Last special render for this year. Guess her costume, hint in the form of a second render attached to this post. 4k versions of both attached to this post.
Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday Artemis :)
2024-10-31 03:45:58 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone!
Busier week than usual. I dabbled in different areas. Spent a couple days optimizing the code, rebuilding it from the ground up. In the past, I've had issues with the build spitting out odd errors that were unrelated to the code I wrote. And some Macs seemed to be plagued with issues. So, I'm working on optimizing the code for this release.
I also worked on more custom assets/props. One of the characters is using strand based hair and its been a challenge getting tha...
2024-10-28 22:07:18 +0000 UTC View Post
'Evening, all!
Checking to report development continues. I'm continuing taking your feedback regarding Artemis' discernment protocol system.
Additionally, I wanted to remind everyone that Artemis' "cooing" sounds were recorded earlier this year and will be implemented in this update. This sound will have its own channel, so you can mute it if you don't want to hear it. To describe it, it's a soft muttering sound and I'll save it for the release to reveal the sound as I've seen m...
2024-10-22 01:57:29 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone!
The other week, I talked about Artemis' discernment protocol. Thanks for your guys input on that. I'm still deciding on the tweaks. At the moment, I'm considering the following changes:
Removing the icon that denotes which choice will alter her protocol. In its place, a notification will display that simply informs "Protocol updated". For those who wish to see the status of her protocol, can still view those numbers in the Artemis app on your phone.
I feel this...
2024-10-15 06:50:03 +0000 UTC View Post
'Afternoon, everyone!
Chiming this week to chat about some of the annoying things that happen during development. So, I bought this asset off the DAZ store. Put it on the model and was like "Nice. This'll work.". Started working on the scene, IRAY previews showing no issues, all is good. When it came to throwing into the batch render, whole thing just halted with no rhyme or reason. Which made it extremely difficult to troubleshoot. It was annoying because as I mentioned, IRAY preview s...
2024-10-07 22:05:05 +0000 UTC View Post
It's a new week!
I was inserting more renders into the code and saw two shots that I could have done a little better with. I was using camera tricks to try to hide the name of the asset. Because well, when I started working on Artemis, I only had played like 2 or 3 AVNs by that time I think. So, thought it was harmless to add Cafe Luca, heh. Anywho, fast forward to now. I try my best to either tweak assets or just work my magic on bringing whole new ones to work with. In this case, I ju...
2024-10-01 00:49:45 +0000 UTC View Post
Good afternoon!
Weekley check-in to keep you guys' informed development continues. Something that gave me some pause, while going through the script last week. And I've mentioned this before, but want to keep it seeded in your minds for when that time comes. There's a recurring theme throughout Artemis. The story, some scenes, even the UI elements. It's leading up to something that I'm hoping isn't too out there in terms of sci-fi. One might ask, what's more sci-fi than Artemis herself?...
2024-09-23 22:28:26 +0000 UTC View Post
Good morning!
Apologies for the late devlog. Wrapped up a day of development and its 1AM right now and realized I didn't check in with you guys Monday. Nothing crazy to report this week. I updated the code, inserting another batch of renders. I also worked on more of Artemis' POV sequences, where we'll see more of how her code is processing things as her "mind" continues to develop. This part has been real fun, because I get to visually establish how she interprets things and how closel...
2024-09-17 08:22:40 +0000 UTC View Post
'Afternoon, all!
Just checking in and reporting development is still ongoing. Chapter 5 released in NOV last year, at this moment, I'm at just over 4k story renders. Chapter 5 released with just over 5.5k renders, so I'm a bit behind schedule render wise. This is the first chapter where every character gets screentime on top of progressing the main plot. So, I'm estimating a Christmas release this year. I don't like projecting dates. As I've said before, it frustrates people (including ...
2024-09-09 22:47:13 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone!
This week I was back in DAZ. It doesn't happen often, but every now and then you purchase an asset off the DAZ store and realize how bad it is. The plaza I used as a base during Zelda's date had horrible performance issues. And this was on an i9 with a 4090. I also remember one time I downloaded a character model and when I loaded it, my characters suddenly had long-ass fingers due to this bad character morph. Last week's DAZ STD of the Week was this city asset I used. Whe...
