels like I’m at the part where its starting to really shine, and has an enjoyable story thus far.

Next week Season 2 of the multiplayer kicks off, so I’ll also be playing around in that. Trying out the new maps and modes, and the new Battle Pass.

In co-op, I’ve been playing Sea of Thieves – Pirates of the Caribbean Adventure. And also Grounded. Slowly expanding our base out a bit and exploring/completing objectives/crafting. We recently finished the Jungle Lab and stumbled across a might scary Spider Tunnel:

At home, my wife has volunteered me as the bug killer/catcher, so I wouldn’t say I’m afraid of spiders or bugs in general. But in-game, regardless of the game, I have a few phobias: Being underwater (very stressful / claustrophobic), and real world creatures, that are bigger than me, in-game. Like the Spiders in Grounded. Especially the Wolf Spiders. They’re just mean. Anyways, this spider web nest was creepy as hell and I was not interested in sticking around.

// What I’m Reading

  • Week of April 13th
  • Nocterra #9
  • King Spawn #9
  • Batman/Catwoman #11
  • Batgirls #5
  • Week of April 20th
  • Batman: The Knight #4
  • Blue & Gold #8
  • Catwoman: lonely City #3
  • Hulk #6
  • The Nice House on the Lake #8
  • The Walking Dead Deluxe #37

//

I think that wraps up the last few weeks. Stay safe.

G325,501
iRogan

Work those fingers – 20G

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It’s been minute since my last blog post. 60480 to be exact. Where has the time gone?

It started with just a break. And then I started writing a game review for Watch Dogs Legion, my first actual game review 2017. Sure, I’ve done my Reviews Done Quickly every year since then, but those are just bloated paragraphs, tackling 25 games at once. Not needing much thought.

Attempting an actual review was much more daunting. And I plugged away at it, but hours turned into days turned into weeks. I pressured myself to finish the review by abstaining from writing blog posts. And suddenly 4 weeks had gone by.

Here’s a link to the completed review: iReview – Watch Dogs: Legion

It felt good to stretch those muscles again. And I’ve wrapped up a few games over the past while so maybe I’ll attempt another. We finished Far Cry New Dawn, so I could write one up for that. And the wife and I are nearly done It Takes Two – so there’s another option. I mean they’re not called Idle Reviews for nothing. This page was never going to have reviews for current games ;). But games released 1-3 years ago, that’s more my pace.

So, what’d I miss?

Well… I did some drawing. I played some games. I read some comics. I actually made another webcomic over at Stranger Than Friendship. First one of 2022, and actually first one in 6 months. Idle Comics is the name of the game.

Whoa!

Right?

Well, lets get started shall we?

//

What I’m Drawing

Spider-Gwen:

Gwen Rider? Ghost Spider? Spider Rider? What would you call her? I drew another Gwen Stacy variation. I know...you have an obsession…blah blah blah. I got some motivation after seeing some Ghost Rider art and thought it would make an interesting addition to the gallery. I’m not 100% happy with the design. Need to tweaks, but its good enough. It’s a worthy addition.

Angela / Spawn

Angela has been in my queue for a bit and I am super happy with how this one turned out and I’m excited to colour it. Very much stylized after the Capullo covers from the Spawn comics. So no background – just Angela. If the colour turns out how I imagine it, this will be the next poster.

Moxxi:

This was actually a drawing from 2020. My plan was then to colour in 2021 for Drawtober 2021 but ran out of time. So I finally did colour it. Working off some of the rust, as my “to be coloured” pile is growing.

//

What I’m Playing

I am happy to report that I finally started the Halo Campaign after finishing Watch Dogs Legion. Attempting on Legendary difficulty, and it’s been a slow grind, but for what it is, it’s been fun. It feels very different from other Halo games, with the transition to an open-world design (semi open world, I don’t even know if its considered open enough to be open world). It feels and plays a bit different. But its a nice change.

I’ve also been spending some time within Shredders, which is a fun indie snowboarding game with awful, terribly dialogue and voice acting. Just cringey-bad. In co-op we’ve been playing in the Grounded – Game Preview as the game supports achievements now. I played this early on when it first released in game preview like a year ago, but it’s definitely expanded.

