Fred Weimer

Battlefield 3 End Game

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 20:05:00 +0000

Battlefield 3 End Game has been out now for 3 days. It's a worthy finale for what has been a brilliant Game. BF3 Premium DLCi has brought out Close Quarters, Armoured Kill and Aftermath and finally End Game. I've played all of them as they were released. End Game has 4 new maps and brings new gameplay challenges with Air Superiority and Capture the Flag. Air Superiority is jets on jets battle to win flags. It was the first part of End Game I played. Air Superiority is dog fight heaven. Capture the Flag is a frantic match to steal your enemies flags and protect your own flag. Dice have added dirt bikes and some new armour. The Dirt Bikes are fast and nimble. The new dropship let's you launch in to help your teammates in a vehicle.

Dice gives you the best experience with first person firepower. With the new maps and vehicles it is fast and furios. I've enjoyed the other DLC with Premium Membership. But I have to say that End Game is the icing on the cake, and well worth the price of admission.

I've had a thought (remembered) about a great way to use Pinterest

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 18:03:00 +0000

Finally, after having a Pinterest for ages, I've thought of (remembered) a good way of using it. Back a long time ago in a galaxy far far away I worked for Disney games. Occasionally I could visit their scrap library. In the scrap library were loads of images taken out of magazines including images of how an old western town should look, What main street USA might look and more, so much more. All curated, in alphabetical order filling 20 or more filing cabinets. It was amazing. I had access to the same material Imagineers and the original designers of Disneyland had.

Now I teach 3D, and I need some cool images, of which I usually search for on the day. But why not use Pinterest, as my scrap library with amazing images useful for inspiring cool 3D images. From architectural, science fiction, NASA,, lighting examples, designs exteriors, the elements and more, I will create my scrap library, and it will be good.

If you have suggestions let me know, I am grateful for any help. Find me on Google Pluse

Halo 4 a love story

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 21:51:00 +0000

Be careful there are some spoilers in this post.

With Microsoft's 343 Industries taking over the Halo franchise I think everyone breathed a sigh of relief as we started playing the campaign. Graphics are jaw dropping. Even my wife said she liked the look of the game, and that's a first. Halo 4 is true to franchise.

The campaign follows in true Halo fashion, with one addition, conversations between Master Chief and Cortana. With Cortana's suffering from rampancy (AI decline, madness, maybe death). Master Chief must not only save the world, he must also save the girl. The enemies you meet, trials you overcome pale in comparison to the Chief's need to save Cortana. Although the enemies and trials are amazing.

Wargames

Halo 4 Multiplayer rocks. Customisation of your spartan is as standard with special armour and helmets. New loadouts gives you various types of weapons to suit the map you are fighting on. With some of the weapon and armour choices it helps even the fields. You earn better weapons as you rank up. I like playing Halo Multiplayer. In previous games I felt like a permanent noob. At least now I can leave the field of battle with some pride, I feel multiplayer is much better balanced.

Spartan Ops

Brand new to Halo, episodes (maps) that be played co-operative and by yourself.

343 Industries has kept the Halo Flame alive with a great new version of Halo. It's fun, the campaign is amazing and the graphics are eye popping. If you doubted, don't, have faith and go enjoy Halo 4.

Xbox SmartGlass

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 12:31:00 +0000

I've been using Xbox SmartGlass on my Lumia 710. Wow! as soon as I started using it, I thought this was the way it was supposed to be done. With the Xbox on, run SmartGlass and it connects to the Xbox. In it's most basic form it gives you a touch based interface on your phone for navigation on the Xbox. Depending on what you are watching/using additional information is available. On netflix it was showing me info about tv shows and films. Nothing on BBC iPlayer. But more content will have SmartGlass links in the future. Now to see if I can update the 710 to Windows Phone 7.8

The Life and Death of MIcrosoft Flight

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 00:33:00 +0000

Good bye Flight

I think I am still in shock since Microsoft cancelled Flight. I love flight sims. I understood why Flight did not have passenger jets etc. It was a sim/game for people who wanted to experience flight. It was sort of a sport/bush pilot sim more than anything. And when Alaska and the Carbon Cub came out I was overjoyed. I loved the game. I was even putting together a post on using glidesope etc. I may still, but it still hurts. What makes it worse with the cancellation of Flight is any hope of Flight Simulator in the future. I still may fly, the community managers at Flight's Facebook page said they will maintain the servers and marketplace. It was just something I really enjoyed.

