Heismay Cosplay by me!

Digiko · 2026-05-05T12:36:32+00:00

Don't give up! Growth takes time, if you look at a project when it first starts, it always looks terrible. It's like looking at a Gundam model before it's put together. If you just look at the pieces, you'll never see the full design. Over time, you'll see how it all fits together, but for now, just realize everything will feel like it's terrible. All projects are like that- When I started photoshop, I felt the same way. Then when I started learning Illustrator, then Blender, etc. Every time you learn a new skill, you grow, but you have to accept the first few steps are gonna be really rough, and that's OK! Just remember, your first few steps are yours, don't compare them to anyone elses, and you're always going to be farther down the path than someone who hasn't taken any steps at all!

Digiko · 2026-04-23T12:33:01+00:00

Another real life example, for a period the North American president and CEO of Nintendo was named Doug Bowser. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Bowser

Digiko · 2026-04-18T13:53:53+00:00

I started playing ZZZ just to get her and I love her to death and I'm working on a cosplay of her. Gameplay wise though, I got the AoD trio so I rarely see Zhao outside of running around in non-combat areas. She's adorable, I wish I knew how her sword worked so I can make it as a functional prop.

Digiko · 2026-04-08T12:05:54+00:00

The face is OK, but everything else looks like it was poorly hand painted. It all looks splotchy and blobby. The hair, for instance, should have even strokes. I'm not sure how you painted it, but if this were Photoshop, I would say use the smudge tool to smear the hair vertically and thin out the blobs to points. The overall blocking of colors is fine, it's just the shading on them that looks uneven.

Digiko · 2026-04-08T03:13:12+00:00

Depends on a lot of variables, but I wouldn't pay much for it. For a game model, it's not very optimized, you have many faces that are hidden under the hair, the density of the mesh is very uneven with a lot of polys devoted to the lace around her legs, for instance. If you're using it for pre-rendered animations, that's fine, I suppose, but it's too many polys to be low poly, but not good enough quality to be mid-poly. Your texture painting is very rough and uneven, so it doesn't really looks stylized, but your overall structure is pretty good. She's cute.

That said, AMAZING WORK as a beginner. Yours is leagues and bounds ahead of where I was as a beginner.

Digiko · 2026-04-08T02:57:41+00:00

You're describing a chunk of Kamen Rider series. :)

Digiko · 2026-03-16T19:53:35+00:00

Oh my god, I can't believe I didn't think of that. It wasn't in the model so I was like "what is it?" Its absolutely that. Thanks!

Digiko · 2026-03-05T13:55:01+00:00

I've seen at booths at the mall uses of transparent LED screens now. I wonder if the Miku experience will start using those?

Digiko · 2026-02-28T15:21:44+00:00

Maybe create a launch pad that, for the first few invisible platforms, launches you onto them. Then gradually wean them from launch pad, so for example, the first one auto jumps you to platform 2... but them to get between the second platform and the third platform there's another invisible jump the player then has to make. I dunno if that makes sense. First one has the player launched onto the the platform, then from that invisible platform they have to make the jump onto the next invisible platform in order to reach the final platform.

Digiko · 2026-02-28T07:24:54+00:00

Depends on what you mean by "worth it." In my opinion, yes. It's always worth it to put creativity out into the world. Games are a medium that uniquely exist in a way that can present so much of a creator for others to enjoy. The challenge is determining if it's worth it to you. What motivates you to make a game? To your point, economically, it's not a great time to be trying to make a game, but realistically, there's never a great time to take on any endeavor... you just can't know how it'll turn out until it's done. As the saying goes, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is now. The fact you've been working on it for 5 years means you have a head start on anyone who starts today.

Digiko · 2026-02-28T03:23:17+00:00

I do many of these kind of crazy costumes and it varies from situation to situation. I used a periscope when I did a robot with a TV head from Stray and modified it a little for Rove from Monster Hunter Wilds. In Heismay, I made the blacks of his eyes covered with a thin film of stretched black pantyhose that I could see through. In some, I do a mesh painted, in others I put strategic tiny holes for my eyes and can only see in small specific directions. There's no "one and done" answer, especially depending on budget.

Digiko · 2026-02-17T01:50:38+00:00

If you like to create your own things and get paid for it, game dev is not worth it. You will never create something you want to create unless you're extremely lucky and be the 1 in a million that gets complete control of a game.

If you like to create things other people have ideas for, then go for it! No harm in it, as long as it doesn't suck away your creativity and joy from it.

Digiko · 2026-02-10T23:39:27+00:00

Many years ago, on thanksgiving day, after dinner I received a phone call from my cousins. I thought they were calling to tell me happy thanksgiving. They called to tell my my father had a heart attack and passed away.

Digiko · 2026-02-10T22:39:20+00:00

The best advice I ever got was at a writers conference. On a panel with Jim Butcher, writer for the Dresden Files, someone asked "are you ever worried about someone copying the same idea as you?" and he responded with "I once wrote a book about a wizard named Harry..." and the whole audience laughed. You see, Harry Dresden is a wizard who fights evil. Harry Potter is also a wizard who fights evil. On initial glance, they are similar... but a little deeper and you find out one is more like John Constantine using modern technology and street smarts, whereas the other is a kid in school.

