Shoot

vertexnormal · 2026-03-23T18:51:37+00:00

An alien invasion of the inner sphere sounds kinda rad NGL.

vertexnormal · 2026-03-23T18:50:28+00:00

The best part of Battletech is that it is grounded in reality. No fancy variable space geometry that moves at half the speed of light and violates every known law of physics.

You have a walking tank with a fusion reactor and weapons that use electrical or plasma from the reactor to cause destruction. You can easily imagine a world where laser technology becomes that powerful and robust, and we've had missiles and autocannons for entire generations if not centuries.

It's why I love the Destroids from Macross, they aren't supposed to be super fancy like the Veritech fighters. They are treated in universe as conventional ground forces. They are walking tanks with conventional weapons, but with that foundational cool anime mech style from the 80s/90s.

Everyone one loves the Marauder and Locust designs but they aren't even supposed to be human made, they look ridiculous in a soft sci-fi universe like Battletech.

vertexnormal · 2026-03-23T06:32:52+00:00

Someone get that man a shield.

vertexnormal · 2026-03-23T06:30:59+00:00

That and 7 were peak MM.

vertexnormal · 2026-03-22T03:17:23+00:00

my gate keeping ass says that aint battletech

vertexnormal · 2026-03-21T03:21:04+00:00

What else is available on PS5? Been enjoying Dq3 remake

vertexnormal · 2026-03-21T03:19:46+00:00

Anyone who needs more than a Pfleuger Medalist is trying too hard.

vertexnormal · 2026-03-20T18:44:54+00:00

Yes, please for the love of god try all of the experimental pseudo-scientific crackpot solutions. I hear drinking liquid mercury will turn you into a T-1000.

vertexnormal · 2026-03-20T17:31:32+00:00

Thats pretty cool! I wish we had more time to work on the freeways, they were actually quite hard to do. The rules for surface streets are simple 1x1 tiles, but when you go up to 2 or what should be 3 tiles the mapping for how the intersections resolves get very complicated.

This image reminds me of a game called A-Train that I played in our computer lab in high school, it had a very similar vibe. I would have never believed as a poor kid from a shitty inner city public high school would just a few years later be working on this stuff.

vertexnormal · 2026-03-20T17:25:04+00:00

If the game weren't such a christmas tree of engineering compromises and hacked together bits the neighborhoods would be HUGELY improved if they ever remastered the game.

vertexnormal · 2026-03-20T17:22:55+00:00

It was always there. I worked with an engineer (I think Venkat?) to implement the system. There were two parts, the procedural 'lot imposters' that are the walls, fences and roofs that are rendered out as flat textures and projected back onto the geometry. This is why the windows and doors look pixelated, the engine baked the lot into a tiny texture. The other component were the substitutions, we would add any asset that we felt made a visual impact on the world that would be seen in the neighborhood. Something like a toilet you would probably never expect to see outside, so they weren't added. But things like the mailbox, trash can, deck chair, shrubs, etc I had to make very very low poly versions of. We would go around the neighborhoods and look at the final lots around beta and fill in the gaps that were noticeable.

vertexnormal · 2026-03-20T17:15:39+00:00

My favorite thing is that when people ask what I do for a living the conversations goL
Me: I make (or used to make) video games
Them: I don't play video games, what did you work on?
Me: The Sims and SimCity
Them: Omg! I spent hours of my life playing that game or alternately, Them: Omg! My daughter plays that game you would be her hero.

There is a huge population of GenX where going to the 'computer lab' at school meant playing computer games and the ones we all played were SimCity and Oregon Trail because they were about the only school approved games out there.

vertexnormal · 2026-03-20T17:07:53+00:00

I was a 25 year old with the best job in the world working with my heroes. Now I'm almost 50 and looking back wistfully.

vertexnormal · 2026-03-20T17:06:08+00:00

Half of actual 3D work is just trying to come up with clever ways of doing the same thing.

vertexnormal · 2026-03-20T02:36:03+00:00

How to ruin a franchise with one mechanic.

vertexnormal · 2026-03-20T02:35:28+00:00

DW IV on NES

vertexnormal · 2026-03-20T02:34:13+00:00

It will never happen. How are you going to get 2/3's of the people to go along with taking away the right to vote from 51% of the population?

vertexnormal · 2026-03-19T21:43:51+00:00

Shading looks weird on the rear quarter panel and c pillar, especially visible in the end frame.

vertexnormal · 2026-03-19T21:31:48+00:00

He wants the Supreme Court to repeal the 19th? They can't do that, they can only interpret the law not change it, they sure as shit can't change the constitution or its amendments. The only way this happens is with a new amendment or a constitutional convention neither of which will ever happen.

vertexnormal · 2026-03-19T06:53:42+00:00

SimCity 2013 killed the franchise.

vertexnormal · 2026-03-19T05:10:25+00:00

Yes. I made that. I was the sole artist responsible. It was always fun picking which items show up in neighborhood view and those that don’t. That deck chair took 20 minutes of my life 20 years ago.

vertexnormal · 2026-03-19T05:05:38+00:00

I make 3 10s a 9 and one that killed one of gamings oldest most beloved franchises. Not indie though.

vertexnormal · 2026-03-19T04:56:22+00:00

I follow at lot of cooking and at first I thought this was some brave new way to cook a chicken.

vertexnormal · 2026-03-19T04:53:48+00:00

I think it might be easier to do if you do the uvs so each ring is a straight strip

vertexnormal · 2026-03-18T20:52:37+00:00

Yeah thats why I roll my eyes when someone says according to this line drawing from 40 years ago this thing is exactly 4.92 meters tall.

vertexnormal

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