And actually jumped into Sea of Thieves for a few hours to try out the Pirates of the Caribbean addition. Yup, nothing really worth mentioning, other than the game still looks gorgeous.

//

That pretty much catches you up happenings around here. I wont even get started on the comic reading queue. I’ll just start fresh next week, instead of listing 6 weeks worth. Head over to the Stranger Than Friendship page to see the new comic, and then come back here next week for more games and art.

Take care.
iRogan
G324,371

E3 2016 – Microsoft Press Conference

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MICROSOFT E3 2016

First press conference of E3 Day 1 starts of, like every year, with Microsoft. I’ll do a quick recap of the event and then discuss my impressions.

Xbox One S

The show starts off with a video package introducing the new Xbox One S (Slim). Slim design. 40% smaller than the Xbox One, integrated power supply and up to 2 TB internal storage. Also introducing a new controller with grippy back similar to the Elite controller.

Phil Spencer, head of Xbox comes out and announces the new Xbox One S, starting at $299 USD this August.

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Gears of War 4 + Xbox Play Anywhere

Rod Ferguson from The Coalition, creators of Gears of War 4.  Also at this time the big announcement of the night: Xbox Play Anywhere. With future Microsoft games, they will come out on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC simultaneous, and support Play Anywhere. Buy one copy of the game, and have it able to be played on Xbox and PC, shared game saves and achievements. Start up on the Xbox, and continue your game on the PC.Gears_of_War_4

Gears of War 4 will support cross-play across the XB1 and PC, in the campaign, co-op, multiplayer, and the new Hoard Mode 3.0.

Laura Bailey comes out and there is gameplay shown for Gears of War 4. The game has more physics based events, as this part of the campaign shows a nasty sand storm which is blowing walls and dead enemies around. Gorgeous visuals, new enemy types, new weather effects. At the end of the demo we are shown a quick scene with an older Marcus Fenix.

Game is getting released October 11th, and there is a new custom Gears Elite Controller. And as a special bonus, Killer Instinct will have a new playable fighter in General RAAM from Gears of War 1.

Forza Horizon 3

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Up next is the reveal of from Playground Games. New location in Australia which has a nice blend of desert, jungle, and urban cities. New addition to the series is water on the tracks. Similar to Forza 6‘s water physics. The campaign will now support 4 player co-op that have seamless drop-in. Release September 27th, 2016, and will be released on the Xbox One and Windows 10. Xbox Play Anywhere support.

Recore

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A new video package is shown for Recore, highlighting that different robots. “Forge friendships with Robots” The game looks really interesting, and seems to have a lot of heart.

Final Fantasy XV

A quick demo is shown for the upgraded combat that’s coming to Square Enix‘s Final Fantasy XV. Something can be said for these press conferences, and their perfect demo playthroughs, and how they might not be believable, and then there’s FF XV demo, which was clumsy. The fight took place against a Titan as the player fights his hand. The combat is fluid sure, but it looks a lot like button mashing, and dodge-rolls. Release Sept 30th, 2016. I’ve never played a FF game, and I don’t intend to start.

The Division

Up ahead of their own press conference, Ubisoft takes the stage to discuss The Division, and their upcoming premium DLC. The Underground expansion will have random generated missions with different varying enemy types and spawn areas. There’s only so much much randomness a mission can support, when the gameplay is just pointing a gun at people, and shooting. The DLC is available first on the Xbox One, June 28th.

Battlefield 1

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Patrick Back is up next from DICE to talk about the big game of the show: Battlefield 1. The new game looks incredible. This time around there is more intuitive destruction and random weather elements. The big reveal was during yesterday’s EA Press Conference, but they show the trailer again, and announce that EA Access will have early access to the game. play it first on the Xbox One Oct 13th, 2016.

Xbox Platform

Mike Ybarra comes out, Head of Platform Design, and talks about the Xbox system. They’re improving network reliability with more servers in more countries. They’re adding more backward compatible titles and opening up the system to more games that support Cross-Network play. Coming soon is Background Music (finally), and Cortana Digital Assistance.

Three new updates coming soon. CLUBS are coming to Xbox Live that allows yo to join communities of people that like the same games you do. Looking For Group (LFG), allows players to find people playing the same game to join up. And Arena, a new competitive tournament platform.

