• Time To Update The Site Again

    I have neglected this site for quite a while. I can’t say that it won’t continue to get neglected after I do this updating. But it might get a little more activity.

    I should probably address a couple of things before I get too far as if I do start to post here more often the posts will definitely be different.

    Games

    I’m not playing nearly as many games as I was and I’m not playing as often. I have reduced my consoles to just one. I still have an Xbox. I use it more as a media streaming device than for games. I have apps for my cable company as well as Netflix and that sort of thing on it. And while I do have a couple of casual games on it, I have not played them in months.

    I was playing World of Warcraft until about a month ago. I’ll be honest, I hate Shadowlands. I didn’t like it in preview, but I bought it anyway and gave it a good try. I even got my main level maxed. I was trying to level an alt and realized I really hate the zones in the game, if not for their cultish theme, then just for their layout. They are some of the most annoying and complicated maps to get around. And since I wasn’t having any fun, it was time to stop. So you will have no more updates from that one.

    Updates and plans

    The biggest update you will notice is the color scheme. I’ve decided to go with something lighter, though it is currently still the same theme.

    As time goes on there may be additional changes, either to the layout, customizations, or possibly the entire theme. I’m not sure yet. As I was re-acquainting myself with the site and the theme, I discovered that this is a very robust theme, meaning, it allows for a lot of customization and control. Which was something I found challenging on another site recently.

    I would like to shift the content of the posts for this site. It is still my site for experimenting and I think because of that it will be a good place to discuss some of the technical/computer based things I might be working on or learning, and in some cases both. I will likely have an occasional opinion post on those sort of topics. And…there may still be a game related entry on the occasion, if I find something interesting or irritating that I want to comment on. I do not anticipate many such game posts.

    I think it is time to find a new header image. I’m working on some options. I haven’t decided what I want to use yet so I’m not sure if I’m cropping a photo or creating a new piece of art. But to be sure, there is other art I’ve used here that I will be changing for future posts. Anything already posted will remain as is unless I happen to make some sort of global change that then overwrites something. I don’t expect to.

    I’m also going to work on the base page at: https://suguayproductions.com. It is looking a bit dated, and to be honest it is. I think it is time to make that look a little more modern and polished. At least that will be the goal.

    Last note

    I would like to say that this is just the beginning. But since I have not been consistent with my posts on any of my sites in the last two years I really won’t make any promises. I do have some things I am learning and working on that I think this site, as it is experimental, will be an excellent place to either test or implement (I am going to try not to break it completely) and it will be a good place to write about those things too.

    It could be an interesting adventure.


  • Gaming Update Entry 07.03.2017

    Ok so I didn’t get anything posted for June. But hey, it is only the beginning of July so…

    I saw an article that Sony was discontinuing production of the PS3 even in Japan so I decided it was time to trade in my PS3 and
    all it’s games and finally move up to a PS4.

    That worked out pretty well. I got a pre-owned one with a 500GB drive, 3 games, a pack of control freaks and the down payment on
    the pre-order of Destiny 2 all for about $200. That was cool.

    So the games I got… Mad Max, Uncharted 4, and Assassins Creed IV – Black Flag. And no, I haven’t played any of them yet. I know,
    I know.

    I’ve been watching some people on Twitch play Tekken 7 and that has looked like so much fun that I finally gave in and purchased
    it. I was able to get a pre-owned of it too so I saved like $10 or $15, which is always nice. I also picked up a Pinball game
    because well, I like Pinball. And I got Skyrim.

    I’ve played a few of the tables in Pinball. That’s fun. And it’s a quick thing. With the way my schedule goes, I like having games
    I can get in and out of quick so Pinball works well for that.

    I’ve also played Tekken 7. That is as much fun as it looked like. I’m still playing against the computer but I’ve got Shaheen up to
    like 1st Dan. I’m looking forward to playing a few more of the fighters and getting them up there like that. I will try playing
    online against other players as well I just haven’t done it yet. I want to play a few more fighters before I do that.

    Back on the Xbox One. I haven’t made any progress with anything. I thought about starting Destiny or Watch Dogs the other day but
    didn’t get there. I started a new vault in Fallout Shelter. The one I had was getting frustrating. I think it grew too fast and so
    I didn’t have people prepared to fight the Deathclaws or whatever they were that kept attacking. I’m going a little slower with
    this vault and I’ve managed to collect some special/rare vault dwellers that have some extra stats. That’s been cool.

