Blogs - Atheoi

Any Vice City fans about? ;p

I took a couple days off Fallout 3 and went back to modding GTA Vice City after watching AdamAK's speed run of Vice City in like, 1hr 56m o.,o very impressive.

Figured i'd show vice city some love and see if i can make a 13 year old game look good for a laugh.
with help from the Vice Cry mod [much respect to the vice cry team] a custom enb, sweetfx and an enb pallette i'd modified, i got it to something i quite like the look of.
i'll upload some pictures, i'd say it's halfway through looking its best, although i'd love to have more anti aliasing on it, my poor graphics card can't take it xD sad i know.

anyways lemme know what you think, i'll upload some pics now and a vid soon of some sillyness, feel free to leave suggestions ;P

Over 100 mods added to Fallout 3 Through Nexus Mod Manager and some Manually when needed and i'm still not done.
Don't get me wrong, the gameplay and graphics are amazing now, but whenever i finish downloading and installing a mod, i find 3 more that sound great, and the content added to the game keeps going up.
It's been good fun, unfortunately at this point i'm basically straining what my graphics card, and possibly the game engine, can handle ;/
BOSS software for load order sorting has probably saved me from quite a few bugs, although I've come across very few crashes so far. i had some problem with destructible environment mod, some mods that add content out of the vanilla borders and a couple others that were causing crashes, will try to figure out if there's any way to work around those.
i plan on doing individual blogs on some of the new content, pics of stuff i find if that interests anyone, and also images of Fallout New Vegas at a later date.
I've installed Fallout NV and modded it to a degree, Rudy ENB deserves a mention, it just fits NV so well, it's stunning, can't wait for Fallout 4

I'll upload my NMM stats of Fallout 3 soon, if anyone wants a full list of the mods/plugins i have feel free to msg me.

Been quite busy with things but returning to modding and tuning up old games, I'm currently modding a game very close to my heart, Fallout 3.

I've been a fan of the fallout series ever since i found the original game chucked in a bargain bin in my local game store, like it was E.T or Shaq Fu.
well I've played the first two games to death [some fallout tactics also, and some fallout BoS, i drink to forget that one...] and i'd enjoyed fallout 3, doing several playthroughs. I had a half-arsed attempt at modding it that went badly and resulted in an uninstall, however i felt like i should come back and give it another go after so long.

Holy shit the graphics.

The amount of effort the modding community puts into beloved games always impresses me, they always manage to raise the bar in quality to almost unimaginable heights.
I could go on about the wonders i found on nexus but i feel pictures speak for themselves.
I'll begin to upload some of the screenshots I've taken for all you Fallout lovers out there, it has to be said that although the game is over 6 years old, Mods have brought it into 2015, making it feel very Modern. Hell, i think it outshines some modern games when it comes to graphics, gameplay, and especially the story.

I might upload the list of mods that i'm using to far [i think it's around 60-70+ mods at this point] if anyone is interested and would like to take on modding fallout for themselves; it's definitely a game that does well from being modded, and there's enough out there to suit anyone's needs.

Much respect to all the modders out there who's work I've used [too many to list, some shout outs to Hattix, NMC and Millenia, damn dude you make some awesome looking guns]

It's been a long time since my last post; the main reason
for my lack of posting is work getting busier as the summer peaks, that and just the sheer wooden computer I'm quietly and infuriatingly tolerating.

Some games I'm itching to mod [most likely in this order] are:
Skyrim, Fallout3, Crysis, [Any Crytek Game tbh, they all have potential] GTA
San Andreas [Prioritising GTA V if it lives up to the hype] Morrowind, Metro
2033 and Doom III.

It's been a long time coming for a new computer. I've got a
fairly modest budget, but still enough to make a fairly powerful setup which
will last.

This will be the first attempt at a custom built pc so I've
been checking out components from different sites, working out how much roughly
each one will cost, it's not a perfect line-up of components but I think it
will do fine for a first build.

This case is just a fucking beast. I completely understand
that it has its faults such as quite a bit of plastic used in its design and
the basic interior layout, it's just the fact that the design is exactly what I
want from a gaming computer, so until I become elitist or sick of its limitations,
I'm going to buy the shit out of it.