2024-09-02 20:29:25 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone!
Wanted to check in and report that progress continues and to provide a little preview for everyone. Showing off a little more of Central Pointe University.
Also, great to see you guys enjoy the cameo from the latest episode of Chasing Sunsets by StoneFox Studios.
For those curious, yes. Chasing Sunsets characters will make their appearance at the appropriate tim...
2024-08-26 22:34:25 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone!
So sorry for the delayed post! I was playing around with textures in Blender for a few hours this morning and got tunnel visioned. DAZ is far more simpler adjusting dials to narrow down the look. With Blender, it's a lot more freedom to tweak/add/remove things. But things can get messy, making sense/organizing the layout lol
You may not notice it here, but I was trying to work on ...
Hey everyone!
Did more animation work as planned with just one minor hitch. One set of the animations kept CTD (close to desktop) every time I hit render. The annoying part there was no rhyme or reason to the crash. Like an old junker, I'd just keep restarting the software until the render fully initiated. Not much of a big deal, since I'd just monitor it on the second monitor. Still just one of those pain in the ass situations with development where something breaks for no reason.
<... 2024-08-13 01:02:24 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone!
This week will be a brief devlog. I shifted gears and spent most of the time in Blender, working on animations. Part of it was experimenting new techniques and a smaller part of troubleshooting. One render kept crashing after a certain point. But it wasn't too big of an issue narrowing down the cause. And with how Blender burns through renders quick, even at 8k samples. Each render took roughly 3 minutes per frame. Compared to DAZ's nearly 30 minute render per frame.
Hey everyone!
Thanks for all your feedback regarding the devlogs. It was very much split down the middle. A number of you guys want the boring stuff and a number of you preferred bi-weekly. I decided to stick with the original schedule of every week with some adjustments. I sometimes go on these tangents because all week its just development with, sometimes, little discussions about my work. So when the devlogs come around, I tend to just talk about things that happened. I'll keep thing...
2024-07-29 20:25:40 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone,
Back in the groove my schedule.
I'm going to be switching to bi-weekly devlogs. I treat these devlogs usually as more of a diary of what I do during development because not every week is a measurement of progress. Some weeks I'll be working out an issue and its resolution and I like to share that kind of stuff. Or I'll talk about other areas of development, but for most I think find it boring and just want actual progress information. I'll try this out and for a few...
2024-07-16 05:08:53 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone,
sorry for the late post. we've got everything we needed to get done last week and my sister has taken over the work that remains (mostly coordinating family and catering). I'm back on track with my schedule now and spent the majority of the weekend and today getting as much done to start this week off great.
You guys and Artemis have been extremely helpful keeping my mind busy. Again, you all are amazing and I'm so grateful to be part of a such a supportive community...
2024-07-09 03:52:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone,
Thank you all again for the warm messages, it really means a lot to me. Unfortunately, my mother passed Saturday morning. The weekend has been very difficult for my sister and me, but we've got an amazing support system which includes you guys. I apologize I haven't been able to reply to your messages, but I've read them, and I greatly appreciate your kind words. Bit of trivia, the Hope hat and marathon that Kindra and June participated in was something personal I added in...
2024-07-01 08:47:11 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone,
just a quick check in. This week was mostly code work, trying to simplify things for future workflow. Also render dumps into the code. That wraps it up for things Artemis related from last week.
Below will just be a personal update.
Firstly. Thank you everyone for the support. I took a break from my social medias to just focus on mom and family. She's still in the hospital and was transferred to ICU. She had the necessary procedures done and is conscious, howe...
2024-06-24 22:58:36 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey everyone. Wanted to chime in real quick. Some of you who are on Discord may recall me working on Artemis while in the ER earlier this year. Not for me, but admitting my mom. I never brought it up beyond there because it’s never gotten in between my work with Artemis. Much thanks to you guys, I’ve purchased a lot of tools so in the event I need to pack my bags and be somewhere. I can work and or communicate with you guys, should the worst ever happen. The NAS and my server allow me to ...
2024-06-18 06:21:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Happy New Week!
