HEY YOU MAGGOTS

SOME PERSON WHO IS MORE OF A MAN THAN YOU WILL EVER BE HAS RECENTLY RELEASED A TF2 THEME, THE SWAMP SET. NOW GO AND MAKE ME PROUD, BOYS.

• "No Swimming" Sign In case you need to warn people to stay out of the water.
• Reeds and Cattails Swamp shrubbery.
• Mushrooms We don't recommend eating them.
• Crocodile Cutout Good for scaring off people who can't tell it is wooden.
• Lightpost We don't recommend eating this either.
• Intelligence Sign For alerting your enemies as to where you're keeping it.
• Buoy For keeping boaters in line.
• Buttress Tree It's a big tree. Really big.
• Jetty It's like a dock, but smaller.
• Buttress Stump It used to be a big tree. Really big.
• Oar Being in a swamp without a paddle is just as bad a situation.
• Cracky Crate Once proudly used for shipping Cracky Pop, this crate now rots away slowly.
• Rowboat Because some people like floating on top of murky, alligator infested water.
• Swamp Tree Some scraggly foliage.
• Chainsaw More rubble, less trouble!
• Mounted Deer Bust All you friends will know how big that stag was.
• Railings If you're a nice person and want to keep people from falling into the water.

Materials

• Swamp Rockwall A rockwall for swamps.
• Swamp Mud A swamp wouldn't be a swamp without it.
• Swamp Grass For less muddy places where grass would grow.
• Swamp Mud #2 If you didn't have enough already.
• Dirt to Grass Blend For that transition from dirt to grass.
• Swamp Mud Blend For going from one mud to another.
• Dirt to Grass Blend #2 For that other transition from dirt to grass.
• Swampy Concrete It's not very pretty.
• Swamp Water Definately not for drinking. Or swimming. Or anything, really.
• Vine No swinging.

Overlays

• Algae All ponds need critters.
• Wade Canoes Sign In case you happen to sell canoes and be named Wade.
• Water Level Marker For determining the height of the water.
• "No Swimming" Sign Didn't we cover this already?
• Bayou Shipping Sign For shipping on a bayou.
• Hazardous Environments Sign To warn people that the environment is hazardous. Of course it is.
• "Do not Feed the Gator" Sign Because some people think feeding the gator is a good idea.
• Freeman Airboat Tours Sign We hear it's dangerous.
• "Watch Your Step" Sign Who knew there would be slippery stuff in a swamp?
• TF2Maps Sign Uh, how'd this get here?
• "Out of Order" Sign When things aren't in order, you can tell everyone.
• "Area Prone to Leaks" Sign For maps which have leaks.
• Spawn-N-Go Sign Did you know that fish "spawn"? Neat, huh?

Skyboxes

• Starry Night Skybox A starry sky for a swampy night.
• Cloudy Night Skybox A cloudy sky for a swampy night.
• Hazy Daytime Skybox A hazy sky for a not-so-clear day.
• Hurricane Daytime Skybox A cloudy sky for a stormy day.

Detail Sprites

• Swamp Detail Sprites To give swampy grass some dimension.

Particles

• Bug Swarm They bite.
• Buoy Flash Alert!
• Water Drip If you want your map to have a leak.
• Goo Bubble It's a sticky situation.
• Swampy Smoke To add to the fresh aroma of the swamp.
• Lightning If a storm is rolling in.

Scripts

• Swamp Soundscape To add ambience to this horrid environment.

Source Files

• Swamp Theme Zoo A VMF library of everything in this pack.
• Website Vignette The VMF and BSP for the swamp vignette at the top of this page.

Oh Hai

As you know, I have not posted in a long time. Why, you may ask? I am lazy. So to make up for it, I will post two vids today.

"DO WANT" is the only way to describe my emotions about this:



A good U.N. Owen YTPMV I discovered the other day.

Trust Me, it's Worth It

Video Game - E3 2009 - Wii

In an interview with G4, Tatsunoko vs Capcom producer Ryota Niitsuma talked about the licensing issues facing them with bringing it to the US.

While at Comic Con, I spoke to one of the Capcom representatives about that. To paraphrase him, "It was a pain in the ass, but we got through it". Then later, at the Capcom Fighting Games panel I went to, I believe it was Ryota that said that they had so many things to deal with. Not only did they have to get the licences for the characters, but also their theme songs and their catchphrases.


However, he did love my Dan costume:

Next TF2 Update?

The recent post on the Official TF2 Blog moderately hints that the next TF2 update could be for the Soldier. Also speculated by nerds on the internet is the possibility of a new "King of the Hill"-type game mode.

Now, this is purely speculation. For all we know, Valve could pull a fast one on us and make it be for the Demoman, and only wanted us to think it was for the Soldier.

However, we want to know who you, yes you think will be updated next. So, until August 20th, there will be a little poll box in the upper-left hand corner of this site, feel free to vote and if you want, leave why you voted how you did in the comments below.

Sometimes, Valve just makes my head hurt.

Video of the Day

A great remix of the Sand Canyon background music from Kirby, with none other than Ashley J. Williams

The Do's and Don'ts of Comic Con

This was my first year going to Comic Con, and I feel it's kinda my duty to share the stuff I learned with all of you guys.