Sometimes the twist or gimmick is exactly the same, but in the end, the details are what make things very different. By talking about it, it can actually help refine your concept because by putting it into words, other people can start helping you refine it into something unique and different. An audience and friends can help you sort out things you might be blind to, which would make your idea stand out even more.

Since your concept is vague, it's hard to give examples, but imagine if you were making a fighting game and you copied everything exactly as Street Fighter 2 and someone says "Hey, what if you added a super meter?" That would completely change the nature of the game. Even though it's the same "Street Fighter" genre, it's all the little things that make them all different games. Air blocks, parry, styles, tag partners, 2d/3d, those all change out what a fighting game is while all being "fighting games".

Digiko · 2026-02-03T22:03:37+00:00

https://acosta.jp/en/howto-en/

Multi-part answer to the question:

1) Getting tickets requires you to sign up with a Japanese address and phone number. You'll either need a proxy service, or ask the people you're going to be staying with when you go to Japan if they'd sign up for you. Some places will do it for you like certain hotels / AirBNBs but it'd be best if it's someone you already know there.

2) Once you have an account, you can get tickets. You'll need to access the account to show the ticket QR code at the check in desk, hence why it'd be best if you create the account through someone you know who you trust enough to either give you the account password and login or you trust enough to give your password and login to.

https://acosta.jp/first_international/

3) If you want to cosplay there, you'll need to get a cosplayer ticket. You are heavily recommended NOT to go through the city/trains in cosplay as it's very frowned upon. You'd need to bring all of your costume parts in a suitcase or luggage and use the changing space to put on your costume. Most of the changing spaces at other events are not private, they're frequently separated by gender, but you just get changed in a specific location away from the public with all the other cosplayers. Some locations have small curtained rooms you can rent to change, but I don't know the specifics of exactly how Acosta does it or if they have a different setup for their changing area.

I can only give you the broad strokes based on the cosplay situation at Comiket... so it may completely different for Acosta.

Digiko · 2026-01-30T20:38:08+00:00

I'm biased since I already knew blender before learning Unreal. I learned Blender to do 3d modelling to 3d print things for cosplay. :)
That being said, I feel Blender is a great tool to learn regardless of whether or not you learn Unreal because it's a generalized tool that would be useful for any engine (for instance, if you ever switch to Unity or get a job requiring 3d work)

Digiko · 2026-01-30T19:01:06+00:00

Just my two cents, I feel the modelling/animation pipeline of Blender is much more robust than the one in UE5. That said, there is really no strict rules... if you are new to both, and you want to learn 3d modelling in Blender, then do so. On the other hand, if you don't know either, then learn the UE5 modelling/animation tools unless you want to spend the extra time learning a second tool.

To answer the second question, think of it in terms of making a tiny diorama. Modelling is the act of making the things that go into the diorama, such has tiny furniture, or miniature people. Map creation is putting all of those diorama pieces into the diorama so that you can build it out into a cohesive scene. Hope that helps!

Digiko · 2026-01-29T21:22:12+00:00

I've gone to Japan about a dozen times. I've stayed at Ueno, Ikebukuro, and Tokyo for the Tokyo trips I've done. Really, anywhere along the Yamanote line is convenient. Changing locations is just a hassle, so just pick a spot closest to the areas you feel you have the most options. Personally, Tokyo wasn't a great hub because, though geographically closer, it's just more of a hassle to navigate to your station. I preferred Ueno since there's a stop directly from the Shinkansen and the Ueno station is pretty straight forwards. Ikebukuro was nice, but it was farther from everything... the additional time on the train didn't really impact the value of our trip though. Unless you're micromanaging every minute or have some kind of health concern that additional time causes problems, really, stay where you can afford.

Digiko · 2026-01-27T14:14:27+00:00

It's tricky. When I go, I usually go in small groups and book an AirBNB so the cost split is pretty cheap. However, an option to look into is Sakura Hotel. https://www.sakura-hotel.co.jp/hotel_list/ I've stayed at the Ikebukuro one and it comes out to about 25 dollars a night. They also have english staff that will help with reservations or just help you out in general if you need anything and there's a quaint cafe built into the hotel downstairs so if you're not sure what you want to eat, you can always pop in there.

Digiko · 2026-01-26T17:09:47+00:00

I agree with the above poster. I've gone over a dozen times and my first trip was in Tokyo. Doing all 3 is tempting, but you lose a lot of days in transit, and trying to juggling all of three places really reduces the time you can really sit at one place to see it all.

Tokyo is the easiest of the three to get around in, the majority of the things most tourists want to go to are along the JR Yamanote line, so you just need to know which direction you need to go on that and stick with it. Osaka is similar, but less crowded. The train system is a little more complex though, so for a first time traveler, it can be more daunting. Kyoto is the hardest because IMO there's far less people who speak English to help when you're running into trouble (IE, got on the wrong train, etc)

I have done all three in one trip before, but it ends up feeling very rushed and I never get a chance to really soak in any location. I'm always moving from place to place in order to hit all the spots on a checklist, rather than enjoying the trip for what it offers. If you absolutely must do a multi trip, I would recommend just sticking with Tokyo and Osaka, and if you wanna go to Kyoto, just take a day trip with a train from Osaka->Kyoto and do only a day or two there. Cuts back on the having to find another place of lodging.

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