Minecraft

The Minecraft team is up next to talk about the game, and its latest updates. One big update is the Friendly Update, which allows iOS, Android, PC, and Xbox to all play Minecraft cross-platform, all over Xbox Live, with dedicated servers. John Carmack announces Minecraft VR. New texture packs that turn the mobs into aliens and agents, and texture turn the walls into cities. This Fall on PC, and next year on the Xbox and other devices.

New Controller

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New custom controllers are available in the Xbox Design Labs. Customize the controller’s colours however you like, and engrave it with your name or gamertag. Very neat. “You Design it, We Build it”

ID@Xbox

Inside, a new game from the creators of Limbo is shown. Looks dark and ominous, as you’d expect. Side-scroller again. A quick sizzle reel of the upcoming games being developed through ID@Xbox is shown, including games: Cuphead, Outlast, Deliver Us The Moon, Flint Hook, FAR, Slime Rancher, Shadow Tactics, The Culling, For The King, Beacon, Stardew, Hand of Fate 2, Below, Raiders, Bloodstained, Yooka-Laylee, Everspace.

We Happy Few is coming to Xbox Preview from Compulsion Games. Available July 26th. This game is very weird, and has a Bioshock feel. I’m excited to try this one out.

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Ark: Survival Evolved is also going to support Xbox Play Anywhere.

Gwent

CD Projekt Red hits the stage and talks about The Witcher 3, and how QWENT, the in-game card game, became very popular. So they’re announcing a stand-alone card game: GWENT. Single player campaign, with new cards and new abilities, and multiplayer. A beta will start in September.

Tekken 7

Bandai/Namco up next to reveal Tekken 7. Early 2017. A quick gameplay campaign trailer is shown to show how the story and campaign seamlessly transition into the fighting gameplay. Oh, and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is now free on Xbox Live through Backwards Compatibility.

Dead Rising 4

A new game with a new holiday theme. New guns and a new area, and with weather elements. Coming out Holiday 2016. A nice reveal video is shown.

Scalebound

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Shannon Loftis comes out, from Microsoft Studios, to talk about Scalebound. Coming out in 2017, from Platinum Games. Hideki Kamiya hits the stage to introduce the latest gameplay video, which picks p from the Gamescon 2015 showcase last year, showing co-op gameplay of the player and his dragon taking on a big boss. Kamiya states that this is the biggest boss fight that Platinum Games has ever made. 4 dragons vs a large monster in an underground watery cave.

Sea of Thieves

From RARE, Craig Duncan hits the stage to talk about Sea of Thieves. They setup the gameplay video, showing three gameplay testing groups who had visited the studio. No tutorials were given to the groups, and they were dumped into the game and asked to play. The video showcased the ship against ship gameplay. Unannounced was how many people can be in your crew, but you have to steer and manage the ships, the sails, and load the cannons.

State of Decay 2

A quick video package for State of Decay 2 is revealed. New area is Turnbull County. And the game is going to be released next year, and now supports co-op, which is super exciting, and it’s lack of co-op is the only reason I stopped playing State of Decay 1.

Halo Wars 2

New reveal trailer for Halo Wars 2 showing the Covenant vs the Humans. This game is being made with the help of Creative Assembly. There is a new enemy type called The Banished. Released Feb 21st and supports the Xbox Play Anywhere. Beta is going on this weekend, and recently extended until Wednesday, June 22. The reveal is concluded with a multiplayer trailer.

Xbox Project Scorpio

Phil Spencer is out to conclude the show with the reveal of Project Scorpio, a new Xbox coming out holiday 2017 that is designed with 4K gaming in mind. Will support HDR and VR. All games will be compatible with the Xbox One, Xbox One S, and Project Scorpio. Claimed to be the most powerful console on the market. 6 teraflops of power. Only intended for 4K TVs though.

A final sizzle reel closes the show.

A very good showing from Xbox during their media briefing.The reveal of the Slim and Project Scorpio is definitely unexpected. I hope that the closing with the Scorpio doesn’t prevent any sales of the Slim, as they’re far behind the PS4 in that department.

Halo Wars 2, State of Decay 2, We Happy Few, Battlefield 1, Recore, Gears of War 4,and Forza Horizon 3 have me the most excited.

-iRogan