Website is live

 After what felt like having all my teeth pulled out, the website is now finished and live. For reasons beyond me, a necessary token DNS record that is required to prove my ownership was deleted. I followed a Squarespace support page that instructed me to delete old records. No system function could detect that the record was missing and no way for Google to regenerate it. Thankfully, Google support was pretty good when I finally got access to it.

Issues quickly resolved.

Home is where the index is...

Gallery

The reason for the investment in time and money is the requirement for an online portfolio to sell on Blender Market. At this point, it has wider benefits. It's been too long since I had a proper online presence beyond this and other Google-hosted blogs.

Terrain Map Pack 2025 (Volumes 1-x)

The next setback is that the Blender Market team takes 1-2 weeks to approve me. I am confident that I'll get it, although I may need to produce some proper collateral and samples. I should provide an entry-level pack that is free to download. I should also break the maps into many very low lost packs rather than sell the job lot, although I could maybe make that an option. Still, I can use the extra time to get the pack completed.



Next up...a model. I will finally create a space vehicle for sale.

Terrain Map Pack samples

Terrain Pack 2025 - deadline extended

 Busy week! I've encountered a significant road block, though: I've set up a website for my required 3D portfolio, but I'm currently unable to update its DNS records because I need to use Google Workspace tools but I'm currently locked out of my Google Workspace -- probably caused by being logged into my regular account and maybe a mismatched 2-tier-auth phone number. I should hopefully get this sorted in a couple of days.

In the meantime, I'll carry on the work and create more terrains and masks.

Terrain Pack progress

The Terrain pack is progressing pretty well. However, I've looked into the requirements for submitting products to Blender Market. Apparently, you need a portfolio. That seems weird. Do all product developers have them? I guess they need to if they are a Blender marketeer. 

So I'll need to put something together before this work can be "productised".

Rural Valley

This is quite satisfying because it's one of the few terrains that incorporates both the lowlands and highlands in the same mesh. I think that I'll do another where the highlands are a bit more gentle, then incorporate a separate mountain terrain in the background. Snow-capped Alpines are a bit cliched, but it's what the punters want.

Small Form

I may need to generate some custom PBR materials that I can generate example screenshots. Otherwise, I'll need to credit the third-party materials used in examples (which won't be included in the pack).

Terrain Pack 2025 in production

 I've spent most of my time in World Creator creating terrain height maps for this commercial pack that I hope will be good enough to sell.

I've given myself until Friday to complete the terrains. I think I'll select the twelve best, or something like that.

Terrain Pack 2025 samples

Radio Silence...

 There's been an unusual gap in this blog. I have to be honest. The main reason is Orcs Must Die: Deathtrap. I have a weakness for tower defense games and this series has always been particularly addictive to me.

Some 3D work slips through...

Mostly, I have been honing my World Creator skills. I've generated several terrains, and I'm pleased with an evident levelling up of my sculpting/terrain generation skills.

8k mountain

fallen mountain close-up

Ridges

Ridges 2

Order: no contact...

 I'm very disappointed with SCAN. The email I received on the day of the order thanked me for securing my 5090 system. In what way can it be said that I secured anything, given that 48 hours later, I still don't have an update.

I was told on Saturday that someone from the build team would get back to me today. Still nothing, though. However..

I logged into the SCAN.co.uk website to see if there was any additional information, and there was:

On my order page, they have an estimated despatch date for the middle of March. SIX WEEKS! SIX! WEEKS! I've been thinking about this order for nearly a year; I can, in fact, wait another six weeks. Although I'm still not happy about the way this was handled. Still.... having a target date makes me feel a lot better.

Terrains

I've started using 2D stamps in World Creator. This applies pre-made terrain height maps to terrains. You can add several and merge them in interesting ways.

The order...

 At 2pm, SCAN.co.uk made the new generation of GPUs available. The NVIDIA 50-series. I struggled through a glitching website while configuring a PC with an RTX 5090. No luck! Only one model of the 5090 was available, apparently.

