Darkeye's Blog

Back again!

2009-08-17T09:24:00.000-07:00

I'm back from Canada and I bought myself a new HD camera while I was there.

A Sony HDR XR500.

And the most awesome thing is that it records in slow motion. How cool is that?

Production of HD movies will start as soon as I have the time for it.

In other news, I'm moving out and into my own apartment. Isn't that equally as cool as the slow motion-function on my camera? Okay, perhaps not, but not far from it. I'll be staying 2 kilometers from my school, a small bike ride away. Packing have already started, Stage 2 will be commencing tomorrow at 5.

But now I must sign off...

Not long now...

2009-07-16T15:11:00.001-07:00

In only 1 day and 21 hours, we're leaving Norway and heading for Canada. I can't wait!

While I'm there, I'm planning on buying a HD videocamera, preferably a Canon HV30.

We'll visit three schools and one game company while we're there. The schools are Vancouver Film School (VFS for short), Think Tank and DigiPen. Then we're visiting Valve, the creators of Half-Life and Counter-Strike.

As if that wasn't enough, I'm also planning on making an advanced movie short when i get home. It'll include 3d animated models; a robot, chasing three people.

As we're in Canada, I'l probably post my updates and maybe some pictures.

Update!

2009-06-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, so a few things have happened since I last wrote:

No exams for our class this year! Hooray!
We ARE going to Canada the 19th July to the 4th of August. The plane tickets have been bought. I'm traveling with three other people.
Me and three other from class have been making an animated commercial for our school as a part of a last project before summer vacation.
I'm learning special effects in Adobe After Effects. It's a lot of fun.

So now there's only seven days of school left. Oh, I can't wait.

OK, 'nuff said!

Deserted - Mod progress

2009-03-26T14:28:00.000-07:00

The last four weeks I've been picking up my old mod concept again. it's "Deserted", a mod where you play as a citizen in the desert.

My main focus has been on the second and fourth map, the second being the rebel HQ and the fourth being an canyon-map. Since I'm going to Valve this summer, I'll let them check it out. Professional feedback is always nice.

I'm planning on adding three chapters. I have the names on the second and third chapter:

Cleaning Party
Exodus

I don't know if they'll stay with that name until the final product. I'll wait until playtesting starts.

Well, I better start mapping again!

Canada here I (might) come!

2009-03-09T11:52:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine came up with the crazy idea of going to Canada this summer. More precisely Vancouver, to take a look at the film school. We're planning on going on the 1st of July. Oh, I can't wait!

I'm also going to take a short trip (3 hours from Vancouver) down to Bellevue, Washington to visit Valve Software (The creators of the Half-Life series, Counter-Strike and Team Fortress). I might be playtesting some games :D

So right now it's 114 days left. I'll keep counting!

Do you know me?

2009-01-27T01:19:00.001-08:00

I've not been giving information about me to the readers (Oh, I really hope I got readers...)
I won't tell you where I live, cause i don't want some crazy people coming to my house and killing me. Anywhoooo...

I'm a 16-year old guy who lives in Møre og Romsdal, Norway. I enjoy fast-food but unlike other people who also like it, I'm fairly thin. I enjoy speaking and learning new languages, media-design, 3d Modeling, making low-budget short-films with friends and making music on my friend's Mac Pro.

I like hanging out with friends. We joke all the time and pull pranks on each other, and we don't take it seriously, cause I hate when people do that. I also don't like people that doesn't smile. 18-19 year olds have a tendency to do that. I don't like people who brag about themselves.

I listen to all kinds of music genres. Especially rock and metal. Slow-rock and that kind of stuff is stuff I can appreciate too.

My favorite TV-series:

CSI
CSI: NY
Heroes
Primeval
Supernatural
My Name is Earl
Mythbusters
Simpsons
Family Guy
Fringe
Lost

My favorite movies:

The Matrix-trilogy

Favorite food and drinks:

Pizza
Hamburger
Coca-Cola
Taco
Fish

That's it for now folks. Stay tuned and you MAY get more!

Hammer Tutorial - Introduction and first room

2009-01-23T12:24:00.000-08:00

Okay, it's quite a long time since I last posted. I've been thinking of a more meaningful thing to do on this blog instead of just yapping about my daily life. I'm gonna make Hammer Tutorials. For those of you that know what it is, skip this paragraph, those who DON'T know, continue to read.
The Hammer editor is the level creator used in Source Games (Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike: Source etc.). It's an very useful and easy tool when you know how to operate it. The hard part is to actually learn it. So with my tutorials, I'll teach you, the reader, to make maps with Hammer.

