PokePlay #1: My Thoughts on Pokemon Liquid Crystal

Finally after a hiatus of nearly 4 months, I am finally back and done with my first year of my university course. It feels really awesome to be back. I admit I was too tired to update the blog and left this page in limbo, but the 4 month "break" (not exactly a break since I am busy with assignments and projects instead) has really left me revitalised and energised to start writing again. :)

Anyway, I have been testing out and playing through several Pokemon games for the last 2 weeks. At first I started with the regular games starting from G/S/C, then progressing through FR/LG (FireRed/LeafGreen) and finally concluding at Black 2/ White 2. Throughout the years, the games have undergone a lot of developments, and the Pokemon roster has expanded to 649 Pokemon.

So I was thinking, why not try out some of the Pokemon hacks?

After searching the net for fan-made hacks, I found some surprisingly good hacks, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself whilst playing.

Pokemon Liquid Crystal

Base Rom: Pokemon FireRed

Pokemon Available: Kanto/Johto/ Hoenn

Regions Available: Kanto/Johto/ Orange Islands (partial as of 99% complete version)





Based of the storyline of the 2nd generation game Pokemon Crystal, this hack by LaZ and Zeikku is a complete remake with 3rd generation graphics and game mechanics. The important features that attracted me to play this hack was the availability of the Hoenn Pokemon and the expansion into the Orange Islands.



Apparently all Team Saturn members
are redheads...

As with the original version, we get to play as either a male or female character who gets to embark on a Pokemon adventure that encompasses both Johto and Kanto, and finally challenge against the Elite 4.
While the GSC remake Pokemon HG/SS has considerably far improved graphics compared to Pokemon Liquid Crystal, it is nevertheless a very fun game to play due to slight changes in the storyline and the presence of a new evil organisation called Team Saturn. The plot thickens.


Difficulty Level: 4/5 keyboards smashed



A Lvl. 33 Pidgey in Vermillion? Seriously?

I'll admit it, this is one of the toughest Pokemon games I have played. Firstly, it is imperative that you engage in all the Trainer battles and do a bit of training or you will be severely underlevelled. Levels have also been raised by up to 5 levels for gym leaders and Elite 4 members. With new Pokemon and moves available in Liquid Crystal as compared to the orginal GSC, this game may prove to be quite a challenge. There are also many instances where the Pokemon battles are so tough, that I feel like smashing my laptop screen in frustration. (Example: Umbreon as a staller and dragging a battle for 10 minutes thanks to WishProtect moveset. >:( ) Nevertheless, I relish the challenge of the game.

Gameplay Level: 4/5 slickness



Prepare for a storm.

There have been a few glitches here and there, but none of them are really severe and thus did not affect much of my gameplay experience. As with in Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, you get to Dive down to the bottom of the ocean to discover new items and Pokemon. In addition, the EXP system has been enhanced to that of Black/White and there is also the Physical/Special Split as introduced in Gen IV games. Altogether, it is pretty much a complete package. Before I forget, there's also the Day/Night system along with the weather changes. This will affect the different types of Pokemon available in specific places. Expect to find yourself drenched in torrential rainfall with lightning during Spring or immersed deep in heavy snow during Winter.

Graphics Level: 4/5

Wow...this is too beautiful.

Considering that the hack is made for Gameboy Advance, the graphics are pretty impressive and well-polished. I really loved the design of the Pokemon Center. <3








Overall, I loved this game. SO MUCH that I actually played through the entire game twice. Anyway my team for the 2nd runthrough (in case if anyone is interested):

- Typhlosion
- Vaporeon
- Dragonite
- Exeggutor
- Slamence
- Crobat

To My Favvies On MM ^-^

Finally a new post in what feels like forever! :D

It feels really awesome to be back, and I am ready for the new year.

And I got truckloads of pictures for everyone!

Here we go...

For Donkers, whose Spug is so squishy that I accidentally popped it a few times...

For Jess, who thought that drawing her icon would be crazy... Keep it up in torturing the newbies.

For Vissy, who is LIKE A COMMANDA :D (finally the whole pic!)

For Sharna, who is trying to get a Pitana avatar. Decided to draw one for you instead but made a few modifications from the original.













