Cosimo Yap - The Gam3 #1: Opening Moves

The Game. The virtual world that decides almost everything now that the Earth is part of something bigger and space travel is no longer just a dream. Many different nations battle it out in the virtual reality Game to decide mostly on territories but also about governments and allies and enemies. You can do almost anything in the Game. And Alan is now joining it too.
Join him as he goes through the tutorial with his AI named Eve and learns how to fight, who to trust, and also how the whole system works. Encountering one of the mysterious Predecessors in the final stage of the tutorial sets Alan on a mission of uncovering many different mysteries. Along the way, he is set on a quest to retrieve a package on Kersath, the main hub and the one planet where everything mixes together. All the races and guilds can be found to have representation there.
After Alan manages to retrieve the package, he is allowed to join the trials for joining a guild. One of the most important guilds in the game. A major leading force. And along the way, he finds that his home planet, Earth is the best spot to set a supply base for the three factions that it sits at the edge off. So of course, everyone wants to gain control of it. And Alan decides to set his goal to keep Earth free. After all, it is his home. 

Resident Evil 2 - Remake

I can't believe it took me this long to even think about writing about the Resident Evil 2 remake! Even though I've had it for quite a while now. First thing first though. I've never played the original RE2. Ever. And I'm not gonna. I considered watching the whole thing on youtube, just to see how the two scenarios meshed together, but I scrapped the idea pretty soon. Though this is one of the few things I don't like about the reboot.
The scenarios no longer mesh together the way they did in the original. This time around, there are things that happen in both scenarios no matter what. And that's the thing. Those of you who are new to RE2, you need to understand that there are two scenarios. Both can be played with either Leon or Claire. Those are the two protagonists. Well, technically, two out of four protagonists, but more on that later. So, two scenarios, two main heroes. However, instead of being one smooth scenario that you only see in full after playing both campaigns, you have events that take place in both scenarios no matter what. Would it have been so bad to only have one of the campaigns fight against G1? Or the medallions to open the statue... Would it have been so bad to rework that just a little, so that maybe one campaign has to find two and the other one medallion and then have them meet in front of the statue and have them face the G1 together? With maybe Clair escaping with Sherry and having Leon do the fighting? Of course, the one that has to only find one medallion would have to have it much harder, but I'm positive it would work. Then it would work fine afterwards until they get to the hive. Well, Hive actually. But who's nitpicking... Me, I guess. I'm definitely nitpicking.
Oh yeah, they first have to get through the underground area. So maybe have to areas? Back to back, meet in the middle. Where the tram is, but even that, there would have to bee two. And maybe there are. Back to back. Now, who needs to get to the Hive first? In my opinion, it's Claire. And here, my ideas get a little iffy. Because, what if Sherry has an ID band that lets her go into level 3 instead of Claire having to go and find the bands one by one? Because, and bear with me. Claire deposits Sherry into the side room. While she's in the side room, Leon arrives and moves into the kitchen area and starts looking for a level 2 band. While he's there, Claire goes directly to level 3 with Sherry's medallion and ID band. There, she unlocks the case holding the G-virus and the anti-virus for the T. She grabs the antidote and bolts back. While she's in level 3, Leon is in the level 2 Greenhouse looking for a level 3 band. While he's in the Greenhouse, Claire heads back to Sherry together with Anette. They administer the antidote and Claire and Sherry leave for the lift that takes them down. As they depart, a new lift comes from above, ready for new passengers. And Ada makes her way onto the walkway leading to level 3 area.

While Claire was administering the antidote, Leon made his way from level 2 to level 3. He reached the G-virus and took it from the now open case. As he was making his way back, he was attacked by William Birkin in his G3 form. Leon took him down and continued to the central area with the level 4 lift. As his legs are not injured he walked faster than Ada, who, while waiting, used her hacking tool to open the lift.
So now, Leon is in front of the lift, Ada is on the central platform, but close to the walkway to level 3 and Anette Birkin is making an appearance from the side room where Sherry was. She's not dead like Claire and Sherry thought. Not yet at least.
Then the confrontation happens. Ada falls down, the G-virus falls down and Anette finally succumbs to her injuries. Then, Leon makes his way down and toward the train leaving the area. On the way, he battles the final form of the Tyrant and then jumps on the train. There, depending on which scenario you're playing, he will take on the final form of William Birkin - the G5 and the game will end with the final cutscene. 

