Yeah, but I already knew that…

{ July 16, 2008 @ 8:35 pm } · { Current Events, Navel-Gazing }
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I ran across this earlier tonight on another SL blogger’s site and thought I’d give it a go. Apparently I’m some hybrid “uber-cool” form of geek (two states of existence I always believed to be mutually exclusive before now) that specializes in history and literature.

Click the image below to take the test for yourself and find out what kind of nerd/nerdette you are. It’s fun, and, more importantly, funny.


NerdTests.com says I'm an Uber Cool History / Lit Geek. What are you? Click here!

Oh… before I forget, there’s also some other interesting news to announce! Not tonight, though.

-Naeko

Good News.

{ June 10, 2008 @ 8:13 am } · { Current Events, Shameless Plug }
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The CCS Starter Kit is now available, both in-world and on SL Exchange. It is provided freely for the benefit of the CCS community, and can be obtained in either the New Gomorrah TeleMall or the Lost Angels subway station for free. The version on SLX can be had for a mere 1L$ (done so that you can give it as a gift to new players who might not be able to locate the vendor, or to send to an alternate account of your own without the need to log out and back in).

It seems pretty popular so far, with over 30 people having picked up a copy within the first half-hour it was available. I’m also happy to see that some people are sending it as a gift through SLX and helping to spread it around to those who might not otherwise know where or how to obtain it.

If you would like to see more pictures of the starter set, you can find some promotional pics on the Photo Archive page, and more detailed information on the particulars can be found in this forum thread on the CoLA website.

If you have a copy of the starter set, please let me know what you think either by leaving a comment here, sending an IM in-world, or by posting in the forum thread (if you are a member of the CoLA website, that is).

-Naeko

Bad News.

{ June 8, 2008 @ 12:06 am } · { Current Events }
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Well… bad news. My laptop was stolen today (or, by now I guess, yesterday), along with a ton of other stuff from my car.

The laptop, in particular, stings because it contained… more work than I care to think about.

I don’t know when, or even if, I’ll be able to release anything of any sort. I have only what’s been uploaded into SL, but far too much was still on my hard drive.

I think I might be able to put out the starter pack, though the changes I had planned to make before doing so (since SL wasn’t cooperating earlier today) aren’t going to be possible.

It may very well be my last release for the indefinite future.

I hate people.

-Naeko

SKS Instructions/Release Notes

{ May 25, 2008 @ 1:45 pm } · { Current Events, Shameless Plug }
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I’m posting this here for any who may be curious to read the full instructions/release notes included with the SKS. The vendor has a small info-box that dispenses this notecard, but I know some people might like to have a look-see before traveling there. Full text below the fold (in other words, click on the “continue reading” thingy). … continue reading this entry.

SKS Carbine now available

{ May 25, 2008 @ 11:54 am } · { Current Events, Shameless Plug }
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That’s right! It’s finally ready for release!

It is currently available in my spot at the New Gomorrah Telemall, and will make it’s way to the rest of my vendors across the grid over the next day or so.

Also, just a heads up to any who may be curious, it is in fact a ranged AND melee capable weapon. However, a good deal of effort has gone into making it properly balanced, and it has been approved for CCS use by Suz. If anyone has any questions or concerns regarding it’s CCS functionality/legality, please feel free to contact me and I’ll do my best to explain.

-Naeko

What’s wrong with the Grid? There’s nothing about problems on the blog…

{ May 22, 2008 @ 12:00 pm } · { Rant }
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That’s right, the “Official Second Life Blog” no longer reports on grid problems. It has been this way for a while, and the announcement is now buried beneath a pile of neon-colored tutorial videos. Not everyone saw it, though, and since LL is pretty terrible about announcing problems in-world, some residents (me) feel left in the dark when transactions, teleports, and logins start failing. This feeling of ignorance is compounded with anger when inventory items start to disappear, revert mysteriously to earlier versions, or completely fail to save/compile/update (scripts).

So, what the hell is wrong with the Grid? Why can’t I find any info on the blog about it? The answer is simple: PR. The link to the blog is much more prominent on the SL website than the Grid Status link. Heck, blog headlines even appear on the Community page. The much ballyhooed three column design of the blog places all the super-happy positive news front and center, and in a nice, large font size to boot. Problems are shoved over to the easily overlooked (and likely ignored) left-hand column. This probably helps create the false impression that everything is fine and dandy in the metaverse, while still providing marginally useful information on grid problems to anyone who happens to notice.

