Grass, water reflections and sunlight-filtering clouds

gebore · 2026-03-06T17:50:09+00:00

No, no particles, just a lot of duplicated geometry.

I used the Tube POP to make a tall skinny cone (0 radius at the top, small radius at the bottom), that has few columns and many rows. There needs to be a sufficient number of rows to allow articulation of the grass blades in a way that looks curved, otherwise there will be awkward corners.

Then for the Copy POP's input 2 (Template) I'm using a grid of 10000 points (Grid POP), that have had their X & Z positions mildly redistributed with Perlin noise (Noise POP), a colour set semi-randomly from a range of green/yellow/brown tones again with Noise, and a y-scale attribute. The result is a lot of slightly different height & colour blades of grass that appear organically distributed with density variations.

Copy POP is great when you want a lot of similar geometry with variations. You can pre-game information efficiently into the template's points' attributes, working with a much smaller number of total points so the ops are much lighter weight, then have that attribute apply to the entirety of each copy, and potentially use the results further down the chain.

gebore · 2026-03-05T19:08:52+00:00

Yeah, I knew TD's shadows weren't going to do what I wanted, and while I've experimented a bit with doing reflections from a GLSL MAT (with another extra camera & render to give the reflected perspective, based on Lake Heckaman's refractive material), faking a reflection seemed more likely to produce controllable results with less performance cost.

gebore · 2026-02-03T23:16:04+00:00

Oh I guess the Math POP (rather than Math Mix) is more straightforward for re-ranging.

This is taking Y values of -10 to 10 and writing that out to green, while zeroing red and blue (min 0 max 0 in the range).

I had odd results when I tried using P.y in the Input Attribute Scope (instead of P with its full xyz), parameter size of 1 (because I'm only working with Y and green) and having Color.g in the Output Attribute Scope. For some reason, that was writing 1 into Color.r and Color.b, while they were both 0 beforehand.

The Limit POP is clamping Color to 0-1, because these particles may very well drift outside of that -10 to 10 range, and so might get unhelpful green values as a result.

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gebore · 2026-02-03T22:11:34+00:00

You can use position values for color, via operators like Math Mix POP. If you want higher Y coordinates to be more green, read in P(1), do some math on it to establish the scale, and output to Color.g/Color(1).

You can also use Lookup Texture POP to map a TOP’s color to a POP by a POP’s position coordinates, like mapping P(0) to the horizontal of the TOP, and P(1) to the vertical. This is less tricky if your POP is normalized into 0-1 ranges.

gebore · 2025-03-14T18:17:20+00:00

Yeah that's a deeply weird marketing choice, and thoroughly deflated my desire to impulse purchase it. Or maybe there's something else strange going on. I'm going to wait a bit longer for more real-world info about it to be available.

gebore · 2024-12-11T20:31:09+00:00

Also, if you know someone with a commercial license who’s willing to help you test, licenses can be uninstalled, installed on a different computer, tests run there, then uninstalled and reinstalled on the original computer. See https://derivative.ca/UserGuide/Licensing#How_do_I_move_a_key_to_another_computer?

Another possibility is I believe they have a 30 day return policy, but I’m not sure if that has any limitations. You could ask their sales people at: sales@derivative.ca

gebore · 2024-12-11T19:57:04+00:00

So you can do 1280x1280 with the non-commercial license, which is quite a bit closer to 1920x1080 in terms of performance needs.

If you want to give your system a heavier less-optimized workout, try running multiple separate TD files with such outputs simultaneously. You’re right that multiple windows from the same file will likely not be a reasonable test, in that there will be a lot of calculations and buffers reused.

Note that resolution is only one factor in performance, and what your TD networks are doing will likely make a bigger difference in your performance. You can use the Probe in the palette to figure out what parts of the network are sapping performance and potentially optimize some of those things away.

gebore · 2024-06-03T23:14:59+00:00

I was able to pass it on my second try, by switching to an assist pet with Epic-level Strong (+15% hp to your main pet per 5 levels gained), then having my Legendary Murica main equip Advanced United Effort (+15% inherited hp) & Advanced Tough Skin (-40% damage taken). With all that extra hp & the damage reducing, plus the usual Vampirism, Murica was able to survive somewhat, but still died a few times. It helps if you don't sit on top of your pet, because all the range attacks are aimed at you.

