By the way, I’m working right now on a new version of MayaCE3 which will allow you to build the scenery for a CryEngine level (brushes, decals, vegetation…) directly in Maya, and then import it in Sandbox (as a layer) to get back exactly what you had in your Maya scene… 
Update: I’ve just released the new version, which you can find here, as usual.
Yep, you may have read my previous rant on the Assassin’s Creed 2 DRM “always on” debacle, but apparently a small game was released yesterday that suffered the same fate: Diablo 3. Except this time, having heard about Blizzard’s plans I simply didn’t buy their game. Nor will I buy Assassin’s Creed 3 if Ubisoft keeps on with their bone-headed decision.
I guess what hurts most is players are being told that “this is for their own benefit”. I mean how much of a spin-crazy heartless cynic do you have to be to even say such a thing? And it seems Kotaku (and half of The Internets) is of the same mind. Here’s a quote regarding the recent Diablo 3 launch fiasco:
We always knew that by demanding a constant internet connection, Blizzard was taking away a portion of the consumer’s ownership of their game. […] It means that we play at their pleasure, and that we no longer have the power to decide when our game starts and when it doesn’t.
There are plenty of games out there, made by small dedicated studios that vie for your attention. And the best thing? They don’t take you for an idiot. So I may eventually end up buying Blizzard’s game, but it’ll be with a bitter taste in my mouth stemmed from the full knowledge that my money vindicates their hurtful anti-piracy schemes.
So there you go. Everybody hurts. The game editors, the players… Well, everybody but the “pirates” (you know, the people who play their games without DRM hassles). Now what’s wrong with this picture?
For those interested, you can find a short interview I gave for the release of the Lorax on FXGuide: Here. Thanks Ian!
I’m playing “Drake’s Fortune” right now (the first Uncharted) and I really appreciate the experience. However I sometimes have to shake my head in disbelief when confronted with some unfortunate level design coupled with unwieldy controls (the vomit-inducing trip up the rapids comes to mind) and some ill-advised save points forcing you to replay an entire gunfight (yes, the 10 minutes of it) several times over if you happen to die before the umpteenth vague of repetitive enemies is over. Not my idea of fun. I hope they learned from those shoddy decisions for the next games. I hear they’re quite good…
The movie’s being released over the weekend in the US, so fingers crossed! And in any case, I’m proud of the work accomplished by the animation department (for which I’m ultimately responsible, for good or for bad!). So congrats to all the animators and the leads who gave their very best, and here’s to hoping the movie meets the success it deserves! 😀
Update: Damn, first week-end and “one of the best debut ever for an animated movie“…?! WTF!
Recently my system (Win 7 x64) started to act stupid whenever I tried to create a new folder or rename one. A windows was popping up every time, saying it couldn’t find said folder; but I could then just click on “Try Again” and it would do it. Really annoying. So if anyone reading this met the same problem, good news: the solution is right here (page 6)!