Download PDF file (You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader for this)

Oh, I've also joined a mod-team called MadWorld Studios (link to forum) and we're currently remaking Half-Life: Blue Shift. I'm responsible for making the second chapter, Insecurity.
Maybe I'll use this blog for mod updates as well, we'll see...

Sayonara to ya all!

In space, no one can hear you scream!

2008-10-23T10:46:00.000-07:00

So after one year of waiting, I finally bought Dead Space today. I played it for two hours straight when I came home (And I plan on playing more later) and I love it!

The controls are so smooth and the control scheme is easy to remember and takes no time to learn. The graphics also rock! I love chopping of alien limbs and stomp on them after their dead.
Does that make me a bad person? Of course not...

I've just arrived at Chapter 4 and I can't wait to continue...

Stay tuned for more :D

Hoozaa!

2008-09-11T13:51:00.000-07:00

Long time, no see!
So I've started on what's called Upper Secondary School in English. Anyway...

We've been doing a photography project every Wednesday for the last 3 weeks, leaded by the worlds coolest teacher :D

I've met new people (I'm a shy person, so that kind of think is difficult for me), and I love it! I actually want to go to school some days (even though I have to wake up 6 o'clock in the morning, ride the bike to the bus station and take a bus for one hour before arriving at the school at 7:30).
Apart from that, it's wonderful and refreshing compared to the last 3 years of school.

So that's what has happened the last 3-4 weeks. Enjoy yourself! (Whoever reads this, if any...)

School's started!

2008-08-21T07:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday school started again, and I'm proud to be in the first year of high school. I've staring the process of making new friends, since my other friends from junior high didn't come in my class. Today me and another guy from my class teamed up with 2 guys from VG2 (second grade of high school) to do a photography project. After completing said project, I went home, around 11:15. Short day, yes. We will present the project next Monday.

Tomorrow the first 7-hour school day begins. Damn...

Summary

2008-08-18T16:23:00.000-07:00

Since last blog, I've had a visit from my cousin again. He brought his PC this time too, and we were playing. Now he had bought TF2, so we could play together. I've also been working in the forest, chopping wood. It's heavy stuff I tell you. Luckily the radio headset saved me from dying from boredom.

As this is written, it's only ONE day till' the first day of high school. I'm EXCITED!

: End transmission:

What have I been up to?

2008-08-09T11:19:00.000-07:00

Since last time I blogged, I've had a visit from my cousin from Thursday to the next Tuesday. What did we do, you might ask? Well, since we're both game geeks, we were playing over LAN on Garry's Mod, Team Fortress 2 and Counter Strike: Source, drinking soda and being home alone for the weekend. The Monday before he left, I got a visit from another friend who were supposed to be staying for the week. Unfortunately, I had to work from Tuesday to Friday.

After work-week was over, I headed home. And here I am now, waiting for school to start. A little over two weeks ago, I found out I'll have to spend around 4500 NOK on books for my first year. Yes, you heard right, that's just for my first year. I'll have to spend just as much money the second and third year.

This blows...

A REAL holiday

2008-07-29T10:14:00.000-07:00

From Friday to today, Tuesday, I've been relaxing and REALLY enjoyed my summer vacation. (if you not count the paining jobs I've been struggling with for the last two days...)
I've actually been

Friday we got a visit from our uncle, aunt and their child, the funniest 2-year old you can imagine.
As the schedule showed, me and my brother were supposed to go to our father today. Luckily, our visitors planned to go home and they gave us a lift.

At 6 PM the Saturday, we went with dad and his girlfriend to the lake. The water had a perfect temperature.

The following day dad decided we should visit grandma and grandpa for a barbecue. We tried the water, and it was good.

The same day we went home. I've started painting for the neighbors early in the day and going for a swim later on. That's how my week's been...

Fun time is over, work time has begun

2008-07-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, so Thursday, Friday and Saturday I were working with a friend and helping them extend their barn. The two first days we were leveling sand to put isolation over. It was heavy work, but we were ready to isolate and lay on the metal grid today. Tomorrow they might begin with the concrete, but I won't be there then. (They get all the fun work...)

I've also been given the sad news that I won't get money support when I begin at high school. Damn the government or whoever is in charge of this!

Angry Video Game Nerd (AVGN)

2008-07-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

James Rolfe play the "role" of the angry nerd. He reviews old "classics" on the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System), the Atari and other old consoles.
It's a perfect example how bad games should be reviewed, with swearwords and funny sketches in-between.

Follow the link here, click on AVGN, choose an episode and enjoy!

Funny machinima videos

2008-07-11T08:17:00.000-07:00

I've compiled a list of extremely funny Source games machinima videos.