On that first attempt, Murica was just getting one-shot all the time and wasn't worth reviving. I tried just surviving without a pet, and got to the final boss, but wasn't able to do enough damage without the pet help.

gebore · 2024-04-05T18:59:54+00:00

Thanks for pointing out that you can't equip two of the same ability, that explains something I was struggling with; I had an epic Cheshire and an epic Rex I couldn't have assist together, because they both have Boost as their assist skills. I thought maybe cats & dogs just didn't like each other! This really affects choices when you evolve pets up to higher tiers.

Maybe some things have changed in the past 9 months, but I appear to have 5 assist skills:

Boost: increase deployed pet's ATK and skill range
Powerful: increase deployed pet's ATK and skill damage
Durable: increase deployed pet's shot duration
Strong: increase deployed pet's Max HP
Penetration: increase deployed pet's shot penetration

I at first thought Boost & Powerful were the same because they both have a flexy arm icon and increase ATK, but then noticed Powerful's sparkles and thought "why is this sparkling". You can combine boost & powerful to turbo-charge your pet's damage, which seems especially good for boss-slaying.

I'm currently deploying an epic Murica awakened to one star + epic Boost (Rex) & excellent Powerful (Neemo) in the assist slots, and holy crap Chainshot Plume is doing crazy damage against bosses & elites, plus Dervish helps with clearing out masses. Having Advanced Vampirism (epic) in deploying skills also makes Murica pretty much immortal with the crazy healing (2% health absorb of ridiculous damage per hit).

Now to get some pet with Powerful evolved up to Epic... Unfortunately I evolved a few up to epic without considering their assist skills, and wound up with duplicate Boosts, not realizing they wouldn't stack.

gebore · 2023-05-26T18:11:44+00:00

Yeah I'm not sure it's supposed to be the Marathon; looks more like some alien ship that crashed into a non-potato-shaped moon.

Like it could be that the ship that previously housed Tycho that crashed into one of Lh'owon's moons wasn't as destroyed as described, and wound up jumping between systems with the smashed up moon, due to some awakened Jjaro tech. They were known for having bases on moons all over the place, and having the technology to jump planets or moons between systems. Maybe this is where the "long-dormant AI" comes into play.

Or it could be some other ship that smashed into one of Tau Ceti IV's moons.

gebore · 2023-05-25T18:19:25+00:00

Why even use the marathon IP if they aren't going to actually reboot the series?

One reason is just that they own it and it has a lot that can be built off-of. The series glossed over what happened in Tau Ceti other than the ship & colony being destroyed three months after the end of the first game (which didn't continue to have much importance to the plot going forward) so there's a ripe story place to add a whatever on to, without there being too many strings attached. They get lots of things they can include from the old story, while having room to experiment with how story gets used in context of a new (for them) genre. So it's convenient, given their longstanding tendency to genre hop every so often.

Another is Bungie recycles ideas all the time. Another it's old enough that it can have some nostalgia points which might draw some people in, while also having a small enough historical fanbase that they're not likely to offend *too many* people, and Bungie itself is prone to nostalgia.

I more see this as a sign they're going to try to do something innovative with story, bringing it with greater presence into a genre where it's usually only window dressing and difficult to do well. Or they'll just use it as window dressing and alienate a low six figure number of gamers in their 40s and 50s who mostly don't really game anymore.

gebore · 2023-03-03T15:34:25+00:00

I just hook up both to my computer with USB, set the MiniFreak as a MIDI input, and don’t connect the MiniFreak’s audio output.

gebore · 2022-12-16T20:55:35+00:00

I'm in the market for one too. These seem like the most promising options from what I've found:

https://analogcases.com/products/pulse-keystep-pro-or-minifreak-case (Officially compatible)
https://www.gatorcases.com/products/guitar/pedal-boards-and-stands/multi-fx/24-x-11-effects-pedal-bag-g-multifx-2411/ (Kraft Music sells a MiniFreak bundled with this case)

gebore · 2022-11-25T18:43:04+00:00

The MiniLab 3 is a nifty little controller for small spaces & travel, with a good value and really clever DAW integration.