For Søren, I can't draw the fox in the end...so I hope a Necronubis would suffice.














For Draguin, who helped me a lot in the forums. Because MM's version of Penngrince is, in my opinion, very ugly (Sorry uken but you probably won't read this anyway), I had to draw my own version. Hope you like it.

I still have a couple of drafts left for a couple of people (i.e. Fris, Issac aka Juice Box, Breaker etc), but I am trying to complete as soon as I can. Hopefully I can get it done by this month. With all the schoolwork flooding in... -.-

Random Post Is Indeed Random

Finally, after such a long while, I am back for a short bit. I guess one can say it's a temporary respite from the daily challenges I face every day.

Anyway,...

A couple of things had happened these last few weeks that left me very dissappointed. But it is through these mistakes that we learn, and we grow to become stronger and better. I shall not bore you with the entire story of these events, because there is no point crying over spilt milk.

Life has to go on, and lessons have to be learnt.

I like helping people. Or rather, I find it a joy to share my knowledge and experience and help people in need. More importantly, I really believe a lot in karma. As a result, I think I am sometimes not very sensitive to how much help people wants. This may sound confusing, but simply put, each person has their own comfort zone. Once you go beyond a certain level which may infringe his/her privacy, the person might not take it that well and think you may have some ulterior motive in helping him/her too much. And that was exactly what happened to me. As much as I believe that my intent is made clear, but because of this, it has caused the whole chain of unfortunate events.

Then comes the next question: when would you know what the person's comfort level is? I think this is a bit abstract to describe, because it really takes some trial and error to discover each and every person's comfort level. Nevertheless, some people do indeed display through physical behaviour and facial expression if they are really very uncomfortable with the way things are going. Therefore, it really isn't very difficult sometimes. I am afraid I had not reached that level yet, but it's a learning experience.

Speaking of which, yes, I took a step back upon what happened. There had been signs prior to all this mess, and I had tried to pull myself away, but it was obviously in vain (I and I did not do a good job of it.). For a few days, I regretted what I had done, and it did make me question the need to be so nice and helpful to people. I did get some advice from a couple of close friends and family members, and I thought it really helped me a lot and learnt a lot from them. Which was why I wrote this entire thing in the first place.

So yup...

I still treasured whatever friendship that existed during that short duartion. I do not want to make any excuses for what I had done, because it is history. But you will always be a friend.

Lasciate riposare in pace.

Coffee Break: Part 1 -Hour of Power FTW!!!!! :)

Basically, for this new short segment that I am introducing, I will take some of those unreleased pics from before, do a bit of touch up here and there before putting it up here. So these drawings actually ended up in the depths of papers piling up on my desk, or they were left forsaken and forgotten in my folders in my laptop. I think it probably won't last long (I would give this a lifespan of 2-3 parts...)Anyway, I've got one here to start the ball rolling...

When: Sometime in June...I don't really remember. If it is buried in knee-deep full of paper, how in world would I remember? -.-

Story: My language skills are not that brilliant, but I will try to bring my point across.

Sometimes, it really fascinates me to see how love can make people do the most illogical and irrational of things. You see someone put in his/her heart and soul to pursue the person he/she likes, doing stuff you will never expect him/her to do. I think love is like some sort of energy pushing you past all boundaries and limits to achieve the unexpected.

Unfortunately, when the crush/target does not recipocrate and eventually reject his/her feelings, the pain and anguish is indeed heartrending. It may come to the point where your heart is just broken and bleeding away. You feel sad, but somehow, no tears seem to flow out from your eyes.

I think this feeling applies to not just a failed relationship (or attempt at having one). Even between a couple, sometimes when one party hurts you so bad, you will experience the same feeling. Of course, this feeling does not apply to only romance. I think there are times when you are really very sad that you really feel your heart is breaking apart.

I admit I never had a proper relationship, but having seen too much of it, I kind of empathise with them. That was why I sat down to draw this. Anyway, I was undergoing some transition in drawing style, which explains how this picture seems a bit incomplete. I was testing out how to draw the eyes in another way (one which I would eventually and currently adopt), to mixed success. :/ On another note, this was done very swiftly within one hour. Not because I remembered it till now, but because I actually stupidly wrote on my sketch:

"DONE IN ONE HOUR WOOT!!!"