Gman Squad Episode 1 - Operation Black Mesa

Gman Squad Episode 2 - "Science"

Gman Squad Episode 3 - "Grunts"

Gman Squad Episode 4 - Trams

Team Fortress 2 - Meet the Red Team

The Idiots of Garrys Mod

The Idiots of Garrys Mod 2

More later

I did it!

2008-07-11T06:45:00.000-07:00

Yes, I finally got the answer! I made it to the high-school I wanted! (Note that the Norwegian school system differs from the American one.)

I feel happy now. Maybe my dream will come true (to become a 3d artist)
We'll see... we'll see...

Home from wedding

2008-07-06T10:49:00.000-07:00

I just came home from my aunt's wedding. It was a very special wedding, because of the location they decided to use. They had the wedding in their own backyard which isn't very normal here in Norway. Luckily for all of us the weather were beautiful.

All-in-all, the wedding was successful. After all, they got married (isn't that what really matters?).

The wedding went on from 3:00 PM to 2:00 AM and we were accompanied by a local band who played cool party music. Pretty funny :D

Vacation!

2008-06-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

Well, the summer vacation started 19. June and now I'm enjoying the free time. The weather in Norway is lovely (except for the occasional rain we sometimes get).

Next Monday I'll probably start working and get some money (Boring, I know, but I need the money). Me and a friend will plant seeds in a forest. For the whole summer. Yay!

Next weekend me and my little brother are going to our aunt's wedding. I'll be a 3 hour drive to where they live, but the good food and stuff they have will hopefully make up for it... Hopefully...

Anyway, see you next time (whoever reads this).

Exams is OVER!!!

2008-06-12T15:27:00.000-07:00

Today is a good day... This day is the last normal school day before summer vacation. Only three days left now! I'm like a kid, jumping around, waiting for the final school day. Literally, I'm like this:

Unfortunately, I have to work all the summer... Dull, huh?

Anyway, after the summer, I'm starting the first year at videregående (Don't know what it's called in English) and soon I'll move away and live all by myself. I'm a grown-up kid now, almost...

The Autumn is also filled with cool stuff; like Spore, Dead Space and a lots of season premieres on TV shows. Then we have Left 4 Dead in the winter. Life is good!

Later friends!

Dead Space Impressions

2008-06-01T11:35:00.000-07:00

If you don't know what Dead Space is, visit this website.

Dead Space Impressions

In space, no one can hear you scream. They can definitely not hear you scream while you play Dead Space. While I haven’t actually gotten a chance to play this magnificent game, I have seen screenshots and lots of videos to get an idea of what this horror game is all about.

Ishimura
You play as Isaac Clarke, an engineer whose task is to fix the communications over at the gigantic "planet-cracker" ship called the Ishimura. The communication over at the ship has been lost, and it's up to you and a small security crew to get it back up. But something have gone wrong while cracking the planet Aegis 7, and an unknown artifact has boarded the ship and killed everyone onboard.

An engineer, not an elite soldier
Armed with your trusty plasma cutter and a device that can slow down the time within a limited area, Isaac Clarke is not your everyday alien-killer. Most of the weapons you'll carry are miningweapons and originally used to cut rocks and so on.

Clean UI
There's no HUD (heads-up-display) in Dead Space. All the nessecary info is on the suit Isaac wears (The RIG). The health is shown as a meter that runs down his spine, and the availible air and stamina you have left is shown as holograpich displays on his shoulder. The extra air is needed when you venture outside in deep space and zero g. Issac's magnetic boots helps him stay on a surface when walking on the Ishimura's destroyed sections. Even the ammo is shown on Issac's right forearm. When you come close to an object you can interact with, a holograpich display pops up and gives you specific options, like pick it up, use it etc.

Conclusion
Dead Space is starting to look like one fine game, both grapichswise and gameplaywise. You can pick up a copy of Dead Space this Halloween. Until then,

check out www.deadspacegame.com daily for more updates

More reviews/Previews may come!

My own game?

2008-06-01T04:12:00.001-07:00

I'm been thinking... could I make my own game? Well, not make it, but design it?

Of course... or?

This thinking process always make my brain start coming up with ideas. Cray ideas. If I were to make my favorite game, how would it look, sound and play?

It would probably be a third-person survival horror game of some sort. Where zombies have taken over the bodies of poor, unsuspecting human beings and transformed them into mindless but dangerous enemies with long claws and teeth...

I write all these ideas in what is called a gameplay document. A gameplay document consists of all the information about a game in one file. All the stuff from story to how it controls and how the menu looks. Unfortunately for me, there's almost no examples on how to write such a document on the internet. It's just the theory behind it. It pisses me off, really.

