Some new image softwear has come out. A rival for photoshop and the beta is free.
Been
playin around with this for the day. Keyboard short cut defaults are
the same as Pshop so it's easy to get used to. From what I've seen so
far the functionality is the same but the layout is less confusing.
Complex changes happen instantly and everything can be undone. More on
this as I press more buttons and things happen.
Layers,
adjustment layers and layer masks in this program so so awkward that I
gave up trying to do anything involving these. I also found out it wont
export a working image in any format that photoshop will read. So it's
not able to process a single image in both programs. Lost a day of work
making this mistake.
I had a lot of friends talking about this game and unlike most of the hype I get sucked into they actually play this one. So I got it and don't regret it at all. What am I talking about? Borderlands 2.
It's an fps, arcade style shooter with classes and levels. 4 classes, 3 skill paths for each class (math happens) that's 12 different variations and each class has a bunch of skills that effect your allies. Each of us is made better by having a buddy with us. Awesome. This isn't one of those games where everyone is running around doing their own thing but there are other people present. Without even thinking about it one of us will draw the bad guys attention by feeding them bullets while the other leaps around crates and roof tops to get a better position and then blamo, explosions everywhere.
When I write about shitty games I go on about the mechanics failing. In this game there is nothing wrong with them but what makes Borderlands 2 so good is all the little details and, yes, the story. This game has one and it's a good one. I actually care about these people. The only other games that did that were MetalGearSolid and FF7, ya I cried when sniper wolf died and hated snake for it. Though there aren't any tears, so far, in BL2 I'm just as engaged in the happenings and all the whosings. When "Dr." Zed asks me to go maim a bunch of people so he can study their wounds I actually want to do this. It's more then just a 0/10 quest. The dialog, oh man. Good stuff. When characters who've supposedly known each other for ages interact I can feel it. I get that "awww" feeling when something good happens to two npc's, that one time something good happens to anyone in this game. For cell shaded video game characters I can almost feel them being real people and for me, in a story, that's everything. It keeps me motivated, engaged and gives me that "holy crap where did my day go" feeling that I love.
The villain is hilarious too. This smarmy jerk with his sarcastic condescending tone will speak to you over the radio from time to time and do I ever love to hat this guy. If he was a real guy he'd be that friend I want to punch in the face but hang out with all the time.
Multiplayer just adds to all these experiences. I've been crashing around in this game with SeanOfTheShred, who isn't allowed to drive any of the vehicles anymore. He's playing Zero, the assassin, and I'm cruising around as Maya who I've got skilled up to be the healer. Other then rarely ever getting killed we can use a few of our skills together in a way that is not only hilarious but super effective. One of my favorite, mechanics based, parts about playing co-op is that any xp/skills/loot that is team based is not proximity based. If we have a quest that requires us to run across the map we can go in opposite directions and still share xp from kills. We had just completed a job and I was trying to figure out how to destroy a pipe when a jeep comes flying off a cliff, over my head, and crashes into the pipe destroying it. Out of the flaming wreckage Zero pops up and runs around a bit while on fire. "Remember what I said about you and driving?" Even the vehicles were designed for two or more players.
This is a great game made all the better by it's awesome co-op.
...and the mellow, Firefly like, western soundtrack durring huge gun fights kicks ass.