    On the PC well, no I haven’t made any progress. Wait. That’s not exactly true. I did finish the first mission in Watch Dogs 2.
    Except I’m not sure it’s the first mission. It’s more like the preview mission. You know how movies start with some event before
    they show the opening credits and get into the story? Well that’s what the first mission for Watch Dogs 2 is. I was a bit pissed at
    that. But I did finish it and manage to get my new phone setup and some new clothes. I heisted a motorcycle and managed to make it
    to Deadsec headquarters. So I’ve made some progress there but I haven’t gotten back to it.

    And finally there’s Zelda. I’ve made some progress there. I’m off the plateau as I said before. I’ve made it to the first town and
    then found the old lady I was supposed to find and now I’m off to try and find the 4 groupls that control the guardians. At least I
    think that’s what they control. Anyway. It’s progress. Even if it is slow.

    There you go. I managed to get some game time in in between working, Taekwondo, studying for a test and taking an online
    programming class. Yep, things tend to be a bit busy in my world. I’m also working on a robot project and a Raspberry Pi/Google AIY
    project. So yeah, keeping up with the games, not that easy. Though right now, I think I’m going to go play a little more Tekken7.


  • What to call these…

    The biggest problem with trying to post regular updates that are mostly just regular updates and not really specific to anything, like a game or a review, or a particular story or event, the problem is what to call these updates. Since I don’t really expect to post weekly I can’t call them weekly updates. And daily updates won’t work for sure. Maybe “Log Entries” will work. Sort of like in space games or in Star Trek “Captain’s log stardate…” Only maybe it will just be “Log Entry ##.##.##” or something like that.

    So for the latest in my world.

    The day job offered a couple of challenges the week before the Memorial Day holiday. I had some change controls early in the week that didn’t go as planned. They were fairly easily fixed, fortunately. Unfortunately, they were two in a row all before noon on Monday. That is so not the way to start a week. I also had a challenge to create a recurring job to clean up some transaction logs on a server. The choice was to either setup a job that would just keep an eye on a couple of databases. But since the name of one of them would be changing quarterly, I went with option two which was to setup the job so it would just clean up all log files over a certain size. For many this will seem like a fairly trivial task. For me it was a new opportuntiy to learn something and figure something out. And I succeeded so that’s good.

    On the game front. Remember, I don’t get to play regularly.

    So in Fallout 4 I have finally made it to level 5. Yay. I made it to Lexington, I think that’s where I’m at. I died like 5 times just trying to go a block. But I finally took out the two turrets and the two snipers so that’s progress. I’ve got a little better gear. I picked up some leathers and an enhanced chest piece. I’m not sure I’m making the best choices with my level up points in my S.P.E.C.I.A.L. categories. Oh well. Guess I’ll see how it plays out.

    In Zelda: Breath of the Wild, I finally made it off the plateau. So now the reall game begins. I’ve made it to the next shrine and passed that test. Though, I did miss getting one of the chests in there. I might go back and see if I can still get it before moving along.

    For World of Warcraft, I played for a little bit but not long. I have a hunter that I want to level up. I’ve got 3 toons at 110 and I’m going for the 5 toon achievement with that. My hunter is level 70 now. I managed to make it that far. I’m in Borean Tundra right now but as I got there at leve 68, I’ve covered a lot of the content, minus the dungeons, so I’m not sure there is enough left to get me to 72 to move on. As I was playing I realized that it had really gotten too easy. Especially playing DPS. Don’t get me wrong. I kind of understand the mindset of Blizzard for doing it. But I’m not sure I agree with it. In some ways it cheapens the accomplishment of getting a character to max level. The reward feels more for endurance than for skill. And that’s frustrating. But that could mean either, I should try one of the other roles or, that it’s time for me to branch out and learn some new games and play styles. I’m leaning towards the latter.

    There are so many games out these days, with different mechanics and some incredible art and interesting stories. I think it might be time to learn how to play a few of those. Even the ones in first person view. Though, those will likely take longer to learn and to make progress. You try learning a game in 15 minute intervals.

