What's going on with your life?

I'm in Osaka right now

gonna be here for a couple weeks. Allso have a nice SLR camera so I'll be taking lots of level design reference photos

Quote from Thrik

I think I've got trapped gas, which might sound funny but holy crap I am in pain.

I'm pretty much praying for my body to open the outlet right now because when I had similar last year it grew so painful that I was practically crying. Jesus.

You should try and increase your probiotics intake. I take a probiotic pill every morning and it helps my gut a LOT.

Plus, eat at least a yogurt a day, specially Greek yogurts which also have a lot of protein and probiotics that help your gut.

Quote from Buddy

Approved for a mortgage. Thinking something like this place: http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/detai…UtzMDWb4lJPZ.97

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/detai…UtzMDWb4lJPZ.97http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/detai…UtzMDWb4lJPZ.97 (it may be less that 2 buildings away from my current rental but MUCH nicer)[/indent]

That is some Royal Pimp shit yo

I've been spending the last few months looking at buying a house (And selling my current appartment). There were a few red flags for me when browsing those pictures. But they are all because of taste.First off its the wall to wall carpets in the hallway. Those things are really nasty. It might just be a norwegian thing, because we really like our wood floors The kitchen stove is at the end of the kitchen, next to two doors in a corner. Those doors are gonna get real filthy quickly. You want your stove in the middle of the kitchen, so that grease etc only hits tiles.The tiles in the kitchen is a bit shoddy work. Look under the cabinets above the sink. It shouldn't look like that.The floor in the bedroom looks nice. Hard to tell in the second bedroom.The bathroom is weird. Those wooden walls are gonna get really wet from that bathub/shower. Also the sink is in an akward spot, can you even stand properly infront of it?Fireplace looks like it cant be used anymore. If it cant, whats the point? Its basically a huge ass furniture thats a waste.

Quote from Skjalg

I've been spending the last few months looking at buying a house (And selling my current appartment). There were a few red flags for me when browsing those pictures. But they are all because of taste.First off its the wall to wall carpets in the hallway. Those things are really nasty. It might just be a norwegian thing, because we really like our wood floors The kitchen stove is at the end of the kitchen, next to two doors in a corner. Those doors are gonna get real filthy quickly. You want your stove in the middle of the kitchen, so that grease etc only hits tiles.The tiles in the kitchen is a bit shoddy work. Look under the cabinets above the sink. It shouldn't look like that.The floor in the bedroom looks nice. Hard to tell in the second bedroom.The bathroom is weird. Those wooden walls are gonna get really wet from that bathub/shower. Also the sink is in an akward spot, can you even stand properly infront of it?Fireplace looks like it cant be used anymore. If it cant, whats the point? Its basically a huge ass furniture thats a waste.

Yeah you're quite right. We went for a viewing and a lot of the flat felt like a bizarro version of my current rental (if done up nicer)The fireplace thing is quite common here. I don't know if it can be removed.

After two months, I got my cats back. I'm so happy I've decided to show them to you and tell you a bit about them.

Micio:

[Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/I9xwoTZ.jpg]

I know you shouldn't have favorites, but I can't help it. This guy defies all odds. When he was two, they diagnosed him with a heart problem. He had to take pills for this but he refused to take them (no matter what we tried). It was said he wouldn't live long without the pills. But since it made him so unhappy I figured it was better for him to live a short time being happy than a long time being unhappy. He's almost 14 now. He's also epileptic (I didn't know this could happen to a cat), he mysteriously broke his leg (never figured out how this could have happened) and he has a kidney problem. But he's without pain, happy and still going strong. He's the top cat.

Sly:

[Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/vJ0GrbW.jpg]

Sly doesn't do close ups. Whenever you try he turns his head. Which is funny since he's the most affectionate cat I've ever had. It doesn't matter who pets him, me, my wife or complete strangers. As long as he is patted. He's the only one that actually sits on people's laps. He also purrs as if he has a V12 engine. Even though all my cats are 'helped', he still has the sex drive of a horny teenager.

Rocky:

[Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/fTS2M58.jpg]

This guy, doesn't care about anything. He eats without thinking (literally everything). He loves McFlurry ice creams even though his head always gets stuck in the cup (hilarious). He also kicks a lot of ass, attacks everything and kills it if he gets the chance. Plus, he taunts everything he sees outside (like birds). It's funny to hear because it sounds like he is cussing.

Miklo:

[Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/QRyIcz2.jpg]

The shy one. He hates the world. He usually stays away from his brothers. He doesn't like people. He doesn't like to be touched. Basically, he doesn't like anything. He just wants to be left alone. I'm the only exception. Once every few days he wants some love. So he seeks me out. I can pet him, he purrs, follows me around and he's very happy. This lasts about 10/15 minutes and then I need to leave him alone again.

^^^ Cuuuute. Glad to hear you got your cats back. I would not be able to be away from mine (and it makes finding an apartment in the city very difficult)

So the other day I apparently got marked by a Yakuza and may have almost gotten stabbed or something except my partner was savvy and managed to get me out of a situation. Apparently we wandered into gang territory without knowing it.

He was probably being white. You know, the plainly oblivious type that we all are here. :v

Dux is pretty much on the money :v

I accidentally walked into a bunch of yakuza shaking down a restaurant and I looked for too long. About a block up 2 of them marked me and started walking way too close. One of the dudes had telltale meth marks (lots of scabs on his skin, I used to have a roomate who was addicted so the signs are a bit on the obvious side to me). Anyways after a block or two my partner noticed and pulled me to the right so we could get out of gang territory. They followed us out for a block or two until she started staring them down and pulled us towards a more police controlled area.