Microsoft Flight Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 19:57:00 +0000

I've been playing Microsoft Flight for a few weeks now and I am enjoying it more than ever. The more I fly in MS Flight I have come to realise the flight model is much closer to a simulation than a just a game. I also think you'll have more fun flying with a joystick. I played the free version, upgraded to the full Hawaiian islands and downloaded the Maule. The Maule was one of my favourite planes from Flight Simulator X. It's from flying the Maule that makes me think Flight is more of a simulation. I started by flying the Icon A5 which is very easy and stable to fly (even when set to the harder flight settings). The wing on the A5 is similar to a glider which I believe makes it easy to fly.

What suspends my dis-belief even more in Flight is the ability to use radio navigation. All the VOR's, ILS etc are there for you. To find the navigation radio information go to the map, select "Legend" then you can tick a box that makes radio navigation beacons appear on the map. I got that tip from Flight's Facebook page. The Maule and Van's RV-6 both have navigation radios, plus the RV-6 has ILS/Glidescope. I have not tried ILS/Glidescope landings yet, but there is a landing challenge for the RV-6 in the game so get familiar with it. I love flying the Maule, then find an airport with a VOR and fly right to it.

Navigating in the Maule

The missions in Microsoft Flight are challenging and fun. Jobs at airports with various freight and charters reminds me of the kind of things my instructor pilots used to do. Flight also have Aerocaches. They give you XP and help you to explore and find interesting places.

Expansion packs and some new planes in Flight are based on Downloadable Content. It seems like this game shouldn't be based on DLC. But with the Xbox games I play like Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare, Fifa and other all have DLC content. So why DLC with Flight? We are used to this on console games. It's has to be expensive to develop Flight, and even more expensive to continue development. Many of the past products like Flight Simulator X was released, had some service packs, an acceleration pack and that was it from Microsoft. There have been plenty of add-ons from other people but development of the game stopped after the service packs. Other models for flight sims could be like Aces High, where you pay a monthly fee to play. The company gets regular income and the game keeps developing. I welcome DLC with Flight. I hope people pay and Flight keeps getting developed and improved for many years to come. Microsoft have announced the Alaska DLC with 1.5 million square kilometres of scenery, new aircraft and new missions. I can't wait.

Microsoft Flight

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 10:51:00 +0000

Microsoft Flight launched on Leap Day. Flight is billed as an easy to fly game with no special hardware such as a joystick is needed, they suggest you can use the mouse to fly (HA).

I have used Flight Simulator products going back to the 80's with Sublogic's Flight Simulator on my Amiga to Microsoft's Flight Simulator X, with various versions in between. I love FSX with the ability to accurately simulate navigation, flight model etc. If I want I can fly from Cleveland to Chicago in anything from a DC3 to a 747. One the eve of Flight's release I flew from Yellowknife to Hay River (North West Territories in a DC3).

Microsoft Flight is not aimed the hard core FSX simulator fans (even though I am one of those). It's a fun and easy to fly game based on what a sport pilot licensee might expect. I've played Flight for a few hours and plan on flying it more. It is fun, but I am using my Logitech joystick with it. Flying with a mouse is an aberration. The flying experience is based around the big island of Hawaii, I did buy the DLC which gave me the rest of the islands and more missions. Not sure yet if I will buy the extra planes. The first plane you fly in is the Icon A5, which should be released in the real world in the near future and was designed for the Sport or leisure pilot. The interior looks more like a sports car than an airplane. For me the dash of the A5 is a bit simple, but it's nice you can land on a runway or on water. Probably the best part of Flight is the detail in the scenery. Limiting the game to a small area probably helps in this area. The game is free, why not download it and give it a go. I'll let you know in a few weeks if it's so good I bought the extra planes available.

Let's hope we don't have to wait for the next Leap day for a new Flight Simulator from Microsoft.

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 18:38:00 +0000

I suppose I am a few months behind the times but I've linked my blogger account to Google Plus. This helps me post to my blog and to plus. Buzz was nice in the way it presented a preview of my blog, let's see how this helps.

Battlefield 3 Review

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 20:03:00 +0000

Battlefield 3 is the long awaited sequel in the Battlefield series. EA and Dice have teamed up and with the new Frostbite 2 engine and I could not wait for it to be released.

I've been playing it for awhile now so this review comes from hours of gameplay. Lots of people have slated the single player in BF3, but there are some great levels worth playing. One such is Going Hunting, it is beautiful and great to play. You take on the role of weapons office of a carrier jet. It's a joy to be in the back seat of a jet responsible for gunning down or launching missiles at baddies. In my own opinion I liked the single player campaign, my only problem was it was too short.