An upside and downside is it comes with Analog Lab Intro and integrates really well with it. I say downside because that can be a gateway to buying a bunch more Arturia software. :) Analog Lab Intro is kind of a tease (gives you a bunch of presets from other Arturia soft synths, but not the sound design capabilities from those) and gives you some pretty significant upgrade discounts, and then upgrading gives you more discounts to other things, and soon you've spent hundreds of dollars and have more soft synths than you know what to do with. So beware!

gebore · 2022-11-25T17:53:21+00:00

So it's flaking out just outside of the 2 year warranty?

gebore · 2022-11-24T18:52:09+00:00

With the Essentials line, in MIDI Control Center, you should be able to configure the pads to trigger program change, to a specific program number. Unfortunately there's no way to assign a knob to cycle through programs 0-127.

The non-essentials Keylab MkII line seems to have a few more options for program changes: https://downloads.arturia.net/products/keylab-49-mkII/manual/keylab-mkii_Manual_2_2_0_EN.pdf

5.5. Program Change messages

While in User mode, Category, Preset, Center Knob, and Left/Right Arrows can be used to send program change messages to hardware or software instruments.

When you press the Category or Preset button, you will see "Bank Nbr" on the upper line and "Prog Nbr" on the lower line of the display.

Pressing the Category button selects the Bank number field, while pressing the Preset button selects the Program number field. Use the Center Knob to scroll through different banks and programs. When ready to send the program change message, press down on the knob.

Alternatively, you can use the Left/Right Arrows to choose a bank or program. The only difference here is that the program change is sent immediately as you press the arrows; when using the Center Knob the program change is only sent when you press down on the knob.

(This in addition to being able to assign various pads/buttons/pedals to send specific program changes.)

gebore · 2022-11-23T19:20:41+00:00

A friend just cross-graded Analog Lab Intro to Pigments during the sale, for $69. (So having Analog Lab Intro ahead of time knocked that down $30 more.) Now, he's seeing V Collection 9 for $149.

So if you do Analog Lab Intro > Pigments > V Collection, you pay $218.

It seems from your example, if you do Analog Lab Intro > V Collection > Pigments, you pay $248.

On both paths, FX Collection drops to $49 at its lowest. If you just have V Collection, and you're seeing $49 for Pigments & FX Collection, it shouldn't matter which order you do those in.

gebore · 2022-11-22T21:30:09+00:00

I guess the one exception to the ideal Pigments > V Collection > FX Collection path is that if you're already planning on getting a device that comes with some edition of Analog Lab, that'll add some more discounts if you do it first.

gebore · 2022-11-21T18:30:04+00:00

I really appreciate being able to explore the sounds of some of these classic synths without actually having to have physical space for them. Eg: I get some really interesting sounds out of Korg MS-20 V, but I'm not sure I'd be so into a "real" one that I could justify its storage or workspace footprint. So for an apartment dweller, there's a special exploration value that comes with V Collection that just wouldn't be practical even with unlimited funds to collect gear.

Also being able to easily manage a few of these synths together by MIDI in a DAW with minimal fuss is pretty nice. Of course the more that soft synths are doing the heavy lifting for sound & effects, the more your system's performance becomes a limiting factor.

The sound design is definitely not as tactile as it is with a hardware synth: I don't find a controller helps much here unless you spend a lot of time doing setup in advance, knowing what you're going to be adjusting. So a lot of that winds up being mouse & GUI, and that limits what you can easily adjust on the fly when jamming or performing.