    With that in mind I picked up a couple of new to me pre-owned games for my Xbox One. I got Destiny and I got Watch Dogs. I haven’t started them yet. I’ve heard that Watch Dogs is a bit different than Watch Dogs 2 and I kind of want to check it out. Destiny interests me while we wait for Destiny 2 to come out. I saw the trailer and the announcement for it and Destiny 2 looks cool and like a lot of fun. I’m excited for this one. So in the interim, I think I want to give Destiny a try. We’ll see how it goes.

    Another game I’m excited for is Rokh. It’s on Steam Early Access right now. I’m tempted to play it but since it is early access I may wait a month or two before getting into it. From what I’ve seen and read of it, with a few exceptions, this may be the Mars game I would have made. So I am really excited for it. Just not sure how early I want to get in on it.

    I haven’t gotten back to Watch Dogs 2 yet. I may give that a shot here in the next day or so. I still need to get past that first mission. I know, sad.

    I’ve still got that studying to do for the day job. I finished another chapter. Finally. I was sort of stuck on it because I kept getting interupted before I got it finishe. I’ve started the next one and it’s so far more interesting. And probably more useful. It’s on troubleshooting.

    There are still a few things I need to do for my websites. And I’ve got a new project I’m working on for something extra I do at the day job. I have been running a hangman game and keeping track of the puzzles in a notepad page on one of my tablets. I need to put together a better way of keeping track of that. I’ve started the first step, getting the entries into something searchable. The next step will be to make it even more searchable and maybe even a web type app.

    Now that you are all up to date on things. I think I’ll go make some art and play some games.


  • And…I’m Back! Mostly.

    I know it’s been a really long time since I updated this site. Sorry. I got busy with a bunch of other stuff and kept forgetting to get back to you all. I’m still doing all that other stuff but I’m going to try to get some updates here a bit more regularly. I’m going to aim for once a month with possible bonus stuff in between.

    In case you weren’t aware. I’ve got another blog that I talk about my art stuff. I do 3D computer art using programs like Maya, 3DS Max, and Zbrush. I also do a little traditional art. I post regular updates about what I’m doing and the kind of progress I make over on the other site. I have a link here on the front page. You can also get to it here. (http://susangasong.gnasus.com) That’s some of the other stuff that I have been doing. Well besides earning my first degree Black Belt in Taekwondo.

    For this blog I’ll be covering techie type stuff as well as games and maybe other random stuff. Full disclosure here. I do way to many other things and have way too many other interests to be a hardcore full time gamer. So my progress is slow. To go along with that, at the moment, I’m playing more than one game on more than one platform.

    So to go along with my trying to do more posts on this site. I may also be doing some refresh and reorganizing of this site. Anyone coming back from way long ago or who has read any of the old posts, may remember that this site started out being built on Joomla And I later migrated it to a WordPress site. Which is what it is now. When I did the migration, I didn’t do much reorganizing. I was happy just to get things to move over since I had to map from the Joomla fields to the WordPress fields. I did have some clean up to go with that and didn’t spend much time on changing how things are laid out.

    To close out here’s a quick note of what I’m playing these days.

    Fallout 4 on Xbox One

    World of Warcraft Legion on PC

    Zelda: Breath of the Wild on Switch

    City Skylines on PC

    Watch Dogs 2 on PC

    I’ve got a few more but these are the ones I’m most focused on. I was playing Fallout Shelter on Xbox One and got a little frustrated with all the Deathclaw attacks so at the moment, I’m a bit in a snit about it so I’m not sure I’ll continue with it.

    So there you are. That’s it for now.


  • More to Come

    There will be more updates to this site.

    I’ve been a bit busy with other projects and sadly have neglected to keep everyone here updated.

    It’s been quite a busy year with many things to do and work on and learn. If you have had a chance to read some of the postings from SusanGaSong, (the recent posts are in a section to your right) then you will have some idea of what is taking up so much of my time that I don’t get to post here. If you haven’t read any of those posts, I encourage you to give them a look, especially if you are interested in 3D computer modeling, animation, or even games.

    Do come back and visit me here. I will try to get an update from Bluecoal and maybe even a bit of some other things I’ve been working on.

    See you soon.