Everyone agrees multiplayer is the best part of Battlefield 3. It's amazing, fast paced awesome FPS. With Frostbite 2 and HD textures the look and feel of multiplayer is breathtaking. The first thing EA and Dice got right with Battlefield 3 are the soldier classes. Assault; The assault class carries a variety of assault weapons and has merged with the medic. It's a great all around kit, and I use it on Operation Metro.
Engineer; Rocket Launchers, Mines, Repair and more types of Rocket Launchers. My favourite weapon for Engineer is the Scar-H with the IRNV (infrared) scope to kill the campers hiding nearby and spot the recon in the buildings. I use Engineer with Damavand Peak, Caspian Border, Operation Firefight, Kharg Island and Nosharh Canal because mines and rockets are so fun. Support; Sometimes I use Support in Operation Metro but I love using Claymores on the Grand Bazaar map. I also use Support on the Seine with the Mortar.

Co-Op play. Well finally game makers have seen the light of Halo and added some Co-Op play.
In Battlefield 3 there are separate Co-Op missions to play either with a friend or in Public mode they will match make a game for you. I enjoy the Co-Op play but it's limited to 2 players. EA and Dice go back and play lots of Halo and realize we should be able to play the whole single player game with 4 of our friends cooperatively.

I've read the Andy McNab got involved with Battlefield 3. You couldn't get a better consultant than
ex SAS. I've read his books which i recommend to everyone. I am glad to see them bring in a real warrior on this game.

If you buy this game purely for the multiplayer then you are guaranteed a great ride in FPS. It's fast and furios. There are the classic big Battlefield maps with tanks, helicopters, jets etc. And their are some amazing close combat maps. I can't wait for back to Karkand. My Xbox live handle is wingdisc, if you see me in game give me a medic pack or some ammo.

PS
For the coolest Battlefield 3 videos on youtube check out http://www.youtube.com/user/fhrope

Is something magical happening at Google?

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 10:02:00 +0000

Google has been very busy, +1 and Google Plus. Blogger and Gmail have been given a facelift. If only I could update my 59 year old appearance so easily outside of Photoshop.

Google Plus seems to have gone public now. Google products always felt like they were made by engineers for engineers, Plus seems to have some user experience magic to it. I like how Plus uses Circles to organize people. I have set up a circle of people I play games with on Xbox Live. I have some regulars from twitter in another Circle, and a family Circle. Other than that I am playing with learning about Google Plus.

Will Plus l have an effect on Twitter? Google Plus has a FriendFeed feel to it. Yes you have more options than FriendFeed, I can see people sharing things in a more focused, personal way with Plus rather than Twitter.

What about Google Buzz? Google Buzz certainly had it's problems, it invaded our Gmail among other things, which were fixed. At least Plus is part of my Google experience, but it does not dip into my Gmail like Buzz did. What I do like about Buzz and hope they bring into Plus is integration with Blogger. It was great to see my blog titles with the first paragraph automatically show up in Buzz. It worked great. I suppose they will phase out Buzz in the near future, once people adapt to Plus.

Will Plus take out Facebook? No, some of my friends or family members will never ever go to Plus. They are still struggling with Gmail. Plus loads of my friends on Facebook play games together.

Google Plus will be very popular with the Gmail crowd for sure. My friends are excited about it. Let's hope Google doesn't Wave good bye to Plus.

How to opt out of Facebook's facial recognition

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 19:02:00 +0000

As usual with Facebook you have to opt out of privacy invading features. If you don't want photos of you or ones that look like you automatically tagged as you, follow these simple steps. Go to your account, privacy settings, then customise settings. Under "things others share" look at suggest photos of me to friends, and edit the settings. When you edit the settings you will see the description of the feature "when photos look like me suggest tagging them" Just disable this and good luck till next time on Facebook.

Although I love what Facebook does with helping me stay in touch and friends and family. They really need to announce these kind of new features, educate the user and then allow people to opt in. Facial recognition unknowingly thrust upon the public is scary.

Import your blog into Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 11:36:00 +0000

Facebook notes allows you to import your blog or any rss feed into Facebook. Bringing your blog into a personal page is quite easy. But If you have a personal facebook page and a fan or “like” facebook page it can be confusing as to which feed comes into which set of pages, you personal page, or fan page.

Start by importing a blog into you personal facebook page. In facebook search for the notes application.