• Saturday Panels: The panels on Saturday are kinda a double-edged sword so to say. On one hand, some of the best panels of the week are done on Saturday. On the other hand, you have some of the biggest lines you may see in your whole life. So, there are three things I suggest:

-a) Go to one or two before it. Even if you don't care for it, going to the panel before the one you really want to pretty much guarantees that you get in, because they really can't kick you out of the room (or at least most don't).
-b) Commit, and I mean commit. Like for example, I went into the line for Mythbusters two hours in advance, thinking I'd get a good spot, but when I get there, I see that I probably wasn't getting in.
-c) Do a group line wait thing. What you do is, you go in a group of at least 3 people, and every hour or so you switch off. But this is something you should avoid doing as it usually pisses of the people behind you. What I suggest is that you make a deal with the person behind you that if you or someone in your group are the last people to get in, they can switch out with you.

• Don't be afraid to ask cosplayers for a picture: Some people might be a little shy when it comes to asking a cosplayer for a picture of them in their costume, but this probably couldn't be more wrong to do. See, your average cosplayer actually likes flaunting the thing they put all that time and effort making.
• Plan out what you want to do in advance: It really helps when you plan out everything in advance. What I recommend is that you also plan a backup activity in the event of you not being able to get into a certain panel or the Exhibitor Area is way too crowded. In my opinion, the best place for backups are usually the Anime Rooms, even if you don't care for anime. It's great because 1) it's rarely crowded, and 2) it's a great place to just sit down (other than on the floor) and relax.
  
• Don't be afraid to talk to the guests: Many of us (myself included) are or were at one point kinda afraid to speak to guests at conventions such as this. But many don't avoid (if not enjoy) talking to the people that pay their bills. On Saturday, I was waiting for my ride, and guess who walks by me? Rocco from Mega64. He looked pretty busy, so I simply said "Hello!" to him, and he gave an even simpler "Hi" back with a smile.
  
• Guests have to sign your book for free: You know that little souvenir book you get at registration? A little known fact is that Comic Con requires that all guests have to sign that for free. So, if you want someone's autograph, but don't want to fork out $50 or so for it, have them sign that. Though, not all people charge for autographs. Heck, I got a free signed mousepad from the producer of Fate/Unlimited Codes (even signed as "To Dan")
• Feel free to ask for as much swag as you want: Funny story, I was on my way into the convention center, and at the crossing is where a lot of the swag is given out. One person is handing out these huge Mythbusters buttons, and I jokingly say "Hey, can I have like 5?" and she actually hands me five of them!
• Get the big bags: While you are given a good sized shopping bag with the book and other stuff, try and get one of the big bags for free. One of the things I really regret is not getting one of those. They're these huge 3' bags to put all your loot in that typically have stuff like Mythbusters, or Chuck or Doctor Who on them and they are supposed to be given out for free.
• Get used to the area: Even small detours can really screw you up. On Sunday, I was going down to the convention center, and one of the freeways was closed for whatever reason, and we were literally driving around pretty much in circles for two hours.
  
• Find a "hang out" spot: If you get tired, or separated and need to meet up, it's always a good idea to pick out an area for that. My brother and I picked out the east part of the second floor (where the anime is screened). We actually met some cool people and saw some awesome costumes there, along with being in a giant Caramelldansen.
• If you need water, go to Anime Rooms: Let's face it - with thousands of people packed in an area, no amount of air conditioning is going to keep every area cool. If you're looking for a nice drink of water to help cool you down, do not, and I repeat, do not try and get it from the drinking fountain. The water from those will typically be either a) warm, b) have really low water pressure, or c) both. What I do suggest you do is quick run into one of the Anime Rooms, as they should have a water cooler tank with cups set up, just outside of the door.
• The closer a booth is to a door, the more crowded it will be: Companies often fight over who gets the booth closest to the entrance, and have the best view coming into the Exhibitor Hall. So, if you're looking for a place with smaller crowds, I suggest you go towards the back of the hall.
• Bring your own food: This is a bit of a no-brainer, not only for Comic Con and other conventions, but also for movie theaters and museums, because chances are that the food there will be ridiculously overpriced. I saw a sandwich going for $8 there!

That's about it for my Do's and Don'ts of Comic Con. I'll probably update it next year if I learn some more stuff.

As for conventions, next up: Youmacon.

I'll talk about the contest more when I get home and look at shipping rates. Plus, I'm staying with relatives out in CA, and I take it they don't like it when I hog up their computer.

Woo!

Hey everyone! Comic Con sure was fun, but now it's over.

Sorry for not posting stuff like I said I would, I was encountering issues with my laptop. See, I was reinstalling XP on it the day before I left, and after I installed it, I didn't check anything really. Days later, at the hotel, I get a little message when I tried to connect to the internet. The message said something along the lines of "Could not connect, one of your drivers is not properly installed". Yeah, I forgot to put in all the drivers for the laptop that usually come with it when it's installed.

I'm still kinda relaxing a bit from Comic Con. Trust me, you all do not want to see (or even worse, smell) my sandals after pretty much 5 days straight of walking around in them.

I'll do a quick post on some Do's and Don'ts of Comic Con later (either tonight or tomorrow) and right now, I'm thinking about giving away some swag in a contest. More about that tomorrow.

I see I'm all over the internets now, so if anyone sees me, let me know (my email is Phill_gahg@yahoo.com)

-Phill