What does that column say right now? “Database Issues Affecting Multiple Services.” Well, that sounds… well, it sounds like something, right? Not very descriptive. In order to get any useful information, you now have to go to the Grid Status Page proper. That’s where you find the following message:

“[UPDATE 12:30 PDT] The Support Portal is currently down, and the Land store has been taken off-line for the duration. Please continue to monitor this post for updates.

Issues with the database are currently affecting inworld services, logins, and the website. Please refrain from attempting inworld transactions, rezzing valuable or no-copy items, and logging in until the all-clear is announced.”

Long story short, the Grid is borked. Broken. Dead. The last sentence should read: “Please refrain from using Second Life until we figure this shit out.”

Thanks for making it so easy to figure out why I can’t do anything, Linden Labs. Thanks.

-Naeko

MN 91/30 and m38 pics added to Photo Archive

{ May 22, 2008 @ 10:21 am } · { Current Events, Shameless Plug }
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Well, the title says it all, really.

The SKS release is coming up soon (really soon, I hope!), and I’ve also managed to get these two classic bolt action rifles done up and ready for release shortly thereafter. Once those are out I’ll be working on releasing the oft-delayed AK, AKSU, and RPK. If all goes well, these will all be available in the next two to three weeks.

It may come as a bit of a shock to see so many products lined up for release in such a short span of time, I know (especially for me!) but I’ve made some significant changes to my development process that will hopefully make these sorts of regular releases possible. The scripting for the guns has been completely re-worked and it’s now possible for me to simply drop them into a new gun, make some tweaks and minor changes and have it up and running in minimal time. This allows me more time for creating textures, animations, and sounds that are unique to each weapon (which I enjoy doing far more than scripting). There is still the potential for failure on multiple fronts, though, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed and triple checking everything to avoid slow-downs in production. Only time will tell if I’ve been successful, but I’m firmly in the realm of “cautiously optimistic” right now.

Anyhoo… check out the pics and let me know what you think!

-Naeko

Fun with Sculpties

{ April 16, 2008 @ 5:54 pm } · { Current Events, Shameless Plug }
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So I’ve been working with sculpties lately, and I thought I’d go ahead a post a quick preview pic of how things are looking. I’m really happy with how things are turning out so far, and am currently in the process of updating several pending products with sculpty bits. You are free to let your imagination run wild as to what these products may be, however, as there are too many to list here.

Below is a preview image that I threw together while sitting in the parking lot at school between classes. Nothing spectacular, to be sure, but enough to hopefully show the extra-tastiness that awaits. Hope you enjoy this teaser, and please let me know what you think! Comments and suggestions either here or in-world are, as always, most appreciated.

SKS Featuring fully sculpted stock

-Naeko

Back in business

{ April 14, 2008 @ 9:32 am } · { Current Events, The Great Blog Mistake }
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After an extended break (for reasons I don’t care to discuss here), I’m officially back in SL. Actually, I’ve been back since the end of February/beginning of March. The main difference is that, having had since last October to ponder all sorts of new ideas, I’m now ready to bring some of those ideas to fruition.

Over the next few days, I’ll be making some new announcements here, so keep an eye open for those. Of course, that will be wonderful for the relatively small number of people who occasionally view this site, so I’ll be cross-posting the announcements in the appropriate places to ensure that everyone has their questions answered.

Finally, as I said to begin with, I was away from SL for nearly five months. If, during that time, you had any questions, comments, or concerns with any of my products and never got a reply, you have my most sincere apologies. Please feel free to send them my way again, and I will do my utmost to help you out with whatever you need.

-Naeko

Niten-Ryu released

{ September 16, 2007 @ 4:07 pm } · { Current Events }
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This one had a serious false start. I learned a good lesson, though… basically, the more complex a project is, the more likely bugs are to crop up. Any little change you make has the potential to raise a plethora of unforseen issues as well. The MG:CE system is already fairly complex as it is. The addition of offhand weapon support was fairly smooth, but a Big Problem ™ cropped up after I put it up on SLX and in a few vendors in-world as well. I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice it to say, those issues have been ironed out, and it is now available at all my in-world locations as well as SLX.

Read on for the full release notes: … continue reading this entry.

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