Two Projects coming to a slow down, Fallout76, however...

There is so much going on and I need to touch on all of it. I have greatly enjoyed bringing happiness to the Fallout community with my new scale of Fallout art that you get to color yourself; that was 100% supported by you the player with your submissions of in game photos. Your support past that has been wonderful too. Unfortunately, this is not meeting my new need of groceries and medications. Those cost. So I will have to do more toward efforts that I can be paid for and less on the freebie work.

I've done enough of the FCCP art and Chef adventures to fill 6 coloring books and you can download and print all of it for free. Other artist friends think I've gone completely insane. Who does that much free work? Well, for the joy it brings and hopefully will continue to bring, it's worth it in these trying times. People who are stuck at home can print out and color pages for that added distraction and relaxation with a side dish of silliness. Just what the doctor ordered. I did it for you.

That doesn't mean I'm not going to draw anymore of them. But there won't be near as big of releases as before and they will be released on a more spontaneous schedule. Kind of as I do them.

Now, if people want to ORDER a page from me I am happy to do custom work for a minimal charge. I will even drop the price to 7 dollars a page via paypal. I was doing 15. So hit me up if you want something special done that is just for you and will only be released to the public by you. That puts you at the head of the line because I always do paid work first. Like I said, I find myself in a need of groceries and meds for my MS.

You see, since moving to a new state and having everything shut down, I haven't been able to get a new doctor for me or my son. We are running out of important medications. So I have to put efforts into these things and try to push for what we need.

I am working on two new coloring book projects that I have posted teasers to so I hope you will be watching. I also have new character work coming for GZ with the 2020 project.

So there we are. I hope to still see you at my page!

FCCP Behind the scenes: Making pictures fit (Fallout 76 coloring pages)

If you've been following along, you know that I'm the artist who started the Fallout Community Coloring Project (FCCP). I've drawn well over 70 free coloring pages so far with requests to compile into a coloring book. The community response has been awesome and lots of people have contributed their in game photos for me to potentially draw.

Most of what I get I can draw and fit in the frame for a coloring page pretty easily. Sometimes, however, the best results come from a few alterations of space and detail. Today I'm going to give you a couple of examples. Let's start here:

BEFORE

AFTER

Whoa! There are some major changes going on there. I draw in photoshop and utilize tricks to bring things together. I brought everyone closer, added some baubles to the tree, omitted suit guy's backpack, and corrected her wardrobe malfunction. Click on images for closer view. To break those down on the last two, the seated guy in a suit had a backpack on that was digitally  merging with the couch. The lady's hand was merging through her dress into her lap. That's just how Fallout objects go when they are close to each other. It's not a perfect system. It's easy enough to correct when drawing the picture. 

BEFORE

AFTER

As you can see, after I drew in our dancing couple, I zoomed in on the tent and made for more active background to color. The giant rock is nice and all, but comes across as blank ground after you draw it in and thus dead space.  So now there is something active to color in the background without losing the action of the scene.

I have to say the community has been wonderful and I am still working on the ways one or more coloring books may happen. The update on that is that I am in process of moving across states, doing the FCCP coloring book will have to wait until I finish moving. I will update on that more as time draws near. Hopefully you will have a book by this summer. 

As for the rest of the images, if you have not seen them all, you can view them at my page HERE. Just click on PHOTOS and there are two albums. 

If you really love my work and want to help me keep it going, consider ways to support your favorite artists HERE. 

Until next time... thanks for reading and I am still accepting new images, just know that it takes about 3 weeks to get to a new person on the list. In about 3 weeks I will be restarting on my list of people unless new folks add in.

UPDATE FCCP: Bethesda says NO to a coloring book..sort of.

I am writing today's post in response to multiple requests that I compile actual coloring books for the Fallout Community Coloring Project. As I answered before, I could only do what would be a commercially sold book with support and agreement from Bethesda. I wouldn't serve to go through all that work to make a book and put it up on Amazon if I wound up head to head with Bethesda's legal department.

So I wrote to them. I explained how the project is 100% community supported and how much interest it is gathering. I gave them every positive point I could think of and they responded pretty quickly. They listed it as an "incident" with an identification number and said the following:

Greetings!

Thank you for contacting Bethesda Customer Support. 

Bethesda Softworks appreciates our fans and generally does not discourage posting of non-commercial fan created tributes.  Any use of our intellectual property for commercial purposes, however, including The Elder Scrolls® or Skyrim® names, logos, branding elements, artwork, etc., is strictly forbidden without a written license agreement.  We regret that we are unable to grant licenses for the commercialization of fan fiction.

 

We also cannot accept unsolicited manuscripts or other material.  Please do not send us any submissions.

 

Please be advised that any commercial use or exploitation of our intellectual property rights is not permitted.  Bethesda Softworks will strictly enforce its rights.

 

 I hope this information helps! Thank you for your interest in Bethesda Softworks.

Kind Regards,
Bethesda Softworks

So, as I understand this, so long as I keep doing the project more or less as I'm doing it, which is not for profit, I can keep on drawing the coloring pages for the community. If I try to put out an actually coloring book... that will be responded to in a negative fashion. 