Motion capture, basic post processing

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 09:53:00 +0000

Arri Prime Lens

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 09:46:00 +0000

Arri Prime Lens, a photo by wingdisk on Flickr.

The beautiful Red One with an Arri Prime lents

Stereoscopic Video

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 00:16:00 +0000

3DRig.jpg
Originally uploaded by wingdisk

Here is our beam splitter rig at Brunel.

The Walking Dead, A Short Review

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 10:30:00 +0000

The Walking Dead premiered in the UK this week on FX. Wow, this is going to be good.

I am a fan of Zombie films, so of course I was going to watch the first episode. What caught my eye first was the lead actor Andrew Lincoln who plays Rick Grimes. I first saw him in the UK series Teachers. Teachers was a quirky series that worked great with Andrew Lincoln, but fell short when he left the cast.

The second series with Andrew Lincoln was Afterlife. He played a psychology lecturer and sceptic to Lesley Sharp's role as a medium. Afterlife was a brilliant series and Andrew Lincoln played a great straight man to Lesley's gifted medium. Afterlife, which aired for a couple of seasons around 2005 makes Ghost Whisperer look like Sesame Street. It was spooky, scary and very moving at times.

Interesting actors draw me to TV shows. I would have never watched Burn Notice had it not had Bruce Campbell in it. So I had to watch The Walking Dead.

This show pays homage to it's predecessors, 28 Days later, George Romero, and my favourite childhood book "I am Legend" and subsequent film. This show has the look and feel of a film. From cinematography, costumes, music.

After watching the first episode I wanted more.That's the best way I can describe it, my wife said the same thing to me. It was brilliant. Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes character is convincing and sincere so he is the perfect person to take us through the zombie nightmare and all it brings.

Halo Reach

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 11:13:00 +0000

The first Halo game got me back in to first person shooters. It was fun with large environments great vehicles and a fabulous hero in Master Chief.

Now we are at an end of an era of Halo and Bungie. Bungie flew the Microsoft nest awhile ago and alas now they leave Halo with Reach.

Reach is a worthy good bye from Bungie. It is beautiful, magnificent vistas and their characters are all 21st century. The story works very well through the campaign. All very satisfying. My only complaint, only because the game is so good, is there is no epic all or nothing brutal drive through hell like past Halo games.

Bungie made games before Halo and Microsoft and I look forward to playing what they do next. Meanwhile I am off to Reach multiplayer.

Stop friends' farmville posts showing up in your facebook newsfeed

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 20:27:00 +0000

Keeping up to date.

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 22:52:00 +0000

I want to keep more up to date with my blog. June/July are tough months at work, so I seem to disappear. We have 2 shows, Made in Brunel and New Designers. We also have tons of marking to finish off. I spend a lot of time writing comments about student work so my creative writing goes down the drain. I am going to work to keep things up to date. Even if it's short posts, wish me luck.

Where is Paul Jr?

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 08:23:00 +0000

As you may know I was a fan of American Choppers. That was until Paul Jr was fired. His father, Paul Senior rewrote history and claimed all the success was his. I could talk about addictive personalities in relation to this, but I wont. I was glad Discovery followed Paul Jr in his new ventures JR Design. You can follow Paul Jr on twitter as WhereisPaulJr. His website used to be cool work clothes, now it's hint of things to come. Apparently there is a new show on the works, which will involve Sr. vs Jr. I can't wait, good luck Paul Jr. and co.

shadowplay

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 20:08:00 +0000

shadowplay
Originally uploaded by wingdisk

Some shadows are going the wrong way.

Black Park, Buckinghamshire

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 21:29:00 +0000

Black Park, Buckinghampshire
Originally uploaded by wingdisk

Black Park near Pinewood Studios. 2 Harry Potter films shot nearby in the park. Shot with a Nokia N86 in panorama mode.

Portsmouth, UK

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 19:30:00 +0000

20100319-IMG_9622
Originally uploaded by wingdisk

We took our first year multimedia students on a photo trip to Portsmouth. The weather was lousy for most of the day but there were a few opportunities for photos.

Brunel University

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:30:00 +0000

Brunel University
Originally uploaded by wingdisk

N86 Panorama mode

One World day at Brunel

noreply@blogger.com (Fred Weimer) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 13:36:00 +0000

one world day at Brunel
Originally uploaded by wingdisk

Brunel University has some interesting days. I wanted to take some images with my N86 to see how the camera performed. Needles to say I am very happy with the results.