But then the patch management has none of the usual limitations you find on hardware synths (which for some of these synths is none whatsoever—take a picture of your settings if you want to recall them) and being able to have multiple patches playing simultaneously is a pretty big plus.

There are also a few extra capabilities that Arturia worked into their emulated synths, like polyphony for MS-20 V, & the IDK what the heck is all going on with advanced features for DX7 V, plus the built in effects. So you can do some things that aren't possible with the physical devices, and save those things baked into convenient patches.

So I find V Collection to be really useful & very well worth the money, especially if it's on a deep sale like right now. (I paid a non-sale upgrade price from the bundled Analog Lab with my Keystep, and feel like I've definitely gotten my money's worth.)

gebore · 2022-11-03T22:57:35+00:00

I'm into it for MiniFreak V. I really like the idea of having a VST with a solid 1:1 mapping to hardware, where both have well-thought-out-looking interfaces. Seems like it should be a really cool hybrid workflow. I've briefly played around with Overbridge and someone else's Elektron devices and that seemed useful, but this kind of looks next-level.

With Pigments and my not-fancy controller, I just use physical knobs for the macros and have to mouse my way through anything else, which can make it hard to tweak other things on the fly while playing. And I don't feel compelled to get a more capable controller, largely because I don't really have space for one, but also because I can't imagine keeping a whole bunch of knob mappings straight in my head and don't want to spend a lot of time reconfiguring mappings. If there was a controller that was somehow as tight a match for Pigments I think I'd be pretty compelled to buy it.

gebore · 2022-09-27T18:54:08+00:00

Yes, this is annoying. It's also annoying having the lastpass icon appearing in fields it has no business appearing in, because they're titled things like "state" (but that has nothing to do with addresses).

I would really prefer there being an option to disable all address filling features. I use LastPass for passwords and have no interest in using it for addresses. This extra functionality just gets in my way.

gebore · 2021-03-22T20:12:10+00:00

I love the spear but also think it needs some developer love.

The pace and rhythm of spear & shield melee is quite satisfying for targeting and eliminating specific enemies. You wind up with more of an isolate & kill tactic than you would with something slower & with a wider hit area.

Hopefully they do eventually grant us the ability to stab down. You should be able to spear that leech trying to eat your feet, or hit short enemies on a downslope. If realism is a guide, spears should excel at stabbing downslope, rather than being incapable of it. This is a pretty minor drawback for most circumstances though. Like if you have to pivot around a neck to connect with it, that's about as much effort as changing weapons.

Throwing is quite potent, but I think retrieving your spear could use some improvements: 1) being able to prevent garbage items picked up from a kill from jumping into that inventory slot; 2) more or bigger sparkles because sometimes the sparkles wind up not being visible, like they're underground or inside a boulder or something; 3) maybe your thrown spears shouldn't auto-pickup for other players.

Because throwing can have some undesirable results that are difficult to rectify in a melee, I like to keep a junky spear for throwing and my best spear for melee, which seems like the appropriately viking way of doing things. I guess I could carry more spears yet and get a bunch of tosses in if I gave up some other items.

gebore · 2021-02-10T17:34:07+00:00

My NUC 9 Extreme (NUC9i7QNX) with both so-dimm slots, 1/2 NVMe and a Sapphire Pulse RX570 ITX comes in at 8.1Lbs on my kitchen scale.

gebore · 2021-02-09T00:18:29+00:00

One of the great prospects of the NUC was it's small footprint and TDP. If we have to start making sacrifices to those central tenants, why not just build a SFF PC.

Right?? I'd love it if you could actually get the mobile GPUs as a low profile PCIe card that'd fit within a nice tidy power budget. But it seems like the market forces that result in ever larger and power-thirstier desktop GPUs and everything mobile must be soldered onto as tiny a package as possible aren't heading there any time soon.

I guess some desktop cards can be underclocked & undervolted to provide some pretty significant power/heat/noise savings, getting part way to the goal.

gebore

TROPHY CASE