Let me be clear, I want to keep drawing your pictures. This project has been a source of great positivity for me and I love that I'm doing something so many are enjoying. So I am going to continue giving you guys and my coloring book page this source for something positive and different.  This of what I do, shall remain as free. Should anyone wish to support me as an artist, there are several ways to accomplish that and you need only ask. I have a patreon and other books as well.  You can share me in all sorts of ways. All things that help out wonderfully. 

In further news, this Saturday's release of new images will be my biggest one yet. Thank you all for being part of this project and it shall go on!

The Fallout Community Coloring Project (FCCP)

Do you play Fallout 76? Are you a Fallout shutterbug? Then boy do I have news for you!

As many of you know I am a published coloring book artist with 6 books under my belt and available on Amazon under DJ Wilde. Yes, I'm also a published author of heroic fantasy tales and novels and I'm something of an amateur game designer (also with games available online).

I have started a currently unofficial unauthorized project with no expectation of profit unless Bethesda wants to talk to me (wink wink). But that's something I'm not expecting really. We'll see what happens.

Right now I just want to give the Fallout community something new, positive, and fun. I'm giving what I can do best in the way of these amazing coloring pages with the help in contributions by you my fellow Fallout player. What is that contribution? In game photos. Yep. That's it and over 40 of you have already responded on Fallout groups to pitch in. It's amazing so far and I can only see it getting wilder from here.

What do you get? You get image credit posted right on the picture with either your gamertag or your first initial and last name (your choice but if you don't give me your gamertag, I will go with the latter).  And of course you get your very own copy of your art as well as full access to all of the images I do on this. In this post I will give you a direct line to send me your images. That would by my email Galaxyzento@gmail.com so there you go!

Every Saturday on my pages I will post updates of new completed images. Contributors get first view of how I used their photos before release days.

I can't promise to use everything you send, but you have the best chances the clearer and brighter your images are. Why? Because I have one complication, Multiple sclerosis and it is a fight for me with vision focus and my hands. It's why I have become strictly and digital artist. But just know that while you help with this project, you help me to slap MS in the face. So thank you for that.

This project will continue so long as I have things to draw, so keep em coming. In between these I will of course be doing my planned works for more coloring pages and coloring books.

Thanks to everyone who has already contributed their amazing photos!

Fallout 76: Are you tired of PVP jerks? Solution within:

First of all, lets define. Are you a PVP jerk? Just being a PVP (player vs player) player doesn't make you a jerk. Forcing your way of play on others does. You can cite definitions of the wasteland at me all day long. It won't change that fact.

Discussions of PVE players versus PVP players get drawn out into long arguments and debates. From what I've seen people who go around "killing" other players and destroying their camps believe they are a natural force of the wasteland and their game style should thus be respected over all others. They chide at PVE players who don't like being targets to "stop crying and just go away".

And that makes them jerks. Why? Because the simple reality in any multi-faceted gameplay is that you cannot demand others "respect your game style" when you won't respect theirs. It's also a general fact of life.

This brand of PVP player is nothing but an online bully. We need to adapt a new mindset to deal with them. I have personally been quite successful at this. Now I want to help you do the same.

Recently I had quite a few PVP jerks tell me they would kill me if they saw me. So I posted a challenge. I gave my gamer tag, thewildeman2 for Xbox1 and said, "come and get me". All they had to do was find me. Want to know how many showed up to kill me?

ZERO.

They had a whole day and a half to do it. But I don't stop how I handle them there. Here is how I dealt with the last person who tried to grief me.

When nothing worked to get this guy to stop shooting at me doing pitiful amounts of damage because I'm on passive (yes he killed me three times). I undressed my character down to his skivvies and a Farshact mask. I followed him around, running circles around him and doing the tea bag dance and spinning. I was on com challenging him to kill me again because 'I like it'.

He gave up and left. I literally ruined his experience just like he wanted to ruin mine.

That's what you have to do. Basically, become the most annoying person you can be without killing anyone even once. I am fine with saying that I'm really good at it.

OH, you want to blow up my base? Go ahead. I like building so I'll just hit the ol' "repair all" and zippity do dah. I keep plenty of building components on hand so blowing up my base has ZERO effect on me. It means nothing. Therefore, you mean nothing.

OH, you got my junk? Whoopty doo! I can get more and show more skill doing it.

That's the mindset you need to take to beat a griefer. Make their experience as low quality as you can, as irritating as you can, and ask low skill as you can. Show their style of game play equal respect to what they show yours. If enough of us do this, the game will become considerably less fun for them.

In the mean time, if you want to meet someone friendly and see Thewildeman2 out wandering around, you're safe with me. I play the wasteland chef, so be sure to ask if you are low on food. I'm also usually on com so make sure your settings are right if you want to hear me. I may even follow you on a mission or two. OH, but I don't join a lot of teams, so don't be offended if you send and invite and I don't respond. People who want to come and find me, literally have to come and find me.