On top of the usual pose/render routine. I also created a new location. This is a location that'll be recurring in later chapters, but you can get a glimpse of it this chapter if you're on a specific path. A lot of nature scenes this chapter, but the sci-fi eye candy will still be present.
Also, this week I'll be performing maintenance on my server. I built it last year af...
2024-06-17 14:37:22 +0000 UTC View Post
Happy new week!
This week went well, despite my main monitor kicking the bucket. Samsung was quick to setup a repair date, but they weren't scheduled to come in until today (issue happened on Wednesday). Instead of waiting 5 days, I just went and grabbed a replacement that same day. To salt the wound, the person got the issue wrong and so they have to reschedule with the correct part. Regardless, I still got to get work done.
To follow up on the file hosting. I can confirm that Pi...
2024-06-10 18:03:34 +0000 UTC View Post
Happy New Week!
This devlog will be on the less exciting part as I just continued working on scenes last week. Some of the parts for the NAS upgrade trickled in and the rest will be here tomorrow. All files were copied over, so getting it online should be a breeze (knock wood).
Also, while trying to resolve an issue related to Steam, I noticed that the links for the QR codes hidden throughout Book 1 are now broken. I've setup an account with PixelDrain and will be giving it that a...
2024-06-04 01:10:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Happy New Week!
I fumbled the Jeep stream on Saturday. I had completely forgotten it was Memorial Day weekend and had a surprise visit by my family. But I got back on track Sunday and did the stream then.
Jeep came out great! Got everything textured and rigged. Doors, wheels, steering, windows, ...
Happy New Week!
Working between DAZ and Blender last week, I'm starting to get into the groove of Blender. Posing can still be difficult in Blender. Animating is one thing, but posing is different. As I've worked with DAZ over the years, I've refined my workflow. Creating shortcuts, keybinds, use tools to speed things up. Much of that doesn't translate to Blender, so I find myself fumbling here and there. But I am improving the more I work in it. I did spend a day creating those templa...
2024-05-20 21:30:28 +0000 UTC View Post
Happy New Week!
This week I was mostly in Blender. Switching between the apps (DAZ/Blender) was a bit uncoordinated at first, as I fumbled through shortcuts, etc. But it's getting easier. Doing a whole scene in Blender has gotten less intimidating and a lot more refreshing. Most of you know my frustrations with DAZ, but I still appreciate it for it does. Throw characters in a scene and hit render. My time in Blender, though, just reminds me of my high school days. Working in an actual ...
2024-05-13 18:05:28 +0000 UTC View Post
Happy New Week!
Didn't get a chance to get Paige's jeep worked on, I got swept away working on a few other areas of development. One of those things was another location I'm working on. I wanted to speed things up, so I purchased an asset that had everything set to go. Or at least I thought. When I was getting ready to convert it, turns out the trees were missing.
Above was the original a...
Happy new week!
The week was productive, minus some little issues. Creating that danger noodle caused a bit of an issue with the custom terrain I was going to use it in. Which was odd because I had already done the entire scene already, so when I loaded up a previous scene to add the snake in. The terrain was suddenly corrupted. Ok, no big deal. I have the raw files still. I'll just save the asset as a DAZ asset again. Worked fine, then loaded the snake in which ended up looking like t...
2024-04-29 21:52:27 +0000 UTC View Post
Happy new week!
A semi-technical week. I needed a danger noodle, a rattlesnake to be exact. Well, I didn't need it. But I wanted it for this scene. One didn't exist in the daz store (surprise), so I worked on one. Then I asked myself..."why do I torture myself?" when I realized how many little bones I needed to create to make this thing poseable. Not only that, but I needed to weight map it too.
2024-04-23 02:22:58 +0000 UTC
View Post
Happy New Week!
So sorry for the late post! I've been skimming the script, making tweaks here and there. Specifically, scenes that involve Artemis. Scenes with her are fun but can be technical. Unlike the regular cast, Artemis doesn't have "thoughts," at least not yet. To elevate some scenes, I went back and added a few POV's much like what we saw in CH5. I think it helps remind us that, despite her demeanor, she's still a computer. And it's fun to see how she processes information. Eve...
2024-04-16 06:27:17 +0000 UTC View Post