Amazingly I was able to work in Second Life® almost all day yesterday, from about 8:00AM to about 2:00AM with only three crashes. I must have logged in no less than 30 times, and uploaded no less than 50 textures while trying stuff for a new approach I’m working on. Building proceeded without too many hiccups, and I experienced only a few of the reversions that had been plaguing me for the last few months.
With Ayame and Esprite coming out with new swords recently, and having taken so much time off from swordmaking, I find that I have become highly motivated to come up with something new, and more excited by the new sword I am making than perhaps any of my previous swords.
Ayame especially helped to get me fired up, though I’m reasonably sure that it wasn’t something she planned. Ayame has been doing a great deal of very cool work with sculpted prims, using them in a large variety of products ranging from motorcycles to furniture to swords. [NOTE: Did you know that she makes and sells that many different types of products? Lots of people don’t. Look in her profile picks, go to her store, check out all the cool stuff]
I have to admit to being EXTREMELY surprised when I first found out that Ayame used sculpted prims to such good effect on the new Dynasty Flame sword, because when sculpted prims were first introduced I must have spent easily a couple hundred hours exploring their use and researching how they might be used in swordmaking, and ended with the conclusion that while they were very cool and possibly pretty useful for organic-looking items their utility in swords was extremely limited. Boy did she prove me wrong!
While I do still think that there is a lot that sculpted prims can’t do any better than "classical" prims, I’ve figured out some extremely cool things recently that I can do with them that will (in my opinion at least) enhance the build quality of my new sword. It’s hard to resist the temptation of trying to use a new and exciting tool like this for everything, even when it’s not necessarily the best tool for the job, but I’m loving the fact that this kind of exploration and research has got me truly fired up about creating a new C:SI weapon.
I still have a very long way to go with both the animations and the actual primwork, but I figured that with all the people asking when I’m going to make a new weapon I had better at least post an "I’m alive and working on something new" message.
Okay, that’s enough, back to work for me!
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Woooooo! Awesome, I can’t wait! I’ll be first in line to grab it when it’s done! Need any beta testers? *grins* =^.^=
Rats, Aimee beat me to it. I wanna be an official C:SI beta-tester too!
Three’s a crowd, I know, but I’d love to beta test too. xD
I do think some beta testing would be good, and once I get to that point I’ll let you three do it. Of course, I can’t let everyone beta test, so the list will be very short.
As I was explaining to Aimee earlier, there’s still quite a ways to go, but I’m pretty jazzed about how things are coming together even at this early stage.
Woo-hoo!!! Thanks Takuan/Robby. You should think about a practical joke where you send us some trashcan lids and tell us to beta-test that. Oscar the Grouch Kung-Fu.
Well… There was a time when I was working on Kali/Escrima fighting styles. I could send you all some sticks
fighting sticks would rawk!!!
I tend to agree with that. I studied kajukenbo and escrima for about 6 months some many years ago, and while I didn’t really study long enough to learn much, I certainly developed an appreciation for it.
I still intend to make C:SI compatible fighting sticks, but they will just have to wait until I am a little better at animating.
I’d think dual fighting stick anims would be something between Ayame’s Sizuka naru Shi atacks and your own Wave. I’d imagine the sticks would be held like dual katana and the 3 + 1 attacks (AWD + 4th for combo) would have forward end thrusts, maybe right side double hits and left side double hits with the Wave backhanded roundhouse for the extra combo hit. Maybe some capoeira-style kicks (ooh, or a sweep-kick). What about a flying-type kick or a flurry of stick attacks for the special?
What I really wanted to do animation-wise was something like this video, but duel-wielded. I really like the circular movement style as well as how much the whole body is involved in the attacks rather than just swinging the stick from the elbows out. Visually it appeals to me a lot, and matches my former training as well as my sensibilities.
A bit late for this comment perhaps, but in an earlier post you mentioned an interest in creating a wakizashi. I think there would be a lot of demand for one, or perhaps a dual katana-wakizashi combo so we can all pretend to be the real Musashi!
There’s been a lot talk lately about how C:SI weapons are diversifying, new features, new specials, etc. Another awesome trend, that few people mention, is the expanded customization options that the newer weapons offer. Hint hint…
Well, the new weapon that I am working on is basically a plain-vanilla katana of perhaps more realistic dimensions than any I’ve worked on before, meaning that it may be among the smaller C:SI swords haha.
The idea of expanded customization options is a good one (and I think I take your meaning), though truth to tell I am also wracking my brain trying to figure out a new and unique special that even those who don’t typically like to use specials might find useful or interesting. Ideas welcomed.
I have to admit to a certain amount of procrastination this past week. The building phase is mostly complete, and I’ve got a few people testing some tweaks to the control code that I hope to eventually put in the new sword, so the major task that remains is animations.
I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again, I hate making animations. They never ever turn out to be as cool or look as nice as what’s in my imagination, I just don’t have the skill, so I’m invariably immensely displeased with them. By the time I’m done making this new set, I’m quite sure I’ll be completely burned out on it, so making a daisho set will likely not happen immediately, but I’ll try to do something new without waiting six months like last time