She actually pulled me into a basement of a subway line to get away which in my head seemed crazy because I've seen so many movies where that doesn't go well. The underground path lead us to umeda which is one of the 2 most dense areas of Osaka and is full of cops so they broke off and gave up.

I shouldnt say they are actually yakuza though, they are called "yankee" which is basically street level scrubs. The actual yakuza are dressed really nice and are actually really polite. They don't want to fuck up their business jacking a tourist for a couple hundred bucks.

Here's a story without no deep meaning, it's just weird.

So I was enjoying my breakfast this morning and on the other side of the street, on the second floor, I saw a figure further into the apartment but I wasn't sure whether it's was person or not. I didn't mind and just kept on eating and looking out of the window. Short after, this figure started moving and I notice it's a full naked young woman standing there, looking straight out of the window. I kept looking out of curiousity (and yes because she was naked and good looking), but what was she doing anyway? She stood there for a minute or so and then I noticed her looking at my window.

Got me thinking she probably thought I'm a complete perv staring out of my window at her. A couple of seconds passed and she leaned forward towards the window and at that point I had a good view on what she looks like and then something unreal happend! She picked up a pair of binoculars!

Standing straight up, clearly in view for anyone on the other side of the street, she continues looking at me this way for a couple of seconds. I stand up to get a glass of water, turn around and then she's gone.

So many questions!

Quote from Sjonsson

Here's a story without no deep meaning, it's just weird.

So I was enjoying my breakfast this morning and on the other side of the street, on the second floor, I saw a figure further into the apartment but I wasn't sure whether it's was person or not. I didn't mind and just kept on eating and looking out of the window. Short after, this figure started moving and I notice it's a full naked young woman standing there, looking straight out of the window. I kept looking out of curiousity (and yes because she was naked and good looking), but what was she doing anyway? She stood there for a minute or so and then I noticed her looking at my window.

Got me thinking she probably thought I'm a complete perv staring out of my window at her. A couple of seconds passed and she leaned forward towards the window and at that point I had a good view on what she looks like and then something unreal happend! She picked up a pair of binoculars!

Standing straight up, clearly in view for anyone on the other side of the street, she continues looking at me this way for a couple of seconds. I stand up to get a glass of water, turn around and then she's gone.

So many questions!

What do you mean so many questions? There's only one. Which apartment is hers?

Quote from Sprony

What do you mean so many questions? There's only one. Which apartment is hers?

Hahah! Well if it wasn't for the fact that I've seen her boyfriend around I might have actually considered it.

Quote from Thrik

@AlexM That is absolutely mental, you could have had a brush with death there! Or at least some severe beating. Lucky your partner was on the ball.

@Sjonsson Wow, either she gets off on voyeurism or she was trying to send you a message about looking at her.

I live in an apartment that kind of points towards a block of fancy student dorms, and it's not uncommon for me to be sitting there looking out of my window — towards the horizon and sky, not the block of dorms —while relaxing or eating, and suddenly some young Chinese student or something will appear at the window completely naked. It's one of those really weird situations where you're not quite sure what to do. I blame urban planners.

Yepp maybe. I'm gonna keep on looking and see if she continues this showcasing I might actually make a move, haha!

Haha, yeah it's really problematic; 'Am I a perv? Or well I know I am but does this make me look like one? Is that my fault?' etc. Damn you urban planners!

Just signed a civil solidarity pact, I[/b] now have a partner :)[/b]

Quote from 3Dnj

Just signed a civil solidarity pact, I[/b] now have a partner [/b]

Congrats and pastriiiiiies !!! :celebrate:

So I moved out of my parents into my own place back in early January, and im rooming with 3 of my good friends. Since then I have not been even remotely inspired to work on any level design, and in fact, as of now, almost 6 months into the year, ive only worked on Import(which was technically already a finished map) and made a small environmental scene for a Treyarch Job application. Ive thought about it a lot, on and off, thinking, maybe its just due to me being busy, growing up, living on my own, just life shit etc. Well I got a new roommate, an old friend of ours, who has a similar outlook on life, like mine, of general optimism and just wanting to achieve goals and make shit happen. With this new person in my day to day environment, and this project him and I are going to do in UE4, I find my self excited to work and design things for the first time in months and its just fantastic. As im typing this, im just browsing around on the internet reading about different material studies for post modern designs, while I have UE4 open using PBR. Im just really happy to of found that spark to be creative again. All in all, I hope you all here on mapcore are doing great and stay optimistic, because why live life if all you're going to do is dwell in the mud.

Moved in the biggest room of the centre this past bank holiday weekend. I can't believe I had so much shit stashed in my 3 sqm room, I've made unusable the space here: there's no furniture.
Funny discovering priorities: while I was thinking where and what TV I should buy, my gf said "you need a mirror" I think this will be an interesting test to where draw the line in allowing her to input. Cos I want something of my own.

So I was going to ask you guys, with so many people moving, buying or renting and generally decorating, can you suggest an app/service where to design/visualize a room/apartment? I could build it in Hammer but doesn't seem practical at all, would be nice to have something where to quickly swap furniture to get a feel of the best solution.

Also I need to think about buying some furniture; not sure how much I want to spend, cos I either leave stuff here when I leave (and I dunno how long is gonna be since I'm not mapping) or get something nicer that I will then bring with me.

@blackdog - I've always found programs like 3DS Max pretty good to plan a room. Just create a plane for your floor and simple boxes for all your furniture/items. It's good since you can easily input the exact size of things into Max so you know it's the right size. In Hammer I don't think it'd be as accurate.