And I should have probably warned you about spoilers. But hey, this is how I think it should have meshed together. Like, consider this a draft. It needs polishing. Especially the police station and some of the dialogue would have to be reworked, but with some additional work, I think this would work just fine. Probably better than the story the remake has now. And it would appease the fans of the original that miss the intertwining the original had. Heck, it would appease me and I've never played the original game.
Still, regardless of this little cough*big*cough problem, the game is fantastic, has superb graphic and I absolutely adore Leon. He's my favorite character. My other favorite character is Ada Wong. The dress is not as good as the one from RE4, but the graphic of it is way, way better. Of course, it is, since the game is from 2019 while RE4 is from 2004 or something.
And I haven't even given a proper review, even though I've written so much already. So, game, great! Love the fact that it doesn't have a fixed angle camera like the original, because, hey, even though I haven't played the original, I know many things about it. Thank you, YouTube conspiracy theories. Okay, moving on. I don't mind fixed-angle camera in games, but considering my first foray into Resident Evil was RE4 and that has an over-the-shoulder camera, I guess it is just the preference I have. It's the same with Devil May Cry where on the other hand a fixed-angle camera is preferable for me, thanks to DMC4.
Moving on, I am also glad that they didn't re-use the first person thing from RE7. I hated that and I hated it even though I only watched the playthrough on youtube. Or, I guess, most of the playthrough. I did play a little bit. The very beginning. Before I chickened out and decided that nope, there are just too many things wrong with RE7 to do more than to watch a playthrough just to see what happens. I generally don't mind a first-person point of view, but it just doesn't fit with the RE series. I'm fine with it for Elder Scrolls, for Grimrock (not that you can choose there...), even for facing games. But RE started as a fixed camera angle game and then evolved into the over the shoulder camera which I think, at this point, most people prefer. And even though I think we would get used to it if you sprang a first-person pov on us, I still prefer if we had an option for a third person. Yes, games evolve, gaming systems evolve too, but I think that there should always be an option to switch between first and third person. Or leave it in third person. Not everybody has a VR system set up and the first person pov is mostly meant for that. 

Now, back to RE2 remake. There are also minigames. The Ghost survivors. Several could have been scenarios. Several what-if situations that, if true, could change the whole game. Imagine running into Kendo in the sewer system... Or not finding Ben in his cell because Katherine broke him out? Though maybe he left the recording behind so this instance wouldn't alter the story too much...
Or maybe the soldier. And frankly, that could have happened. The only reason it didn't is because we know that Ada survived and she was the one to retrieve the sample or something like that. Well, sample, I think it was a bit of Birkin instead of the pure version of the G-virus. So even if the soldier found the G-virus ampule, he definitely didn't make it out. Or Wesker wouldn't have been so pleased with the partial sample Ada got.

And the last scenario that makes sense. The one in the gas station. What if Leon or Claire were speed devils and got there just a bit sooner? What if the Sherrif went to town with them? Would that have changed anything? Or would he die as soon as they encountered a licker? Or maybe he would survive long enough to encounter the tyrant and die by his hand?
Well, regardless of these what-if scenarios, there is one more. With several modes to it. The Tofu survivor. And yes, that is a bit of a joke, but oh well. It's still a legit playable scenario in the ghost survivors. I didn't play this one, but I saw the settings and bits and pieces of it on youtube. So yes, it is a bit of a joke. Still, you might enjoy it. But I prefer the main game. Even if I would prefer the scenarios to mesh the way I described above. And I also apologize for not really explaining the characters or anything like that, but I think that most of you know who they are. If you don't and would like me to write a brief description for each of them, let me know, I'd be happy to do it. 

Written on 14th of April, 2020

~AnnElfwind

Painting with Charcoal

So, been a while since I posted anything. About a week? Well, actually, it's been longer. I pre-prepared most of the posts you've been seeing. But now I got some free time so I decided to post more. And again, it's some pictures I drew and painted. This first is just a "study" of a nose. Just some practice with charcoal to see what I can do and how the sketchbook I was using would perform with charcoal of all things. Lately, I got really into charcoal and I'm doing a bit of experimenting here and there.
All in all, I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. Only, the tutorial I was following, somewhat, was using toned paper so that kinda screw with it but oh well, I wasn't gonna hunt down toned paper just for a quick sketch. Maybe for a full drawing, but not for this. Also, this sketchbook seems like it won't let the charcoal be smudged as much as I would like to, but I'm learning how to work around that. So we're good.

This next one is a painting I did that was inspired by Bob Ross. Again. Most of my nature-themed paintings are inspired by Bob Ross lately. Not all, but most. And this one, well, I really like the big tree and the smaller trees on the left side. I also love the grassy area but I'm bit bummed out about not doing the sky first, as this created a sort of a glow around the trees and bushes because I couldn't get too close to them with the blue without going over them. So, they're glowing. I'm also not too happy with the water, but that's my own damn fault for fucking around with a fucking fan brush. But I just wanted to test it out! So sue me!