Corsair Builder Series CX600 - 600 Watt 80+ PSU[£55]

One of the components I'm not certain on yet, I want my pc
to be fairly future proof for more power hungry hardware down the line, mainly
graphics cards, but I'm just not sure where the sweet spot is. I don't need my PSU to be so powerful it can send the DeLorean to the wild west .

MSI H61M-P31 [1155] Motherboard [£35]

Not a lot to say really, It has support for 3rd
gen I5/I7, up to 16G Ram capacity, seems to suit my needs. Knowledge of Motherboards isn't a strong point
of mine. I know it isn't a SLI supporting Monster but I won't be thinking about
SLI for a while.

3rd Gen I5 3570K 3.40GHZ [£170]

Overclocking this sexy thing to 4+GHZ once I get my Heatsink.

Almost just as good as the I7 for gaming since most current
games can't take advantage of the I7's potential.

HYPER Evo CPU Cooler [£27]

Very good Cooler, affordable and
efficient at reducing heat.

Will need this when overclocking.

GeForce GTX 560 Ti [£143] / GeForce GT 630 4G [£57]

This is a tricky choice...do I buy a GT 630 and wait until the
graphics card monoliths drop in price so I can get one faster? Or do I buy a
GTX 560 Ti which will suffice my needs for longer and then systematically
upgrade my components to aim for a SLI? I'm not sure yet. I'm leaning towards
the GTX560, it benchmarks very well in modern games.

Novatech 8GB (1x8GB) 1333 DDR3 [£52] Will be buying 1 stick
of 8G so I have the space for another 8G if needs be.

Total Price: £451

I also plan on getting a 27' 1080p monitor from Novatech to go with this pc, which will knock the price up 200 or so more, plus possibly getting a new external hard drive since mine got dropped on the floor and now is about as useful as a decorated brick.

Please feel free to rip into this build, I haven't got a
huge budget but I can work around recommendations, I'd welcome any constructive
criticism since I'm new to pc building.

I hope the read was interesting, I should have this setup at
the start of June or earlier hopefully, then I'll really get back into Modding,
and actually upload videos to my account, Watch this space xD

DO WANT

Mother of FPS...

Future Accessories for my rig:

Seagate External 1TB 2.5" HDD USB 3.0 Host Powered -
Retail [£59]

Coolermaster Inferno Gaming Mouse [£42]

ROCCAT Isku Illuminated Gaming Keyboard [£60 - Pc World]

I'm a big fan of the silent hill series, i've completed the first, second and third games numerous times, aswell as Silent Hill: The Room and Homecoming. Shattered Memories was more like shattered nostalgia, being a big disappointment in my eyes. i want to recreate the feel of the original game, i want it to be psychologically scary, and be truthful to the source material and original canon. although i don't have much experience with SDK's, at some point i plan to use a fairly new game engine to recreate the start of Silent Hill 1.

It would be my first official project for a game if i plan to invest time in it, i'd like to see how it goes.
I'm not really worried about how long it would take to recreate, since i wont lose interest, but i would feel as though i've wasted my time if someone releases something similar which somehow evaded me knowing about it.
There are a lot of games imo that wont be remade since the major companies have lost interest, some of my other favorites which will probably only be revived by modders are games like Chrono Trigger, FF7 Fallout/Baldur's Gate System Shock [I know there are mods and modding communities for some of these games, although, yet very unlikely, it would be nice to see complete remakes]

I'm thinking of what SDK would suit Silent Hill the best, currently just drawing concept art for the environments and monsters which will be uploaded soon, either here, or on my Deviantart page [Link on my profile]
I was wondering if there are any other modders out there doing serious Silent Hill 1 remakes, if so feel free to contact me, i'd like to be kept informed on some of the most promising projects

Recently someone mentioned i check out the indie first person horror title slender, based on, of course, the slenderman/tallman mythology.

Theslenderman.wikia.com

Parsecproductions.net
Slender [Video Game] download can be found at the slender fan site.

