Games: No Man's Sky for ipad

As a fan of No Man's Sky I got a couple of surprises recently. The game added another update after a huge one for its 10th anniversary. Then it added an iPad version, something not on my list of things that might happen soon as the game doesn't seem possible on a mobile device. Glad to say that it's more than possible, apparently. 

The port of the game to iPad is really good! It doesn't have colonies or multiplayer (2 things I don't use) but everything else is there including 10 years of missions.  It looks amazing and it is very fluid as you fly from planet to space to other galaxies. 

The interface, like all mobile games, is a challenge for me. I find controlling characters with a finger press difficult to control. I have much more practice to do to get comfortable with it. You can use a game controller if you have one but I tried to use it with my keyboard and it didn't work. Too bad since then, it would have been a seamless transition playing it on the run. 

I had to start the game from scratch, no surprise there, and I will eventually get to a point I don't feel like I am catching up to the desktop version. I don't plan on  making the iPad version the same as my desktop but instead use the new game to concentrate just on the things I really like and avoid all the learning curve errors I made on the computer version. 

Since I use the game as a way to relax, this will be perfect while travelling or if I ever finally decide that I can sit in a café and do that "relax" thing I keep hearing about.  At 20$ USD this is really a no-brainer if you have any desire to try the game for the first time or as a portable version. This also works on the iPhone and your iPad game will automatically transfer to the phone and, vice versa, if you are stuck in an airport or somewhere and can't get to the iPad. 

Animation: The Solar System 2022 by:Vincent-louis Apruzzese

 

I did not want to go an entire year without animation something. I have several space mini-docs planned but this was the easiest to pull off bit by bit over the last few months as the research was minimal and I already have decent models of the entire solar system made. I learned a different way to handle the atmospheric haze over planets that worked out well and it is just good to keep doing something as I forget the basics easily when I haven't done something in a long while.

I have been more confident to use Garage band to make my own music. It's not exactly Gerry Goldsmith but it works and it's something that I can do myself and have no copyright worries. 

Volcanoes of Io _mini doc 2020

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A second mini space doc. I allowed myself to be a little more lax with the images and use my imagination more, but not to an extent that anyone might really notice. I also added some particle and liquid effects which was fun. 

Moons of Mars - short doc project

 

I have been working on this slowly for a long while, collecting textures from NASA and information to make an under 2 minute doc about the moons that go around the planet Mars. I posted this earlier with narration by me and then couldn't live with my voice on it so changed the narration to text which works much better.  Third times the charm? I redid the shot of the three moons since the proportions I had were very far from the actual ones. 

I might make series of these about different space subjects that interest me and can be boiled down to under two minutes.