Why is it not released: Even till now, I still had second thoughts about putting this up. One reason is that I am actually worried that people will think I have a personal problem, relationship issue or whatsoever. And I find the end-product a bit...flawed (being a quick paint job, I wasn't expecting to be awesome, oh well... -.-)

I Am Back...! And This IS Why I Am Away For So Long

Aside from studies and stuff, I have been trying out a couple of stuff on PAINT.net.

And I thought that changing the blog design will be a good idea as well.

Enjoy the new cover!

Meanwhile, I need to catch some sleep...the overall effort is too tiring for me...ZZZ

15 June 2012 -- A Dark Twist To The Tale -- Snow White & The Huntsman

Fairy tales have always fascinated and entertained us when we were young, hence remakes of these classics would undoubtedly lead to many comparisons. We have already known for quite some time that there would be two remakes of the classic fairy tale Snow White in 2012, Mirror Mirror (which was released on March and was supposed a light-hearted take of the story by the Brothers Grimm) and Snow White & The Huntsman (which was released this month).

I missed out on watching Mirror Mirror, partly because I am not a frequent movie-goer. However, my friend recommended watching Snow White & The Huntsmen during a get-together session, so I proceeded to watch only my 2nd movie within the last one year.

In all honesty, I was skeptical of how the movie will turn out, particularly when Kristen Stewart was cast as the female lead Snow White. I am not picking on the casting of the Twilight starlet, because I think she is a pretty good actress but she needs to work on her facial & emotional expressions. (Fanboys don't bash me, please. :3)The movie also features Charlize Theron, who portrays the evil stepmother/queen, as well as Chris Hemsworth, who decided to leave Mjölnir in Asgard and is here as the huntsman. 

Unlike the original tale, this incarnation takes on a darker theme but basically follows the same story arc. Snow White's mother died when she was young, leaving her under the care of her father, who is the King. When Ravella (Theron) married the king and murdered him in cold blood on their wedding night, everything changed. Snow White was held captive in the North Tower for years but managed to escape when the evil Queen, in her pursuit of beauty and power, decided to kill her. She made her way into the Dark Forest but was tracked by the huntsman. The huntsman however decides to join forces with Snow White to overthrow the evil Queen's reign, a la Joan of Arc's style.

On the whole, the movie was not too bad, but was not exactly an entertaining 2 hours as I would have hoped. Charlize Theron's powerful performance as the evil queen Ravella was, in my opinion, one thing that stole the show. One can really feel the hatred and embitterment in Ravella as her pursuit for beauty and power (which includes sucking the lifeforce out of virgins and flowers) drove her to insanity and eventually became her undoing.

Chris Hemsworth also did a good job as the huntsman with a traumatic past, providing scant reminder of the hammer-wielding demigod he is now famous for in the Marvel franchise. On the contrary, Stewart's potrayal as the title character somehow pales in comparison, but nevertheless still a convincing one. Unfortunately, as we all know (and should have figured)...

When Snow White is scared, =.=

When Snow White is angry, =.=

When Snow White is happy, =.=

When Snow White is in a coma, ... =.=

While Snow White & The Huntsman may be the most entertaining flick I have watched, it does offer a welcome alternative to movie-goers. Don't give it a miss! :)

FIFA 13: Finally, no Rooney on the cover photo! :P

After the considerable success of FIFA 12, which introduces many new features that enhance gameplay, it is now time to put our focus on the next instalment of the FIFA series, FIFA 13. FIFA 13 seeks to capture all the details of real-life soccer, and has announced a couple of innovations that serves to further improve on the already impressive features of FIFA 12. This includes Tactical Free Kicks and 1st touch control. As to how these features really influences the gameplay, we would have to wait until further details have been released.

And yes, for the first time, Rooney did not feature on the cover photo (although this requires confirmation) and Messi takes over as the poster boy! Not that I dislike Rooney, but he has been on the game covers since FIFA 06. Surely a change would be welcome, wouldn't it? :)

EA Sports has thus far released a trailer of the highly anticipated game, and here's a tongue-in-cheek review of the trailer by KSIOlajidebt. Don't take the jokes too seriously though. :P