Will I make it? We'll see.

Stick around!

Prisons and wars...

2008-05-25T15:36:00.000-07:00

Hello again!

Lately, I've been watching Prison Break and the Band of Brothers series, and all I can say is... HELL YEAH. These series really makes me want to watch more. I'm starting to get addicted... Maybe to addicted... Send help...

I've only seen the four first episodes of Band of Brothers (There a total of ten episodes), but I've come to the second season of Prison Break, where Michael Schofield and Lincoln Burrows are on the run from the FBI. Things are starting to get exiting...

Oh, I also had my exam last Friday. Writing stories is just my type of thing, so I hope it went well...

That was it folks, stay tuned!

It's here!

2008-05-07T10:27:00.000-07:00

I've finally gotten GTA IV for my Xbox 360 (I really got it yesterday, but didn't have time to write in the blog)
I'm pretty happy with the game, although some of the driving can be a bit difficult at times. The physics is superb though.

But now, more playing!

No GTA IV today...

2008-05-05T10:11:00.000-07:00

According to the schedule, I would get my copy of GTA IV in the mail today, but what do I find when I open the mailbox? Nothing...

Of course the anger flowed through me in form of boiling blood, but I calmed myself down.
So now all I need is to wait for tomorrow, and then we'll see!

Also, I'm starting to run dry on new music. I've listened to Dream Theater's
album Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from a Memory a dozen times now...

Meanwhile, chew on this image of a racing penguin

Later!

GTA IV !

2008-04-29T07:06:00.000-07:00

Today the anticipated GTA IV hit the shelfs, and I've already pre-ordered it! As I live in Norway, it takes some extra time sending the game, so the only thing I have to do now, is wait... But I can live with it.

Also, we've been having two test-exams at school yesterday and today. Only one left, math...
THEN there's the real exam, and THEN another exam...

It just never ends...

My birthday!

2008-04-16T08:54:00.001-07:00

Today is my birthday, so now I'm 16 years old! Holy crap, the time really flies...

Take care everyone!

Almost Lifeless...

2008-04-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

Hi again.

Not much has happened since I posted last time. My birthday is in 14 days, so I'm looking forward to that.

On the game side, I've been playing A LOT of Team Fortress 2 lately :D
I also stumbled across Phun some days ago. It's a 2D Physics Sandbox. Awesome game.
It can be found here:
http://www.vrlab.umu.se/research/phun/

See ya all next time!

Orange Box on Xbox 360!

2008-03-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

Hi again, fellow bloggers!

I've been playing the Orange Box on my Xbox 360 (I'm borrowing it from a friend). So far I've completed Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2 Episode 1, and I'm currently in the first chapter of Episode 2, To The White Forest. I got to tell you, playing the Half-Life games on a 360 is completely different than on a PC. Although some of the controls is a bit awkward at times, it's still a hell of a lot of fun!

- Sten "Darkeye" André

Lost and mod-making...

2008-02-29T11:55:00.000-08:00

So today I saw the new Lost episode, named The Constant. Very cool episode. I won't describe it though, as you guys probably want to avoid unnecessary spoilers.

Oh, I started working on the first map for my mod, Deserted, today. I'm doing the orange-mapping technique at the moment, and will start adding details to the maps as soon as I've got a orange version of all the maps done.

Expect more soon!

Jumper!

2008-02-28T15:19:00.000-08:00

So last night I saw the movie, Jumper. It was a decent film. The core concept is pure genius (a man who can teleport himself almost anywhere he wants.) But the story and the way it was presented, turned it into just another Hollywood movie.

Also, From now on, I'll try to post in my blog more often.

See ya!

- Sten André "Darkeye" Knutsen

Quite a while...

2008-02-27T10:54:00.000-08:00

Eh, quite a while since I posted here :P

As I forgot to say: Happy new year to you all!

Anyway, this last two months has not been so hectic. School started again, and we're preparing for our exams later this year.

I've started a Half-Life 2 singleplayer mod called Deserted, where you play as a resident in a village in Texas. The village is under combine attack, and you'll have to flee the scene. Expect more details soon.

I've also seen a shit-load of films lately. (Okay, maybe not THAT many, but you get the idea...)
On the music section, I've started to listen to Dream Theater. Great band.

See ya all next time!

First entry

2007-12-18T06:11:00.000-08:00

Hi there fellow bloggers! My name is Sten André Knutsen, also known as Darkeye, or Darkeye92 in some cases. Yes, I'm 15 years and live in Norway, a nice little country (one of the wealthiest in the world, actually).

I'm hoping to use this blog quite often, updating you all on my 'oh-so hectic days.

Anyway, enjoy!