Then, when I'd almost given up, the website refreshed, and some systems appeared with the RTX 5090. I swooped in and stumbled a bit, then panic struck -- this is quite a lot of money. Order. Submitted. Payment authorised! Now, I wait to see if I am one of the lucky few. A lot of people were made aware of the 2pm release. If we can be cynical for a minute, we can recognise how you can overcome a customer's sensibilities by creating a sense of panic rush on an apparently scarce resource - driving nervous fingers to twitch on the buy button.

So now we ponder whether, if they've already run out of stock when they get to my order, should I leave the order in place and put my faith in a restock in the not-too-distant future? I don't know yet, but probably.

[Update: Order received and Payment Authorised. Payment taken. I received an email congratulating me on securing a 5090 machine but then asking me to stand by while they sort out the build and delivery date. Hmmm.. They have received a massive spike in orders and are a few days behind, or they sold out of stock in seconds and are now madly scrambling to organise a follow-up consignment. I expect to get an update on Monday, although I fear the update will be that my order has been delayed by a lack of GPU stock for weeks or maybe months. ]

More playing with World Creator and playing with the results using True-Terrain 5.

I compared the difference in apparent detail when using 16k vs 8k height maps. Hardly a sausage of difference! 

You might see some tiny areas where the 16k map introduces extra edges. I was surprised by the lack of difference. I can't see the value of 1GB maps if you can't tell the difference. I'll need to consider whether this is an expression of detail levels.

Calm before the order

 In two days time, the 500-series GPUs will be released. I planned to get a new system that carries the new flagship 5090 card. However,  it now seems likely that their supply will be super-low and their cost super-high. I came up with the idea of getting a machine that runs with two 4090s instead, but SCAN, the company that usually builds my machines, confirmed that they can no longer supply machines with 4090s. This is pretty terrible! NVIDIA has stopped making the cards, so their value has gone through the roof, which conveniently removes them from running should people decide the 5090 is just too expensive.

So we'll see what happens on Thursday. I'll need to order quickly to get a chance to get one. Even then, it might be that I have to wait several more weeks or months for restocks. That's if I decide to go ahead and order one.

What's pressing is that my current machine has a serious problem where turning it fully off leaves it in a state where it can take me several hours to coax it back to life. I should send it away to be looked at, but I need an exact fit box in which to put the case. Buying a new machine means that I can use its box and I won't be left without a PC.

Terrain work

I created more height maps in World Creator... since the Scout ship is on a break...

Islands

This exercise aimed to get an expansive ocean around an island using a subordinate terrain that sits beneath the one carrying the terrain. That worked. You often get an ugly line visible beneath the ocean where the underlying terrain's edge.

Project: Traveller Mk25 Scout Cleaned up

 

I cleaned up some of the Scout's worst issues and built landing gears. After applying some Sanctus metal materials, I felt I needed a break before deciding whether to continue the build. My feelings are that it's okay. Just okay. It sometimes happens: you sketch something that you really like. You do a build that you thought captured the sketch, but in the end, it's not got "the thing".

I landed the scout ship on alien terrain, but it's not working.  Maybe it just needs a final layer of detailing and better materials.

Project: Traveller Mk25 Scout Further Progress

 The latest on the Mk25 Scout:

Overall, I still like the design, although some elements have diluted the original feel and flow. This is a tad more streamlined, and the engine nozzles have shifted inwards from the winglet tips. The biggest problem, as always, is the loss of design coherence as small details break the design purity and inconsistency of things like panelling height and width start to make things a bit messy.

The build continues, although it gets slow as I add fine detail then delete it, repeatedly.

Project: Traveller Mk25 Scout Progress

 This morning, I restarted the construction of the original sketch design. I may return to the partially completed traditional design, but not yet.

By holding back on the sub-D step and getting more controlled angles in earlier, I got a lot closer to the feel of the sketch. Onwards!

Ad Astra! This is a good mid-point

Lots of cleaning and tightening, but I'm reasonably happy with this as a start.