Thanks for reading and I hope you find this information useful. Lets drive some griefing PVP jerks nuts.

What's gonna happen to Fallout 76?

If you take a little trip to Youtube and look up Fallout 76, you will find quite a mix of reviews and information. You'll see all the quick fixes to exploit the game for all sorts of silly gains. What I'm going to talk about today is the reviews and new rumors about the failings and possibly falling of the game. I've been researching the claims that I have found and I learned a few interesting things.

These are the talking points critics are using to herald the failure of the game:

It's already being sold half price.  Wait. Where? I checked Bethesda, Walmart, Target, Gamestop, Xbox (Microsoft) and all of them are selling the game for 59.99. That is exactly what I prepaid for the game back in July. It did go up by ten dollars for maybe a month and then back down, but that's all. Hardly "half price" by any stretch. Yet, critics continue to proclaim that the game has been reduced due to "failing sales", but no one links to any proof of this. Speaking of proof...

There's 'already' a lawsuit pending.  Word around the net is that a law firm is "investigating" Bethesda for "failing to refund consumers for unplayable games" and "deceptive trade practices". Yet, as this article from Techspot points out there is no evidence anywhere of said investigations of any kind. So what's going on? As I understand it, people have asked for refunds and supposedly anyone who downloaded the game is not eligible for refund, but that leaves out a great deal of crucial details. It's hard to tell what we are really looking at. When it comes to these refunds however, I think we have to look at what the consumer in question's definition of unplayable is. Did it crash your computer? Did it blatantly not work at all? Or was it just that you didn't like the color of the leaves? This may be unpopular opinion, but in my experience, our society is becoming such a bunch of fickle crybabies and equally fickle and picky haters that the slightest hint of something unlikable is worth condemning the soul of anything to Hell.  From what I've seen of some of these complainers, they knew there was going to be glitches and issues. They even named them but bought the game anyway.

But the glitches and bugs! Yes, there are glitches. Fallout 4 had them. Fallout 3 had them. Fallout New Vegas had them. Yet, these games managed to survive. Why is that? It isn't because "people who buy are stupid, durrrrr". When Fallout 4 came out it outsold certain porn outlets and even took sales away from those outlets. Fanboys who were porn addicts wanted more Fallout than porn. All the games had their issues. They had freezing issues. Yes, that means that they should have fixed it by now, but do you know how to fix it? Do you really understand what they are trying to do? Fallout 76 is a far cry from being WoW but it wasn't meant to be. And putting this game out is a major change in how Bethesda is doing business or making games. That's how companies grow. They take on new things. And stop comparing them to No Man's Sky that crashed before it could get off the runway. Not the same scenario.

But a server crashed! And what, that's never happened before or something? Yes, a group of players managed to launch 3 nukes at the same time and it crashed a server. I guess Bethesda forgot to consult their crystal ball on the possibility that multiple nukes could go off on the same server and missed the memo. This is a perfect example of unrealistic expectations of any gaming company trying to put out something like this. No one has tried to pull off anything with the classifications that Fallout 76 is carrying out (that I can think of, including WoW or No Man's Sky). WoW has had server crashes too, they happen, kind of like having a rainy day. There is no such thing as an infallible server that will never crash. So it's really stupid to expect that. If anything, Bethesda should have learned a few new things so they could work on making the game even better.

But there's no NPC's! Seriously. The company was 100% up front and forward on this. Everyone knew and yet for all of you who still bitch about this yet bought the game... I just can't. They were also 100% upfront about how this is NOT like any other Fallout game. How it is not meant to be Fallout 5. How they knew there were going to be issues that would have to be fixed because no developer could possibly predict every little thing that could happen. The same goes for PVP (player vs player). They didn't hide anything in anyway. Everyone who bothered to pay attention knew what the score was. You can't accept changes like NPC and PVP, buy the game, play the game, and then continue to bitch or expect your money back. That is stupid.

I have experienced a ton of glitches, all of which have been reported. None of which can be altered on world wide live game OVER NIGHT. Heck, likely not even in a month. Some will take over six months. I've had float drifting monsters, been kicked off servers,  and had game freezes. I even had to jump servers because I died and game said I couldn't respawn because I was overencumbered. Have I lamented to the sky and demanded my money back? Hell no. I still enjoy the game and none of those glitches prevent me from playing. They have not encompassed it so badly that I can't be a big boy and get past them. I realize that what Bethesda is trying to do is not only new for them, but impossible to completely avoid no matter how long you work on a game like this.

I'm starting to wonder if some of these claims aren't more of active corporate sabotage than actual misdeeds of Bethesda. I do think, if it goes down and 76 dies, I won't be blaming Bethesda for that loss of my 60 bucks, rather a new generation that can't cope with pitfalls of reality and have ridiculous expectations of everything around them.

This has been part of a new turn I'm taking for my blog. I will be engaging in more gaming and geek culture; sharing my thoughts and reviews in the goings on of it all. For those interested, I'm still a published author and board game designer. You can still find out more at the links in the upper right. Thanks for reading!