Last one in this batch. Painted before the nature-themed one but is in the last place because upload positioning is a bitch and I uploaded the other one first. So it was first. This one was done following a Paul Priestley tutorial on youtube. Well, somewhat. I didn't have the exact colors so I made do with whatever I had. Also, I did not follow his instructions on the direction of the strokes because I think horizontal ones make more sense on pottery. Also, I don't understand how green equals blue with light shined on it, but oh well, there's a lot of things I don't understand when it comes to Paul Priestley tutorials. And not in the way that I'm a beginner, but in a way where it simply doesn't make sense. So sometimes, I'm not even trying to understand anymore.
However, I like the finished look of this. The only thing I would have done differently is the shadow. I really don't like how that turned out. Still, doesn't mean I'm gonna go back in and fix it. Not now when it's all dry and finished and done with. It's just something I know I will do differently if and when I draw/paint something similar in the future. 

Written on 14th of April, 2020
~AnnElfwind

Charcoal tree

So, I tried to do something with charcoal. I had to since I bought a pack of it just a few days ago. So I was watching videos on youtube. Art related videos. Tutorials and other stuff. And then there's this one that features charcoal. So I'm like, I'll try to follow along. And I did and this is the result. Mine's a little different and the highlights are probably not as bright. He was using chalk to do those, I used white soft pastel. And his paper was toned. Mine too, but nowhere near as heavily.
Still, looking at it, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. The reflections in the water are somewhat believable, nothing is too weird-looking, the bushes look kinda like bushes, the grass is not too stylized. I'm happy with it. And I'll definitely try to do more of these. But how about you tell me what you think of it? 

Charcoal, pencil and a merman

I was watching a charcoal tutorial on youtube. It was about drawing an eye. But the main problem was, that my charcoal was not the smudgy type. So I had to take out my soft pastels, which I coincidentally, only have in black, white and gray, and try to see if they would work. And boy, did they! They worked wonders. I mean, the iris could have used a bit more highlights, but oh well, it still looks cool! I love how it looks! Done on an A4 paper with some tooth to it. The sketchbook it's in was a Christmas gift. :D And so far, it's working pretty well for me. 

This one was done while I was watching some youtube video about basic proportions. It was all about measuring and comparing distances. And the guy is like still doing the nose while I'm googling hairstyles. Basically, remember what's-his-name from the post titled "Who the fuck are you?"? Well, this was a similar process. Just this time, I did a female, just like him. But the end result is completely different. The size is a fourth of an A4 paper. Done in a basic pencil that I don't even know the hardness of, but it seems like it could be a standard 2B pencil. Or something like that. Well, anyway, I'm happy with how this looks. What do you think?

Heh. Frankly, I don't even know what to say about this one. I mean, it's not horrible, but compared to the other two, it's like a complete noob drew it. And maybe it's because it was done in oil pastels and on a rather small paper. So I couldn't really fit enough detail into it, but still. The hands are pretty horrible. Though my thought process is this: If I don't draw them, regardless of how horrible they are, I'll never get better at drawing them. So that's why I'm posting even this. It's not my best work, but it's not my worst either, so there you go. Tell me how bad it is. I can take it.

~AnnElfwind

Written on: 8th of January, 2020

Who the f- are you?!

I can't help the name! He reminds me of someone! And I just don't know who!!! So I named the pic "Who are you?!" Seems fitting. Done by following a tutorial on youtube. And let me tell you, mine's completely different. I mean, I started with the same guidelines and all, but then, I'm like doing the eyes and I'm like ahead of the video itself. So I go and do the nose. And then in the video, the girl's like: "Hey, I think her nose is making her look African-American." And I'm like: "Her?" Because at that point mine looked like a guy. So I go and do the mouth and then she's doing the mouth and outlining the upper lip while I just did a shadow. And then she's talking about how it's important to have the eyes low enough because of the hairline and stuff and I'm like: "What do I even do for the hair?" So I go and google this: Male hair front view long.

And I get this guy. Obviously Asian. And he has hair that is long and done in some kind of a ponytail or something similar. So I'm like: "Hey, this will do!" And I go and copy that hairstyle on my drawing. Well, copy. It's not exact exact replica of it, as he was a little turned to the side so I had to make parts of it up, but it is definitely heavily inspired by this hairstyle I found. And I love the finished result. The guy really reminds me of someone. And the funny thing is, he reminds my dad of someone from real life. He just doesn't know who. And as for me, it's definitely not from real life. It's someone from a game, anime or maybe even a movie. I don't know! And it's driving me crazy.

If this reminds you of anyone, please tell me who. Maybe it's the same person. 

~AnnElfwind

Written on: 3rd of February, 2020