I was actually quite impressed with this simple but scary project; defining the gameplay, it's essentially free roaming in a forest environment, you find notes in different places; apparently from people who saw the slenderman, then freaked the fuck out upon seeing this well dressed fella and did some batshit scribbles, as you would.

Be prepared if you decide to play this game at night when all of a sudden the fucking slenderman appears directly behind you even though you swore there was nothing there and you end up spilling cherry coke all over your jeans.
i wouldn't go as far as say it is eerie to the core, you do get the feeling of being followed throughout, but it's not overly creepy. it balences scares and the dread of the slenderman quite well.

Now my two cents, and by cents i mean nitpicks:
Games such as Silent Hill, Call of Cthulhu, Eternal Darkness and Amnesia really set the bar for what should go into a horror game, and what shouldn't.
When you collect notes in slender, an ambiant sound/music que cuts in, and although this gives you a perfectly executed 'wtfomfgwhat'sgoingon??' factor, it keeps playing way past making the point.
Silence in horror games is golden.

My only other grumble is that the more you see of something, the less scary it becomes; and when you're staring right at the slenderman for the first time, it's surprising, however i somewhat expected him to disappear, leaving me successfully paranoid.
They added an effect that distorts your perception as you stare, which i consider to be a vital role in horror, but it's not reached it's potential to be an effective scare, it just needs improving.

Slender is a game anyone who's a fan of horror should try, way better than most out there.

Now if you've played it and need more slenderman fix, good news, Etereal Entertainment [Manio31] is making a Source mod for Slender.

Moddb.com

Verdict? it looks awesome.

I've not had much time on my hands lately if you've been checking this blog, common problem i know, but mainly because the PC i use is a shared one; The plan is to save up for a new Gaming rig and go all out, reviewing, making video's, recommending and just generally helping all you peeps.

Between cappin' foo's on BF3 and checking out mods on the internets, i was thinking about how some of the older games, from the previous generation for example, can still give the new games a run for their money; and i figured i'd try and showcase graphics comparisons between a heavily modded older game, compared to a newly released one.
I'm only focusing on the graphical eyecandy and comparing the generation gap, don't want to go into semantics on gameplay or storyline.
This might be edited/continued depending on the feedback.

GTA IV Vs GTA San Andreas
[Just to clarify these aren't my screenshots, i don't intend to take credit for any of the images]

GTA IV [From Google]

GTA San Andreas [GTAForums Image]

GTA IV - General Street view

GTA San Andreas [Heavily Modified no doubt]

Enb Series definitely carries this game in terms of lighting and reflections, especially noticable compared to Vanilla San Andreas, where the texture of the cars doesn't seem metallic at all.
On a pure visual point of view i'd say that They both look pretty good when compared.

I'll list some of my personal favourite Mods, and those i definitely consider Must Haves:

SRT3 - A full higher resolution retexture of the whole map, immediately makes it into a much prettier game.

Project Oblivion 2010 - remodels all of the foliage and trees to high resolution counterparts, compliments SRT brilliantly.

Enb Series - This is what you want if you have a high end system and want San Andreas with sexy lighting. quite widely known, and there are lots of premade configurations on forums if you don't feel like tweaking it, although it's worth the time.

SA Overdose Effects - Now why couldn't this have been out when i was playing san andreas for the first time? This mod replaces all of the particle effects in the game, making them much more fucking badass. bigger and better explosions, more gore, dust trails, better muzzle flashes on weapons, generally a massive improvement. One of my particular favourites among the changes is the new smoke, holy fuck, i've seen modern games with worse. this is a mod you just need to get.

Now i know it's probably unfair to compare a Heavily modded game to a vanilla version, i'm not nitpicking, GTA IV was a lot of fun, i'm just showing the potential of the previous games, and how, although 4 years apart, it can still be prettied up with the dedication of the fans, some of the people on GTAGarage and the GTAForums are awesome for putting so much effort into the GTA series, Reviving gameplay and story favourites that both old and new gamers can enjoy.

[Mods listed can be found on GTAForums and GTAGarage respectively, they aren't my mods. Kudos to those who made them though, working graphical miracles.]

Being new to the ModDB community [but not specifically new to Modding] i figured i would start with covering what i perceive to be the must have mods for some of the more popular titles, and then highlighting some games that just deserve a bit more attention.

Doom 3
If you haven't played Doom, i'm not surprised, Although i have fond memories of playing Doom on Nintendo 64, i think most people give the titles a miss due to them being dated compared to what we're used to today. Blood by 3D Realms is notably similar, also having some enjoyable Easter eggs.
Doom 3 Rebooted the series with its release in 2004, Mixing Hellish Monsters with a familiar Sci-Fi Setting and simplistic, yet enjoyable storyline.Now however, the textures seem gloomy and dated; not being as sharp as modern HD titles, leaving much to be desired. This is where the Modding community stepped in and redeemed this worthy survival horror.

Sikkmod
Moddb.com
What is there to say, this Mod bitch-slaps Doom 3 into the future with Enhanced Visuals and Lighting, a must have.

Wulfen Textures
Moddb.com
Wulfen texture pack bumps most of the games textures from a 256x256 Resolution to a sharp 1024x1024, making the quality of the levels feel fresh from production. i recommend any fan of Doom 3 or Sci-Fi FPS's to give these two mods a look in.

GTA San Andreas
This one's Fairly obvious being it one of the most downloaded and modded titles in gaming history; i figured i'd hunt down the HD mods that transform it to almost GTA IV quality.

Enb Series
Youtube.com
Enb Series is love/hate for most people; it's not a bad mod, it can look awesome withe the right configuration. the wrong configuration on the other hand, makes a game look bloomed to shit.
I found this video and surprisingly it wasn't over bloomed to shit, and genuinely improves the overall look of the game. i wouldn't recommend it stand alone, so i'll cover some Texture packs next.

iCEnhancer V.3
Gtagaming.com
iCEnhancer is another worthwhile mod if you're trying to optimise the game some of its features are: Higher resolutions, improved lighting effects and modern cars.

Two of my most admired games are Silent Hill, and Call of Cthulhu. to my knowledge there isnt a SDK released for Call of Cthulhu: DCotE, but are there any fan remakes? same goes for Silent Hill 1.
Am i the only one interested in seeing this? apparently not.

Silent Hill
'Silent Hill:Rebirth' a Fan made project and the visualization of Synergy Creations, Silent Hill Universe, the Silent Hill community and the RPG Maker XP community.
I have confidence that their work will create the same feel and atmosphere that is at the root of the Silent Hill mythos.
The best current [Unfortunately Discontinued] rendition of the first game i've seen is Silent Hill in Garry's Mod, which still leaves some much desired work on the textures.

Silent Hill [Garry's Mod]
Youtube.com
For me, those two would be the most anticipated remakes, and definitely worth the time of the Modding community and fans of the games, Hell, i'd even have a go at helping to make some of the textures.

Duke Nukem
15 YEARS in the making and they still fuck it up. Although Duke Nukem Forever was a disappointment to me, i'd still like someone to have a go at rebooting this franchise.

Duke Nukem: Reloaded
Dukenukemreloaded.com
There's been a lot of hype, yet i feel like they could give an authentic feel to reimagining a classic.
I haven't spent much time researching whether others have done fan remakes, would be cool to play though.

Hmm, where to start..This isn't the first online community I've joined that focuses on creativity, if anyone's interested feel free to check out my DeviantArt Profile. [On my Profile page, under Contacts]

A bit about myself, My name's Louis, i'm from London, residing in Wales at the moment.
I've been interested in Modding for a while; Using Mods for games like: Unreal Tournament 2004, Half Life [Counter Strike: Source], GTA: San Andreas
Some of my favorite games include: Fallout [1-2], Silent Hill [1-2-3 in that order], Call of Cthulhu: DCotE, Baldur's Gate, Final Fantasy VII, WoW, i could go on, i've been gaming since i was a kid.

I'm new to Modding, besides editing the odd config files and using Mods. I'd like to learn the in's and outs of the Unreal Engine or something Versatile, rebuild classic games, rebuild textures using sketches/photoshop and learn from the community.
Hit me up if you want to talk anything game related, i'd be interested in sketching up things for people working on projects ;P